Awards Season

Two quick things as the awards derby rolls on:

265 films are eligible for academy awards contention. Now, some of these are The Twilight Saga or Green Lantern and are kind of silly inclusions. But while slashfilm said that there are only 10 possible nominees out of 20 possible contenders (or about 8% great films coming out of hollywood), looking at films that have been nominated for best picture, director, or acting from a critic's guild gives us 65 films. Or, to put it another way, 25% of the films being released in the US in whatever format merits Oscar contention are deemed worth seeing by some critical voice. (And of course, may or may not come out of the studio system.)

So, while Circumstance may not have a hope in hell of being nominated for an oscar, that obviously doesn't mean it isn't worth watching. Furthermore, those are only 65 eligible films, so no documentaries, some exclusions, and an odd assortment of foreign films (for example, Poetry, Le Quattro Volte, Kaboom, Bellflower, and the Kill List all have been mentioned in critics' lists, but are not on the eligibilty list.) The fact of the matter is that there are more than 75 films that have been mentioned for best film nominations of one sort or another, not to mention foreign, documentaries, or animated movies (Rango ftw!). And there are even more films worth seeing for performances or technical achievements. I just get annoyed whenever film discussions get framed in the old "there are no movies worth watching" way. Stop beating the poor horse.

Now, if the studios would not release about half of those in the last two weeks of December, it sure would make my life (and scheduling) less complicated....

Secondly, indieWire posted the Film Comment rankings. While you've got 50 films recommended up top (hey! A movie a week...), the second list is really interesting: Fifty Films Not Released in 2011. Some will be released in 2012 (the Deep Blue Sea, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia - which I am DESPERATE to see, etc.), and I believe the Innkeepers is now on DVD, I'm sure some of these may never quite make it past the film fest circuit. It is a good reminder that there is a whole world of undiscovered films out there, even for those of us that try to keep an ear to the ground for news coming out of Sundance, Toronto, Cannes, Venice...

And people wonder why my netflix queue maxes out at 500.

Golden Globe thoughts

Yay Albert Brooks!

Other thoughts:

Yay:
American Horror Story! Whoo!
Bryan Cranston.
Jessica Lange! WHOOO!
The Hour!
Rooney Mara!
The Ides of March!
Michael Fassbender!
Moneyball!
50/50!
Brendan Gleeson!
Ryan Gosling! x2 (oh HFPA, you're so obvious.)
And again Albert Brooks!

Weird:
No Dexter/Michael C. Hall
Berenice Bejo? Really?
Boss? Really?
No Jim Parsons, no Mandy Patinkin (I don't care so much, but I'm surprised.)
No Tree of Life?
No 30 Rock?
Not really surprising, but no Community or Parks and Rec?
No Andy Serkis.

Not ok:
Breaking Bad. WHAT. THE. FUCK. (sub heading: No Aaron Paul.)
No Gary Oldman. Boo.
No Muppets in comedy?

Golden Globes

I will have more thoughts on these tomorrow when I can look a little more closely, but most importantly:

WHERE THE FUCK IS BREAKING BAD. HOW CAN I INSIST THAT OTHER PEOPLE TAKE YOU SERIOUSLY IF YOU INSIST ON BEING RIDICULOUS.

Moar on the SAG noms

First off: SO SAD about Albert Brooks. He had been getting more nominations than almost anyone else! I have high hopes he'll spring back.

The other big snub is obviously Michael Fassbender. I wonder if he split his own votes somehow?

Here's the movie rundown:

SAG nominations

For realsies:
THE ARTIST (The Weinstein Company)
BÉRÉNICE BEJO / Peppy
JAMES CROMWELL / Clifton
JEAN DUJARDIN / George
JOHN GOODMAN / Al Zimmer
PENELOPE ANN MILLER / Doris


BRIDESMAIDS (Universal Pictures)
ROSE BYRNE / Helen
JILL CLAYBURGH / Annie’s Mom
ELLIE KEMPER / Becca
MATT LUCAS  / Gil
MELISSA McCARTHY / Megan
WENDI McLENDON-COVEY / Rita
CHRIS O’DOWD / Rhodes
MAYA RUDOLPH / Lillian
KRISTEN WIIG / Annie
REBEL WILSON/ Brynn

THE DESCENDANTS (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
BEAU BRIDGES / Cousin Hugh
GEORGE CLOONEY / Matt King
ROBERT FORSTER / Scott Thorson
JUDY GREER  / Julie Speer
MATTHEW LILLARD  / Brian Speer
SHAILENE WOODLEY  / Alexandra King

THE HELP (DreamWorks Pictures / Touchstone Pictures)
JESSICA CHASTAIN / Celia Foote
VIOLA DAVIS / Aibileen Clark
BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD / Hilly Holbrook
ALLISON JANNEY / Charlotte Phelan
CHRIS LOWELL / Stuart Whitworth
AHNA O’REILLY / Elizabeth Leefolt
SISSY SPACEK / Missus Walters
OCTAVIA SPENCER / Minny Jackson
MARY STEENBURGEN / Elaine Stein
EMMA STONE / Skeeter Phelan
CICELY TYSON / Constantine Jefferson
MIKE VOGEL / Johnny Foote

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (Sony Pictures Classics)
KATHY BATES / Gertrude Stein
ADRIEN BRODY / Salvador Dali
CARLA BRUNI / Museum Guide
MARION COTILLARD / Adriana
RACHEL McADAMS / Inez
MICHAEL SHEEN / Paul
OWEN WILSON / Gil

Okay - a couple of things here. One? Very surprised by the Artist, as it is a small cast, and particularly over Margin Call. However, including James Cromwell tickles me, because seeing him as the chauffeur in the Artist made me think of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuNzcbCrNHg. Also tickled by Matthew Lillard's inclusion because YAY MATTHEW LILLARD.

However, I feel like Midnight in Paris COMPLETELY MISSED THE POINT. The point being Corey Stoll as Hemmingway (not to mention Alison Pill as Zelda Fitzgerald). Seriously - Carla Bruni as Museum Guide? In that case, you should have Tom Hiddleston as F. Scott and Lea Seydoux as Gabrielle. But more importantly: Hemmingway. Jesus. I wonder if people voted for the cast without noticing the SAGs planned to leave him off?

So anyways, 4/5 for me. Other reactions to follow.

SAG nominees

The SAG nominations come out tomorrow (I think). One of my favorite categories they have is best ensemble, so I'm going to try to guess what will be nominated there:
Margin Call
The Help
Bridesmaids

Pretty sure about those. I think the last two might be The Descendants and Midnight in Paris. I'd prefer Martha Marcy Mae Marlene or Ides of March. I don't think Carnage will get it. Possibly Dragon Tattoo or Harry Potter, but I wouldn't bet on it.

TV time!

The critics awards are coming fast and furious for movies. And while I am tracking all of those intently, there are also a couple of fun tv precursors to the Golden Globes. The WGAs, PGAs, and AFIs all release separate tv awards or nominations.

NBR

Oh, National Board of Review. How COULD you?

Hugo wins best picture, director from NBR

I, clearly, am not a fan. I really, really disliked Hugo, and I'm not alone in that. (it was overly long and self indulgent. It could have been much, much better.)

Ah, well - let's look at the top 10 films:
The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
The Ides of March
J. Edgar
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Interesting.... BEYOND thrilled with Drive's inclusion. Surprised by the Ides of March - I'll have to catch that toot sweet. Happy with Tree of Life, Harry Potter, the Artist, and... of course... Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. :) War Horse's inclusion bodes well. I (and I know I'll be attacked for this) did not like Saving Private Ryan. So I'm approaching War Horse with some apprehension.

And the Top 10 Independent Films:
50/50
Another Earth
Beginners
A Better Life
Cedar Rapids
Margin Call
Shame
Take Shelter
We Need To Talk About Kevin
Win Win

Another Earth!!!! YAAAAAAAY! (Shame! Yay! 50/50! Yay! Take Shelter! yay!) (Also - Cedar Rapids - are you kidding me?) Also, between Margin Call's ensemble win at the Gothams and this, I may need to check it out. Maybe Zachary Quinto's presence will help tide me over till the next American Horror Story.

A few other awards worth noting:
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
Best Original Screenplay: Will Reiser, 50/50
Best Animated Feature: Rango
Breakthrough Performance: Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Spotlight Award: Michael Fassbender (A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, Shame, X-Men: First Class)
NBR Freedom of Expression: Pariah
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation

Sundance 2012

So - the Sundance competition slate has been announced. Some of the titles that stand out are Smashed, Wish You Were Here, the Surrogate, Filly Brown, Nobody Walks and Save the Date.

Descriptions below:

Media Endorsements!

One blog I read regularly, Celebrity Gossip, Academic Style, (which I came to via The Hairpin), recently posted a short little note on things she is currently loving and recommends. And since LORD KNOWS I have no shortage of opinions when it comes to media, here are mine:

Television:
First up, American Horror Story. The story of the Harmon family and the haunted house they move into. This show just gets more addictive the more insane it becomes. It's like a nice little stylistic mash-up of the eeriness of The X-Files crossed with the bat shit, off-the-wall insanity of, say, True Blood. Or really any other Ryan Murphy creation. It has some great supporting performers, such as Denis O'Hare (speaking of True Blood: the greatest scene of anything ever), Frances Conroy, and finally Jessica Lange, who eats all the scenery for breakfast and is completely FANTASTIC. The Halloween two-parter, which centered on Evan Peters and Zachary Quinto, was amazing.

Also: Community. This show is just so smart and so endlessly clever. They recently set up a background joke where the punchline was three seasons in the making. Three seasons! Admittedly, the show doesn't really know what to do with Chevy Chase or Ken Jeong and I'd personally love to see less of those two and more guest spots by John Oliver. But take the most recent episode, which was a riff on Heart of Darkness AND featured Joel McHale's impersonation of the Dean. So funny, so smart. (Actually, per the recent Nielsen ratings, the top three shows with the greatest concentration of viewers, 18-49, with four or more years of college are: Parks and Recreation, The Office, and Community.


And speaking of Parks and Rec: Awwww.


