The Adorable Jacki Weaver, Sweetie (LAFCA Winner!)

Points to our friend Glenn for pointing this out. Here's Jacki Weaver's acceptance speech at the Australian Film Awards for Animal Kingdom -- introduced by her current co-star Cate Blanchett. The speech is so adorable we are just going to pretend that it was delivered to us in America via satellite for her Los Angeles Film Critics Association triumph and NBR win.



How ya feeling about her Oscar chances, now?  

RIPE!

Related articles

• Glenn FYC'ed her for an Oscar nomination right here in March!
• I wrote her up for "best in show" at Tribeca Film
• Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards

Los Angeles Critics (Social Network vs. Carlos)

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association, now in their 35th year, hosted a battle between Carlos the Jackal and Mark Zuckerberg the punk. genius. billionaire. The Social Network co-founder won. But not without some concessions... including a tie.

Picture: The Social Network
[Runner up: Carlos]
Director: (tie) Olivier Assayas for Carlos and David Fincher for The Social Network
Actress: Kim Hye-Ja in Mother
[Runner up: Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone]
Actor: Colin Firth in The King's Speech
[Runner up: Edgar Ramirez in Carlos]

Supporting Actress: Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom *check out this acceptance speech*
[Runner up: Olivia Williams in Ghost Writer]
Supporting Actor Neils Arestrup in A Prophet
[Runner up: Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speech]
Screenplay Aaron Sorkin for The Social Network
[Runner up: The King's Speech]
Cinematography Matthew Libatique for Black Swan
[Runner up: Roger Deakins for True Grit]
Music (tie) The Social Network and Alexandre Desplat The Ghost Writer
Production Design Guy Dyas for Inception
[runner up: The King's Speech]
Documentary Last Train Home
[Runner up: Exit Through the Gift Shop]
Experimental Jean Luc Godard's Film SocialismeForeign Film Carlos (France)
[Runner up: Mother (South Korea)]
Animated Film Toy Story 3
[Runner up: The Illusionist]
New Generation Lena Dunham for Tiny Furniture
Legacy of Cinema Award Serge Bromberg, Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno, and the F.W. Murnau Foundation and Fernando Pena for the restoration of MetropolisCareer Achievement Paul Mazursky


The win for Jacki Weaver is good news for that fine Australian film.  They did a good thing, sweetie. Though Animal Kingdom was the first or near-first screener out, it didn't necessarily have a strong "watch me" hook for Academy voters who hadn't been paying attention to Sundance buzz. I've said ever since January that if people watch this movie, she'll be nominated. Simple as that. But you have to get the voters to watch. This vote of confidence from Los Angelenos can't hurt.

I'm also thrilled for Last Train Home which is my choice for Best Documentary of the Year ...unless Prodigal Sons counts as this year... I get so confused. I'm totally horrified that it didn't make Oscar's finalist list. Unless of course it wasn't eligible for some reason. It's so tough to track with docs and shorts and whatnot, these eligibility requirements and windows.


Finally, it's good to see LAFCA staying true to their own impulses with all the foreign film love. This group tends to not be as beholden to Oscar frontrunners as many other critics groups are. That said, I'm still unsure about how I feel about Carlos winning film prizes. I know it was released theatrically but wasn't it made as a TV miniseries?

ONE FINAL IMPORTANT NOTE: South Korea's Mother & France's A Prophet, which both won awards today with Los Angeles critics, represent flip sides of the same Oscar coin. Both were submitted for Oscar consideration last year in the foreign film category but were not released in Los Angeles theaters in 2009 rendering them ineligible for other Oscar nominations that year. They both received theatrical releases in 2010, and because of Oscar rules on that matter, only Mother is now eligible for Oscar consideration (in all categories EXCEPT foreign film since it had its shot last year). A Prophet, having been nominated in its only eligible category last year, is not eligible for any further consideration. Make sense?
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Critics Awards Cometh. Swan vs. Network?

Ballots were due today for the BFCA "Critics Choice Awards" so you can be sure I did my share of handwringing before I sent it in. My god, you think you know what you want to vote for and you stare at the ballot and it's just >gah< indecision! (It doesn't help that you can only vote for 3 items in each category, 5 for best picture). Those nominations will be announced on Monday.

