From my Oscar piece at Fandango:

 

It turns out that there are three different legends about how our golden boy picked up his world-famous nickname.

 

One popular theory has Academy librarian and future executive director, Margaret Herrick examining the statuette around 1931 and announcing that "he looks a lot like my Uncle Oscar!" (Her uncle was reportedly a Texas wheat farmer named Oscar Pierce.)

 

In another version, entertainment columnist Sidney Skolsky claimed to be the first to coin the "Oscar" nickname, as part of his awards write-up in the New York Daily News on March 16, 1934. Skolsky was looking for a name to humanize what he called the Academy’s "high and mighty" ceremony. He used "Oscar" as a tribute to a lowbrow music hall routine where comedians ask the orchestra pit leader, "Will you have a cigar, Oscar?" And every time the conductor tried to accept the cigar, the comedians backed away. (You kinda had to be there.)

 
The next legend involves saucy superstar Bette Davis. When picking up her first Academy Award in 1936, she supposedly exclaimed that the figurine looked a lot like her ex-husband, bandleader Harmon "Oscar" Nelson - especially the Oscar’s posterior...

 

Read my entire look at Oscar lore at Fandango.

 

Just in time for cold and flu season (actually I don't know when that is but it seems like everyone I know is currently ill) Screenhead came up with an amusing list of movies to avoid while one is ailing.

 

Check out their list -- it's a good one -- but I've got five more movies to add:

 

--Peter Jackson's "Dead Alive" -- I still have a tough time with tapicoca pudding and for some reason, lasagna based on this movie.

 

--Todd Haynes' "Safe" -- If you've been suffering from a longstanding cold this movie will most definitely not ease your mind. And you sure won't want to get a perm anytime soon (not that you should want that, ever).

 

--Ridley Scott's "Hannibal" -- The movie is a big, fat disapointment but Ray Liotta's brains? So freaking gross. (That makes for two Julianne Moore movies).

 

--Volker Schlondorff's "The Tin Drum" -- Brilliant movie but the part where Oskar's mother stuffs herself with all of that eel is not anything you want to view with food poisoning. What a way to go.

 

--David Cronenberg's "Shivers" -- You should always find a way to watch this movie but...not when you're contagious. Stick to "The Brood" instead. Unless you're pregnant. Or in therapy. Maybe just sit that one out too.

 

--posted by Kim

That was fast.  In case you didn't get enough of the shaking camera, there's already talks for a "Cloverfield" sequel:

 

"Matt Reeves is in early talks with Paramount to direct a 'Cloverfield' sequel, and, as was previously announced, he has also made a deal with GreeneStreet Films to direct 'The Invisible Woman.'

 

"Variety says the timing of the projects will depend on how quickly Paramount can complete discussions with Reeves, producer J.J. Abrams and writer Drew Goddard to come up with another monster story for the 'Cloverfield' sequel. There's a good chance the sequel will be Reeves' next film, in which case he will direct 'The Invisible Woman' afterward."

 

Meanwhile, Freddy might return, yet again:

 

"New Line is in talks with horror production company Platinum Dunes to relaunch the 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' movie series, the franchise that helped establish the studio. Partners Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form will produce the remake."

 

And since Bay did such a tremendous job with the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" relaunches, we're all just so excited, right? Ugh. Isn't it enough for him to be messing with Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds"?  Can't he just stay away from the boiler room?

 

--posted by Kim 

It’s hard to believe Sergio Leone’s masterpiece “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” wasn’t universally praised upon release. Downgraded by some critics for being a “spaghetti Western” (which was then a term of derision), the picture was deemed overly violent, stylistically obnoxious or shallow — a movie with very little on its mind save for its gorgeous sweeping vistas, shocking blasts of sadism and cool, laconic characters.