Books:
A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan is super brilliant (and Pulitzer-award winning!). While it is nominally about an aging record producer, Bennie, and his assistant Sacha, each chapter delves into a different character with a relationship (in some form) with one or the other (or, unknowingly, both). It skips back and forth across decades and ends up giving you a sense of the scope of these two people's lives, even if their paths only crossed for a short while. It also examines how events in the past continue to shape their lives or influence them decades later. And given that they worked/work/will work in the music industry, the book also touches on the communal nature of art.

(Plus, Jennifer Egan is a fellow Burkes alumna, who mentions the school in the book. How could I not love it?)

Local by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelley is a twelve-part graphic novel about wanderlust and different locales around North America. While it was originally intended to be portraits of places with one character, Megan, as a unifying thread, it gradually became more and more Megan's story and the tale of how she grew up as she traveled. Obviously, as someone who has moved a lot during her twenties, and has a pretty strong case of gypsy blood, I'm biased. But the art is beautiful and, as evidenced by the previous book, I really enjoy narrative structures that come at their characters obliquely and through differing points of view (Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout, which won the Pulitzer as well, is another good example of that type of structure.)

Disc 2 videos!

Mostly songs and not videos. But well worth a listen...

song only:



song only:

2011 mixes - now in video form! (disc 1)

If you watch only a few of these, I recommend Lonely Boy, Uberlin, and Shake It Out.

song only:

2011 Mixes!

I know. I usually wait until December to pick out mixes for the year. But I have been waking up every morning for the last week humming "Past Three O'Clock" and "Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella" and now that we have officially passed Thanksgiving, I'm planning on cranking the carols for the rest of the year. (A quick note: lots of these were not released this year. Oh well.) So, for all of you in a tryptophan-induced coma, enjoy:

2011 (Disc 1)
Lost in the World (ft. Bon Iver) - Kanye
Moneygrabber - Fitz and the Tantrums (thanks, Em!)
Lonely Boy - The Black Keys
1977 - Ana Tijoux
Arlandria - Foo Fighters
Only Happy When it Rains (live in Trieste) - Garbage
Two Years Before the Mast - Astronautalis (thanks, Konner!)
Somebody That I Used to Know (ft. Kimbra) - Gotye
The Rake's Song - The Decemberists
Repatriated - Handsome Furs (thanks, Chris!)
Uberlin - R.E.M.
Gangsta - tUnE-YarDs
Freaks and Geeks - Childish Gambino
Echoes - The Rapture (what? I watched a lot of Misfits this year)
Rolling Till the World Ends - Adele vs. Britney (I figure everyone has Rolling in the Deep, so this is one of the remixes I like)
I Can't Behave Myself (ft. Neon Hitch) - Deadmau5
Sex Changes - The Dresden Dolls (I wanted one of their songs on here, since I rang in the New Year with them)
Letterbomb - American Idiot Broadway Cast
Shake It Out - Florence + the Machine

2011: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Disc 2)
You Are Here - Selene (sampling Clint Mansell's score from Moon. Mooooon!)
Titanium (ft. Sia) - David Guetta
Cold War - Blaqk Audio
Cardiac Arrest (ft. Robyn) - Teddybears (Again, I figure everyone has Call Your Girlfriend...)
Planetary (Go!) - My Chemical Romance (I listened to this one a lot while I was training for my 5k)
Not in Love (ft. Robert Smith) - Crystal Castles
A Real Hero - College (from the Drive Motion Picture Soundtrack)
The Devil is in the Details - The Chemical Brothers (from the Hanna Motion Picture Soundtrack)
White Rabbit - Emiliana Torrini (from the Sucker Punch Motion Picture Soundtrack)
The Man Comes Around - Johnny Cash (not from any particular soundtrack, but used to great affect in the Sarah Connor Chronicles and Dawn of the Dead)
Marcy's Song - John Hawkes (from the Martha Marcy Mae Marlene Motion Picture Soundtrack)
California Earthquake - Mama Cass (in honor of our many recent earthquakes and from the Beautiful Thing Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Who's Been Loving You? - Watsky
Foolin' - Devendra Banhart
Pretty When You Cry - VAST
Heavy Metal Lover - Lady Gaga
The Birds pt. 1 - The Weeknd
Hard to Explain - Owen Pallett
21 Guns - American Idiot Broadway Cast
Video Games - Lana Del Rey
You Know What I Mean - Cults

Stealing Confessions of the Unread

So one of my favorite blogs is The Bathroom Monologues. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but it is a flash fiction site with great super-short stories. Occasionally haikus. However, sometimes the author, John Wiswell, talks about his writing process or other reading-related items. One of his most recent posts resonated with me: Confessions of the Unread. As John writes,

According to Goodreads, I present possess 141 books that I haven’t read. The desire to read everything I hear about is so strong that even if I only borrow, buy or steal a small fraction of it, I wind up with boxes of books. And among those books are a few that I feel particularly ashamed for not yet reading. Most of these are hard classics. Some are so long that I argued myself into reading long works from my industry instead. Such excuses work in the short term. In the long term, literary guilt is powerful. I'm publishing this list to further pressure myself to get some culture....

 

What we really need is a National Novel Reading Month.

 

Amen.

(Similarly, FT Magazine, recently published photos of writer's libraries. Junot Diaz said this, "Naturally, I buy more than I can read, so there is always at least a 100-book margin between what I own and what I’ve read. What’s cool is that I’ve caught up a couple of times. But then I’ll buy too much and the race starts again." Nice to know one is in good company.) 

 

 

So: here's my list of shame. They aren't all hard classics, but some are gifts which I feel particularly bad about not having gotten to. And some I've carried through roughly five moves and really need to get to:

Possession by A.S. Byatt (which I started this summer and then put aside)

Ulysses by Joyce

Guys and Dolls and other writings by Damon Runyon

Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje

Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather (this one is particularly damning, since she's one of my favorite authors)

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

The Portrait of a Lady by James

2666 by Roberto Bolano

The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Collected Stories of Katherine Mansfield

Africa in my Blood by Jane Goodall

On Beauty by Zadie Smith

House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski (I have been carrying this around since 2005. I WILL READ IT.)

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents by Julia Alvarez

Jane Eyre by Bronte

The Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

The Omnivore's Dillema by Michael Pollan

Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maughm

From Hell by Alan Moore (I'm in the middle of it, but I keep wanting to read it in bed and it is TOO BIG.

Local by Brian Wood

Plus I have 4 books edited by Manley and Lewis that are short stories by female authors that I need to get around to. And there are a few others floating around somewhere. Good thing I'm taking vacation next week to go curl up with cats and read. 

Reader

I am BEYOND annoyed at Google Reader. It's now hard to read and unable to share. I'm working on finding a new rss feeder to go to (suggestions? I had one for feedly... which is closing down. Like so many others that tried to compete with the old  reader).

And since google no longer supports a shared items page, I'm moving that over to tumblr, which I think will be fun, although I have to figure out how to repost things correctly. So that may take a little while. Anyways: jwdmeow.tumblr.com. You'll know you're in the right place quickly enough...

The Gothams! (And British Independent Noms)

The British Independent Film Award Nominations are out, which made me realize I neglected to talk about the Gotham noms when they came out. (To be fair, I was in LA. But still.)

Neither of these lists are likely to weigh heavily in the Oscar race, but considering how little prognosticating came out of Toronto this year, it's nice to officially kick off the season.

So - first up: The Gotham Noms (with commentary):

Best feature: "Beginners," "The Descendants," "Meek's Cutoff," "Take Shelter," "The Tree of Life." Well, pretty surprised to see Meek's Cutoff on here! But it is a nice surprise. Could this bode well for Bruce Greenwood sneaking in for supporting actor? (Doubtful, but probably at the Indie Spirits...) This also let's me know that I really need to check out Take Shelter this week. Also, I can already tell that I'm going to be digging in my heels on The Descendants.

Best documentary: "Better This World," "Bill Cunningham New York," "Hell and Back Again," "The Interrupters" and "The Woodmans." I have no opinion here.

Breakthrough director: Mike Cahill, "Another Earth"; Sean Durkin, "Martha Marcy May Marlene"; Vera Farmiga, "Higher Ground"; Evan Glodell, "Bellflower"; and Dee Rees, "Pariah." Yay Another Earth! These all seem like very deserving nominees.

Breakthrough actor: Felicity Jones, "Like Crazy"; Elizabeth Olsen, "Martha Macy May Marlene"; Harmony Santana, "Gun Hill Road"; Shailene Woodley, "The Descendants"; and Jacob Wysocki, "Terri." All pretty straightforward, although I'm a little surprized Ezra Miller isn't on here. Also, I would have prefered Brit Marling be on here with her Sundance sisters...

Best ensemble performance: "Beginners," "The Descendants," "Margin Call," "Martha Marcy May Marlene" and "Take Shelter." Hmmm. Interesting that Meek's Cutoff was up for best picture, but not ensemble... (Other probable notable ensembles, imho; Tinker Tailor, Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, Contagion, A Dangerous Method, Coriolanus, Warrior, My Week with Marilyn. And I guess we can call Ides of March an also-ran at this point.)

Best film not playing at a theater near you: "Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same," "Green," "The Redemption of General Butt Naked," "Scenes of a Crime" and "Without." Man! I missed General Butt Naked at IFFBoston last year...


And the Brits:
BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM
SENNA
SHAME
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
TYRANNOSAUR
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
Shame! Tinker Tailor! Tyrannosaur! So many things I want to see!

BEST DIRECTOR
Ben Wheatley – KILL LIST
Steve McQueen – SHAME
Tomas Alfredson – TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Paddy Considine – TYRANNOSAUR
Lynne Ramsay – WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
I wasn't a big fan of Ben Wheatley's last film, Down Terrace, but perhaps this one is better.

THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD [BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR]
Joe Cornish – ATTACK THE BLOCK
Ralph Fiennes – CORIOLANUS
John Michael McDonagh – THE GUARD
Richard Ayoade – SUBMARINE
Paddy Considine – TYRANNOSAUR
I love ALL OF THESE. Well done, Brit awards.

BEST SCREENPLAY
John Michael McDonagh – THE GUARD
Ben Wheatley, Amy Jump – KILL LIST
Abi Morgan, Steve McQueen – SHAME
Richard Ayoade – SUBMARINE
Lynne Ramsay, Rory Kinnear – WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
I see patterns emerging.... (Also, I really need to see The Guard...)

