Doc it Out’s Agnes Varnum on Alex Gibney’s  Gonzo: The Life & Times of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson:

The first few minutes looked very cartoony with some wierd After Effects experiments, and I was thinking that I was in big trouble if the whole movie was going to be like that. In some sense, it was, but it really started to work as the movie went on. The best part of the film is the extensive archival material recorded by Thompson and his friends–both audio and film, in addition to copious amounts of photographs of the late writer. It’s interesting how people who are so famous within their own lives are so well documented. It really helps when the movie about their life is going to be made.

AJ Schnack reports on how the LAFF went down:

Darius Marder’s LOOT, a study at parallel searches for buried treasure and the healing of past wounds, took the top Jury Prize at the Los Angeles Film Festival Saturday, along with the $50K prize sponsored by Target.  The film was a world premiere at LAFF.  Marder was an editor on the Oscar winning short, FREEHELD.

A special jury commendation was given to PRESSURE COOKER, which was described to me during the fest as “a cross between MAD HOT BALLROOM and Hell’s Kitchen (the TV show starring sometimes abusive chef Gordon Ramsay), directed by Jennifer Grausman and Mark Becker.

Best Documentary Short went to Eva Weber’s CITY OF CRANES, which previously took top prize at Full Frame.

The documentary audience award went to ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL, while MAN ON WIRE took the international audience prize (neither film was in the documentary competition).

Reporting from out here. Back in LA soon.

There is no denying Wall-E is an event.  This, for so many reasons both large and small.  I was trying to figure out what irritating me most about Stephanie Zacharek’s review of the film (since Ryan is on vacation and all), and I think it’s that she commits an unpardonable sin for any film critic: she has misplaced expectations.  Her review of Wall-E mostly says that the film is great in the first half but begins its march towards the mediocre and predictable in the second half.  I couldn’t disagree with her more and here’s why: that last part is where the film packs its most powerful punch.  Why?  Because it’s the moment where it all begins to make sense in a glorious big picture way.  Was I the only person who walked out of the theater looking differently at the world and my own life?  I doubt it.

Read the rest of this entry »

(Slight spoiler warning)

With no limits to their creative freedom, the animators of WALL•E let their imaginations run rampant in developing appropriately resonant forms for their primary characters.  Next to the eclectic hodgepodge of spare parts and miscellaneous mechanical contraptions that give WALL•E his pastiche panache, EVE’s svelte silhouette appears deceptively simple.  For me she sparks associations as diverse as the sensuous streamlined allure of an art deco perfume bottle or the efficient practicality of a compact florescent light bulb. But beyond these playful visual echoes lies the essence of EVE’s feminine figure as an archetypal shape ripe with subconscious associations – the oval ellipse of an egg.   Need some rambling analytical evidence? Alrighty then:

Escorting EVE back to his bachelor pod, WALL•E does his best to impress EVE with his bag of courtship tricks.  He rummages through his reclaimed treasures and inadvertently pulls out the prize she’s been searching for all along — a very special sprig of leaves he’s recently unearthed.  Presenting the sprout to EVE like a suitor with a skimpy bouquet, she scans it for value and her biological alarm clock goes off.  ZOMG! Zygote!  She promptly deposits the vine-like shoot in the safe and cozy receptacle of her robotic womb.  This fulfils EVE’s goal, the procreation destiny of her prime directive. She instantly goes into nurturing override drive, folds up and shuts down to dormancy mode.  (Our orifices are now closed, please call again.)  Artificial intelligence, meet artificial insemination.  By accepting this fragile squiggling tendril of DNA, the incredibly egg-like EVE is now im-planted with the stem of WALL•E’s seedling.   (Nice goin’, WALL•E.  First female you ever meet, and you accidentally knock her up on the first date.)

Read the rest of this entry »

One thing I absolutely loved about Wall-E was how capable and tough Eve was.  This was no typical modern love interest who kicks ass just to make hotter but when it comes down to it she must be rescued by the male — Eve is a true hero and proves that, in Pixar’s world at least, females can do plenty of rescuing on their own.  Eve is the coolest robot in the movie and I wish I had one.

