2010 Sundance Award Winners

Last night the fest had its award ceremony and here are the winners.

Dramatic (or Feature Films)

Grand Jury Prize: Winter’s Bone, Debra Granik, USA
World Cinema Jury Prize: Animal Kingdom, David Michôd, Australia
Audience Award U.S.: happythankyoumoreplease Josh Radnor, USA
World Cinema Audience Award: Contracorriente Javier Fuentes-León, Peru, Colombia, France and Germany
U.S. Directing Award: 3 Backyards, Eric Mendelsohn,
World Cinema Directing Award: Zona Sur (Southern District), Juan Carlos Valdivia, Bolivia
U.S. Special Jury Prize: Sympathy For Delicious, Mark Ruffalo,
World Special Jury Prize for Breakout Performance:Tatiana Maslany in Grown Up Movie Star, Adriana Maggs, Canada

To check winners in all categories, including documentaries and short films, please go here or here.

As I have mentioned in previous years, I’m no fan of Sundance as most award winning films and/or in competition when finally I’m able to watch them I don’t enjoy them. Obviously there are some exceptions and hopefully this year I will find some and for starters I know will like Zona Sur, congratulations to Bolivia!!!

By the way, Mexican Amat Escalante also won an award and support for a film he expects to film within the next two years; not even him is able to explain what's all about. I know I will watch it!!!

62nd Directors Guild of America Awards Winners

For the first time in the history of the Directors Guild of America a woman director has won the top award. Kathryn Bigelow is the first woman to take the DGA award in the 62 years of the DGA awards. Amazing!!!

Yes, Bigelow won the award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film with her film The Hurt Locker that I haven’t see yet (it’s a war movie) but that will see soon as got the dvd. The good news is that the DGA has been a near perfect barometer for the Best Director Award with only six times since the DGA Award’s inception has the DGA Award winner not won the Academy Award.

Surely she will be nominated next Tuesday and IF she wins, she will be the first ever woman to do so in eighty-two editions of the Academy Awards and as some say, it would be one of the most significant milestones in Oscar history. Can the so-called glass ceiling be broken? Let’s hope so.

So for clear viewing here is the award winner.

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker

To check winners in all categories please go here.

Here are the 2010 nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film.

Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
James Cameron for Avatar
Lee Daniels for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Jason Reitman for Up in The Air
Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds

As you can see the trend continues with the same movies that I have seen three of them, still pending Avatar and The Hurt Locker and for me is Quentin. We will see what happens on Saturday, January 30, 2010 when they have the award ceremony.

2010 Producers Guild of America Awards Winners

Here are the PGA Awards winners.

Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Thetrical Motion Pictures: Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro for The Hurt Locker

Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures: Jonas Rivera for UP

To check winners in all categories please go here. In the last 20 years the PGA honoree has went to win the Academy’s Best Picture trophy 13 times –which is certainly not a perfect record, but if you think that Avatar was going to win without a serious contender, I suggest you think again. The Academy top award will be another interesting to watch if you are still awake after 3 hours of the show.

16th Screen Actors Guild Awards Winners

By sheer coincidence I was able to watch the end of the awards show and was able to learn the winners that now I'm posting here in *RED. These awards are "fairly reliable" indicators of Actors awards at the Oscars, but I still believe that the Best Actress category will be interesting as there has to be a race between Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep.

Today we start with the Guilds as the Actors announced their nominations. These nominations start to give light on possible Oscar nominations as many SAG members are also academy members. I believe that we can start to see a pattern for the actors and for Best Actress I will be very surprised if Meryl Streep does not get an Oscar nod and well, seems Sandra Bullock could get one too. Anyway here are the nominations.

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
An Education
The Hurt Locker
*Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire

Oustanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
*Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side
Helen Mirren in The Last Station
Carey Mulligan in An Education
Gabourey Sibide in Precious
Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
*Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
George Clooney in Up in the Air
Colin Firth in A Single Man
Morgan Freeman in Invictus
Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Penelope Cruz in Nine
Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick in Up in the Air
Diane Kruger in Inglourious Basterds
*Mo’Nique in Precious

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Matt Damon in Invictus
Woody Harrelson in The Messenger
Christopher Plummer in The Last Station
Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones
*Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds

To check winners and nominees in the all categories go here. To read the press release with the nominees go here. Actor Awards Ceremony will be Simulcast Live on Saturday January 23, 2010 on TNT and TBS at 8pm ET.

The Avengers?

I'm about three days behind on this one, but it bears relevant mention anyway. USA Today on 12/27 had a press piece from Marvel Comics about their upcoming most-recent line-wide revamp, "The Heroic Age," largely touted as a return to "old fashioned optimistic" superhero stories following the close of the current "Dark Reign" line-wide arc; which involved most of the company's "Avengers"-related heroes being replaced by rechristened supervillains under the direction of Spider-Man nemesis Norman Osborne. This is, of course, a cousin to DC's "Brightest Dawn" followup to their current "Darkest Night" crossover event, though both companies are spinning their respective shifts as being in some way inspired by the "Age of Obama."

Whatever. These "cycles" are how these things go. USA Today article is HERE: http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/2010-01-27-marvel27_ST_N.htm?csp=usat.me

The point of more immediate interest is an official "teaser" image that accompanied the piece, showing nine Marvel characters standing at attention. As the (evidently soon to be no-longer-pissed-at-eachother) "core" Avengers members Captain America, Thor and Iron Man are side-by-side, most are jumping to the conclusion that the teaser represents the new Avengers lineup, though no one has confirmed that. The other six are Hawkeye, Thing, Beast, Black Widow, Spider-Man and Gorilla Man - which casts some doubt on that notion since Thing, Beast and Gorilla Man are currently associated with other Marvel Teams (Beast is even depicted in his X-Men gear.) However, it's also notable that ALL of these characters have been Avengers members at one time or another.

Of more immediate interest to me: Major comic shakeups made in-advance of a related film production are usually connected in some way (see: Spider-Man wearing black again prior to SM3) and as such what immediately leaps out at me is Clint Barton (presumably) being back in his old-school Hawkeye identity/outfit. It's been heavily hinted that Hawkeye might be turning up in the planned "Avengers" team-up movie and possibly in one of the still-to-release lead-in films (Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America) and this would certainly be in-line with setting the stage for that (Black Widow is ALREADY known to be in IM2.)

Also noteworthy: The Captain America pictured seems to be the original Steve Rogers (blue eyes) but wearing a variation on the uniform of fill-in Cap Bucky Barnes (black pants, no mail-armor) which gives a certain amount of weight to the speculation that that's close to what Cap will be wearing in HIS movie. (FWIW, I like the design okay even if it IS just the standard-issue 2000s revamp cliche of mostly-black witha triangle-shaped suggestion of the original outfit draped over the shoulders.)