BEST ACTRESS
Rebecca Hall – THE AWAKENING
Mia Wasikowska – JANE EYRE
MyAnna Buring – KILL LIST
Olivia Colman – TYRANNOSAUR
Tilda Swinton – WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
Yay Jane Eyre!

BEST ACTOR
Brendan Gleeson – THE GUARD
Neil Maskell – KILL LIST
Michael Fassbender – SHAME
Gary Oldman – TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Peter Mullan – TYRANNOSAUR

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Felicity Jones – ALBATROSS
Vanessa Redgrave – CORIOLANUS
Carey Mulligan – SHAME
Sally Hawkins – SUBMARINE
Kathy Burke – TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Interesting. I have not heard of Albatross. But Felcity was not up for Best Actress for Like Crazy... I think that film is probably out of it as well.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Michael Smiley – KILL LIST
Tom Hardy – TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Benedict Cumberbatch – TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Eddie Marsan – TYRANNOSAUR
Ezra Miller – WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
Awww - Sally Hawkins got in, but no Noah Taylor? Who is this Michael Smiley?

MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER
Jessica Brown Findlay – ALBATROSS
John Boyega – ATTACK THE BLOCK
Craig Roberts – SUBMARINE
Yasmin Paige – SUBMARINE
Tom Cullen – WEEKEND
Again with the Albatross. Hmm...

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION
KILL LIST
TYRANNOSAUR
WEEKEND
WILD BILL
YOU INSTEAD

BEST TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
Chris King, Gregers Sall – Editing – SENNA
Sean Bobbitt – Cinematography – SHAME
Joe Walker – Editing – SHAME
Maria Djurkovic – Production Design – TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Seamus McGarvey – Cinematography – WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
Really? One lump category? Sound Mixers! Fight the Set Designers!

BEST DOCUMENTARY
HELL AND BACK AGAIN
LIFE IN A DAY
PROJECT NIM
SENNA
TT3D: CLOSER TO THE EDGE

BEST FOREIGN INDEPENDENT FILM
ANIMAL KINGDOM
DRIVE
PINA
A SEPARATION
THE SKIN I LIVE IN
How is Animal Kingdom eligible this year? And much as I enjoyed Animal Kingdom - Drive! Drive! (Although, A Separation won the Golden Bear. It very easily could win this as well)

Cinematic choices

Does my love for Cillian Murphy outweigh my intense dislike of Justin Timberlake?
Does my love for Brad Bird outweigh my objection to Tom Cruise's crazy?
Ditto Tilda Swinton/Thinking about school shootings for two hours?
How about Tom Hiddleston/Steven Spielberg's propensity for overblown pathos?
Gary Oldman and Tom Hardy vs. Colin Firth and Really? You felt the need to remake Tinker Tailor?
Noomi Rapace
/Istillcan'tbelievetheycalleditSherlockHolmesithasNOTHINGtodowithSherlockHomesRizzleFrizzleANDthefirstonewasinexcusablydull?

Halloween Challenge #3 and a few tidbits

So the third horror/thriller of the month: Scream 4. This was alright. It certainly was the best since the first film, but it never matches the fun and cool of the original. However, the snarky, self-aware horror tropes are done fairly well. In this installment, we're looking at the trend of remaking horror classics. At one point there is this exchange between Ghostface and the blond movie buff:

"Name the remake of the groundbreaking horror movie in which the vill..."

"Halloween, uh, Texas Chainsaw, Dawn of the Dead, The Hills Have Eyes, Amityville Horror, uh, Last House on the Left, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare On Elm Street, My Bloody Valentine, When A Stranger Calls, Prom Night, Black Christmas, House of Wax, The Fog, Piranha. It's one of those, right? Right?"

[Ed note: Her list made me realize that I was confusing The Mist for The Fog in my last post...]
Anyhoo. There were certainly clever bits, such as having a "ghostface voice app" on your smart phone, or the high school movie club idolizing Randy from the original. The largest problem is that the main new girl, Emma Roberts, isn't a particularly good actress, and when it finally comes time for her to hold the screen on her own without support, she just doesn't hold your attention very well. It's particularly tough, since (giving a somewhat-phoned in performance) Neve Campbell is right there, highlighting the difference the two. The supporting cast was mostly good; Rory Culkin and Hayden Panitierre as movie club horror buffs were the most entertaining. And Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell show up for an cute bit. Unfortunately, someone left Courtney Cox on shrill, and Marley Shelton has no discernable purpose, other than to remind us all of some of the ickier parts in Planet Terror.

Finally, I've always liked how Ghostface really comes off as "someone trying to run around in a halloween costume" and therefore occasionally trips, or gets beaten up. It works as a much more realistic slasher film. So, all in all, okay film. Still not as good as the original.


In other news, I've seen a few movies recently which probably deserve mention:
Thor - I really enjoyed this much more than I expected to. The backstory of Valhalla's war with the Frost Giants - or whatever - was a bit rough. But I think they were smart in handing the film to Kenneth Branagh since it deals with a lot of mythological archetypes and his classical training seems to hold him in good stead. And while I'm personally never going to root for Thor over Loki (I mean, come on), I enjoyed Chris Hemsworth's broadly comic take on Thor. All in all, a pretty decent entry in the superhero cannon.

And speaking of Tom Hiddleston, I also finally checked out Midnight in Paris, since it has been out for like 8 months, and consequently has a bit of oscar buzz. I was not a huge fan. It felt like Woody Allen got in the way of a better film. Maybe that is because his schtick has never done much for me and that Owen Wilson doing his best impression wasn't going to win me over either. The city is lovingly shot, even for someone who doesn't have much of an interest in Paris. And the idea is very cute. Really, though, the historical cameos steal the show; Kathy Bates as Gertrude Stein, Alison Pill as Zelda Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston plays F. Scott briefly), Adrien Brody as Dali. Corey Stoll walks off with the picture as Hemingway. (Which reminds me of my favorite Chicken/road joke: Why did the chicken cross the road? Hemingway: To die. In the rain.) The problem with the film is that I cared far more about those bit players than Owen Wilson's twee problems, and I really would rather have seen a period piece with that cast.

I also saw Moneyball, which I enjoyed, but not quite as much as I had thought I would. Maybe it is because I put off seeing it for a week or two after the season ended and was subconciously sad there wasn't more of the actual game in the film. Or, actual talk about stats... In terms of being an adult movie, which is entertaining and accessible to those who don't actually care about baseball or stats, it works quite well. I think I was expecting more of an Aaron Sorkin influence, but he only revised the script and didn't actually write it. So there wasn't as much smart banter between Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill as I had hoped. I think I generally went in with my expectations a bit too high. But it is a good film. It just kind of made me want to re-watch The Social Network. And last year's world series.

And, finally, Drive. I don't know why it took me so long to getting around to this, since I had been SO excited for it. But I loved it. It is really, really wonderful. First up, and important to know before watching, there are not many car chases in the film, aside from the brilliantly shot opening. Also, knowing Nicolas Winding Refn's work (and his propensity for filming violence) is probably good. That said, I was just rivited by the whole film. The supporting cast is good, but much of the movie is just an understanded performance by Ryan Gosling. Also, the rumors of a bromance between Refn and Gosling must be true, because the movie is framed around Gosling to his best effect in each scene. It reminded me of Meet Me in St. Louis and how lovingly Minnelli filmed Judy Garland. I'm not a huge Ryan Gosling fan (although I think he does good work), but you seriously can't take your eyes off of him here. Hmmm... I'm finding it hard to word this without coming off as a fan girl. What I mean is, this character, the way he is shot, and the performance are all completely compelling. (And I'm sure those women who were fans of the Notebook will appreciate Gosling as eye candy, too.)

Furthermore, the movie just exudes cool. The retro 80s pink font in the titles, his varsity jacket and driving gloves, and the slow-burn, taut direction; all of of it is stylish fun. It's an art-house pulp film. It's awesome. Check it out.

Halloween challenge no.s 1 & 2

The Last House on the Left (2009)

Well, this was an ignoble way to start off the halloween challenge. I saw that this had both Aaron Paul and Garret Dillahunt in it and thought that, perhaps, it was one of those remakes with good reviews, such as Dawn of the Dead or The Mist. I was wrong. So very, very wrong.

This movie is TERRIBLE. It isn't scary. The entire point would be to ratchet up the tension, or to at least identify with the protagonists, and the direction is so haphazard that neither of those things happen. The basic premise is that a murderous family is on the loose, and they come to spend the night with a couple out in the country, citing car trouble. The couple is unaware, initially, that these are the same people that just raped their daughter and killed their daughter's friend. Anyways, I don't know if the original was any better, but that seems like a premise that you could do a lot with in a horror film. And instead it just goes nowhere. It's all just sort of awful and without purpose. The camera work is shoddy and annoying. And there is an extra scene tacked on at the end that is laugh-out-loud hilariously bad.

DON'T SEE IT. Any episode of Breaking Bad (or Dillahunt's FABULOUS scene with... I think it was Paul Schneider in the Assassination of Jesse James) is tenser. And way, way better.



The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Not one of my favorite silent films that I've ever seen. However, it deserves recognition for apparently being the first twist ending in cinema and for the phenomenal art direction.

The plot centers around a carnival barker who displays a somnabulist in the town fair. During the fair, a rash of murders breaks out (a bevy of murders? What is the collective noun for murders? A raven?). Now, I always thought that a somnabulist was just a sleepwalker, but within the confines of this film, this guy can be woken up briefly to play the role of psychic as well. I don't know. Anyways, everyone runs around to try to figure out who the murderer is, one guy suspects the somnabulist, there's a girl (obvs.) and the barker tells the somnabulist to kill her, but he's so captivated by her beauty that the somnabulist simply kidnaps her instead.... it goes on. There are some red herrings and then a twist ending. It's all okay. They best part is that all the sets are painted and constructed at odd angles and with strange curvatures, so that the perspective is always off and a little hallucinatory. Anyways, it's an interesting bit of film history, but there are better silent films to see.


Hopefully the next installment will have actual recommendations...

It's Halloween! It's Halloween!

Well, almost. October is just about my favorite month of the year. I love the fall and halloween is my favorite holiday. Which leads to me to two topics relevant to this blog.

The first is the silver lining that comes out of the Giants not being in the playoffs. While I spent last October watching games (and I would have preferred to do that again this year), the small consolation is that I'm free to bump all the horror films and thrillers to the top of my queue and indulge this month. Remember the Halloween challenge? Let's go ahead and resurrect that.

