Super Bowl Sunday
This was not one of the Super Bowl commericals. I like it much more.
Oscar Nomination Day (We do show good movies!)
The Oscar nominations were this morning. I wasn’t that surprised about the nominations—- but was surprised at the number of Academy Award nominee films and performances we saw during our “Sneak Preview: Contemporary Films and Filmmakers” series.
Don’t forget that the new quarter of “Sneak Preview” starts tomorrow!
A total of 9 films out of 38 screened last year (almost 25%) in the Sneak Preview program were nominated for Oscars.
A breakdown by major categories follows — See Sneak Preview moderator Anne Thompson’s analysis and a full list of nominations at: http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/2010/02/02/oscar_watch_nominations_analysis/#more
Best Picture
“An Education”, Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers “Inglourious Basterds”, Lawrence Bender, Producer “Up in the Air”, Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers
Actor in a Leading Role
George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
Actor in a Supporting Role
Matt Damon in “Invictus”
Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”
Actress in a Leading Role
Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
Actress in a Supporting Role
Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
Art Direction
“The Young Victoria”, Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray
Cinematography
“Inglourious Basterds”, Robert Richardson
Costume Design
“The Young Victoria”, Sandy Powell
Directing
“The Hurt Locker”, Kathryn Bigelow
“Inglourious Basterds”, Quentin Tarantino “Up in the Air”, Jason Reitman
Documentary (Feature)
“The Cove”, Nominees to be determined
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
“An Education”, Screenplay by Nick Hornby “Up in the Air”, Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner
Writing (Original Screenplay)
“The Hurt Locker”, Written by Mark Boal
“Inglourious Basterds”, Written by Quentin Tarantino “The Messenger”, Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
Film Editing
“The Hurt Locker”, Bob Murawski and Chris Innis “Inglourious Basterds”, Sally Menke
Music (Original Score)
“The Hurt Locker”, Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
R.I.P. Miramax (1979-2010)
Miramax, once the crown-jewel of indie film and the Indie film arm of mega-corporation Disney, has folded.
Known for such films as Pulp Fiction and the English Patient, it will forever be associated with the Weinstein Bros. who created Miramax in 1979.
Click on the link above for a definitive storyline of the birth-and-death of Miramax.
AVATAR. soon to be #1 overall(*)
in this crazy system of evaluating films by how much money they make, the box office favourite and groundbreaking “Avatar“‘ will soon pass “Titanic” as the #1 grossing film of all time. James Cameron is sure good at spending a lot of money on making films but getting a lot in return. He is the director of the top two films.
However with this little thing called inflation, we’ll see how long it holds the #1 spot.
I put my money on “Batman 12: Robin is NOT dead” to definitely surpass this film when tickets are $30 in 2020.
I think we should be mentioning how “Gone With the Wind” is still the undisputed box office champ of all-time. Granted, it was made when there was no internet, a 1000 cable channels and an assortment of many entertainment options. With adjusted ticket prices, “Gone With the Wind” would have raked in 1.45 billion.
“Avatar” would be a respected #26 on the all-time list.
This is what Rhett Butler thinks of an “Avatar” coronation atop the box office throne.
Pick of the Week: TARKOVSKY at LACMA
For those into poetic cinema, which some may define as ’slow’ or ‘too cerebral’, I hope you take advantage of Tarkovsky week at LACMA.
The highlight would probably be his masterpiece “Mirror” on Friday the 29th.
I would say the highlight for me would be the masterful, “One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich” (on February 5th). Tarkovsky is the focal point of the film, while Chris Marker directs.
A Sad Day: FAIRFAX 3 closes down
If any of you live in the Hollywood area like myself, you may have wanted to wait for some movies to reach the second week when the Studio machine considers these films past their prime and when they send them to ’second run’ theatres.
The Fairfax 3, which was owned by Laemmle was definitely a place to go to for these films, not to mention an array of interesting Midnight Screenings.
I was saddened to see this noticed posted by the chain, which closed recently:
After five years and a thousand and one good foreign, independent and art movies (or thereabouts)
Laemmle Theatres reluctantly announces we are ending our tenancy at the historic Fairfax Theatre.
Sincere thanks to all our Fairfax customers for their loyal patronage.
For the record, the last film I saw here was “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” a few weeks ago.
This theatre will be missed.
I recommend you checking out the Beverly Center 13 for your ’second run’ film destination.
I wish the Fairfax 3 would of had a glorious ending like this ending of “There Will Be Blood” (dir. PT Anderson).
Top 5 films of 2009
As this is the first post of the new year, I must write about the top 5 films of 2009. In almost every end-of-the-year lit, you’ll find 10 films that accompany the list.
Since I haven’t seen much and what I’ve seen doesn’t necessarily even qualify as a film considered ‘top’ or worthwhile. I still haven’t seen a few films that often appear on top lists so this list is incomplete at best. Yes, I have seen “Avatar”.
Top 5 films for 2009
5. Fantastic Mr. Fox (Dir. Wes Anderson)— There’s nothing wrong with tabbing an animated film as one of the top films of the year. Part of this selection has to do for the bias I have for Wes Anderson films.
4. The White Ribbon (Dir. Michael Haneke)— In the year where 3-D films are becoming more part of our movie going lives, there’s nothing like a film in black-and-white. Within the beauty of the black-and-white image, you’ll find a film that’s a bit antithetical to the big blockbuster 3-D films mentioned earlier.
3. Inglourious Basterds (Dir. Quentin Tarantino) In Tarantino’s pulp comic book way, he is able to take a serious and subject matter that has been covered ad nauseam and make it very entertaining and have you leave thinking you’ve seen something different. It also is the film with my best actor of the year, Christoph Waltz. His Hans Landa performance is probably the finest performance in a Tarantino film.
2. A Serious Man (Dir. Ethan and Joel Coen) It’s probably the film that will have you thinking the most. It’s pretty tepid on the surface and lacks a lot of the wit and humour of other Coen entries but it probably has more to offer than some of their previous acclaimed films.
1. The Hurt Locker (Dir. Kathryn Bigelow) Speaking of films with subject matters that have been covered Ad Nauseam. I thought that I would never see another Iraq war film. In this nearly flawless piece of work, you are reminded that a film can be great without having a big name as the lead.
UCLA Extension will be closed December 19th-January 4th 2010
Hello Everyone,
If you plan on enrolling at UCLA Extension for the Winter 2010 quarter, I would like to inform you that UCLA Extension will be closed from December 19th to January 4th 2010.
If you have any questions that you may want answered about any particular classes, call customer service at 310-825-9064 prior to December 19th.
Happy Holidays.
It’s been awhile
Despite the inactivity of the blog, I Hope to get the activity level back up as we enter 2010!
Here’s a great commercial by ESPN.
It is in no way an editorial comment about my own job.
It’s basically a clip to show what a good commercial looks like
