Day 965: Gnomeo & Juliet

Oh my GOD!  Who cares about the Oscars?  An animated version of Romeo and Juliet using Garden Gnomes?  Starring Jason Statham, Emily Blunt, Michael Caine, Maggie Smith, Hulk Hogan, Dolly Parton, and Ozzy Osbourne? 

2011 Oscar Prediction: Best Picture!

The only thing that would make this movie better is if it was called “Kenneth Branagh’s ‘Gnomeo and Juliet’”.  Seriously, why isn’t Ken attached to this movie?

All joking aside, this movie is directed by Kelly Asbury.  He directed ‘Spirit – Stallion of the Cimarron’ and ‘Shrek 2’.  In addition he wrote ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘Chicken Run’… and additionally, he was an animator on ‘The Little Mermaid’, ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’, ‘The Prince of Egypt’, ‘Kung Fu Panda’, and ‘Madagascar 2’.  This guy knows how to make quality animated movies... and I’m excited!

Day 954: 83rd Annual Academy Awards Recap

Well, my final Oscar Pool score was only 93!  I should have listen to awardsnazi, he clearly knew what was going on more than me… especially in the Documentary and Foreign Film categories.  Those two totally did me in.  Plus, I completely underestimated ‘Alice in Wonderland.’

Oh well… there’s always next year!  And the race begins NOW!

Thoughts on the Broadcast

Wow, this year’s Oscar telecast gave birth to a new level of boredom.  Nothing against the hosts, the presenters, or the acceptance speeches… they had very little to work with thanks to the producers wanting to scale down and streamline the awards.

However, despite their preshow claims, the producers didn’t REALLY scale down anything.  Sure, they cut out the large musical number and variety acts, they cut out the retrospective montages, they even relegated the lifetime achievement awards (my favorite part!) to an untelevised event and a mere mention on the telecast, they reduced the number of nominated songs and only let them perform a short except, and they even cut out the individual presentations honoring each of the best picture nominees. 

Yet, the telecast still lasted three hours and twenty minutes.  A very NORMAL Oscar runtime.

So… how is that possible when they cut so much content out of the show?  Well… easy, they gave all their left over time to advertisers.  I don’t know if any of you watched the Oscars live, but the longer the show was on the air, the more commercial breaks they were taking.  The last hour was SO annoying that I turned it off and watched the segments I hadn’t seen on youtube. 

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I would much rather watch the Frito Lays ‘Tribute to Comedy Films Montage’ than be subjected to constant commercial breaks.  Or, how about, ‘The Allstate Oscar goes to…”  Anything to get the opening musical number back!  Heck, offer a commercial free simulcast on pay per view for $50.  I don’t know!  Do anything besides what you did this past year, because if you keep scaling back you’re not even going to have awards to hand out!

You’re the Oscars… act like it.  Cutting content isn’t going to make it better… and if it doesn’t get better, then no advertiser will want to have your babies.    

Hosts

I touched on this yesterday, but I loved Anne Hathaway.  I thought she was excellent.  I would really love to see her host again (without James Franco).  I would really urge the producers to try pairing her with Neil Patrick Harris next year.

Anne opening the 81^st Academy Awards with Hugh Jackman:
(This was the BEST opening to the Oscars since Billy Crystal stepped down)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Terhj8mjPwY

Neil opening the 82st Academy Awards:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPMZKha6HeE

Think about it Oscar Producers… I’m not right about a lot of things… but I’m pretty sure I’m right about Anne and Neil.  (Pst… I’ll even let you take credit for the idea!)

Best Segments

My three favorite segments of the awards:

1) Anne’s song about Hugh Jackman.  Sure, it was totally random but it was funny.  They probably should have started the show with this and ended the song with James Franco making a superhero style entrance so Anne didn’t have to host alone… I’m just saying… if you’re looking for a producer, I could clear my schedule.

2) Billy Crystal’s guest spot talking about Bob Hope and the history of the Oscar telecast.  If you are a regular reader, you’ll know that I love the history of television stuff.  And I’m a HUGE Bob Hope fan.  When the Disney Channel first started they didn’t have much programming, so they aired a lot of Bob Hope movies and episodes to ‘The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriett’… so I just loved this segment… until the end, when the segment took a turn for the worse… which I will comment on later.

