Wild About Ladd

I was very pleased to see that StinkyLulu's monthly Supporting Actress Smackdown awarded their 1990 prize to Diane Ladd for her, ahem, batshit crazy performance as Marietta in David Lynch's, ahem, batshit crazy Wizard of Oz Wild at Heart. Ladd's performance is one of my all time favourites. It is just so bonkers, and so over-the-top, and so unhinged that I can't help but love it. Last year I wrote about The Black Dahlia and mused "Fiona Shaw plays a character that is so unhinged that it’s amazing she even exists in his movie, or any movie at all for that matter", well I must've let Ladd's performance slip my mind because those two are kindred spirits I tellsya.

I am actually a fan of the film itself, whereas many seem to enjoy Ladd's histrionics but not the film. Wild at Heart, I would go so far to say, is David Lynch's most hated film. It really does bring out the anger in people. I love it. If I were Jewish I'd say it has chutzpah, but I'm not so I'll simply say it has balls bigger than Texas to do what it does. It sure does have a visceral impact. Turning The Wizard of Oz into a sick road trip fantasy erotic horror soap opera? Getting Diane Ladd to cover her face and hands in bright red lipstick while extolling southern gothic Dynasty-esque words and wearing colossal reinventions of trendy outfits? Sherilynn Fenn giving one of the greatest cameo performances ever? It's insane and it's bizarre but I can't not love it. Even the bit where Willem Dafoe... well, if you've seen Wild at Heart you know the moment where things really go off with a bang (omg I'm so freakin' funny!)


Obviously it's not a movie for everyone, just like all Lynch films. It's not even a movie for Lynch fans in a lot of ways. But whenever I think of Ladd's performance, or that of her off and on screen daughter Laura Dern I can't help but think they are two of the most masterful performances of the 1990s. Add that to everything else about the film and Wild at Heart is actually one of my favourite David Lynch films. The movie received wild cheers and jeers (famously by Roger Ebert) upon winning the Palm d'Or at Cannes in 1990, probably more a testement to Lynch himself and not the film consdidering his followup Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, which has equally maddening violence and over-the-top insanities, was famously booed nearly out of the competition.

Below is a clip from Wild at Heart. The scene is, most likely, the movie's most famous and one in which Ladd's performance really reaches for the higher stratosphere. Her whispering voice in joint force with the... the... unique design of herself just makes it stand out. There's another of Ladd's moments that I could watch over and over and it's the "Buffalo huntin'? What the fuck does that mean" scene. "The fucker split!" Lynch does so many crazy things with the sound design and Ladd's performance up to 100. Yikes.

It still surprises and delights me to this very day that Ladd received an Academy Award nomination for this performance when the role is so bonkers and the movie had nothing else going for it in terms of awards (however unfortunate that may be). If you don't own Wild at Heart on DVD (I do! Special Edition!) then just watch this scene over and over again with the volume blaring and you'll get the idea pretty darn quick. Even down to the final moments when the munshkin costume makes a cameo! Bloody brilliant!

Keira Knightley: Red Carpet Glamour?

What will she wear? Keira Knightley is gearing up for what will surely be the biggest five months of her career (or, at least her acting career thus far) with the American premier of her new flick Atonement and the months and months of ensueing promotional work and the big bang of a very likely second Academy Award nomination and, let's face it, possible WIN. 2007's best actress roster is looking both incredible crowded, yet sparse. Keira's turn as Cecilia in Atonement could very easily be the ticket to Keira becoming the second youngest best actress winner ever (Marlee Matlin was 21 when she won for Children of a Lesser God, Keira turns 23 in March so she would be 22 at the time of the Oscars).

But, I am quite interested in what she is going to be wearing in this very important season. I think she looked quite great at the Venice Film Festival premiere for the film (below, with co-star James McAvoy) win that light pink texture of fairy floss dress. The dress she wore to the Venice photocall (right) was sort of plain though. Something a bit lighter for a photo op on a Venice canal dock may have made more of an impression instead of the heavy navy blue dress she wore.


The reason I am even discussing this however is because DListed had a story about how much Keira hates red carpets.

I hate red-carpet events; I absolutely hate them. I don't like the fact that people write, 'Oh, you look like crap' in print. Or 'I don't like your arms!'

Thing is, Keira has been known to make some, ahem, red carpet monstrosities, but I think we can all remember that absolutely stunning dress she wore to the 2006 Academy Awards where she was nominated for best actress for her role as Elizabeth Bennett in Joe Wright's (the same director as Atonement) Pride & Prejudice. Let's relive that amazing, brilliant, perfect outfit below. It's probably my favourite Oscar dress of the last few years. Classically beautiful in a wonderfully unorthadox colour and, for a girl who is constantly followed by anorexia rumours and quotes of "too skinny!", she actually wore a dress that clung tightly to her body yet actually made her look incredibly flattering and sexy.


So, here's hoping that Keira owns the red carpet in the following months on the way to collecting an Oscar statue. A recent re-watch of Pride & Prejudice made me decide that she deserved the Oscar for that from the list of nominees (with the absense of Joan Allen for Upside of Anger the category was pretty much null and void in my eyes though). I just like the idea of Knightley being an Oscar winner, giving us a chance to laugh at those idiots who are constantly "Keira is an ugly skinny british bitch, if she wins an Oscar I will kill myself she was in King Arthur omgzzzz!" (or whatever).