The second is a new mix! In addition to putting my Halloween mix back on my iPhone, I added a new one this year. I have a playlist called, "If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him" which is all murder ballads. (The title is a quote from an abused woman who was heard saying, "If I'd killed him when I met him, I'd be out of jail now." It's also the title to a Sharyn McCrumb book.) Anyways, this new playlist is the best of those that also display lyrical dissonance. Enjoy! Happy Spooky Month!

1. I Can't Decide - Scissor Sisters
2. Pumped Up Kicks - Foster the People
3. Becky - Be Your Own Pet
4. Kinda Outta Luck - Lana Del Rey
5. Goodbye Earl - Dixie Chicks
6. Gun Powder and Lead - Miranda Lambert
7. Smooth Criminal - Alien Ant Farm
8. Wrong 'Em Boyo - The Clash
9. Stagger Lee - Wilson Pickett
10. Maxwell's Silver Hammer - The Beatles
11. Hey Joe - Jimi Hendrix
12. Hand of Fate - The Rolling Stones
13. You Only Want Me 'Cause You Want My Sister - Evelyn Evelyn
14. Knoxville Girl - Louvin Brothers
15. The Banks of the Ohio - Charley Pride
16. Cocaine Blues - Johnny Cash
17. Caleb Meyer - Gillian Welch
18. Stack Shot Billy - The Black Keys
19. Jenny Was a Friend of Mine - The Killers
20. The Rake's Song - The Decemberists
21. The Curse of Millhaven - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
22. I Used To Love Her (But I Had To Kill Her) - Guns and Roses
23. I've Committed Murder - Macy Gray
24. Excitable Boy - Warren Zevon
25. Cell Block Tango - Chicago
26. The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun - Julie Brown
27. A Little Priest - Sweeney Todd
28. I Don't Like Mondays - Tori Amos
29. Miss Otis Regrets - Ella Fitzgerald

(Okay - so the Jenny Was a Friend of Mine/Rake's Song/Curse of Millhaven section is a little minor-key/murdery, but I like them, so whatever. And Nick Cave has to been on any mix with murder ballads... Also, there are still a few songs that I'm searching for to add to this list, including Irish Ballad - Tom Leher,  I Kept Her Heart - The Pine Box Boys, Ballad of Booth - Assassins (god love Sondheim), I'm Sorry - Margaret Cho)

The Mill Valley Film Fest. Rawr.

The Mill Valley Film fest has released its titles. *Le sigh* I barely have it in my budget to attend one film fest a year, let alone two!

The problem here is that there are a bunch of titles that I've been hearing about from Toronto, Telluride, and Venice, and which I am super excited about. However, a lot of those titles will likely get distribution, so if I can wait a little, I can see them for $11, rather than $13. Not including Golden Gate Transit fare over the bridge....

What's showing? Albert Nobbs, Jeff Who Lives at Home, The Artist, My Week with Marilyn, We Need to Talk about Kevin, Martha Marcy May Marlene, The Lady, Circus Dreams, Pina, Shame, Coriolanus, The Story of Film, Like Crazy, Pariah, Margin Call, Miss Bala, Turn Me On Dammit!, Being Elmo, Lotus Eaters, A Few Best Men, The Forgiveness of Blood, Pegasus, and Stage Left, amongst others.

Tell me that isn't a BRILLIANT line up.

So let's look at these films individually and see if we can figure out what is worth attending (scheduling and a lack of vacation days aside....)

Albert Nobbs - Glen Close protrays a woman who passes as a man to work in Victorian Ireland. Got disappointing reviews at Toronto. Skip.

Jeff Who Lives at Home (US premiere!) - The newest Duplass brothers film, with good reviews coming out of Toronto. Paramount Vantage is releasing in March, 2012. Wait for it. (Wait, I thought Vantage shuttered?)

The Artist - The Cannes sensation. The Weinstein Co. is releasing, but I am really excited for this. Check out scheduling.

My Week with Marilyn - Michelle Williams playing Marilyn Monroe. Being released in November. Wait.

We Need to Talk about Kevin (US premiere)- I remember this book being described to me by one of my regulars at the bar I worked at. Her description was, "don't read this if you are at all considering children." Well, I'm not, but still. Euch. Anyways, I'm sure Tilda Swinton is amazing, because SWINTON, but I'm not sure if I'm up to watching school shooting aftermath. I didn't see Michael Sheen's film on the same topic. If I'm going to watch something school shooting related, it should probably be Gus Van Sant's Elephant. Wait.

Martha Marcy May Marlene - Aaaaah! SO EXCITED FOR THIS! It's John Hawkes in a Sundance darling with a buzzed about female lead performance. OF COURSE I'M GOING.

The Lady - About Aung San Suu Kyi. A 2012 release after an oscar qualifying run. Wait.

Circus Dreams - Circus Smirkus! I LOVE Circus Smirkus! The only downside to this showing, is that it is geared towards kids. Hmmm.... Normally I wait for DVD on docs. But this one may depend on the scheduling. And how my tolerance for children is going.

Pina - Germany's foregin oscar submission, and 3-D modern dance. I definitely want to see this, and if the 3-D prices are cheaper at the film fest, I'll try to work it in.

Shame - SO EXCITED FOR THIS ONE TOO! Michael Fassbender and Steve McQueen reteam. If it is half as amazing as Hunger (and all reviews point to it being excellent), I'm totally in.

Coriolanus (US premiere!)- Ralph Fiennes's Shakespeare. Hmm - Totally excited; it is supposed to be excellent. Wide January release from the Weinstein co. Can probably wait. But this may sneak in if the timing works...

The Story of Film - I'm confused. I thought this was a tv series. It's like 15 hours long.
Aha! This is one section of the series they are presenting; in this case the 70s. Well, I want to see the whole thing at some point, in order. Skip for now.

Like Crazy - Another Sundance hit about a romance that breaks up as one half is forced back to the UK. All the actors involved are great. Paramount Vantage is releasing in late Oct/Nov, so I think I'll wait. (Aha again!: In June 2008, Paramount Pictures consolidated Paramount Vantage’s marketing, distribution, and physical production departments into the parent studio, while retaining the Paramount Vantage brand to develop and acquire specialty product with dedicated creative staff. So it shuttered as an independent branch.)

Pariah - Another one with good Sundance buzz. This one is about a Brooklyn girl trying to come out. Focus is giving a limited release at Christmas, including in San Francisco. I think I'll wait.

Margin Call - A great cast, a hard-to-sell topic (default credit swaps!), and mixed reviews. Releasing in October. Wait and see what the revviews are like on wide release. Possibly skip.

Miss Bala - I heard pretty good things about this one coming out of Cannes. It's about a beauty pageant contestant trying to break free from organized crime in Mexico. It's getting a limited release in October. I think I'll wait either for later, or for DVD.

Turn Me On, Dammit! - A Norwegian comedy that premiered at Tribeca (it won best screenplay). As far as I know, it hasn't been picked up for distribution, so I may try to catch it.

Being Elmo - I'm not sure I can stand the cuteness. Still, a super popular doc for the year. Wait.

Lotus Eaters - this sounds like an Irish modern day Bright Young Things and it premiered at Tribeca. I'm not sold on it, but there are no release plans I'm aware of. Hmmm.... leaning towards skipping.

A Few Best Men (North American premiere!)- an Aussie comedy about traveling through the outback to get to a wedding. No release plans. Directed by Stephan Elliott of Priscilla (awesome) and Easy Virtue (awful). Hmmm... I'll look at the schedule, but I'm leaning towards no...

The Forgiveness of Blood - about an Albanian family, it won the silver bear at Berlin. Sundance Selects has distribution rights, although I haven't seen a release date. This one is a maybe, dependent on scheduling.

Pegasus (North American premiere!) - winner of best picture at Africa's FESPACO fest, and a Moroccan film about a traumatized young woman with "elements of magical realism and a David Lynch–like sense of atmosphere and rhythm." I can't see anything about distribution or a release, so I think I'll try to check it out.

Stage Left: A Story of Theater in San Francisco. This could be awful, and yet I feel like I have to see it.

Of course, I should probably also see the short film line-up about Sustainability.

Okay - so I'll see what the sceduling and prices look like for those in bold... and maybe all this will result in some ACTUAL movie reviews on this blog! Whodathunkit...

Old mix

I was cleaning my room and came across a mixtape (as in, an actual cassette tape) from April 6, 1999. Let's take a look, shall we?

1. Stupid Girl - Garbage



2. Just a Girl - No Doubt

   

3. Welcome to Paradise - Green Day

   

4. I Think I'm Paranoid - Garbage

   

5. Come Out and Play - The Offspring
Not embeddable. Video here.

6. Big Bang Baby - Stone Temple Pilots
Also not embeddable. Video here and it is HILARIOUS. I don't think I've ever seen it before, but how 1996 is that??

7. Only Happy When it Rains - Garbage
Not embeddable. What the hell, people? Video here.  

8. Kids in America - The Muffs
Don't think there is a video for this one. Song here.  

9. Ray of Light - Madonna

 
Funny - I don't remember ever liking this song that much...  

10. When I Grow Up - Garbage

   

11. Sunday Morning - No Doubt

 

Wow. Also did not know that this song had a video. I'd say that I would have totally coveted that skirt back then, but let's be honest. I still want that skirt.  

12. Basket Case - Green Day

   

13. Machinehead - Bush

 
Yet another unknown video!  

14. Dumb - Garbage
No video. Song here.  

15. Vow - Garbage
Also no video, so here they are live:



16. Skin - Madonna
No video. Song here.

Oh, trip through 90s nostalgia....

Fall movies on the way

Vulture has a list of their 50 most anticipated films for the Fall. Meanwhile, indieWire has a list of their 30 most anticipated films. Can you tell it's about to be September? Here are the ones I'm also looking forward to (all descriptions by Vulture and indieWire; starred items are on both lists):

*Drive: We've seen it. We loved it. We're obsessed with the soundtrack. Nicolas Winding Refn's brutal, luscious Ryan Gosling neo-noir is Vulture's most anticipated movie of the fall, just because we can't wait to see it again. Just don't watch the too-revealing trailers, OK?

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: David Fincher follows up The Social Network with this English-language adaptation of the runaway best-seller, starring Daniel Craig and relative newcomer Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander. Sure, the book was a big deal on its own, but what's not to love about the idea of Fincher handed a blockbuster budget to make a hard-R mystery thriller?

The Muppets: The Muppet brand faded away over the last decade or so, but who better to bring it back than a reverent Jason Segel, who also co-wrote the songs? At the very least, this has to outgross The Smurfs, or else we just don't know what to do with you, America.

*A Dangerous Method: David Cronenberg directs a kinky period drama starring Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley, and Vincent Cassel. Our only concern is that this might be too amazing. Well, that and the fact that the movie might cause us to unexpectedly lust after Carl Jung (Fassbender) and Sigmund Freud (Mortensen). What would our shrink say?

The Ides of March: We’d be eager to see a political thriller directed by George Clooney and co-starring Ryan Gosling — who is having quite the fall (see #1) —if we knew nothing else about it, but this one is based on the critically acclaimed play Farragut North, in turn loosely based on Howard Dean’s 2004 campaign, which means it’s sure to have the x-factor so many wannabe prestige films are missing: a good script.

*Martha Marcy May Marlene: The Sundance hit that turned Elizabeth Olsen from the twin’s little sister into an it girl in her own right, is an eerie, complexly layered film (remember the poster?) about a young woman readjusting to life after being in a cult. Though not similar plot-wise, it could be this year’s Winter’s Bone, which is to say raw, powerful, star-making, and co-starring John Hawkes.

*50/50: Seth Rogen makes another cancer dramedy, though this one could be a crowd-pleaser where Funny People was not. Joseph Gordon Levitt's cueball cancer patient is the selling point here, but we're also kind of excited to see Anna Kendrick in something again.

*Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: This veddy, veddy British espionage thriller is being tipped for Oscar glory, and pundits are already buzzing about Gary Oldman's lead performance. Still, even if it's simply a well-made John le Carre adaptation, what's to be mad about?

*Take Shelter: Michael Shannon is simply staggering in this Sundance drama about an ordinary family man driven to the brink by apocalyptic visions. The Best Actor field is going to be crowded this year, but can they please make some room for him?

J. Edgar: Leonardo DiCaprio gets good results from going period, and Clint Eastwood's decade-spanning drama about the man who founded the FBI has a juicy gay subplot that finds J. Edgar Hoover grappling with — then kissing — his right-hand man Clyde Tolson (played by Social Network breakout Armie Hammer). Let's hope they pull off the ambitious old-age makeup, since so many scenes feature Hoover and Tolson in their sixties and beyond.

*The Artist: The Weinsteins picked up this Cannes hit, a black-and-white, silent tribute to the Golden Age of Hollywood. Could this be this year's heartwarming Oscar contender, in the vein of The King's Speech? At the very least, expect major accolades for French actor Jean Dujardin, who plays the dashing, Errol Flynn-like lead.

Moneyball: The movie most likely to scratch your Social Network itch is another Aaron Sorkin screenplay that turns wonky, data crunching subjects into quip-spewing heroes. This one’s based on Michael Lewis’s Moneyball and stars a pre-slimmed down Jonah Hill and Brad Pitt as Billy Bean, the manager of the Oakland Athletics, who, with limited funds and a new perspective on how to measure a player’s quality put together a winning team. Predicted dialogue: “Batting average isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? VORP.”

*The Skin I Live In: Antonio Banderas finally reteams with the director who launched his career, Pedro Almodovar. This creepy drama, which casts Banderas as a plastic surgeon with a beautiful woman held captive in the basement, may give the actor another career jolt.

*In the Land of Blood and Honey: We’d be intrigued by Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut just because it’s Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut (and original screenplay), but early word on the Bosnian-set love story is that it’s better than just a vanity project. Is there nothing she can’t do? We’ll find out.

*Warrior: Two brothers face off in this season’s take on families who use their fists, professionally speaking. In a “twist” this movie’s tortured, dueling brothers (Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton) are mixed martial artists, not boxers. Warrior is as straightforward as can be, but it works like gangbusters, anchored by a charismatic, career-amping turn from Hardy.

*Like Crazy: Anton Yelchin and up-and-comer Felicity Jones toppling as star-crossed, long-distance lovers in this mumblecore romance, which was well-received at Sundance. And yep, that's the suddenly white-hot Jennifer Lawrence popping up briefly to make this relationship a tricky love triangle.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol: For sheer tentpole thrills, let's hope this fourth installment can deliver with Pixar genius Brad Bird at the helm of his live-action debut. Adding Jeremy Renner and Josh Holloway to the M:I team is a pretty good start.

*Coriolanus: Ralph Fiennes makes his directorial debut on this Shakespeare adaptation, but we've heard the real action comes from Vanessa Redgrave, who's a surefire Oscar contender as his mother. Plus, we're Jessica Chastain completists around here, so we feel obligated to go and support what may be her hundredth movie role of the year.

*Carnage: Roman Polanski’s first film since he was released from house arrest is an adaptation of Yasmina Reza's Tony-winning play God of Carnage. It co-stars Jodie Foster (whose affection for wildly misbehaving men seems to know no bounds), Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, and John C. Reilly as two sets of Brooklyn parents who face off, increasingly inappropriately, over an altercation between their sons. There will be projectile vomiting.

*The Rum Diary: Johnny Depp basically reprises his role as Hunter S. Thompson in this adaptation of Thompson’s zany novel set in Puerto Rico, and co-starring Amber Heard. Results seem appropriately, and enticingly, gonzo.

Weekend: Over the course of its titular timeframe, this SXSW favorite follows Russell (Tom Cullen) and Glen (Chris New), two men who extend their blurry and drunken one-night stand into 48 hours to remember. Russell is a pragmatic and semi-closeted lifeguard; Glen is a stubborn intellectual who “doesn’t do boyfriends.” Tender, talky and intensely sexy, the film could reductively be described as a sort of gay “Before Sunrise.” Which is meant a compliment. The star-crossed romance in “Weekend” is perfectly executed by director Haigh, who lets the film quietly creep up on the viewer as a powerful new entry into the queer cinema lexicon.

Pariah: Rounding out the quartet of acclaimed Sundance dramas coming out this fall, “Pariah” marks the directorial debut of Dee Rees. The film stars newcomer Adepero Oduye as a 17-year-old Brooklyn high school student coming to terms with her sexuality. While comparisons to “Precious” are all but assured (African-American femalecentric narratives to win raves out of Sundance aren’t exactly commonplace), “Pariah” is an entirely different entity, in large part because it avoids being as precious as “Precious.” Offering a fresh take on the coming out narrative, it provides an all-too-rare look at the triple-edged sword of repression that comes with being female, African-American and gay.

Sleeping Beauty: Australian novelist-turned-filmmaker Julia Leigh rose many eyebrows when she made it into Cannes’ official competition on her feature film debut. Starring Emily Browning as a high end prostitute who is sedated while wealthy men have their way with her, the film rose even more when it actually debuted. Endorsed by Australian cinema icon Jane Campion, “Beauty” marks a director to watch in Leigh. While it is sure to scare off filmgoers uncomfortable with its content, Eric Kohn’s Cannes review suggests it well worth the ride for anyone that can handle it.

Albert Nobbs: A major passion project for actress Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs” portrays an Englishwoman (Close) who disguises herself as a man and works as a butler to survive in male-dominated 19th century Ireland. Close first played the titular character in a 1982 stage production and has fought to have the play turned into a film ever since (she also co-wrote the screenplay and produced). Joined by an admirable supporting cast in Mia Wasikowska, Aaron Johnson, Brendan Gleeson and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, the film could bring Close back into the Oscar mix for the first time since 1988, when she ended a streak that saw her nab five nominations in seven years (but no wins).

Tyrannosaur: The first feature entirely written and directed by actor Paddy Considine, “Tyrannosaur” stars Peter Mullan, Olivia Colman and Eddie Marsan. Mullan stars as a troubled man whose life gets a chance of redemption appears in the form of Hannah (Olivia Colman), a Christian charity shop worker. Eric Kohn writes in his Sundance review: “The discomfiting story of a middle-aged drunkard overcoming his booze-fueled woes, Considine announces his directorial vision with a morbid character piece sustained by two remarkably intense performances.” He speaks of course of Mullan and Colman, who have received widespread acclaim for their work.

Maybe also W.E. - lets see the reviews coming out of Venice. I'm also waiting to hear about Butter, The Lady. Take this Waltz, 388 Arletta Avenue, The Deep Blue Sea, Afghan Luke, The Hunter, and Shame.

Another day, another list

Literary this time!

The 10 books you should have read in high school. I have heard, and have absolutely nothing with which to back this up, that one silver lining to e-readers is that the fact that classics are free has meant an uptick in people reading them.

One interesting thing about this list is that only one, The Great Gatsby, was ever taught in any of the schools I went to, and Lord of the Flies was taught at my brother's elementary school (I borrowed his copy and read it). I've read most of these, but nearly all as a teenager or 20-something trying to catch up on classics that I had "missed" in my personal curriculum.

The So-Called Spielberg Curriculum

I don't believe this list comes from Steven Spielberg, but hey. I've never met a list I didn't like. Or, rather, a list I didn't throw up here, because let's be honest - I FREQUENTLY disagree with lists.

Honestly, this list reads like someone with a TCM subscription and a thing for Al Pacino. There are a couple on here I've never even heard of. Hmmm....

And aside from the whole "to be a director, you should watch lots of movies to learn your craft" approach that one writer suggests as an explanation for the list, I can't imagine that anyone would describe these 200 movies as required knowledge. Either for the history of cinema, pop culture, or movie making techniques. Still, it does reinforce some of those classics I really need to get around to seeing... (cough*Taxi Driver*cough).