3) How the scientific awards were handled.  This was short and sweet, but instead to just showing pictures of a bunch of guys in suits accepting awards while random names are announced, this year they actually showed us examples of the technology being used, so we could better understand the impact the invention had on the movie industry… like the ‘spider cam’ and the improved rigging system for moving heavy objects like cars.  It was really cool to see what was going on.  I applauded this addition to the show.  Perhaps the Academy could partner with the Discovery Channel and produce a series on movie technology… it might raise enough money for a fifth Original Song nominee.

Worst Segment

The Bob Hope segment turned from sweet to horrific when it switched from Bob Hope’s voice to a HORRIBLE Bob Hope impersonator introducing Jude Law and Robert Downey, Jr.  (The horrible moment is at the very end of this video):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICEwmo9Nrcg

Best Presenters

Not every pair of presenters has the right chemistry for a really nice moment… but this year two did:

Russell Brand and Helen Mirren:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF_l8tRnn04

And, despite the horrible intro, Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_hdIrrG-q0

So, what makes their pairings so special?  Well… they’re pairs weren’t random.  They had all worked together.  Robert and Jude were, of course, in ‘Sherlock Holmes’ together… and Russell and Helen were in ‘The Tempest’ together.  That kind of familiarity is what makes or breaks a pairing.

Best Acceptance Speech

A couple acceptance speeches started with really great one liners:

David Seidler (Original Screenplay): “I’m a bit of a late bloomer,” and Luke Matheny (Live Action Short): “I should have gotten a haircut.”

I also really enjoyed Tom Hooper’s (Best Director) story about his mother finding the material for the King’s Speech.  She had attended a staged reading for a play by the same name… which raises another question… Original screenplay?

However, the best acceptance speech of the night goes to Randy Newman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCpv0-mLJf4

Worst Acceptance Speech

Yeah… Melissa Leo wins this dubious honor… and not just because she dropped the f-bomb.  I can forgive an f-bomb.  But her speech was just so strange and I think her last line put it over the top for me, “Because it’s about selling movies and honoring the work”… okay… I guess it wasn’t a horrible thing to say… but she delivered it like my uncle Marty after shotgunning fifteen gin and tonics… which made me a bit uncomfortable. 

Best One Liner of the Night

Saving whatever damage might have been done with the Melissa Leo f-bomb, immediately after Anne Hathaway threw down one of the best Oscar adlibs I’ve ever seen.  An adlib that proved she had what it takes to be a REAL Oscar host:

“Ladies and Gentlemen, the younger hipper Academy Awards! Thanks Melissa!”

Or at least it went something like that.

Well… that’s another Oscar season… thanks for humoring my obsession… I’m ready for a movie break… but not too long of a break.  I need to start preparing for next year!

Day 953: Bad Oscar Karma… Again

Well… if you followed my endless Oscar drivel last year you would have heard all about my mission to actually WATCH the Oscar broadcast for the first time since joining the service.

You would have also heard about my plan to TiVo the Oscars when it aired live on AFN at 2am Monday (Belgrade time)… and my plan to get up at 5am to watch before my car pool left for work.
You would have also heard about how my TiVo didn’t start recording… and how I woke up at 5am to watch ONLY the last 30 minutes of the telecast.

You would have also heard about how I figured out the program issue on the TiVo and schedule to record the 3pm rebroadcast on AFN before I left for work… avoided the news ALL day… giddy with excitement to watch the show when I got home… only to find out Serena had inadvertently turned off the tuner box that needed to be on for the TiVo to record pictures… instead of just a blue screen.

After I finished crying, I broke down and read the news to know the winners.

So… yeah… if you find my misery funny, I’m sure you’ll be interested in finding out how this year’s broadcast went. Well… it went a little better, but not great. I got up at 5:30am and turned on ‘Stars Movies’, the Indian station who was covering the Oscars live, complete with their own red carpet coverage, which never asked a single celebrate ‘who they were wearing’, which makes them AWESOME in my book.