PS; As long as you keep dressing all fabo-like there will be no cause for "you look like crap" comments from me. I'm really cheering for you, I just like you for some reason. And I don't think the Academy "loses all credibility" by nominating you. It loses credibility by cutting off acceptance speeches and limiting nomination clips to a few brief seconds and then filling in time with pointless sketches and montages thank you very much. I'm done.

zzz

This?


Or this?


I think we can all let out a collective groan now that freakin' John Stewart has been officially hired as the host of next year's 80th annual Academy Awards. How crap is that? After years of lucky-dip hosting (three different hosts in three years) they had finally stumbled across one (Ellen Degeneres) who everyone seemed remotely pleased with. Sure, she wasn't brazenly political or un-PC or whathaveyou, but she was funny and easy to watch and, most of all, wasn't awkward. And then they seemingly dumped her (I doubt that Ellen would refuse if offered) for the guy that hosted the secondly lowest rating Oscar show in history (if my memory serves me well).

HOW EXCITING!!

And an in election year too? Christ! I can already predict 95% of the jokes right now. Gil Cates, the awards producer, has been quotes as saying "Jon was a terrific host for the 78th Awards. He is smart, quick, funny, loves movies and is a great guy. What else could one ask for?" Which begs the question... why didn't you ask him back last year?

Still, at least it's not Chris "I'm black and you aren't" Rock. That woulda been cause for even bigger alarm.

**I am back after my computer took a brief sojourn to the repair shop**

Oscar Predictions - 26/08/08

Because I can and I'm bored. Predicted winners (because I'm craaazy) in bold. To see where I was on 05/03/08 click here. I'm loving that I went beserk wild for Atonement because apparently it's doozy, but we still don't have much word about any of the other contenders. Oh well.

BEST PICTURE
Atonement
Charlie Wilson's War
Gone Baby Gone
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

I figured I had to keep more than just Atonement from my original predix and I don't know why I'm still on Gone Baby Gone. I just am. I'd predict In the Valley of Elah but the poster was dreadful. I'm reading books by their covers.

BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
? Coen, No Country for Old Men
Todd Haynes, I'm Not There
Mike Nichols, Charlie Wilson's War
Joe Wright, Atonement

I'm never sure what Coen brother is directing. Is it one? Or both? Do they alternate?

BEST ACTOR
George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Daniel Day Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Benicio del Toro, Things We Lost in the Fire
James McAvoy, Atonement
Joaquin Phoenix, Reservation Road

It was del Toro or Lee Jones so I stuck with who I originally predicted in March (del Toro) cause that'd be sucky if he ended up nominated and I dropped him.

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie, Away From Her
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose (unfortunately)
Nicole Kidman, Margot at the Wedding
Keira Knightley, Atonement

I sense that now The Invasion has been released and died it's death that the tides will change for Kidman and this will be a big "THAT'S why we love her" moment. Unless she doesn't do press for it. I'm still tentative about Knightley but... who else?

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Ed Harris, Gone Baby Gone
Armen Mueller-Stahl, Eastern Promises
Mark Ruffalo, Reservation Road
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton (or Cassandra's Dream?)

I dunno. Makes sense to me. And it's obvious they're gonna do a Lead/Support thing with Phoenix/Ruffalo.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Emily Blunt, Charlie Wilson's War
Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
Abbie Cornish, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Margot at the Wedding
Susan Sarandon, In the Valley of Elah

I couldn't decide with Atonement girl to predict so I stuck with Blunt. She'll get there eventually, but will it be this year for a flick I'm predicting for BP? Why not, I say. I hope Cornish doesn't have a Uma/Dangerous Liaisons on her hand where her work will get completely ignored?

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Brave One
Eastern Promises
I'm Not There
Margot at the Wedding
Ratatouille

I'm surprising myself by keeping 4/5 of my original predix for many categories, just like here. Just a crazy hunch on the Rat win. Wouldn't that be a blast?

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Atonement
Charlie Wilson's War
Gone Baby Gone
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood

I'm keeping Paul Haggis away because he can't be nominated every single time he types some words on a page (Last Kiss obviously doesn't count).

BEST EDITING
American Gangster
Atonement
Charlie Wilson's War
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
There Will Be Blood

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Assassination of Jesse James...
Atonement
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
There Will Be Blood

BEST ART DIRECTION
Atonement
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
The Golden Compass
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
3:10 to Yuma
Atonement
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Hairspray
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

BEST MAKE-UP
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Hairspray
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The Golden Compass
Transformers

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Atonement
The Golden Compass
Gone Baby Gone
Manolete
Ratatouille

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Enchanted
Hairspray
Hairspray
Mr Margorium's Wonder Emporium
Once

Margorium just seems like the perfect film for some aging rock star to sing a mid-tempo song about love and how the world is such a crazy place and to place it over the credits. Instant nomination, non?