Watching this operatic Western now, you have to wonder just what the heck many of these critics were thinking; indeed, what many of them were actually watching — how could they not be affected by such innovative, elegiac ugliness and beauty? Perhaps, being both an especially unique revisionist Western and a startling precursor to the more savage cinematic landscape of the 1970s, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” was simply too much — far more ahead of its time than even it understood. And yet, audiences loved it, and the film became an official hit when released in the United States in 1967 (the picture was first released in Italy in 1966).

The third of (but actually a prequel to) Leone’s famous “Dollars”/“The Man With No Name” trilogy (“A Fistful of Dollars” and “For a Few Dollars More” preceded this picture), the film stars an iconic Clint Eastwood as the “Good” of the title, a ruthless Lee Van Cleef as the “Bad” and a greedy, garrulous Eli Wallach as the “Ugly.” Though the characters are given such obvious monikers (and stunning, clever on-screen introductions regarding their appellations), the idea of good and bad is a morally ambiguous one as all three men are antisocial outlaws and murderers. Eastwood’s “Blondie” supposedly only kills bad men, but he’s an atypical movie protagonist, an unsmiling man of very few words who forges a strong enough (yet unsteady) alliance with Van Cleef and Wallach that, by film’s end, you find yourself strangely attached to all three.

With this, Leone’s picture is unexpectedly moving (rapturously aided by Ennio Morricone’s brilliant, legendary score). Challenging the viewer with ideas concerning the fuzzy concept of morality, the ravages of war and the oversimplification of the Western genre, the picture holds up perfectly. A movie that would inspire filmmakers ranging from John Woo to Quentin Tarantino to (not surprisingly) Clint Eastwood, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” is an epic achievement, a movie that stands tall (and wide) as not only a great Western, but one of the greatest films ever made. Period.

 

Read two other picks for greatest revisionist western (and vote) here.

 

Start tweaking your Oscar predictions.

 

The SAG and DGA award winners are in.

 

Joel and Ethan Coen won the Director's Guild Award for "No Country for Old Men." The Screen Actor's Guild Award winners were the following:

  
Outstanding Cast: "No Country for Old Men"
Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson, Stephen Root, Kelly Macdonald, Tess Harper

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Daniel Day-Lewis - "There Will Be Blood"

 

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Julie Christie - "Away From Her"

 

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Javier Bardem - "No Country for Old Men"

 

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Ruby Dee - "American Gangster"
 

 

Well, I was wrong.

 

I thought the weekend box office was going to be a duel between John J. and that big green thing stalking New York but it turns out those silly jokey Spartans were a force to be reckoned with. Great. That means there's going to be a "Rambo," "Die Hard," "Rocky" spoof in the works. Unless that was already covered in "Meet the Spartans."  Guess I'll have to see the movie. On cable. In a hotel. When all the home decorating shows are over for the night.

 

Here's the top five movies over the weekend:

 

1. "Meet the Spartans" -- $18.7 million

It'll be John J. Rambo vs. that monster attacking New York City this weekend and I have no idea who'll win that absurd grudge match.

 

Though reviews probably don't matter much regarding "Rambo" attendance, the movie is receiving mixed notices. From what I've read, critics are either embracing Stallone's carnage laden blood-fest (one reviewer calls it "The Red Badge of Carnage") or feel the picture just works, even if silly.

 

Check out reviews here. Or just buy your ticket and read the reviews after the movie.

 

What else is opening? "Meet the Spartans"? Huh? A spoof of "300" straight from the people who brought you "Date Movie" and "Epic Movie"?

 

Oh brother.   

 

From her work in "Bladerunner" and "Splash" and more recently "Kill Bill" I've always liked actress Daryl Hannah. But ever since I watched a documentary in which she was so excited about the non toxic benefits of a reuseable energy source that she licked the gas cap of her bio-diesel El Camino, I became an even bigger fan.

 

More people should be that connected to their cars! And more people should own El Caminos.

 

To this, Hannah agrees, which is why she's selling her super rare 1983 automobile. This might be one of the hottest muscle car/earth friendly car-for-sale listing I've ever seen.

 

 

"Quantam of Solace"?

 

I don't know...

 

Still...love Daniel Craig as Bond, love "Casino Royale" and as ever, love Judi Dench.

 

Seriously, I've watched "Notes On a Scandal" five times now which is admitedly, a bit much but, I'm sure I'll watch it again. Hmm...maybe right now.

 

Anyway, read more about the new James Bond picture (the 22nd installment to be exact) at ComingSoon.

 

There's a moment in Heath Ledger's far too short, sometimes brilliant film career that makes me so teary eyed, so filled with wistful emotion, that no matter how many times I watch it, I'm still taken aback by its deceptively simple power. No, it's not a scene from Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain" (his transcendent performance there makes me weep -- for more obvious reasons); rather, it was his final scene in Catherine Hardwicke's "Lords of Dogtown," that underrated skater picture featuring one of Ledger's most poignant performances.

As Skip Engblom, the crusty, aging uncle/father figure to the kids of Team Zephyr, young Ledger played beyond his years with sublime, quirky effortlessness. As in most of his performances, Ledger imbued what could have been a one-note aging stoner dude with sympathy and soul, dignifying Skip with a disarming, surprisingly heart-wrenching end note: Sanding a surfboard in the back of what was once his kingdom, in what could have been an easy, here's-where-he's-at-now scene. Instead, Ledger fills us with a compelling mixture of sadness and a glimmer of hope that Skip will at least survive this life OK. After his boss orders him to finish a surfboard for some kid, the past lord dutifully, but bitterly, complies. Glumly sitting down, Skip slowly perks up to the lovely opening of Rod Stewart's "Maggie May." Pounding to that infectious double drum beat preceding Stewart's passionate "Wake up, Maggie, I think I got something to say to you," Skip, in a flash of understated joy and release, turns up the radio and sings along. Ledger is so in the moment and so naturally bittersweet that in mere seconds, he makes one remember just how much those little things in life can affect you -- those times or sensations that either make you crash hard or for one wonderful, ephemeral moment, lift you higher.

And Ledger could work those powerful sensations in all of his performances, whether he was gleefully laughing at himself in the giddily entertaining "A Knight's Tale" or silently, desperately pining for his beloved in "Brokeback Mountain." It seems silly to say he was underrated since he received an Academy Award nomination for his tortured cowboy Ennis Del Mar in "Brokeback," but in many respects he was underrated. Given that much of his earlier work was looked upon as the standard, hot young thing pabulum many actors slog through before reaching critical credibility, Ledger was often underappreciated for always being interesting, "10 Things I Hate About You," "The Patriot" and all.

Moving his career to his own fascinating frequency, the Australian Ledger eschewed the predictable romantic comedy/action hero leading man roles that could have followed his splashy, sexy 2000 Vanity Fair cover, anointing him as the latest stud du jour. It reads like a terrific career move, an initial sacrifice but ultimately a rewarding step toward serious movie stardom. But watching Ledger skillfully slip into the skin of a depressive, soft-hearted young man in "Monster's Ball" or embody a brash, sexy rake in "Casanova," I can't imagine the actor having any kind of choice. He was just too sensitive, too interesting, too intelligent an actor to not make any part uniquely his own. And exciting. Watching his psychopathic, perfectly hideous Joker in the trailer for Christopher Nolan's upcoming Batman chapter "The Dark Knight" gives me chills, not only for the dual thrill of seeing two of cinema's greatest, chameleonlike talents (Christian Bale and Ledger, who were also terrific in Todd Haynes' stunning Dylan meditation, "I'm Not There") pitted against one another, but for Ledger's maniacal, edgier take on the legendary supervillain. Ledger's ability to create a Joker that'll out-do Jack Nicholson appears to be unquestionable, and this was clearly yet another important transformative moment in the actor's career.