The actual awards were supposed to start at 6am (Pakistan time), but it didn’t start until closer to 6:30am… I figured they wanted a significant time delay, but they didn’t edit out Melissa Leo’s F-Bomb, so I’m not really sure why it started so late. Anyway, I was only able to watch the first hour, up until Christian Bales win for Supporting Actor. But I had planned it that way and my plan was working perfectly.

Right after Christian Bale, I jumped in my car pool and headed off to work. There is normally loll in the telecast after the first hour, it only takes about 15 minutes to get to work, and my boss had already given me permission to watch the rest of the telecast when I got to work. Awesome, right?

No. Because things going that smoothly would mean I actually live in an alternate universe where I have good Oscar Karma.

Today, my 15 minute commute took an hour and a half. AN HOUR AND A HALF!!! Now, let me break this down for you. I’ve been in Pakistan for over 6 months and it’s always taken me 15 minutes to get to work. However, on Oscar Monday… it takes me an HOUR AND A HALF!!!


I’m okay… really… I swear… I’m okay. ‘Stars Movies’ is rebroadcasting the awards tonight at 8pm and I am set to watch. I’ve avoided the news… I’ve had a couple spoilers from people, but nothing I wasn’t already expecting. Like Natalie Portman and “The King’s Speech”… although, based on something I heard, I’m pretty sure David Fincher did not win Best Director, but its okay because I don’t know who won.
So, anyway… I was hoping this post would be my Oscar recap and this year’s final boring post about this obsession of mine… but it looks like you’ll need to bear with me for another day! I hope you don’t mind.
Happy Oscar Night, Part 2!

PS: I have to say, Anne Hathaway is a TREMENDOUS host! I just wish she had been paired with someone of equal stage presence and ability for a variety show type format, like Neal Patrick Harris… that would have made the night ‘legen… (wait for it)… … … dary.

Day 952: Weighted Oscar Ballot

I know I promised to reveal my Top 25 Movies of 2010 list today… but honestly… I don’t think I’ve seen enough movies to throw down a realistic list… so I’m going to give myself another month.  (Let me know if you have a favorite movie of the year, I'll make sure I see it before posting my list!)

So… in honor of Oscar Sunday, let’s try our hand at an old fashion weighted Oscar Ballot, which I explained last year.  It’s pretty simple:

Every Nominee gets a point value, 5 being the likely winner, 4, 3, 2, and 1 being the least likely. The best picture category, the points will be distributed 10 through 1… And of course categories with only three nominees will have a maximum of 3 points.

Make sense?  Good.  Try it yourself and let me know who you do!

Last year I scored 99 out of a possible 127 points… and this year I want to break 100.

Here we go:

Actor in a Leading Role

5 -                Colin Firth in “The King's Speech”

4 -                James Franco in “127 Hours”

3 -                Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”

2 -                Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”

1 -                Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”

                   

Actor in a Supporting Role              

5 -                Christian Bale in “The Fighter”

4 -                Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right”

3 -                Geoffrey Rush in “The King's Speech”

2 -                Jeremy Renner in “The Town”

1 -                John Hawkes in “Winter's Bone”

                   

Actress in a Leading Role                

5 -                Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”

4 -                Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”

3 -                Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”

2 -                Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”

1 -                Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter's Bone”

                   

Actress in a Supporting Role           

5 -                Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”

4 -                Helena Bonham Carter in “The King's Speech”

3 -                Amy Adams in “The Fighter”

2 -                Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom”

1 -                Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”

                   

Animated Feature Film 

3 -                “Toy Story 3” Lee Unkrich

2 -                “How to Train Your Dragon” Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois

1 -                “The Illusionist” Sylvain Chomet

                   

Art Direction                 

5 -                “The King's Speech” 

4 -                “Inception” 

3 -                “True Grit” 

2 -                “Alice in Wonderland” 

1 -                “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” 

                   

Cinematography           

5 -                “Black Swan” Matthew Libatique

4 -                “The King's Speech” Danny Cohen

3 -                “True Grit” Roger Deakins

2 -                “Inception” Wally Pfister

1 -                “The Social Network” Jeff Cronenweth

                   

Costume Design            

5 -                “The King's Speech” Jenny Beavan

4 -                “True Grit” Mary Zophres

3 -                “Alice in Wonderland” Colleen Atwood

2 -                “The Tempest” Sandy Powell

1 -                “I Am Love” Antonella Cannarozzi

                   