BEST SOUND DESIGN
Beowulf
I Am Legend
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Transformers

BEST SOUND EDITING
Beowulf
The Golden Compass
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Ratatouille
Transformers

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Beowulf
Ratatouille
The Simpsons Movie

I'm so glad I didn't predict Shrek the Third back in March. That series was destined for a swift kick up the duff.

It feels so good to not predict Spider-Man 3 for anything.

Oh, Oscar! You Rascal, You!

I must tell you, I love going through the YouTube archives and discovering old footage from the Academy Awards. I wish the Academy would release them or something, I'd die to see them all, but alas. And even the clips on YouTube are a limited breed because the Academy likes to have them taken down - now is a good time to peruse for clips because come February/March/April they all get taken down when the Academy is on high alert.

I gotta say though, I've seen some amazing clips and here are some more!

An amazing movie montage that was used to open the show in 1990. It really is awesome. See how many movies you can pick! There's apparently something like 330.


This one is the presentation for Best Costume Design from the 1990 62nd Academy Awards, introduced by Candice Bergan and, wait for it, featuring choreography by Paula Abdul! I was particularly taken aback during the Valmont segment. There are no words! For Driving Miss Daisy we nearly get to see up Jessica Tandy's skirt and I'm pretty sure they didn't do that sort of dancing in Henry V. At least the Baron Munchausen and Harlem Nights numbers seem in tune to the movie. The winner was Henry V by the way.


This is the performance for Oscar-winning song "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid. Again, it's choreographyed by Abdul, but the art direction is amazing for an Oscar performance and, well, the song is still one of the best winners for Best Original Song in Oscar history, so it works on that point. The bit with the men in flippers is particularly annoying though.


This is the performances of "Belle" and "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast in 1992 (the winner was the song "Beauty and the Beast"). Again, the art direction is really great and the number is well done. Now we get skanking hookers and slo-mo dancing around car wrecks and you just know that they'd get Beyonce or Jennifer Lopez to do the singing. Orbach's "Be Our Guest" is particularly great.


Jodie Foster winning for The Silence of the Lambs. How awesome is it that this is on YouTube? Michael Douglas is rambling though. If you haven't seen For The Boys though, be prepared for the silliest old-person make-up you're ever likely to see in Bette Midler's nomination clip. I like that movie, but my god, that make-up was ridiculous.


Another crazy Best Actress find. This time it's Meryl Streep accepting the award for her role in Sophie's Choice. I do think she's wearing a gold sleeping gown though, so that's... umm... different! By the way, memo to Australian DVD distributers - RELEASE SOPHIE'S CHOICE ON DVD ALREADY! PLEASE!


I'm not sure if you're like me (perhaps I'm perverse) but one of my most anticipated parts of the Oscar show is the In Memoriam. It's fascinating to see all the notable people who have passed in just one year. Everyone's bound to find someone they hadn't heard about. YouTube has a tonne of the Memoriam packages, but I chose this one from 1997, a year that included the deaths of Claudette Colbert (It Happened One Night), Krzysztof Kieslowski (director of Three Colours Trilogy) Jo Van Fleet (East of Eden), Greer Garson (Mrs Miniver), Brigitte Helm (Metropolis), Marcello Mastroianni (8 1/2) and Saul Bass (poster, credit and sequence designer for Vertigo) amongst many others. Crazy year. Imagine what next years' is going to be like.


Oh Bernadette Peters. How I wish I was around when you were creating interprative dance numbers about anything.

Antoinioni at the Oscars

In discovering that clip of Bruce Springsteen performing and winning at the 1995 Academy Awards, I also discovered this clip (and a few others too, but this one was timely) of Michelangelo Antonioni winning his honourary Academy Award from the same show. I thought some of you guys may wish to view it so here it is!

If you're here as a result of Movie City News then, please, do stick around. If you're so inclined to do so then I'll give you money. Or, if not that, something shiny. Fair trade? Enjoy...

Vintage Bruce 2

I was reading today that Bruce Springsteen (aka, God) is giving me an early birthday present! On October 2 he is releasing a BRAND NEW ALBUM! yaaaay! My birthday is October 13, so that works out nicely, thank you Bruce. But, perhaps, even better news is that he is recording (or has recorded it already) with The E Street Band. This will be the first time since The Rising (personally, my second favourite Springsteen record) that he has done so, so that's majorly exciting also.

Several of us here at Y! Music Central were recently treated to an early listen of some new tracks and were especially taken with the guitar-laden rocker "Radio Nowhere," which we can only hope will get on the radio somewhere, if you catch our drift!

What's not majorly exciting is that he is apparently going to be embarking on a tour of America and Europe, but not Australia. I would go to that concert alone if it meant being able to go, but alas I will have to wait another few years to get the opportunity to experience Bruce live. :( I'll just pop in one of the live DVDs I have.

Anyway, today's vintage Bruce clip is actually Bruce performing his Oscar-winning (and perhaps my very favourite Boss song) "Streets of Philadelphia"... AT THE ACADEMY AWARDS! I was so amazed to find this clip (I'm amazed to find any Oscar clips, quite frankly - and there's even a Pedro Almodovar joke from Whoopi Goldberg!). It also has him accepting the award for Best Original Song. I love him so much. He gets a standing ovation! Three Six Mafia don't get no standing ovation! Oh, and there's even funny Whitney Houston. Shocking.