But I'm discussing Ledger's career in the past tense, something I'm having a tough time wrapping my mind around. He was one of my favorite working actors, an actor I've been advocating and arguing for as someone special and different since his earlier roles, and an actor I now find myself cherishing. Like many of you, I was absolutely stunned and depressed to learn of his death. I can barely grasp the realization as I write this right now. He was only 28 years old. He was in the middle of Terry Gilliam's newest picture, an admirable task since, in spite of how great he was in Gilliam's otherwise messy "The Brothers Grimm," you know someone must have advised him against it. But Gilliam, as troubled as some of his productions have been, is an artist. And so was Ledger.

Thinking of the last movie I saw Ledger in, as the beautiful, romantic but flawed and human "live fast, die young" James Dean-inspired Dylan persona in "I'm Not There," I was filled with sadness, recalling the enchanting, idyllic scenes between Charlotte Gainsbourg and Ledger tuned to Dylan's "I Want You." What bliss. What joy to simply watch Ledger engaging in such bliss. And what a magnificent, soulful talent he was, with so much more to give movies and life. To paraphrase Dylan, we want you, we want you, we want you back, so bad.

--From my piece at MSN Movies.

--posted by Kim

 

MSN's Sean Axmaker on this year's Oscar snubs.

 

(Before I get to Sean's choices, I heartily agree with the baffling omission of "Zodiac" for Best Picture and David Fincher for Best Director. Ditto for Robert Downey Jr. in the Best Supporting Actor category. Oh well...).

 

Here's Axmaker's take:

 

It's an open question whether the red carpet, the stargazing, the invariably overlong ceremony with its record of misjudged entertainment set pieces, and the obligatory afterparties will be present, but to paraphrase one of this year's big nominees: There will be Oscars.

If there is a consensus among critics this year, it's that it was a good year for American cinema. Some might say it was a great year for American movies. There was certainly no lack of ambition in nomination leaders "There Will Be Blood" and "No Country for Old Men," not to mention films such as "Into the Wild," "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" and "I'm Not There." Academy voters actually snubbed splashy hits such as "Hairspray," traditional Oscar bait such as "American Gangster" and bubbly star-studded pictures such as "Charlie Wilson's War" for a selection of darker and more ambitious dramas. Well, as long as they are not about Iraq ...

These studio-funded films fall somewhere between the kind of adult pictures studios used to favor and the indie projects that took over from the studios when they put their attention into youth-oriented spectacles, action films and sequels ... which means there's not a popular hit in the bunch. So far, the teen pregnancy comedy "Juno" is the biggest hit in the Best Picture category this year.

For the most part, it's a classy bunch, but there's always room for complaining. There is no shortage of deserving artists who didn't make Oscar's cut and we're not shy about sharing our opinions on where the academy went wrong. So here is our report card on Oscar's slights and oversights. Call it: They shoulda been a contender.

Best Picture

The five Best Picture nominees are a worthy -- if fairly dark -- class this year, lightened only by the inclusion of the indie-ish comedy "Juno." I adore the film, I confess, and find it far more interesting and alive than last year's token quasi-indie "Little Miss Sunshine." But I'd prefer to see Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" -- the glaring omission of the category -- in its place. This sprawling, ragged human epic throws the audience headlong into the romance of an odyssey across America, living in the moment and in the buzzing thrill of the quest for something that may not exist. Carved out of primal imagery, raw emotion and pure passion, Penn's ambition may exceed his grasp but only by degrees.

The academy has traditionally been resistant to genre films, which is the only reason I can fathom for the snubbing of "Zodiac" in every category. David Fincher's mesmerizing drama about the obsessive search for the true-life serial killer who terrorized San Francisco in the late '60s and early '70s made many a critic's top 10 list but didn't receive one nomination. Talk about a killer! Also, when it comes to ambition, it's hard to beat "I'm Not There," surely the most eccentric and creative biographical drama ever made.

Read his entire list of Oscar snubs here.

 

This is absolutely shocking and tragic.

 

Heath Ledger has died. He was only 28-years-old.

