What the What?

Yesterday, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced, starting this year, the Academy Awards' Best Picture category would expand from five nominees to ten, an entirely unexpected surprise. The last time the Academy shook up the award categories, adding Best Animated Feature, there was a drawn out process. The category was suggested in 1999 (great year for animated movies), approved in 2000, and the first award was handed to Shrek in March of 02. While there must have been talks behind the scenes, the decision to go from five to ten Best Picture nominees appeared to come out of nowhere. A ten nominee field, while surprising, isn't unprecedented. For a period of time in the thirties and forties, the Academy experi The urge to expand must have arisen from the failure of The Dark Knight and WALL-E to score nods earlier this year. Both films were in the running, garnering enough precursors, but ultimately failed because they were genre pictures. Had one or both made the cut, the ceremony would likely have garnered higher ratings. It just came off as missed opportunity for the Academy, and I'm guessing they didn't want it to happen again. The move does increase the chances for a Best Picture nomination for Up, making it only the second animated film to garner a Best Picture nod, after Beauty and the Beast, and it brings some excitement to the race, as we don't know what to expect. However, I still remain cautious, because while we think this opens the race to more independent or foreign-language films, it more likely means getting more midbrow "prestige" pics that didn't have enough critics' support to break into the top five. Had the ruling been in 2005, Memoirs of a Geisha and Cinderella Man would have been nominated over the likes of A History of Violence and The New World.

Pinocchio - 70th Anniversary Edition

Definitely worth purchasing, if you're a fan of classic Disney animated films. And, by the way, who isn't a fan?

Sita Sings the Blues (Nina Paley, 2008)

After watching Sita Sings the Blues, a wonderous, funny and at times beautiful film, I really hope someone in Hollywood gives director/animator Nina Paley a decent sized budget to make a film. Sita, an adaptation of the Ramayana, was a burst of energy, with its varied animated techniques including rotoscope, handrawn, shadow puppets, and 2D computer animation. While it doesn't all work, the film retains a sense of magic that is lacking in many of today's overabundant animated films.

Duck Amuck

Duck Amuck (Chuck Jones, 1953)

Genius, hilarious, classic...

Oscar Nominations (continued)

Cinematography:
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Well I thought this is where Australia would make an appearance, with all its sunsets and landscapes, but it wasn't the case. DP Mandy Walker has a vagina, and apparently, the cinematography branch doesn't like those. I'm also surprised Revolutionary Road got snubbed, with Roger Deakins getting nominated for The Reader instead. I kept suspecting Changeling might get a nod, but not enough to change my predictions. I'm guessing this is one of the categories the Academy will award to Benjamin Button.

Film Editing:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

This category should have been easy to predict. 4 of the Best Picture films plus an action movie; in this case Iron Man. I thought Milk would be the Best Picture nominee to miss out, with waning support for the film. Of course The Dark Knight wasn't nominated for Picture, so that took the action film slot, and The Reader was the Best Picture nominee to miss out. I really didn't think Milk would have as much support as it did. Slumdog's ADD editing obviously wins this category.

Art Direction:
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

Surprisingly, the Slumdog love didn't spill over into this category, and where did that Duchess nomination come from? Huh. I think they'll award this to Benjamin Button, just like cinematography.

Costume Design:
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road

No Sandy Powell. Seeing as how they love her, I thought the Academy would nominate The Other Boleyn Girl. Maybe a lot of people actually forgot the movie came out this year. I'm completely surprised by the Milk nomination, since they never actually go for 70s period wear. Also, yay for Catherine Martin getting nominated for Australia. I knew that film would show up somewhere! I could see this going to either The Duchess (very showy), Revolutionary Road (love for the designer), or Benjamin Button (tech sweep for the film).

Make-Up:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army

All year I thought Hellboy would make it, because of residual love for Pan's Labyrinth, but in the last couple of weeks I second guessed myself. I shouldn't have. Will they actually award Benjamin Button, even though a lot of its effects are CGI? I'm not entirely sure.

