Sunday, November 27, 2011

Here Comes the Family (Films)


This is a great time to go to the movies if you've got families.  "The Muppets" was released to great critical acclaim and has re-introduced the characters in a way that means they'll be coming back in a big way after the dust settles with this film.  "Arthur Christmas" was released to great critical acclaim and is poised to become a new holiday classic for many families.  And Martin Scoresese's "Hugo" was released to great critical acclaim and is hailed as one of the best films of the year.  In fact, these three films are three of the best reviewed films of the year.  I know, I was sort of surprised too.  We're lucky to get one great family film a YEAR (much less three in a WEEK)!


So people have wondered that since the reviews are great, where do these films stand with Oscar?  Well, "Arthur Christmas" is officially the front-runner to win Best Animated Feature.  Provided that Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin" doesn't pull a surprise win, I think this is the one to beat.  "The Muppets" will get a Best Song nomination for "Pictures in My Head," but I think the witty screenplay has a chance of being nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay as well.  As for "Hugo"...well folks, this is the big one.  I think "Hugo" will be running in the race for Best Picture.  Word-of-mouth is going to make this film a sensation.  The 3D may wake the Academy up and make them realize this style of film making needs its own award.


Despite being pretty reliable, Scoresese is an underdog because he's directing a family film instead of a gritty drama (the Academy loves underdog stories).  Finally though, this is a movie (as Sasha Stone constantly reminds us) is a movie the Academy could just "like."  The trick to winning in this race is to be a movie that everyone can like (if not outright love), and in this respect "Hugo" has a lot going for it.  Either way, ignoring the Oscar race altogether, this is rare time when family films are plentiful in theaters, and parents need to take advantage of this because who knows when this much quality family entertainment will just fall into our laps again?

Friday, November 18, 2011

"Happy Feet Two" is NOT Winning Best Animated Feature (But it Might Win Best Song)!

I saw "Happy Feet Two" tonight on IMAX 3D.  You can read my full review here, but to sum it up: "Happy Feet Two" will NOT be nominated for Best Animated Feature!  It's not as dull as "Cars 2" was, but it certainly failed to live up the quality of the original film.  That said, I DO believe that P!nk has got Best Song in the bag with her downright moving song "Bridge of Light."  Listen to the song below...


...and tell me that's not one of the most things you've heard all year.  And trust me, this is BETTER in the movie itself!  Hey, I said the movie wasn't good, I didn't say it was terrible.  There were some great scenes in that movie...just not enough to make it a good movie, and competition is still even without Pixar in the race this year.  But Best Song...man, I'm almost tempted to say this win is in stone, but maybe the Broadway song from "Captain America: The First Avenger" will sneak in there.  Who knows?

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Billy Crystal Hosting 2011 Oscars!

So, to recap:

  • Brett Ratner makes homophobic slur.
  • Academy and gay community get pissed off (rightfully so).
  • Ratner quits.
  • Eddie Murphy quits.
  • Brian Grazer (who produced "Tower Heist") steps in.
  • Billy Crystal comes back as host.
Alright, got all that?  Good.  Now then, all that aside, now that Billy Crystal is back on board, I'm feeling pretty good about the Oscars again.  I don't want to belittle any of the current hosts, but I truly feel that Billy Crystal and Steve Martin have made for the best modern day Oscar hosts, so this just made my day.  I would have been interested in seeing what Murphy was going to do with the show, but with Crystal back...well, I'm not so curious anymore.  *phew* Well, THAT was a mess the Academy got themselves into, but it looks like they might just pull out of it just fine now!


Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Brett Ratner Resigns As Oscar Producer


Looks like Brett Ratner's thoughtless remark that rehersing was for "fags" finally caught up with him.  Despite a public letter apology, he resigned as producer today.  The Academy had this to say:

“He did the right thing for the Academy and for himself,” Sherak said. “Words have meaning, and they have consequences. Brett is a good person, but his comments were unacceptable. We all hope this will be an opportunity to raise awareness about the harm that is caused by reckless and insensitive remarks, regardless of the intent.”

No word yet on whether or not this incident will hurt his current film "Tower Heist," or whether or not Eddie Murphy will still be interested in hosting with him.  I wish him luck in the future, but he really needs to be careful of what he says from this day on.

Know What's My Favorite Animated Number: 5!


