Top 25 Musical Sequences

This is a small little list I concocted earlier today. This isn't the countdown list I talked about earlier. It's my 25 favourite musical sequences. Now I obviously haven't seen every musical ever, but whatever. I was bored this afternoon.

I excluded performance scenes. In that it’s just a character on a stage singing a song (like you would find in a lot of non-musical genre movies) – I did include Cabaret though because these scenes are treated as big musical sequences. So this unfortunately meant stuff like “Llorando” from Mulholland Drive was inneligable as was the Prince film “Purple Rain” (even though, again, it’s not actually a performance film it is essentially Prince doing a concert). I also excluded performance films, so that meant “Fosse”, David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” and the Elvis documentary “Elvis: That’s the Way it Is” were all inneligable. I also excluded movies I haven’t actually seen all of. So that means any number of fabo bits from the “That’s Entertainment!” films were inelligable.

Lastly, I decided to exclude dance sequences. In that, that’s all it is. Dancing. A scene had to have singing for it to count. Unfortunately that cancelled out most Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers numbers, the finale of “An American in Paris” and movies such as “Tango”, “Bring It On”, “Strictly Ballroom”, “Billy Elliot”, “The Tango Lesson”, “Pulp Fiction”, “Romy and Michelle” and “The Red Shoes”. Sequences from some of these movies would’ve made it, but I thought it was a bit unfair. But you can consider them honourable mentions.

Now I know I’m going to be missing a few from the films I have seen, and also from the films I have not – but what are you going to do? I’m all the way over here in Australia (the south, too!) and you’re over wherever you are! Try and catch me…

There were also some movies that had sequences that unfortunately didn’t make the top 25. They are “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”, “Bugsy Malone”, “Singin’ in the Rain”, “Romeo + Juliet”, “Evita”, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves”, “Victor/Victoria”, “The Producers”, "Blues Brothers", “Dick Tracy”, “Everyone Says I Love You”, “Topsy Turvy” and “Stonewall”. Plus a few other song selections from movies that already appear in the top 25.

And now, to begin with the countdown…


25. From Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Once More With Feeling, "I've Got A Theory" - Performed by the Cast of Buffy the Vampire Slater


Uber-fun song and the scene is a killer to boot. But the cherry on the cake is Anya's "BUNNIES, BUNNIES, BUNNIES, IT MUST BE BUNNIES!!!" What do they need such good eye-sight for, anyway?

24. From Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" - Performed by Marilyn Monroe


Has become a musical classic even if the song isn't the greatest. The scene itself is just pure bliss. Marilyn in THAT pink dress surrounded my doting men. The song has a life of it's own, but Marilyn made it perfect. Honourary Mentions for the same song: Jane Russell's own version in the courtroom from the same film, and Nicole Kidman's high-wire version in Moulin Rouge was extraordinary, but I went with the original.

23. From Dancer in the Dark, "Cvalda" - Performed by Björk, Catherine Deneuve & Chorus


The most upbeat number of the movie is my second fave from the movie. The scene is wonderfully choreographed and performed from the opening boom-clatter-smack-bam all the way to the end that brings us back to (sad) reality.

22. From Chicago, "When You're Good To Mama" - Performed by Queen Latifah


The second Queen Latifah stormed into this movie a huge giant grin emerged on my face. What a wonderful sight she is. And with a set of lungs like that, she owned the role. And how about getting an Oscar nomination all because of this one song (you know that's why). Way to go.

That's all for now. I am going to see Inside Man. Yay.

Linkage

Great article about the recent spat of horror splatterings on our screens. While I think the man is clearly overdoing this theories on movies such as Final Destination 3 the assessment of films like Wolf Creek and The Hills of Eyes (i have seen WC and have seen the original Hills) is spot on, and the quotes by Wes Craven (aka, Horror's reigning King) are so true.

It reminds me of when Roger Ebert lambasted The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2003 saying it was "ugly, vile and reprehensible" or whatever. But didn't seem to realise that's exactly what the filmmakers were going go. Some people just don't get it. And that Ebert said he wanted to walk outside in the sun and eat an apple meant the filmmakers had done their job. You're living in a crazy world right now, but it could be so much worse.

Good for him

From IMDb

Director Quits 'Dallas' Movie


Director Robert Luketic has abruptly quit the big screen remake of the hit 1980s TV show Dallas, because he was unhappy with some of the casting choices. The Legally Blonde film-maker was set to start shooting in October And key cast members are still being finalized. Among those actors already on board to play members of the Ewing clan are John Travolta as JR, Jennifer Lopez as Sue Ellen, Luke Wilson as Bobby, and Shirley MacLaine as Miss Ellie. A source tells US magazine People that the director was unhappy with some of the studio's choices for the roles and decided to walk away from the film. No details were given regarding which stars the director objected to. Doctor Dolittle director Betty Thomas is being considered as a possible replacement for Luketic.