Linky Warhol

Here's some links.

Aleisha won Big Brother, which means Zach did not. At least Travis or Billy didn't! But here is Scott to be Certain discussing Australia's previous Big Brothers. Obviously, he reckons Vesna rocked as does everybody and everyone realised the injustice of Logan Greg winning 2005.

Sight and Sound has an interview with Gus Van Sant (who's next film Paranoid Park doesn't even have a distributer, I believe) about Andy Warhol. Interesting stuff.

Our costumer on Finding Forrester went to the Carnegie Institute at the same time as Warhol. We were begging her for information. She said, "I don't know. He was a weenie. We didn't talk to him." ­Perhaps there was a relationship between having an entourage around him all the time and his origins as the weenie in the class.

StinkyLuLu has another Supporting Actress Smackdown. Who will be the victor? Cusack, Davis, McDormand, Pfeiffer for Weaver? I haven't seen Mississippi Burning so I can't comment on McDormand, but I think I would have passed my vote for Sigourney Weaver for Working Girl.

I've discussed Rachel Stevens before. And now PopJustice are too. But for the wrong reasons. Oy... They also have new Debbie Harry material, which is very exciting.

Lastly, Cinematical has an interview with the luminous Julie Delpy. On discussion is the end of recently released (in America) Broken English. "You're gonna miss your plane..."

JD: Really?

RS: Yeah. It was like, why would she do that?

JD: Why would she do that? That's weird. Was it conscious?

RS: I don't know. I thought maybe you two were friends, and it was an homage. Who knows?

JD: Maybe it's an homage.

RS: Anyway ...

JD: Really? She says that line?

RS: It's something close to that. You have to rent it now, I guess.

JD: Yeah, yeah. It's odd. I was planning on seeing it. It doesn't matter. Before Sunset has been done, you know, a while ago.

Underrated Movie of the Week

Erin Brockovich, 2000, dir. Steven Soderbergh, starring Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, Aaron Eckhart, Conchata Ferrell, Pat Skipper, Jack Gill and Marg Helgenberger

Julia winning the Oscar was the worth thing to happen for this (amazing) movie. Shame.

Gone, Baby, Gone

So, the trailer is up for Ben Affleck's feature directorial debut Gone Baby Gone. And guess what folks? It looks good! I predicted it for some major Oscar play a few months back including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and Supporting Actor (Ed Harris) noms. Even if it doesn't (which is about as possible as anything at the moment) then I still think Ed Harris could make a major play if they really wanna work (he's never won an Oscar). Casey Affleck looks quite good too in what could be a breakout year for him, what with this, The Assassination of Jesse James and his scene stealing work in Ocean's 13.

Hurrican Elizabeth

I don't know about you, but when Cate Blanchett's Queen Elizabeth says "I too can command the wind, Sir. I have a hurricane in me that will strip Spain bare if you dare betray me", I just get chills up my spine. This is why I think Cate will win her second Oscar, and will rank alongside the legendary Paul Newman as only the second actor to ever win an Academy Award for a sequel (right?) - Newman won for The Color of Money after losing for the original The Hustler, if my memory serves me well.

Other than Blanchett's sure-to-be-astonishing performance there looks to be plenty of other things in Elizabeth: The Golden Age such as Geoffrey Rush and amazing cinematography, art direction and make-up - all of which were evident in the original. But The Golden Age also has Clive Owen (I love seeing "Academy Award Nominee" next to his name), Samantha Morton (who doesn't get a credit in the trailer, interestingly enough) and Abbie Cornish (who gets enough screentime to put justification to those Best Supporting Actress ideas).

While I'm not sure if using an Enyesque song for the second half of the trailer was the best movie possible (except at the very end), and I'm sure that Cate's horseback cliff-side speech will remind people of both Braveheart and The Lord of the Rings, this movie looks very amazing indeed and I can't wait. I was a fan of Elizabeth and I am actually a fan of solid adult fare getting sequels - I mean, look at how The Godfather Part II turned out!

My favourite part of the trailer is at the very very end with that shot of Cate wearing that massive white outfit (whatever it is) with the light reflecting through it. Sublime. Watch the trailer below and decide for yourself.

Completely Uninformed Inconsequential Ridiculously Early Oscar Mumbo Jumbo

Because I'm bored, folks.

BEST PICTURE: There Will Be Blood
Because I just think that they could go a bit batshit crazy this year. Plus, nothing else except Atonement was leaping out at me, and...

BEST DIRECTOR: Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
because I see them rewarding Anderson here more than Joe Wright and they reward Pic/Dir together more times than not.

BEST ACTOR: Daniel Day Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Because he's the finest actor of this generation and I don't see why two Oscars nearly 20 years apart is such a big ask.

BEST ACTRESS: Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Because I think in a battle between Blanchett (recently Oscared as she is) and Julie Christie that Blanchett's is more LOOK AT ME (although, I've obviously seen neither) and, thus, more will remember her (especially since Away From Her will be old on DVD by the time of voting).