Original Score:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Defiance
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E

Yeah, no John Williams nod for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crap. Woopee!! I have no idea who will win this. Slumdog Millionaire?

Original Song:
"Down to Earth" - WALL-E
"Jaiho" - Slumdog Millionaire
"O Saya" - Slumdog Millionaire

No nomination for Springsteen's "The Wrestler." I really believe the music branch of the Academy is insane. I'm guessing the song suffered because it played over the end credits of The Wrestler, and for the past few years, the music branch has really only been nominating songs that play throughout the films. Even though I haven't heard the song yet, I'm delighted M.I.A. is now an Oscar nominee, for co-writing "O Saya." Now I'll get to see her perform at both the Grammys and the Oscars.

Sound Mixing:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted

Sound Editing:
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted

Who could have predicted the two nominations for Wanted? And Slumdog for Sound Editing? Really? Oy. My guess is either The Dark Knight or WALL-E will win both of these.

Visual Effects:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man

I think Benjamin Button takes this in a cake-walk. Although it could lose. Stranger things have happened at the Oscars.

Animated Feature:
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E

Why did I change my preditions at the last minute? I knew Bolt would get in over Waltz with Bashir. It's more their style. Now I know this wouldn't completely be accurate because of branches voting independently of each other and different rules for different categories, but if Waltz with Bashir wins Best Foreign-language Film, it would appear that the Academy thinks Bolt is superior to any foreign-film from last year! That is hilarious.

Guild Noms: Art Directors Guild

Those wacky production designers gave us a couple of surprises. No love for either of the Kate Winslet period pieces (The Reader, Revolutionary Road), nor was their love for Baz Luhrmann's spectacle (Australia), but the guild did find room to honor the Eastwood, with nods to Changeling and...Gran Turino? Really? Eh. Anyway, I do love that they nominated WALL-E. Though the Oscars will never do so, the ADG does actually recognize the work of art directors/production designers within animated films. Art direction/production design isn't just about building sets. It's about conceptualizing and designing the world that exists within the film, and WALL-E deserves some recognition for the designs of the space cruise ship, the desolate, future Earth and WALL-E himself. Good job ADG! Looking ahead at the Oscars, I still think at least one film, which didn't receive an ADG nom, could make the Oscar short-list, even though the ADG recognized 15 films in total. Don't count out Australia and The Reader just yet, one of them could still make it.

The Nominees:

Period Films:
Changeling - James J. Murakami
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Donald Graham Burt
Doubt - David Gropman
Frost/Nixon - Michael Corenblith
Milk - Bill Groom

Fantasy Films:
The Dark Knight - Nathan Crowley
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crap - Guy Hendrix Dyax
Iron Man - J. Michael Riva
The Spiderwick Chronicles - James Bissell
WALL-E - Ralph Eggleston

Contemporary Films:
Burn After Reading - Jess Gonchor
Gran Turino - James J. Murakami
Quantum of Solace - Dennis Gassner
Slumdog Millionaire - Mark Digby
The Wrestler - Timothy Grimes

LAFCA Winners

Well, I was way off with these. It's interesting that for Best Picture they went with big studio pictures. The number of mentions for Happy-Go-Lucky is good news, since it needed a boost if it hopes to get Oscar nods. Never count out a Mike Leigh film.

Picture: WALL-E
Runner-up: The Dark Knight

Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Runner-up: Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight

Actor: Sean Penn, Milk
Runner-up: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Actress: Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
Runner-up: Melissa Leo, Frozen River

Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Runner-up: Eddie Marsen, Happy-Go-Lucky

Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Runner-up: Viola Davis, Doubt