Escape to the Movies: "Edge of Darkness"

"Intermission" is about "Spider-Man," again. Hey, YOU find something else in this vein going on: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/moviebob/7093-Advice-From-a-Fanboy

Wall Street 2

Gotta say, this "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" trailer is about 90% perfect:



I'm speaking, of course, of all the stuff that involves treating Gordon Gekko's return like that of some iconic movie hero/villain to power, shades of the "Hannibal" trailer, etc. The question mark, naturally, is the focus on Shia LeBeouf - who's batting zip for 80s revamp movies so far and who's presence seems to have moved into the "automatic eyeroll" territory in trailers.

Back

Computer fuckups kept me out of posting-ness for a week or so, hopefully no longer.

Just a quick notation for now: J.D. Salinger and Howard Zinn both passed away today (so did Zelda Rubenstein); authors of "Catcher in The Rye" and "A People's History of The United States" respectively. So, if you know any college students - particularly here on the East Coast where Zinn mainly did his thing - give them a hug if you see them.

Salinger's passing will ultimately prove the more fascinating, as it may afford the world a glimpse into just what he's been up to ever since retreating into self-imposed exile.

BMC MOVIE OF THE WEEK: DORORO

Dororo (2007)

• 
• 

• Eita,
• Hitori Gekidan,
• Kou Shibasaki

A female warrior who was raised as a man joins a young samurai's quest to recover 48 of his body parts from 48 demons and to avenge her parents death.

68% liked it

Unrated, 2 hr. 19 min.

Director: Akihiko Shiota

January 24, 2010: Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

You just don’t get plot descriptions like that in American films, do you? Movies like Dororo require a copious amount of suspension of disbelief, especially for us literal minded western audiences. But once you accept the very fairytale conceit that a newborn infant resembling a giant Tic-Tac with a mouth can survive with no internal organs, then the rest of the film is clear sailing. And, I might add, a blast to watch, what with it’s generous heapings of wire-fu and monsters straight out of Japanese folklore. Jorōgumo, daitengu, and hanyō, oh my!

But this is no mere chop-socky flick. Based on the mega-popular 1960s manga by the legendary Osamu Tezuka (Japan’s Walt Disney), Dororo touches (lightly) on the lasting physical and mental scars wartime can bring, especially to children. As Hyakkimaru struggles to understand how his warlord father could have made a pact to provide his unborn son’s body parts to demons in exchange for victory in battle, it’s hard not to imagine the questions the post-war generation had for their elders. In Dororo, like many other Japanese tales that originated in the 50s and 60s, Hiroshima and Nagasaki lie just under the surface.

Dororo also addresses (again, lightly) concerns of a more personal nature. For instance, it seems kind of odd that the hero would even bother trying to reclaim his stolen body parts. After all, the mystical limbs and organs provided to the infant by a kindly sorcerer effectively transform Hyakkimaru into a superhero, a type of proto-Wolverine  who can pop off his forearms to reveal two kitana blades. So why would he want to get rid of the upgrades? My best guess is that it has something to do with the Shinto religion’s emphasis on the purity and wholeness of the physical body as a reflection on the state of the soul. This is subtly illustrated in the film in the way the hero’s desire for revenge lessens over the course of the story. You see, in Shinto, to seek revenge, even for a reason as understandable as Hyakkimaru’s, shows a deficiency in the soul. So it’s natural that as the hero repairs his body, he likewise repairs his soul, and the need for revenge dissipates.

I couldn’t help but recall Hyakkimaru’s plight as I pondered this week’s reading from I Corinthians in which St. Paul explains how we each make up a part of the body of Christ. The Catechism explains that “the comparison of the Church with the body casts light on the intimate bond between Christ and his Church. Not only is she gathered around him; she is united in him, in his body.” Unfortunately, it seems like God, much like the hero in this movie, is always having to track down the stray parts of his “body” in order to bring them back into the completeness of unity.

There is an important  difference, of course. Hyakkimaru’s search for the parts of his body reflected something missing in himself; God’s search for His reflects something missing in us. As James Cavanaugh, writing in the Denver Catholic Register, notes, “God does not “need” us in the sense that he is somehow dependent on us or incomplete without us. But God does desire us. More precisely, God desires to give himself to us. C.S. Lewis said it beautifully, “In God there is no hunger that needs to be filled; only plenteousness that desires to give.”

Escape to the Movies: "Legion"

INTERMISSION: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/moviebob/7052-The-Good-Book-of-Bad-Movies

Cindy McCain "No H8" ad

Hey, look. Some political news NOT related

to my homestate's momentary brain-fart:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CINDY_MCCAIN_GAY_MARRIAGE?SITE=CAANG&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT





That's Sen. John McCain's wife Cindy posing for the pro-gay-marriage "No H8" campaign, which has previously run similar ads featuring the McCains' daughter Megan.





According to the McCain campaign-proper, the senator - previously known as a regular for of the "values-voter' crowd prior to his (apparent) turnaround during the 2008 election - "respects disagreements" within his own family, but still claims to be against gay marriage. Then again, so does President Obama. In fact, at this point just about the ONLY high-grade presidential-level player in American politics who OPENLY supports equal-marriage is still... Dick Cheney.





Like it or not, this will continue to be the "difficult" issue for both parties, because they're both on the defensive. Lots of inside-baseball stuff indicates that a solid majority of Democrats support it but are terrified of saying so, that's no surprise... but it's also becoming clear that plenty of Republicans are either for it or "don't care one way or the other" but feel they have to be "against it" publically in order to appease - for lack of a better word - the Palin-wing of the party. I have a feeling that what the leadership of both parties would like more than anything else would be for the Supreme Court to bang the gavel and say "It's legal now!" Then they'd still be able to agree or disagree but also tell the Palin-wing "look, it's kinda done, out of our hands now" etc.

Hiatus

Today I'm boarding a plane to a place where there will be NO Internet connection (that's a true vacation, lol!) so wont be able to post the Cesar nominations that will be announced next Friday. If you feel like learning them before I go back to civilization, please go here.

2010 Academy Awards Foreign Language Film Shortlist

Here is the short list with nine (9)films that continue to be considered for final nominations in the category.

* Argentina, “El Secreto de Sus Ojos,” Juan Jose Campanella, director;
* Australia, “Samson & Delilah,” Warwick Thornton, director;
* Bulgaria, “The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks around the Corner,” Stephan Komandarev, director;
* France, “Un Prophète,” Jacques Audiard, director;
* Germany, “The White Ribbon,” Michael Haneke, director;
* Israel, “Ajami,” Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani, directors;
* Kazakhstan, “Kelin,” Ermek Tursunov, director;
* The Netherlands, “Winter in Wartime,” Martin Koolhoven, director;
* Peru, “The Milk of Sorrow,” Claudia Llosa, director.