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Because I think he'll be this year's steamroller contender. Plus, remember the way people reacted to the lump of puddy on Nicole Kidman's nose in The Hours? Those people will be the same with Bardem and his hair, trust me.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Susan Sarandon, In the Valley of Elah
Because she's a legend and I'm sure they'll have no qualms about awarding her again despite being allergic to awarding her earlier in her career. Plus, it's a Paul Haggis film and, hello, they love him.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: There Will Be Blood
Because they can.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: I'm Not There
Because it may be their best opportunity to reward Todd Haynes plus they rewarded the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind screenplay so they're not adverse to structurally absurd writings.

COSTUME: Elizabeth: The Golden Age
ART DIRECTION: Sweeney Todd
CINEMATOGRAPHY: There Will Be Blood
EDITING: Atonement
VIS. EFFECTS: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
MAKE UP: Sweeny Todd
SCORE: Atonement
SONG: Hairspray
SOUND: The Golden Compass
SOUND ED.: Ratatouille
ANIMATED: Ratatouille

...there was absolutely no logic to any of that.

The Blair Link Project

The Star Tribube has an article about the new from from, wait for it, Daniel Myrick! Don't know who that is? Well, he is one of the directors of The Blair Witch Project. He's somehow finally gotten around to making a new film. It's all about dead people and cults and an ambulence driver. Interesting? Not sure.

The Chicago Tribune's Marc Caro sighs at the inevitable: Citizen Kane at #1 on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies. I gotta agree. Yawn. Citizen Kane is a darn good movie, don't get me wrong, but while I wouldn't have it on my own top 100 if I did one, it's just frightfully dull to see it top every single poll in the history of cinema. Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons didn't even show up on the entire countown! Ugh.

I've been resisting the new Simpsons movie because the television series has just been so downhill for the last 5 years or so, but the trailers have been funny, and now with this new exlusive trailer I am finally convinced. I can't wait for this movie. It looks great. "Spider pig. Spider pig. Does whatever a spider pig does." Although, in terms of animation, Dave Poland reckons that Ratatouille is the best film of the year (so far). Niiice.

Nat at The Film Experience has a great piece on the new members of The Academy (Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Aniston, Daniel Craig, Chiwetel Ejiofor among them - Rinko Kikuchi, Abigail Breslin not).

Adam wants to know who's hotter between River Phoenix or Johnny Depp. That's so easy for me (River!), but I know many others probably disagree, right?

I was going to write something for the Film Music blog-a-thon at Windmills of My Mind but I forgot all about it.

Big Bad Blog discusses Reichen Whathisname's new jewellery line. I've never liked this guy, but I found it entirely hilarious and true-to-form that he was model his own brand wearing next to no clothes and looking like a spokesman for gym queens.

Toweload makes mention of the fact that Isaiah Washington (he of the "faggot" incident on the set of Grey's Anatomy and the Golden Globes) reckons they fired the wrong man. I never understood this man's deal, nor why he would go to rehab because he was a bigot. I've also neverunderstood how minorities can be so ignorant of other minorities. I know being African American and being homosexual are two completely different things, but have we not faced similar battles? Have we not both been seen as lesser people? So when a black man goes around using words like "faggot" I find it incredibly ridiculous. I'm surprised he didn't come out and say they were being racist for firing him. Ugh.

Also, I love the new banner at My New Plaid Pants. Scream was my life for a while. I seriously watched it every day for a few months. ...don't look at me like that!

Miss Priscilla

Let us take a moment to remember one of the Academy's finest moments, shall we?



Honestly though, how bonkers is Lizzy Gardner? And if the Academy wants to make the runtime of their show shorter how about cutting the annoying category descriptions? People want to hear the winners not the random celebrity they doled out huffing and puffing through a script about how sound designers should be seen as just as important as directors and actors. Yawn. Anyway. LOVE IT! I might go watch Priscilla right now actually.

Inland Empire, WWII, Time Travel and the Oscars

Seriously. I have the most crazy dreams. Last night I basically dreamt and entire movie. It was about this family during WWII (a pretty WWII if you can imagine) of four kids who had been seperated from their parents and then they finally find their parents and it turns out the father is a genius scientist who had invented a time travel device that would send people five years into the future. But it can only send four!

Thing is I woke up and started to write it all down, but several hours later I realised that too was a dream because I woke up and I had no notes. Crazy. It felt so weird.

I also dreamt that me and some friends went to the Academy Awards but it was more like the MTV awards because we were in a moshpit as some no-name singer performed a song with a choir and then Ellen and Justin Timberlake came out and introduced Meryl Streep.

I also dreamt that Inland Empire was out at the movies over a month early and I was really excited until I awoke and realised, no. No it's not.

My brain hates me sometimes.

5, 6, 7, 8

So, I was watching Dancing with the Stars tonight and I really have no idea idea. I really don't. But after, like, five minutes nobody had started to even dance yet so I thought I'd pop on a DVD and while I have Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves sitting there, I didn't particularly feel like being a depressed wreck this early in the evening (and while eating dinner too!) and I was in the mood for something toe-tapping, so I put Chicago on. Boy. I really do love that movie.