Screenplay: Happy-Go-Lucky
Runner-up: Synecdoche New York

WALL-E & Pixar on the Brain

With WALL-E coming out on DVD this past week, I finally got to see the film a few nights ago. It was a great film and it continues a pretty great track record for Pixar. All of their films, with the exception of one, have been at least good. The one exception being Cars which I had issues with, mainly because its notion of a world in which all living things were vehicles, including cows and flies, didn't quite work, but also because its the only Pixar film which seemed to be purposefully commercialized. All the other movies seemed to be focused on telling an interesting story with interesting characters. With Cars it was as if the creators thought, "We could have tie-ins with NASCAR, and make a bunch of toy cars for boys, and place the character of McQueen on everything else. Money, money, money!" Also the film featured the voice of Larry the Cable Guy, which just makes me shudder thinking about it. Eech. Anyway here's my ranking of the Pixar films:

1. Ratatouille
2. Toy Story
3. WALL-E
4. The Incredibles
5. Finding Nemo
6. Monster's Inc.
7. Toy Story 2
8. A Bug's Life
9. Cars

RDJ Named EW's Entertainer of the Year

The new issue of Entertainment Weekly features their list of the top 25 entertainers of the year, with Robert Downey Jr. being named #1. I can't really argue with their choice. He gave an energizing performance in a summer blockbuster, turning him into an A-list action star after having already spent over two decades in the business, and followed it up with well recieved performance in a comedy. The rest of EW's list, however, is kind of all over the place.

2. Tina Fey - yes definitely!
3. The Cast and Crew of The Dark Knight - of course

4. The Gossip Girls (Blake Lively & Leighton Meester) - kind of high?

5. Stephenie Meyer - enough with Twilight pimping!

6. Lil Wayne - I guess...I don't know?

7. Rock Band - zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I don't understand the popularity.

8. Sex and the City Women - sure, though the movie was a let down quality-wise

9. Jonas Brothers - shouldn't talent and not just popularity be taken into account

10. TV's Talking Heads/Political Pundits - yeah to Maddow, Behar, Matthews

11. Meryl Streep - always!

12. Stars of the Bravo Network - sure, especially Tim Gunn

13. James Franco - interesting pick

14. WALL-E - adorable, should have been paired with Po from Kung Fu Panda

15. Coldplay - eh, really? I like them, but still...eh?

16. Elizabeth Banks - this pick makes me happy

17. Yunjin Kim and Daniel Dae Kim - I love the two of them, but I find it odd

18. Kid Rock - yawn

19. Jon Hamm - should be a lot higher, especially after SNL

20. Facebook - I'm on it, but I still find it annoying

21. Katy Perry - fine, whatever

22. Richard Jenkins - I love the fact he's finally getting attention

23. Boring Ogre Face - go away already!

24. Leona Lewis - over Estelle, Adele, and Duffy....I think not!

25. Neil Patrick Harris - this pick also makes me happy, now give him an Emmy

Films that Remind Me of Halloween

With Halloween arriving, I decided to write a post devoted to films that I associate with the holiday. The films aren't necessarily about Halloween or scary or even great, but when this time of year comes around, these are the films that come to mind, or if I were to rewatch one of them during another part of the year, I would think of Halloween. Basically the films and the holiday are linked together in my mind.

10. Children of the Corn (Frtiz Kiersch, 1984)
I think I've seen this movie three or four times, each occasion on or around Halloween, and admittedly it's not a good movie. The movie is crying out for a remake, since I think at it's core it has a good premise. A small, heartland town is overtaken by its children who form a cult. That's just creepy, and Malachai is a great character. It would be fun to see what a great screenwriter and director could do with the material. Apparently, there is a remake being filmed, but it's a TV movie for the Sci-Fi channel, so I wouldn't hold my breath.

9. Corpse Bride (Tim Burton, 2005)
The first Tim Burton film on the list, and really what director bettersums up the holiday than Burton. Creepy, kooky, and whimsical are all adjectives that can be applied to both the director and film. A man soon to married accidently weds a corpse, and is transported to the world of the dead, which is more lively than the world above. The movie just puts a smile on my face, although the film's songs were disappointing, when you compare them to the brilliant songs of Burton's and composer Danny Elfman's previous collaboration on a sto-motion animated film, The Nightmare Before Christmas, which will be higher up on the list.