To read the official press release go here. Congratulations to Argentina and Peru; so glad that my two favorites made it to the short list, A Prophet and The White Ribbon, let's see what happens when the final five are announced but I do expect both to be nominated.

Controller-snapping fury

To whomever at Nintendo is guilty of World 9-7 in New Super Mario Bros. Wii:

I hate you. I love you. Well done.

Hey, look! Spider-Man reboot news!

Ah, Sony Pictures... having you and this godforsaken project to beat up on has gotten me over A LOT of personal and professional humps these last few weeks ;)

Anyway, The Hollywood Reporter's "Heat Vision" blog is reporting on "the details" of the "Spider-Man" reboot, more or less confirming what the web snoops have been saying all along:
http://www.heatvisionblog.com/2010/01/marc-webb-to-direct-spiderman.html

As expected: A dramatically lower-budget, no "big names" in the main cast (so look for lots of stunt-casting in the villain seats), a high-school setting beginning with at least three installments with heavy, openly-acknowledged influence from Brian Michael Bendis' deplorably-overrated "Ultimate Spider-Man" run. In other words, it's a Buffy/Smallville approach but without the sole saving grace of room-to-grow afforded by television. (How long has it taken "Smallville" to go all the way from complete-shit to kinda-almost-passable, again?) Oh, and Marc Webb IS directing - possible all of the first three - so you may as well get used to how HYSTERICAL the mainstream entertainment press thinks it is that a guy named WEBB is making a Spider-Man movie.

Elsewhere, Chud's Devin Faraci is intimating additional information, namely that the main overrarching plot thread is a chaotic romantic entanglement involving Peter, Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane and Flash Thompson. Yegh. Why not just relocate the whole thing to coastal Washington State and get it over with? http://chud.com/articles/articles/22215/1/WELCOME-TO-SMALLVILLE-SPIDER-MAN/Page1.html

Elsewhere in geek-world, the Fox Network is developing a (presumably Dr. Who-unrelated) "Torchwood" remake for the U.S. Gee... I wonder what the first thing NOT carried-over will be? ;)

BMC MOVIE OF THE WEEK: ANGELS’ BRIGADE

Angels' Brigade aka Angels Revenge (1979)

• Sylvia Anderson,
• Lieu Chinh,
• Jacqueline Cole

Six sexy women, and a teenage girl, devastate a right-wing militia before doing battle with ruthless drug pushers.

16% liked it

PG

Director: Greydon Clark

January 17, 2010: Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Jiggle TV (a real term) consisted of tamely titillating shows from the 70s like Charlie’s Angels which, as the Encyclopedia Brittanica explains, “inherited a television culture that was more open, and tolerant than ever before… [and] tended to feature young, attractive, often scantily clad women (and later men as well).” In other words, the writing played second fiddle to the wardrobe (or  lack thereof). In terms of ratings, it was a massively successful formula. In terms of quality… well… 

Angels’ Brigade appears to have been a feeble attempt to duplicate the success of Jiggle TV on the big screen, but one has to wonder why as movie-going audiences in 1979 were already lining up to see much more explicit stuff like Blake Edward’s “10”. Obviously one reason was that Charlie’s Angels alone was still pulling in about 18 million viewers a week. But the other reason was probably because you couldn’t (or at least shouldn’t) take the kids to go watch Bo Derek drop her drawers. Jiggle, relatively speaking, was more kid friendly.

And make no mistake, Angels’ Brigade is a kid’s movie. None of the ladies are ever in any real danger (there’s one easily shrugged off flesh wound), the deaths are violent yet bloodless, and the villains are cartoonish. (Gilligan’s Mr. Howell as a racist right-wing militia commander?) Most telling is the fact that the Brigade itself is presented more like G.I.Joe action figures rather than as a collection of real individuals. I can’t remember their names, but I CAN remember there’s an kitana-wielding Asian lady who knows kung-fu, a street tough black chick who rides a motorcycle, and even a fashion model whose specialty is (honest to God) jiggling.

On this last point, the movie basically dips into G.I.Joe PSA territory as one character lets us know (and knowing is half the battle) that while individual talents are important, they reach their highest fruition when combined with the talents of others and put to use for the greater good. Oddly, it’s rather reminiscent of this week’s second reading from 1 Corinthians in which St. Paul goes over the various spiritual charisms, those graces such as prophecy and discernment which the Holy Spirit distributes “individually to each person as he wishes”.

As Pope Benedict XVI notes, while the gifts are individual, “what is important… is that all the charisms cooperate together for the building up of the community and that they not become instead a motive of laceration... Obviously, to underline the need for unity does not mean to hold that one must make ecclesial life uniform and flat according to one way of operating… [but] everything should concur to build the ecclesial fabric in an orderly way, not only without deadlocks, but also without flights or tears.” Basically, it’s the same call the ladies of the Angels’ Brigade heeded, only we Christians are expected not to jiggle as much while doing the same.

2009 MOVIE LIST... 132 and Counting

So we meet again, old friend...

THE STANDOUTS (16) - Just great movies that you'd have to be crazy to neither appreciate nor enjoy.

The Hurt Locker ***1/2
Inglourious Basterds ***1/2
500 Days of Summer ***1/2
A Single Man ***1/2
Anvil! The Story of Anvil ***1/2
Humpday ***1/2
Fish Tank ***1/2
Capitalism: A Love Story ***1/2
Where the Wild Things Are ***
The Cove ***
Up in the Air ***
Sugar ***
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire ***
Away We Go ***
Funny People ***
The Hangover ***

THE GOOD (31) - These movies met or exceeded my admittedly high expectations, whether those are unfair or not.

Brothers ***
The Road ***
The Messenger ***
Red Cliff (Part I - DVD Import) ***
Watchmen ***
More Than a Game ***
In the Loop ***
The Blind Side ***
The Soloist ***
Everybody's Fine ***
An Education ***
The Informant! ***
Paranormal Activity ***
Fantastic Mr. Fox ***
Taken ***
Star Trek ***
Rudo y Cursi ***
Zombieland ***
Adventureland ***
I Love You, Man ***
The Collector ***
The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans ***
The Girlfriend Experience ***
Collapse ***
Big Fan ***
State of Play ***
Bruno ***
The Escapist ***
Mystery Team ***
Lymelife ***
Black Dynamite ***

THE GOOD BUT SHOULD'VE BEEN BETTERS (23) - Enjoyable enough but missing some crucial element.

Avatar ***
The White Ribbon **1/2
Up ***
Crazy Heart ***
District 9 ***
The Chaser ***
The Baader Meinhof Complex ***
Public Enemies ***
That Evening Sun ***
Julie & Julia ***
Tyson **1/2
Moon **1/2
Tetro **1/2
The Burning Plain **1/2
Coraline **1/2
The Great Buck Howard **1/2
The International **1/2
Whip It **1/2
Jennifer's Body **1/2
Bronson **1/2
The House of the Devil **1/2
Food Inc. **1/2
The Missing Person **1/2

THE GUILTY PLEASURES (24) - Most people will rag on these but they exceeded my modest expectations.