 

A huge talent, Ledger has graced film with some of recent cinema's most fascinating work, including his roles in "Brokeback Mountain," "Candy" and "I'm Not There." 

 

To say that Ledger had more to offer movies is a supreme understatement.

 

He will be painfully missed.

 

 

 --posted by Kim

 

 

 

 

 

The Oscar nominations have been announced with some genuinely, bonafide deserved contenders and naturally, quite a few snubs.

I'll get to those later.

For now, here's a list of the nominees in the major categories:

Best Picture: "Atonement," "Juno," "Michael Clayton," "No Country for Old Men," "There Will Be Blood."

Actor: George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"; Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"; Johnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"; Tommy Lee Jones, "In the Valley of Elah"; Viggo Mortensen, "Eastern Promises."

Actress: Cate Blanchett, "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"; Julie Christie, "Away From Her"; Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose"; Laura Linney, "The Savages"; Ellen Page, "Juno."

Supporting Actor: Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"; Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"; Hal Holbrook, "Into the Wild"; Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Charlie Wilson's War"; Tom Wilkinson, "Michael Clayton."

Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"; Ruby Dee, "American Gangster"; Saoirse Ronan, "Atonement"; Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"; Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton."

Director: Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"; Jason Reitman, "Juno"; Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"; Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood."

Foreign Film: "Beaufort," Israel; "The Counterfeiters," Austria; "Katyn," Poland; "Mongol," Kazakhstan; "12," Russia.

Adapted Screenplay: Christopher Hampton, "Atonement"; Sarah Polley, "Away from Her"; Ronald Harwood, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"; Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"; Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood."

Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody, "Juno"; Nancy Oliver, "Lars and the Real Girl"; Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"; Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava and Jim Capobianco, "Ratatouille"; Tamara Jenkins, "The Savages."

Animated Feature Film: "Persepolis"; "Ratatouille"; "Surf's Up."

Read the entire list of nominees here.

--posted by Kim

 

"Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Mankind must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love."

 

--Marthin Luther King Jr.

 

In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, find a way to watch the brilliant documentary "Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years (1954-1965)."

 

Monsters were all the rage this weekend. Women and their mad money, not so much.

 

"Cloverfield," the J.J. Abrams' produced NY monster movie came out at number one while the Diane Keaton, Katie Holmes, Queen Latifah comedy "Mad Money" debuted at a dismal number seven.  Ouch.

 

Here's the breakdown:

 

1. “Cloverfield” -- $41 million. 2. “27 Dresses,” $22.4 million.
2. “27 Dresses” -- $22.4 million.

3. “The Bucket List”--  $15.2 million.
4. “Juno” -- $10.3 million.
5. “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” -- $8.1 million.
6. “First Sunday” -- $7.8 million.
7. “Mad Money” -- $7.7 million.

 

 

"At long last, a lingering full-on shot of the monster is served up, and it's not a friendly sight. All the same, a strong argument could be made for not showing the creature at all. The film's initial hints at offering a new kind of horror eventually devolve into something essentially familiar, provoking idle thoughts that, in the vein of the '50s sci-fier 'Forbidden Planet,' it could have been more effective with an invisible but quite tangible threat."

 

Read more about this movie (it's been called "Blair Witch" meets "Godzilla" by more than one critic -- and not always in a flattering way) at Rotten Tomatoes.

 

If you really want to be scared tonight however, go see "Teeth."

 

If you click on the link and read a few reviews, I don't need to explain further.

 

Also, check out some exclusive "Teeth" clips here.

 

And yes, I'm there opening weekend.

 

Ah yes, another greatest. Here's my pick for the greatest disaster picture ever made -- that hothouse, star-studded classic "The Towering Inferno":

 

When you stop to think about it (or, really, just turn on the TV for a millisecond), reality, that thing we all supposedly strive for, can be incredibly terrifying. From the constant squabbling on news shows, to the all-day loops of horrifying events shown on CNN, to so-called reality shows (underscore “so-called”) where “real” people engage in acts as gross as eating live rodents or choosing a life partner (both can be repulsive), audiences can’t get enough of the hard knocks — at least when they’re happening to someone else.