8. Meet Me In St. Louis (Vincente Minnelli, 1944)
This is a movie that reminds me of Halloween, this is a movie that reminds me of Christmas, this is a movie that reminds me of trolleys, but above all else this is a movie that reminds me of Judy Garland, who gave her second best performance ever, behind only 1954's A Star is Born, in this film. Halloween only takes up one section of the film, with the two youngest daughters of the Smith family, Agnes and Tootie, going trick-or-treating and playing a game in which they "kill" people by throwing flour in their face when they open the door. The film will also forever be linked to Night of the Living Dead in my mind. In college I had to watch them back-to-back during a film class, because we were to compare them as representatives of different genres, which both use children to subvert the social mores of society. The comparison still sticks.

7. Monster House (Gil Keanan, 2006)
Another animated film from the aughts, this one is set on Halloween. The film takes a premise that we can all relate to, the creepy neighborhood house that every kid thinks is haunted, and turns it into both a wacky monster movie and touching love story. The film's art direction is amazing. It perfectly replicates a day in late October and the house's transformation into a living being is brilliant. I could also go on and on about the voice work, from Kathleen Turner, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Steve Buscemi, to three kids who are the central characters. How could a film like this lose the Animated Feature Oscar to Happy Feet? Ech!

6. Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks, 1974)
The first time I saw this film was on a Halloween when I was a teenager. Everyone considers either The Producers or Blazing Saddles to be Brooks's best film, but I personnally think Young Frankenstein is far superior to either of those films. I think it's his most coherent film, but also his funniest, combining slapstick, puns, film references, and silly asides into an intelligent spoof/homage to the films of James Whale. It features both Gene Wilder's and Peter Boyle's best performance, plus has a amaing supporting cast that includes Cloris Leachman, Teri Garr, Gene Hackman, and Madeline Kahn.

5. Batman Returns (Tim Burton, 1992)
Yes, another Tim Burton film. I include this movie on the list simply because when I was nine I dressed up as the Penguin, specifically the version from this film. It was a heavy duty costume, too. I had a ton of padding, the worn-out suit, the wig, the makeup, including a prosthetic nose, the three-fingered gloves, and the top hat. I wound up winning an award for Most Creative Costume at my Cub Scout Halloween party. I was really proud of the costume. To this day I haven't come up with a better costume. I've been a murdered monk, Charlie Chaplin, Bjork, a 70s porn star, Lola from Run Lola Run, an emo band member, but none of them have compared to the Penguin.

4. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
My favorite movie of all time. That's all I have to say about it. I love it, I love it, i love it! Anthony Perkins is unbelievably creepy. Janet Leigh is wonderful as the film's leading actress who doesn't make it to the film's halfway point, which even when you think about it today is a daring move. If you ever need to know why Hitchcock is the master of suspense just watch (or rewatch) the famous shower scene. It still freaks me out every time I see it.

3. The Nightmare Before Christmas (Henry Selick, 1993)
This is the third Tim Burton film on my list, though he didn't direct it, only cowriting and producing it, as he was busy directing the fifth film on my list, Batman Returns, during the course of its production. Even though he didn't direct it, Nightmare Before Christmas is completely a Tim Burton film. Taking cues from his previous films with its art direction and character designs, the film has that mix of whismy and the macabre. What makes this film particularly memorable are the film's songs, combosed by Danny Elfman. Try listening to "What's This?" or "This Is Halloween" and not have it stuck in your head all day.

2. The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973)
I thought I'd include what I consider to be the scariest movie of all time. What makes the films so terrifying, is the idea of an entity taking over a someone's body, so they are no longer in control. The fact that it's the Devil who's taking over is an added bonus. Of course there's no such thing as the Devil, or demons, or possessions, but that doesn't matter, because it still scares the crap out of me. When mentioning The Exorcist, one has to give a shout out to old Hollywood character actress Mercedes McCambridge, who provided the voice of the possessed Regan MacNeil.

1. Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978)
Well, duh, of course this movie would be number one, since the film is named after the holiday. Still, it's a great film, and yay for Jamie Lee Curtis.