Directing   

5 -                “The Social Network” David Fincher

4 -                “The King's Speech” Tom Hooper

3 -                “The Fighter” David O. Russell

2 -                “Black Swan” Darren Aronofsky

1 -                “True Grit” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

                   

Documentary (Feature)                   

5 -                “Restrepo” Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger

4 -                “Exit through the Gift Shop” Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz

3 -                “Gasland” Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic

2 -                “Inside Job” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs

1 -                “Waste Land” Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

                   

Documentary (Short Subject)         

5 -                 “Poster Girl” Sara Nesson and Mitchell W. Block

4 -                “Killing in the Name” Jed Rothstein

3 -                “Strangers No More” Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon

2 -                “Sun Come Up” Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger

1 -                “The Warriors of Qiugang” Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon

                   

Film Editing                   

5 -                “The King's Speech” Tariq Anwar

4 -                “The Social Network” Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

3 -                “The Fighter” Pamela Martin

2 -                “Black Swan” Andrew Weisblum

1 -                “127 Hours” Jon Harris

                   

Foreign Language Film

5 -                “Biutiful” Mexico

4 -                “Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)” Algeria

3 -                “Incendies” Canada

2 -                “Dogtooth” Greece

1 -                “In a Better World” Denmark

                   

Makeup      

3 -                “The Wolfman” Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

2 -                “Barney's Version” Adrien Morot

1 -                “The Way Back” Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng

                   

Music (Original Score) 

5 -                “The Social Network” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

4 -                “Inception” Hans Zimmer

3 -                “The King's Speech” Alexandre Desplat

2 -                “How to Train Your Dragon” John Powell

1 -                “127 Hours” A.R. Rahman

                   

Music (Original Song)   

4 -                “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3" Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

3 -                “Coming Home” from “Country Strong” Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas

2 -                “If I Rise” from “127 Hours” Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido

1 -                “I See the Light” from “Tangled” Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater

                   

Best Picture                  

10 -              “The King's Speech” Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers

9 -                “The Social Network” Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán

8 -                “Inception” Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers

7 -                “127 Hours” Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers

6 -                “The Fighter” David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg

5 -                “The Kids Are All Right” Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray

4 -                “Black Swan” Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers

3 -                “Toy Story 3” Darla K. Anderson, Producer

2 -                “Winter's Bone" Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

1 -                “True Grit” Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers

                   

Short Film (Animated)  

5 -                “Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)” Bastien Dubois

4 -                “The Gruffalo” Jakob Schuh and Max Lang

3 -                “Let's Pollute” Geefwee Boedoe

2 -                “The Lost Thing” Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann

1 -                “Day and Night” Teddy Newton

                   

Short Film (Live Action)                   

5 -                “Na Wewe” Ivan Goldschmidt

4 -                “The Crush” Michael Creagh

3 -                “God of Love” Luke Matheny

2 -                “The Confession” Tanel Toom

1 -                “Wish 143” Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

                   

Sound Editing                

5 -                “Inception” Richard King

4 -                “True Grit” Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey

3 -                “Toy Story 3” Tom Myers and Michael Silvers

2 -                “Tron: Legacy” Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague

1 -                “Unstoppable” Mark P. Stoeckinger

                   

Sound Mixing                

5 -                “Inception” Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick

4 -                “The King's Speech” Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley

3 -                “Salt” Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin

2 -                “True Grit” Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

1 -                “The Social Network” Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten

                   

Visual Effects                

5 -                “Inception” Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb

4 -                “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” Tim Burke, John Richardson

3 -                “Alice in Wonderland” Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas

2 -                “Iron Man 2” Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

1 -                “Hereafter” Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojansky and Joe Farrell

                   

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)         

5 -                “The Social Network” Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin

4 -                “127 Hours” Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy

3 -                “Winter's Bone” Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

2 -                “Toy Story 3” Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich

1 -                “True Grit” Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

                   

Writing (Original Screenplay)         

5 -                “Inception” Written by Christopher Nolan

4 -                “The Kids Are All Right” Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg

3 -                “Another Year” Written by Mike Leigh

2 -                “The King's Speech” Screenplay by David Seidler

1 -                “The Fighter” Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson;