Monday, February 23, 2009

My thoughts on The Oscars

Here is my response to a friends Oscar post on her blog. It pretty much sums up my feelings about last nights award show:

I thought maybe Mickey Rourke would win as well. I knew Slumdog would win which was ridiculous in my opinion, but I am outside the norm on a lot of things.

I thought the stage set-up was elegant. Very well done.

Didn't enjoy the singing during the remembering those who passed on.

The Jerry Lewis tribute was the best thing of the night for me.

I liked how actors and actresses would say kind things to those nominated before announcing "who the oscar goes to" (aka The winner).

Hugh did do a good job hosting, though I thought his singing was good... when he had to sing along with Beyonce, he didn't soound as good anymore, haha.

Seeing the family of Heath Ledger was sad. I may have gotten choked up here, as well as some other moment which I don't recall.

Sean Penn's comment on how it was great to live in a country where we could elect an elegant man was ridiculous, as if elegance should ever be the reason to elect somebody. But I was curious what he was referring to when he mentioned the signs of "hatred" outside as people arrived. Were there some protests outside??

Overall, a good night, not too many surprises. I disagree with a lot of the results and feel it's a shame Bruce Springsteen's song for The Wrestler wasn't even nominated. Only three nominated songs? Not five? And two were for Slumdog... rigged?

My favorite moment at the Oscars 2009

In a video montage for Jerry Lewis, this quote was spoken by Jerry Lewis, and it was the highlight of the show for me:

I shall pass through this world but once.
Any good therefore that I can do
or any kindness that I can show
to any human being, let me do it now,
let me not defer or neglect it...
for I shall not pass this way again.

The Academy Award speech we should have heard - Dennis Prager

Here's a speech we would like to hear from an Academy Award winner:

I thank you for this wonderful award. Receiving an Academy Award gives the recipient an almost unique opportunity to speak to hundreds of millions people around the world, so I would like take this once-in-a-lifetime moment to say this:

First, I want to thank my country, the United States of America. Every one of us here has this country to thank for enabling us to live lives of unprecedented freedom and unimaginable affluence. Too many of us forget that no other country in history has offered such opportunities to people in our profession or in any other profession, for that matter.

Second, I want to thank the men and women of the armed forces of the United States. While we bask in freedom and spend a good part of our lives going from party to party and award show to award show, tens of thousands of my fellow Americans are confronting a menace to our world as great as that fought by previous generations fighting Nazism and communism.

At the same time, I also want to apologize to these troops for my profession not having made even one motion picture about any of the heroic American fighters in Afghanistan and Iraq. This country is fighting a war, Hollywood. You may think this war is unwise, waged under mistaken, or even false, pretenses. And as an actor in Hollywood, you are overwhelmingly likely to hate this commander in chief. But even the men and women of Hollywood must recognize that America is fighting the worst people of our time, people who hurt every group Hollywood claims to care about -- minorities, women, gays -- people who engage in the sins Hollywood most professes to oppose -- intolerance and violence -- far more than anyone else on the planet.

In another era, when what many have labeled "the greatest generation" fought the German Nazis and the Japanese fascists, Hollywood made movie after movie depicting that great war and our great warriors. And Hollywood showed freedom's enemies as the cruel and vicious people they were. We have not produced one film yet depicting this war in positive terms or one depicting this generation's enemies of freedom as the cruel and vicious people they are.

In fact, the only nominated film about people who slaughter children at discos, blow up weddings, and bomb pizzerias and buses filled with men, women and children is one that attempts to show these murderers in God's name as complex human beings. Just imagine how the Academy would have reacted 60 years ago to a film depicting Nazi murderers as complex human beings. We have descended far.

We in Hollywood walk around thinking we are very important. That is why this year's nominated films for best picture are largely pictures with messages, pictures that relatively few people actually see. But although Hollywood was always concerned with politics, we have let ourselves be taken over by those for whom their message is more significant than the primary purposes of film -- to illuminate life and to entertain. Yes, entertain.

You know, entertainment is actually a noble pursuit. Life is difficult for almost every human being on earth. And if we can offer people an elevated way to divert their attention for a couple of hours from their troubled child, their marital tensions, their ill parent, their financial woes, we have rendered the world a greater service than by making another message-film against racism in America, the least racist country in the world.