Tomorrow we'll be hearing from the LAFCA (who will begin announcing at 12:30 PST) -- who have the Academy's ear by way of proximity and major representative outlets--  and the New York Film Critics Online (not to be confused with the the ancient NYFCC which votes on Monday) and then we're off. Neither the critics awards nor the top ten lists will let up thereafter for at least the next month. If you're curious about what I'm predicting you can check out Gold Derby's roundup of pundits here. Other than Best Picture (The Social Network -duh.), predicting critics awards can be a bit like throwing darts. We hope there are lots of fun surprises this year.

In the past decade critics prizes have become both more plentiful and repetitive, with one film always the obvious champ. Even in years where you'd think there'd be a battle royale (like 2007's No Country For Old Men vs. There Will Be Blood) it never really goes ten rounds before one film K.O.s the other. It's less about critical battles than it used to be and more about declaring your allegiance to the hivemind. Which, if you stop to think about it, is exactly what online movie culture is about, with off-consensus critics being (virtually) burned at the stake if they dare to dislike [insert popular movie here]. Which is all a long way of saying that you'll hear the title The Social Network over and over again this season. As often as you heard The Hurt Locker last year probably.

But both are great films so I don't mi---Oh no. I've been assimilated, too. Noooooooooooo

I'm guessing that if we see any challenge to Fincher's Networking this year it'll be Aronofsky & Team Swan (still all the rage at the specialty box office). But how much of a fight do those crazy ballerinas have in them?


Care to make any predictions?

Curio: Billy Zane, Killing with Love

Alexa here. I've always had a soft spot for Billy Zane. I'm still blown away by his breakout performance in Dead Calm; he was all mad energy, like Brando without the digression. Since then his career seems to have had a few too many arch roles and unfortunate hairpieces. It was while he filmed Titanic, playing his most celebrated toupeed villain, that Billy took up painting. He is now quite an accomplished artist.

Billy is currently showing a series of his paintings, titled "Killing with Love", at the Frank Pictures gallery in Los Angeles. He describes his work as being influenced by the found materials he gathers on location and the Japanese martial art of Kendo. I think I see a little of Paul Klee's influence, too. Here is a sampling. The show is up until September 1st.

Madonnarama, oil on canvas, 39" x 60.5", 1997

Despotiko, 20" x 20", 2010

Gettysburger, oil on canvas, 21" x 19", 2010

Bucephalus, 21" x 17", 2010

The Greatest FYC Ad of All Time

[src]

Or at least the greatest FYC ad since the one for Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge! "She Sings! She Dances! She Dies!"

Curio: Crazy for Pee-Wee

Alexa from Pop Elegantiarum here. As JA mentioned, it's been 25 years since Pee-Wee's Big Adventure came out to mediocre reviews. Whether you love it or hate it, today it is inarguably a cult classic. Judd Apatow is even rumored to be pulling the strings on the new Pee-Wee movie Paul Rubens is writing (um, interesting). And at this year's Crazy 4 Cult, the annual exhibit of art inspired by cult films at Gallery1988 in Los Angeles, Pee-Wee was one of the most heavily represented subjects. This year's show runs through July 30th. What follows are some of the more interesting Pee-Wee portraits from the show's four years, in honor of his big screen anniversary.

Dave Perillo
"Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" board game giclee print on archival paper
signed and numbered edition of 50
16 x 20 inches

Danielle Rizzolo
"I'm A Loner, A Rebel"
oil on board, frame has engraved plate reading, "Property of Pee-Wee Herman"
13 x 16 inches

Ben Strawn "Pee-Wee"
mixed media on layers of plexiglass
12 x 21.5 inches, framed