So... the 'Spielberg' Curriculum:

12 Angry Men
2001 (ugh.)
400 Blows
8 1/2
Adam's Rib
Alfie
Al Capone
All About Eve
All That Jazz
American In Paris
And Justice For All
Annie Hall
Apartment, The
Apocalypse Now
All/Presidents Men
Baby Doll
Bang/Drum Slowly
Barefoot In/Park
Battleship Potemkin
Belle De Jour
Best Years/Lives
Big Sleep, The
Bicycle Thief
Big Chill, The (Really? I mean, it's good...)
Birds, The (No.)
Body Heat
Bonnie & Clyde
Breakfast/Tiffany's (ugh.)
Breathless
Bridge/River Kwai
Brief Encounter
Bringing Up Baby
Bullitt (*sigh* I really need to see the whole thing.)
Butch/Sundance
Cape Fear
Casablanca (Ugh.)
Celebration, The
Champ, The (Seriously? I have heard nothing good about this film.)
Charade
Chase, The
Children/Paradise
Chinatown
Citizen Kane
Clockwork Orange
Close Encounters (There's no way Spielberg would add this to a list of his own devising.)
Come Back/Sheba
Cool Hand Luke
Conversation, The (I didn't realize this was directed by Francis Ford Coppola)
Day/Earth/Still
Days/Wine & Roses
Deer Hunter, The
Dog Day Afternoon
Double Indemnity (not a fan. There are better noirs.)
Doctor Zhivago
East of Eden
Exorcist,The
Face In The Crowd
Five Easy Pieces
Fly, The
French Connection
French Conn. 2 (Really?)
From Here/Eternity
Fugitive Kind, The
Gaslight
General, The
Gntlmn’s Agrmnt
Giant
Gone With/Wind
Grand Illusion
Great Escape, The (Love love love)
Godfather, The
Godfatherr II, The
Godfather III, The
Graduate, The
Grapes Of Wrath
Great Santini, The
Guess Who's…
Guns Of Navaronne
Heiress, The
High Noon
Hud
Hunter, The
Hustler, The
His Girl Friday
Holiday
I Confess
Immigrant, The
In A Lonely Place
In/Heat Of/Night
Indiscretion/Wife
It Happened/Night
It's A Wonderful Life
Jdgmnt/Nuremberg
Julius Caesar
Kramer Vs. Kramer
Last Detail, The
Last Picture Show
Last Tango In Paris
Lawrence Of Arabia
Little Foxes, The
Lolita
Lonelyhearts
Long Day's Journey
Long Hot Summer
Lost In America
Lost Weekend
Love Story (Seriously?)
M Fritz Lang Peter Lorre
Magnif. Ambersons
Magnificent Seven
Man/Shot Liberty…
Manchurian Cand.
Marathon Man
Marty
Mean Streets
Men, The
Metropolis
Midnight Cowboy
Miracle/Morgan's…
Misfits, The
Mississippi Burning
Missouri Breaks
Modern Romance
Modern Times
Mr. Smith Goes To…
Mutiny/Bounty
My Fair Lady
Nashville (I'd like to point out that whoever put this list together listed Jeff Goldblum as one of the primary actors... despite having no lines. Good job, listmaker.)
National Velvet
Network
North By Northwest
Notorious
No Way To Treat…
Odd Couple, The
On the Waterfront
One/Cuckoo's Nest
One-Eyed Jacks
Ordinary People
Panic/Needle Park
Papillion
Party, The
Parallax View
Patton
Pawnbroker, The
Philadelphia Story
Public Enemy, The
Psycho
Quiet Man, The
Raging Bull
Rain People, The
Raintree County
Ramblin' Rose
Real Life
Rear Window
Rebel W/out Cause
Red River
Reflections in a…
Requiem for a…
Rosemary's Baby (ugh.)
Runaway Train
Safety Last (I think?)
Sand Pebbles
Saturday Night Fever
Sayonara
Scarecrow
Scarface
Scent Of A Woman
Searchers, The
Serpico
Seven Samurai
Seventh Seal
Signal 7
Singin' In the Rain
Smiles of a…
Soldier In The Rain
Some Like It Hot
Sound Of Music (ugh. Ugh ugh.)
Splendor/Grass
Stagecoach
Star Is Born
Star Wars
Streetcar/Desire
Suddenly Last…
Sullivan's Travels
Sunset Boulevard
Sweet Bird of Youth
Taxi Driver
Teahouse of the…
Tender Mercies
Third Man, The
Three Days/Condor
To Kill/Mockingbird
Tootsie
Tree Grows in…
Trip To Bountiful, A
Two Rode Together
Verdict, The
Vertigo
Viva Zapata
Wait Until Dark
West Side Story
White Christmas
Who's Afraid…
Wild One, The
Wild River
Young Lions, The

Speaking of the Emmys....

Gold Derby has a round up of the episode submissions here: http://www.goldderby.com/cms/view/87

Angry Women

I came across this blog post and wanted to share it here: Good Girls Gone Mad: Music Videos and the "Problem" of Female Rage - pt. 1.

Mix Time!

Here it is: my final mix that I'm taking for my first 5K tomorrow. No real order, since it'll be on shuffle:

Call Your Girlfriend - Robyn
Freaks and Geeks - Childish Gambino
Satellite Mind - Metric
Know Your Enemy (live) - Green Day
Strobe (Adagio in D Minor) - John Murphy
Planetary (Go!) - My Chemical Romance
Party Up - DMX
Kids in America - The Muffs
Semiotic Love - Blaqk Audio
This is the New Shit - Marilyn Manson
Bombs over Baghdad - Outkast
Major Tom - Shiny Toy Guns
Kick Ass - Mika
Popcorn - Muse
Telephone (Dark Intensity Remix) - Lady Gaga
MK Ultra - Muse
She (live) - Green Day

No - I don't plan on running for an hour. I wanted some spares in case one of them isn't doing it for me during the race.

TIFF

So - I've been working on a longer post (for... ummm... months now. It keeps becoming more and more unmanageable). So... in my dearth of posting, I bring you: TIFF 2011. *sigh* One day I will go to there....

Gala Presentation
From the Sky Down (Davis Guggenheim, USA)

Galas - I'm excited about almost all of these.
Albert Nobbs (Rodrigo Garcia, Ireland)
Butter (Jim Field Smith, USA)
A Dangerous Method (David Cronenberg, France/Ireland/UK/Germany/Canada) [CANNOT WAIT.]
A Happy Event (Rémi Bezancon, France) [I have never heard of this.]
The Ides of March (George Clooney, USA) [Maybe? Can't wait to hear reviews for this.]
The Lady (Luc Besson, France/UK)
Moneyball (Bennett Miller, USA) [CANNOT WAIT.]
Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding (Bruce Beresford, USA) [Um.... what?]
Take this Waltz (Sarah Polley, Canada)
W.E. (Madonna, UK)

Special Presentations
11 Flowers (Wang Xiaoshuai, China/France)
50/50 (Jonathan Levine, USA) [Yay!]
360 (Fernando Meirelles, UK/Austria/France/Brazil)
The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius, France) [Already has good buzz]
Americano (Mathieu Demy, France)
Anonymous (Roland Emmerich, Germany) Ugh. Just... ugh.
A Better Life (Cédric Khan, France) Well, this is confusing, since Chris Weitz has a movie with the same title out at the moment....
Burning Man (Jonathan Teplitzky, Australia)
Chicken with Plums (Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud, France/Germany/Belgium)
Coriolanus (Ralph Fiennes, UK) [Already has good buzz]
Countdown (Huh Jong-ho, Korea)
Dark Horse (Todd Solondz, USA)
The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, UK) This looks interesting...
The Descendants (Alexander Payne, USA)
Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn, USA) [Good buzz, CANNOT WAIT.]
Elles (Malgoska Szumowska, France/Poland/Germany)
Eye of the Storm (Fred Schepisi, Australia)
Friends with Kids (Jennifer Westfeldt, USA)
Habemus Papam (Nanni Moretti, Italy/France)
Headhunters (Morten Tyldum Norway)
Hick (Derick Martini, USA)
The Hunter (Daniel Nettheim, Australia) Awww.... Tasmanian tigers. :(
Jeff, Who Lives at Home (Jay Duplass & Mark Duplass, USA)
Killer Joe (William Friedkin, USA)
Like Crazy (Drake Doremus, USA) [Good buzz]
Machine Gun Preacher (Marc Forster, USA)
Martha Marcy May Marlene (Sean Durkin, USA) [Good buzz]
Melancholia (Lars von Trier, Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany) [Good buzz]
The Oranges (Julian Farino, USA)
Pearl Jam Twenty (Cameron Crowe, USA)
Rampart (Oren Moverman, USA)
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (Lasse Hallstrom, UK)
Shame (Steve McQueen, UK) CANNOT WAIT.
A Simple Life (Ann Hui, HK/China)
The Skin I Live In (Pedro Almodóvar, Spain)
Take Shelter (Jeff Nichols, USA) [Good buzz]
Ten Year (Jamie Linden, USA)
Trishna (Michael Winterbottom, UK)
Twixt (Francis Ford Coppola, USA) Seriously - what the hell is this?!?
Tyrannosaur (Paddy Considine, UK) Good buzz.
We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, UK) Mixed buzz.
Where Do We Go Now? (Nadine Labaki, France/Lebanon/Italy/Egypt)
Woman in the Fifth (Pawel Pawlikowski, France/Poland/United Kingdom)

Emmy noms!

Awww... Love the Emmys. I don't care enough to really, REALLY get invested in them, but they come right at the perfect lull between movie awards seasons.

So... the nominations. With commentary. Because I kibbitz. It's what I do.

Best drama series: Boardwalk Empire, Friday Night Lights, Dexter, Game of Thrones, The Good Wife, Mad Men.

I didn't love The Walking Dead as much as I thought I would, but I wish it were up here. And I suppose I need to see Boardwalk Empire. Also, it should be an interesting year since Breaking Bad is ineligible till next year.

In conclusion: Dexter! Dexter!

Best comedy series: Modern Family, 30 Rock, Glee, The Office, The Big Bang Theory, Parks and Recreation.

Community community community. COMMUNITY. Also: Always Sunny In Philadelphia.

Drama actress: Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife; Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men; Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU; Kathy Bates, Harry’s Law; Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights and Mireille Enos, The Killing.

Comedy actor: Steve Carell, The Office; Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock; Jim Parsons, Big Bang Theory; Matt LeBlanc, Episodes, Louis C.K., Louie; Johnny Galecki, Big Bang Theory.

Joel McHale. I will say, though, that I'm kinda happy about Matt LeBlanc's inclusion.

Drama actor: Jon Hamm, Mad Men; Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire; Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights; Michael C. Hall, Dexter; Hugh Laurie, House; Timothy Olyphant, Justified.