My fellow actors, we walk around feeling that we are very important. But we do so only because we confuse fame with significance. We do have more fame than any other human beings in history. Far more people have heard of any actor here tonight than of any of the discoverers of any medication saving billions of lives, of any teacher of the disabled, of any nurse tending the aged, of almost any national leader.

But the truth is that, as noble a calling as acting can be, all we do is make-believe: We portray other people, and we speak words written by other people. Everyone knows our names, but almost no one knows us. All they know are the characters we play.

Thank you again. I hope I haven't ruined your evening.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Curious Case of Forrest Gump

Friday, January 23, 2009

Academy Awards

The Oscars have been announced, you can see the entire list here.

I want to highlight the categories I am most interested in:

-Best Motion Picture of the Year
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader ***(I want this to win, it won't)
Slumdog Millionaire
***(I want this to lose)

-Achievement in Directing
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
***(This or...)
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant, Milk
Stephen Daldry, The Reader
***(...this)
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

-Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler ***(Him)

-Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
***(Great job)
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight ***(Him for the win)
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road ***(He was amazing)

-Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Kate Winslet. The Reader
***(If she wins, I will also be happy)
Meryl Streep, Doubt ***(Her for the win)

-Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams, Doubt
Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
***(I guess her)
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

-Original Screenplay (I haven't seen enough of these to have an opinion, only two)
Dustin Lance Black, Milk
Courtney Hunt, Frozen River
Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky
Martin McDonagh, In Bruges
Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon, WALL-E

-Adapted Screenplay
Eric Roth and Robin Swicord, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley, Doubt
Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon
David Hare, The Reader
***(This please)
Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire

-Achievement in Cinematography
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ***(This)
The Dark Knight ***(or this)
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire ***(this would be okay)


What I don't understand is why only three movies were picked for best song? They couldn't do five? And Bruce Springsteen wasn't nominated? It's like Eddie Vedder not getting a nod for Into The Wild.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Bush Out, Obama In


Watching the ceremonies yesterday was an mixed bag for me. I am probably the only person amongst my friends who got a bit chocked up watching President Bush leave. I am sure everyone else was hoping the helicopter would crash or something like that. President Bush, like all Presidents, has his good and bad points. Overall, I feel he did what he felt in his heart what was best to prevent another disaster from happening in the United States on his watch. I thank him for that. I wish him well and I can't wait to read his memoir.

As for the incoming President, I hope things do improve in our country. I am glad that he said he will make mistakes because it seems like the world thinks he's Jesus Christ or something. I don't understand how so much praise can be given to a man who has done nothing. I hope he is a great President and if he does great things I will praise him for what he does, but I don't understand the praise for his presence.

All that aside. I am proud of our country for showing the world what I already knew, we are not a racist country. We have racists in our country, but we are not a racist country. I loved the intimate moments the Obama's shared in front of us last night. Had Hilary won, I doubt you'd have seen the intimacy between her and Bill that you saw between Michelle and Barack. I look forward to watching their beautiful children grow-up but hope they are given a fair amount of privacy during this time period.

Here's to hope for the future.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Revolutionary Road & The Reader

Two movies featuring Kate Winslet. Both up for awards this year. What I find interesting is Revolutionary Road is a book that is 368 pages and The Reader is a book that is 224 pages, yet The Reader seems like a far more detailed story that would require far more length if you are comparing it to what Revolutionary Road is. It makes me wonder how much was cut out of the novel Revolutionary Road to make the movie. I guess I will have to read and find out. But I was just thinking about that concept. The length of the book in comparison to what ends up on-screen.

I found The Reader to be a more enjoyable movie and it deals with so much stuff over many different periods of time that I was, frankly, shocked to see the novel is only 224 pages. I would have expected it to be far longer. Yet, Revolutionary Road, is a rather simple story all told in a single time period, and a rather brief time period at that, yet it is 368 pages.

Lastly, I had always thought Sam Mendes was gay. I was surprised to hear he was married to Kate Winslet.

