This is a very interesting article about censorship in Australia. As much as Australia has one of the greatest ratings systems in the world (And America's is just plain bonkers a lot of the time), one thing we have an incredibly high amount of religious/family groups who like to demand things get re-rated or banned altogether. While movies such as the one they mentioned I'm sure probably warrented being banned (kiddie porn isn't good, okay) movies such as Irreversable and those in that ilk should NOT. The R18+ rating is there for a reason, you morons. It's not like you're going along to see SpongeBob SquarePants - it's rated R18+ for a reason.
It's funny that, speaking of that movie, SpongeBob got complaints over it's G rating. That's crazy cause... wtf?
However, if you read the article, there is a typo. Lost In Translation wasn't rated MA15+, but was actually rated PG and the complain would've been that the rating for that was too low. A pair of tits ain't enough for an M rating though. Unlike in America where it automatically warrents an R rating, yet you can have so much suggestive sexual stuff yet get a PG-13 rating purely cause your movie is targetted at a teen market.
December 31, 2005
December 30, 2005
AMPAS As of Right Now
Okay, so as Nathaniel mentioned on his blog, AMPAS have been sent their voting ballots and that most of them are returned post haste. I decided to look at it a bit differently. What films + people does this help, which does it hurt and who will we not know until that day when nominees are released.
HELP
Obviously Brokeback Mountain - Surely a large portion of AMPAS will have popped their DVD into the player or, better yet, seeked the film out in cinemas and will be very aware of the buzz around the picture. Picture, Director, Screenplay, Heath and Michelle or sound like solid solid bets.
Good Night & Good Luck - The film recently went through a buzz surge with the globes and a bunch of critics citations. If the voters vote right this second then this will be on their rader. If they wait a couple of weeks... who knows. It could easily be buried amongst other DVDs and it's leaving cinemas as we speak. Could this be one of those movies that gets a couple of high-profile spots but nothing else. Techs could be tough, even cinematography (always a battle ground for nominees)
The Constant Gardener - Could this be the dark horse for the Best Picture race? Hmm... I have a hunch. I'm not predicting it, but I think that much like GN&GL it's currently going through a buzz swing with the suprise Globe success (Picture, Director, Supp Actress being the biggies) and supporters are coming out left, right and centre. Could Fernando Meirelles' film get pushed into the stratosphere of nominations? Will it manage to get the exact same nominations that City of God did (actually, quite a strange parallel universe kind of freaky coincidence) or will they not fall for it? Hmm...
Match Point - The very last minute release can work for you or against you. In this case I think it'll work. I think a very huge portion of AMPAS will want to see this film before voting, thus giving it a high visability factor (whether it be by cinema or DVD). Woody is extremely popular with actors (and they'll be happy he's back to making great movies. they'll be lining up around the block to be cast again) and writers and some big Globes buzz can only get it higher.
Hurt
King Kong - If immediate reactions are to be taken seriously, the film has faultered. It's lower-than-expected box-office is a big news story and whispers are that the film isn't going over all too well with regular filmgoers. Some may decide to leave it off in favour of something they feel much more passionate about (something that will definitely come into play methinks - passion, that is) such as a Constant Gardener or a Match Point
Joan Allen in Upside of Anger - I don't know if her campaign was ever going to get revved up, but the lack of a Globes nod probably sealed New Line's decision not to do anything. If it gets a nod then it ain't because of New Line, but because AMPAS like Joan Allen. This would be her fourth nomination - something another popular lass did last year with an early year release (Kate Winslet). Right now, the tides aren't in Joan's favour though.
Memoirs of a Geisha - Technical nods are probably gonna happen (but you never know, really) so the only three categories it could feasably show up in (in order of ability) Supporting Actress, Lead Actress, Adapted Screenplay. Screenplay is all but a non hope now though and Zhang's perf is hanging with one limb left on the branch. Gong Li could ride international good will to a nod, but again, the tide ain't in her favour right now.
Cinderella Man - As I've said all along, techs are still quite possible. The rest... not so much. I don't even feel right predicting Paul Giamatti and I think if he gets in it's actually more a factor of the lack of solid frontrunners in that category more than anything else.
Can't Really Tell
A History of Violence - Sort of has remained constant in buzz (wavering slightly of course) throughout the entire season. Picking up a steady stream of awards but nothing huge. The surprise Globes nods (but none for Cronenberg's direction?) were helpful, but again - they don't really tell us anything. Can Maria Bello overcome category confusion? Can Cronenberg overcome genre bias? I still have no idea.
Munich - A movie that I think needed way more time to build. Releasing such a heavy film on Christmas Day (or two days before, or whenever it was last weekend) mightn't have been a great decision. Box-office wasn't on the Brokeback or Memoirs side of things, but it wasn't bad either. It was just normal. And it's just hard to tell how AMPAS will react to it. We'll find out in a few weeks I suppose.
Crash - My thinking is that this is a film that if voters like, they will nominate it. Whether enough like it is another thing all together. It's release date puts pressure on it, but it has remained there throughout the entire season despite it not really getting much notice in terms of precursors.
Squid and the Whale - Hmmm... will they go for it? Or will it become just a Best Original Screenplay nominee and that's all? I can't tell.
Diane Keaton in The Family Stone - Will they decide to throw her a bone? Who knows at this stage. She plays a patriachal mother in a yuletide family gathering movie but will it be too stuffed (cast wise), too overdone (writing wise) or will they even like the taste in general?
and... that's all I can be bothered doing right now.
HELP
Obviously Brokeback Mountain - Surely a large portion of AMPAS will have popped their DVD into the player or, better yet, seeked the film out in cinemas and will be very aware of the buzz around the picture. Picture, Director, Screenplay, Heath and Michelle or sound like solid solid bets.
Good Night & Good Luck - The film recently went through a buzz surge with the globes and a bunch of critics citations. If the voters vote right this second then this will be on their rader. If they wait a couple of weeks... who knows. It could easily be buried amongst other DVDs and it's leaving cinemas as we speak. Could this be one of those movies that gets a couple of high-profile spots but nothing else. Techs could be tough, even cinematography (always a battle ground for nominees)
The Constant Gardener - Could this be the dark horse for the Best Picture race? Hmm... I have a hunch. I'm not predicting it, but I think that much like GN&GL it's currently going through a buzz swing with the suprise Globe success (Picture, Director, Supp Actress being the biggies) and supporters are coming out left, right and centre. Could Fernando Meirelles' film get pushed into the stratosphere of nominations? Will it manage to get the exact same nominations that City of God did (actually, quite a strange parallel universe kind of freaky coincidence) or will they not fall for it? Hmm...
Match Point - The very last minute release can work for you or against you. In this case I think it'll work. I think a very huge portion of AMPAS will want to see this film before voting, thus giving it a high visability factor (whether it be by cinema or DVD). Woody is extremely popular with actors (and they'll be happy he's back to making great movies. they'll be lining up around the block to be cast again) and writers and some big Globes buzz can only get it higher.
Hurt
King Kong - If immediate reactions are to be taken seriously, the film has faultered. It's lower-than-expected box-office is a big news story and whispers are that the film isn't going over all too well with regular filmgoers. Some may decide to leave it off in favour of something they feel much more passionate about (something that will definitely come into play methinks - passion, that is) such as a Constant Gardener or a Match Point
Joan Allen in Upside of Anger - I don't know if her campaign was ever going to get revved up, but the lack of a Globes nod probably sealed New Line's decision not to do anything. If it gets a nod then it ain't because of New Line, but because AMPAS like Joan Allen. This would be her fourth nomination - something another popular lass did last year with an early year release (Kate Winslet). Right now, the tides aren't in Joan's favour though.
Memoirs of a Geisha - Technical nods are probably gonna happen (but you never know, really) so the only three categories it could feasably show up in (in order of ability) Supporting Actress, Lead Actress, Adapted Screenplay. Screenplay is all but a non hope now though and Zhang's perf is hanging with one limb left on the branch. Gong Li could ride international good will to a nod, but again, the tide ain't in her favour right now.
Cinderella Man - As I've said all along, techs are still quite possible. The rest... not so much. I don't even feel right predicting Paul Giamatti and I think if he gets in it's actually more a factor of the lack of solid frontrunners in that category more than anything else.
Can't Really Tell
A History of Violence - Sort of has remained constant in buzz (wavering slightly of course) throughout the entire season. Picking up a steady stream of awards but nothing huge. The surprise Globes nods (but none for Cronenberg's direction?) were helpful, but again - they don't really tell us anything. Can Maria Bello overcome category confusion? Can Cronenberg overcome genre bias? I still have no idea.
Munich - A movie that I think needed way more time to build. Releasing such a heavy film on Christmas Day (or two days before, or whenever it was last weekend) mightn't have been a great decision. Box-office wasn't on the Brokeback or Memoirs side of things, but it wasn't bad either. It was just normal. And it's just hard to tell how AMPAS will react to it. We'll find out in a few weeks I suppose.
Crash - My thinking is that this is a film that if voters like, they will nominate it. Whether enough like it is another thing all together. It's release date puts pressure on it, but it has remained there throughout the entire season despite it not really getting much notice in terms of precursors.
Squid and the Whale - Hmmm... will they go for it? Or will it become just a Best Original Screenplay nominee and that's all? I can't tell.
Diane Keaton in The Family Stone - Will they decide to throw her a bone? Who knows at this stage. She plays a patriachal mother in a yuletide family gathering movie but will it be too stuffed (cast wise), too overdone (writing wise) or will they even like the taste in general?
and... that's all I can be bothered doing right now.
December 29, 2005
Top 5 News Stories of 2005
1. The Tsunami
Well, really. Need I say anything, other than this tapped into something that in my 20 years (well, 19 at the time) only 9/11 had tapped into. It made me want to cry and (no offence ya'll) anyone claiming Hurricane Katrina was worse needs to get their head out of their ass (cheers, non?). Bound to be over 300,000 deaths and the destruction of so much... it was a horrible event.
2. London Bombings
Just a frightening ordeal. Barbaric and terrifying and it's just scary to think that this could very well happen anywhere in the world - and I have no doubt that it will happen in my part in the next couple of years.
3. Shapelle Corby Sentenced to 20 Years
This woman will do down in Australian lore. The woman who was arrested for bringing in an entire boogey-board bags worth of marijuana into Bali and was told relentlessly that she was going to be found guilty and sentenced to death by firing squad. She WAS found guilty, but only sentenced to 20 years (later reduced to 15). The twist is nobody seems to know the truth - did she or didn't she. The investigation was bungled (they didn't fingerprint the case with the marijauna in it, nor are there security tapes of the baggage handling) and now there are photographs of Ms Corby associating with a known drug dealer. Not since Lindy Chamberline has Australia been so caught up in one woman's fate. One of the only moments in my life that I can remember people stopping in the middle of the street to watch televisions in shop windows, waiting to hear the outcome of her case.
4. Bali Bombed... again
Crikies. AGAIN! And this time there was even that scary video of the bomb detonating in the restaurant that is just sort of surreal.
5. Hurrican Katrina, ya'll
These natural disasters devestate the American coastline, but doesn't kill nearly 300,000 people (yeah, you heard me). But, still, it is just horrible horrible stuff there. Anyone unmoved by those images needs to get themselves checked out. George W. Bush consequently dies a horrible death, and Kanye West stands up. Foreigners getting preyed upon by raping murderers is just one of the worst stories I can remember from it all. Oh, but Harry Connick Jr got some great press ya'll.
er, Honourary Mentions:
-Michael Jackson (apparently) doesn't molest children. But has a celebrity sunk so low as this man has in recent years?
-Industrial Relations... oy. I feel my internal organs hurting (but I won't get sick pay)
-Mark Latham Implodes and Explodes at the same time
LOL!!! It was like watching a car crash. You can't turn away, but it's of so god-awful to watch. Nasty!
-Live8 tries to take over the world... and sorta fails (but it was entertaining!)
-Brokeback Mountain becomes one the movie important films of the last decade and could actually win Best Picture at the Oscars
-The Pope died, which is sorta sad even though I'm not remotely religious - but he was a nice Pope. The new one looks creepy as hell.
-Makybe Diva. I may not be the biggest horse racing fan, but I know a never-to-be-seen-again feet when I see it. And this was one of them.
-Sydney beaches turn feral. Australia all the worse for it.
-Australia's laughably inept government finally announces they deported multiple people incorrectly throughout the years. Disabled Marie Alvarez sees her family for the first time in 5 years.
And for the superficial pop-culture obsessive I am:
-My two favourite husbands, Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale, decide to make a movie together with Christopher Nolan and are then joined by one of my three fave ladies at the moment, Scarlett Johansson. + Michael Caine for added support. I salivate for thee.
-Mariah Carey. Who knew?
-David Lynch announces he's been secretly working on a film entitled INLAND EMPIRE (caps essential, apparently) starring Laura Dern (the re-ascention hopefully!) and Harry Dean Stanton amongst others
-Star Wars franchise FINALLY ends... but as soon as it does, we hear that they're planning a tv series, more animated series, books, etc... it will never end (and we're all the worse)
-King Kong faulters initially at the box-office - deservedly so. It ain't THAT good.
-Russell Crowe throws phones and hosts awards shows in the same year. To surprisingly good results (the latter).
-Tom Cruise and his beard (read: Katie Holmes - his ACTUAL facial beard is too gross. IT'S CALLED A RAZOR, TOM!) become freaks and national sideshows. Hilarity ensued.
-Renee Zellweger confirms her ever-tightening grip on punchline status by getting her marriage annulled after only something like 2 months citing, quite confusingly, "fraud". In the process, Renee loses all forms of eye-sight when her eyelids get stuck while trying to look as squinty as possible.
That was fun.
Well, really. Need I say anything, other than this tapped into something that in my 20 years (well, 19 at the time) only 9/11 had tapped into. It made me want to cry and (no offence ya'll) anyone claiming Hurricane Katrina was worse needs to get their head out of their ass (cheers, non?). Bound to be over 300,000 deaths and the destruction of so much... it was a horrible event.
2. London Bombings
Just a frightening ordeal. Barbaric and terrifying and it's just scary to think that this could very well happen anywhere in the world - and I have no doubt that it will happen in my part in the next couple of years.
3. Shapelle Corby Sentenced to 20 Years
This woman will do down in Australian lore. The woman who was arrested for bringing in an entire boogey-board bags worth of marijuana into Bali and was told relentlessly that she was going to be found guilty and sentenced to death by firing squad. She WAS found guilty, but only sentenced to 20 years (later reduced to 15). The twist is nobody seems to know the truth - did she or didn't she. The investigation was bungled (they didn't fingerprint the case with the marijauna in it, nor are there security tapes of the baggage handling) and now there are photographs of Ms Corby associating with a known drug dealer. Not since Lindy Chamberline has Australia been so caught up in one woman's fate. One of the only moments in my life that I can remember people stopping in the middle of the street to watch televisions in shop windows, waiting to hear the outcome of her case.
4. Bali Bombed... again
Crikies. AGAIN! And this time there was even that scary video of the bomb detonating in the restaurant that is just sort of surreal.
5. Hurrican Katrina, ya'll
These natural disasters devestate the American coastline, but doesn't kill nearly 300,000 people (yeah, you heard me). But, still, it is just horrible horrible stuff there. Anyone unmoved by those images needs to get themselves checked out. George W. Bush consequently dies a horrible death, and Kanye West stands up. Foreigners getting preyed upon by raping murderers is just one of the worst stories I can remember from it all. Oh, but Harry Connick Jr got some great press ya'll.
er, Honourary Mentions:
-Michael Jackson (apparently) doesn't molest children. But has a celebrity sunk so low as this man has in recent years?
-Industrial Relations... oy. I feel my internal organs hurting (but I won't get sick pay)
-Mark Latham Implodes and Explodes at the same time
LOL!!! It was like watching a car crash. You can't turn away, but it's of so god-awful to watch. Nasty!
-Live8 tries to take over the world... and sorta fails (but it was entertaining!)
-Brokeback Mountain becomes one the movie important films of the last decade and could actually win Best Picture at the Oscars
-The Pope died, which is sorta sad even though I'm not remotely religious - but he was a nice Pope. The new one looks creepy as hell.
-Makybe Diva. I may not be the biggest horse racing fan, but I know a never-to-be-seen-again feet when I see it. And this was one of them.
-Sydney beaches turn feral. Australia all the worse for it.
-Australia's laughably inept government finally announces they deported multiple people incorrectly throughout the years. Disabled Marie Alvarez sees her family for the first time in 5 years.
And for the superficial pop-culture obsessive I am:
-My two favourite husbands, Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale, decide to make a movie together with Christopher Nolan and are then joined by one of my three fave ladies at the moment, Scarlett Johansson. + Michael Caine for added support. I salivate for thee.
-Mariah Carey. Who knew?
-David Lynch announces he's been secretly working on a film entitled INLAND EMPIRE (caps essential, apparently) starring Laura Dern (the re-ascention hopefully!) and Harry Dean Stanton amongst others
-Star Wars franchise FINALLY ends... but as soon as it does, we hear that they're planning a tv series, more animated series, books, etc... it will never end (and we're all the worse)
-King Kong faulters initially at the box-office - deservedly so. It ain't THAT good.
-Russell Crowe throws phones and hosts awards shows in the same year. To surprisingly good results (the latter).
-Tom Cruise and his beard (read: Katie Holmes - his ACTUAL facial beard is too gross. IT'S CALLED A RAZOR, TOM!) become freaks and national sideshows. Hilarity ensued.
-Renee Zellweger confirms her ever-tightening grip on punchline status by getting her marriage annulled after only something like 2 months citing, quite confusingly, "fraud". In the process, Renee loses all forms of eye-sight when her eyelids get stuck while trying to look as squinty as possible.
That was fun.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Blah Blah
Chronicles of Narnia sucks except for Tilda Swinton (who's always legend) and pretty good final battle sequence. What was with all the low-grade LOTR-ness of it all though? Everything about it from the costumes, sets, cast (other than Tilda), special effects, everything just didn't feel epic or grand at all. And the lighting was so... glum. And that was when we could SEE what was happening (which, i could NOT in several scenes). It was just so... blah. The kids were annoying, it was terrible predictable (I have not read the books) and I can totally see the religious alagory in it all (however, that doesn't bug me as much as the fact that the only major characters who died were the EVIL!!!!! ones). Colour me unimpressed. C. Still, Tilda rocked my socks off.
and for the fun of it (and cause I wrote it on my other blog so all I have to do is cut and paste)
Day of the Triffids (1962, dir. Sekely) - lol, this was sorta alright. Clearly 28 Days Later's makers had watched this before making that excellent movie. There are scenes of almost isolated London AND Paris. Still, there are absolutely bonkers moments (why does he need to go to Spain?) and the triffids themselves are silly. But, still, it was mildly entertaining! C+
Now, to go watch Will & Grace.
and for the fun of it (and cause I wrote it on my other blog so all I have to do is cut and paste)
Day of the Triffids (1962, dir. Sekely) - lol, this was sorta alright. Clearly 28 Days Later's makers had watched this before making that excellent movie. There are scenes of almost isolated London AND Paris. Still, there are absolutely bonkers moments (why does he need to go to Spain?) and the triffids themselves are silly. But, still, it was mildly entertaining! C+
Now, to go watch Will & Grace.
Whoa
I just read the most fascinating piece of info on the First Wives Club's trivia page!
"Trivia: Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, and Diane Keaton were all born within 45 days of each other, and celebrated their 50th birthdays together while filming this movie."
That is so cool!