Which is why people must love disaster movies so much. I know I love them. And so does Hollywood. But why the fascination with cataclysmic fear? Is collective societal paranoia more palatable in movie form, where usually a happy ending is the result? Or is it simply that most of these films are either campy or bad, thereby erasing any real-life stress before entering the theater? Maybe we simply like watching things (to quote “SCTV”) blow up “real good.”

We must. After all, just when we thought we were safely out of the Irwin Allen-drenched disaster chapter of the ’70s (“The Poseidon Adventure,” “Earthquake”), the ’90s and 2000s revived the genre with expensive and, for the most part, ridiculous epics of Götterdämmerung. Think “Deep Impact,” “Armageddon,” “Volcano” or, more recently, “The Day After Tomorrow” and the remake of “The Poseidon Adventure” (called “Poseidon”).

Which brings me back to Irwin Allen. Allen, whose version of “Poseidon” was a waterlogged disaster classic, also crafted his greatest film and (sorry Gene Hackman and Shelley Winters, I love you both) one of the genre’s finest, most star-studded and, in some inspired moments, silliest disaster pictures when he made 1974’s “The Towering Inferno.” Here’s the story: The world’s tallest skyscraper is enjoying its inaugural night when it catches fire during a ritzy party. Why? Faulty wiring. Oops. Hundreds of glam partygoers are in jeopardy.

But when you’ve got the screen power and, let’s just face it, phenomenal looks of Steve McQueen and Paul Newman at hand, well, to be all sexy-corny about it, your fire just got a little hotter, baby. And if that ain’t enough, you’ve got some William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, Richard Chamberlain and Jennifer Jones thrown in for good measure. Did I mention O.J. Simpson also stars? Yes, he does. Again, this is one smoldering movie, and not just for the fire. Steve McQueen and Paul Newman? That’s enough for me. Oh yes, and things blow up “real good.”

 

Read the rest of the picks (and vote) here.

 

 

It's one of those days. A day that requires a major pick-me-up, STAT! But how can that be achieved, you ask? 

 

Through Raquel Welch's sexy/crazy Space Girl dance, of course.

 

I feel better already.

 

One of the most notable DVD releases this week is Cornel Wilde's "The Naked Prey" -- a longstanding cult movie given the full Criterion treatment.

 

Since he starred in a few of my favorite film noirs (the arguable noir "Leave Her To Heaven," the great, underseen "Road House" and the stellar "Big Combo") I've always been fascinated by Wilde as an actor/director.  I was happy to read DK Holm discuss Wilde at his blog Reel Politique:

 

"Cornel Wilde is an interesting case as an actor-turned-director, an act for which he has received no respect. A Jewish Hungarian immigrant, Wilde was an expert fencer (he was on the 1936 Olympic team but dropped out for unstated reasons), which proved to be his entry into acting, first as a fencing coordinator, then as an actor in actioners, and then, rather quickly and mysteriously, as an Oscar-nominated leading man in a film about Franz Liszt. Unfortunately, though Wilde was pretty in a Tyrone Power sort of way, he was somewhat inert, not unlike his true analog Victor Mature, and his descendant, Stallone. Perhaps aware of these limitations, Wilde gravitated to production and director, his company making one of the best film noirs, 'The Big Combo' and Wilde himself directing eight features from 1955 to 1975 (he died in 1989).

 

"In this he resembles no less than Ida Lupino, an actress of intellectual ambitions who also had around eight credited and uncredited titles on her filmography. Both performers used their directorial work to explore ideas and social problems not found amid the mainstream pabulum. Both were intellectually ambitious in the manner of Hollywood actors who buck up against the implacable commerciality of the movie business. Despite impediments and critical indifference, they struggled on."

 

Read the rest of Holm's take on Wilde and the release of "The Naked Prey" here.