GIVE ME MY OSCAR

Yes the 1992 Best Supporting actress Oscar was a tight race there for a while. There were two actresses fighting it out with their claws swiping, blood flying, but finally in the last legs on made it out ahead of the rest.

Coming in, in 5th place with only 5% was Dear ole Joan Plowright for 'Enchanted April.

In 4th place saw actress extraordinaire Vanessa Redgrave in 'Howards End' with only 7%.

3rd place saw eventual winner and sole American Marisa Tomei beaten down with only 14% for 'My Cousin Vinny'.

A healthy 32% saw Judy Davis loose the final round for 'Husbands and Wives'.

So the winner is, the person that was rumored to be on the winners card when Jack Palance read out the name that was last on the tele-prompter, we have Miranda Richardson with a healthy 43% for 'Damage'.

At the time most of the pundits thought it would be a two way race between Davis and Richardson with Tomei as a dark horse......turns out never bet against a dark horse, or a near sighted presenter - whatever theory you favour.


So over to the 1993 Best Actress Race. Who do you think should have won?

Alphabet Meme - or how I've been tagged!

The lovely and amazing mB over at A Blog Next Door and the delicious Dame James Henry over at Rants of a Diva tagged me to take part in the Alphabet MeMe started by Blog Cabins.
First I thought....can I find any movie I LOVE beginning with 'X', but then that ruins the whole fun of it - you sometimes have to grasp at straws.
So I began compiling my list and went through my DVD collect (which...of course..is alphabetized. 'D' was hard as was most of the first half of the alphabet.

Firstly here are the rules:

1. Pick one film to represent each letter of the alphabet.

2. The letter "A" and the word "The" do not count as the beginning of a film's title, unless the film is simply titled A or The, and I don't know of any films with those titles.

3. Return of the Jedi belongs under "R," not "S" as in Star Wars Episode IV: Return of the Jedi. This rule applies to all films in the original Star Warstrilogy; all that followed start with "S." Similarly, Raiders of the Lost Arkbelongs under "R," not "I" as in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Conversely, all films in the LOTR series belong under "L" and all films in theChronicles of Narnia series belong under "C," as that's what those filmmakers called their films from the start. In other words, movies are stuck with the titles their owners gave them at the time of their theatrical release. Use your better judgement to apply the above rule to any series/films not mentioned.

4. Films that start with a number are filed under the first letter of their number's word. 12 Monkeys would be filed under "T."

5. Link back to Blog Cabins in your post so that I can eventually type "alphabet meme" into Google and come up #1, then make a post where I declare that I am the King of Google.

6. If you're selected, you have to then select 5 more people.

HERE ARE MINE!

All About Eve
Babe
The Color Purple
Dancer in the Dark
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Fly Away Home
Grease
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
The Iron Giant
Jaws
Kill Bill vol 1
Lovely and Amazing
Moulin Rouge!
The Namesake
The Opposite of Sex
The Parent Trap
Quiz Show
Ratatouille
The Silence of the Lambs
Thelma and Louise
Urbania
Volver
What's Love Got to do With it.
Xman 2 - Xmen United
Y tu Mama Tambien
Zodiac

A few family films, a couple of musicals. I have nothing to be ashamed of with this list I feel. Yay me.

I am only supposed to forward this to 5 people....but I am such a rebel. I choose six.

Fataculture
Mainly Movies
Movies Kick Ass
Strange Culture
The Cellar Door
The Rural Juror

Heeeee!

Disney Pixar Up trailer
Uploaded by buzzmygeek

Everything's Coming Up Dali

He is huge right now.

There are three films, yes I said three, being made about the man.

Over kill or just a chance to hopefully see three veru different and visual takes on the man?

First we have 'Little Ashes' starring 'Twilights' hunky hunk of burning love that is getting teenage girls twats in a fiddle across the world Robert Pattison. It is set in 1922 Madrid at the beginning of Dali's career at university and his relationships with Frederico Garcia Lorca and Luis Bunel. It sounds very homoerotic to me, and that is a good thing (although apparently he rejected any advances...silly boy).