Martyrs ***
The Informers ***
Sherlock Holmes ***
World's Greatest Dad **1/2
Antichrist **1/2
Surveillance **1/2
Fanboys **1/2
Land of the Lost **1/2
Orphan **1/2
Crank 2: High Voltage **1/2
Law Abiding Citizen **1/2
Obsessed **1/2
The Killing Room (DVD) **1/2
Next Day Air **1/2
G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra **1/2
X-Men Origins: Wolverine **1/2
The Last House on the Left **1/2
Spread **1/2
Extract **1/2
Surrogates **1/2
The Slammin' Salmon **
Weapons (DVD) **
Paul Blart: Mall Cop **
Fired Up **

THE UNDERWHELMING DISAPPOINTMENTS (28) - Failed to meet my reasonable expectations, or just generally unsatisfying.

A Serious Man **1/2
The Lovely Bones **1/2
Nine **1/2
Observe and Report **1/2
Invictus **1/2
Duplicity **1/2
Taking Woodstock **1/2
Thirst **1/2
Armored **
Knowing **
Paper Heart **
Drag Me to Hell **
The Box **
Angels and Demons **
Monsters vs. Aliens **
A Perfect Getaway **
Friday the 13th **
The Taking of Pelham 123 **
Couples Retreat **
The Brothers Bloom **
Year One **
The Goods: Live Hard Sell Hard **
Whatever Works *1/2
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus *1/2
Grace *1/2
The Marc Pease Experience *1/2
Brief Interviews With Hideous Men *1/2
Bart Got a Room *1/2

THE ACTIVELY BAD (10) - Not good movies AT ALL, and anyone who tries to argue otherwise is WRONG.

2012 *1/2
My Bloody Valentine 3-D *1/2
Horsemen *1/2
The Stepfather *1/2
Terminator Salvation *1/2
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen *1/2
Pandorum *
Halloween II *
Amusement (DVD) *
Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach (DVD) *

DVD - Direct-to-DVD title

COMING SOON (3): A Prophet, Saw VI, Franklyn (DVD)

67th Golden Globes Winners

Even if by now most of you know last night winners and found that my predictions were not really that wrong, here they are in my very first post using my brand new laptop with a lighted keyboard that's just cool.

Best Picture Drama: Avatar
Best Picture Comedy or Musical: The Hangover
Best Actress Drama: Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side
Best Actress Comedy or Musical: Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia
Best Actor Drama: Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
Best Actor Comedy or Musical: Robert Downey Jr in Sherlock Holmes
Best Supporting Actress: Mo'nique in Precious
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds
Best Director: James Cameron for Avatar
Best Animated Movie: UP

Best Foreign Language Film: Das Weisse Band-Eine Deutsche Kidergeschichte (The White Ribbon)

Seems that gossip was right as Cameron and Avatar got the big awards, which I do not know what to think yet as hasn't been able to watch the movie. But a blockbuster winning major American awards is not common, but has happened before a few times, including once to a James Cameron film, remember Titanic? Hope to be able to watch Avatar tomorrow and hope to at least enjoy the special effects as serious buzz says that the story is not really good.

The award show was entertaining and I know that not many like Ricky Gervais kind of humor, but his sharp darkish humor is what kept me awake until the end of the show. He really makes me laugh hard.

From TV categories I'm really happy that Toni Collette was honored for the great United States of Tara, as well as Drew Barrymore for her performance in Grey Gardens and from the clips now I know that I have to watch Georgia O'Keeffe with Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons. Already watch and like Big Love with Chloe Sevigny very dramatic performances during last season and a well deserved honor.

So now I have little doubt that Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock will be nominated for Best Actress, that Jeff Bridges will also be nominated, and that Christoph Waltz has an Oscar in his future.

That's it for this year.

Golden Globes

Yes, I watched the Golden Globes.

Yes, the Golden Globes are an utterly worthless institution.

Yes, Sandra Bullock winning ANYTHING for "Blind Side" is preposterous, but it's not worth being outraged over because it's just a Globe and as mentioned before the Globes are worthless - position I will maintain up until if and when I'm nominated for one, at which point they will become a tremendous honor I've been dreaming of recieving since I was a small boy.

Yes, once Us/InTouch/etc "catch up" to the whole "and he's her ex-husband" thing, Kathryn Bigelow is going to be the most-sympathized-with woman in America - primary by women who've never seen one of her movies and had no idea what "The Hurt Locker" was before last night.

Yes, James Cameron actually delivered a portion of his acceptance speech in his own made-up space-alien language. I'm still trying to decide whether that's the most awesomely nerdy thing anyone has ever done at an awards show or just kinda lame. It would not surprise me at all to learn that he speaks Na'vi more fluently than I speak English.

Yes, I'd like to find out how much sound and/or light would be completely shut out if one tried to check Christina Hendricks' heartbeat. Failing that, I'd like to see the same experiment performed by Elizabeth Banks.

Yes, I'm starting to come-around on the "Avatar is very-possibly going to win Best Picture" train. It's not in my top-ten, it won't be my favorite of the nominees... but unless District 9 is also nominated I'm compelled to root for it. "Best Picture" going to an action-epic about blue kitty-people fighting soldiers piloting mecha-suits is a HUGE step forward for getting "genre film" out of the ghetto once and for all.

THE INSNEIDER'S FINAL GOLDEN GLOBE PREDICTIONS

Better late than never, right?

BEST MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA

Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
Up in the Air

Should Win: The Hurt Locker
Will Win: Avatar
Could Win But Shouldn't: Up in the Air
Definitely Won't Win: Precious
Comments: This is a tough race to call. Where the Oscars might be down to Avatar vs. The Hurt Locker, it's true that Up in the Air is very much still in play for the HFPA. Furthermore, Precious, which might make more sense for the Oscar then the Globe, takes a clear backseat here to the European sensibilities of Inglourious Basterds, which looms on the outside as a dark horse waiting to again rewrite history.

BEST MOTION PICTURE - COMEDY/MUSICAL

(500) Days of Summer
The Hangover
It's Complicated
Julie & Julia
Nine

Should Win: (500) Days of Summer
Will Win: (500) Days of Summer
Could Win But Shouldn't: Julie & Julia
Definitely Won't Win: The Hangover
Comments: This could be the toughest race of the night to call. I would expect the Meryl Streep movies to split the vote. Julie & Julia seemed to be the more critically acclaimed film, but It's Complicated received a screenplay nod. The Hangover made the most money and seems to be the best liked, but it's the only nominee without a Best Actor or Actress nomination, and how many 40+ foreign journalists would really vote it as one of the two best movies of the year. Nine could benefit from the Harvey Weinstein campaign, plus the fact that it's the only musical in the category. That said, I can't shake the feeling that (500) Days of Summer was CLEARLY the best film in this category, and Globes voters would have to be blind not to see that.