I like Robert Luketic, he seems like a great guy. Plus he made Legally Blonde and Titsiana Buberini. I would hazard a guess and say he objected to Jennifer Lopez considering the rumours from the set of Monster-in-Law that he directed. But, seriously, a lot of that casting is bad anyway so...

Complete

Okay, so the redesign is complete. I got the look working (I had to delete the Everybody in Los Angeles is Racist thread because it was too big). Now it's just up to me to do stuff to fill it.

Listening: Prince - "Lolita"

Stuff

I've had a change of heart in the last 15 minutes. I'm gonna try and keep this thing going. Things:

-New Name - I've decided to change the name from the dull "Glenn's Movie Forum" to something much more baffling and confusing - Stale Popcorn

-New Theme - I'm still tinkering around with it because when I look at it the main sidebar disappears all the way down to below the main text. Hmmm...

-Revamped Sidebar - The screening log remains, there's a new evolving top 10 of 2006 (with nothing in it yet), the music selections make a comeback (follow me on my musical path - i do have good taste), and there are a bunch of new links that you should follow because they're great (specially Gilded Moose, Mystic $ Redemption and My New Plaid Pants)

-I'm gonna try and write more stuff on Aussie films just cause I can

-We'll see how it develops, maybe it can actually BECOME something. Who knows.

Heeeere's Johnny!

Hey, I'm back from my trip, which was awesome. Amongst other things I met Nathaniel, which was great. We walked around a whole lot and saw The Light in the Piazza, which was really great. It has the most attractive man I've laid eyes on in a while. Aaron Lazar. He's dreamy.



Umm... so, I dunno what's going on with the blog. I will keep it running and will definitely keep posting about movies and such, but the frequency may be slower. I'm back and school now and it's non-oscar season so I don't know if there will be all that much to talk about. I am planning a countdown list thing that I will be presenting, but until that's done I won't say what it is. It's just gonna be a fun list that I'm gonna do for absolutely no reason other than it sounds enjoyable to try and compile.

But if there are indeed people out there reading this who want me to try and keep it up, tell me and I'll my best. Like, I know this blog doesn't exactly have the readership numbers of others, but if those that are here wanna speak up, please do so.

Oh, and one last thing - Prince's new CD is pretty good. Got some great songs, but also some not-so-great songs. What else is new?

Ciao bellas.

Tom Cruise wouldn't like me

Okay, THIS is my last post. I just took a Scientology Personality Test and apparently I have 100% unacceptable levels of depression, irresponsibility and very near 100% levels of unacceptable unstabality, nervousness and I am over critical of myself (even I admit that one).

The derpression one is strange considering all my answers for the "are you happy?" "do you smile a lot" type of questions were +. Strange.



Bye!

Good Night, and Good Luck. (for me)

So, this will most likely be my last post for 12 days as I am off to America on vacation. LA for Sunday and Monday, New York for Tuesday-Tuesday (er, I think that's right). Gonna be so much fun. My great friend Colby in LA is acting as our tour guide and I'm also catching up with Desirae! Awesomeness. I've changed so much since they saw me last in 2002. I was looooser then. But now, I am so awesome you wouldn't believe it!

So, I'll see you in a bit. I hope our plain doesn't crash!

Also, clearly this is the funniest thing ever. Last time I did the evil test I was only 44% so I'm definitely moving up in the world!

You Are 66% Evil

You are very evil. And you're too evil to care. Those who love you probably also fear you. A lot.

How Evil Are You?

Ouch

I just dropped a wine bottle on my toes. I think one of them is broken (not really, it just hurts A LOT).

Hoochie Mamas Demand My Attention

Funny story. Hannah, Nathan and I went to see A History of Violence tonight. We got there, purchased the tickets, went and bought popcorn (hannah did, i had chocolate!) and went and got out tickets ripped and walked up to the cinema door and realised it was closed. Walked inside and realised the movie had started. Turns out we were 30 minutes late. Luckily we were able to get refunds. Hannah and I thought decided to go see Hustle & Flow.

Turns out it was pretty good. Neither of us were liking it until they actually started making music. The music was indeed great. THe performances were great as well. Apart from Terrance I really liked Taryn Manning and Taraji P Henson. Taryn especially was super-fun. And even Anthony Anderson and DJ Qualls didn't annoy me! B

In 3 days time I will be on a flight to America. Yay!

And lastly...

Another great article on the Oscar debacle.

I'm slowly gonna stop mentioning it altogether.