Huzzah! Timothy Olyphant!! Also: Michael C. Hall. I know a lot of people weren't fans of the last season, but I loved it.

And I'm happy Chris Meloni is moving on to other endeavors, since he never got the recognition Mariska did.

Comedy actress: Tina Fey, 30 Rock; Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie; Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation; Laura Linney, The Big C; Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope; Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly.

Yay Martha Plimpton! (Is Raising Hope supposed to be any good?)

Supporting drama actor: Andre Braugher, Men of a Certain Age; John Slattery, Mad Men; Alan Cumming, The Good Wife; Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones; Josh Charles, The Good Wife; Walton Goggins, Justified.

I'm still a little sad that Ryan Kwanten didn't win for S2 of True Blood. But, happy to see Peter Dinklage and Walton Goggins on here. Plus, I love Alan Cumming, and Josh Charles can do no wrong (although I really don't need to add one more tv show to my 'to be watched category' - stop it, Good Wife!), so.... pretty strong category. I'm going to root for Walton Goggins, though. (I tried to watch Game of Thrones for Peter Dinklage, but.... I just couldn't get into it...)

Supporting comedy actor: Ty Burrell, Modern Family; Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family; Ed O’Neill, Modern Family; Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family; Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men; Chris Colfer, Glee.

Danny Pudi and Neil Patrick Harris. Just... stop with the Modern Family thing.

Supporting comedy actress: Julie Bowen, Modern Family; Sofia Vergara, Modern Family; Jane Lynch, Glee; Betty White, Hot in Cleveland; Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live; Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock.

Really? Betty White over Lea Michele? Really?

Supporting drama actress: Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife; Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire; Christine Baranski, The Good Wife; Michelle Forbes, The Killing; Margo Martindale, Justified; Christina Hendricks, Mad Men.

Movie or miniseries: Mildred Pierce, HBO; Downtown Abbey, PBS; The Kennedys, ReelzChannel; Cinema Verite, HBO; Too Big To Fail, HBO; Pillars of the Earth, Starz.

The Kennedys? Really?

Reality competition: So You Think You Can Dance, Top Chef, The Amazing Race, American Idol, Dancing With the Stars, Project Runway.

Reality host: Jeff Probst, Survivor; Cat Deeley, So You Think You Can Dance; Phil Keoghan, Amazing Race; Tom Bergeron, Dancing With the Stars; Ryan Seacrest, American Idol.

Variety, music or comedy series: The Colbert Report, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live, Conan, Real Time with Bill Maher, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.


You know, I don't watch it, but shouldn't somebody have gotten an acting nod for In Treatment? Also, I've heard from those that watch it, that the most deserving actor on the Killing is Stephen Holder. Then again, it took the Emmys a little while to come around on Aaron Paul.

Also also (from Vulture): "Con: And speaking of Oscars, the debacle that was this year's James Franco–led Academy Awards somehow got nine Emmy nominations, including one for Best Direction." That's so wrong.

I suppose I should go bump Mildred Pierce up my queue.

Golden Trailer Winners

First up, the category that was only unveiled on the day:
Best In Show

Winner:

The Social Network "Trailer #2", Sony Pictures, Mark Woollen & Associates

Nominees:

Blue Valentine "Trailer 1", The Weinstein Company, Zealot Productions Inc
Inception "Control", Warner Bros., BLT:AV
The King's Speech, The Weinstein Company, AV Squad
Tree of Life, Fox Searchlight, Mark Woollen & Associates

Yup. I'd say that's about right. The Social Network was the best. Blue Valentine, Inception, and Tree of Life were all brilliant. King's Speech. Bah.

Best Action
Inception “Control”, Warner Bros., BLT:AV
Sucker Punch “Trailer”, Warner Bros./Legendary Pictures, Mojo
The Town “This Side”, Warner Bros., Wild Card
Unstoppable “Domestic Trailer”, 20th Century Fox, Ignition Creative

Inception wins it!

Best Animation/Family
Cars 2 “Spies Are Us”, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, mOcean
Gnomeo & Juliet, Walt Disney Studios, The Ant Farm
Hop “Battle For Easter”, 20th Century Fox, Cimarron Entertainment
Rango “Teaser”, Paramount Pictures, The Ant Farm

Rango wins it!

Best Comedy
Bad Teacher “Hot For Teacher”, Columbia, Seismic Productions
The Hangover Part II “Trailer #3”, Warner Bros./Legendary Pictures, BLT:AV
The Other Guys “Return to Glory”, Columbia, Seismic Productions
Paul “Trailer”, Universal/Working Title, Workshop Creative

The Other Guys Wins it! I'm happy with that - their teaser was really funny.

Best Documentary
Catfish, Universal Pictures, Mark Woollen & Associates
Life in a Day “Best Day Ever Trailer, Scott Free/National Geographic, Empire Design

Running America, Nehst, Mighty Pictures
The Tillman Story “Trailer 1”, The Weinstein Company/ A&E Indie Films, Zealot Productions Inc.

The Tillman Story wins it! Yay! Happy with all the wins so far!

Best Drama
127 Hours, Fox Searchlight/Pathe, Motive

Hereafter, “Connection”, Warner Bros., Wild Card
The King’s Speech, The Weinstein Company, AV Squad
The Social Network ,”Domestic Trailer #2”, Sony Pictures, Mark Woollen & Associates

The Social Network wins it!

Best Horror
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, “Whisper”, Miramax, Buddha Jones
The Last Exorcism, Lionsgate, Mojo

Let Me In, “More”, Overture/Hammer/Relativity Films, Buddha Jones
The Rite, “Proof”, New Line Cinema, Aspect Ratio

The Last Exorcism wins it! I... don't remember this one. Was it the priest who didn't believe nay more? Oh, yup. That got mostly good reviews.

Best Independent Trailer
It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Focus Features, Big Science Film, Inc
Martha Marcy May Marlene, “Can’t Wait”, Fox Searchlight, Acme Trailer Company
Tree of Life, Fox Searchlight, Mark Woollen & Associates
Winter’s Bone, Roadside Attractions, AV Squad

Tree of Life wins it! Still happy!

Best Music
Battle: Los Angeles, “Prepare”, Columbia/Sony Pictures Entertainment, Wild Card
Rabbit Hole, “Trailer 1A”, Lionsgate, Ignition
The Social Network, “Trailer 2”, Sony Pictures, Mark Woollen & Associates
Sucker Punch, “Trailer”, Warner Bros., Mojo

Social Network wins it!

Best Romance
Beginners, Focus Features, Mark Woollen & Associates
Blue Valentine, “Trailer 1”, The Weinstein Company, Zealot Productions Inc
Love and Other Drugs, “Match Trailer”, 20th Century Fox, Empire Design
Something Borrowed, “Best Things”, Alcon Entertainment/Warner Bros., Trailer Park

Blue Valentine wins it!

Best Thriller
Black Swan, Fox Searchlight, Mark Woollen & Associates
Buried, “Trailer 1A”, Lionsgate, Ignition
Super 8, Paramount Pictures, Mark Woollen & Associates

Unknown, “Puzzle”, Warner Bros., AV Squad

Black Swan wins it!

The Don LaFontaine Award for Best Voice Over
Biutiful, “Intl Trailer”, Focus Features International, Mark Woollen & Associates
Born To Be Wild, “Evolution”, Warner Bros. Pictures, Mob Scene Creative + Productions
The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc Sec, “UK Trailer”, Optimum Releasing, The Editpool
Tangled, “Flynn’s Story”, Walt Disney Studios, mOcean

Awww.... Born to be Wild. My first loss. JUST BECAUSE IT IS MORGAN FREEMAN DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO GIVE IT TO THAT ONE.

Golden Fleece
Burlesque, “Make A Star”, Screen Gems, Seismic Productions
Faster, “Int’l Trailer B”, Sony Pictures Releasing, Tao Creative
Stone, “Trailer”, Overture Films, In Sync Advertising
The Tourist, “Domestic Trailer”, Columbia, Create Advertising Group

Burlesque "wins" it! Huzzah!

Most Original Trailer
Battle: Los Angeles, “Prepare”, Columbia/Fox Searchlight, Wild Card
Buried, “Trailer 1A”, Lionsgate, Ignition
The Social Network, “Domestic Trailer #2”, Sony Pictures, Mark Woollen & Associates
Tree of Life, Fox Searchlight, Mark Woollen & Associates

Ah - another upset. The Social Network gets it. I'm okay with that.

Summer 2011 Blockbuster Trailer
Cowboys & Aliens, “Domestic Trailer”, Universal Pictures/Paramount Pictures, Ignition Creative
Pirates of the Caribbean 4, “Jack”, Walt Disney Pictures, Create Advertising Group
Super 8, Paramount Pictures, Mark Woollen & Associates
Transformers: Dark of the Moon, “Alien Secret”, Paramount Pictures, Wild Card

Transformers? Are you fucking kidding me?

Trashiest Trailer
F, “UK Trailer”, Optimum Releasing, The Editpool
Hobo With A Shotgun, “Red Band”, Magnet, AV Squad
Machete, “Machete Int’l Trailer B”, Sony Pictures Releasing Int’l, Tao Creative
Piranha 3D, “Waiting”, Dimension Films, Buddha Jones

Hobo with a Shotgun wins it!

Best Foreign Action Trailer
22 Bullets, “German Trailer”, Europa Corp/Central Film/Wild Bunch, Trailerhaus
Carlos, “German Trailer”, Warner Bros. Pictures, Trailerhaus
Centurion, Magnolia Pictures, Kinetic Trailers
Valhalla Rising, “Theatrical Trailer”, IFC Films, Kinetic Trailers

Centurion wins it! Surprisingly! I'm... okay with that.

Best Foreign Comedy Trailer
Potiche, “Trailer 1”, Music Box Films, Zealot Productions Inc
Soul Kitchen, “Soul Kitchen”, IFC Films, Big Science Film, Inc
Submarine, “Trailer 1”, The Weinstein Company, Zealot Productions Inc
Wild Target, Vue Entertainment/Free Style Releasing, Create Advertising Group

Wild Target wins it. Is that the Emily Blunt/ Bill Nighy one? Yes, yes it is. I'm okay with that - I like that trailer. I heard, sadly, that the film is not as good.