Screen Actors Guild Awards

So, January 25th are the Screen Actor's Guild Awards. I don't really watch TV so I only have a large interest in the movie section. Here are the nominees and my votes:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
RICHARD JENKINS / Walter Vale - "THE VISITOR" (Overture Films)
FRANK LANGELLA / Richard Nixon - "FROST/NIXON" (Universal Pictures)
SEAN PENN / Harvey Milk - "MILK" (Focus Features)
BRAD PITT / Benjamin Button - "THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON" (Paramount Pictures)
MICKEY ROURKE / Randy - "THE WRESTLER" (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

**I have only seen Benjamin, Harvey, and Wrestler. My vote is for Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler.


Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
ANNE HATHAWAY / Kym - "RACHEL GETTING MARRIED" (Sony Pictures Classics)
ANGELINA JOLIE / Christine Collins - "CHANGELING" (Universal Pictures)
MELISSA LEO / Ray Eddy - "FROZEN RIVER" (Sony Pictures Classics)
MERYL STREEP / Sister Aloysius Beauvier - "DOUBT" (Miramax Films)
KATE WINSLET / April Wheeler - "REVOLUTIONARY ROAD" (Paramount Vantage)

**I really can't say here as I've only seen Revolutionary Road and Doubt. But I'd go for Meryl Streep in Doubt.


Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
JOSH BROLIN / Dan White - "MILK" (Focus Features)
ROBERT DOWNEY, JR. / Kirk Lazarus - "TROPIC THUNDER" (Paramount Pictures)
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN / Father Brendan Flynn - "DOUBT" (Miramax Films)
HEATH LEDGER / Joker - "THE DARK KNIGHT" (Warner Bros. Pictures)
DEV PATEL / Older Jamal - "SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE" (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

**I'd go with Heath Ledger or Philip Seymour Hoffman here.


Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
AMY ADAMS / Sister James - "DOUBT" (Miramax Films)
PENÉLOPE CRUZ / Maria Elena - "VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA" (The Weinstein Company)
VIOLA DAVIS / Mrs. Miller - "DOUBT" (Miramax Films)
TARAJI P. HENSON / Queenie - "THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON" (Paramount Pictures)
KATE WINSLET / Hanna Schmitz - "THE READER" (The Weinstein Company)

**Here I'd either go with Kate Winslet or Taraji Henson.


Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (Paramount Pictures)
DOUBT (Miramax)
FROST/NIXON (Universal Pictures)
MILK (Focus Features)
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

**This is tougher because the cast sizes are so different. I would probably pick Doubt but it seems almost unfair because the cast was so drastically smaller than these other movies (though I didn't see Frost/Nixon). I'd also be willing to give it to Benjamin Button. Either one of those two.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Adventureland

I saw a preview for this, I want to see it.


Movie Update

Today I went and saw another three movies. I saw Gran Torino, Doubt, and The Reader. I had not planned on seeing any of those movies until basically yesterday and then I went and saw all of them today.

So, for the Oscars, based on what I'd seen my vote was for The Dark Knight to clean-up (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor). However it now has competition in my book. The Reader and Doubt are unbelievably good. Excellent I would say. Any of those three movies can win anything they want and I shall be happy. Doubt and The Reader can battle it out for Best Adapted Screenplay (hopefully) and The Dark Knight can hopefully take Best Original Screenplay. However, stupid-ass Slumdog Millionaire may ruin all of my hopes for this years Oscars. I'll be seeing Revolutionary Road tomorrow.

So here is the breakdown of what I've seen based on what Entertainment Weekly says you should see before the Oscars. What I've seen will be marked by an asterisk.

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button* (Good)
Slumdog Millionaire* (Okay, decent)
Milk* (Good)
Frost/Nixon
The Dark Knight* (Excellent, Exciting)
Doubt* (Excellent, Engaging))
Revolutionary Road (seeing tomorrow)
Wall-E* (Okay)
The Wrestler* (Really Good)
Gran Torino* (Enjoyable, good story, not so great acting, very funny)
The Reader* (Excellent, Amazing)
Rachel Getting Married
Changeling
Vicki Cristina Barcelona* (Enjoyable)
Tropic Thunder* (Okay, funny at moments)
Happy-Go-Lucky
The Visitor
I've Loved You So Long
Frozen River
Nothing But The Truth
Man On Wire
Syncdoche, New York
The Duchess
Defiance
Australia


So I've seen 12 of these, or will have seen twelve tomorrow.