Tuesday, January 22, 2008

All right, Mr. DeMille. I'm ready for my blog.

What a day in movies!

Sundance first; Choke was picked up for 5 million. Quite the tidy sum. (Hamlet 2 for 10 million? My god, Steve Coogan must be funny in it.) I've only found one review for Choke so far, which seemed to be well-received; anyways it's from Cinematical and it's a bit mixed, but I love this line, "While I'm a huge fan of Palahniuk, his books and especially Choke, there's only one reason why I would recommend you check out this film, and one reason only: Sam Rockwell."

The Oscar nominees. Well, aside from the fact that I am certainly behind in needing to see things ('tis the reality when you're broke). The big surprises? Jason Reitman, Tommy Lee Jones, Ratatouille for screenplay (where did that come from?), 3 songs from Enchantment (really?), Surf's Up for animated (you don't need three, guys). The big snub? Angelina Jolie. (Well, and Christian Bale for Rescue Dawn, but that would have been a serious left-field contender). Really? Laura Linney and Cate Blanchett over a Mighty Heart? She was so... subtle, lovely, mesmerizing, heartbreaking. It's a crying shame. I also would have liked a little love for Zodiac, which was one of my favorite films of the year. I don't know whether the studios did much of a campaign for it, but perhaps re-releasing it closer to nomination time in LA and NY would have helped.

I'm happy to see Johnny Depp nominated, although I'm sure it bums him out to have to attend the ceremony. Maybe he can use the writer's strike as a way to get out of it. (Although I'm thrilled that the WGA and AMPTP are back negotiating as of today.) I would have liked to see James McAvoy and Kiera Knightly up, but I'm very glad that Saoirse Ronan was up, because her performance was pitch-perfect. I'm rooting for Casey Affleck (although I'm sure Javier Bardem will get it) and Assassination for cinematography. The foreign nominations were Eastern-European leaning (the only one I've even heard of is the Counterfeiters) so I'll have to go read up on the rest. It is also really nice that the acting kudos were spread out over so many films. Although it brings me back to needing to see many, many more things.

Also; it's interesting, but 3 actors mentioned in USA Today's "hey, Oscar!" made it into the nominations (sorry, Paul Dano).

Speaking of the strike, check out this WGA-solidarity clip featuring Oz's Dean Winters and Kathryn Erbe. I love Dean Winters! I'm currently catching up on 30 rock (like many programs, as I was abroad last year), and I was sorry to see him get dumped, although the way it was handled was brilliant. Bravo, Tina Fey. The clip also features Zeljko Ivanek (hey! I met him when he was in the Pillowman.)

There's a ton more movie news out there today, but I only have so much time online tonight. Quickly; First Look At What 'Watchmen' Will Look Like. Oscar's Biggest Snubs: A Post-Mortem.


Oh, and personally? I've got a position lined up for the end of this week and maybe into next week. And I think I might say, screw the resume, and start looking around for more reliable retail positions. Or at least maybe one as a part-time weekend gig for now. That's about it.

Musica; Starlight - Muse

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