But that means they're nearly 60! aww, they'll die in, like, the next 20 or 30 years. SAD.
"Trivia: Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, and Diane Keaton were all born within 45 days of each other, and celebrated their 50th birthdays together while filming this movie."
That is so cool!
But that means they're nearly 60! aww, they'll die in, like, the next 20 or 30 years. SAD.
December 28, 2005
To create a links section (for Adam and Javier)
I tried to post this as a reply to Adam's blog but due to the HTML it won't allow me so I hope they read this and can get SOME help. I've made it sound so complaticated.
Making a links section (or, such as on my blog a movie section, music section, etc) is pretty easy. You have you get to your blog's dashboard (as in http://www.blogger.com/home for you), click your individual blog and then go to Template and towards the end there is the template for your profile and for the 'previous entries' section that you can see on your blog's page. You basically just need to copy the html from that and copy it.
The HTML for the "about" section of your blog should look like this (you can see that my blog's individual text ("ze BLOG ze BOUT") is in there instead of the traditional "My Profile" or whatever it is. You can change that too - all you need to do is delete what's there and change it to what you want.
< !-- Begin #sidebar -- >
< div id="sidebar" >
< h2 class="sidebar-title" >ze BLOG ze BOUT< /h2 >
< p >< $BlogDescription$ >< /p >
< !-- Begin #profile-container -- >
< $BlogMemberProfile$ >
< !-- End #profile -- >
< MainOrArchivePage >
Directly after that on MY blog's template reads as this (because the screening log is the next thing you see)
< h2 class="sidebar-title" >Screening Log:< /h2 >
< ul >
< li >'Comme une Image', 2005, dir. Jaoui, B+< /li >
< li >'In Cold Blood', 1967, dir. Brooks, B< /li >
< li >'Small Time Crooks' 2000, dir. Allen, C+< /li >
< li >etc< /li >
< /ul >
(it continues like that with the list of movies you see in the sidebar. After the final entry, you MUST type < /ul > or else it won't close that individual section.
the "h2 class=sidebar-title"Screening Log:/h2 junk is for the title of my Screening Log as you can see on my blog. And then for each movie I see I write < li > Movie title, etc < /li >. If you want any part of what you type to be in bold you simply put it in < b >< /b > stuff or same for italics. Just without the spaces.
To do a links section you need to copy and paste the html and just replace (in my case) "Screening Log" with "Links" or whatever you wanna call it and each link must be written as such:
< li >< a href= website url >Whatever you want your link to be seen as< /a >< /li >
< li >< a href= website url >Whatever you want your link to be seen as< /a >< /li >
and then again end the section with < /ul >. The "Whatever you..." bit can be something such as "Film Experience" or "Nat's Blog" or "The mystical blogtastic musings of a french idiot". Anything you want. It's just what people click on to get to the actual URL which is typed after < a href=... >
or... there's a much simpler way of explaining it in Blogger's help files I think.
I know that was very long-winded, but I hope I helped.
(reading back over it, I will give you a standing ovation if you can figure it out. Sorry. I made it sound so complicated!)
Oh, and lastly, obviously, you delete the spaces that I've included next to every < or > (eg; < li > should be <, no space, then l, then i, no space, >, or else they won't work. It's just that I can't type them in here without the spaces.
Making a links section (or, such as on my blog a movie section, music section, etc) is pretty easy. You have you get to your blog's dashboard (as in http://www.blogger.com/home for you), click your individual blog and then go to Template and towards the end there is the template for your profile and for the 'previous entries' section that you can see on your blog's page. You basically just need to copy the html from that and copy it.
The HTML for the "about" section of your blog should look like this (you can see that my blog's individual text ("ze BLOG ze BOUT") is in there instead of the traditional "My Profile" or whatever it is. You can change that too - all you need to do is delete what's there and change it to what you want.
< !-- Begin #sidebar -- >
< div id="sidebar" >
< h2 class="sidebar-title" >ze BLOG ze BOUT< /h2 >
< p >< $BlogDescription$ >< /p >
< !-- Begin #profile-container -- >
< $BlogMemberProfile$ >
< !-- End #profile -- >
< MainOrArchivePage >
Directly after that on MY blog's template reads as this (because the screening log is the next thing you see)
< h2 class="sidebar-title" >Screening Log:< /h2 >
< ul >
< li >'Comme une Image', 2005, dir. Jaoui, B+< /li >
< li >'In Cold Blood', 1967, dir. Brooks, B< /li >
< li >'Small Time Crooks' 2000, dir. Allen, C+< /li >
< li >etc< /li >
< /ul >
(it continues like that with the list of movies you see in the sidebar. After the final entry, you MUST type < /ul > or else it won't close that individual section.
the "h2 class=sidebar-title"Screening Log:/h2 junk is for the title of my Screening Log as you can see on my blog. And then for each movie I see I write < li > Movie title, etc < /li >. If you want any part of what you type to be in bold you simply put it in < b >< /b > stuff or same for italics. Just without the spaces.
To do a links section you need to copy and paste the html and just replace (in my case) "Screening Log" with "Links" or whatever you wanna call it and each link must be written as such:
< li >< a href= website url >Whatever you want your link to be seen as< /a >< /li >
< li >< a href= website url >Whatever you want your link to be seen as< /a >< /li >
and then again end the section with < /ul >. The "Whatever you..." bit can be something such as "Film Experience" or "Nat's Blog" or "The mystical blogtastic musings of a french idiot". Anything you want. It's just what people click on to get to the actual URL which is typed after < a href=... >
or... there's a much simpler way of explaining it in Blogger's help files I think.
I know that was very long-winded, but I hope I helped.
(reading back over it, I will give you a standing ovation if you can figure it out. Sorry. I made it sound so complicated!)
Oh, and lastly, obviously, you delete the spaces that I've included next to every < or > (eg; < li > should be <, no space, then l, then i, no space, >, or else they won't work. It's just that I can't type them in here without the spaces.
Denim - Episode One: The Phantom Jeans
They should have called it Girls in Jeans. Or Denim - Episode One: The Phantom Jeans. Anything except The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants.
The same goes for Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. No surprise why there wasn't a queue around the block for that one.
Well, I just had a good chuckle over at this article from the Sydney Morning Herald.
VERY brief things:
Comme une Image [Look At Me] (2005, dir. Jaoui) - Great little French movie. Stand out performance from writer/director Agnes Jaoui. Funny, sad, well-made. One of the best foreign films of this year. B+
In Cold Blood (1967, dir. Brooks) - Starts out brilliantly but I started to lose my interest when the focus went onto the two guys on the run and not the small town. Masterful cinematography and score, some really good performances too. Much more interested in Capote now. B
Small Time Crooks (2000, dir. Allen) - Starts out brilliantly but I started to lose my interest (not just deja vu) after only 30 minutes. Wastes all the best things at the start and then burns out as the wonderful Tracy Ullman tries to become smart and Woody Allen remains jewish, yet all the supporting character disappear except for (thankfully) Elaine May. The first third: B+, the rest, C. The whole shebang? C+ Much more interested in Match Point now.
The same goes for Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. No surprise why there wasn't a queue around the block for that one.
Well, I just had a good chuckle over at this article from the Sydney Morning Herald.
VERY brief things:
Comme une Image [Look At Me] (2005, dir. Jaoui) - Great little French movie. Stand out performance from writer/director Agnes Jaoui. Funny, sad, well-made. One of the best foreign films of this year. B+
In Cold Blood (1967, dir. Brooks) - Starts out brilliantly but I started to lose my interest when the focus went onto the two guys on the run and not the small town. Masterful cinematography and score, some really good performances too. Much more interested in Capote now. B
Small Time Crooks (2000, dir. Allen) - Starts out brilliantly but I started to lose my interest (not just deja vu) after only 30 minutes. Wastes all the best things at the start and then burns out as the wonderful Tracy Ullman tries to become smart and Woody Allen remains jewish, yet all the supporting character disappear except for (thankfully) Elaine May. The first third: B+, the rest, C. The whole shebang? C+ Much more interested in Match Point now.
December 27, 2005
Movies (Christmas) Movies
Wow, it's gonna get hectic in movie viewing land pretty soon. I'm going to see The Chronicles of Narnia right now, I have Comme un Image (Look At Me) sitting atop my (brand spankin' new christy present of a) television. I think I'm going to Melbourne on Thursday to see Good Night & Good Luck and maybe Mrs Henderson Presents or something. I dunno.
But I'm gonna briefly discuss what I got for Christmas.
Previously mentioned 51cm TV (much bigger than my old one)
Titanic 4 Disc DVD
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (to go alongside my 1001 Movies...)
1001 Songs: The Greatest Songs of All Time (not affiliated to the above title)
Cut: Hollywood Murders, Accidents and other tragedies
Jelly Belly Jellybeans (LOVE)
Chocolate (lots of it)
and quite possibly one of the strangest presents, but also one of the best. I can officially say that I am now a member of the Australian Film Institute!
If the piece of paper i got is anything to go by (which I'm sure it is) I can now
-Vote for Australian Films (!!!)
-Attend special AFI judges screenings
-Attend complimentary preview screenings,
-Receive ticket discounts at a wide variety of cinemas
-Receive regular newsletters (such as the one I received BEFORE Christmas and thought "when did i become a member of the AFI?") and the ability to enter competitions such as all four Best Picture 2005 nominees on DVD, and free double-passes to movies such as Brokeback Mountain, Memoirs of a Geisha, Match Point? a Tsoti
-Cheaper rates on film magazines such as Empire and FilmInk
-Receive discounts to film festivals and industry events
-Access to the AFI Research library
wow, right? I am now a voter of an awards show!!!! I rock. Now, here's hoping 2006 has a great Aussie films.
In much more sombre news, yesterday was the 1 year anniversary of the Asian Tsunami. The year's most defining news story (i'm totally doing a list of them later on).
But I'm gonna briefly discuss what I got for Christmas.
Previously mentioned 51cm TV (much bigger than my old one)
Titanic 4 Disc DVD
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (to go alongside my 1001 Movies...)
1001 Songs: The Greatest Songs of All Time (not affiliated to the above title)
Cut: Hollywood Murders, Accidents and other tragedies
Jelly Belly Jellybeans (LOVE)
Chocolate (lots of it)
and quite possibly one of the strangest presents, but also one of the best. I can officially say that I am now a member of the Australian Film Institute!
If the piece of paper i got is anything to go by (which I'm sure it is) I can now
-Vote for Australian Films (!!!)
-Attend special AFI judges screenings
-Attend complimentary preview screenings,
-Receive ticket discounts at a wide variety of cinemas
-Receive regular newsletters (such as the one I received BEFORE Christmas and thought "when did i become a member of the AFI?") and the ability to enter competitions such as all four Best Picture 2005 nominees on DVD, and free double-passes to movies such as Brokeback Mountain, Memoirs of a Geisha, Match Point? a Tsoti
-Cheaper rates on film magazines such as Empire and FilmInk
-Receive discounts to film festivals and industry events
-Access to the AFI Research library
wow, right? I am now a voter of an awards show!!!! I rock. Now, here's hoping 2006 has a great Aussie films.
In much more sombre news, yesterday was the 1 year anniversary of the Asian Tsunami. The year's most defining news story (i'm totally doing a list of them later on).
December 25, 2005
Merry Christmas
and all that jazz.
Everyone in my family works night shifts so they're sleeping right now hence, I'm bored and am on the internet on Christmas morning.
So for no other reason than having nothing to talk about, here are my top 60 songs of 2005. I'm sure I'm forgetting some that were actually released in 2005 and not 2006. Or songs from albums that I didn't realise they released. My favourite track of the year however was "The Nurse" by the White Stripes - unreleased.
1. Fiona Apple – Not About Love
2. Madonna – Hung Up
3. Imogen Heap – Hide & Seek
4. Mariah Carey – We Belong Together
5. Mylo – In My Arms
6. M.I.A. – Fire, Fire
7. Martha Wainwright – Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole
8. Sugababes – Push The Button
9. The Cardigans – I Need Some Fine Wine, And You, You Need To Be Nicer
10. Gwen Stefani – Cool
11. Amerie – 1 Thing
12. Bloc Party – So Here We Are
13. Goldfrapp – Ooh La La
14. Kanye West – Diamonds From Seirra Leone
15. U2 – Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own
16. Doves – Black & White Town
17. Gwen Stefani – Hollaback Girl
18. Natalie Imbruglia – Shiver
19. Kelly Clarkson – Since U Been Gone
20. Annie – Heartbeat
21. Missy Higgins – The Special Two
22. Erasure - Breathe
23. Kylie Minogue – Giving You Up/Made Of Glass
24. Sarah Blasko – Always Worth It
25. Robocop Kraus – You Don’t Have To Shout
26. Missy Elliot – Lose Control
27. Basement Jaxx – Oh My Gosh!
28. Ladytron – Destroy Everything You Touch
29. The Bravery – An Honest Mistake
30. Rogue Traders – Voodoo Child
31. Infusion - Natural
32. M.I.A. – Bucky Done Gun
33. Green Day – Boulevard of Broken Dreams
34. Robbie Williams – Tripping
35. Coco Rosie – Noah’s Ark
36. The Flairz – Rock & Roll Ain’t Evil
37. The Go! Team – Bottle Rocket
38. Coldplay – Talk
39. Garbage – Run Baby Run
40. Brandi Carlile – What Can I Say
41. Wolfmother – Mind’s Eye
42. James Blunt – Goodbye My Lover
43. The Veronicas – Everything I’m Not
44. Mylo – Destroy Rock & Roll
45. Soulwax – NY Excuse
46. Ashlee Simpson – Boyfriend
47. Audio Bullys feat. Nancy Sinatra – Shoot You Down
48. U2 – City of Blinding Lights
49. Melissa Tkautz – Glamourous Life
50. Antony & The Johnsons – You Are My Sister
51. The Veronicas – 4evar
52. Ricki Lee – Hell No!
53. Metric – Combat Baby
54. Sheryl Crow – Good is Good
55. Dannii Minogue Vs. Flower Power – You Won’t Forget About Me
56. Stereophonics – Dakota
57. Chemical Brothers – The Boxer
58. Kanye West – Gold Digger
59. Roisin Murphy – Sow Into You
60. The Raveonettes – Love In A Trash Can
Everyone in my family works night shifts so they're sleeping right now hence, I'm bored and am on the internet on Christmas morning.
So for no other reason than having nothing to talk about, here are my top 60 songs of 2005. I'm sure I'm forgetting some that were actually released in 2005 and not 2006. Or songs from albums that I didn't realise they released. My favourite track of the year however was "The Nurse" by the White Stripes - unreleased.
1. Fiona Apple – Not About Love
2. Madonna – Hung Up
3. Imogen Heap – Hide & Seek
4. Mariah Carey – We Belong Together
5. Mylo – In My Arms
6. M.I.A. – Fire, Fire
7. Martha Wainwright – Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole
8. Sugababes – Push The Button
9. The Cardigans – I Need Some Fine Wine, And You, You Need To Be Nicer
10. Gwen Stefani – Cool
11. Amerie – 1 Thing
12. Bloc Party – So Here We Are
13. Goldfrapp – Ooh La La
14. Kanye West – Diamonds From Seirra Leone
15. U2 – Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own
16. Doves – Black & White Town
17. Gwen Stefani – Hollaback Girl
18. Natalie Imbruglia – Shiver
19. Kelly Clarkson – Since U Been Gone
20. Annie – Heartbeat
21. Missy Higgins – The Special Two
22. Erasure - Breathe
23. Kylie Minogue – Giving You Up/Made Of Glass
24. Sarah Blasko – Always Worth It
25. Robocop Kraus – You Don’t Have To Shout
26. Missy Elliot – Lose Control
27. Basement Jaxx – Oh My Gosh!
28. Ladytron – Destroy Everything You Touch
29. The Bravery – An Honest Mistake
30. Rogue Traders – Voodoo Child
31. Infusion - Natural
32. M.I.A. – Bucky Done Gun
33. Green Day – Boulevard of Broken Dreams
34. Robbie Williams – Tripping
35. Coco Rosie – Noah’s Ark
36. The Flairz – Rock & Roll Ain’t Evil
37. The Go! Team – Bottle Rocket
38. Coldplay – Talk
39. Garbage – Run Baby Run
40. Brandi Carlile – What Can I Say
41. Wolfmother – Mind’s Eye
42. James Blunt – Goodbye My Lover
43. The Veronicas – Everything I’m Not
44. Mylo – Destroy Rock & Roll
45. Soulwax – NY Excuse
46. Ashlee Simpson – Boyfriend
47. Audio Bullys feat. Nancy Sinatra – Shoot You Down
48. U2 – City of Blinding Lights
49. Melissa Tkautz – Glamourous Life
50. Antony & The Johnsons – You Are My Sister
51. The Veronicas – 4evar
52. Ricki Lee – Hell No!
53. Metric – Combat Baby
54. Sheryl Crow – Good is Good
55. Dannii Minogue Vs. Flower Power – You Won’t Forget About Me
56. Stereophonics – Dakota
57. Chemical Brothers – The Boxer
58. Kanye West – Gold Digger
59. Roisin Murphy – Sow Into You
60. The Raveonettes – Love In A Trash Can
December 23, 2005
Lesbians really are angry aren't they?
Another movie about lesbians (or, maybe not lesbians, but definitely female-female love) that ends in an act of violence. It really is true what they say about lesbians on film, isn't it?
Watched My Summer of Love (2005, dir. Pawlikowski) tonight. Decent. I was expecting a much more romantic movie, but what I got was still lots of alright. B-
Now, I think I should try and sleep. I have to get up 5:30am tomorrow in order to be at work by 6:45am. YAAAAAY.
Watched My Summer of Love (2005, dir. Pawlikowski) tonight. Decent. I was expecting a much more romantic movie, but what I got was still lots of alright. B-
Now, I think I should try and sleep. I have to get up 5:30am tomorrow in order to be at work by 6:45am. YAAAAAY.
December 22, 2005
Sickness
So, I'm quite sick right now (I spent a large part of the night throwing up!!!!) and I don't think watching part of Cremaster 3 helped. I have no fucking idea what that was. I watched "The Order" which is the end of Cremaster 3 or something like that. I found it at Blockbuster. I have no idea and I don't really care. It was only 30 minutes long and I really didn't give a rats arse about any of it. It looked great but... yeah. It was stupid. I can't imagine watching the entire 3 hours of the film, plus the other 4 films in the cycle.
Oh, and I officially decided to downgrade King Kong to a B-. I'm so over discussing that movie.
Oh, and I officially decided to downgrade King Kong to a B-. I'm so over discussing that movie.
December 21, 2005
LOL!!!
The strange thing is (as much as I love Naomi) she probably would've made a better Ann Darrow. I really hope Naomi doesn't get Oscar nominated for Kong. That'd be silly.
December 20, 2005
Critix
San Diego
Picture: King Kong
Director: Bennett Miller, Capote
Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Actress: Joan Allen, The Upside of Anger
S. Actor: Jeffrey Wright, Broken Flowers
S. Actress: Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
O. Screenplay: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
A. Screenplay: Capote
Documentary: Grizzly Man
Foreign:Innocent Voices
Animated: Howl's Moving Castle
Never thought Kong would make it, and I still don't. Great to see Joan Allen finally receive an award! Maybe her fortunes are reversing at just the right moment. Weisz gets added boost. Jeffrey Wright? Broken Flowers ain't happening I don't think. Great to see Kiss Kiss Bang Bang though! It'd be great if it could get Shane Black that seemingly last open spot in the oscars. Howl's Moving Castle! Hopefully this will help it get seen by more voters.