(America in 3 days!)

I'm So Excited (and i just can't hide it)

Nat and I have been corresponding. We're totally catching up when I'm in NYC. He rocks. I rock. We both rock. We rock out.

(I can't play guitar)

Bjork was onto something!

So I watched the Oscars again tonight. I taped something on the start of the tape and and when that finished it segued into the Oscars and I figured why not? However... I took a page out of Bjork's Dancer in the Dark heroine's book. I watched it all the way up until the final number (that being Best Picture) because it was going alright up until the very last set piece (apart from Memoirs of a Geisha winning THREE. How'd that happen?). So I chose to watch it right up until Ang left the stage. And then I pressed stop. Rewound the tape. Left the room.

"Because you just know when it goes really big... and the camera goes like out of the roof... and you just know it's going to end. I hate that. I would leave just after the next to last song... and the film would just go on forever."


At The Movies was funny tonight. David eviscerated Aeon Flux to shreds. Margaret got tres emotional and teary-eyed when discussing Fateless, which is a new WW2 movie. Yes, another one. This one looks very good though. I might wait for DVD though - Margaret was nearly crying on national television when discussing it. They raved about the lead boy who I am assuming is Marcell Nagy because he's at the top of IMDb's cast list but IMDb cast lists are crazy sometimes, like how the lead will be all the way down the bottom?

I watched Bamboozled (2000, dir. Lee) last night. Er. Righteo. Thank you Jada Pinkett Smith for saving this movie. It was going moderately alright when it was being mouth-wide-open shocking (but deliberately so so I don't give it props for that) but then it just got really boring. I hated Damon Wayans though (what else is new?) C

Whoa

I watched The Birds last night! I know I should've expected it considering how much I love pretty much every Hitchcock movie I see, but I just didn't expect this one to be any good for some reason. Could I have been any more wrong? Stunning. The opening passages were great fun to see how they were going to segue into the actual bird plot. The first attack on Tippi Hedren was an "oh!" moment and then the first attack happened. And the second. And the third. And the fourth. And, well... colour me impressed. I loved this movie. I was truly frightened in the final scenes in the house where it's completely silent. I was covering my mouth in shock at the attack scene.

And how about that scene at the school? THAT is filmmaking.

A-

1. Rear Window (1954)
2. Psycho (1960)
3. The 39 Steps (1935)
4. North by Northwest (1959)
5. Rebecca (1940)
6. The Birds (1963)
7. Vertigo (1958)
8. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
9. Rope (1948)
10. Sabotage (1936)
11. Dial M For Murder (1954)
12. The Lodger (1927)
13. Strangers on a Train (1951)

Fact - the first three of those are all in my personal Top 30 of all time. And while it may look like I didn't like Sabotage or Rope or The Lodger that much I really do! Every movie on that list except for Strangers is a B- or higher. I probably need to give Strangers on a Train (C+) another go, and I'm giving Dial M For Murder the benefit of the doubt because I saw it so long ago. 1-6 are A+, A or A-! I love me some Hitchcock.

2007 Oscar Predictions

I'm doing my own early prediction set for next year's Oscars. We, obviously, have no idea how it's all going to pan out in the end, but it's fun to speculate now. Obviously a lot of these is speculative and my own personal biases on films are coming into play. This is all for a bit of fun though (cause I'm bored!)

I must give a big thanks to Kris' In Contention who has done a great roundup of 2006. I did my own investigating as well though, so don't think I just stole it all from him! I'm considering David Lynch's Inland Empire as being a 2006 film. For some reason nobody seems to be mentioning it (most likely because it could easily move to 2007) but apparently it's premiering at Cannes (that's what Lynch said last year)

Best Picture
The Black Dahlia
Breaking and Entering
Dreamgirls
The Good Shepherd
Marie-Antionette

I dunno. I'm assuming Breaking and Entering (by Anthony Mingella) is a contemporary film. If it isn't then I dunno. Dreamgirls seems like it could hit BIG. Marie-Antionette is a complete wildcard that I'm throwing in because it's big and lavish and everything that that entails. The Black Dahlia just seems so interesting and it could turn out SO great. The Good Shepherd I think is this year's preordained, right?

Best Director
Bill Condon, Dreamgirls
Francis Ford Coppola, Youth Without Youth
Sophia Coppola, Marie-Antionette
Robert DeNiro, The Good Shepherd
Brian DePalma, The Black Dahlia

Hah! I totally just went with the Coppolas because I thought that'd the such a great story for Oscar night. Father and Daughter competing. I doubt it'll happen, but man that'd be awesome. DePalma is overdue for some recognition by AMPAS and this movie could be the one. And they like Condon, so I through his musical in (it seems more in tone with the other Best Director contender of a musical, Chicago). I wanted to put David Lynch down as well, but we'll have to wait and see on that prospect. Here's hoping though!