BEST DIRECTOR

Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
James Cameron - Avatar
Clint Eastwood - Invictus
Jason Reitman - Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

Should Win: Kathryn Bigelow
Will Win: James Cameron
Could Win But Shouldn't: Quentin Tarantino
Definitely Won't Win: Clint Eastwood
Comments: This is a 2-person race, between ex-spouses Bigelow and Cameron. Bigelow is expected to win but Avatar is a worldwide phenomenon and I'd expect the HFPA to honor Cameron and his box office behemoth here. His self-designation as King of the World may prove true tonight.

BEST ACTOR - DRAMA

Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
George Clooney - Up in the Air
Colin Firth - A Single Man
Morgan Freeman - Invictus
Tobey Maguire - Brothers

Should Win: Colin Firth
Will Win: George Clooney
Could Win But Shouldn't: Jeff Bridges
Definitely Won't Win: Tobey Maguire

Comments: As much as I hope that Firth or Bridges will take this award, there's no denying that the HFPA is an organization of starfuckers that won't be able to resist having Clooney take the stage for playing a slight variation of himself.

BEST ACTRESS - DRAMA

Emily Blunt - The Young Victoria
Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Helen Mirren - The Last Station
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious

Should Win: Gabourey Sidibe
Will Win: Carey Mulligan
Could Win But Shouldn't: Sandra Bullock
Definitely Won't Win: Emily Blunt
Comments: This is between Bullock and Mulligan. Something tells me Bullock may prevail on Oscar night, if not Sidibe. But for some reason, I expect the HFPA to want to honor Mulligan with her first "BIG" award. Plus a football drama with a Southern lead doesn't sound like the voters' cup of tea.

BEST ACTOR - COMEDY/MUSICAL

Matt Damon - The Informant!
Daniel Day-Lewis - Nine
Robert Downey Jr. - Sherlock Holmes
Joseph Gordon Levitt - (500) Days of Summer
Michael Stuhlbarg - A Serious Man

Should Win: Matt Damon
Will Win: Matt Damon
Could Win But Shouldn't: Robert Downey Jr.
Definitely Won't Win: Michael Stuhlbarg
Comments: Day-Lewis always brings it but he almost made it look too easy. On the other hand, Damon gained a ton of weight and burrowed into the physical transformation required of his character. Gordon-Levitt was really excellent but it seems like the nomination could wind up being his reward. I think the HFPA would love to have Iron Man Downey Jr. on stage but Sherlock Holmes is probably too slight of an effort. Look for Damon, who is also nominated for Supporting Actor, to prevail, joining his Ocean's 11 pal Clooney in the winner's circle.

BEST ACTRESS - COMEDY/MUSICAL

Sandra Bullock - The Proposal
Marion Cotillard - Nine
Julia Roberts - Duplicity
Meryl Streep - It's Complicated
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

Should Win: Marion Cotillard
Will Win: Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
Could Win But Shouldn't: Meryl Streep - It's Complicated
Definitely Won't Win: Julia Roberts
Comments: This one is pretty much a lock. Cotillard was excellent but she wasn't in the movie that much. This is Streep's statue to lose. Her only competition is herself. Roberts led a non-starter of a movie. She's here for star appeal only. And Bullock will get a closer look for her performance in The Blind Side.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Matt Damon - Invictus
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

Should Win: Christoph Waltz
Will Win: Christoph Waltz
Could Win But Shouldn't: Woody Harrelson
Definitely Won't Win: Matt Damon
Comments: Lock it up. Nothing to say about this one.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Penelope Cruz - Nine
Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Mo'Nique - Precious
Julianne Moore - A Single Man

Should Win: Mo'Nique
Will Win: Mo'Nique
Could Win But Shouldn't: Anna Kendrick
Definitely Won't Win: Julianne Moore
Comments: Ditto the above. It's a done deal, whether Mo'Nique likes it or not.

BEST SCREENPLAY

Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell - District 9
Mark Boal - The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds
Nancy Meyers - It's Complicated
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner - Up in the Air

Should Win: Quentin Tarantino
Will Win: Quentin Tarantino
Could Win But Shouldn't: Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner
Definitely Won't Win: Nancy Meyers
Comments: This is a tough one. Up in the Air could pull it off, and don't count out Mark Boal. But something tells me it's Tarantino's turn. And frankly, he earned it.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
Up

Should Win: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Will Win: Up
Could Win But Shouldn't: Coraline
Definitely Won't Win: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Comments: No contest. Fantastic Mr. Fox had a nice late surge but I don't think it will be enough to overthrow Pixar.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Baaria (Italy)
Broken Embraces (Spain)
The Maid (La Nana) (Chile)
A Prophet (Un Prophete) (France)
The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band) (Germany)

Should Win: A Prophet
Will Win: A Prophet
Could Win But Shouldn't: The White Ribbon
Definitely Won't Win: Baaria
Comments: Never count out Pedro Almodovar but Broken Embraces never found awards traction stateside and A Prophet is a highly anticipated February release that won the Cannes Film Festival. The White Ribbon is a serious threat but something tells me that Haneke isn't for everyone.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Avatar - "I See You" by James Horner & Simon Franglen
Brothers - "Winter" by U2
Crazy Heart - "The Weary Kind (Theme From 'Crazy Heart')" by Ryan Bingham & T Bone Burnett
Nine - "Cinema Italiano" by Maury Yeston
Everybody's Fine - "I Want To Come Home" by Paul McCartney

Should Win: Ryan Bingham & T Bone Burnett
Will Win: U2
Could Win But Shouldn't: James Horner & Simon Franglen
Definitely Won't Win: Maury Yeston
Comments: Will Globes voters be able to resist seeing U2 or Paul McCartnet onstage? I say no. Ryan Bingham's song is vital to Crazy Heart but country music may not be for most foreign journos. Avatar could definitely win even though Leona Lewis sings over the end credits and the song doesn't really match the rest of the movie.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Michael Giacchino - Up
Marvin Hamlisch - The Informant!
James Horner - Avatar
Abel Korzeniowski - A Single Man
Karen O and Carter Burwell - Where the Wild Things Are

Should Win: Abel Korzeniowski
Will Win: Michael Giacchino
Could Win But Shouldn't: James Horner
Definitely Won't Win: Karen O and Carter Burwell
Comments: I thought Avatar's score was particularly weak, while Korzeniowski's work sparkled in A Single Man. Horner is the heavy favorite but Giacchino is a rising superstar, and Up is just as well-liked as Avatar.