Las Vegas
Picture: Brokeback Mountain
Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Actor: Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
S. Actor: Matt Dillon, Crash
S. Actress: Frances McDormand, North Country
Screenplay: Crash
Documentary: March of the Penguins
Foreign: Kung Fu Hustle
Animated: Wallace & Gromit
Yay! Brokeback, Ang and Heath! Good news for Matt Dillon. all of the four acting winners for LV went on to be nommed at the Oscars last year (and two won). So, Frances may very well be resurging. Kung Fu Hustle? I'm so disappointed now that I've seen that movie. Yay for W&G though!
There were also a few other critics groups that announced but I need to go get ready to go out for dinner with Hanz and Georgie. Sailor's Rest we're going to. Very hoity.
Picture: King Kong
Director: Bennett Miller, Capote
Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Actress: Joan Allen, The Upside of Anger
S. Actor: Jeffrey Wright, Broken Flowers
S. Actress: Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
O. Screenplay: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
A. Screenplay: Capote
Documentary: Grizzly Man
Foreign:Innocent Voices
Animated: Howl's Moving Castle
Never thought Kong would make it, and I still don't. Great to see Joan Allen finally receive an award! Maybe her fortunes are reversing at just the right moment. Weisz gets added boost. Jeffrey Wright? Broken Flowers ain't happening I don't think. Great to see Kiss Kiss Bang Bang though! It'd be great if it could get Shane Black that seemingly last open spot in the oscars. Howl's Moving Castle! Hopefully this will help it get seen by more voters.
Las Vegas
Picture: Brokeback Mountain
Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Actor: Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
S. Actor: Matt Dillon, Crash
S. Actress: Frances McDormand, North Country
Screenplay: Crash
Documentary: March of the Penguins
Foreign: Kung Fu Hustle
Animated: Wallace & Gromit
Yay! Brokeback, Ang and Heath! Good news for Matt Dillon. all of the four acting winners for LV went on to be nommed at the Oscars last year (and two won). So, Frances may very well be resurging. Kung Fu Hustle? I'm so disappointed now that I've seen that movie. Yay for W&G though!
There were also a few other critics groups that announced but I need to go get ready to go out for dinner with Hanz and Georgie. Sailor's Rest we're going to. Very hoity.
This wasn't surprising
Bradley John Murdock was found guilty (in 8 hours!!) of murdering Peter Falconio and abducting Joanne Lees and depriving her of her liberties. They are now investigating him in relation to many many many more unsolved disappearances in the outback.
I wonder where he hid Peter Falconio's body? Will it pop up in 20 years time under someone's newly built shed?
- incase you don't know, this was one of the cases that Wolf Creek was based on. I'm sure in the states it's being advertised as some pithy teenagers getting stalked horror movie (judging from the poster? yes it is) but it's not. It's horrifying and brutal. take the kids along on Christmas day! -
I wonder where he hid Peter Falconio's body? Will it pop up in 20 years time under someone's newly built shed?
- incase you don't know, this was one of the cases that Wolf Creek was based on. I'm sure in the states it's being advertised as some pithy teenagers getting stalked horror movie (judging from the poster? yes it is) but it's not. It's horrifying and brutal. take the kids along on Christmas day! -
Well I just had a good cry
I bought The Ultimate Aaliyah today. It had two CDs of music plus a DVD that included an hour long documentary. I just watched the doco and man, I should've KNOWN I was gonna cry. For me, Aaliyah is the only celebrity whose death has made me weep. The day I found out about her plane crash was just so sad and I couldn't help it. People cried when Lennon died. Others when any other number of young artists (on any field) died. And Aaliyah was one of the first of it's kind in my lifetime. When you hear about all the famous people dying they're usually old enough to have experienced life, but Aaliyah was 21 when she died.
It was a tragedy for music, really. To quote one of Aaliyah's closest friends and choreographer from the doco - "She was an angel. A true angel."
I remember first hearing an Aaliyah song when I was 12 with "If Your Girl Only Knew" - a brilliant hip-hop song. I don't remember ever hearing from her again until the undisputed classic that is "Try Again" came out. I immediately bought the Romeo Must Die soundtrack which included 3 more Aaliyah tunes - all of which was excellent. I then fell in love with her "One In A Million" album and then she released one of my all-time favourite albums. The self-titled "Aaliyah". I immediately fell in love with classics such as "U Got Nerve", "Rock The Boat", "We Need A Resolution", "What If", "Smooth Rap" and "I Care 4 U".
And then I was on the internet one day and went on Yahoo only to see the news in the side panel 'Singer Aaliyah Dies In Plane Crash' and I was just in shock. I continued to read the articles as they came in every 10 minutes or so. It was a sad day.
Thankfully, even though she was 21 she had created such a legacy that will be remembered forever. 3 albums plus a whole bunch of soundtrack (including Dr Dolittle's "Are You That Somebody" and Anastacia's Academy Award nominated "Journey To The Past") as well as the producer of her being. It's fairly well known that everybody that knew her loved Aaliyah and that she didn't leave anyone with bad feelings.
It's sad that that when she died she had just finished filming the video clip for what is ultimately one of her greatest songs - "Rock The Boat". Definitely one of the sexiest songs I've ever heard.
Anyway, I just wanted to discuss this. A lot of people have stories about when their favourite performer died. And I felt like talking about this.
Interesting fact for the movie oriented out there: Aaliyah was only the second african-american female to perform at the Academy Awards ("Journey to the Past").
...or, I'm pretty that's true. Whitney Houston and then her... right? I dunno. I'm gonna go liven my mood and go watch an episode of "Arrested Development"
December 19, 2005
New Favourite Show
It's official. Veronica Mars is my new favourite show. It's now taken over from Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy as my favourite show of 2005.
I've also been watching a lot of the first season on Arrested Development these last couple of days. SO freakin hilarious.
"I love all my children equally"
-cut to a day earlier-
"I don't care much for Gob"
I've also been watching a lot of the first season on Arrested Development these last couple of days. SO freakin hilarious.
"I love all my children equally"
-cut to a day earlier-
"I don't care much for Gob"
Brokeback on the Hot Plate
"I don't want to spend my money and see a three hour movie about gay cowboys." - dude, the movie is 2 hours and 15 minutes. King Kong on the other hand IS three hours and is about a romance between a gorilla and a woman.
It seems so strange that more people are averse to Brokeback Mountain's romance than to King Kong's.
And I think Dave Cullen hit the nail on the head. It's not that Poland didn't like the movie that has annoyed so many people, it's that (from all appearances) he doesn't even think it is worth the time. As if homosexuals have no right to have a big epic romance made about them. So many people have said that if it weren't for the gay theme then nobody would care. And exactly, it IS about gay men and what they think, feel, do, etc. That's not up for discussion.
And so I think it is just irritating to many readers (gay men in particular) to hear (mostly) men disregard Brokeback as nothing important. As if it's just another soppy romance of no value.
But of course, we also have King Kong - apparently one of the greatest romances of our time. And that's between a freakin 800 pound gorilla and a human. But, aww, you can see the emotion in Naomi Watts' eyes!!!!!!
(this isn't a dig at Poland, btw - i'm just trying to express why I think so many are annoyed at Poland's views and the ones like it)
er, except that last bit. I still don't really get how people can believe Naomi Watts loved the gorilla as anything other than... well, a big giant ape. Surely she has SOME standards.
That was posted by me.
Having now seen the movie, I think DP's reaction can be attributed to his raging heterosexuality...simple lack of a identification with the characters, as opposed to any agenda or ignorance or anything such as that.
That was posted by jeffmcm
I find it sort of saddening that some people can identify with a giant ape falling for a human female (and vice versa!!) than they can a man falling in love with another man.
Really. If "lack of a identification with the character" was the only problem then... well... yeah.
That was posted by me. All consecutive posts over on this thread at the Hot Blog.
Not to say I'm great or anything, but aren't I on the right direction here. How can, in the year 2005, anyone claim to not be able to identify with two men falling in love, yet can praise King Kong's emotional core. IT'S A FUCKING GIANT GORILLA AND A HUMAN FEMALE!!!! If you can identify with that more than than two men (and it ain't the time period - Kong is set over 30 years before Brokeback at it's earliest) then you have something wrong.
And I really do think that David isn't a homophobe for not liking the movie. He has the right to like and dislike any movie he pleases, but it's just annoying when he can't even see past his opinions to acknowledge the affect that this movie is having. How much it actually means to a large majority of the gay film-loving population to have a film such as this. He expects us to all just carry on as if nothing particularly different is happening. "It's just another romantic drama" or whatever he'll say.
That may be, but if there was one about two lesbians that involved them getting naked while also creating a beautiful poetic love story they'd probably think it was revolutionary. It may very well be his hetero knee-jerk reaction, but to just disregard the film as nothing more than a regular film with nothing to offer, then... well, THAT is almost homophobic. To just think that we (gay film goers) should deal with the fact that movies such as this aren't made often (or particularly well for the most part) and get back to caring about HETEROSEXUAL romances such as Walk The Line or whatever (a perfectly good movie i'm sure) is grotesque.
It seems so strange that more people are averse to Brokeback Mountain's romance than to King Kong's.
And I think Dave Cullen hit the nail on the head. It's not that Poland didn't like the movie that has annoyed so many people, it's that (from all appearances) he doesn't even think it is worth the time. As if homosexuals have no right to have a big epic romance made about them. So many people have said that if it weren't for the gay theme then nobody would care. And exactly, it IS about gay men and what they think, feel, do, etc. That's not up for discussion.
And so I think it is just irritating to many readers (gay men in particular) to hear (mostly) men disregard Brokeback as nothing important. As if it's just another soppy romance of no value.
But of course, we also have King Kong - apparently one of the greatest romances of our time. And that's between a freakin 800 pound gorilla and a human. But, aww, you can see the emotion in Naomi Watts' eyes!!!!!!
(this isn't a dig at Poland, btw - i'm just trying to express why I think so many are annoyed at Poland's views and the ones like it)
er, except that last bit. I still don't really get how people can believe Naomi Watts loved the gorilla as anything other than... well, a big giant ape. Surely she has SOME standards.
That was posted by me.
Having now seen the movie, I think DP's reaction can be attributed to his raging heterosexuality...simple lack of a identification with the characters, as opposed to any agenda or ignorance or anything such as that.
That was posted by jeffmcm
I find it sort of saddening that some people can identify with a giant ape falling for a human female (and vice versa!!) than they can a man falling in love with another man.
Really. If "lack of a identification with the character" was the only problem then... well... yeah.
That was posted by me. All consecutive posts over on this thread at the Hot Blog.
Not to say I'm great or anything, but aren't I on the right direction here. How can, in the year 2005, anyone claim to not be able to identify with two men falling in love, yet can praise King Kong's emotional core. IT'S A FUCKING GIANT GORILLA AND A HUMAN FEMALE!!!! If you can identify with that more than than two men (and it ain't the time period - Kong is set over 30 years before Brokeback at it's earliest) then you have something wrong.
And I really do think that David isn't a homophobe for not liking the movie. He has the right to like and dislike any movie he pleases, but it's just annoying when he can't even see past his opinions to acknowledge the affect that this movie is having. How much it actually means to a large majority of the gay film-loving population to have a film such as this. He expects us to all just carry on as if nothing particularly different is happening. "It's just another romantic drama" or whatever he'll say.
That may be, but if there was one about two lesbians that involved them getting naked while also creating a beautiful poetic love story they'd probably think it was revolutionary. It may very well be his hetero knee-jerk reaction, but to just disregard the film as nothing more than a regular film with nothing to offer, then... well, THAT is almost homophobic. To just think that we (gay film goers) should deal with the fact that movies such as this aren't made often (or particularly well for the most part) and get back to caring about HETEROSEXUAL romances such as Walk The Line or whatever (a perfectly good movie i'm sure) is grotesque.
The Movies of 2005
For some unknown reason, I'm gonna list the 58 movies from 2005 that I have seen. Obviously, not all of these were at the cinema (in fact quite a few were DVD) and the ones that were in the cinema aren't the only ones from 2005 that I've seen in the cinema, because Australia continues to get 2004 movies way into 2005 - but I'm not including those.
In alphabetical order
2046, dir. Kar-Wai
The Amityville Horror, dir. Douglas
Batman Begins, dir. Nolan
Bewitched, dir. Ephron
Bride & Prejudice, dir. Chadha
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, dir. Burton
The Constant Gardener, dir. Meirelles
Corpse Bride, dir. Burton & Johnson
Crash, dir. Crash
Criminal, dir. Jacobs
Cursed, dir. Craven
Elektra, dir. Bowman
Fantastic 4, dir. Story
A Good Woman, dir. Barker
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, dir. Newell
Hating Alison Ashley, dir. Bennett
The Hidden History of Homosexual Australia, dir. Anemogiannis
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, dir. Jennings
Hostage, dir. Siri
House of Wax, dir. Collet-Serra
Howl's Moving Castle, dir. Miyazaki
The Illustrated Family Doctor, dir. Stenders
In Her Shoes, dir. Hanson
The Interpreter, dir. Pollack
The Island, dir. Bay
King Kong, dir. Jackson
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, dir. Black
Kung-Fu Hustle, dir. Chow
Last Days, dir. Van Sant
Little Fish, dir. Woods
Look Both Ways, dir. Watt
Me & You & Everyone We Know, dir. July
Melinda & Melinda, dir. Allen
Mind The Gap, dir. unknown
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous, dir. Pasquin
Moster-in-Law, dir. Luketic
Mr & Mrs Smith, dir. Liman
Must Love Dogs, dir. Goldberg
The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello, dir. A Lucas
Mysterious Skin, dir. Araki
Oldboy, dir. Park
Oyster Farmer, dir. Reeves
Peaches, dir. Monahan
Pride & Prejudice, dir. Wright
The Proposition, dir. Hillcoat
Red Eye, dir. Craven
The Ring Two, dir. Nakata
Shopgirl, dir. Tucker
Sin City, dir. Rodriguez
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, dir. G. Lucas
Undertow, dir. Green
The Upside of Anger, dir. Binder
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, dir. Park & Box
War of the Worlds, dir. Spielberg
Wedding Crashers, dir. Dobkin
The Wedding Date, dir. Kilner
Wolf Creek, dir. McLean
Yesterday, dir. Roodt
Needless to say there are a whole bunch that I still really wanna see. Brokeback, Violence, Match Point, The Producers, Rent, etc etc...
(this entry really doesn't have much of a point)
Oh, btw, I think I've decided to downgrade King Kong to a B-. But I still wanna think about that.
In alphabetical order
2046, dir. Kar-Wai
The Amityville Horror, dir. Douglas
Batman Begins, dir. Nolan
Bewitched, dir. Ephron
Bride & Prejudice, dir. Chadha
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, dir. Burton
The Constant Gardener, dir. Meirelles
Corpse Bride, dir. Burton & Johnson
Crash, dir. Crash
Criminal, dir. Jacobs
Cursed, dir. Craven
Elektra, dir. Bowman
Fantastic 4, dir. Story
A Good Woman, dir. Barker
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, dir. Newell
Hating Alison Ashley, dir. Bennett
The Hidden History of Homosexual Australia, dir. Anemogiannis
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, dir. Jennings
Hostage, dir. Siri
House of Wax, dir. Collet-Serra
Howl's Moving Castle, dir. Miyazaki
The Illustrated Family Doctor, dir. Stenders
In Her Shoes, dir. Hanson
The Interpreter, dir. Pollack
The Island, dir. Bay
King Kong, dir. Jackson
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, dir. Black
Kung-Fu Hustle, dir. Chow
Last Days, dir. Van Sant
Little Fish, dir. Woods
Look Both Ways, dir. Watt
Me & You & Everyone We Know, dir. July
Melinda & Melinda, dir. Allen
Mind The Gap, dir. unknown
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous, dir. Pasquin
Moster-in-Law, dir. Luketic
Mr & Mrs Smith, dir. Liman
Must Love Dogs, dir. Goldberg
The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello, dir. A Lucas
Mysterious Skin, dir. Araki
Oldboy, dir. Park
Oyster Farmer, dir. Reeves
Peaches, dir. Monahan
Pride & Prejudice, dir. Wright
The Proposition, dir. Hillcoat
Red Eye, dir. Craven
The Ring Two, dir. Nakata
Shopgirl, dir. Tucker
Sin City, dir. Rodriguez
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, dir. G. Lucas
Undertow, dir. Green
The Upside of Anger, dir. Binder
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, dir. Park & Box
War of the Worlds, dir. Spielberg
Wedding Crashers, dir. Dobkin
The Wedding Date, dir. Kilner
Wolf Creek, dir. McLean
Yesterday, dir. Roodt
Needless to say there are a whole bunch that I still really wanna see. Brokeback, Violence, Match Point, The Producers, Rent, etc etc...
(this entry really doesn't have much of a point)
Oh, btw, I think I've decided to downgrade King Kong to a B-. But I still wanna think about that.
December 18, 2005
David & Margaret
They finished for the year a couple of weeks ago, but they had a special hour-long episode tonight for Summer. It reviewed a whole bunch of movies but the spectacular thing is that they both gave Brokeback Mountain 5/5 (quite rare - specially from David) as well as 5/5 from both for Good Night & Good Luck.
Margaret said this, and I paraphrase, about Brokeback: "this is the reason I go to the cinema."
And they used clips from the trailer for images and the bit where Heath holds the double-shirt against him just makes me wanna bawl my eyes out.
Margaret said this, and I paraphrase, about Brokeback: "this is the reason I go to the cinema."
And they used clips from the trailer for images and the bit where Heath holds the double-shirt against him just makes me wanna bawl my eyes out.
Box Office Takings Spell Doom For Kong Oscar Hopes reads news headline
Or... not really, I made that up. But, if King Kong's financial success was one of the reasons why it was considered a frontrunner for a nomination then that can go out the window right about ...now. It grossed $14.4mil on Friday. That's a third less than Narnia last weekend and it'll need to get a huge boost on Saturday to even get to $50mil for the Fri-Sun segment of it's opening. So shocking - although it's it's own fault. A three remake of a movie about a giant gorilla? And it's not even as good as everyone is saying.
But in lighter news, Brokeback Mountain made the Top 10 on Friday with $.7mil! It should get to $2.5mil by the end of the weekend and have a PSA of over $30,000. That's excellent. And it's only showing on 69 screens. Brilliant!
But in lighter news, Brokeback Mountain made the Top 10 on Friday with $.7mil! It should get to $2.5mil by the end of the weekend and have a PSA of over $30,000. That's excellent. And it's only showing on 69 screens. Brilliant!
King Kong
ooh. Box Office ain't good, folks. Friday will tell the more important tale, but it's gross as of Friday morning was a less-than spectacular $17mil. It's strange though cause even in Australia on opening night when I saw it the cinema of 650 capacity had only around 100 people in it. On OPENING NIGHT.
Bizarre.
Bizarre.
December 17, 2005
LOL@Memoirs part Deux
hah! Don't you just love imaturity! God, last night was so much fun. Although I've since woken up and I can remember pretty much everything I did last night, but for some reason the exact same spot on both of my legs hurts. I have no idea what I did to get that. Ohwell.
I did actually have a theory about Memoirs of a Geisha though that I went right over last night.