It's strange, that out of the seven Academy Awards ceremonies so far this decade, the Chicago win is the one I am most happy about, yet for a lot of people it's one of - if not the - worst. Even if Brokeback Mountain had won last year, Chicago would be #1. Sure, Brokeback is the better movie, but as we all know, that movie had won everything under the sun so it's winning would have just been icing on the cake, plus a movie that excellent doesn't need the Academy, okay (it's still silly it lost, but that's not what this entry is about). Chicago on the other hand, while being the frontrunner that year, really just makes me so happy that it won because it's a frivilous musical with no sympathetic characters! In this day and age that doesn't exactly scream BEST PICTURE to me. It still amazes me that it won.

And to consider the films it was up against? Sure, The Two Towers was brilliant (and my favourite of the Lord of the Rings trilogy), but it would have been a strange Best Picture winner. Gosford Park is great fun, but it would've been like The Queen winning this year, ya know? The Pianist, while another great movie, is also another WWII movie and, I dunno, I'm just sick of WWII, or most wars for that matter. And... I don't remember the final nominee that year. Umm... er... lol, I don't remember. It was probably so bad I blocked it out.

Chicago was my favourite film of 2002. It probably helps that I was completely uneducated in the area of it's music so it was all so funky and new to me. I loved the cast. Yes, even Renee Zellweger, sorry. Sure, her voice has clearly been modulated in post production and when up against Catherine Zeta-Jones, her dancing is flat, but I actually think she sorta suits the part. It was next year where I just wanted to throw hard metal objects at her.

But, I think the most impressive feature of the film is Rob Marshall's direction. Bill Condon fumbled Dreamgirls (as enjoyable as it still was, it was his fault it wasn't great), Chris Columbus didn't know what he was doing with Rent (which got by because of the cast's enthusiasm and the wonderful soundtrack) and people didn't seem to notice what Susan Stroman was doing in The Producers. But Rob Marshall just seemed to have it. He understands musicals for cinema (which is probably why his followup Memoirs of a Geisha was so bad). I could watch the "Cell Block Tango", "When You're Good to Mama", "Roxie", "I Can't Do It Alone", "Nowadays" and "Funny Honey" sequences over and over and over (yes, watch, not just listen). But the other bits are great too. It all just fits together perfectly.

In a time when people say the Academy is out of step with the public, I find it strange that they would complain about Chicago's win for Best Picture. I mean, apart from The Two Towers, it was certainly the highest grossing nominee - making something like $170million, which is no short change, ya know! It's obvious the film was more popular with people than something like The Pianist or Gosford Park. People championed when The Departed won this year because it was the sort of movie they haven't rewarded since The French Connection in the '70s. Well, Chicago is the sort of movie they hadn't rewarded since the '60s (I'm thinking of the dire Oliver!) I mean, it's a freakin' musical! And because of that we've been blessed with a mini-revival. A few musicals are released annually now, some good some not. But I'd rather have the option than having none at all.

Chicago is a wild ride. I don't care if others don't like it and cry into their death pillows because it beat a Polanski movie about WWII (again, a great movie, but still...) and whine and moan and bemoan the state of movies if a movie like Chicago can win. The movie is fun, spectacular and over-the-moon joyful, which is enough for me. I don't need every movie to be a hardedged deep-and-meaninging excercise in depression thank you. A


(yes, this was indeed very random, I know. But I felt like writing something and this was all I could think of)

Year in Advance Oscar Predictions

Gimme a break. I'm bored and I'm feeling crazy.

Of course nobody knows anything at this stage (/cliche) but this is just my random-completely-for-fun predictions. There are some high profile movies that I'm neglecting in the major categories (Sweeney Todd, The Kite Runner - name one movie Marc Forster has directed that's any good?), while tipping some smaller films that have gotten attention (yes, even Ben Affleck's Gone Baby Gone. Gotta be a little crazy at these things). Of course, there will be some titles that slip into 2008, or titles that slip back from '08 to 2007 (3.10 to Yuma for example). There are also some titles that are hanging in limbo at the moment. Francis Ford Coppola's Youth Without Youth for instance. I'm just going to ignore that title as of right now because it's Francis Ford Freakin' Coppola. Who knows when it will be completed.

And obviously the technical categories are a ridiculous arena to predict. But who cares. It's sorta fun. Gotta give props to Kris over at InContention (yes, yes) for his rundown of titles. I'm not going to add commentary to these because, I figure, at this stage there's no point rationalising my predictions and explaining my thought process (essentially, because there is one). Nor am I doing "alternates" or "sixth placers" because, really, that list would be long. We really don't know a single thing.

BEST PICTURE
American Gangster
Atonement
Charlie Wilson's War
Gone, Baby, Gone
Reservation Road

BEST DIRECTOR
Ben Affleck, Gone, Baby, Gone
Susanne Bier, Things We Lost in the Fire
Mike Nichols, Charlie Wilson's War
Ridley Scott, American Gangster
Joe Wright, Atonement

BEST ACTOR
James McAvoy, Atonement
Daniel Day Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Benicio del Toro, Things We Lost in the Fire
Joaquin Phoenix, Reservation Road
Denzel Washington, American Gangster

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, The Golden Years
Julie Christie, Away from Her
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose (aka La Môme)
Julianne Moore, Savage Grace
Natalie Portman, The Other Boleyn Girl