Kennis Chow
"PEE-W!!!"
acrylic on wood
24 x 18 inches

Chan Koak
"Pee-Wee's Morning"
acrylic on panel
11 x 14 inches

Sarah Soh
"Where'd You Go?"
gouache, 11 x 14 inches

The Longest Link

Uh... I got a little carried away. Enjoy the ones you will

JACKintheblog 'Is it just me or does Jake Gyllenhaal look...'
Everything I Know responds to EW's list of "greatest characters" with a few theatrical suggestions. EW only allowed for two stage characters. EW sucks at list-making. They're always pandering to the OMGRIGHTNOW
CHUD Austin Texas' great theater The Alamo Drafthouse could be coming to your city. I've only been to Austin once and I only peeked at the exterior but I would go there so often...
The Pixar Blog "Groovin' With Ken" an interview clip that's not in Toy Story 3
The Telegraph Tim Robey on Mark Ruffalo, The Unpretentious Leading Man
Dark Eye Socket What the 00's meant to TFE contributor Craig. It's never too late for a list!
Dear Old Hollywood looks at Bette Davis early homes in California
Anomalous Material is hosting a "greatest comedy of all time" tournament. Let them know what makes you laugh the hardest
Movies Kick Ass "A woman's right to shoes" on Dorothy & her ruby slippers. This is part of...
Encore's Movie Musicals Blog-a-Thon which I didn't know about in time. Ah well.


Sex?
i cite has a thorough piece up about what critics missed in their savage takedowns of Sex and the City 2. Great read, though I wish I had enjoyed the movie this much! For me it's a miss
The Film Doctor 'don't leave me hangin' here'... a discussion about the movie that I appreciate because it's not OTT histrionic / hateful. There's very few discussions of that movie that aren't. And speaking of...
The Telegraph Tim Robey discusses "Sex and the City and the Art of the Pan" citing hilarious takedowns of this film and other hated films.
Huffington Post dating lesssons from the fab four
Tim Seidell equates Sex & the City to Star Wars. Seriously, he does. Original trilogy and 'prequel trilogy' and all
Sling Blog 5 pop culture hits besides SatC that were savaged by audiences that they weren't remotely intended to be enjoyed by

Finally...
Nicks Flick Picks has reached the final 10 in his Best Actress Project. Incredibly he will soon have seen every Best Actress nominee. Latest writeups: Bergman's Anastasia and Irene Dunne in Love Affair. He's got two of my all time favorite nominees coming up in his final 8 screenings: Natalie Wood in Splendor in the Grass (1961) and Judy Garland in A Star is Born (1954). I'm prepared for the worst. Though Nick and I are great friends we disagree surprisingly often on the subject of Actress so I have no expectations as to how he'll respond.

P.S. Don't even ask how close I am to having seen all 408 performances. So much left to see. At least that means multiple pleasures await.

Los Angeles Critics Spread the Wealth

Last year the LAFCA (one of the twin titans of critics groups, the other being their east coast rivals the NYFCC who announce tomorrow) made some fine choices last year, a best picture win for WALL•E and a smart off-mainstream choice for production design given to the brilliant Mark Friedberg on Synecdoche, New York. Here's what they had to say this year... there's something for everyone.

Picture The Hurt Locker [ru: Up in the Air]
Director Bigelow, The Hurt Locker [ru: Haneke, The White Ribbon]
Actress Yolande Moreau, Séraphine [ru: Carey Mulligan, An Education]

• Generally there's one acting category wherein the LAFCA will not stick to the status quo. And here it is. She also won the César in France.
  

Actor Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart [ru: Colin Firth, A Single Man]
Supporting Actress Mo'Nique in Precious [ru: Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air]
Supporting Actor Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds [ru: Peter Capaldi, In the Loop]

• Sweepers! Or shaping up to be nearly so.
  

Screenplay Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner for Up in the Air [ru: Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche for In the Loop]
Production Design Philip Ivey for District 9 [ru: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg, Avatar]
Cinematography Christian Berger for The White Ribbon [ru: Barry Ackroyd for The Hurt Locker]
Foreign Film Summer Hours [ru: The White Ribbon]
Documentary (tie) The Cove and The Beaches of Agnes
Music/Score T-Bone Burnett and Stephen Bruton for Crazy Heart [ru: Alexandre Desplat for Fantastic Mr. Fox. Strange that this wasn't a multiple film prize since he also scored Coco Avant Chanel and Chéri this year]
Experimental Film C.W. Winter and Anders Edstrom for The Anchorage
Career Achievement Jean-Paul Belmondo

How do you think the LAFCA did this year? Can you also get behind these "best" decisions? Where do you disagree most?