We all know that the movie is sliding out of the major categories, but I was wondering whether that status hurts it in the tech categories. I'm sure the costume segment of the Academy will recognise it, as will with the production designers and such, but... how possible is it now that they WON'T. Or, if they do, can they win? Hmmm... if Geisha doesn't win Costume for which it seems most accustomed to doing, what does? It seems like the only OBVIOUS one (ie; big, bold and bright) with movies like Pride & Prejudice being mostly low-key (although fabulous and deserving) and Cinderella Man (which I have not seen) being the same. Could Mrs Henderson Presents take it with her feathers? Maybe, but Sandy Powell just recently won. As in THIS YEAR - I'm not as knowledgable about the costume area as Nat is so I don't know if they care about this when voting. Could Casanova overtake other movies that have other category placements (Casanova appears unlikely anywhere else) and win for it's only nomination (if it gets it, obviously). Jenny Beavan last won in 1987!
And then what of Kingdom of Heaven, Walk the Line, The Producers or even King Kong (which doesn't really have much going for its costumes. i mean, they look good but other than New York Glamour and Tropical Island Chic it doesn't have much else. Hmmm.
My legs hurt, as does my head (moreso than usual)
I did actually have a theory about Memoirs of a Geisha though that I went right over last night.
We all know that the movie is sliding out of the major categories, but I was wondering whether that status hurts it in the tech categories. I'm sure the costume segment of the Academy will recognise it, as will with the production designers and such, but... how possible is it now that they WON'T. Or, if they do, can they win? Hmmm... if Geisha doesn't win Costume for which it seems most accustomed to doing, what does? It seems like the only OBVIOUS one (ie; big, bold and bright) with movies like Pride & Prejudice being mostly low-key (although fabulous and deserving) and Cinderella Man (which I have not seen) being the same. Could Mrs Henderson Presents take it with her feathers? Maybe, but Sandy Powell just recently won. As in THIS YEAR - I'm not as knowledgable about the costume area as Nat is so I don't know if they care about this when voting. Could Casanova overtake other movies that have other category placements (Casanova appears unlikely anywhere else) and win for it's only nomination (if it gets it, obviously). Jenny Beavan last won in 1987!
And then what of Kingdom of Heaven, Walk the Line, The Producers or even King Kong (which doesn't really have much going for its costumes. i mean, they look good but other than New York Glamour and Tropical Island Chic it doesn't have much else. Hmmm.
My legs hurt, as does my head (moreso than usual)
LOL@Memoir
lol, i'm so b loody drunk right now!!!
kthnx
I lopve that I;m drunk posting on this blog. thats super-hilarious! i need food
kthnx
I lopve that I;m drunk posting on this blog. thats super-hilarious! i need food
December 16, 2005
Top 11 Albums of 2005
In a weird freaky coincidence, Nat decided to do a little CD post at his blog too. I was walking home today and was all like "I think I'll do a Top 10 albums thing". And lo and behold here it is. I decided to 11 though cause i couldn't stop at 10.
11. Missy Elliot, The Cookbook
Less imediately rap and hip-hop filled as it is an instantaneously a butt-shaking good time! And way to go on recruiting M.I.A. for a guest spot.
Choice Cuts: "Bad Man", "Lose Control", "We Run This", "Can't Stop" and "Party Time".
10. Sarah Blasko, The Overture and the Underscore
The only Australian entry on the list. Blasko is a true talent and this is her first album. Was cruely swept under the run because of the similar (yet ultimately inferior) Missy Higgins. One moment blissfully pop, the next sublimely erotic and dramatic.
Choice Cuts: "Don't U Eva", "Always Worthy It", "Sweetest November", "At Yer Best" and "All Coming Back"
Honourary Mention: Produced two stellar cover versions that appeared on other albums in 2005. Her absolutely MASTERFUL version of Cold Chisel's ace "Flame Trees" was truly one of the most haunting and beautiful songs of the year, and it appeared on the Little Fish soundtrack. Her swell interpretation of legend's Crowded House' "Don't Dream It's Over" appeared on She Will Have Her Way: The Songs of Tim and Neil Finn - an entire album of their songs redone by female vocalists.
9. Sufjan Stevens, Come On! Feel The Illinoise!
Strange and bizarre but beautifully crafted and sublime. I can't really describe it, but would you expect from an album that has a a song name "The Black Hawk War or, How to Demolish and Entire Civilisation and Still Feel Good About Youself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience but You're Going to Have to Leave Now, or, "I Have Fought the Big Knives and will continue to fight them until they..."
yeah!
Choice Cuts: "Black Hawk War", "Come On! Feel The Illinoise!", "John Wayne Gacy Jr", "They Are Night Zombies!" and "Out Of Egypt, Into The Great Laugh Of Mankind..."
8. Goldfrapp, Supernature
Ooh, baby. Is Alison Goldfrapp sexy or what? That voice just melts over these delicious dance tunes. Ooh la la indeed.
Choice Cuts: "Koko", "Ooh La La", "Ride A White Horse", "Number 1", "Lovely 2 C U" and "You Never Know"
7. Kanye West, Late Registration
As much fun as the album is the main reason it is on here is for one of the greatest uses of sampling I've ever come across. "Diamonds From Seirra Leone" uses that great lady of music, Shirley Bassey and her "Diamonds Are Forever" theme song, to create one of the best songs of the year.
Choice Cuts: "Diamonds From Seirra Leone", "Gold Digger", "Bring Me Down", "Touch The Sky", "Roses" and "Crack Music"
6. Doves, Some Cities
Blistering rock. This is music that soars and I can't put it any simpler. It just builds until those big guitars come in and its home free.
Choice Cuts: "Black and White Town", "Snowden", "Sky Starts Falling", "Shadows of Salford" and "Some Cities"
5. Alexandre Desplat, OST BIRTH
Okay, the movie was released HERE in 2005 as was the sountrack. And wow, what a soundtrack. Definitely one of my favourite scores of all time I just can't get enough of it. It works because when I hear it it literally does take me back the movie and the individual scenes they correlate to. Brilliant.
Choice Cuts: "Prologue", "The Letter", "Day Out", "The Rendez-vous", "My Dead Husband", "Timpani" and "Elegy"
4. Martha Wainwright, Martha Wainwright
This album hit me like no other. These songs are just great, and they are filled with such excellent lyrics and Martha's voice rips through them like nobody else could. And whoever "Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole" is about should be scared. very scared.
Choice Cuts: "These Flowers", "Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole", "Ball & Chain", "Factory", "GPT", "When The Day Is Short" and "Far Away"
3. M.I.A., Arular
I was not expecting this. At times this is THE dance album of the year (yes, even moreso than a certain other one). However, a few more songs and few less "skits" would've definitely made this album of the year material. Political message or not, you can't deny this is brlistering music. I'd love to say this was the future of music... i hope it is.
Choice Cuts: "10 $", "Fire Fire", "Amazon", "Bucky Done Gun", "Galang", "Sunshowers", "Hombre" and "U.R.A.Q.T."
2. Madonna, Confessions on a Dance Floor
Uh-huh. Only Number 2. I am adament that this album is brilliant. Just brilliant. It makes me wanna get up and dance (for inspiration) and if I can't do that then I'll dance in my head. Great pop hooks attached to awesome dance riffs. And who cares if there are more songs about Madonna being Madonna when they're as good as the ones on here?! And I don't think anyone denies the pop brilliance of "Hung Up" - much like Kanye's "Diamond's From Seirra Leone", it perfectly uses a sample (the still ace sounding Abba's "Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)" and makes it it's own. "Get Together" is just simply done dance, but done so well. "Sorry" introduces us to one of Madge's best (the best?) hooks (the "Sorry/I've Heard It All Before" repeated line), "Future Lovers" recalls Music's bonkers "Paradise (Not For Me) and "I Love New York", while featuring stupid lyrics, has a "play it LOUD" mentality that I can't ignore. I personally blame this album for ruining my hearing in the coming months as it will definitely be on repeat. I need to play it at full volume to get the full effects of it's brilliance. Not to mention ace tracks like "Isaac", "Let It Will Be" and "Forbidden Love". And whose idea was it to sample Madonna's own "Frozen" on "Push". Brilliance.
1. The White Stripes, Get Behind Me Satan
The album with the most *snickersnicker* cover design - Jack and Meg standing back-to-back with an arm behind each other pointing at the other, while Meg holds an apple in front. It also includes some of the greatest music of the year. Extremely hard-to-take for more mainstream rock induced people, the album is imagination galore - "The Nurse" and "Forever For Her (Is Over For Me) perfectly combine an xilophone verse with a guitar/drum chorus), "Take, Take, Take" is oldschool perfection that even references to Rita Hayworth, "Little Ghost" and "I'm Lonely (But I Ain't That Lonely Yet) is Jack continuing his Cold Mountain country twang, "Blue Orchid" is traditional grandstanding rock, "Denial Twist" again merges fun vocals and deep drums and guitars while "Red Rain" is just LOUDLOUDLOUD in the best possibly way. And a lot of the tracks mix what they already have with near-haunting piano. Almost too simply done piano, but it works all the same.
While not as immediate as, say, their previous album Elephant, this one slowly reveals itself as one of the greatest albums of the last few years.
While #1 and #2 should be tied, i decided to make White Stripes #1 because I think when they're talking about music 30 years in the future Get Behind Me Satan will figure prominantly as one of those "artist goes experimental" albums that everyone talks about.
Honourary Mentions: Kate Bush (Aerial), Sugababes (Taller In More Ways), Mariah Carey (The Emancipation of Mimi), Wolfmother (Wolfmother), Natalie Imbruglia (Counting Down The Days, Mylo (Destroy Rock & Roll), James Blunt (Back to Bedlam), Imogen Heap (Speak For Yourself), Feeder (Pushing The Senses), Various (OST Brokeback Mountain), The Chemical Bros. (Push The Button) and Antony & the Johnsons (I Am A Bird Now)
11. Missy Elliot, The Cookbook
Less imediately rap and hip-hop filled as it is an instantaneously a butt-shaking good time! And way to go on recruiting M.I.A. for a guest spot.
Choice Cuts: "Bad Man", "Lose Control", "We Run This", "Can't Stop" and "Party Time".
10. Sarah Blasko, The Overture and the Underscore
The only Australian entry on the list. Blasko is a true talent and this is her first album. Was cruely swept under the run because of the similar (yet ultimately inferior) Missy Higgins. One moment blissfully pop, the next sublimely erotic and dramatic.
Choice Cuts: "Don't U Eva", "Always Worthy It", "Sweetest November", "At Yer Best" and "All Coming Back"
Honourary Mention: Produced two stellar cover versions that appeared on other albums in 2005. Her absolutely MASTERFUL version of Cold Chisel's ace "Flame Trees" was truly one of the most haunting and beautiful songs of the year, and it appeared on the Little Fish soundtrack. Her swell interpretation of legend's Crowded House' "Don't Dream It's Over" appeared on She Will Have Her Way: The Songs of Tim and Neil Finn - an entire album of their songs redone by female vocalists.
9. Sufjan Stevens, Come On! Feel The Illinoise!
Strange and bizarre but beautifully crafted and sublime. I can't really describe it, but would you expect from an album that has a a song name "The Black Hawk War or, How to Demolish and Entire Civilisation and Still Feel Good About Youself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience but You're Going to Have to Leave Now, or, "I Have Fought the Big Knives and will continue to fight them until they..."
yeah!
Choice Cuts: "Black Hawk War", "Come On! Feel The Illinoise!", "John Wayne Gacy Jr", "They Are Night Zombies!" and "Out Of Egypt, Into The Great Laugh Of Mankind..."
8. Goldfrapp, Supernature
Ooh, baby. Is Alison Goldfrapp sexy or what? That voice just melts over these delicious dance tunes. Ooh la la indeed.
Choice Cuts: "Koko", "Ooh La La", "Ride A White Horse", "Number 1", "Lovely 2 C U" and "You Never Know"
7. Kanye West, Late Registration
As much fun as the album is the main reason it is on here is for one of the greatest uses of sampling I've ever come across. "Diamonds From Seirra Leone" uses that great lady of music, Shirley Bassey and her "Diamonds Are Forever" theme song, to create one of the best songs of the year.
Choice Cuts: "Diamonds From Seirra Leone", "Gold Digger", "Bring Me Down", "Touch The Sky", "Roses" and "Crack Music"
6. Doves, Some Cities
Blistering rock. This is music that soars and I can't put it any simpler. It just builds until those big guitars come in and its home free.
Choice Cuts: "Black and White Town", "Snowden", "Sky Starts Falling", "Shadows of Salford" and "Some Cities"
5. Alexandre Desplat, OST BIRTH
Okay, the movie was released HERE in 2005 as was the sountrack. And wow, what a soundtrack. Definitely one of my favourite scores of all time I just can't get enough of it. It works because when I hear it it literally does take me back the movie and the individual scenes they correlate to. Brilliant.
Choice Cuts: "Prologue", "The Letter", "Day Out", "The Rendez-vous", "My Dead Husband", "Timpani" and "Elegy"
4. Martha Wainwright, Martha Wainwright
This album hit me like no other. These songs are just great, and they are filled with such excellent lyrics and Martha's voice rips through them like nobody else could. And whoever "Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole" is about should be scared. very scared.
Choice Cuts: "These Flowers", "Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole", "Ball & Chain", "Factory", "GPT", "When The Day Is Short" and "Far Away"
3. M.I.A., Arular
I was not expecting this. At times this is THE dance album of the year (yes, even moreso than a certain other one). However, a few more songs and few less "skits" would've definitely made this album of the year material. Political message or not, you can't deny this is brlistering music. I'd love to say this was the future of music... i hope it is.
Choice Cuts: "10 $", "Fire Fire", "Amazon", "Bucky Done Gun", "Galang", "Sunshowers", "Hombre" and "U.R.A.Q.T."
2. Madonna, Confessions on a Dance Floor
Uh-huh. Only Number 2. I am adament that this album is brilliant. Just brilliant. It makes me wanna get up and dance (for inspiration) and if I can't do that then I'll dance in my head. Great pop hooks attached to awesome dance riffs. And who cares if there are more songs about Madonna being Madonna when they're as good as the ones on here?! And I don't think anyone denies the pop brilliance of "Hung Up" - much like Kanye's "Diamond's From Seirra Leone", it perfectly uses a sample (the still ace sounding Abba's "Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)" and makes it it's own. "Get Together" is just simply done dance, but done so well. "Sorry" introduces us to one of Madge's best (the best?) hooks (the "Sorry/I've Heard It All Before" repeated line), "Future Lovers" recalls Music's bonkers "Paradise (Not For Me) and "I Love New York", while featuring stupid lyrics, has a "play it LOUD" mentality that I can't ignore. I personally blame this album for ruining my hearing in the coming months as it will definitely be on repeat. I need to play it at full volume to get the full effects of it's brilliance. Not to mention ace tracks like "Isaac", "Let It Will Be" and "Forbidden Love". And whose idea was it to sample Madonna's own "Frozen" on "Push". Brilliance.
1. The White Stripes, Get Behind Me Satan
The album with the most *snickersnicker* cover design - Jack and Meg standing back-to-back with an arm behind each other pointing at the other, while Meg holds an apple in front. It also includes some of the greatest music of the year. Extremely hard-to-take for more mainstream rock induced people, the album is imagination galore - "The Nurse" and "Forever For Her (Is Over For Me) perfectly combine an xilophone verse with a guitar/drum chorus), "Take, Take, Take" is oldschool perfection that even references to Rita Hayworth, "Little Ghost" and "I'm Lonely (But I Ain't That Lonely Yet) is Jack continuing his Cold Mountain country twang, "Blue Orchid" is traditional grandstanding rock, "Denial Twist" again merges fun vocals and deep drums and guitars while "Red Rain" is just LOUDLOUDLOUD in the best possibly way. And a lot of the tracks mix what they already have with near-haunting piano. Almost too simply done piano, but it works all the same.
While not as immediate as, say, their previous album Elephant, this one slowly reveals itself as one of the greatest albums of the last few years.
While #1 and #2 should be tied, i decided to make White Stripes #1 because I think when they're talking about music 30 years in the future Get Behind Me Satan will figure prominantly as one of those "artist goes experimental" albums that everyone talks about.
Honourary Mentions: Kate Bush (Aerial), Sugababes (Taller In More Ways), Mariah Carey (The Emancipation of Mimi), Wolfmother (Wolfmother), Natalie Imbruglia (Counting Down The Days, Mylo (Destroy Rock & Roll), James Blunt (Back to Bedlam), Imogen Heap (Speak For Yourself), Feeder (Pushing The Senses), Various (OST Brokeback Mountain), The Chemical Bros. (Push The Button) and Antony & the Johnsons (I Am A Bird Now)
Tom O'Neil
My favourite thing about this article from The Envelope is that at the very top of the page there is a FYC ad for Kyra Sedgewick in The Closer - I hope she wins the Globe. She's so excellent in that greatly underappreciated and underseen show. Yes, it's a detective show but WHAT a detective show. Kyra is so great. Always loved her. I think it stems from loving the movie Heart & Soul as a kid (i still do love it btw). So why didn't she become a huge star?
Now, why did they use that horrible grainy picture of what could possibly be heath and Jake vaguely looking at each other (its not too clear) when they could use these...
righteo.
Okay. The start of the article itself is sort of annoying.
"Call these the gay Globes — yikes! "Capote," "Transamerica," "Breakfast on Pluto" and "Brokeback Mountain.""
er, Capote and Pluto got a total of 2 noms. TransAmerica got another 2. That's barely anything.
"I'm starting to hear grumblings about people thinking it's too soap opera-ish and that it has too many endings," says Lou Lumenick, film critic of the New York Post. "It's also vulnerable because it's out front so early. Every time you have a front-runner, a backlash of some sort starts to form."
lol, that didn't stop Return of the King.
The most bonkers bit comes here
"Most fascinating about today's Globe nominations was how the foreign press not only failed to acknowledge the artistry of that film — just as I had boldly predicted they would — but how they underscored their outlander status by failing to sense the holy place the Kong legend holds in Yankee lore."
umm... what? I can acknowledge that people thing the film has "artistry" or whatever (i love how he thinks he was being bold by not predicting it. Was I being bold in not predicting it. WHERE'S MY CREDIT, TOM?!) but that last section is just off "the whole "underscored their outlander status". WTF?
I... have no idea.
Anyway.
Can a film producer give Kyra Sedgewick a great role in a movie so she can get Oscar love PLZ!!!!
Now, why did they use that horrible grainy picture of what could possibly be heath and Jake vaguely looking at each other (its not too clear) when they could use these...
righteo.
Okay. The start of the article itself is sort of annoying.
"Call these the gay Globes — yikes! "Capote," "Transamerica," "Breakfast on Pluto" and "Brokeback Mountain.""
er, Capote and Pluto got a total of 2 noms. TransAmerica got another 2. That's barely anything.
"I'm starting to hear grumblings about people thinking it's too soap opera-ish and that it has too many endings," says Lou Lumenick, film critic of the New York Post. "It's also vulnerable because it's out front so early. Every time you have a front-runner, a backlash of some sort starts to form."
lol, that didn't stop Return of the King.
The most bonkers bit comes here
"Most fascinating about today's Globe nominations was how the foreign press not only failed to acknowledge the artistry of that film — just as I had boldly predicted they would — but how they underscored their outlander status by failing to sense the holy place the Kong legend holds in Yankee lore."
umm... what? I can acknowledge that people thing the film has "artistry" or whatever (i love how he thinks he was being bold by not predicting it. Was I being bold in not predicting it. WHERE'S MY CREDIT, TOM?!) but that last section is just off "the whole "underscored their outlander status". WTF?
I... have no idea.
Anyway.
Can a film producer give Kyra Sedgewick a great role in a movie so she can get Oscar love PLZ!!!!