Agree? Disagree? Agree to disagree? Let me hear you in the comments below!

15th Critics’ Choice Awards Winners

Winners are in *RED.

Recently the Broadcast Film Critics Association announced their nominations and here they are.

BEST PICTURE
Avatar
An Education
*The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
Nine
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up In The Air

BEST ACTRESS (Tie)
Emily Blunt - The Young Victoria
*Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Saoirse Ronan - The Lovely Bones
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious
*Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

BEST ACTOR
*Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
George Clooney - Up In The Air
Colin Firth - A Single Man
Morgan Freeman - Invictus
Viggo Mortensen - The Road
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Matt Damon - Invictus
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
Christian McKay - Me And Orson Welles
Alfred Molina - An Education
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
*Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Marion Cotillard - Nine
Vera Farmiga - Up In The Air
Anna Kendrick - Up In The Air
*Mo’Nique - Precious
Julianne Moore - A Single Man
Samantha Morton - The Messenger

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Jae Head - The Blind Side
Bailee Madison - Brothers
Max Records - Where The Wild Things Are
*Saoirse Ronan - The Lovely Bones
Kodi Smit-McPhee - The Road

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
*Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Precious
Star Trek
Up In The Air

BEST DIRECTING
*Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
James Cameron - Avatar
Lee Daniels - Precious
Clint Eastwood - Invictus
Jason Reitman - Up In The Air
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Cloudy With A Chanceof Meatballs
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Princess and the Frog
*Up

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
*Broken Embraces
Coco Before Chanel
Red Cliff
Sin Nombre
The White Ribbon
(I think no one in America has seen A Prophet!) Unbelievable that Critics' find Broken Embrances better than The White Ribbon or even Sin Nombre!!!

To check nominees in other categories go here. The awards ceremony will be on January 15th and will be broadcast on VH1. Use the same link to find winners in all categories.

Escape to The Movies: Book of Eli

And "Intermission" is about Spider-Man: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/moviebob/7014-Spider-Man-No-More

Festivals News

Some of you probably noticed that posting at the blog has been erratic and it’s not because I do not want to post or because I have no free time. It’s been because the blog is the object of a massive and very disgusting spam attack that finally I hope I learned how to control it, as for the past two days spam has stopped. Let’s hope that spam stays away from the blog from now on.

Unfortunately for the next two weeks I’ll be traveling and won’t be able to continue posting more regularly, so I decided to call your attention to two festivals that will be running soon. One is Sundance and the other is more interesting if you enjoy good International cinema, the 39th Rotterdam International Film Festival.

I will be posting the winners in each festival as soon as possible, but if you wish to check the list of films at the Rotterdam fest please go here and to check the Sundance lineup go here.

From Sundance there is one film that I’m sure many that read the blog will be excited to finally learn that has been released: The Runaways! The bad news is that there will be no Queer Lounge this year at Sundance, so it’s not easy to learn the LGBT films that will be screened.

From the Rotterdam fest here is a copy and paste of the nominees for the VPRO Tiger Awards Competition

Autumn Adagio by Inoue Tsuki (Japan, 2009)
Inoue Tsuki’s début feature film, after her prize winning short fiction The Woman Who Is Beating The Earth, is called Autumn Adagio. Japanese musician and actress Rei Shibakusa plays a middle-aged nun in a drama that deals with salvation, sexuality and identity in the different stages of a woman’s life.

C’est déja l'été by Martijn Maria Smits (The Netherlands/Belgium, 2010)
Talentend young filmmaker Martijn Smits literally makes his way into Dardenne Brothers territory with his début feature C’est déja l'été, a realistic and engaging portrayal of a dysfunctional, lower class family living in Seraing, Belgium.

Agua fría de mar (Cold water of the Sea) by Paz Fábrega (Costa Rica/France/Spain/Netherlands/Mexico, 2010)
Paz Fábrega’s first feature film Agua fría de mar (Cold Water of the Sea) is set on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica during the Christmas holiday season. It is the sensitive and atmospheric story of a young couple and a seven-year old girl with very different social backgrounds.

Let Each One Go Where He May by Ben Russell (USA/Suriname, 2009)
Let Each One Go Where He May is the feature début of Chicago-based filmmaker Ben Russell. The film, portraying contemporary Saramaccan life, traces the journey of two brothers who venture from the outskirts of Paramaribo, Suriname, on land and through rapids, past a Maroon village on the Upper Suriname River. Their journey reflects the voyage undertaken by their ancestors, who escaped from slavery at the hands of the Dutch 300 years earlier.

Mama by Yelena Renard & Nikolay Renard (Russia, 2010)
Yelena and Nikolay Renard, new and promising voices in Russian cinema, made fiction out of the real life story of a complex relationship between an overbearing mother and her obese, forty-year-old son who still lives at home. The filmmakers use a very realistic style in which shots are sometimes turned into tableaux vivants.

Miyoko by Tsubota Yoshifumi (Japan, 2009)
Tsubota Yoshifumi’s Miyoko is a lavishly styled biopic about a Japanese manga-artist, his regularly nude posing muse Miyoko and the bohemian Tokyo neighborhood where they live in the seventies. The young artist obsessively sticks to his girlfriend and the bottle.

Mundane History by Anocha Suwichakornpong (Thailand, 2009)
Scriptwriter and director Anocha Suwichakornpong’s short film Graceland (2006) became the first Thai short film to be included in the Official Selection at Cannes Film Festival. Her feature film début Mundane History is a family drama about a paralyzed son, an elusive father and the male nurse hired to take care of the wheelchair-bound patient. Suwichakornpong’s second feature project By the Time It Gets Dark is selected for CineMart 2010.

My Daughter by Charlotte Lay Kuen Lim (Malaysia, 2009)
Charlotte Lay Kuen Lim worked for numerous TV commercials after completing her studies in broadcasting and was an assistant director for various films. She directed several short films, such as Escape (2008), screened at IFFR 2009. Her feature film début My Daughter is an intimate study of the mutual dependence between a slovenly hairdresser and her insecure teenage daughter.

R by Michael Noer & Tobias Lindholm (Denmark, 2010)
R is Lindholm & Noer’s first feature film about young Rune who tries to survive in a Danish prison. A gripping, hard hitting film that portrays the prison world with its strict hierarchy, codes of honor and mysterious contracts.

Les signes vitaux (Vital Signs) by Sophie Deraspe (Canada, 2009)
A young Canadian woman wants to know what people really need in the last moments of their lives. In a restrained way, without any false sentimentality, Sophie Deraspe’s film evokes grand questions about the things that are important in life and the strange intimacy between caregivers and the dying.