Well folks, there are eighteen films up for Best Animated Feature, which means there will be five nominations.  Yay!  I always like five more than three, it's just a shame that five seems like a stretch this year.  For the record, here's what's up for consideration:

“The Adventures of Tintin”
“Alois Nebel”
“Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked”
“Arthur Christmas”
“Cars 2″
“A Cat in Paris”
“Chico & Rita”
“Gnomeo & Juliet”
“Happy Feet Two”
“Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil”
“Kung Fu Panda 2″
“Mars Needs Moms”
“Puss in Boots”
“Rango”
“Rio”
“The Smurfs”
“Winnie the Pooh”
“Wrinkles”

Looking over that list, conventional wisdom goes that the Academy will go in this direction:

The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Happy Feet Two
Rango
Winnie The Pooh

However, if the voting is done correctly, and based purely on quality and does not let popularity effect the voting at all, then this will be our five nominees:

The Adventures of Tintin
A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung fu Panda 2
Rango

Yes, I fully expect "Cars 2" to sit this one out.  If it gets in, it will be because Pixar is loved by the Academy, but it has no serious chance of winning.  Of course there are some eyebrow raisers in there (wasn't the whole selling point of "The Smurfs" that it was a LIVE ACTION movie of the cartoon?!), but not a bad list. What's frustrating is that if "How To Train Your Dragon" was released this year, then there is no doubt in my mind it would have won.  Most of these films seem second nature to that one (although, in all fairness, "Toy Story 3" wasn't as good as "The Illusionist" either).  It will be interesting to see whether or not the Academy goes for the popular films, the smaller films that are of stunning quality, or a little of both.

And keep in mind folks, this category has made major mistakes in the past, just like every other award in this show.  In 2004 the list of nominees were "The Incredibles," "Shark Tale," and "Shrek 2."  "The Incredibles" walked home with the gold and was the obvious winner.  But look at those films and ask yourself this: How the heck did the Academy not have room for THIS movie?!


I know, it boggles the mind sometimes.

Oscar Going NC-17?


This is sort of old news, but Steve McQueen's controversial and haunting film "Shame" was given an NC-17 by the MPAA about a month ago.  Fox Searchlight decided not to edit the film or appeal it for the less restrictive R.  "Shame" has been screened at several film festivals prior to getting the rating.  It was cited as an early Oscar contender for Best Picture, and Michael Fassbender's performance was considered the first performance that could seriously be considered for a nomination for Best Actor.  The new rating could potentially hurt its chances with Oscar.  It could potentially hurt its box office potential as well, but Fox feels differently.  They feel that the NC-17 is a badge of honor, and that its time to take a chance and show that real adult films can have this rating attached to it without being labeled smut.

I didn't comment on the rating because I didn't think it mattered much, but now that I've had some time to think about it (and let all this discussion of the rating overpower the film itself), I have to ask this of the people who are worried about the NC-17: What's the big deal?  Does anyone here know what NC-17 stands for?  It stands for 'No Children Under 17 Admitted.'  Now then, what does the R rating stand for?  'Restricted: No Children Under 17 Admitted Without Parent or Guardian.'  Really folks, is this really that different?  The only real difference these two ratings share is that one parents can take their kids into the film, and the other one they can't.  And really, would any sane parent actually take their kids to this film?  Depending on how much award talk it gets, I don't think getting the R rating would have helped this film much anyway.

We went through this dance last year when "Blue Valentine" received an NC-17.  The Weinstein Company managed to appeal the rating though, and got an R rating for the film without any cuts.  The film ended up grossing more than $10 million dollars at the box office and made some money on DVD and BluRay.  The film only cost $1 million to make though.  Would the NC-17 rating have REALLY hurt that film much?!  I doubt it. Oddly enough, this situation is also similar to that of "Midnight Cowboy" from 1969, when that film was predicted to be totally shut out of the Oscars because of its X rating.  And what happened?  Well, the power of the film was too much to ignore, and "Midnight Cowboy" became the first X rated film to win Best Picture (a year after the very G rated "Oliver!" took home the prize).

I make no claims that "Shame" will be the first NC-17 film to win Best Picture.  I attribute that more to some heavy competition then the films rating though.  I am looking at this film though and believe that this could potentially be the start of the NC-17 curse being broken.  Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution" creaked the door open, and I think "Shame" will fully open it.  "Lust, Caution" made around $4 million dollars in the US and $67 million worldwide on a budget of $15 million.  That's successful, regardless how you look at it.  Actually, considering that was rated NC-17 AND was in Taiwan, $4 million dollars looks pretty impressive to me.  Of course, this is all speculation until the film actually opens, but I've got a funny feeling we can expect big things from "Shame."