December 15, 2005
Kung-Fu Hustle (2005,dir. Chow)
I am a big supporter of films that are "style over substance" if the movie isn't TRYING to be a film of substance (which Memoirs of a Geisha appears to be) - i mean, The Cell was one of my favourite films of 2000. But, when it comes to the martial arts genre (of which I am not an expert) sometimes I just want MORE. This movie is so bursting with imagination and spirit, yet it doesn't really lead anywhere except to another big fight sequence. Hmmm. Qui Yuen is great though, as are the production design and cinematography and the special effects. I don't really get how Stephen Chow (writer, director, actor) is one of the worlds greatest comedians. There were some good bits in here, but not a lot of really funny ones.
Oh, and apparently (according to IMDb's trivia page) Chow didn't even direct the two best action sequences. Strange.
C+
Work today was so boring. You'd barely know it was Christmas in 10 days. I have Undertow here to watch before Saturday. It has Jamie Bell and I love Jamie Bell. Jamie Bell was the only one I really wanted to survive in King Kong... mainly cause he was Jamie Bell.
Oh, and apparently (according to IMDb's trivia page) Chow didn't even direct the two best action sequences. Strange.
C+
Work today was so boring. You'd barely know it was Christmas in 10 days. I have Undertow here to watch before Saturday. It has Jamie Bell and I love Jamie Bell. Jamie Bell was the only one I really wanted to survive in King Kong... mainly cause he was Jamie Bell.
King Kong (2005, dir. Jackson)
It's pretty good. What are the cons? It IS too long (there needed to be some from the middle cut out), some of the effects are actually surprisingly bad (closeup greenscreen shots are particularly bad, and while it certainly looks glamourous on ground level, their recreation of New York looks awfully alot like an animated Sin City model - granted a really nicely animated one), the score is... meh. I'm sure it's because the guy had very little time for it, but I couldn't identify a great memorable theme.
I also didn't really feel this relationship between Watts and Kong until the Empire State scene. Actually, no, the scene before it when they're on the ice. That scene was quite touching and beautifully done - but, again, it looked like something from The Polar Express. Also, there is an action sequence on the island involving a stampede of dinosaurs that actually made me laugh. Most of these characters are somehow avoiding being crushed while many many many giant dinosaurs charge through them - and some of them barely get touched. It's a great action scene, but it felt poorly conceived.
But, still, (most of) the action scenes are extremely well done. The dino vs. kong fight is probably the best one. Loved the bit where all of the players are trapped in vines and are swinging procariously near one another. Also, the log crossing scene - probably the best in the original - is equally as exciting here. The constant insect scenes however are utterly pointless, except as a way to exterminate some more supporting characters. The performances for the most part are great (Jack Black is oh so right in some scenes, but a little off in others), the New York scenes have that great sepia-like glow to them and look fantastic. The sets are wonderful. The scenes in the jungle look fabulous. So, yeah, pretty good. B
In terms of Oscar I can sort of see how it could go Picture/Director, but i dunno... that seems like a bit of a stretch. All the of big epics that get nominated have something extra that I personally think was missing from here. And Naomi Watts is good and all, but for a while she doesn't really have ANYTHING to do. Technicals should be easy gets and even wins. But i dunno... i don't think it would sit right with me to see Kong up for Best Picture.
And because I just know you've all been waiting for this movie review... here it is...
House of Wax (2005, dir. Collet-Serra) - For a Horror movie, it's pretty good. It's definitely above average! There's some really good gore in here (if you're a gorehound this is probably your best bet from 2005 methinks) and there are actually some scares (and not just of the "boo machine" variety). I was legitimately surprised by how gory they made this. It so easily could have been a lame PG-13 movie but instead we get fingers being cut off, poles through heads, decapitations, arrow-shootings, scissor-cutting of an achiles heal, faces being peeled off and some good ol' fashion stabbings. The special effects in this movie are truly impressive (the melting house is quite a feat).
However, this is one of those movies where you can nitpick at a lot of things. Why does Elisha Cuthbert's singlet-top suddenly turn into a size 2? Why are they running UPSTAIRS IN A MELTING HOUSE? Why did they make Paris Hilton pregnant? lol@that last one. The movie also didn't really have that sense of dread that I really like in horror movies. The feeling I got during Wolf Creek, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Dawn of the Dead for recent examples. It's one where you WANT the characters to be killed. I know a horror movie's worked when I want them to survive. Here I was like "when does Paris die!!!"
But, still, it was sort of fun! And it looks fantastic and is purely some good ol' violent horror. What's wrong with that? B-
I also didn't really feel this relationship between Watts and Kong until the Empire State scene. Actually, no, the scene before it when they're on the ice. That scene was quite touching and beautifully done - but, again, it looked like something from The Polar Express. Also, there is an action sequence on the island involving a stampede of dinosaurs that actually made me laugh. Most of these characters are somehow avoiding being crushed while many many many giant dinosaurs charge through them - and some of them barely get touched. It's a great action scene, but it felt poorly conceived.
But, still, (most of) the action scenes are extremely well done. The dino vs. kong fight is probably the best one. Loved the bit where all of the players are trapped in vines and are swinging procariously near one another. Also, the log crossing scene - probably the best in the original - is equally as exciting here. The constant insect scenes however are utterly pointless, except as a way to exterminate some more supporting characters. The performances for the most part are great (Jack Black is oh so right in some scenes, but a little off in others), the New York scenes have that great sepia-like glow to them and look fantastic. The sets are wonderful. The scenes in the jungle look fabulous. So, yeah, pretty good. B
In terms of Oscar I can sort of see how it could go Picture/Director, but i dunno... that seems like a bit of a stretch. All the of big epics that get nominated have something extra that I personally think was missing from here. And Naomi Watts is good and all, but for a while she doesn't really have ANYTHING to do. Technicals should be easy gets and even wins. But i dunno... i don't think it would sit right with me to see Kong up for Best Picture.
And because I just know you've all been waiting for this movie review... here it is...
House of Wax (2005, dir. Collet-Serra) - For a Horror movie, it's pretty good. It's definitely above average! There's some really good gore in here (if you're a gorehound this is probably your best bet from 2005 methinks) and there are actually some scares (and not just of the "boo machine" variety). I was legitimately surprised by how gory they made this. It so easily could have been a lame PG-13 movie but instead we get fingers being cut off, poles through heads, decapitations, arrow-shootings, scissor-cutting of an achiles heal, faces being peeled off and some good ol' fashion stabbings. The special effects in this movie are truly impressive (the melting house is quite a feat).
However, this is one of those movies where you can nitpick at a lot of things. Why does Elisha Cuthbert's singlet-top suddenly turn into a size 2? Why are they running UPSTAIRS IN A MELTING HOUSE? Why did they make Paris Hilton pregnant? lol@that last one. The movie also didn't really have that sense of dread that I really like in horror movies. The feeling I got during Wolf Creek, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Dawn of the Dead for recent examples. It's one where you WANT the characters to be killed. I know a horror movie's worked when I want them to survive. Here I was like "when does Paris die!!!"
But, still, it was sort of fun! And it looks fantastic and is purely some good ol' violent horror. What's wrong with that? B-
December 14, 2005
"What I NEED is a big famous critic to support my FILM, who wont' just STAND there..."
er... Roger Ebert named Crash his number one movie of the year! Wow.
1. Crash
2. Syriana
3. Munich
4. Junebug
5. Brokeback Mountain
6. Me and You and Everyone We Know
7. Nine Lives
8. King Kong
9. Yes
10. Millions
Now, this is an interesting list. There are 4 that are very good candidates for Best Picture, another one which really WANTS to be a candidate (Syriana), but will almost definitely not make it. Now, care to last year's top 10.
1. Million Dollar Baby
2. Kill Bill Vol. 2
3. Vera Drake
4. Spider-Man 2
5. Moolaade
6. The Aviator
7. Baadasssss!
8. Sideways
9. Hotel Rwanda
10. Undertow
3 Best Picture nominees, one that very nearly made it and another that desperately wanted to be a candidate but probably missed by a long shot (3 other nominations or not). Those last two are Hotel Rwanda and Vera Drake respectively. I dont think Vera was close to a nomination even though it got a Director nod.
But, man, Brokeback at #5 bodes alright, but Munich being placed higher is of some concern - but Ebert loves Spielberg. Minority Report was his #1 in 2002.
Anyway. Back to this years. I like his top 10. It is true to Roger Ebert - he works on his own system. Not many major critics do top 10s like him. He really does put movies he loves on there. How else would Me & You and Everone We Know, Yes, Nine Lives and Undertow get on there? And thats why when he places movies like Munich and Brokeback on there it shows he really does love them. And CRASH at #1. How about THAT?! Is this film flip flopping like crazy or what?
Peter Travers has posted his Top 10 as well.
1. A History of Violence
2. Brokeback Mountain
3. Good Night, Good Luck
4. Munich
5. Capote
6. The Squid & The Whale
7. The Constant Gardener
8. Crash
9. (TIE) King Kong and The Wedding Crashers
Now, this is a much much blander list - all these titles (except Wedding Crashers) just don't scream anything out to me. Yeah, History, Brokeback, GN&GL, Munich, Capote, Squid, Gardener, Crash and Kong are all meant to be great but this list feels like it has no personality to it. I am sure Travers loves all of these movies but really, who cares? This list feels so generic. And throwing The Wedding Crashers on the end just seems like a throwaway (it's even a tie for TENTH) to show he has some opinions of his owns. Ebert had four very unique films on his list, I personally currently has movies like Mysterious Skin, Wallace & Gromit and Look Both Ways as sort of my unique choices. Travers has NONE. Absolutely zero point to this list. It is the type of critic pandering that I dislike. It seriously looks like Travers just picked the 10 movies that are generally considered really good. No brave choices, so unique choices, nothing. Boring. Utterly utterly boring.
THE END
1. Crash
2. Syriana
3. Munich
4. Junebug
5. Brokeback Mountain
6. Me and You and Everyone We Know
7. Nine Lives
8. King Kong
9. Yes
10. Millions
Now, this is an interesting list. There are 4 that are very good candidates for Best Picture, another one which really WANTS to be a candidate (Syriana), but will almost definitely not make it. Now, care to last year's top 10.
1. Million Dollar Baby
2. Kill Bill Vol. 2
3. Vera Drake
4. Spider-Man 2
5. Moolaade
6. The Aviator
7. Baadasssss!
8. Sideways
9. Hotel Rwanda
10. Undertow
3 Best Picture nominees, one that very nearly made it and another that desperately wanted to be a candidate but probably missed by a long shot (3 other nominations or not). Those last two are Hotel Rwanda and Vera Drake respectively. I dont think Vera was close to a nomination even though it got a Director nod.
But, man, Brokeback at #5 bodes alright, but Munich being placed higher is of some concern - but Ebert loves Spielberg. Minority Report was his #1 in 2002.
Anyway. Back to this years. I like his top 10. It is true to Roger Ebert - he works on his own system. Not many major critics do top 10s like him. He really does put movies he loves on there. How else would Me & You and Everone We Know, Yes, Nine Lives and Undertow get on there? And thats why when he places movies like Munich and Brokeback on there it shows he really does love them. And CRASH at #1. How about THAT?! Is this film flip flopping like crazy or what?
Peter Travers has posted his Top 10 as well.
1. A History of Violence
2. Brokeback Mountain
3. Good Night, Good Luck
4. Munich
5. Capote
6. The Squid & The Whale
7. The Constant Gardener
8. Crash
9. (TIE) King Kong and The Wedding Crashers
Now, this is a much much blander list - all these titles (except Wedding Crashers) just don't scream anything out to me. Yeah, History, Brokeback, GN&GL, Munich, Capote, Squid, Gardener, Crash and Kong are all meant to be great but this list feels like it has no personality to it. I am sure Travers loves all of these movies but really, who cares? This list feels so generic. And throwing The Wedding Crashers on the end just seems like a throwaway (it's even a tie for TENTH) to show he has some opinions of his owns. Ebert had four very unique films on his list, I personally currently has movies like Mysterious Skin, Wallace & Gromit and Look Both Ways as sort of my unique choices. Travers has NONE. Absolutely zero point to this list. It is the type of critic pandering that I dislike. It seriously looks like Travers just picked the 10 movies that are generally considered really good. No brave choices, so unique choices, nothing. Boring. Utterly utterly boring.
THE END
How I Went
I'm gonna see how I went with my predicting for the globes now.
Best Picture, Drama - I scored 3/5 but with my alternate i got 4/5. I correctly predicted Brokeback Mountain, History of Violence and Good Night & Good Luck, with Match Point being an alternate. I didn't see The Constant Gardener coming, but I'm glad it is in there - and to be honest, now that it is indeed nominated, it feels like it really should've been in at least my alternates. I so glad I ditched Memoirs of a Geisha at the last minute. I thought that when the HFPA voted Memoirs would've been the hot tip but they showed remarkable foresight. I also had Munich and Crash in there. Munich... what happened to thee. Crash is slipping from BP contention, but Supporting Actor is look rosier by the minute. (edit: Ebert just named Crash his number 1 film of the year!!!!(!!)
Best Picture, Musical/Comedy - I got 4/5! Woohoo. I had Wallace & Gromit (and Family Stone as alternate) instead of The Squid & the Whale, which the Globes really liked.
Best Director - Well, I got 4 of my 5 predicted men. However, if you include my alternate I still only got 4 from 6. The two I missed were Peter Jackson and Fernando Meirelles (!!!!Oscar, here he comes. I'm so happy for Fernando) for which I had David Cronenberg and James Mangold (as an alternate, but included for number purposes). Interesting.
Best Actor, Drama - I got three from 5, BUT I PREDICTED TERRANCE HOWARD!!!! (somebody give me a parade). Seriously, much like Adam thought Shirley MacLaine was an easy get, I thought the same about Howard. And he got nommed, so I'm happy. I've been predicting him for ages so I'm glad he's back in the hunt and that I never wavered. I missed on Strathairn and Crowe though in favour of Bana and Fiennes, but Strathain was my alternate. So... sorta 4/5!
Best Actor, Musical/Comedy - I had 5 predicted, plus one alternate, so because there were six men nominated I'm using my alternate as a prediction. Make sense? So, out of the 6 I chose, i predicted... 4! That's pretty damn good. I even had Depp for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - seemed like a really easy get to me but I only had it as the alternate because I thought they may pass on him for another year. But, really - everybody seems so shocked by his nomination. It really wasn't shocking at all. I missed on Brosnan (didn't everyone) and Daniels in favour of Heath Ledger and Steve Carrel (who got a TV nomination though).
Best Actress, Drama - I correctly predicted 3/5. Huffman, Paltrow and Theron seemed like easy-as-hell predictions. I however, had Claire Danes and Joan Allen substituted for Zhang Ziyi (who I still love, btw) and Maria Bello, who I didn't even nominate for Supporting Actress (for some unknown reason. I think she slipped my mind). Oh well.
Best Actress, Musical/Comedy - I predicted 4 of these 5. Didn't see Linney (or Squid for that matter) coming this hard (omg, that's so rude!). Good for me though - however, this category was pretty easy.
Best Supporting Actor - Ouch. Indicative of this categories sporadic nature, I only correctly predicted 2 of the 5 men - however, my alterate did make it. I corrected got Hoskins and Dillon while my alternate, Giamatti, ended up on the list. And in a weird turn of events, I actually correctly predicted The Producers would end up with a nod! Just... not the right one. I had Gary Beach instead of Will Ferrell. Geoffrey Rush appeared nowhere.
Best Supporting Actress - Exactly the same as supporting actor. Ouch. I only predicted 2 of these, plus my alternate. I correctly guessed Johansson and Williams (who didn't?) and Rachel Weisz was my alternate. I had Keaton, Thurman and Bullock (my dream - as in that i had while sleeping - didn't bare fruit, oh well). I didn't have MacLaine (but i had Howard in Actor!!omg) or McDormand though. Didn't think McDormand especially would play well with these guys.
Best Foriegn Film - Er, i didn't predict this category cause we can never be sure what movies the HFPA consider. I always figured it was just foreing movies released through the year, and if that's the case i'm not gonna scour BoxOfficeMojo to sift through the 50+ or so foreign titles released every year for five that the HFPA MIGHT choose. Paradise Now, Joyeux Noel and Tsoti looks like solid bets for Oscar nods now, but you never can know, really. HFPA and AMPAS' rarely match.
Best Screenplay - WELL DONE ME. Er, whatever. I correctly guessed 4/5, but the one I missed was my alterate. I had History of Violence over Good Night & Good Luck.
Best Original Score - i scored 3/5 in this odd category. So happy to see Alexandre Desplat nommed, even though I haven't heard the score. I guessed Brokeback, King Kong and Memoirs and I missed on Chronicals of Narnia and Syriana's scores in favour of Cinderella Man and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Best Original Song - I scored 2/5 here, with my alternate sorta making it 3/5. I don't think anyone in their right mind would've predicted that Christmas in Love movie (an Italian romantic comedy that stars a bunch of people I've never heard of, but also includes DANNY DEVITO and RONN MOSS - yes, Ronn Moss (as himself, no less), so...). And I didn't even know Narnia had an original song? I guessed they'd give Elizabethtown and Hustle & Flow a nod. My alternate was TransAmerica. Go Dolly Parton!
--
I think I did pretty good. Mostly 3/5 or 4/5 with or without my alternates. So... yay for me! I'm gonna do a seperate post now for Roger Ebert's Top 10! Wow.
But, still on the Globes, Dave Poland brought up an absolutelty dumb assed comment on his blog. He asked how come Bennett Miller didn't get nominated? Is it because the 6 men nominated a famous? And my response was thus - the HFPA obviously didn't like Capote that much (only 1 nomination). It even missed on Screenplay, let alone Best Picture and Director. And, since when is Fernando Meirelles famous?
Best Picture, Drama - I scored 3/5 but with my alternate i got 4/5. I correctly predicted Brokeback Mountain, History of Violence and Good Night & Good Luck, with Match Point being an alternate. I didn't see The Constant Gardener coming, but I'm glad it is in there - and to be honest, now that it is indeed nominated, it feels like it really should've been in at least my alternates. I so glad I ditched Memoirs of a Geisha at the last minute. I thought that when the HFPA voted Memoirs would've been the hot tip but they showed remarkable foresight. I also had Munich and Crash in there. Munich... what happened to thee. Crash is slipping from BP contention, but Supporting Actor is look rosier by the minute. (edit: Ebert just named Crash his number 1 film of the year!!!!(!!)
Best Picture, Musical/Comedy - I got 4/5! Woohoo. I had Wallace & Gromit (and Family Stone as alternate) instead of The Squid & the Whale, which the Globes really liked.
Best Director - Well, I got 4 of my 5 predicted men. However, if you include my alternate I still only got 4 from 6. The two I missed were Peter Jackson and Fernando Meirelles (!!!!Oscar, here he comes. I'm so happy for Fernando) for which I had David Cronenberg and James Mangold (as an alternate, but included for number purposes). Interesting.
Best Actor, Drama - I got three from 5, BUT I PREDICTED TERRANCE HOWARD!!!! (somebody give me a parade). Seriously, much like Adam thought Shirley MacLaine was an easy get, I thought the same about Howard. And he got nommed, so I'm happy. I've been predicting him for ages so I'm glad he's back in the hunt and that I never wavered. I missed on Strathairn and Crowe though in favour of Bana and Fiennes, but Strathain was my alternate. So... sorta 4/5!