Street Days by Levan Koguashvili (Georgia, 2010)
Sober Georgian drama about Checkie, a jobless and penniless junkie, is a reflection of a generation who were around the age of twenty when the Soviet Union fell, brought up in the soviet style, and incapable of adapting to all the socio-political and economical changes. They are now in their late thirties and early forties and referred to as the lost generation.

Sun Spots by Yang Heng (Hong Kong/China, 2009)
Three years after his award winning début feature Betelnut, Yang Heng presents Sun Spots, minimalistic Chinese cinema that combines beautiful HD imagery with the story of a tragic relationship between a young gangster and a girl disappointed in love.

The Temptation of St. Tony by Veiko Õunpuu (Estonia/Sweden/Finland, 2009)
After winning the Horizon Award 2007 at the Venice Film Festival for his début feature Autumn Ball, Estonian filmmaker Veiko Õunpuu now returns with his second feature The Temptation of St. Tony, a parable on the new, wolf like capitalism in Eastern Europe with its compassionless capitalist rules and rulers. Shot in beautiful black and white, Õunpuu’s vision is provocative and dark, but also very diverting with his use of black comedy.

Alamar (To the Sea) by Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio (Mexico, 2009), European premiere
Alamar delicately portrays the relationship between a father and son spending a summer on Chinchorro reef on the Mexican-Caribbean coast, where the father is a fisherman. The second feature film by Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio was produced by Jaime Romandia for Mantarraya Producciones that previously produced films by Carlos Reygadas and Amat Escalante.

La vie au Ranch by Sophie Letourneur (France, 2009)
In her début feature La vie au ranch, Sophie Letourneur portrays with great insight the seemingly quite happy daily life of a small group of twenty-year-old female students living together in what they call their ‘Ranch’. Their lives are about to be confronted with the sharper edges of reality and relationships.

There are some very interesting films in the competition lineup that I had to post them.

Hope you will browse both fests sites and one fest that definitively I HAVE to do the usual coverage is the 2010 Berlinale that will start on February 11th, 2010 and this year will celebrate its 60th Anniversary.

Enjoy!

2010 Critics' Choice Awards

Tonight at 9:00pm ET the awards show will be broadcast live in VH1 and probably I will not be able to watch it unless I find a way online. Still the awards show is not very entertaining and definitively lacks the glamour of other awards shows, so I do not mind missing it. Tomorrow I'll post the winners, but if I guess in advance I believe that will follow the trend we have been seeing in all the critics state chapters, meaning The Hurt Locker or Up in the Air will win, as well as George Clooney, Meryl Streep or Sandra Bullock (this result will be interesting to find), Christoph Waltz, Mo'nique and Kathryn Bigelow or maybe not as not often female directors get the awards, so probably will be Tarantino.

Never mind, by this time tomorrow we will know how American critics rate 2009 cinema.

67th Golden Globes Awards News

Next Sunday January 17th at 8:00pm ET the always fun-to-watch show will be telecast live on NBC and the extremely good news for me is that I’ll be in the USA and will be able to just turn on the TV and watch! Gee that’s absolutely great as I thought I was going to miss the show.

A few days back a friend asked me for my predictions and well, the Globes have been unpredictable with many surprises, but this year maybe I guess right. So after consulting my crystal ball here they are.

Best Picture Drama: Hurt Locker or Inglourious Basterds. The surprise will be Precious but I didn’t like the movie at all, so I hope there are no surprises.

Best Picture Comedy or Musical: I was hoping for Nine but critics reviews have not been favorable; so I think is going to be Meryl Streep, meaning It’s Complicated or Julie & Julia IF they do not cancel each other. The surprise will be if The Hangover or (500) Days of Summer wins.

Best Actress Drama: Wish Carey Mulligan wins but the huge commercial success of Sandra Bullock’s The Blind Side plus her good interpretation could mean a win. The surprise could be if Helen Mirren, Emily Blunt or Gabourey Sidibe win.

Best Actress Comedy or Musical: Has to be Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia. It’s almost a sure thing. The huge positive surprise for me will be if Marion Cotillard wins and haven’t seen Nine yet.

Best Actor Drama: From buzz Colin Firth should win, but I believe that will be George Clooney. Wish Morgan Freeman will get it for his excellent performance, but I doubt he will win. Also from buzz, the surprise could be Jeff Bridges.

Best Actor Comedy or Musical: Hard to guess but I wouldn’t mind if Daniel Day-Lewis or Robert Downey Jr are honored; still the buzz leans toward Matt Damon.

Best Supporting Actress: Everybody says it will be Mo’nique. Well her character was so disgusting and she did it so well that deserves the honor, at least more than Vera Farmiga or Anna Kendrick. The huge surprise will be if Penelope Cruz wins.

Best Supporting Actor: HAS TO BE Christoph Waltz and he will win, no doubts in my mind.

Best Director: If Kathryn Bigelow or Quentin Tarrantino win I’ll be okay. Gossip says that Bigelow’s ex-husband James Cameron has the votes because the humongous Avatar success. I really wish Clint Eastwood wins, but is not likely this year. The surprise could come with Jason Reitman winning and in my humble opinion he does not deserve the honor for this movie that is ordinary especially when you compare it to extraordinary Juno.

Best Foreign Language Film: HAS TO BE A Prophet or The White Ribbon otherwise I will never watch the show again (just kidding). The huge positive surprise will be if Chile’s La Nana (The Maid) wins and be sure that I’ll drink champagne to celebrate.

Some of you perhaps recall that animated movies are not my thing and the only film that have seen is UP that comes with Cannes credentials and surely will win.

Anyway, not often Globe winners are Oscar winners so the awards value for us viewers is the unpredictable things that always happen during the show and that make me watch year after year. Hope many of you sit in front of the TV next Sunday and have some fun watching the most irreverent awards show in the planet that this year -after many years without- will have a host that I like for his very darkish humor, Rick Gervais.

Enjoy!!!

Spider-Man reboot thought of the day (again)

Everyone and their uncle is reporting that Marc Webb, a music video mainstay turned feature director with last year's "Mopey Guy Pursues Manic Pixie Dream-Girl Indie Rom-Com #472" (released in some markets as "500 Days of Summer,") is Sony's go-to guy for "Spider-Man: The New Class."

Webb had a lot of heat on him, even prior to "Summer," but he's new enough to not have precisely a ton of clout. Make no mistake - the only people they're looking to hire for this are people who're already in-sync with the pre-mandated approach OR people who can be pushed around INTO the pre-mandated approach.

The important detail to take away from all this is how fast it's been: Unless someone at Sony is blowing smoke, they had a script the DAY they announced #4 was canceled and now they may have already nabbed a somewhat-sought-after new talent for director. In other words, it looks more and more like they'd decided on this course of action faaaaaar in advance, and that all the stonewalling of Sam Raimi over the villain was quite possibly a manuver to get him to leave "voluntarily" so this reboot could proceed. Not at all an unheard of move in the business.

