Movie Muse

So I thought I would take the day to think back on the ceremony and give my thoughts on how it went both in terms of awards and the telecast itself as well as hand out some superlatives. An awards show is always one of the trickiest things to produce, in my opinion, not that I can speak from experience. There’s very little about it that’s “good television.” Everyone tunes in out of habit each year or because there’s at least one to a handful of pieces that each person is invested in.

I’m an anomaly when it comes to the Oscars as are all film buffs. I understand what all the categories are about and I have thoughts and feelings about nearly every one of them, but that’s a slim percentage of the millions of viewers tuning in. They want to see who wins, they want it to be a good story and they want the person winning to validate their own opinions and more importantly to deserve the award.

Well, you’re getting my take on the Oscars, so expect something a little less traditional. Read the rest of this entry »

Here are the winners! See how my predictions stacked up and some of my thoughts on the outcomes.

Overall, I felt the show was decent. I wasn’t awed by anything producer Adam Shankman did. I felt the duo of Martin and Baldwin was classy with their sarcastic humor. It was good because it didn’t try to do too much comically. I love Neil Patrick Harris too, but the musical opening was a waste considering that was the only musical element of the program.

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Here is my official list of predictions for Sunday’s ceremony. I’ve included links to every individual category post (some categories are lumped together, so keep notice of that) if you want to read a bit more about why I chose the films/people I did. I also link to my reviews of all the Best Picture nominees.

I will happily be tweeting the whole ceremony and I promise witty insights and snide comments will abound. You can follow me at http://twitter.com/Movie_Muse

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This year we have what has been and will surely be one of the most storied competitions for the coveted Best Picture award at the Oscars: the first time in decades since there were 10 Best Picture nominees, plus there is the showdown between the highest-grossing motion picture ever made versus what would be the lowest-grossing Best Picture winner ever.

The people’s choice would be Golden Globe winner Avatar, a ground-breaking visual epic with a timeless story. Meanwhile, critics all over the country have heaped praise on the quietly released The Hurt Locker, a perspective-transforming story about action and war. There have been emails going out from producers begging them to vote for one over the other, people have been emotionally invested … it’s been bitter, people.

So, who will it be?

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A lot of the times when it comes to someone winning Best Actor or Actress, it comes down to whether they “deserve it” or whether it’s “time they get their due.” It’s not necessarily an unfair way of doing things, as I too like when a veteran whose performances I have enjoyed countless times finally gets their statuette, but sometimes it feels like an excuse to vote for people. Read the rest of this entry »

Oscar veterans vs. newbies. That always seems to be the feel of the Academy Awards every year in the Best Leading Actress category, especially when you have 12-time nominee Meryl Streep as a perennial contender. Last year, Streep was nominated for Doubt while Anne Hathaway earned her first nomination as did Melissa Leo and Angelina Jolie (first time nominated for leading role, as she won supporting in 2000), but it was Kate Winslet’s chance to finally win an Oscar.

The year before it was veterans Cate Blanchett, Laura Linney and Julie Christie with 12 nominations and two wins between them against newcomers Ellen Page and winner Marion Cotillard. The year before, newcomer Penelope Cruz up against Winslet, Streep Judi Dench and winner Helen Mirren. Read the rest of this entry »

Here comes the good stuff. Director is the only glorified job in film behind the camera. Sure, everyone knows a few good famous score composers or a few writers here and there when someone like Diablo Cody gets an Oscar, but director counts.

And rightfully so, as much as I like to pull for the writers and other jobs here and there. The director is the puppet master, the “visioneer” for the film. Like that? I made it up. But it’s true. Ultimately, the director is responsible for whatever goes in front of that camera and wherever that camera is and what it does. Normally when we refer to the mystical “They” when talking about a film, as in “how did they do that?” or “it was so cool when they ___,” it’s usually the director who we’re talking about. All of these five nominated directors have moments like that in their films. Read the rest of this entry »

Although the leading performances get all the glamor and attention, supporting actors and actresses are the best. They go to those characters that steal scenes, people playing incredibly convincing character roles or even impersonations. Sometimes they’re so good like in a year such as this one that there’s one clear favorite. Read the rest of this entry »