Kris Tapley over at Incontention makes the bold prediction that Heath Ledger may be in line not for a supporting nod but for lead.  I am a pessimist by nature and thus, my reaction to this is supporting, yes, lead, no.  This is an extremely competitive category.  And it has been, in recent years, overcrowded, so overcrowded that many of the best performances  did not or could not make the cut. Supporting is different. It was brought up in the comments that it must not be too early to call Heath Ledger the winner when people were already calling Javier Bardem the winner at this time last year.  Here is the main difference: Bardem’s character was not A) a comic book character, B) in a summer blockbuster but rather in a Coen brothers movie, C) a complete original.  Heath will be getting great reviews, no doubt.  But he is still playing a character who has already been played by Jack Nicholson.  Those are some big differences.  Still, never say never.  It’s interesting to speculate, particularly when none of the Big Oscar Movies have turned out yet.

Poor Ann Curry is the latest victim to James McAvoy’s charms.  She reveals her true intentions in this clip, and barely manages to hold it together throughout the rest of the interview. All I can say to you, Oscar watchers, full disclosure, is that I once turned down a phoner with McAvoy because of how cute he is.  There are certain actors who are simply to attractive to deal with and he’s one of them.  For me. At least Ann Curry went through with it!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0VZeCiyzTA[/youtube]

Source

Question: have the Oscars lost their relevance?  Does it even mean anything to win an Oscar anymore?

That’s my big question.  What’s yours?

WALL•E comes from a distinguished acting family.  The similarity was noted by many others, months ago, but it’s cool to see the Robot Barrymores side by side.  Not to detract from WALL•E in the least.  He’s his own man.  In fact I think it’s a really sweet nod to his forefather.

hey, if Marion Cotillard can win her Academy Award channeling Edith Piaf, and Daniel Day-Lewis wins his channeling John Huston, then WALL•E is entitled to earn his Oscar paying homage to Johnny 5.

[This will be my last post for a few days as I head south for a week's vacation. Back early next month. I'll miss you guys!]

Someone gave me the tip-off to this a while back but I kind of disregarded it. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe it, it was more that it was too early to be talking about it. And now it is big news.
Why? Because it’s a Drudge Page One. Drudge links to this blog post by Sam Rubin (who does the red carpet at Oscar time and was all over Juno last year – a lot of enthusiasm, not the best predictor – we love you, Sam!):

I just returned from a screening and I wanted to commit this to a public forum as quickly as possible. Heath Ledger gives a blockbuster performance in the new Batman movie. His work, as The Joker, will absolutely be nominated for an Oscar, and at this point in the year, Ledger is also a hands-down favorite to win it posthumously. Ledger offers perfect pitch, perfect tone, his Joker hits all the right notes. ‘The Dark Knight’ is among the better super-hero movies of all time, and Ledger is THE BEST villain in a super hero movie of all time. Really. It will only add to the conversation of all that Ledger could have accomplished had he lived. Amazing work.

And the AP’s David Germaine on Ledger:

The buzz over Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker in “The Dark Knight” for the last several months was justified. With his final full film role, Ledger delivers what may be remembered as the finest performance of his career.

Kottke.org points us to the Vulture’s top eight best Pixar movies and I have to agree with Kottke that this list is so wrong – but especially their number one choice. Seriously. They count it down it like this:

1. Monster’s Inc
2. Finding Nemo
3. Toy Story 2
4. Ratatouille
5. Toy Story
6. A Bug’s Life
7. The Incredibles
8. Cars

Uh…Okay, maybe it’s satire? Monster’s Inc, imo, belongs ahead of A Bug’s Life but WAY LOWER than The Incredibles or even Cars. Number 1 is, so far, Finding Nemo and for me Ratatouille is second. But both Toy Story movies are dear to my heart and they would be high as well – Monster’s Inc is the weakest of the bunch and they have it at number 1??? What kind of street crack are they smoking over there at Vulture?? No, I think they’re stirring this up deliberately for a comment blast and/or some controversy heat. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtIN1tycGgY[/youtube]
If this isn’t Viggo Mortensen’s year then I don’t know whose year it is, well, unless it’s Wall-E’s.
Thanks to reader Jo for giving me the heads up to this Oscartastic trailer of the divine Mr. Mortensen in Good. Pic is adapted from a famous play by C.P. Taylor that:

…examines the life of everyman John Halder (Mortensen), a good and decent individual with family problems: a neurotic wife, two demanding children and a mother suffering from senile dementia. A literary professor, Halder explores his personal circumstances in a novel advocating compassionate euthanasia. When the book is unexpectedly enlisted by powerful political figures in support of government propaganda, Halder finds his career rising in an optimistic current of nationalism and prosperity. Seemingly inconsequential decisions lead to choices, which lead to more choices – with eventually devastating effect.

“Powerful political figures,” aka Nazis. Although he’s playing a German, Viggo’s accent seems to be British. Film also stars Jason Isaacs and, as far as I can tell, is directed by Vicente Amorim.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-sXBkQ13EQ[/youtube]

Kris Tapley at In Contention posts this impromptu promo Letterman gave The Dark Knight two nights ago (gratis and sans guest, no less).  Kris helpfully extracts the money quote for us:

Heath Ledger…oh my God is he great in this one…I’m telling you, this is a tremendous performance.  That’s the reason people ought to go see this film.

In a related piece, Kris says John Campea of The Move Blog says “he was ready to call the film one of the best cinematic endeavors of the last three or four years.”   (So there you have it.   Me quoting Kris quoting John.  How much more definitive appraisal do you want? )

But it’s like I’ve been saying for months.  Yeah sure, Iron Man, The Hulk, Indy — fun cartoons before the show starts.  The Dark Knight is the summer’s feature presentation.  (And if Batman went tumbling over three waterfalls, you know what?  He’d drown, like any normal human would.  And that’s what makes him great.)

Filmmakers hanging their highest hopes on winning an Academy Award know it’s the dream scenario guaranteed to boost box-office with a post-Oscar bump worth millions, right?   …um, not always.  Not when the distributor is caught up short and unprepared to capitalize on this chance of a lifetime opportunity.  The New York Times has the disheartening story of how ThinkFilm dropped the ball on this year’s incredible Best Documentary Oscar-winner, Taxi to the Dark Side, directed by Alex Gibney:

In a June 19 filing with the Independent Film & Television Alliance, an industry organization, Mr. Gibney’s company, X-Ray Productions, asserts that ThinkFilm defrauded him by not having the financing to distribute and promote “Taxi” properly and seeks to reclaim the film’s distribution rights. The complaint says ThinkFilm’s failure to pay vendors caused the film’s Web site to shut down, and that the company did not advertise the post-Oscar run in major magazines. Since its release in January, the movie has made less than $250,000 in theaters.

“I’m upset because the whole commercial strategy of the film was predicated on the idea of winning awards,” Mr. Gibney said. “The fact that they were fiscally unable to capitalize on the Oscar infuriated me for two reasons: They had been in financial difficulty for some time and hadn’t disclosed it to us; and we won the Oscar, and they still hadn’t disclosed it to us.”

The single solitary movie about the war that manages to break through the Iraqnophobia of critics and industry obstructions — and it dies out of sight, due to negligence or outright abuse of authority, snuffed out in custody behind walls of confusion, incompetence and mismanagement.  Sad, and ironic.

Apparently, the Emmy committee folks have released the finalists for the main categories (thanks to the ever-efficient ONTD for the info). It is unprecedented, yes, but THAT surprising? Not really. Boston Legal, there’s a shocker! Grey’s Anatomy, no way! Desperate Housewives was shut out. Looks like my own favorite comedy, The New Adventures of Old Christine, is also off the list. Damages and Mad Men, though, seriously cool.

These will be narrowed down for the July 17 announcement.

COMEDY
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Entourage
Family Guy
Flight of the Conchords
The Office
Pushing Daisies
30 Rock
Two and a Half Men
Ugly Betty
Weeds

DRAMA
Boston Legal
Damages
Dexter
Friday Night Lights
Grey’s Anatomy
House
Lost
Mad Men
The Tudors
The Wire