"Spider-Man: Breaking Eclipse" is currently slated for 2012.

SHORT FEATURE: THE DONNIE & MARIE STAR WARS SPECIAL

I know I just tortured everyone with the French Fried Star Wars post, but just to show you what a cruel S.O.B. I can be sometimes, I’m gonna follow it right up with this.

For those of you who managed keep your heads from imploding, I think the lesson here is obvious. Just because you CAN insert popular musical forms into a particular setting doesn’t necessarily mean you always SHOULD.

It was that very train of thought which led the soon to be Pope Benedict XVI to write in The Spirit Of The Liturgy, “Not every kind of music can have a place in Christian worship. It has its standards, and that standard is the Lo­gos. If we want to know whom we are dealing with, the Holy Spirit or the unholy spirit, we have to remember that it is the Holy Spirit who moves us to say, “Jesus is Lord” (~Cor 12:3). The Holy Spirit leads us to the Logos, and he leads us to a music that serves the Logos as a sign of the sursum corda, the lifting up of the human heart. Does it integrate man by drawing him to what is above, or does it cause his disintegration into formless intoxication or mere sensuality? That is the criterion for a music in harmony with logos, a form of that logike latreia (reasonable, logos-worthy worship).”

From that statement he went on to basically trash “modern so-called ‘classical’ music” (“an elitist ghetto”), pop music (“a cult of the banal”), and rock music (no more than an “expression of elemental passions”). But do these kinds of personal reservations from the pope necessarily exclude the use of popular forms of music in liturgy or insinuate that chant should be brought back as the go-to option for music at mass? Well, while such a move would hardly break my heart given my own taste in liturgical music, the actual answer appears to be… no, not really. In his book, Cardinal Ratzinger also pointed out that we have to take into consideration “the cultural universalization that the Church has to undertake if she wants to get beyond the boundaries of the European mind. This is the question of what in­culturation should look like in the realm of sacred music if, on the one hand, the identity of Christianity is to be preserved and, on the other, its universality is to be ex­pressed in local forms.”

Reflecting on this tension in his Chirograph on Sacred Music, Pope John Paul II wrote that “It is not, of course, a question of imitating Gregorian chant but rather of ensuring that new compositions are imbued with the same spirit that inspired and little by little came to shape it. Only an artist who is profoundly steeped in the sensus Ecclesiae can attempt to perceive and express in melody the truth of the Mystery that is celebrated in the Liturgy. In this perspective, in my Letter to Artists I wrote: "How many sacred works have been composed through the centuries by people deeply imbued with the sense of mystery! The faith of countless believers has been nourished by melodies flowing from the hearts of other believers, either introduced into the Liturgy or used as an aid to dignified worship. In song, faith is experienced as vibrant joy, love and confident expectation of the saving intervention of God"

Spider-Man reboot thought for the day

(y'know what would be great? If this story stays big long enough that this title becomes no longer a joke...)

I was struck by a bitter thought today, regarding A.) this unfolding story and B.) the whiny, insecure twits who're still convinced that Peter Parker - gasp! - DANCING!!!! in "Spider-Man 3" is the worst, most horrible thing in the history of cinema. The following is addressed to them:

I hope you're happy now. I hope you're fucking thrilled.

I also hope that, in 2012, when we all get to see whichever "adorable" up-and-coming castoff from whatever the 2012 equivalent of "Gossip Girl" get's picked to don the hip, fresh n' with-it "reimagining" of the Spider-Man costume and do battle with an inexplicably all-important Eddie Brock (Mike "The Situation," perhaps?) under the direction of some hired gun director who's only prior credits are some Puma commercials and 2nd unit on a fucking Lady Gaga video (or just Bret Ratner, same difference really) ...I hope you're even happier.

2010 BAFTA Rising Star Award

If you live in UK this is your chance to vote for your favorite Rising Star. Here are the nominees.

Jesse Eisenberg
Nicholas Hoult
Carey Mulligan
Tahar Rahim
Kristen Stewart

I really LOVED Tahar Rahim in A Prophet, amazing performance and I really liked Carey Mulligan in An Education, but if I could vote my totally biased vote goes to Kristen Stewart that I LOVE before she became so famous with the Twilight saga.

To learn how to vote and/or read a brief bio of each nominee go here.

Maybe this means we'll get Morbius, after all...

(note: Anyone who's already "sick" of me covering Spider-Man Reboot news might as well just check out of this blog from now until about 2013, just so we're clear.)

EVERYONE on the Web is covering the Spider-Man story, but as of right now the best "day of" reaction I've come across was from Devin over on Chud: http://chud.com/articles/articles/22113/1/THE-DEVIN039S-ADVOCATE-TWILIGHT-FOR-SPIDER-MAN-AND-HOLLYWOOD/Page1.html

As is frequently the case, he's landed on a thesis that makes a depressing amount of sense regarding Sony's "send the series back to high school" angle: It allows them to morph the franchise into "Twilight" i.e. 'superpowers-as-teen-angst-melodrama.'

Yegh. Might as well start scanning The CW for whoever's going to take the lead (they'll be looking for "a less-edgy Michael Cera.")

Ultimate Spider-Man: The Movie

Good Spider-Man Movies: 2001-2010. RIP.

The question of whether or not the movie industry would have an earth-shaking, massive angry-talent/angry-studio story of the year to match Leno vs. Conan vs. NBC has been answered. Deadline Hollywood is reporting - and Sony is confirming - that the difficulties surrounding "Spider-Man 4" (read: Sam Raimi won't budge on using the characters/plot he wants to) have led to a major shakeup: Raimi is gone, along with the ENTIRE cast and continuity of the series up to this point: http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/urgent-spider-man-4-scrapped-as-is-raimi-and-cast-out-franchise-reboot-planned/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

It's over. The series is done.

Sony's plan - detailed enough for anyone to conclude that this is what they ultimately wanted for a long time now - is to RE-START the whole thing. Peter Parker back in high-school, "Ultimate Marvel"-style. New go-round of the origin, newer, younger actors in the roles.

A re-boot. Of a franchise that isn't even a decade old. The last installment of which broke $300 Million US. This the "nightmare scenario" everyone was worried about when the remake/reboot thing went started to get out of control.

The only positive to come out of this is a creatively-freed Sam Raimi. Everything else... WOW, this is going to suck. The whole history of this series has been Raimi and his people holding fast against bad ideas from the studio. Can you IMAGINE what a "hip young teenaged" Spider-Man is going to look like with only Sony and whatever jobber filmmaker donates his body to this in charge? The mind reels at whom they might cast - remember, before Raimi stepped in Freddie Prinze Jr. was going to get the part. And you can probably bet good money that Venom will turn up right away... and probably Carnage, too, along with every other worthless fucking 90s Spidey villain that still moves a fucking t-shirt.