<-- James Cameron & Kathryn Bigelow on the set of her terrific film Strange Days (1995) which he produced. They had divorced four years earlier in 1991 after three years of marriage.

The NYFCO also announced today. That's the New York Film Critics Online... I wish their call letters were less confusing because I've seen people mistake them for the NYFCC in the past and that ain't right. Anyway my girl Katey is part of the NYFCO so I have to respect. The online critics went with James Cameron's Avatar for Best Picture and Kathryn Bigelow for Best Director for The Hurt Locker. This once again underlines my year-long hope for an ex-spouse battle come Oscar time. I've been a fan of Bigelow and Cameron, separately and together for 20+ years now. So it's nice to see them enjoy a good year simultaneously. The big winner, if you're into counting, was Inglourious Basterds which has taken 3 prizes so far (Supporting Actor, Screenplay and Cinematography) You can see rest of their prizes here...
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F&L: do I have to?

first line in the film:

"Come to Los Angeles..."

last image before the credits


Can you guess the movie?

Highlight for the answer: LA CONFIDENTIAL (1997)
for all first and last puzzles, click the label below
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Dancing at the Film Experience

Glenn from Stale Popcorn here to throw in two cents worth of discussion about the year 2001 per Nathaniel's request.


Last week for the year 2000 I discussed a favourite from that year that I felt had been criminally underrated. At least a lot of people have seen that movie for it to be underrated. The 2001 film that I want to shine a light on has been seen by about three people (and a goat).

If you had to ask me what profession has gotten the worst representation in the history of cinema I would probably point to stripping. Oh sure, we all love Showgirls but when paired up with Demi Moore's Striptease, the profession has never quite been the same. Throw in the absurd I Know Who Killed Me starring the ghost of Lindsay Lohan's career, the "all star" Spun and even the dead-boring (if you can believe it) Zombie Strippers and you've got a really bad sub-genre.

One of my favourite movies of 2001, however, is Dancing at the Blue Iguana. It's not great cinema by any means, but it's a fascinating film nonetheless. Principally made as an improvisational drama about the lives of five strippers in Los Angeles its main reason for existing seems to be to give three criminally underused actresses enough space to strut their stuff (in a manner of speaking). Daryl Hannah, Sandra Oh (before Grey's Anatomy stole her) and Jennifer Tilly are the three names you will know and each plays off of their perceived real-life personas. They play the ditzy blonde, smart girl and the loud vixen respectively and I can't tell you just how enjoyable it is to watch them on screen. Just thinking about this movie again makes me wonder what happened to Daryl Hannah's "comeback", Oh's non-TV career (seemingly restricted to cameos) and Jennifer Tilly period.

Sandra Oh gives a performance I rank amongst my five supporting actress finalists for 2001. Just watch as she performs a dance (to Moby's "Porcerlain", so yes it definitely was 2001, wasn't it?) in front of the boyfriend who was unaware of her career and you'll see why. The way her face becomes a literally blank wall with no feeling and expression.


The other reason why I like this movie is its representation of the city of LA. Director Michael Radford (who is currently prepping King Lear with Al Pacino) does a really great job of merging the dingy, grimey and concrete image of the city with the sunny side with its palm-tree lined streets and Melrose Place-esque apartment complexes. If anyone else has seen Dancing at the Blue Iguana then do speak up. I would be incredibly interested in hearing what you think.
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Zombie Sighting, Alhambra CA

I don't know how many of you remember my Nashville Film Festival coverage from early in 2009, but the narrative feature winner was a local zombie picture called Make-Out with Violence. Referring to it as a 'local picture' doesn't do its justice because it definitely looks like there was a budget... even if there wasn't. Referring to it as a 'zombie picture' doesn't do it justice because it's definitely its own thing. Being your own thing is a neat trick that too few movies perform.

It's a head scratcher that some smaller distributor hasn't, uh, bitten (sorry) given the built-in audience for genre movies, the festival awards its managed (not just Nashville) and the good chance that it would win enthusiastic reviews. Plus there's the possibility that The Deagol Brothers who made it are the next Coens or Wachowskis or Polishes (remember them? They got a few idiosyncratic features released. Different times I guess). Brother teams are their own marketing hook, right? The soundtrack is also fine... I even bought it at the festival assuming it would be hard to find elsewhere.

