83rd Academy Awards – Animated Feature Films Shortlist

A few days ago the Academy announced the fifteen (15) feature films that have been accepted for consideration in the Animated Feature category and here they are.

Alpha and Omega, Anthony Bell and Ben Gluck, USA and India
Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, Lawrence Guterman, USA and Australia
Despicable Me, Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, USA
The Dreams of Jinsha, China
How to Train Your Dragon, Dean DeBlois and Chirs Sanders, USA
Idiots and Angels, Bill Plympton, USA
The Illusionist, Sylvain Chomet, UK and France
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, Zack Snyder, USA and Australia
Megamind, Tom McGrath, USA
My Dog Tulip, Paul and Sandra Fierlinger, USA
Shrek Forever After, Mike Mitchell, USA
Summer Wars, Mamoru Hosada, Japan
Tangled, Nathan Greno and Byron Howard, USA
Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue, Bradley Raymond, USA

Some of you probably remember that I’m not fond of animated films, so it’s no surprise that I have seen only one from the above list and didn’t like it much! I’m talking about Toy Story 3 that everybody loved (except me) and surely will be one of the three that will be nominated. As we know with fifteen films the Academy rules says that there could be only 3 nominated and from 16 above there could be five (5) nominated.

Nevertheless, there are four films that have not yet had their required Los Angeles qualifying run and one of them is the only one I’m really looking forward to watch, The Illusionist by Sylvain Chomet that did the outstanding Les Triplettes de Belleville. I hope filmmakers comply with the rule in time so film can be considered as I imagine will be as good as mentioned film. The other three films are The Dreams of Jinsha, Summer Wars and Tangled.

After checking films I’m glad the Academy is considering films that are not only American and got curious about the India co-production and probably will watch Despicable Me eventually.

To read press release at the Academy official site go here.

NOW SHOWING AT A BLOG NEAR YOU: VILLAINY!

Every now and then something or someone in the blogosphere gives me a wild hair and I just have to run with it. This time, it’s LarryD over at Acts Of The Apostasy with his recent post on the reaction of the nefarious super-villain group SCHISM to the recent election of Archbishop Timothy Dolan to the presidency of the USCCB. The post is hilarious, but down in the combox one of Larry’s astute readers, after reflecting on the character of Cosmic Girl, noted that he was “a bit afraid of what her costume might end up looking like.” Which got me to thinking…

Now, please forgive the quality, but all I had available at the office this morning was a legal pad and a cell phone to take the picture with. But I think the general idea is there.

For my rendition of Cosmic Girl, I decided to include a few things LarryD didn’t mention, but I was sure would be there. Things like:

A crystal wand to channel the power of the Spirit of Vatican 2.

Wonder Woman style wrist bracelets to symbolism years of male oppression in the Church.

Special vest buttons to symbolize Cosmic Girl’s respect for all religious traditions (though a Christian symbol is conspicuously absent).

And, of course, a nice tweed skirt to make her adventuring all the more comfortable.

So there you have my version of LarryD’s Cosmic Girl. Cower in fear before her villainy!

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P.S. It’s all in good fun, folks. While I’m opposed to some of the sister’s ideas, I’m sure the lady herself is probably a sweetheart. And I hope she forgives the unflattering image as my caricature skills are poor to say the least. And please, LarryD, don’t sue for copyright infringement.

HONORING THE HORRENDOUS

As you’ve probably heard by now, prolific film producer Dino De Laurentiis has passed and his funeral will be held this coming Monday at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles. Now if you were a kid in the 70s like me, then you probably became familiar with Mr. De Laurentiis through his efforts to bring the 1976 remake of King Kong to fruition. Yeah, I know. The greatest generation got the classic original with Willis O'Brien's brilliant stop-motion animation, the latest generation got Peter Jackson’s lavishly bloated CGI love-fest, and us… we got a crusading bearded liberal being chased by a guy in a monkey suit. But what the heck, it was the 70s! I saw Dino’s Kong  in the theater and I still watch it today. It’s too much fun not to.