The next one we have is Andrew Niccol's take starring Al Pachino called 'Dali and I: The Surreal Story'. The film co stars that other hunk of burning love Cillian Murphy. The story covers the life of Dali at the end of career, through the eyes of an art dealer Stan Lauryssens (Murphy). The film covers the 60's to the 80's where most of Dali's great work was behind him and he was becoming more and more flamboyant (cue Pachino scenery chewing).

However the most exciting sounding version coming at ya (will never get bored of that Cleopatra song now) is the one Antonio Banderas is currently in talks for. 'Dali' will explore how Dali conquered America and the world with his vision. The film will blend music and CGI sequences in an effort to capture the inventiveness of the painter. Producor Simon West is not what I would call a visionary man, but perhaps he was making drek like 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider' just to get the money together to make this dream project. Let's hope so as the man is also directing. Glad they cast a Spaniard though.

A Shadow of a 'Doubt'

The first review is in.

Todd McCarthy at Variety has reviewed the movie and things are not quiet as expected they would be (athough the trailer did lay some Doubts with me.)

Firstly we now know Viola Davis is most likely on her way to a nomination. He says of her performance:

"...and Davis’ performance is devastatingly great as a troubled mother forced to voice her own uncomfortable views about her lonely, ostracized son. The scene as a whole constitutes a 12-minute emotional demolition job."

He is then less ecstatic about Hoffman:

"Hoffman’s performance is ambiguous enough to make the viewer continue to wonder about Father Flynn and, crucially, to fear Sister Aloysius might actually be right. Thesp is particularly effective in his sermons, delivering his thoughtful remarks with a clarity and intellectual pertinence that many pastors might envy."

He says about Amy Adams, what everyone who has seen the play has said, that the character is not a real winner when it comes to awards season accolades:

"Adams does all anyone could with the role of a nice young nun who must cope with the monster she unintentionally lets out of the box."

Now when I saw the trailer I was a little taken aback with Streeps performance. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be so comical but figured it was edited that way in the trailer to get the punters in. McCarthy goes on to basically let me know my initial thoughts were correct:

"The film’s one iffy element, oddly enough, is Streep. This master screen actor, who applies a slight New Yawk accent to her phrasings, takes the vocal low road here as opposed to the more forceful approach of Cherry Jones in her riveting Broadway turn. By ostensibly underplaying the role’s villainy, however, Streep overdoes the melodrama, thereby turning Sister Aloysius into more of a stock figure than she ultimately seemed onstage. Every little tic, gesture and facial mannerism seems maximized by the effort expended to minimalize them, to diminished returns in the cause of creating a three-dimensional character. While the dramatic scenes still register with notable force, it’s a disconcerting, unsatisfying performance from a thesp who most of the time rings true."

Can she still get the nomination?

Um....what?

Ok let me get this out the way. 'All About Eve' is a classic movie. It is also a film that is still completely relevant today with its look at the life span of an Actress (just look how many great older actresses find those good roles so elusive (Joan Allen, Brenda Blethyn, Debra Winger, Angela Bassett to name but a very few) while younger hot 'actresses' get roles a plenty (I could do another role call but I really do not want to overly depress myself).

So why oh why are they doing a remake?

However the casting is kind of cool. In the Margo Channing role we have Annette Benning (she will tear that role up) and now as Eve Baxter we have Felicity herelf, Keri Russell. Added to the cast are Angela Lansbury (yay), Cynthia Nixon (just felt a twinge of orgasmic joy), Joel Grey (heeee) and Jennifer Tilly! (oh dear I need a napkin).

You all know my love for Jennifer, so this excited me no end! However who is directing? Who is writing? Does anyone have any more information?

Jerich - no

Angry rant comin' at ya (like Cleopatra)

I had heard so much about the short lived TV series 'Jericho' that I thought I should watch it. My sister recommended it and I had followed its story about being cancelled then bought back due to immense fan love.

The show was about a series of nuclear terrorist attacks that leave the US in a state of disaster and how a small Kansas town must come together to deal with a new reality.
It was scored a high 8.3 on IMDB so I figured I was missing out on one of those great shows that gets lost.

Me and mine got so excited when it arrived in the post to watch. We couldn't wait. We snuggled up on the sofa with our Marks and Spencers dinner and pressed play.

We watched the first episode and even though we rolled our eyes and giggled in the wrong moments we though 'Let's watch the rest of disc, I am sure it must get better"

Well after 4 episodes I can tell yu with a doubt that it didn't.

Seriously y'all what is it about most network dramas? Can they not get it right?
In the first two episodes you have so many ridiculous sub plots:

A Mayor who is up for re-election fighting with his competition.
A mysterious man who knows more than he lets on.
A stranded school bus full of children.
Escaped convicts terrorizing a deaf girl.

I mean really writers. The entire US of A is practically wiped out by nuclear bombs! Is that not dramatic enough?
Do you really feel the need to add an new drama for each episode to be resolved by the end?
Add to this the only person who does anything right is Skeet Ulrich of all people, running around like MacGyver.
And please do not get me started on the appalling score. I spent the whole time on my sofa wanting to scream at Skeet, begging him to tell the orchestra to shut the f*ck up.

Such a great premise wasted. They took a scripted disaster that could easily be a reality (knock on wood) and made it into something melodramatic. For shame. That is nearly 4 hours I will never get back. I could have been watching 'Generation Kill'. next time I see my sister I am going to slap deck and disconnect her (not really sweetie).

Is the only good TV worth watching on HBO, BBC, Showtime and apparently AMC?

Bring on 'Dollhouse' and quick!

Rant over.

UPDATE

My lovely just came home and said "Oh God that was the worst piece of twaddle I have seen in a long time" heeee

'Mother and Child' gets new cast.

Exciting casting news this is indeed. And I am not just talking about the fact that Annette Bening and Naomi Watts will headline "Mother and Child," a multilayered drama from scripter and helmer Rodrigo Garcia who wrote 'Nine Lives' and a film that I really enjoyed called 'Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her'.

What I am excited about is the fact that in addition to this cast we also have Kerry Washington (pictured), who is one of the most beautiful and underrated of the actresses working today, and 'Half Nelson' break out star Shareeka Epps.

Through overlapping stories, the script follows a 50 year old woman who gave up her daughter 35 years ago and an African-American woman who is looking to adopt.

If you are thinking "Oh bloody heavens to Betsy! This sounds like another interweaving plot strand feel bad movie" you will be pleased/disheartened to know it is being executive produced by "Babel" and "21 Grams" helmer Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu.
Apprently the story is a highly emotional one. I am wondering who is playing who though. Obviously Bening will play the older woman, and Washington will play the African-American woman, but is Epps the long lost daughter? I do not think Watts can pass as 15.

Note: Bening and Watts replaced Robin Wright Penn and Brittany Robertson

'Cadillac Records' trailer 2

This looks to be much better than the first offering. Still not sure I like Beyonce singing Etta, but I must say, what I can see of her acting she has learned a thing or two since her wooden and bland performance in 'Dreamgirls'. Not expecting this to make a slash at all on Awards Season (so important it need capitalization) but stranger things have happened. It needs great reviews, rabid fans and some fantastic performances.
As it stands now, no one is even having it on their radar.
Could be a good thing, or perhaps just tragic fore-shadowing?

New 'Dollhouse' Trailer

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!
I beg of you Fox...do not screw this opportunity up! Do not stick this is the Friday slot that killed many a wonderful show. PLEASE!
The script reviews have been fantastic. You have a chance to do some good here.
DON"T F*CK IT UP!!!

Keira's in a flap

Where have I been?

Keira Knightley is going to portary celebrity Flapper and schizophrenic wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zelda Sayre (pictured), who met her demise when the mental institution she was in caught fire?

Talk about stretching!

According to historians Zelda was a bit of a wild child/attention seeking/man hungry dancer who became a New York celebrity after the marriage. Apparently they were both heavy drinkers, even getting thrown out of hotels.

As their marriage began to fail Zelda did such things as try to have an affair, had an abortion, over dosed on sleeping pills and (my favourite) threw herself down the stair at a party for some attention. I so can't wait to see if Knightley can deliver.

The film is called 'The Beautiful and the Damned' and is scheduled for release in 2010. Directing this offering will be Nick Cassavetes who directed fan favourites 'Unhook the Stars', 'she's So Lovely', and 'The Notebook'. I have seen none of these films so I will either have to rent them or wait and see 2009's 'My sisters Keeper' to see if how well he deals with high drama.

This could very well be the role that lets the world know just how deep Keiras talent lies.