If you're in the Alhambra area or within driving distance (how close is LA?) the film screens for free Thursday night (that's tomorrow). And if you take the chance, I'd love to hear back. E-mail me and maybe I'll even share your film experience right here.

Regal (Edwards) Atlantic Palace
Thursday November 12th, 7:00 PM
W Main Street Alhambra CA 91801
event phone (626) 458-9748


I've been meaning to write about the movie at length because it aged well for me. But time is a difficult mistress. You know what else is? zombie girlfriends.
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Project Runway @ the Movies: "Lights, Camera, Sew"

I've always wanted Project Runway, which wields the word "costumey" around in the same dread way that American Idol invokes "broadway", to embrace costume design and hold a movie themed episode. Now that they're located in LA, they finally came through for me.

The designers at a real soundstage, hearing the challenge. For the record I'm:
rooting for CarolHannah, drooling on Logan and expecting a Christopher win.

If you've seen the show, you'll know that Heidi Klum always kicks things off by wrapping that brilliant accent around a happy preview of the episode's content. To hear her chirpily declare "movie making!" before the ADD editing team cut to the challenge was bliss in 4 syllables. Unfortunately many of the costumes weren't bliss in 4 seconds.

The contestants had to fight over the following five genres (only two people to a genre)

• Film Noir
• Period Piece
• Western (nobody wanted it!)
  
• Action / Adventure
• Science Fiction

And, yes, I was terribly disappointed that my favorite genre Women Who Lie To Themselves was not represented. What?! That's totally a genre! It's a genre in my DVD library at least. But seriously, I really think they should have nixed Period Piece, which was way too broad, and thrown in Musical for a good cross section of movie genres that bring costumes too mind.

Ra'mon, the one who previously loved Lindsay Lohan too much, enthusiastically expressed his devotion to Science Fiction, stating

I grew up watching sci-fi. I know all about Star Trek and Star Wars and everything inbetween

What exactly is inbetween them... Space: 1999? Chronologically it is at least.

But listen, I knew Ra'mon was in trouble the second he name-checked those two franchises since even a blind person would reference them if sci-fi came up. Fashion designers can't be blind. If you're a fashion designer referencing sci-fi, you're doomed if Blade Runner isn't the iconic film that pops into their mind. Especially if you've opted to design a snake-woman jumpsuit as Ramon did. I'm convinced that if Ramon had only thought "Joanna Cassidy as 'Zhora'" rather than "reptile woman" he would not have been Auf'ed at the end of this episode.


But back to the movies.

I've said it before and I'll preach it again: the Academy's costume design branch not nominating Blade Runner (1982) is the single stupidest decision they've made in my lifetime. The second stupidest might be the Far From Heaven (2002) snub. I can't breathe when I think of those two films for all the WOW that's happening.

Let's look at the other designs and the sometimes strange notions these designers had about the movies. Let's start with Film Noir.

Louise's design (40s meets 20s) and Althea's design

Both designs remind us of film noir NOT AT ALL. They definitely don't scream femme fatale. Althea's is pretty but uninspiring and Louise's "convoluted mess" pushes her into the bottom three. Louise, who I sometimes think is trying to steal Karina Longworth's look, picked the most delicious genre and then totally messed it up by going for a story about a girl in the 40s attending a costume party as a girl from the 20s.

In a consultation viewable only on Runway's official site, Louise tries to explain this character, an aspiring actress who is eager to escape her mother, to the always wise Tim Gunn. He says "This isn't Vida from Mildred Pierce is it?" Much to my horror Louise laughs, shrugging, "I don't even know who that is"

Let this be a lesson to everyone: Movie ignorance is dangerous. It hurts us all. It can even ruin your chances to win a reality television competition! For, if a fashion designer such as Louise was familiar with the great Mildred Pierce they'd never make clothes this boring when assigned Film Noir as theme.

Am I right or am I right?