Okay, so not every film the man was involved with was a classic, but he does have some really good stuff in his 500+ film oeuvre, including what many regard as one of the greatest of the old school Biblical epics, Barabbas. He was nominated for over 35 Oscars and won the Irving G.Thalberg Memorial Award for “demonstrating a consistently high quality of motion picture production”. It’s just that for every Serpico to his credit, there’s also a Mandingo. Face it, there’s a reason Michael Medved called him "Dino De Horrendous". But we bad movie lovers certainly don’t hold that against him. I mean, come on, just think of all the things we would have missed without him.

We might never have heard Arnold Schwarzenegger explain that what is best in life is “to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.”

We might never have gotten to see a greasy underfed Sting prance around in his speedo and menace others with pointy weapons.

We might never have seen Bruce Campbell fight the Army of Darkness.

We might never have gotten to see a greasy underfed Grace Jones prance around in her speedo and menace others with pointy weapons. (Or was that just Sting again in blackface? I’m not really sure.)

We might never have seen Gary Busey get his butt kicked by a priest turned werewolf.

We might never have gotten to see a not so greasy, not at all underfed Brian Blessed prance around in his speedo (and a pair of goofy looking wings) and menace others with pointy weapons.

We might never have seen Barbarella. (Okay, I don’t know if that would have been a good or a bad thing, but at any rate, we never would have seen it.)

All I’m saying is that guys like De Laurentiis understood the universality of film. He knew there was space on the shelf for Federico Fellini’s La Strada and for Stephen King’s Maximum Overdrive, so he got them both made. The way Dino De Laurentis “indiscriminately mixed the high-minded with the schlock” was considered a limitation by critics like The Hollywood Reporter’s Todd McCarthy, but for obvious reasons, we consider it a strength around these parts. God bless you, Mr. De Laurentiis, and may He grant you eternal rest and let perpetual light shine upon you.

59 Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival

I’m starting to find new films in festivals and as you can imagine, makes me very excited as there are some films that look very promising. The fest started on November 11 and will run until the 21st and here are the films in the International Competition.

2 Fois Une Femme (Twice a Woman), François Delisle, Canada
10 ½, Daniel Grou, Canada (Surely very hard-to-watch)
Act of Dishonour, Nelofer Pazira, Canada (A very interesting story set in Afghanistan by a woman director that performed in great Kandahar)
Atsisveikinimas (Farewell – The Ballad of a Lucky Man), Tomas Donela, Lithuania
Eva y Lola (Eva and Lola), Sabrina Farji, Argentina (story seems interesting)
Hold Om Mig (Hold Me Tight), Kaspar Munk, Denmark
Just Inès, Marcel Grant, UK (a stylized study of loneliness, could be interesting)
Kandahar Break, David Whitney, UK
La Casa Sulle Nuvole (The House in the Clouds), Claudio Giovannesi, Italy
Paeva Lopus (When the Day is Done), Maiju Ingman, Estonia
Planes para Mañana (Plans for Tomorrow), Juana Macías, Spain
Siyah Beyaz (Black and White), Ahmet Boyacıoğlu, Turkey
Till det som ar vackert (Pure), Lisa Langseth, Sweden (Maybe interesting)
Win/Win, Jaap van Heusden, Netherland
Xun Huan Zuo Le (The High Life), Zhao Dayong, China

I’m impressed by this fest as has many films by female directors, which is quite unusual. To check information about each film go here. I suggest you check other sections as also have interesting films.

Opening film was none other than La Vida de los Peces (The Life of Fish) by Matias Bize, which hopefully I’ll be watching in the big screen soon. Award ceremony will be on Sunday November 21st in Mannheim.

Amigo (2010)

I had the opportunity to watch this movie from American director (and writer) John Sayles at the BFI London Film Festival.

At the ticket booth this nice guy told me he hoped I would enjoy the movie because it was exotic. I assumed he meant it was intriguingly unusual or different; excitingly strange…and I wasn’t disappointed. 

The movie is about the Philippine/American War that took place between 1899 and 1902, and that many people don’t know about, even in the U.S. I have to admit I had never heard of it. You will find out that the way Americans fight their wars seems to have stayed the same; that could be a story in Afghanistan or Iraq, or Vietnam…I’m not making comments on if I agree to the methods or not, but you can see the spirit is the same. In that aspect, this movie becomes a universal tale about war. 