Best Actor
Javier Bardem, Goya's Ghost
Russell Crowe, A Good Year
Jude Law, Breaking and Entering
Derek Luke, Hotstuff
Alan Rickman, Snowcake

I'm going on a limb and predicting that Snowcake is going to get three acting acting nominations (and nothing else? not that I can see). But who knows. Derek Luke is young, talented and black and they need some racial diversity, y'all. Weird predicting that Law will get his third nomination from an Anthony Mingella film, but who knows. Crowe and Bardem could rebound from disappointments these last two years. I... don't know (obviously)

Best Actress
Annette Bening, Running With Scissors
Meryl Streep, A Prairie Home Companion/The Devil Wears Prada (but the latter may be supporting?)
Sienna Miller, Factory Girl
Sigourney Weaver, Snowcake
Kate Winslet, Little Children

The battle of four women who have all been nominated three or more times (we all know Meryl's position though) and I figured there needed to be one newie so I chose Sienna Miller for her Edie Sedgewick pick Factory Girl. This year's lineup looks particularly strong, so yay! I really wanted to put Laura Dern for Inland Empire and Nicole Kidman for Fur on there, but...

Best Supporting Actor
Robert Duvall, Lucky You
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
Guy Pearce, Factory Girl
Joe Pesci, The Good Shepherd
Harry Dean Stanton, Inland Empire

I. Have. No. Idea. Pearce plays Warhol and while it hasn't worked in the past who knows about now. Murphy seems like he could be "Back!" and hopefully Pesci finally returns to a good movie with a good performance. Duvall is well-liked and seems like the kind of actor to give a nomination to. Who knows. Harry Dean Stanton is on here because I saw Paris, Texas last year and was dumbfounded to find out that movie wasn't nominated for a single Oscar! Shame, Shame, Shame. So it's here for that... plus, Stanton rocks in Lynch movies.

Best Supporting Actress
Maria Bello, World Trace Centre
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Carrie Ann Moss, Snowcake
Lindsay Lohan, A Prairie Home Companion
Lily Tomlin, A Prairie Home Companion

I really wanted to put Judy Davis for Marie-Antionette and Scar.Jo/Hilary Swank for The Black Dahlia but didn't. I doubt Lindsay will get there, but I love to hold hope for my wonder girls. If Tomlin's Oscar intro is any indication her role in Prairie could be gangbusters. Bello I am going on a limb for. She's been snubbed twice... can they ignore her a third time (if she's good, that is). Carrie Ann Moss I've heard stellar things about and Hudson has "And I Am Telling You" as a required Oscar-clip.

Best Original Screenplay
Breaking and Entering
The Good Shepherd
Goya's Ghosts
Scoop
Volver

PEDRO IS BACK! And Woody continues his return to form. And the others are big Best Picture contenders. Is The Good Shepherd actually adapted from a book on the CIA or something?

Best Adapted Screenplay
Art School Confidential
The Black Dahlia
Little Children
A Prairie Home Companion
Youth Without Youth

Ummmm... these sound like good bets to me. Can't wait to see all of these movies. Strangely, my BP line up is 3/2 Original/Adapted. We'll see how that pans out. And, yes, I'm ignoring Paul Haggis' Flags of Our Father out of pure spite (that and I think two in a row for Eastwood movies is enough for the time being)

Best Art Direction
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
The Black Dahlia
Charlotte's Web
The Good German
Marie-Antionette

Really have no idea, just going on blind theories. I wanna put Goya's Ghosts but don't know what to get rid of. Well, I'd get rid of Charlotte's Web but I have a weird feeling about that movie.

Best Cinematography
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
The Black Dahlia
Flags of Our Fathers
The Good Shepherd
Marie-Antionette

Again, no idea here.

Best Costume Design
The Black Dahlia
Dreamgirls
Goya's Ghosts
Marie-Antionette
A Prairie Home Companion

This list looks pretty decent if you ask me, although anything could overtake and jump in. It's still 10 months away.

Best Editing
The Black Dahlia
Breaking and Entering
Dreamgirls
Flags of Our Father
The Good Shepherd

Returned to a 4/5 split with Editing and Picture after this year. Sigh.

Best Make-Up
Dreamgirls
Goya's Ghosts
Marie-Antionette

ummm...

Best Original Score
The Black Dahlia
Charlotte's Web
The Da Vinci Code
Volver
World Trade Centre

I have no idea again. But with their new found diversity who knows with something like Volver.