Best Actor, Musical/Comedy - I had 5 predicted, plus one alternate, so because there were six men nominated I'm using my alternate as a prediction. Make sense? So, out of the 6 I chose, i predicted... 4! That's pretty damn good. I even had Depp for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - seemed like a really easy get to me but I only had it as the alternate because I thought they may pass on him for another year. But, really - everybody seems so shocked by his nomination. It really wasn't shocking at all. I missed on Brosnan (didn't everyone) and Daniels in favour of Heath Ledger and Steve Carrel (who got a TV nomination though).
Best Actress, Drama - I correctly predicted 3/5. Huffman, Paltrow and Theron seemed like easy-as-hell predictions. I however, had Claire Danes and Joan Allen substituted for Zhang Ziyi (who I still love, btw) and Maria Bello, who I didn't even nominate for Supporting Actress (for some unknown reason. I think she slipped my mind). Oh well.
Best Actress, Musical/Comedy - I predicted 4 of these 5. Didn't see Linney (or Squid for that matter) coming this hard (omg, that's so rude!). Good for me though - however, this category was pretty easy.
Best Supporting Actor - Ouch. Indicative of this categories sporadic nature, I only correctly predicted 2 of the 5 men - however, my alterate did make it. I corrected got Hoskins and Dillon while my alternate, Giamatti, ended up on the list. And in a weird turn of events, I actually correctly predicted The Producers would end up with a nod! Just... not the right one. I had Gary Beach instead of Will Ferrell. Geoffrey Rush appeared nowhere.
Best Supporting Actress - Exactly the same as supporting actor. Ouch. I only predicted 2 of these, plus my alternate. I correctly guessed Johansson and Williams (who didn't?) and Rachel Weisz was my alternate. I had Keaton, Thurman and Bullock (my dream - as in that i had while sleeping - didn't bare fruit, oh well). I didn't have MacLaine (but i had Howard in Actor!!omg) or McDormand though. Didn't think McDormand especially would play well with these guys.
Best Foriegn Film - Er, i didn't predict this category cause we can never be sure what movies the HFPA consider. I always figured it was just foreing movies released through the year, and if that's the case i'm not gonna scour BoxOfficeMojo to sift through the 50+ or so foreign titles released every year for five that the HFPA MIGHT choose. Paradise Now, Joyeux Noel and Tsoti looks like solid bets for Oscar nods now, but you never can know, really. HFPA and AMPAS' rarely match.
Best Screenplay - WELL DONE ME. Er, whatever. I correctly guessed 4/5, but the one I missed was my alterate. I had History of Violence over Good Night & Good Luck.
Best Original Score - i scored 3/5 in this odd category. So happy to see Alexandre Desplat nommed, even though I haven't heard the score. I guessed Brokeback, King Kong and Memoirs and I missed on Chronicals of Narnia and Syriana's scores in favour of Cinderella Man and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Best Original Song - I scored 2/5 here, with my alternate sorta making it 3/5. I don't think anyone in their right mind would've predicted that Christmas in Love movie (an Italian romantic comedy that stars a bunch of people I've never heard of, but also includes DANNY DEVITO and RONN MOSS - yes, Ronn Moss (as himself, no less), so...). And I didn't even know Narnia had an original song? I guessed they'd give Elizabethtown and Hustle & Flow a nod. My alternate was TransAmerica. Go Dolly Parton!
--
I think I did pretty good. Mostly 3/5 or 4/5 with or without my alternates. So... yay for me! I'm gonna do a seperate post now for Roger Ebert's Top 10! Wow.
But, still on the Globes, Dave Poland brought up an absolutelty dumb assed comment on his blog. He asked how come Bennett Miller didn't get nominated? Is it because the 6 men nominated a famous? And my response was thus - the HFPA obviously didn't like Capote that much (only 1 nomination). It even missed on Screenplay, let alone Best Picture and Director. And, since when is Fernando Meirelles famous?
The full list for the HFPA
Best Pic, Drama
Brokeback Mountain
The Constant Gardener
Good Night, and Good Luck
A History of Violence
Match Point
wow. I have only seen Gardner, but this list looks IMPECABLE! Truly astounded how well it appears they have chosen their nominees. ASTOUNDING!! Really, i am. No Memoirs, no Munich, no Kong, but 5 almost universally loved (critics wise) movies that aren't big giant oscar machines like Memoirs. Truly shocking at how good this list is (well, apparently). I expect to like all of these movies and now I am just... i'm dumbfounded!
Director
Woody Allen, Match Point
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck
Peter Jackson, King Kong
Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Fernando Mereilles, The Constant Gardener
Steven Spielberg, Munich
WOW. Spielberg's there, but only by the skin of his teeth. Jackson also makes it. Out of those 2 i think Spielberg was the closest to the miss. SO HAPPY that Mierelles is there, he needed something like this. Way to go Ang! And Woody and George, too!
Actor, Drama
Russell Crowe, Cinderella Man
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Terence Howard, Hustle and Flow
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
David Strathairn, Good Night, and Good Luck
Okay, I actually sorta feel relieved that Terance Howard got nominated because now it means I sorta feel validated in sticking completely with him. He's not in fifth place for me, but fourth. Anyway. Yay for Heath (although he didn't get the double nod) and David got a boost as well. Russell Crowe getting in there is kind of a surprise, but not really. They like him!
Best Pic, Musical/Comedy
Mrs. Henderson Presents
Pride Prejudice
The Producers
Squid and the Whale
Walk the Line
This is pretty good I suppose. I had W&G instead of Squid and the Whale, and others had Family Stone. So glad to see P&P though!
Actor, Musical/Comedy
Peirce Brosnan, The Matador
Jeff Daniels, The Squid and the Whale
Johnny Depp, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Nathan Lane, The Producers
Cillian Murphy, Breakfast on Pluto
Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line
WOW! This category is crazy. I actually had Depp as my alternate so YAY for me. Pierce Brosnan i didn't (nor did anyone) see coming. Could the Weinstein's have another ace up their sleeve?
Actress - Comedy
Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents
Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice
Laura Linney, Squid and the Whale
Sarah Jessica Parker, The Family Stone
Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
My Angelina Jolie hunch from way back in July didn't pan out, but Laura Linney is cool! They avoided a Jolie/Pitt/Aniston thing altogether. Can't really complain here though.
Actress - Drama
Maria Bello, A History of Violence
Felicity Huffman, Transamerica
Gwyneth Paltrow, Proof
Charlize Theron, North Country
Ziyi Zhang, Memoirs of a Geisha
WHO WAS IT THAT HARPED AT ME ABOUT BELLO BEING SUPPORTING. I believe it was someone over at Dave Poland's forum. They were all like "if you took the time to actually SEE any of the movies you're talking about, you'd know she's supporting". That pissed me off cause it's not my fault AHoV isn't out til February. Anyway. I had heard she was gonna go lead... and well, wouldn't ya know. The Globes also decided that. Anyway. Paltro, Huffman and Theron were easy. But my lady JOAN ALLEN!!! Where art thou Joan? You'll be sorely missed, as will the Oscar race as you begin your slide out of contention. It was nice knowing you. I just wish I didn't like Zhang Ziyi so much! She's impossible to hate
Supporting Actor:
George Clooney, Syriana
Matt Dillon, Crash
Wil Ferrell, The Producers
Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Bob Hoskins, Mrs. Henderson Presents
All is well here except for Will Ferrell. WTF? I had predicted Gary Beach i believe. But they obviously went with the bigger star. Bob Hoskins is back on track as in Matt Dillon, thankfull.
Supporting Actress:
Scarlett Johannsson, Match Point
Shirley MacLaine, In Her Shoes
Frances McDormand, North Country
Rachel Weisz, Contant Gardener
Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain
Where on earth is Diane Keaton? Is she sliding out of the race? She's been a no show everywhere so far and now at the GLOBES! eep. Well done Adam on MacLaine. Should've been an easy guess, really. Rachel Weisz gets another leg up into the race, excellent. No Amy Adams OR Catherine Keener. The first precurser to not include either I think. McDormand though... she could still cling on. And, Scarlett was obvious from the get-go. Go Michelle
(plus the others in the previous entry)
VEERY interesting, non? This is craaazy. So many odd names thrown in, so many odd names left out. Did some races just get big shuffles?
Can I just say, it put a big smile on my face to see Alexandre Desplat nominated again (for Syriana). And, wow, they showed big judgement on Memoirs. Memoirs was still the hot ticket when they would've nominated - they were ahead of us for sure. And Munich missing out on BP Drama is HUGE, right?
More later.
Brokeback Mountain
The Constant Gardener
Good Night, and Good Luck
A History of Violence
Match Point
wow. I have only seen Gardner, but this list looks IMPECABLE! Truly astounded how well it appears they have chosen their nominees. ASTOUNDING!! Really, i am. No Memoirs, no Munich, no Kong, but 5 almost universally loved (critics wise) movies that aren't big giant oscar machines like Memoirs. Truly shocking at how good this list is (well, apparently). I expect to like all of these movies and now I am just... i'm dumbfounded!
Director
Woody Allen, Match Point
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck
Peter Jackson, King Kong
Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Fernando Mereilles, The Constant Gardener
Steven Spielberg, Munich
WOW. Spielberg's there, but only by the skin of his teeth. Jackson also makes it. Out of those 2 i think Spielberg was the closest to the miss. SO HAPPY that Mierelles is there, he needed something like this. Way to go Ang! And Woody and George, too!
Actor, Drama
Russell Crowe, Cinderella Man
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Terence Howard, Hustle and Flow
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
David Strathairn, Good Night, and Good Luck
Okay, I actually sorta feel relieved that Terance Howard got nominated because now it means I sorta feel validated in sticking completely with him. He's not in fifth place for me, but fourth. Anyway. Yay for Heath (although he didn't get the double nod) and David got a boost as well. Russell Crowe getting in there is kind of a surprise, but not really. They like him!
Best Pic, Musical/Comedy
Mrs. Henderson Presents
Pride Prejudice
The Producers
Squid and the Whale
Walk the Line
This is pretty good I suppose. I had W&G instead of Squid and the Whale, and others had Family Stone. So glad to see P&P though!
Actor, Musical/Comedy
Peirce Brosnan, The Matador
Jeff Daniels, The Squid and the Whale
Johnny Depp, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Nathan Lane, The Producers
Cillian Murphy, Breakfast on Pluto
Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line
WOW! This category is crazy. I actually had Depp as my alternate so YAY for me. Pierce Brosnan i didn't (nor did anyone) see coming. Could the Weinstein's have another ace up their sleeve?
Actress - Comedy
Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents
Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice
Laura Linney, Squid and the Whale
Sarah Jessica Parker, The Family Stone
Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
My Angelina Jolie hunch from way back in July didn't pan out, but Laura Linney is cool! They avoided a Jolie/Pitt/Aniston thing altogether. Can't really complain here though.
Actress - Drama
Maria Bello, A History of Violence
Felicity Huffman, Transamerica
Gwyneth Paltrow, Proof
Charlize Theron, North Country
Ziyi Zhang, Memoirs of a Geisha
WHO WAS IT THAT HARPED AT ME ABOUT BELLO BEING SUPPORTING. I believe it was someone over at Dave Poland's forum. They were all like "if you took the time to actually SEE any of the movies you're talking about, you'd know she's supporting". That pissed me off cause it's not my fault AHoV isn't out til February. Anyway. I had heard she was gonna go lead... and well, wouldn't ya know. The Globes also decided that. Anyway. Paltro, Huffman and Theron were easy. But my lady JOAN ALLEN!!! Where art thou Joan? You'll be sorely missed, as will the Oscar race as you begin your slide out of contention. It was nice knowing you. I just wish I didn't like Zhang Ziyi so much! She's impossible to hate
Supporting Actor:
George Clooney, Syriana
Matt Dillon, Crash
Wil Ferrell, The Producers
Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Bob Hoskins, Mrs. Henderson Presents
All is well here except for Will Ferrell. WTF? I had predicted Gary Beach i believe. But they obviously went with the bigger star. Bob Hoskins is back on track as in Matt Dillon, thankfull.
Supporting Actress:
Scarlett Johannsson, Match Point
Shirley MacLaine, In Her Shoes
Frances McDormand, North Country
Rachel Weisz, Contant Gardener
Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain
Where on earth is Diane Keaton? Is she sliding out of the race? She's been a no show everywhere so far and now at the GLOBES! eep. Well done Adam on MacLaine. Should've been an easy guess, really. Rachel Weisz gets another leg up into the race, excellent. No Amy Adams OR Catherine Keener. The first precurser to not include either I think. McDormand though... she could still cling on. And, Scarlett was obvious from the get-go. Go Michelle
(plus the others in the previous entry)
VEERY interesting, non? This is craaazy. So many odd names thrown in, so many odd names left out. Did some races just get big shuffles?
Can I just say, it put a big smile on my face to see Alexandre Desplat nominated again (for Syriana). And, wow, they showed big judgement on Memoirs. Memoirs was still the hot ticket when they would've nominated - they were ahead of us for sure. And Munich missing out on BP Drama is HUGE, right?
More later.
Golden Globe Nominations 2005
These are all that are available right now for some reason
Supporting Actor:
George Clooney, Syriana
Matt Dillon, Crash
Wil Farrell, The Producers
Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Bob Hoskins, Mrs. Henderson Presents
Supporting Actress:
Scarlett Johannsson, Match Point
Shirley MacLaine, In Her Shoes
Frances McDormand, North Country
Rachel Weisz, Contant Gardener
Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain
Original Score:
Syriana
King Kong
Brokeback Mountain
Chronicles of Narnia
Memoirs of a Geisha
Screenplay:
Match Point
Good Night
Crash
Munich
Brokeback Mountain
Song:
Brokeback Mountain
Crhistmas in Love (?)
The Producers
Transamerica
Chronicles of Narnia
Foreign Language:
Kung Fu Hustle
The Promise
Merry Christmas
Paradise Now
Tsotsi
INTERESTING!!! What the fuck is Christmas in Love? Brokeback Mountain already has four. Jake Gyllenhaal missed supporting but might actually turn up in Lead, ya never know. Catherine Zeta-Jones got put in Lead by the HFPA. Anyway. More to come.
Supporting Actor:
George Clooney, Syriana
Matt Dillon, Crash
Wil Farrell, The Producers
Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Bob Hoskins, Mrs. Henderson Presents
Supporting Actress:
Scarlett Johannsson, Match Point
Shirley MacLaine, In Her Shoes
Frances McDormand, North Country
Rachel Weisz, Contant Gardener
Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain
Original Score:
Syriana
King Kong
Brokeback Mountain
Chronicles of Narnia
Memoirs of a Geisha
Screenplay:
Match Point
Good Night
Crash
Munich
Brokeback Mountain
Song:
Brokeback Mountain
Crhistmas in Love (?)
The Producers
Transamerica
Chronicles of Narnia
Foreign Language:
Kung Fu Hustle
The Promise
Merry Christmas
Paradise Now
Tsotsi
INTERESTING!!! What the fuck is Christmas in Love? Brokeback Mountain already has four. Jake Gyllenhaal missed supporting but might actually turn up in Lead, ya never know. Catherine Zeta-Jones got put in Lead by the HFPA. Anyway. More to come.
December 13, 2005
San Francisco... was there ever any doubt?
Not to play a stereotype of San Fran, but really - were we expecting anything else?
Brokeback wins San Franisco. Health best Actor and Reese is starting to roll up The Best Actress awards.......
Best Picture – Brokeback Mountain
Best Director – Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Best Actor – Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Best Actress – Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Best Supporting Actor – Kevin Costner, Upside of Anger
Best Supporting Actress – Amy Adams, Junebug
Best Screenplay – Good Night, and Good Luck
Best Documentary – Grizzly Man
Best Foreign Film – Cache
AMY ADAMS, AGAIN! Heath Ledger and Ang getting noticed is great news.
I didn't even know Cache was released this year in the states.
Brokeback wins San Franisco. Health best Actor and Reese is starting to roll up The Best Actress awards.......
Best Picture – Brokeback Mountain
Best Director – Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Best Actor – Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Best Actress – Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Best Supporting Actor – Kevin Costner, Upside of Anger
Best Supporting Actress – Amy Adams, Junebug
Best Screenplay – Good Night, and Good Luck
Best Documentary – Grizzly Man
Best Foreign Film – Cache
AMY ADAMS, AGAIN! Heath Ledger and Ang getting noticed is great news.
I didn't even know Cache was released this year in the states.
So many awards, so little time
Whoa, I got out for one day and I miss NY, NBR, BIFA and the Gothams. Surprises from both camps
picture: Brokeback Mountain
This was my alternate. I figured they'd go for Munich cause they like serious Spielberg. But I'm extremely happy. This now has LA and NY. Can it miss for a BP nomination? I doubt it.
director: Ang Lee
Ditto! Ang Lee's walk the Academy podium is starting methinks. I predicted this win so, yay for me!
actor: Heath Ledger
THANK YOU NEW YORK! So happy about my man Ledger. This one I predicted Hoffman and for once he actually didn't win. God...
actress: Reese Witherspoon
Witherspoon winning at the Oscars will become a near certaintly fairly soon. I had Joan Allen and Claire Danes as my predix. Good for Reese though. I love me some Reese.
supp. actor: William Hurt
Wow. Very strong showing by William these last 2 days. But can a cameo (from what I've read) by a MAN get into the top 5? I had Clooney. I didn't really know who to think for this category, although Hurt seems like he's gonna become the go-to man for predix when theres not identifiable idea.
supp. actress: Maria Bello
Maria needed this. It at least keeps her in the hunt, but she'll need more to make it with Oscar. I predicted this one correctly. Yay for me.
screenplay: The Squid and the Whale
A couple of months I had a hunch this was gonna get a nod for Original Screenplay, and now it appears like it will happen. Yay for me. Didn't predict this one though.
WHERE ARE THE REST OF THE CATEGORIES? Are there more to be announced or what?
The National Board of Review
BEST TEN FILMS OF 2005
Best Film: Good Night, And Good Luck
I didn't expect this one! I had it in the top ten, but way to go.
And, in alphabetical order:
Brokeback Mountain*
Capote*
Crash*
History of Violence*
Good Night & Good Luck*
Match Point
Memoirs of a Geisha*
Munich
Syriana
Walk the Line
Memoirs of a Geisha? Good to see Match Point get some love. I predicted six of these (denoted by a *). The five frontrunners for Best Picture are in there though... I dunno bout that.
BEST FIVE FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILMS OF 2005
Best Foreign-Language Film: Paradise Now
And, in alphabetical order:
2046
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
Downfall
Walk on Water
This is all so irrelevant because only Paradise Now is eligable. I already had it as a prediction though, so... for the NBR I predicted 2046 as the winner, but it at least placed. so that's cool.
BEST FIVE DOCUMENTARIES OF 2005
Best Documentary: March of the Penguins
And, in alphabetical order:
Ballets Russes
Grizzly Man
Mad Hot Ballroom
Murderball
Well, good for the three that are eligable. Is Ballets Russes eligable? I forget. I predicted this one correctly though. Yay for me.
Best Animated Feature: Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride
Good for them, but Wallace & Gromit are clearly the animated superstars of 2005.
Best Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
YAY! I didn't predict Ang, but good for him! I'm so happy!
Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Again, didn't predict it, but it's no surprise. I had Ledger.
Best Actress: Felicity Huffman, TransAmerica
She was my alternate. Whatever.
Best Supporting Actor: Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain
WOW! Way to go Jakey! Didn't expect this.
Best Supporting Actress: Gong Li, Memoirs of a Geisha
I WAS CLOSE! I predicted Zhang Ziyi in 2046 or Maria Bello.