Action/Adventure yields the dullest results, just think Angelina Jolie in both Mrs & Mrs Smith and Tomb Raider, done and zzz. Period Piece offers up a split result that's quite telling: one designer goes for technically accomplished but sometimes unexciting accuracy, the other opts for something stylized, ahistorical and purely 'character' focused; and isn't that the way Hollywood's costume designers actually split when it comes in Period Pieces in general?


As for Western, the genre that has as much trouble staying popular as the Musical, we have mixed results. The saloon girl is expected. Epperson's design, however, once he gets past the notion of The Western = John Wayne, is cool. He goes for a tough frontierwoman (far left above) and it's nicely imagined, both period and fantastically modern in a way I haven't seen since, well, that awesome jacket that Ben Foster strutted around in in 3:10 to Yuma (see previous post).

Here's the winning design and its hilariously convoluted concept.


I love it but I'm less shocked by the idea of a snowy villain in white than the judges seem to be. Hallo, Tilda Swinton in The Chronicles of Narnia. Not that long ago.

My favorite part of this episode was the chance to hear from Arianne Phillips. If you haven't read her recent profile in NY Times, I'd head right over to it. She's a fascinating Madonna-influencing woman and one of the best costume designers going. Consider her filmography: Hedwig and the Angry Inch, The People Vs. Larry Flynt, 3:10 to Yuma, Walk the Line and the upcoming eye candy fest A Single Man.

It came as no surprise to me that Arianne was also an incisive and thoughtful judge. Listening to her thoughts on how fabric reads for the camera, the importance of multiple flattering angles and compatible creativity from the makeup department, I felt like I was attending a Costume 101 class. I was hot for teacher.

School me Arianne. Give me loads of homework.
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The Men Who Stare at Links

Streep Tease An evening of famous Meryl Streep monologues performed by men this Saturday, September 5th! You Los Angelenos better be going to this. I want to hear everything. Someone buy me a ticket. And a plane ticket!
The Big Picture Matt Damon getting a lifetime achievement prize? He's 38! Does that make 40 the new 70 instead of the new 30?
The Auteurs Daily asks the question I've been asking myself silently: How is Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon German enough to be Germany's official Oscar submission this year?
Awards Daily shares the BFCA's best rated films as a preview for the Oscar race. They fail to mention that the BFCA's "scores" throughout the year don't usually end up directly correlating with their "Best Picture" field. They'll ditch high rated films if they don't think they can score big Oscar nods, just watch.

Kenneth in the (212) continues his one man crusade to remind people that Ryan O'Neal was the "Brad Pitt of the 70s"
My New Plaid Pants finally forgives David Fincher for Benjamin Button
Movie|Line on True Blood's breakout blonde, Alexander Skarsgård. Do you think the producers of Thor are regretting their casting decision these days? (I personally lost all interest in that Norse God superhero movie when they passed him by.)

And finally, our long (mostly) lost Ewan McGregor back in the lead (yay!) for a movie that probably won't suck (The Men Who Stare at Goats) with an exceptional cast (on paper). Feel free to rejoice but only parenthetically since... who knows, really?



Be excited now or sensibly wait until November 6th to do so. Your choice.

I feel it's worth noting that the movie was directed by George Clooney's extremely less famous frequent partner-in-crime and two time Oscar nominee Grant Henslov (pictured left) who writes, acts, directs and produces... and supposedly even forked over the money for Clooney's first professional headshots 27 years ago. Let's hear it for Grant and for all the talented multi-hyphenates out there that make their movie star friends look even more fantastic than they already naturally do.

LAFCA hearts WALL•E

What a nice surprise. The Los Angeles Film Critics have named WALL•E their Best Picture of the year. I'm over the moon. Pun intended. I love it when critics organizations stake their claim boldy on "Best" rather than try and guess what 6,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences might be thinking. Why else should critics organizations exist? We have pundits and journalists for "predictions"

Pic: WALL•E (runner up The Dark Knight here and in Best Director)
Dir: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Actor: Sean Penn, Milk
Actress: Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky

Good for Sally after that painful snub this morning at the BFCA. My interview with Sally here if you missed it.

Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Elegy
Screenplay: Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky
Foreign Language film: Still Life
Documentary: Man on Wire
Animation: Waltz With Bashir
Cinematography: Yu Lik Wai, Still Life
Music/Score: A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire
New Generation Award: Steve McQueen, Hunger
Production Design: Mark Friedberg, Synecdoche, New York

I've no time for real notes but on that last award: great call. Friedberg has never been nominated by the Academy despite outstanding and memorable work in this category. He also did the honors for The Ice Storm, Far From Heaven and the Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

How are you feeling about the Los Angeles honors...
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Last Year's LAFCA Winner

...and my gold medalist, too: There Will Be Blood. Which film will the LAFCA welcome into their fold this year? We find out soon...

Hungry for Hunger? You'll Starve

If you live in LA, you have seven days to catchthis new movie about the battle of wills between Maze Prison hunger strikers and Margaret Thatcher's regime that took place in 1981. Michael Fassbender (300) is mesmerizing in the lead role of Bobby Sands, doing a Christian Bale Machinist self-nihilism act. The rest of you/us will have to wait until 2009 to see Hunger. Or you could save it on your rental queues though this is not an ideal way to experience it. It's a brutal challenging film, fond of jaw dropping sustained takes and the ease of pausing at home or thinking "i'll finish this later" will dilute its cumulative power.


I've thought long and hard about L.A. only "qualifying runs" for Oscar and I'm considering disqualifying them for my own awards (I allowed for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days last year... but it still felt off. It's the principle of the thing. It makes me crazy) One week qualifiers circumvent what I've always believed was a crucial aspect of cinema: the audience. You. Only industry and press can see these movies and here's the thing: movies should not be hard to see. If you can afford a ticket, nobody should be keeping your desired movie from you. The cinema is an artform for the masses [however abusive the masses happen to be to it with their dollars, continually requesting more talking dog movies and whatnot --but that's another topic. Sorry for the tangent. -ed.] and should remain that way.

It saddens me that the Academy, who regularly tweak their rules, still allow for these one-week qualifiers. Even though it's technically legal it's like cheating. It's a loophole. You are not really a 2008 movie if you open at one theater in one city for one week and then remove yourself quickly to plan for 2009. The idea, for all films that try this tactic, is to win Oscar nods and hope that that will boost their profile when they open for real. But this is rather like trying to pay rent by buying yourself a lottery ticket. It's not easy to get Oscar nods --particularly for small art films -- and many films that go this route never make good on their "opening in February/March" claims when they find themselves without Oscar nods... which is the case more often than not. Oops. The system as it is stinks; It's not healthy for these small movies, it screws with the structural calendar idea of awards systems and most importantly, it's no good for the movie loving audience who are left out of the conversation altogether.

[/soapbox]
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Angelina Distraught! Angelina Hoodwinked! Angelina Institutionalized! Angelina Hosed Down!

It's the All Angelina all the time trailer to Clint Eastwood's thriller Changeling



I love how meek her voice sounds at the beginning. But I could live without the plate smashing. It gives me nightmares of the ubiquitous Oscar baiting In the Bedroom sequence. Other notes: Had no idea that John Malkovich's role was large. Also interesting that Denis O'Hare, who assisted Angie in A Mighty Heart is pitted against her here. And finally, the LAPD... they just can't catch a break in the movies, can they? They're always the villains.

What's Punctuality Got To Do With It?

My only excuse for not mentioning this sooner is that I was offline in Salt Lake City when it happened. A hearty overdue congratulations to the one & only Angela Bassett, who got her star on the Walk of Fame one week ago.


That's a deserving five pointer! She's still best known for her fierce Oscar nominated work as Tina Turner in the fine bio What's Love Got to Do With It (1993) and lighting the screen (and a car) on fire in Waiting To Exhale (1995)

I'll always have a soft spot for her ass kicking bodyguard Mace in the underrated sci-fi thriller Strange Days (1995). My favorite non-Juliette Lewis' related part of that movie is when Angela gets all confrontational with Ralph Fiennes who can't quite let the past go. She pins him to the wall and in that inimitable enunciating Bassett fashion gives him this tough love truth

Memories are meant to fade.
They're designed that way for a reason

Memories may fade but movie stars are forever. Congratulations Angela.

more at twiigs.com...