Best Original Song
Charlotte's Web
Southland Tales
World Trade Centre
(if five)
Dreamgirls
Miami Vice

Best Sound
Dreamgirls
Flags of Our Fathers
Miami Vice
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Zodiac

Best Sound Editing
Cars
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Superman Returns

Best Visual Effects
Charlotte's Web
Pirates of Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Superman Returns

Best Animated Feature
Cars
Flushed Away
Happy Feet

Best Foreign Language Film (random stabs)
Brazil
China
Japan
France
South Africa

lol, what would I know? Yay for South Africa's reneissance.

THERE YOU GO! I have completely ignored some peoples like All the King's Men, The Departed, Babel, United 93, Hollywoodland and Apocalypto - no real reason, I just couldn't fit them in anywhere, although I'm sure they will. But I never really clicked with All The King's Men last year anyway - I was always saying I just didn't think Penn or the film would make it. And I'm also probably under-estimated Flags of Our Fathers. The Departed just doesn't really fit into Oscar I don't think. Scorsese or not - his 90s period wasn't rewarding for him in terms of Oscars I think. Oh well. We'll see how I go in about 10 months time. I predict? Like crap.

You know what movie is the best?!

Or, one of the best anyway.



God, how much did I love this movie as a kid? It iss the first movie I remember seeing in the cinema as a child, and WHAT a movie to see? All those colours! Those sets (the opening 15 minutes are breathtaking)! The costumes! The actors! Man, it's one of those movies that I can watch over and over again and still love it every time. So much fun. Its better today as well because I can appreciate it as more artful. And I get all the jokes ("I sweat more in the dark"). And I love Madonna in this (Quentin Tarantino famously said he thought she was only one who knew what she was doing). Everything about it is just so... fun. That's what's missing from SO MANY comic/action movies these days. That's why Spiderman 2 was so great though.

It also helps that I just love that time period. 1930s, prohibition time ya know? Music halls, gangsters, dames and stuff. I just get so caught up in this movie. I love it soooo much. A. I really am tempted to bump it up to an A+ and move it into my top 15 of all time. ...

A Tale of Two Movies (aka "I Wish I Knew How To Quit You" Prologue)

I watched Peter Weir's 1981 war movie Gallipoli today. Calling it a "war movie" does it a big mighty injustice though as it's barely ABOUT the war but is instead about two men, one who fights because he wants to and another because everybody else is. The only war sequences are in the final 20 minutes and while landmark, they're very PG-13 compared to something like Saving Private Ryan which was made some 17 years later. The final shot is one of those famous shots though that sort of lives throughout cinema. If you've seen the movie you know the one I'm talking about.

The movie was pretty good. I've always liked Weir as a film-maker, here he does great early work. It was interesting seeing Russell Boyd's name in the credits (as cinematographer) and John Seale as "camera assistant #2" or something like that. John Seale and Russell Boyd are now big time Hollywood lens men, with Boyd winning for Weir's Master & Commander just a few years ago. The performances are also great - Mel Gibson proving that he was once one of the most good looking and handsome men of his generation... now he seems like a kook.

BUT... there was one movie that I just kept thinking about whilest watching Gallipoli. I could not help it. I feel bad considering the fact that if you said something like this to an actualy ANZAC veteran they'd put a curse on you (not that many ANZACs are down with voodoo, but u know). But the movie I kept thinking about was:

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN




I'm sorry, but watching this movie (made in 1981, set in 1915) in today's climate (particularly after having watched a movie like Brokeback) just rang bells - this movie is about homosexual love. Okay, not overt - but it's there. Mel Gibson and Mark Lee are like a WW1 version of Ennis and Jack. Like, you know how movies such as Red River and Sparticus have gay undertones - this is another one. Startlingly so.

The Mark Lee character is made fun off by the much more masculine macho blokes for being a runner when all the real men play football.

At the sports meet in the early stages of the movie when Mel and Mark's characters are taking their places at the starting line they glance at each other and it is filmed so delicately.

They form a bond that is much like Ennis and Jack before all the sex. I wouldn't have been surprised if during the scene where they're sleeping in the desert (and are very cold) that one of them leaned over and told the other to scooch on over to get warm.

Both of them look hopelessly sad when they seperated by different army regimends. And when they meet up with each other again they give each other a large warm embrace. When told they must pretend to be dead (in an army training exercise) Mark Lee's character is lying down and tells Mel to lie down with him.

They ask Mark Lee's general if Mel can join the other group so that can be together. Their uniform? Apart from standard duds, they must wear a buckaneer hat with a big feather attached. I know that's probably historically accurate, but 'tev

One scene that has an Egyptian man selling photos of naked women, Mel's character looks at them and is disgusted.