(I know I said no alternates, but I really want to predict Keira Knightley for Atonement. Especially considering I'm predicting it elsewhere and if she was (deservedly) nommed for the also Joe Wright directed P&P why not this? Hmm.)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Sasha Baron Cohen, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Ed Harris, Gone, Baby, Gone
Mark Ruffalo, Reservation Road
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Emily Blunt, Charlie Wilson's War
Helena Bonham Carter, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Bette Midler, Then She Found Me
Vanessa Redgrave, Atonement
Susan Sarandon, In the Valley of Elah

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Cynthia Mort, Bruce Taylor & Roderick Taylor, The Brave One
Stephen Knight, Eastern Promises
James C Strouse, Grace is Gone
Noah Baumbach, Margot at the Wedding
Brad Bird & Jan Pinkava, Ratatouille

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Christopher Hampton, Atonement
Sarah Polley, Away from Her
Alan Sorkin, Charlie Wilson's War
Terry George & John Burnham Schwartz, Reservation Road
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood

BEST EDITING
American Gangster
Atonement
Charlie Wilson's War
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
There Will Be Blood

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Atonement
My Blueberry Nights
The Other Boleyn Girl
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

BEST ART DIRECTION
Across the Universe
Atonement
The Golden Compass
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Alexandra Byrne, The Golden Age
Arthur Rowsell & Rita Ryack, Hairspray
Sandy Powell, The Other Boleyn Girl
Penny Rose, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Collen Atwood, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

BEST MAKE-UP
Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium
Stardust
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

(So, I originally had Norbit down. But I don't even think these guys will nominate that? Surely... right?

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
I Am Legend
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Spiderman 3

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Atonement
Gone Baby Gone
Manolete
Michael Clayton
Ratatouille

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Enchanted
Hairspray
Hairspray
Ratatouille
Reign Over Me

BEST SOUND MIXING
3.10 to Yuma
The Golden Compass
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Spiderman 3
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

BEST SOUND EDITING
American Gangster
The Golden Compass
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Ratatouille
Spiderman 3

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Bee Movie
Ratatouille
The Simpsons Movie

(Yeah, no Shrek the Third, okay!)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
China
France
India
Italy
Poland

(how random are those?)

I have no idea why I seemed to have completely snubbed certain movies while predicting other ones (especially the supporting actress category. no way in hell is that lineup occuring)

What to do with a problem like Rinko?

Rinko, Rinko, Rinko. Sure, I personally loved Gwyneth Paltrow's dress at the Oscars (well, I liked it on her, most others would die inside it) and I've grown to love Penelope Cruz' outfit, and Helen Mirren was a stunner. But, one person who didn't get any attention, and whose Oscar dress I am just seeing in proper detail for the first time, is Rinko Kikuchi. The Best Supporting Actress nominee for (and the very super best thing about) Babel (I've really grown to love that performance, whereas I've grown to just remain underwhelmed about fellow nominee Adriana Barraza. She's all the more impressive in my mind because she doesn't have a big star to help her story get attention, nor does she have to SCREAMATMELIKESHE'SDYING to express emotion (hi Brad Pitt). She also gets one of the very best scenes of the year to wade around in (I speak of course of the "September" sequence).

Anyway, the reason of this entry wasn't to discuss Rinko in Babel. It was to discuss her clothes. So, yes, everyone was sort of expecting Kikuchi (the, what? second Japanese woman ever nominated for an Oscar. Impressive) to wear something absolutely bonkers on the level of Cher or Bjork. Let us remember what she wore to January's Golden Globe awards.


Hilarious, right? I actually didn't mind it to be honest. She was having fun and doing her own thing and was just happy to be there, and compared to the uber-bland plastic un-fantastic expressions of Brangelina, she was positively jubilent. So it was with surprise today that I check out (as I usually do everyday) Go Fug Yourself and managed to see what she wore to the Academy Awards. I'm positively stunned.


Sure, maybe a necklace would've been nice, but the dress! The bracelet! The clutch! Even the hair totally suits this ensemble. It looks both European AND Asian (I keep picturing Maggie Cheung in those edible figure-hugging outfits from In the Mood For Love) and just all around stunning.

Here's hoping she gets some more work in bigger pictures instead of the unknown Japanese films she was in before Babel. A quick look at her IMDb filmography shows she is in the next film by Brick writer and director Rian Johnson, entitled The Brother's Bloom alongside Adrian Brody (sort of yay), Rachel Weisz (yay for the most part) and Mark Ruffalo (not yay, but i can handle it). Interesting. Funny how out of those four it's Mark Ruffalo who has been ignored by the Academy.

From a Yahoo story about the film.

...budgeted at more than $20 million and scheduled to start production March 19, with shoots in 12 countries in Europe and Asia.

Wow. Good luck to Rian Johnson. I was impressed with Brick, so we'll see how this one pans out. It's clearly trying to be more mainstream than Brick.

I liked this quote from one of the people on Rian Johnson's forum:

Per contractual obligation, Kikuchi will indeed appear deaf, mute, and nude in most scenes, with her character only barely tied into the rest of the story, despite deserving a film of her own.

How totally true is that? Very true. That's how much.

Hugh Jackman Goes to the Oscars!