Best Acting By An Ensemble: Mrs. Henderson Presents
Interesting...
Breakthrough Performance Actor: Terrence Howard, Crash, Get Rich or Die Tryin’ and Hustle & Flow
Yup, okay. I suppose this is ACTUALLY a breakthrough in that he wasn't widely known of. But he was working before! So, whatever. This'll help him though.
Breakthrough Performance Actress: Q’Orianka Kilcher, The New World
I predicted her for Youth Performance, which they ditched this year. Oh well. They didn't really "go" for Pride & Prejudice, did they?
Best Directorial Debut: Julian Fellowes, Separate Lies
Ummm... okay.
Best Adapted Screenplay: Stephen Gaghan, Syriana
This can only help, i suppose.
Best Original Screenplay: Noah Baumbach, The Squid and the Whale
Ditto.
Best Film or Mini-Series Made for Cable TV: Lackawanna Blues
Ummm...
Career Achievement: Jane Fonda
Career Achievement in Film Music Composition: Howard Shore
Wow, I predicted Shirley MacLaine and Thomas Newman! So, i was sorta really close... but not.
Outstanding Achievement in Special Effects: King Kong
I get the feeling they wanted to reward it somewhere, cause they don't usually have this category. But, they've never really warmed to Jackson's big movies so...
Billy Wilder Award for Excellence in Direction: David Cronenberg
This'll help!
GOTHAM's announced their winners.
BEST FEATURE Capote
BEST BREAKTHROUGH DIRECTOR Bennett Miller, Capote
BEST BREAKTHROUGH ACTOR Amy Adams, Junebug
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST The Squid and the Whale
BEST DOCUMENTARY Murderball
Amy Adams, yet again! I predicted her in my last predictions for Oscar and to be honest... i'm gonna keep her in there for now. The rest? moving on...
And it was good to see The Constant Gardener take a swag of awards home from the British Independent Film Awards. Hopefully it can resurge with Oscar just in time.
Man, I'm wiped. I've seen 3 movies today (well, one was a 24minute short, but it totally counts) and I'm gonna go watch a documentary about Errol Flynn right now. Update again tomorrow.
picture: Brokeback Mountain
This was my alternate. I figured they'd go for Munich cause they like serious Spielberg. But I'm extremely happy. This now has LA and NY. Can it miss for a BP nomination? I doubt it.
director: Ang Lee
Ditto! Ang Lee's walk the Academy podium is starting methinks. I predicted this win so, yay for me!
actor: Heath Ledger
THANK YOU NEW YORK! So happy about my man Ledger. This one I predicted Hoffman and for once he actually didn't win. God...
actress: Reese Witherspoon
Witherspoon winning at the Oscars will become a near certaintly fairly soon. I had Joan Allen and Claire Danes as my predix. Good for Reese though. I love me some Reese.
supp. actor: William Hurt
Wow. Very strong showing by William these last 2 days. But can a cameo (from what I've read) by a MAN get into the top 5? I had Clooney. I didn't really know who to think for this category, although Hurt seems like he's gonna become the go-to man for predix when theres not identifiable idea.
supp. actress: Maria Bello
Maria needed this. It at least keeps her in the hunt, but she'll need more to make it with Oscar. I predicted this one correctly. Yay for me.
screenplay: The Squid and the Whale
A couple of months I had a hunch this was gonna get a nod for Original Screenplay, and now it appears like it will happen. Yay for me. Didn't predict this one though.
WHERE ARE THE REST OF THE CATEGORIES? Are there more to be announced or what?
The National Board of Review
BEST TEN FILMS OF 2005
Best Film: Good Night, And Good Luck
I didn't expect this one! I had it in the top ten, but way to go.
And, in alphabetical order:
Brokeback Mountain*
Capote*
Crash*
History of Violence*
Good Night & Good Luck*
Match Point
Memoirs of a Geisha*
Munich
Syriana
Walk the Line
Memoirs of a Geisha? Good to see Match Point get some love. I predicted six of these (denoted by a *). The five frontrunners for Best Picture are in there though... I dunno bout that.
BEST FIVE FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILMS OF 2005
Best Foreign-Language Film: Paradise Now
And, in alphabetical order:
2046
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
Downfall
Walk on Water
This is all so irrelevant because only Paradise Now is eligable. I already had it as a prediction though, so... for the NBR I predicted 2046 as the winner, but it at least placed. so that's cool.
BEST FIVE DOCUMENTARIES OF 2005
Best Documentary: March of the Penguins
And, in alphabetical order:
Ballets Russes
Grizzly Man
Mad Hot Ballroom
Murderball
Well, good for the three that are eligable. Is Ballets Russes eligable? I forget. I predicted this one correctly though. Yay for me.
Best Animated Feature: Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride
Good for them, but Wallace & Gromit are clearly the animated superstars of 2005.
Best Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
YAY! I didn't predict Ang, but good for him! I'm so happy!
Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Again, didn't predict it, but it's no surprise. I had Ledger.
Best Actress: Felicity Huffman, TransAmerica
She was my alternate. Whatever.
Best Supporting Actor: Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain
WOW! Way to go Jakey! Didn't expect this.
Best Supporting Actress: Gong Li, Memoirs of a Geisha
I WAS CLOSE! I predicted Zhang Ziyi in 2046 or Maria Bello.
Best Acting By An Ensemble: Mrs. Henderson Presents
Interesting...
Breakthrough Performance Actor: Terrence Howard, Crash, Get Rich or Die Tryin’ and Hustle & Flow
Yup, okay. I suppose this is ACTUALLY a breakthrough in that he wasn't widely known of. But he was working before! So, whatever. This'll help him though.
Breakthrough Performance Actress: Q’Orianka Kilcher, The New World
I predicted her for Youth Performance, which they ditched this year. Oh well. They didn't really "go" for Pride & Prejudice, did they?
Best Directorial Debut: Julian Fellowes, Separate Lies
Ummm... okay.
Best Adapted Screenplay: Stephen Gaghan, Syriana
This can only help, i suppose.
Best Original Screenplay: Noah Baumbach, The Squid and the Whale
Ditto.
Best Film or Mini-Series Made for Cable TV: Lackawanna Blues
Ummm...
Career Achievement: Jane Fonda
Career Achievement in Film Music Composition: Howard Shore
Wow, I predicted Shirley MacLaine and Thomas Newman! So, i was sorta really close... but not.
Outstanding Achievement in Special Effects: King Kong
I get the feeling they wanted to reward it somewhere, cause they don't usually have this category. But, they've never really warmed to Jackson's big movies so...
Billy Wilder Award for Excellence in Direction: David Cronenberg
This'll help!
GOTHAM's announced their winners.
BEST FEATURE Capote
BEST BREAKTHROUGH DIRECTOR Bennett Miller, Capote
BEST BREAKTHROUGH ACTOR Amy Adams, Junebug
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST The Squid and the Whale
BEST DOCUMENTARY Murderball
Amy Adams, yet again! I predicted her in my last predictions for Oscar and to be honest... i'm gonna keep her in there for now. The rest? moving on...
And it was good to see The Constant Gardener take a swag of awards home from the British Independent Film Awards. Hopefully it can resurge with Oscar just in time.
Man, I'm wiped. I've seen 3 movies today (well, one was a 24minute short, but it totally counts) and I'm gonna go watch a documentary about Errol Flynn right now. Update again tomorrow.
December 12, 2005
FYI
New sidebar junk.
I'm going to melbourne tomorrow (I have to take an hour train ride to get there) to see a few movies. I'm gonna see 5x2 and then a double bill featuring The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello and The Man With The Movie Camera. So I have an french, an australian and a Russian movie. Should be fun. I was going to see "Joyeux Noel" (or however its spelt) but it's only in Advance Screenings and isn't on tomorrow. Oh well.
I'm going to melbourne tomorrow (I have to take an hour train ride to get there) to see a few movies. I'm gonna see 5x2 and then a double bill featuring The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello and The Man With The Movie Camera. So I have an french, an australian and a Russian movie. Should be fun. I was going to see "Joyeux Noel" (or however its spelt) but it's only in Advance Screenings and isn't on tomorrow. Oh well.
Boston Film Critics
Brokeback Mountain and Catherine Keener get it AGAIN. Wow, is Catherine turning into a runaway, or a critical darling that gets snubbed come Oscar time? I haven't seen Capote but people say she's very much in the background. No big hysterionics. But, I suppose it could still work.
Anyway.
Film: Brokeback Mountain
Director: Ang Lee
Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Supporting: Catherine Keener, Paul Giamatti
Screenplay: Capote, Dan Futterman
Documentary: Murderball
New Filmmaker Award: Joe Wright for Pride & Prejudice
Phillip winning is becoming as annoyingly monotonous as Jamie Foxx was last year. I don't really care if Ledger wins some, Phoenix wins some, Fiennes wins some, whatever, but i DON'T want Hoffman to win all of them. That's just boring. I still think Ledger is more likely for the Globe though.
Nice to see Pride & Prejudice's Wright win an award. Murderball winning can only help it. I personally think Murderball being nommed for Oscar doesn't seem that likely... but that's just me I think.
Anyway.
Film: Brokeback Mountain
Director: Ang Lee
Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Supporting: Catherine Keener, Paul Giamatti
Screenplay: Capote, Dan Futterman
Documentary: Murderball
New Filmmaker Award: Joe Wright for Pride & Prejudice
Phillip winning is becoming as annoyingly monotonous as Jamie Foxx was last year. I don't really care if Ledger wins some, Phoenix wins some, Fiennes wins some, whatever, but i DON'T want Hoffman to win all of them. That's just boring. I still think Ledger is more likely for the Globe though.
Nice to see Pride & Prejudice's Wright win an award. Murderball winning can only help it. I personally think Murderball being nommed for Oscar doesn't seem that likely... but that's just me I think.
New York Film Critics Online Awards (??)
Correction: I said in the BFCA roundup that Rachel Weisz got a bump, as did her director. I misread. Fernando Meirelles wasn't nominated with the BFCA but was nominated for these awards that were on the front page of Oscar Watch and they all blurred into one.
This is what they went with. I don't know what relevance, if any, they have. I didn't even really know they existed.
Picture - The Squid and the Whale
Actor - Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote)
Actress - Keira Knightley (Pride and Prejudice)
Director - Fernando Meirelles (Constant Gardener)
Supporting Actor - Oliver Platt (Casanova)
Supporting Actress - Amy Adams (Junebug)
Breakthrough Performer - Terrence Howard (Hustle and Flow, Crash, Get Rich or Die Tryin', Four Brothers)
Debut Director - Paul Haggis (Crash)
Screenplay - Paul Haggis (Crash)
Documentary - Grizzly Man
Foreign Language - Downfall
Animated - Wallace & Gromit - The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Cinematography - March of the Penguins
Top 9:
The Best of Youth (Miramax)
Brokeback Mountain (Focus)
Capote (Sony Classics)
The Constant Gardener (Focus)
Crash (Lions Gate)
Good Night, and Good Luck. (Warner Independent)
Munich (Universal/DreamWorks)
The Squid and the Whale (Samuel Goldwyn)
Syriana (Warner Bros.)
I find it odd that they awards Downfall as their Best Foriegn Film but it wasn't in their Top 10, instead The Best of Youth was. Huh?
Do we have another contender for Best Supporting Actor though? Considering that categories unfocusedness (is that word?) could the previously un-nominated Oliver Platt get in? We'll see...
This is what they went with. I don't know what relevance, if any, they have. I didn't even really know they existed.
Picture - The Squid and the Whale
Actor - Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote)
Actress - Keira Knightley (Pride and Prejudice)
Director - Fernando Meirelles (Constant Gardener)
Supporting Actor - Oliver Platt (Casanova)
Supporting Actress - Amy Adams (Junebug)
Breakthrough Performer - Terrence Howard (Hustle and Flow, Crash, Get Rich or Die Tryin', Four Brothers)
Debut Director - Paul Haggis (Crash)
Screenplay - Paul Haggis (Crash)
Documentary - Grizzly Man
Foreign Language - Downfall
Animated - Wallace & Gromit - The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Cinematography - March of the Penguins
Top 9:
The Best of Youth (Miramax)
Brokeback Mountain (Focus)
Capote (Sony Classics)
The Constant Gardener (Focus)
Crash (Lions Gate)
Good Night, and Good Luck. (Warner Independent)
Munich (Universal/DreamWorks)
The Squid and the Whale (Samuel Goldwyn)
Syriana (Warner Bros.)
I find it odd that they awards Downfall as their Best Foriegn Film but it wasn't in their Top 10, instead The Best of Youth was. Huh?
Do we have another contender for Best Supporting Actor though? Considering that categories unfocusedness (is that word?) could the previously un-nominated Oliver Platt get in? We'll see...
BFCAs know where Oscar is at, yo
Can I start a blog war, pweeze!!! Cause seriously, that BITCH Nathaniel is going around harping to everyone who'll listen, saying HE (yeah, him!) was the one who figured Crash would resurface in the Oscar race. Bitch, plz - i totally called it before him.
(I'm really tired, lol)
Let's go through the nominess:
BEST PICTURE:
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Cinderella Man
The Constant Gardener
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck.
King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha
Munich
Walk the Line
er, okay. Why do they need 10 nominees? Is it so that, what Nathaniel suggested, they just want to be perceived as Oscar forcasters so they have 10 incase one or two or four flop and fall out? I think so. I see that these 10 are probably the 10 most likely to succeed (although I'd maybe swap Capote for Match Point when it comes to Oscar. Oh, and definitely Memoirs. I suppose Memoirs was still considered a big possibility when they cast their votes. But that's an odd nomination considering the reviews its getting (ie; worse than last year's nominee Phantom of the Opera
BEST ACTOR:
Russell Crowe – “Cinderella Man”
Philip Seymour Hoffman – “Capote”
Terrence Howard – “Hustle & Flow”
Heath Ledger – “Brokeback Mountain”
Joaquin Phoenix – “Walk the Line”
David Strathairn – “Good Night, and Good Luck.”
Well, this is an interesting category. They threw the man I'm sticking with through thick and thin (at this stage), Terrance Howard and also threw in my man Russell. I actually have no problem with Russell here cause if I remember correctly, critics loved him in the movie. In my currect predix my top 5 is made up of 5 of these 6 men. Is that a good sign?
BEST ACTRESS:
Joan Allen – “The Upside of Anger”
Judi Dench - “Mrs. Henderson Presents”
Felicity Huffman – “Transamerica”
Keira Knightley – “Pride & Prejudice”
Charlize Theron – “North Country”
Reese Witherspoon – “Walk the Line”
Get rid of Charlize and I think we have our Best Actress line up. Sure, there'll be some changes between now and Oscar time, but at the moment, those 5 seem like the most likely nominees. It's funny though that at Dave Poland's oscar charts he's got Joan down at, like, number 11 yet his own peers think she's great...?
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
George Clooney – “Syriana”
Kevin Costner – “The Upside of Anger”
Matt Dillon – “Crash”
Paul Giamatti – “Cinderella Man”
Jake Gyllenhaal – “Brokeback Mountain”
Terrence Howard – “Crash”
Good to see Dillon on here, same for Gyllenhaal. it'd be great to see both of those guys up for Oscars. I still ain't feeling the Giamatti Oscar nod, but who knows? LOVED seeing Kevin Costner on here. Great choice.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Amy Adams – “Junebug”
Maria Bello – “A History of Violence”
Catherine Keener – “Capote”
Frances McDormand – “North Country”
Rachel Weisz – “The Constant Gardener”
Michelle Williams – “Brokeback Mountain”
In my last posted set of nominees (er, that was aages ago and not posted on here) I had Amy Adams for Junebug and now she's popping up everything in the nominations. Bello needed this. Williams is looking better and better. And Weisz got a great kick (as his her director). McDormand could conceivably pull a Laura Linney and become the only remnant of a previously hot tipped movie.
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE:
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Rent
Syriana
Sin City
Crash is here my default. Nice choice is Sin City (even though I don't like the movie that much) and Rent. GN&GL got a great boost I think. Syriana? meh...
BEST DIRECTOR:
George Clooney – “Good Night, and Good Luck.”
Paul Haggis – “Crash”
Ron Howard – “Cinderella Man”
Peter Jackson – “King Kong”
Ang Lee – “Brokeback Mountain”
Steven Spielberg – “Munich”
Clooney, Lee and Spielberg are firming up nicely (er, for oscar nods). Jackson got a bump. I feel convinced at the present time (sure to change no doubt) that Haggis' movie will get either a Picture nod and no director nod, or vice versa. Ron Howard? REALLY?!
BEST WRITER:
Noah Baumbach – “The Squid and the Whale”
George Clooney and Grant Heslov – “Good Night, and Good Luck.”
Dan Futterman – “Capote”
Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco – “Crash”
Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana – “Brokeback Mountain”
Yawn. Usual suspects. Moving on.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:
“Chicken Little”
“Corpse Bride”
“Howl’s Moving Castle”
“Madagascar”
“Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit”
ditto. Is Hoodwinked really worse than Chicken Little or Madagascar??
BEST YOUNG ACTOR:
Jesse Eisenberg – “The Squid and the Whale”
Alex Etel – “Millions”
Freddie Highmore – “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”
Owen Kline – “The Squid and the Whale”
Daniel Radcliffe – “Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire”
BEST YOUNG ACTRESS:
Flora Cross – “Bee Season”
Dakota Fanning – “War of the Worlds”
Georgie Henley – “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe”
Q'Orianka Kilcher – “The New World”
Emma Watson – “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”
DIEFREDDIEHIGHMOREDIE!!!! Loving Emma Watson though.
OMG, imagine if in the future, Dakota Fanning and Freddie Highmore procreated. They'd create the most demonic kids in the world.
BEST COMEDY MOVIE:
The 40 Year-Old Virgin
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
Mrs. Henderson Presents
The Producers
The Wedding Crashers
Suggestion - Nat needs this category in his awards.
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
Cache
Kung Fu Hustle
Oldboy
Paradise Now
2046
were these the only foreign films released this year? I swear they were. Oldboy is horrendous though!
BEST SONG:
“Hustle & Flow” – Terrence Howard – “Hustle & Flow”
“A Love That Will Never Grow Old” – Emmylou Harris – “Brokeback Mountain”
“Same in Any Language” – I Nine – “Elizabethtown”
“Seasons of Love” – Tracie Thoms, Jesse L. Martin and Cast – “Rent”
“Travelin’ Thru” – Dolly Parton – “Transamerica”
Seasons on Love? huh?! Emmylou's song is lovely, and I haven't heard the others. I'm really disappointed.
blah blah blah.
Nothing really singularly interesting. Brokeback, Crash, Capote and Joan Allen all got helped (any nods Joan gets is a big help!). I was surprised to see Munich passed over in all but two categories (Cinderella Man got more! Hell, so did Memoirs of a Geisha).
It really does seem though that these nominees are pretty much the basic outline of the current thoughts on what Oscar is going to go for, give or take a few nominees. Oh well.
I watched Gorillas in the Mist this morning. First time in a few years. I basically feel the exact same way. It's a B+ movie, dragged down by a C grade romance. So it's score? B-. Man, Sigourney Weaver rocked in the 80s! Why doesn't SHE have an Oscar?
To tell you the truth, I'd much rather Sigourney have one than Julianne at this stage. At least Julianne is still being OFFERED roles.
(I'm really tired, lol)
Let's go through the nominess:
BEST PICTURE:
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Cinderella Man
The Constant Gardener
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck.