We often forget that the Oscars are primarily a celebration of American cinema and American opinions about other country’s cinema. Thus, we have the “Best Foreign Language Film of the Year” category. With 10 Best Picture nominees, we might not be long for a debate about whether Foreign films should count. For example, you can’t tell me that a few years back Pan’s Labyrinth wasn’t deserving of a Best Picture nod (or even the film that beat it in this category, The Lives of Others.) Read the rest of this entry »

What a year for animation. I mentioned it back when I did my 2009 Year in Review but I can’t state it enough. With the advances in CGI and some of the brightest minds in filmmaking (namely the folks at Pixar and one could argue James Cameron), the animated storytelling medium is rivaling its live action counterpart more than anyone ever expected. The expanded Best Animated Feature category (up to five films this year from three) might have a clear winner this year, but it’s truly a celebration of all things animated unlike anything the Oscars has ever seen. I truly hope next Sunday’s ceremony reflects this with a creative award presentation and/or tribute. Read the rest of this entry »

A lot of people who love movies leave out one genre in particular: documentaries. I always try to include the most compelling documentaries of each year into my steady diet of movie-watching. I usually end up watching about two every three months or so. As a journalist and cinephile, I’m obligated to like documentaries. I enjoy some subjects more than others no doubt, but visuals bring certain issues to life in ways we can’t think about them reading an article. Read the rest of this entry »

Short films are on the rise. There have always been short films and most feature filmmakers got their start by making short films since they’re easy on the pockets if you’re an amateur, but in our YouTube video society, there’s an interest in short films. You can find virtually anyone’s short film on the Internet including some of our Best Animated Short Film nominees. The live action shorts are not as accessible. I don’t know why, but I think it’s because they’re a bit bigger of a deal. Either way, closer to March 7 you should be able to download/rent on iTunes and some theaters even show all the shorts as Magnolia Pictures and Shorts International have recently began the tradition of grouping them together for a theatrical release.

Anyway, short films are perfect for the attention span of today and they usually are more clever or profound than many full-length works because they’re working with less time. They have to pick a great concept and executed it cleanly and most of these films do that. What’s more, especially the animated films, they are very similar to the classic cartoons of back in the day. Just think about all the Pixar shorts you’ve seen over the years and how clever/cute they are. Many of these (at least the animated ones) are similar.

So here’s to the short film — the part of the Academy Awards nearly everyone ignores. Join me in watching these films so that you can make the telecast a bit more meaningful. I’ve provided links to every video I could find (all animated shorts), so enjoy! For more information and some clips of everything, go to the official shorts site Read the rest of this entry »

When a film does well, it’s usually the director that gets all the credit. There are many cases where the director and writer are one in the same, but the director is the position of prestige. In a director-centric movie world, few people walk out of the theater and say “wow, that was a killer screenplay.”

To be fair, the script is the source material for which the rest of the movie is made. It is interpreted and imagined, cast often times after the fact. What’s on the page could be done hundreds of different ways in the hands of any variety of directors, producers, actors, crew, etc. But as is often said, no great film comes from a bad screenplay. Maybe from an okay screenplay, but never a bad screenplay. It is the foundation and as such it receives a place of honor on the list of Academy Awards categories. Still beneath director, but high up there no less. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s probably some great quote about music in film, but I’m too lazy to Google it. Simply put, even the silent movie era films were accompanied by music. That tells you how essential a score is to a film. Silence is bad and awkward in a film. That’s why every movie has a score, soundtrack or both. Next time you watch a film, pay attention to what it uses and when there’s music versus when there isn’t and you’ll have a totally new understanding of the importance of music.

I’m not going to toot the horn of the original song. That’s just a perk category and apparently the producers have said this year that there will not be live performances. Since every original song nominee must appear in the film itself, I think they plan on showing the numbers straight from the movie so you get a sense of how they connect to the film, which is just as if not more important than the quality of the song itself.

To keep you abreast of some of the conflict with the Oscars, there’s a great deal of subjectivity when it comes to what constitutes original work that’s Oscar-eligible. For one thing, it must not be based on anything previously published and it must have been written for purposes of use in the film, not written beforehand and then chosen to be in the movie (even if the movie is the first time the song is heard). I’ll give some examples later on. Read the rest of this entry »

There are numerous elements in movies that simply go under-appreciated. I talked last week about costumes, makeup and art direction, which all contribute to creating the believable world of a film. But there are even more subtle elements in a film that if the person behind them wasn’t doing his or her job, you would indeed notice. Read the rest of this entry »