Best Foreign Drama Trailer
Empire of Silver, Neo Classics Films, Big Science Film, Inc.
The King’s Speech, “Trailer 1”, Momentum Pictures, Zealot Productions Inc
Life, Above All, “Theatrical Trailer”, Sony Pictures Classics, Kinetic Trailers
Oranges and Sunshine, “Trailer 1”, Icon Films, Zealot Productions Inc

BLECH.

Best Foreign Horror/Thriller Trailer
F, “UK Trailer”, Optimum Releasing, The Editpool
I Saw the Devil, “Red Band”, Magnet, AV Squad
REC2, “Red Band”, Magnet, AV Squad
Silent House, “Theatrical Trailer”, IFC Films, Kinetic Trailers

REC2 - okay whatever.

Most Original Foreign Trailer
Drei, “Main Trailer”, X Verleih, Fleischmann Trailer
REC2, “Red Band”, Magnet, AV Squad
Rubber, “Greenband Trailer 1”, Magnolia Pictures, Zealot Productions Inc
Wasted on the Young, “Teaser”, Paramount, The Solid State

Rubber. You know, I really feel like it is more of an original concept to have a killer tire, than it is an original trailer.

So there you have it. I like most of the choices, and the Social Network gets some nice consolation comeuppance on the King's Speech. Well done, everybody.

On a completely unrelated topic, I finally got around to watching A Prophet and it is completely, totally, wildly brilliant and everyone should see it.

The Golden Trailers!

The Golden Trailers are on tomorrow! Let's take a look at some of the categories (included here via Movieline.) [Ed. note: I'm including a lot of the trailers from the Golden Trailer site. They seem to not always play with sound. Try refreshing.]

Best Action
Inception “Control”, Warner Bros., BLT:AV
Sucker Punch “Trailer”, Warner Bros./Legendary Pictures, Mojo
The Town “This Side”, Warner Bros., Wild Card
Unstoppable “Domestic Trailer”, 20th Century Fox, Ignition Creative

Inception is a beautiful trailer (even though I can't see it now without thinking of this). But I feel like there were other Sucker Punch trailers that highlighted the fighting better. Inception on this one.

Best Animation/Family
Cars 2 “Spies Are Us”, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, mOcean
Gnomeo & Juliet, Walt Disney Studios, The Ant Farm
Hop “Battle For Easter”, 20th Century Fox, Cimarron Entertainment
Rango “Teaser”, Paramount Pictures, The Ant Farm

Rango.

Best Comedy
Bad Teacher “Hot For Teacher”, Columbia, Seismic Productions
The Hangover Part II “Trailer #3”, Warner Bros./Legendary Pictures, BLT:AV
The Other Guys “Return to Glory”, Columbia, Seismic Productions
Paul “Trailer”, Universal/Working Title, Workshop Creative

Best Documentary
Catfish, Universal Pictures, Mark Woollen & Associates
Life in a Day “Best Day Ever Trailer, Scott Free/National Geographic, Empire Design

Running America, Nehst, Mighty Pictures
The Tillman Story “Trailer 1”, The Weinstein Company/ A&E Indie Films, Zealot Productions Inc.

Best Drama
127 Hours, Fox Searchlight/Pathe, Motive

Hereafter, “Connection”, Warner Bros., Wild Card
The King’s Speech, The Weinstein Company, AV Squad
The Social Network ,”Domestic Trailer #2”, Sony Pictures, Mark Woollen & Associates

I love the way 127 Hours crescendos, but I think it goes on a bit too long. And the Social Network trailer was the most attention grabbing and interesting trailer to come out last year.

Best Horror
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, “Whisper”, Miramax, Buddha Jones
The Last Exorcism, Lionsgate, Mojo

Let Me In, “More”, Overture/Hammer/Relativity Films, Buddha Jones
The Rite, “Proof”, New Line Cinema, Aspect Ratio

Best Independent Trailer
It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Focus Features, Big Science Film, Inc
Martha Marcy May Marlene, “Can’t Wait”, Fox Searchlight, Acme Trailer Company
Tree of Life, Fox Searchlight, Mark Woollen & Associates
Winter’s Bone, Roadside Attractions, AV Squad

Tree of Life on this one.

Best Music
Battle: Los Angeles, “Prepare”, Columbia/Sony Pictures Entertainment, Wild Card
Rabbit Hole, “Trailer 1A”, Lionsgate, Ignition
The Social Network, “Trailer 2”, Sony Pictures, Mark Woollen & Associates
Sucker Punch, “Trailer”, Warner Bros., Mojo

Huh. I thought one of the Sucker Punch trailers had the Sweet Dreams cover, but maybe not. Social Network again. That Radiohead cover is genius.

Best Romance
Beginners, Focus Features, Mark Woollen & Associates
Blue Valentine, “Trailer 1”, The Weinstein Company, Zealot Productions Inc
Love and Other Drugs, “Match Trailer”, 20th Century Fox, Empire Design
Something Borrowed, “Best Things”, Alcon Entertainment/Warner Bros., Trailer Park

Ach. Blue Valentine. Hands down.

Best Thriller
Black Swan, Fox Searchlight, Mark Woollen & Associates
Buried, “Trailer 1A”, Lionsgate, Ignition
Super 8, Paramount Pictures, Mark Woollen & Associates

Unknown, “Puzzle”, Warner Bros., AV Squad

Hmm. Black Swan builds really well, but Buried is super original. It's hard to tell now if the dread from the Black Swan trailer is from also having seen the film, or just good editing and music. I might give the Buried poster, which uses the same effect, an edge in a poster competition, but I'll pick the Black Swan trailer here.

The Don LaFontaine Award for Best Voice Over
Biutiful, “Intl Trailer”, Focus Features International, Mark Woollen & Associates
Born To Be Wild, “Evolution”, Warner Bros. Pictures, Mob Scene Creative + Productions
The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc Sec, “UK Trailer”, Optimum Releasing, The Editpool
Tangled, “Flynn’s Story”, Walt Disney Studios, mOcean

Adele Blanc Sec! Adele Blanc Sec!

Golden Fleece
Burlesque, “Make A Star”, Screen Gems, Seismic Productions
Faster, “Int’l Trailer B”, Sony Pictures Releasing, Tao Creative
Stone, “Trailer”, Overture Films, In Sync Advertising
The Tourist, “Domestic Trailer”, Columbia, Create Advertising Group

For those who don't know, this is for the best trailer of the worst movie. Some strong contenders here, but I'd say Burlesque. It made the movie look fun and Chicago-esque. It was not. The Tourist trailer is exceptionally well-made, it shows off Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp is amusing, and my heart can't help but flutter when Map of the Problematique kicks in. (Seriously - Muse is good for trailers.) Then again, this trailer also makes Johnny Depp look puffy and tired, which is pretty criminal.

Most Original Trailer
Battle: Los Angeles, “Prepare”, Columbia/Fox Searchlight, Wild Card
Buried, “Trailer 1A”, Lionsgate, Ignition
The Social Network, “Domestic Trailer #2”, Sony Pictures, Mark Woollen & Associates
Tree of Life, Fox Searchlight, Mark Woollen & Associates

Hmmm. All good picks. But I feel like Tree of Life and Social Network are variations on a theme done especially well or creatively. There must have been a trailer for a horror film at some point almost entirely in the dark, but I can't think of one, so I'll pick Buried.

Summer 2011 Blockbuster Trailer
Cowboys & Aliens, “Domestic Trailer”, Universal Pictures/Paramount Pictures, Ignition Creative
Pirates of the Caribbean 4, “Jack”, Walt Disney Pictures, Create Advertising Group
Super 8, Paramount Pictures, Mark Woollen & Associates
Transformers: Dark of the Moon, “Alien Secret”, Paramount Pictures, Wild Card

I like Cowboys & Aliens a lot personally, but I know the first trailer didn't strike the right tone with some. Pirates sells the whole concept incredibly well. Let's go with Pirates.

Trashiest Trailer
F, “UK Trailer”, Optimum Releasing, The Editpool
Hobo With A Shotgun, “Red Band”, Magnet, AV Squad
Machete, “Machete Int’l Trailer B”, Sony Pictures Releasing Int’l, Tao Creative
Piranha 3D, “Waiting”, Dimension Films, Buddha Jones

Machete would have won if it were the first one (from Grindhouse). So Hobo with a Shotgun it is!

Best Foreign Action Trailer
22 Bullets, “German Trailer”, Europa Corp/Central Film/Wild Bunch, Trailerhaus
Carlos, “German Trailer”, Warner Bros. Pictures, Trailerhaus
Centurion, Magnolia Pictures, Kinetic Trailers
Valhalla Rising, “Theatrical Trailer”, IFC Films, Kinetic Trailers

Hmm... I like the Britishy Centurion, but the Lost copy-cat line puts me off. I like Carlos, too, so I'll pick that one.

Best Foreign Comedy Trailer
Potiche, “Trailer 1”, Music Box Films, Zealot Productions Inc
Soul Kitchen, “Soul Kitchen”, IFC Films, Big Science Film, Inc
Submarine, “Trailer 1”, The Weinstein Company, Zealot Productions Inc
Wild Target, Vue Entertainment/Free Style Releasing, Create Advertising Group

Submarine!

Best Foreign Drama Trailer
Empire of Silver, Neo Classics Films, Big Science Film, Inc.
The King’s Speech, “Trailer 1”, Momentum Pictures, Zealot Productions Inc
Life, Above All, “Theatrical Trailer”, Sony Pictures Classics, Kinetic Trailers
Oranges and Sunshine, “Trailer 1”, Icon Films, Zealot Productions Inc

Life, Above All.

Best Foreign Horror/Thriller Trailer
F, “UK Trailer”, Optimum Releasing, The Editpool
I Saw the Devil, “Red Band”, Magnet, AV Squad
REC2, “Red Band”, Magnet, AV Squad
Silent House, “Theatrical Trailer”, IFC Films, Kinetic Trailers

Most Original Foreign Trailer
Drei, “Main Trailer”, X Verleih, Fleischmann Trailer
REC2, “Red Band”, Magnet, AV Squad
Rubber, “Greenband Trailer 1”, Magnolia Pictures, Zealot Productions Inc
Wasted on the Young, “Teaser”, Paramount, The Solid State

Drei. I love this trailer. I can't wait for the film!

I'll check back in later this week with the winners...