With a low budget Sayles was able to make a very good movie. Perfect cast and a great script will keep you interested all through the movie. What I really enjoyed was how the story is approached from all perspectives: the American occupants, the villagers and anyone else caught in-between. You see good people and bad people, acts of courage and weakness. 

Among the actors, I especially liked the performances of Garret Dillahunt as the lieutenant of the American forces and Yul Vazquez, portraying the priest from the village, proving once more that you don’t need “big stars” to make a good movie. 

After the screening we had a chance to talk to the director, who told us that the events portrayed in the movie are not fictional, but several well-documented episodes all put together. So, don’t always believe IMDB, where it is called “A fictional account of events during the Philippine-American War”. 

Sadly and according to John Sayles, there is no distribution for this movie right now anywhere in the world apart from the Philippines, where it will be possible to see it next summer. 

Green light! (if you can find it)

12th International Film Festival Bratislava Award Winners

Two days ago the fest announced the award winners and here they are.

Grand Prix: Le Quattro Volte (The Four Times), Michelangelo Frammartino, Italy, Germany and Switzerland, 2010 “For its lyrical evocation of the cycle of life and death.”

Best Director: (tie)
Dragomir Sholev for Podslon (Shelter), Bulgaria, 2010
Constantine Popescu for Portretul luptătorului la tinereţe (Portrait of the Fighter as a Young Man), Romania, 2010 (A new Popescu film!!!)

Best Actress: Charlotte Gainsbourg in L’Abre (The Tree), Julie Bertucelli, France and Australia, 2010
Best Actor: Robert Naylor in 10 1/2, Daniel Grou, Canada, 2010

FIPRESCI Award: 10 ½, Daniel Grou, Canada, 2010
Student Jury Award: 10 ½, Daniel Grou, Canada, 2010

To check winners in other categories go here and to check all films in competition go here.

7th Seville European Film Festival Award Winners

A while ago the fest announced the award winners and here they are.

Golden Girarldillo: Son of Babylon, Mohamed Al-Daradji, Irak, UK, Netherlands, France, EUA, Egypt, Palestine, 2010

Silver Giraldillo: Mavro Livadi (Black Field), Vardis marinakis, Greece, 2010
Special Jury Prize: Szelíd Teremtés - A Frankenstein Terv (Tender Son – The Frankenstein Project), Kornél Mundruczó, Hungary, Germany, and Austria, 2010
Best Director: Susanne Bier for Hævnen (In a Better World), Denmark, 2010

Best Actress (tie):
Samira Maas in Joy, Mijke de Jong, Netherlands, 2010
Sofia Georgovassili in Mavro Livadi (Black Field), Vardis marinakis, Greece, 2010
Best Actor: Rhys Ifans in Mr. Nice, Bernard Rose, UK and Spain, 2009

Silver Giraldillo for First Feature Film: Gigola, Laure Charpentier, France, 2010 (lesbian interest)

Euroimages Award: La Prima Linea, Renato De Maria, Italy, Belgium, UK and France
Audience Choice Award: Tamara Drewe, Stephen Frears, UK
Campus Jury Award: Son of Babylon, Mohamed Al-Daradji, Irak, UK, Netherlands, France, EUA, Egypt, Palestine, 2010

ASECAN Award: Ovsyanki (Silent Souls), Aleksei Fedorchenko, Russia, 2010
Special Mention: Naufragio (Wreckage), Pedro Aguilera, Spain, 2010

You have no idea how glad I’m that Gigola was honored as means that film has to be interesting beyond the lesbian interest genre. Here is what the jury said:
The jury is pleased to announce that the award is given to an unusual director that drags us on a trip to Paris during a period when women's sexual freedom was always a challenge. Special mention to Lou Doillon for her role in “Gigola”.

To check winners in all categories please go here. So that’s for this year and as always I’ll be looking forward to next year edition mainly because is in this fest where the EFA’s nominations are announced. Olè!!!