There is a scene where we are lead to believe that Mel and two of his friends sleep with a prostitute, but the three men all go in together with only two women. mmhmmm.

They sleep together. One scene has Mel waking up and seeing Mark and replying "The thing I hate about you is you're always so god damned happy" (paraphrase) - he says this as Mark stands over him smiling. They leave the tent and cook breakfast for each other.

They go skinny dipping! After seeing these two men run off into the water from behind (in turn, we see their behinds) they join a watershed orgy of naked men filmed underwater. All 20 or so men who are in the water are told to dive below so they don't get him by debris from an explosion, so they all dive under. The camera shows up all these naked men including Mel and Mark swimming right next to each other. Mel finds a rusted old gun and holds it up.

(the following is a spoiler so if you intend to see it, skip past)




During the fight sequence Mel's character is a runner for the general and as he's about to pass on the message to not go out of the bunker the whistle blows and everyone jumps out (to almost certain death). Mel's tortured scream rings out as we cut to Mark running across the beach and then getting shot multiple times.





(end of spoiler)


I feel there is absolutely no denying that this movie has quite obvious homosexual overtones. These two men are like a WW1 Ennis and Jack, I am positive. First there these two men who didn't have any idea about homosexuality (not like Ennis who had been told about it, they probably had no idea so no idea if it was right or wrong or what they should do about it) and then the men evolved into Ennis and Jack who did know what it was and one of them new it was wrong but the other thought it was right. And nowadays... well, you have plenty of queer themed films that know it's alright. So...

yeah! I just couldn't escape these thoughts while watching it. I wonder if it was intentional. I mean, I know the movie is about the bond and the mateship and these two men share but to eyes these days it looks like more than mateship. B


Gay orgy?

Advocate this, bitch

This article is really stupid

I much rather comedians make little jokes than people out there outright campaigning against the movie. Blah.

Oprah

So I watched Oprah's post-Oscar special. It was going fine until the Crash praising happened. And she was all "EVERY. PERSON. IN. AMERICA. SHOULD. OWN. THIS. MOVIE." or whatever and Gayle (read: hanger-on-ner of the century) was all "Because everybody thought Brokeback Mountain was going to win. But it didn't." ugh. Like, they were making out that Crash is going to change people's lives, when it's not.

I don't look at myself and think "am I a racist?" but I can see many people (hell, Oprah's audience) seeing Brokeback and reevaluating their thoughts.

Oh well. Whatever. it's done now and we can't change it.

How odd!

The most surprising couple of the Oscar night? William Hurt and Krista Vendy.

KRISTA VENDY, of all people, go asked to the Oscars by William Hurt. That's... sort of bizarre. I'm gonna have to go back and watch the Supporting Actor category to see if I can see her. Strange. She's gorgeous, but was a star on Neighbours (blech) and so surely she's the first Neighbours cohort to go to the Oscars. Apparently she's trying to make it in acting over in the States.



And in a completely rare moment of sport news: My two favourite teams in the AFL (Australian Football League) played last night in the semi-final. My home town team won (the Geelong Cats), so yay! THey play the Adelaide Crows next week. Boo.

Geelong is surely the hottest AFL club of them all. I'd post pictures but there's too many!

I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor

Didn't think The Arctic Monkeys' "I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor" couldn't get any better? Try and listen to the Sugababes' version from their "Red Dress" single and tell me it isn't even catchier and fun. Loves it.

I'm there!

On opening weekend I mean.

If you didn't need any more reasons to want to see The Black Dahlia i just saw this pick on Kris' In Contention page. Man, I'm so pumped. I love this time period and the foreign poster was fucked up and I loved it. Even Hilary should be great!

Articles

THis one has Ang talking about the "miracle" of Ledger's performance

and this one is an interesting one about the backlash.

Is Brokeback Mountain's BP loss the most controversial in Oscar history? to quote Doris Day (how appropriate), Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

so...

I think I've calmed down a bit since last night. BUT I still think this was a crazy bonkers decision and that the Academy will never live this down.

The Academy has Jumped the Shark.
The Academy has Jumped the Couch.
Whatever expression you use...

My mistake

I forgot Crash won Best Editing.

So the Best Editing rule is the one that sticks instead of the Golden Globes Best Picture rule.

Fuckin unbelievable.

HOLY FUCK!

I. Am. Flabbergasted.

Crash won 2 awards. Surely that's the lowest amount for a BP winner EVER since Grand Hotel won Best Picture and Best Picture only in 1932.

This is an outrage, really.

The awards season officially became pointless and meaningless the second Jack Nicholson opened that envelope.

Just pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. AMPAS will NEVER live this down. Never. They have basically brought shame upon themselves tonight. This is a black day for film, and I am not being hyperbolic. The world shall have wrath upon you, AMPAS.