"Che' Trailer

Stunning looking, and I am still guessing that it will be very hard for the Academy to ignore del Toro, however they may end up going for safer performances (Penn, Pitt, Langella, DiCapro, eastwood, Rourke, Hoffman, Jackman, Jenkins). Also the buzz has completely faded away. He needs a big ole year end resurgence to stay in the game.

Calling John

Over Halloween weekend me and a friend decided to watch some movies. She had not seen either 'Hedwig' or 'Shortbus' so we decided to have a John Cameron Mitchell marathon.
After I was once again swept up in his gender bending vision of the former, and his meloncholy ode to sexual identity I was struck by a nagging though. A trip to IMDB did nothing to appease me.
Why has this most wonderful and visionairy director done nothing since these two wonderful films (both of which at in my top five of their given years)?
What happened to him directing 'Oskur Fishman'

Can someone please answer this question and send through some news that yes he is indeed working on something fantastic and that IMDB and Wiki have just not been updated.

Ta.

Congratulations America

After 8 long, bloody, idiotic and tiresome years you got things rights! I wish Barack Obama a prosperous, healthy and SAFE term in office.

I'll be in my trailer

Yes today is election result day....I am officially not going to comment right now. Instead lets take a look at some trailers

'Monsters vs Aliens'

Looks like it could be fun, but the jokes (aside from B.O.B.'s of course) were not.. well.. a chuckle fest (the gerbil in the ball from 'Bolt' is the funniest thus far)
Still should rake in a few hundred mil.



And something for my sweetie.

Kings on the Blog

At work last Friday, they decided to play the new album by Kings of Leon.

I really was not expecting to like it as not really a male rock group fan per say (love my girls I do), plus they are from Tennessee in the US and all brothers (I was really expecting a red neck Hanson) but the opening track 'Closer' BLEW ME THE F*CK AWAY.

No wonder they are HUGE over here (plus when in comes to music the English totally know their shit).

So I eat crow and declare them brilliant. I will never again judge a band based solely on where they come from geographically. I should have learned my lesson ages ago.



Stranded in this spooky town
Stoplights are swaying and the phone lines are down
This floor is crackling cold
She took my heart, I think she took my soul
With the moon I run
Far from the carnage of the fiery sun

Driven by the strangled vein
Showing no mercy I do it again
Open up your eye
You keep on crying, baby
I’ll bleed you dry
The skies are blinking at me
I see a storm bubbling up from the sea

And it's coming closer
And it's coming closer

You, shimmy shook my bone
Leaving me stranded all in love on my own
What do you think of me
Where am I now? Baby where do I sleep
Feel so good but I'm old,
2000 years of chasing taking its toll

And it’s coming closer

FreshlyGround

Freshlyground were brought to me by my good friend Anne-Marie who moved last year to Cape Town.
Formed in 2002 the band consists of musicians from South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe and their sound is a combination of traditional kwela (African folk), blues, jazz and even indie rock.

After 3 albums they are starting to get interest in the US and Europe and have recently signed with Sony BMG Africa hoping for better distribution for future releases.

Check out the video for 'PotBelly'. The song is body image empowering and the video is one of the sweetest I have seen in a while.

Let's hear it for Sweden!

What is it about the Swedish of late? They are producing some of the most challenging and interesting pop music that I have heard in a very very long time. First we have my current obsession Robyn, and now the country that bought us ABBA and meatballs brings us Lykke Li. She is brand spanking new to me (although my Swedish friend Orsi tell me that is two years old news, and everyone over there is sick of her - go figure) so I like to think of her as my discovery...well kind of (I am always late with these!).

The album consists of some of the most interesting arrangements in the pop/electro genre that I heard in ages. It seems on the sparse sounding recording, that the producers (Peter Bjorn and John) decided to invest each track with it own personal and infectious details instead of creating the production orgy that so many pop songs are drowned in.

She is not a producers pet though....she is a total artist.

Check out her video for "I'm Good, I'm Gone" - Remember when pop videos in the 80's seemed more like strange performance art?

Lykke Li - "I'm Good, I'm Gone"
Uploaded by bluntedsoul

On songs like the infectious 'Little Bit' you get some deeply profound lyrics about love and sex all delivered with a voice you could describe as cutely affected had she not been in entire control.