Los Angeles Film Critics Association

The LAFCA (one of the twin behemoths of critics awards -the other being the NYFCC) are announcing their awards. They're located at ground zero of all things movie, so it's a big deal.


Their choices for best of 2007
Picture: There Will Be Blood
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood)
Very interesting. Nice to see him getting the credit he's deserved since the beginning
Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)
Actress: Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose)
Supporting Actor: Vlad Ivanov (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days)
Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone and Before The Devil Knows You're Dead)
LA critics like the unsavory characters for their supporting awards --both are total nightmares

Animated -tie: Ratatouille and Persepolis
Two of the year's finest so that's a nice twist
Screenplay: Tamara Jenkins (The Savages)
Cinematography: Janusz Kaminski (The Diving Bell and Butterfly)
Production Design: Jack Fisk (There Will Be Blood)
Documentary: No End in Sight
New Generation: Sarah Polley (Away From Her)
Smart choice here.
Legacy Award: Milestone Film & Video and Outfest Legacy Project
Douglas Edward Indie Award: Pedro Costa (Collossal Youth)
Music: Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova (Once)
Sigh. I guess they're only getting a song nomination at the Oscars. It's an easy way to honor a film that a lot of people love.
Career: Sidney Lumet
He could still be your lone wolf directorial nominee for Before The Devil Knows You're Dead, though competition is stiff

Their BEST decrees from years past...
2006 Pic: Letters from Iwo Jima, Dir: Greengrass (United 93), Actor -tie: Whitaker (Last King of Scotland) and Cohen (Borat), Actress: Mirren (The Queen), Supp Actor: Sheen (The Queen), Supp Actress: Gheorghiu (The Death of Mr Lazarescu)
2005 Pic: Brokeback Mountain Dir: Lee (Brokeback Mountain), Actor: Hoffman (Capote), Actress: Farmiga (Down to the Bone), Supp Actor: Hurt (A History of Violence), Supp Actress: Keener (a bunch of movies)
2004 Pic: Sideways Dir: Payne (Sideways), Actor: Neeson (Kinsey), Actress: Staunton (Vera Drake), Supp Actor: Church (Sideways), Supp Actress: Madsen (Sideways)
2003 Pic: American Splendor Dir: Jackson (The Return of the King) Actor: Murray (Lost in Translation), Watts (21 Grams), Supp Actor: Nighy (a bunch of movies), Supp Actress: Aghdashloo (House of Sand and Fog)
2002 Pic: About Schmidt Dir: Almodovar (Talk to Her) Actor -tie: Nicholson (About Schmidt) and Day-Lewis (Gangs of New York), Actress: Moore (Far From Heaven and The Hours), Supp Actor: Cooper (Adaptation), Supp Actress: Falco (Sunshine State)
2001 Pic: In the Bedroom Dir: Lynch (Mulholland Dr), Actor: Washington (Training Day), Actress: Spacek (In the Bedroom), Supp Actor: Broadbent (Iris and Moulin Rouge!), Supp Actress: Winslet (Iris)
2000 Pic: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Dir: Soderbergh (Erin Brockovich and Traffic), Actor: Douglas (Wonder Boys), Actress: Roberts (Erin Brockovich), Supp Actor: Dafoe (Shadow of the Vampire), Supp Actress: McDormand (Almost Famous and Wonder Boys)
1999 Pic: The Insider Dir: Mendes (American Beauty), Actor: Crowe (The Insider), Swank (Boys Don't Cry), Supp Actor: Plummer (The Insider), Supp Actress: Sevigny (Boys Don't Cry)
1998 Pic: Saving Private Ryan Dir: Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan), Actor: McKellen (Gods and Monsters), Actress -tie: Montenegro (Central Station) and Sheedy (High Art), Supp Actor -tie: Thornton (A Simple Plan) and Murray (Rushmore), Supp Actress: Allen (Pleasantville)
1997 Pic: LA Confidential Dir: Hanson (LA Confidential) Actor: Duvall (The Apostle), Actress: Bonham-Carter (Wings of the Dove), Supp Actor: Reynolds (Boogie Nights), Supp Actress: Moore (Boogie Nights)