Actually, the word that springs to mind about this is "disgusting". Paul Haggis has 2 academy awards, people. ANG LEE HAS ONE. KATE WINSLET HAS NONE, sorry... lost my train of thought.

I am actually insulted by this. ugh. So bad.

Oscar Prediction (4:31, March 5 2006)

er, but my March 5 is your March 4, so... whatever.

Several races are very hard to make a prediction due to an abundance of possibilities. And then there are those are hard to predict because we know how it's gonna end up and it's sad saying Heath Ledger will lose...

However, one thing that'd be AWESOME. A complete Brokeback Mountain sweep. It's not like it's COMPLETELY out of the realm of possibility. I reckon the film's respective nomination in each category is running either first or second. And it wasn't nominated for massive amounts of awards. It's diehards will most likely be voting for it in as many categories as possible. Hmmm. I'd love that to happen (even if it is silly daydreaming)

Best Picture
Will Win: Brokeback Mountain
Should Win: Brokeback Mountain
Spoiler: Crash

Best Director
Will Win: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Should Win: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Spoiler: George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck.

Best Actor
Will Win: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Should Win: Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Spoiler: Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain

Best Actress
Will Win: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Should Win: Joan All...oh, sorry. She's not nominated. Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Spoiler: Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice

Yes. Keira. SHUT UP!

Best Supporting Actor
Will Win: Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain
Should Win: Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain
Spoiler: George Clooney, Syriana

Best Supporting Actress
Will Win: Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
Should Win: Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain
Spoiler: Michelle and Amy Adams, Junebug (so competitive)

Best Original Screenplay
Will Win: Crash
Should Win: Match Point
Spoiler: Good Night, and Good Luck.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Will Win: Brokeback Mountain
Should Win: Brokeback Mountain
Spoiler: Capote

Cinematography
Will Win: Brokeback Mountain
Should Win: Good Night, and Good Luck.
Spoiler: Good Night, and Good Luck.

Art Direction
Will Win: Pride & Prejudice
Should Win: Pride & Prejudice
Spoiler: Memoirs of a Geisha

ya... this is a mixture of wishful thinking and hunch. It boggles my mind that Memoirs could theoretically leave the night with three Oscars!

Costume Design
Will Win: Memoirs of a Geisha
Should Win: Pride & Prejudice
Spoiler: Pride & Prejudice

Editing
Will Win: The Constant Gardener
Should Win: The Constant Gardener
Spoiler: Crash

Ya, i dunno. Another hunch I suppose.

Original Score
Will Win: Brokeback Mountain
Should Win: Brokeback Mountain
Spoiler: Memoirs of a Geisha

It pains me to know that Pride & Prejudice isn't the spoiler in this case. Man. I hope Gustavo wins this something shocking. I will choke on something if John Williams gets this. If he does I will say it will instantly become one of the worst wins of the '00s.

Original Song
Will Win: "Travellin' Thru" (Dolly Parton), Transamerica
Should Win: "Travellin' Thru" (Dolly Parton), Transamerica
Spoiler: "In The Deep" (Bird York), Crash

Sound Design
Will Win: Walk the Line
Should Win: King Kong
Spoiler: King Kong

Sound Editing
Will Win: King Kong
Should Win: King Kong
Spoiler: War of the Worlds

Visual Effects
Will Win: King Kong
Should Win: King Kong
Spoiler: Narnia...

Make-Up
Will Win: Narnia
Should Win: Narnia
Spoiler: Star Wars

Foreign Film
Will Win: Tsotsi
Should Win: n/a
Spoiler: Paradise Now

As of this morning I was saying Paradise Now but I read some stuff about Tsotsi that is it like City of God and such and, well... they liked THAT movie.

Animated Feature
Will Win: Wallace & Gromit
Should Win: Wallace & Gromit
Spoiler: Spoil...er...?

Animated Short
Will Win: The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello
Should Win: The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello
Spoiler: The Man and the Son: An Imagined Conversation

Documentary Feature
Will Win: March of the Penguins
Should Win: n/a
Spoiler: Darwin's Nightmare

Ever since I saw them review Darwin's Nightmare on At The Movies towards the start of last year I thought it looked interesting. And then when the Oscar shortlist came out I was all "Darwin's Nightmare is gonna get nominated". I KNEW it. And now it appears to be the challenger, but are they going to want to ignore Penguins?