So, I was going to do a fashion rundown thing but, you know what? I CAN'T BE BUGGARED! But, this is me we're talking about and who am I to miss an opportunity to show pictures of Hugh Jackman looking dapper in a sexy tux? He's so yummy. And yes, I did crop out Deborra-Lee Furness. She's already gotten enough attention from me. You can click all the pictures (including the one to the left) to make them grow. Pics were from Just Jared. His archive of Oscar pics is huge






*dies after succumbing to Hugh's sexiness*

Final Oscar Roundup

Best Picture:
The Departed

I got this one right. Once it won the Eddie I figured it was a done deal. Although when Babel won Best Original Score (of all things) I felt a pang of "Oh no!"


Best Director:
Winner: Martin Scorsese, The Departed

Thank god for that one and now, I bet, he does a Katherine Hepburn and just wins a couple more because they're really sorry. If his Rolling Stones documentary goes theatrical this year he could very well win for that!


Best Actor:
Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

Yeah, considering none of my favourites were nominated (to be honest though, Whitaker is the only one I have seen. Venus, Diamond and Happyness didn't interest me, and Half Nelson isn't out here yet) I suppose this is good. I just really hate that movie.

Best Actress:
Helen Mirren, The Queen

YAWN. Lame end to her speech, as well. How "I'm the king of the world" of her. Why did they show a clip of Penelope Cruz lipsyncing though! I think even Cruz herself thought it was a joke judging from her reaction.

Best Supporting Actor:
Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine - unlike Best Actor I had seen all the nominees (bar Djimon Hounsou) and none of my favourites were nominated here either, but I can be happy for Arkin. He was good enough and I'm glad he has a statue, even though (and I've said it before multiple times) he deserved one three years ago for Thirteen Conversations about One Thing. Uh-huh.

Best Supporting Actress:
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls

Nothing to really say here. Seen all five and this was, I guess, my favourite. Meh. I wish they'd shown the "HERE I AM!!!" clip for Blanchett though.

Best Original Screenplay:
Michael Arndt, Little Miss Sunshine

And rightfully so, considering the nominees.

Best Adapted Screenplay:
William Monahan, The Departed

If it couldn't be the crew from Children of Men then I'm glad it was Monahan.

Best Cinematography:
Guillermo Navvaro, Pan's Labyrinth

This was disappointing. The voters obviously don't have a clue what cinematography is. Right? Most definitely the worst loss of the night. Just really, really disappointing.

Best Editing:
Thelma Schoonmaker, The Departed

Seeing Marty Scorsese crying for Thelma was lovely. I would have (much) prefered the United 93 gang, but Thelma's a classy gal, so good for her.

Best Art Direction:
Eugenio Caballero, Pilar Revuelta, Pan's Labyrinth

And deservedly so.

Best Costume Design:
Milena Canonero, Marie Antoinette

Who am I to begrudge this win? She deserves it.

Best Original Score:
Gustavo Santaolalla, Babel

The third most ridiculous win of the night. I quick glance at the soundtrack listing on iTunes shows me that the most memorable pieces ("Only Love Can Conquer Hate", "Bibo no Aozora") weren't actually by Santaolalla. Oh well. One win for the movie was enough for Oscar voters, thankfully.

Best Original Song:
An Inconvenient Truth, "I Need to Wake Up" by Melissa Etheridge

I love Melissa, I really do, I just thought this song was extremely weak for her. Oh well. The song is better than the movie that it runs over the credits for.

Best Make-Up:
David Marti, Montse Ribe, Pan's Labyrinth

And deservedly so.

Best Sound Mixing:
Michael Minkler, Bob Beemer, Willie B Burton Dreamgirls

Yeah, I'm definitely okay with this one. They still snubbed the best sound work I heard all year for an eligible film (Miami Vice), so whatever.

Best Sound Effects Editing:
Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman, Letters from Iwo Jima

As the only Best Picture contender, I don't know why more didn't predict it to win.

Best Visual Effects:
John Knoll, Hal T Hickel, Charles Gibson, Allen Hall, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

And deservedly so.

Best Animated Feature:
Happy Feet, George Miller

And here's where I hit myself over the head. I had been predicting Happy Feet all season. ALL SEASON and then at the very last minute I swapped it for Cars. Ugh. I'm a lunkhead. Why didn't I show my Aussie patriotism like I did in the Live Action Short category, even though I knew better. Ugh.

Best Foreign Language Film:
The Lives of Others, Florian Henkel von Donnersmark

I'm this (*squeezes thumb and index finger together*) close to predicting The Lives of Others, but I decided not to.

Again, I'm an idiot.

Best Documentary:
An Inconvenient Truth, Davis Guggenheim

I've already discussed this category enough lately, but notice the name next to the title. Davis Guggenheim. Yeah. HE is the Oscar winner. Not Al Gore. Please stop calling Al Gore an Academy Award winner, or saying "Al Gore collected his Academy Award..." cause he's not one. His IMDb profile does not say he won an Oscar. The Oscar website does not say he won an Oscar. Enough.

Blah blah, short movies. I'm bored with this.

Overall, I got 15 categories correct. So, that's still pretty good for a year that was so crazy. I got the top 8 all right though. So that's conselation! I'm gonna do a next-year predictions thing, which will be hilarious uneducated.