King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha
Munich
Walk the Line
er, okay. Why do they need 10 nominees? Is it so that, what Nathaniel suggested, they just want to be perceived as Oscar forcasters so they have 10 incase one or two or four flop and fall out? I think so. I see that these 10 are probably the 10 most likely to succeed (although I'd maybe swap Capote for Match Point when it comes to Oscar. Oh, and definitely Memoirs. I suppose Memoirs was still considered a big possibility when they cast their votes. But that's an odd nomination considering the reviews its getting (ie; worse than last year's nominee Phantom of the Opera
BEST ACTOR:
Russell Crowe – “Cinderella Man”
Philip Seymour Hoffman – “Capote”
Terrence Howard – “Hustle & Flow”
Heath Ledger – “Brokeback Mountain”
Joaquin Phoenix – “Walk the Line”
David Strathairn – “Good Night, and Good Luck.”
Well, this is an interesting category. They threw the man I'm sticking with through thick and thin (at this stage), Terrance Howard and also threw in my man Russell. I actually have no problem with Russell here cause if I remember correctly, critics loved him in the movie. In my currect predix my top 5 is made up of 5 of these 6 men. Is that a good sign?
BEST ACTRESS:
Joan Allen – “The Upside of Anger”
Judi Dench - “Mrs. Henderson Presents”
Felicity Huffman – “Transamerica”
Keira Knightley – “Pride & Prejudice”
Charlize Theron – “North Country”
Reese Witherspoon – “Walk the Line”
Get rid of Charlize and I think we have our Best Actress line up. Sure, there'll be some changes between now and Oscar time, but at the moment, those 5 seem like the most likely nominees. It's funny though that at Dave Poland's oscar charts he's got Joan down at, like, number 11 yet his own peers think she's great...?
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
George Clooney – “Syriana”
Kevin Costner – “The Upside of Anger”
Matt Dillon – “Crash”
Paul Giamatti – “Cinderella Man”
Jake Gyllenhaal – “Brokeback Mountain”
Terrence Howard – “Crash”
Good to see Dillon on here, same for Gyllenhaal. it'd be great to see both of those guys up for Oscars. I still ain't feeling the Giamatti Oscar nod, but who knows? LOVED seeing Kevin Costner on here. Great choice.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Amy Adams – “Junebug”
Maria Bello – “A History of Violence”
Catherine Keener – “Capote”
Frances McDormand – “North Country”
Rachel Weisz – “The Constant Gardener”
Michelle Williams – “Brokeback Mountain”
In my last posted set of nominees (er, that was aages ago and not posted on here) I had Amy Adams for Junebug and now she's popping up everything in the nominations. Bello needed this. Williams is looking better and better. And Weisz got a great kick (as his her director). McDormand could conceivably pull a Laura Linney and become the only remnant of a previously hot tipped movie.
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE:
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Rent
Syriana
Sin City
Crash is here my default. Nice choice is Sin City (even though I don't like the movie that much) and Rent. GN&GL got a great boost I think. Syriana? meh...
BEST DIRECTOR:
George Clooney – “Good Night, and Good Luck.”
Paul Haggis – “Crash”
Ron Howard – “Cinderella Man”
Peter Jackson – “King Kong”
Ang Lee – “Brokeback Mountain”
Steven Spielberg – “Munich”
Clooney, Lee and Spielberg are firming up nicely (er, for oscar nods). Jackson got a bump. I feel convinced at the present time (sure to change no doubt) that Haggis' movie will get either a Picture nod and no director nod, or vice versa. Ron Howard? REALLY?!
BEST WRITER:
Noah Baumbach – “The Squid and the Whale”
George Clooney and Grant Heslov – “Good Night, and Good Luck.”
Dan Futterman – “Capote”
Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco – “Crash”
Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana – “Brokeback Mountain”
Yawn. Usual suspects. Moving on.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:
“Chicken Little”
“Corpse Bride”
“Howl’s Moving Castle”
“Madagascar”
“Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit”
ditto. Is Hoodwinked really worse than Chicken Little or Madagascar??
BEST YOUNG ACTOR:
Jesse Eisenberg – “The Squid and the Whale”
Alex Etel – “Millions”
Freddie Highmore – “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”
Owen Kline – “The Squid and the Whale”
Daniel Radcliffe – “Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire”
BEST YOUNG ACTRESS:
Flora Cross – “Bee Season”
Dakota Fanning – “War of the Worlds”
Georgie Henley – “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe”
Q'Orianka Kilcher – “The New World”
Emma Watson – “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”
DIEFREDDIEHIGHMOREDIE!!!! Loving Emma Watson though.
OMG, imagine if in the future, Dakota Fanning and Freddie Highmore procreated. They'd create the most demonic kids in the world.
BEST COMEDY MOVIE:
The 40 Year-Old Virgin
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
Mrs. Henderson Presents
The Producers
The Wedding Crashers
Suggestion - Nat needs this category in his awards.
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
Cache
Kung Fu Hustle
Oldboy
Paradise Now
2046
were these the only foreign films released this year? I swear they were. Oldboy is horrendous though!
BEST SONG:
“Hustle & Flow” – Terrence Howard – “Hustle & Flow”
“A Love That Will Never Grow Old” – Emmylou Harris – “Brokeback Mountain”
“Same in Any Language” – I Nine – “Elizabethtown”
“Seasons of Love” – Tracie Thoms, Jesse L. Martin and Cast – “Rent”
“Travelin’ Thru” – Dolly Parton – “Transamerica”
Seasons on Love? huh?! Emmylou's song is lovely, and I haven't heard the others. I'm really disappointed.
blah blah blah.
Nothing really singularly interesting. Brokeback, Crash, Capote and Joan Allen all got helped (any nods Joan gets is a big help!). I was surprised to see Munich passed over in all but two categories (Cinderella Man got more! Hell, so did Memoirs of a Geisha).
It really does seem though that these nominees are pretty much the basic outline of the current thoughts on what Oscar is going to go for, give or take a few nominees. Oh well.
I watched Gorillas in the Mist this morning. First time in a few years. I basically feel the exact same way. It's a B+ movie, dragged down by a C grade romance. So it's score? B-. Man, Sigourney Weaver rocked in the 80s! Why doesn't SHE have an Oscar?
To tell you the truth, I'd much rather Sigourney have one than Julianne at this stage. At least Julianne is still being OFFERED roles.
hah
| You Are Vixen |
 Sexy and sultry, you're the one all the other reindeer dream about. Why You're Naughty: That fur pulling spat you got into with Dancer over Santa. Why You're Nice: Because even when you're nice, you're still delightfully naughty! |
Whoa
I just watched a movie on DVD (or, i finished it an hour ago) and I cannot stop thinking about it. I had such a powerful visceral reaction to the movie. I am confident that it is complete and utter brilliance and that is it instantly an all-time fave. I wasn't expected it - in fact, I didn't know what to expect. I figured it'd be good considering what I've heard about it from certain Internet bloggers.
I ended up getting so much more. I fell in love from the very first seconds. With that oh-so-Angelo Badadementi score (that wasn't actually by him) and that haunted images. And what progressed was just utterly captivating brilliance. Nothing else can describe it.
The movie?
Safe
Wow. Has their ever been a movie so ahead of it's time AND behind the times at the same time as this? Ahead of it's time because, well, it's as relevant today as it was back then. Even more so considering our penchant for technology. And also, whod've thought in 1995 that the 80s would be so in again. And it was behind the times because it's visual and aural aesthetic is completely taken from the 80s that, i'm not sure about this though, that it may have been perceived the wrong way.
I LOVED the visual aspect of the movie. In fact, after about 15 minutes I had completely forgotten the movie was actually from 1995 and not 1987 like it is set. It all was so right. And that score! Haunting and masterful, what ever happened to Ed Tomney? Why didn't he become a mainstay like Mr Badalamenti? Oh well.
Still, I'll need to check it out again to give it the grade i immediately wanted to give it. But right now. A
I saw another movie recently that I gave an A to. Paris, Texas. God, what a fantastic movie. Why didn't that receive any Oscar nominations? So bizarre. But not as bizarre as the Golden Globes nominating it for Best Foreign Film.
I wonder when the Golden Globes stopped allowing foreign films to be nominated in their Best Picture categories. because I found that Three Colours: Blue was nominated for Best Picture, Drama in 1993. Yet nowadays they can't. Strange.
You know what's no brilliant? Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. Hannah came over last night after I finished work and we watch this. It was... whatever. Low grade Disney trash. C. After that I had a three hour chat with Tony aka THE FUNNIEST GUY I KNOW. You'd never know it from his demeanor (17-year-old depressed alcoholic), but damn. FUNNY.
I ended up getting so much more. I fell in love from the very first seconds. With that oh-so-Angelo Badadementi score (that wasn't actually by him) and that haunted images. And what progressed was just utterly captivating brilliance. Nothing else can describe it.
The movie?
Safe
Wow. Has their ever been a movie so ahead of it's time AND behind the times at the same time as this? Ahead of it's time because, well, it's as relevant today as it was back then. Even more so considering our penchant for technology. And also, whod've thought in 1995 that the 80s would be so in again. And it was behind the times because it's visual and aural aesthetic is completely taken from the 80s that, i'm not sure about this though, that it may have been perceived the wrong way.
I LOVED the visual aspect of the movie. In fact, after about 15 minutes I had completely forgotten the movie was actually from 1995 and not 1987 like it is set. It all was so right. And that score! Haunting and masterful, what ever happened to Ed Tomney? Why didn't he become a mainstay like Mr Badalamenti? Oh well.
Still, I'll need to check it out again to give it the grade i immediately wanted to give it. But right now. A
I saw another movie recently that I gave an A to. Paris, Texas. God, what a fantastic movie. Why didn't that receive any Oscar nominations? So bizarre. But not as bizarre as the Golden Globes nominating it for Best Foreign Film.
I wonder when the Golden Globes stopped allowing foreign films to be nominated in their Best Picture categories. because I found that Three Colours: Blue was nominated for Best Picture, Drama in 1993. Yet nowadays they can't. Strange.
You know what's no brilliant? Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. Hannah came over last night after I finished work and we watch this. It was... whatever. Low grade Disney trash. C. After that I had a three hour chat with Tony aka THE FUNNIEST GUY I KNOW. You'd never know it from his demeanor (17-year-old depressed alcoholic), but damn. FUNNY.
December 11, 2005
Apparently + Brokeback Box Office + Julianne Moore
1. Capote and Squid & the Whale tied for Best Screenplay in LA.
2. Brokeback Mountain had a PSA on Friday of a massive $38,000. That's enough to get it's average above $100,000 for the entire weekend! That's bloody impressive.
3. Okay, i don't know if Nathaniel reads this blog (i wish he would, his approval is what i seek, lol) but I found this in the Sunday Herald today and... well... colour me green (not with envy, but with sickness)
Moore Ships On
Julianne Moore is set to star in the adaptation of the Alice Munro short story Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage, in wich a nanny is hired for a teenage girl whose mother has died. Complications arise when the nanny falls for the teen's ailing father.
Oh, god. I haven't read the short story but this sounds... well, I'll let you decide.
Now I don't subscribe to the "Julianne Moore is God" fanclub like many of you guys, but I do really like her as an actress. But, come on. Playing a nanny who falls for the father? Save me...
2. Brokeback Mountain had a PSA on Friday of a massive $38,000. That's enough to get it's average above $100,000 for the entire weekend! That's bloody impressive.
3. Okay, i don't know if Nathaniel reads this blog (i wish he would, his approval is what i seek, lol) but I found this in the Sunday Herald today and... well... colour me green (not with envy, but with sickness)
Moore Ships On
Julianne Moore is set to star in the adaptation of the Alice Munro short story Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage, in wich a nanny is hired for a teenage girl whose mother has died. Complications arise when the nanny falls for the teen's ailing father.
Oh, god. I haven't read the short story but this sounds... well, I'll let you decide.
Now I don't subscribe to the "Julianne Moore is God" fanclub like many of you guys, but I do really like her as an actress. But, come on. Playing a nanny who falls for the father? Save me...
LAFCA
Well, the LAFCA (apparently) have released their winners. The Big winners are Brokeback Mountain, Catherine Keener, Good Night & Good Luck, Capote, and they surely won't hurt A History of Violence. The big surprise? The strong showing of 2046.
Picture: Brokeback Mountain (over A History of Violence)
I picked this one correctly. Yay for me.
Director: Ang Lee (over David Cronenberg)
Ditto. I don't really know how this "over A History of Violence" or whatever works? Does that mean said movie came second? Or is it just something Anne Thompson. If it means it came second then History of Violence could use this, but if it doesn't mean a thing...
Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote (over Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain)
My alternate won. I guessed Ralph Fiennes. Again, this COULD be used for Ledger's run but i don't know.
Actress: Vera Farmiga, Down to the Bone (over Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents)
Wow. I've barely heard anything about this movie. BUT the weird thing is, someone over at Dave Poland's blog actually mentioned that LA could go for this performance and nobody paid any attention. Judi also seems like an odd choice - that movie doesn't seem like the kind to win critics awards, but maybe we'll be proven wrong. Is Judi a much MUCH more formidable foe than we are expecting?
Supporting Actress: Catherine Keener, for four films (Capote, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, The Ballad of Jack and Rose, The Interpreter), over Amy Adams of Junebug
Amy Adams couldn't really done with the win here as a great great boost. She is definitely having a swell early season rush, but who knows where it will go. Keener is not necessarily an odd choice, just maybe left of centre. Could we be seeing another big contender for Supporting Actress? She is playing a real life person after all. I had neither of these two ladies though as my pick or alternate.
Supporting Actor: William Hurt, A History of Violence (over Frank Langella, Good Night, and Good Luck)
Now I'm convinced. I haven't seen History of Violence so I don't know how good Hurt actually is but actors and cameo's don't really get Oscar play (right?), but i suppose I should start REALLY considering this one. Again, neither of my picks made it. Frank Langella?
Screenplay: Dan Futterman, Capote (over Noah Baumbach, The Squid and the Whale)
Again, neither of my picks made it. Futterman needed this, he was in danger of slipping. And again, can Baumbach use this or is his mention nothing?
Cinematography: Robert Elswit, Good Night, and Good Luck (over 2046)
Well, i didn't predict this category for some reason. It seems that they just add or substract categories each year. Can Sony Classics use this as a launching pad for 2046?
Production Design: 2046 (over Good Night, and Good Luck)
WOW. Did not see this one coming at all. Can't say I'm disappointed - it's a great pick. 2046 for Oscar? I doubt it, but I can dream.
Music: Joe Hisaishi, Howl's Moving Castle
Umm... that's cool. Strange, but cool. Do you think they wanted to reward it and didn't know where? It didn't beat ANYTHING apparently? I doubt this award will lead anywhere except maybe MAYBE help boost it into the Top 3 for Animated Feature
New Generation Award: Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow
I didn't get this one either, but I'm not surprised.
Documentary: Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man (over Alex Gibney's Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room)
lol, again, neither of my pics made it. Whatever. Grizzly Man isn't eligable so...
Animated Feature: Wallce + Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Was there any doubt?
Foreign Film: Michael Haneke's Cache (over 2046)
Well, my alternate for this category was 2046, so I got that right! But, I didn't know Cache had been released yet? Hmm. I'd swear it hadn't, but i won't because I don't live in America. But I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere.
That's it (apparently)
The big losers? CRASH CRASH CRASH
If Los Angeles didn't go for it, then what's the hope that many others (including Oscar) will? Also, Munich and Memoirs not showing MAY hurt it, but not really. Munich is doing it's own thing and Memoirs is dying a quick death in the major categories.
However, in my predictions I did write this "They also throw out some oddballs occasionally (Bill Nighy winning Supporting Actor in 2003 for Love Actually, AKA and I Capture the Castle)" - can we say that they did indeed do that this year. What with this Vera Farmiga woman who I've never heard of before.
I'm still confused about the "over ______" thing. What does it all mean?
Oh well, bring on New York, New York.
Picture: Brokeback Mountain (over A History of Violence)
I picked this one correctly. Yay for me.
Director: Ang Lee (over David Cronenberg)
Ditto. I don't really know how this "over A History of Violence" or whatever works? Does that mean said movie came second? Or is it just something Anne Thompson. If it means it came second then History of Violence could use this, but if it doesn't mean a thing...
Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote (over Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain)
My alternate won. I guessed Ralph Fiennes. Again, this COULD be used for Ledger's run but i don't know.
Actress: Vera Farmiga, Down to the Bone (over Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents)
Wow. I've barely heard anything about this movie. BUT the weird thing is, someone over at Dave Poland's blog actually mentioned that LA could go for this performance and nobody paid any attention. Judi also seems like an odd choice - that movie doesn't seem like the kind to win critics awards, but maybe we'll be proven wrong. Is Judi a much MUCH more formidable foe than we are expecting?
Supporting Actress: Catherine Keener, for four films (Capote, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, The Ballad of Jack and Rose, The Interpreter), over Amy Adams of Junebug
Amy Adams couldn't really done with the win here as a great great boost. She is definitely having a swell early season rush, but who knows where it will go. Keener is not necessarily an odd choice, just maybe left of centre. Could we be seeing another big contender for Supporting Actress? She is playing a real life person after all. I had neither of these two ladies though as my pick or alternate.
Supporting Actor: William Hurt, A History of Violence (over Frank Langella, Good Night, and Good Luck)
Now I'm convinced. I haven't seen History of Violence so I don't know how good Hurt actually is but actors and cameo's don't really get Oscar play (right?), but i suppose I should start REALLY considering this one. Again, neither of my picks made it. Frank Langella?
Screenplay: Dan Futterman, Capote (over Noah Baumbach, The Squid and the Whale)
Again, neither of my picks made it. Futterman needed this, he was in danger of slipping. And again, can Baumbach use this or is his mention nothing?
Cinematography: Robert Elswit, Good Night, and Good Luck (over 2046)
Well, i didn't predict this category for some reason. It seems that they just add or substract categories each year. Can Sony Classics use this as a launching pad for 2046?
Production Design: 2046 (over Good Night, and Good Luck)
WOW. Did not see this one coming at all. Can't say I'm disappointed - it's a great pick. 2046 for Oscar? I doubt it, but I can dream.
Music: Joe Hisaishi, Howl's Moving Castle
Umm... that's cool. Strange, but cool. Do you think they wanted to reward it and didn't know where? It didn't beat ANYTHING apparently? I doubt this award will lead anywhere except maybe MAYBE help boost it into the Top 3 for Animated Feature
New Generation Award: Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow
I didn't get this one either, but I'm not surprised.
Documentary: Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man (over Alex Gibney's Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room)
lol, again, neither of my pics made it. Whatever. Grizzly Man isn't eligable so...
Animated Feature: Wallce + Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Was there any doubt?
Foreign Film: Michael Haneke's Cache (over 2046)
Well, my alternate for this category was 2046, so I got that right! But, I didn't know Cache had been released yet? Hmm. I'd swear it hadn't, but i won't because I don't live in America. But I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere.
That's it (apparently)
The big losers? CRASH CRASH CRASH
If Los Angeles didn't go for it, then what's the hope that many others (including Oscar) will? Also, Munich and Memoirs not showing MAY hurt it, but not really. Munich is doing it's own thing and Memoirs is dying a quick death in the major categories.
However, in my predictions I did write this "They also throw out some oddballs occasionally (Bill Nighy winning Supporting Actor in 2003 for Love Actually, AKA and I Capture the Castle)" - can we say that they did indeed do that this year. What with this Vera Farmiga woman who I've never heard of before.
I'm still confused about the "over ______" thing. What does it all mean?
Oh well, bring on New York, New York.
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