Documentary Short
Will Win: The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club
Should Win: n/a
Spoiler: God Sleeps in Rwanda

Live Action short
Will Win: Ausreisser (The Runaway)
Should Win: n/a
Spoiler: The Last Farm

...we'll see how I've gone in around 30 hours. I am avoiding all tv and internet tomorrow. The red carpet special starts at 7.30 (so something like 12:30 US time) and then the telecast starts at 8.30. I'm so excited. Which is strange because as of yesterday I wasn't that excited. I wasn't feeling it. But now I am. YAY.

Does Heath have a better chance now?

Cause, Phillip Seymour Hoffman won the Independent Film Spirit Award! And we all know those awards are cursed. But that means that Ang will lose along with the movie. Oh well. I'm gonna post my Oscar predictions in a few minutes. It's exciting! I can't wait to see Brokeback Mountain win. YAY!

Awards musings

Does anyone else get the feeling that Jake Gyllenhaal is going home with the Oscar? I still think it will be strange if the movie that will almost certainly win Best Picture goes home without an actuing statue, especially for a movie that was so praised for it's acting. I guess by this time Heath is out of the question - however blasphemous that may sound (how is the greatest male lead performance of the last 10 years get so roundly dismissed in terms of wins?) and while I still think Michelle is in the hunt, I finally think Rachel will get that one.

That leaves Jake, and seriously; consider this.

The category is wide open.
There are two that the race seems to be between.
Isn't it possibly voters go "I don't know. George or Paul? I'll go with Jake!"
He's hollywood royalty, folks!
He's really a lead.
He's the sort of guy that magazines can put on their pages and not have to touch up
Er, he's really great!

...i dunno. I think I'm gonna predict him. But knowing my luck it'll go to Paul Giamatti. Which is so annoying - and I actually liked Cinderella Man! (i didn't think Paul was any good though). I hate the thought that my two least favourite actors (out of those are everyone seems to LOVE) could win on Sunday. Phillip and Paul. Blah. Disgusting.

As much as I want Reese to win Best Actress I think I would love even more for their to be an upset by... Keira Knightly. uh-huh. I don't know why.

Oh, and I'm all set to present MY very own awards. I'm gonna see A History of Violence and Rent next week and that'll be about it. I have no chance to see Cache, The New World or North Country so you'll have to make do, even though I think the former 2 would figure heavily.

huh?

Half of my last entry sorta disappeared. How many times do I need to insult eBlogger before it does right by me?

Various Stuff

-Man, how much do I love Girls Aloud? SO MUCH. I just downloaded a mash-up of Girls Aloud's "The Show" (aka awesome song) with Christina Aguilera's "Dirrty". So awesome. But what would you expect? God, Girls Aloud kick ass.

-I'm almost going to be able to present my Best of 2005 shiz. I am seeing Match Point tomorrow night, Rent next Tuesday (cheap Tuesday!), History of Violence is released next week and I'm gonna hire a few more 2005 movies between now and then. I have The Beat That My Heart Skipped sitting on the DVD player.

In the last few days I have seen the following 2005 films and will comment on them later. Cinderella Man, Mrs Henderson Presents, Capote, Palindromes, Serenity and Dark Water.

-Found this article in The Age last week and have been meaning to post it. This is good news for Australian film.

Projects on the go
Eight low-budget features have been selected for the Australian Film Commission's IndiVision Project Lab. The films will move into production at the end of development workshops involving prominent international and local filmmakers. Lion's Teeth is an all-Melbourne project by producer Lawrence Johnson, director and co-writer Jo Kennedy and co-writer Christine Rogers. Other projects are: The Bridge (producer Heather Phillips, director Owen Johnson); Moving South (producer Robyn Kershew, director Kate Woods); Ten Empty (producer Naomi Wenck, director Anthony Hayes; The Big Jesus (producer Clare Sawyer, writer-director Alistair Reid); Angry Young Man (producer Ross Howden, writer-director Antonio Orea Barlin); Godless (producer Jeff Pursue, director Vincent Giarrusso) and Running Wild (producer Kath Shelper, writer-director Ruth Carr).

As much as some people hate Australian film, it's great that we're getting a lot of features produced lately, and from newcomers too. Always welcome. I'm not just doing this because of the thing Nathaniel is doing. I'm geniunely interested, as you should have figured from my frequent entries about Australian film.

-YAY! Jamie Foxx's performance in Ray is apparently IMDb voters' eighth favourite Best Actor performance out of the last ten years. That makes me happy because I hated that movie and I didn't like Jamie's performance all that much either. When I clicked on the poll I thought i'd see him at #1. So... yay!

-This is so sad.

1. Madea's Family Reunion
2. Eight Below
3. The Pink Panther
4. Date Movie
5. Curious George

that's the top five movies at the US box-office this past weekend. Lower your heads in shame and lament the sad sorry state of movies. Not that Australia's is that much better. Box-office in Australia this week fell to