The video is an absolute corker as well.

Lykke Li - "Little bit"
Uploaded by tkf

hands down
i'm too proud for love
but with eyes shut
it's you i'm thinking of
but how we move from A to B?
it can't be up to me
'cause you don't know
eye to eye
thigh to thigh
i let go

i think i'm..

a little bit, a little bit
a little bit in love with you
but only if you're
a little but, a little bit, a little bit
in lo-lo-lo-lo-love with me
oh

ooo-ooo...

and for you i keep my legs apart
and forget about my tainted heart
and i will never ever be the first
to say it
but still I,
yes you know I..I..I..
i would do it,
push a button
pull a trigger,
climb a mountain
jump off a cliff,
'cause you know baby
i love you love you a little bit
i would do it, i would say it
i would mean it, we could do it
it was you and i and if only i..

i think i'm
a little bit, a little bit
a little bit in love with you
but only if you're
a little but, a little bit, little bit
in lo-lo-lo-lo-love with me

come here, stay with me
stroke me by the hair
'cause i would give anything, anything
to have you as my man (2X)

a little bit, a little bit
a little bit in love with you
but only if you're
a little but, a little bit, little bit
in lo-lo-lo-lo-love with me

Writer Re-birth

I am loving this sudden attention being made to the writers. Back in the day writers were every bit the celebrity, and now it seems they are faceless people who only ever come out at awards time. Thanks to high profile people like Charlie Kaufman and Diablo Cody they seem to be making a bigger splash. It is not just movie nuts who ask "who's writing the script" when they hear about some movie going into production.

The writers are coming out of hinding and not just for Oscars.

J. Michael Straczynski may be hoping for an Oscar nom for writing 'Changeling' next year (can't see it myself) but he also has a lot more exciting things to look forward too.

Not only does the Babylon 5 writer have 'Silver Surfer' and the much publicized 'Ninja Assassin' going into production, but he also has two very interesting projects going into production.

'World War Z' tells the story about the aftermath of a zombie war in which the human race barely survive. a journalist travels the globe getting the stories of the survivors. Could be very inventive stuff, especially if done in an ultra realistic way.

He also has 'They Marched into Sunlight' which he is writing with Paul Greengrass (who will probably direct) and tells the story of one day in October 1967, two events, the loss of 61 American soldiers in a Viet Cong ambush and a student protest against Dow Chemical, galvanize opposition to the Vietnam war on college campuses. This is more Oscar baity stuff.

However not to check his sci fi origins at the door, he has just signed on to re-write the 1950's classic 'Forbidden Planet'. The film was a re working of Shakespeare's The Temptest, and tells the story of a group of astronauts who are sent to check on a science colony on a faraway planet, but discover only one scientist and his daughter there who have made a discovery, and has no intention of sharing it with anyone.

Although not a sci-fi fan per say, this does sound intriguing.

The Milky Way

Well it is official.

Sean Penn will be nominated for 'Milk'. We could all tell this from the trailer, but the review in Variety confirms this. Todd McCarthy praises the film and the supporting players but lets us know as plainly as he can that this is Penn's movie. What I found to be the most interesting part of the review is when he says this:

"The explosive anger and fury often summoned by Penn in his work is nowhere to be seen, replaced by a geniality that is as welcome as it is unexpected."

It will be notices like this that will ensure him a nomination. When established actors surprise, they are usually rewarded.

Can he win the movie? Well that is still yet to be seen. Sure he plays gay, but gay in a bio pic and that didn't hurt Philip Seymour Hoffman.

However in saying this, Hoffman was completely sexless in the film, but Penn will not be.
Oscar may be ready to reward portrayals of sexless gay men and women, but not portrayals of gay sex (see 'Brokeback Mountain').

A Thought

Based on it's feel good and crowd pleasing status. . . . could 'Slumdog Millionaire' go all the way to best pic?

The last four winners have not exactly been uplifting, and lord knows in these times we all need a reason to cheer. I know I am getting way ahead of myself, but I had this thought.

If it is nominated will it be the film that people suddenly turn on and hate with passion? Usually this mean spirited turn happens to comedies ('Juno', 'Little Miss Sunshine') or will it be another poor sod?

Your thoughts?