Review: Senna (+ Oscar Eligible?)

Senna

Dir. Asif Kapadia

Year: 2011

Aus Rating: M15+

Running Time: 106mins

It can be a funny business watching films as often as someone like myself. Films based on subjects that I find fascinating can routinely be rote and poorly made, whereas sometimes a film can come along that puts an illuminating light on a topic that I have zero interest in whatsoever. Asif Kapadia’s documentary Senna is one of those cases, as he allows his documentary gaze to fall upon the sport of motor-racing in this thrilling exploration into the life of a man who aimed to do as much for those less fortunate as he than he did for the sport.



Read the rest at Trespass Magazine

Along with How to Die in Oregon and Jiro Dreams of Sushi, MIFF 2011 threw up three documentaries that I think deserve Oscar consideration. Unfortunately for Kapadia's rather fascinating documentary, Senna will most surely be deemed ineligible ala Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man. I remember the furor that erupted amongst Oscar-watching circles when Grizzly was ruled out due to an Academy rule that makes films made up entirely of previously existing footage ineligible. Now, the Academy seem to change their eligibility rules every year so, for all I know, they nixed this silly rule plus Kapadia himself seems to have implied that the film is eligible as recently as late July, so I will follow with great interest. Just don't be surprised if it doesn't make the cut for the reasons above.





It would be a particular shame, too, since the film has had bonza box office in the UK and it's quite a high profile entry in the documentary field that too often fails to catch on with audiences. It'd be a definite shame if Senna was ousted and something as dull as - here's that name again - Herzog's Cave of Forgotten Dreams makes it in instead.

Unsocial Network

I recently watched Sidney Lumet's Network for the first time. While I liked Lumet's boldly satirical film - that final line is surely one of the finest closing moments in a film ever, right? - is excellent when dealing with the ins and outs of the television news business, I couldn't help but be disappointed by the romantic subplot involving Faye Dunaway and William Holden.


Faye is not amused.
I know, I know... but surely I am not the only one who found it all a bit silly and trite? I liked how it weaved around the idea of the romance being so cliche - in fact, there was so freaky similarity between Network's "I'm turning into one of your scripts" outbursts and Scream 4! - but it never really caught on until Holden's big final scene. "You're television incarnate, Diana."

It's a shame then because the rest of the film is so fantastic. Paddy Chayefsky's screenplay is a marvel of verbal gymnastics, with witty barbs thrown about as casually as breath. The performances are of equal worth, too, especially Dunaway who just lashes her tongue and rips your face off with her vocal delivery. Network won for Oscars and is one of only two films to win three acting trophies. As one of the winners, Beatrice Straight's five minute performance as William Holden's put upon wife can't help but be judged harshly. There's nothing there that's particularly revelatory about what is essentially a two scene cameo and, frustratingly, her character is a whole mountain of silly. But, you know, she yells a lot in her big scene and I guess that's all you need. Beatrice Straight is certainly no Viola Davis in the pantheon of great cameo actresses, that's for sure. Ned Beatty's equally small part, however, is one I can entirely get behind.

Having now seen it, I can see the reasons why people were comparing this year's Oscar race to that of 1977. The talky, modern day, socially relevant movie with a screenplay for the all time list wins several major categories, but is ultimately trumped by a feel good movie. That Rocky and The King's Speech were both incredibly well-received by critics and audiences alike means nothing to the tsk tsk-ing important people who begrudge their wins. No doubt that Network and The Social Network were amongst the best films of their year, but for all the talk of the "real classic" being unrewarded, I can think of several films from both 1976 and 2010 that deserved the Academy's statue even more. B+

Speaking of Marisa Tomei...: Some Words About the Oscars

At one point of yesterday's 83rd Academy Awards Marisa Tomei strolled out on stage to present that part of the ceremony where they discuss the "sciences" part of "The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences". A segment that usually ranks just behind the bit where the Academy president and the TV executive spiel suppurlatives at each other for the benefit of nobody but themselves. Anyway, Tomei walked out and my viewing guest goes "Speaking of Marisa Tomei," to which I replied "You don't hear that very often!"

The story proceeded into one about In the Bedroom, which is neither here nor there, but it says a lot that, for me, one of the most memorable retorts of the night came not from the ceremony itself, but from the banter between friends. "Banter between friends", that sure is a line that Oscar producers could learn from for as much fun as the opening skit with hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway walking through various Best Picture nominees - curiously, however, several were left off - the rest of the show simply looked as if Franco and Hathaway had barely spent an hour or two getting to know each and other and learn each others styles and performing rhythms. Maybe James was too busy napping with cats or installing a light show in an Upper West Side apartment for the benefit of nobody but himself, but it was like he only just got the script as the ceremony began. This was a first take performance and it's telling that their best moment was the filmed introduction where they got to act.


Src
It must be said - and almost everybody and their dog has done so already, or will do so soon - that Franco was a nonentity on the night and that Hathaway, clearly noticing that neither Franco nor the crowd were particularly into it, over-compensated. But, it wasn't just Franco's strange blank expression punctuating the awards - that was, however, during the few times that he managed waltz out on stage between spliffs - that felt decidedly uncharismatic. The crowd itself was just not present last night. Perhaps it's exhaustion after the seemingly neverending awards season, or perhaps they were as bored with the winners as the rest of us, but when the only true standing ovation they gave was for Billy Crystal? Aaron Sorkin's win for Best Adapted Screenplay was met with peculiar silence. Wins for Natalie Portman and Christian Bale - acting honours that most were truly excited about despite their inevitability - didn't seem to register much excitement in the crowd.

Add to all of that a bland set that had neither the intimacy of the 2009 Hugh Jackman ceremony (still the best one of the last chunk of years) or the grandness of other years gone by. The newfangled "classic cinema" backdrops began nicely, if awkwardly staged, with Gone with the Wind, but Justin Timberlake's Shrek-ifying of the set a brief time later was just plain odd. It seemed to be a concept that the producers ditched after not too long, which made sense given the schizophrenic nature of the show. Before the awards night it had been said that the ceremony would ditch the montages that are a constant source of frustration with viewers (a "salute to animation" featuring more Space Chimps than is acceptable), but we still got a needless Billy Crystal standup routine as an intro to a needless Bob Hope clip package, which was all just a big roundabout way of introducing Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law to present Best Visual Effects. At least Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin looked amazing in their matching white tuxedos with white bowties. Shame that they edited out their dance and lip lock!

Or how about having Hilary Swank walk out to introduce Kathryn Bigelow? Isn't that what Franco and Hathaway were there for? And, as an aside, I found it quite irritating that they trotted Bigelow out and yet still made no mention of the fact that two female directors had films up for Best Picture (Debra Granik and Lisa Cholodenko). Similarly, Halle Berry's emotional eulogy to Leena Horne felt more token than anything else. Are Halle Berry and Hilary Swank really the best Hollywood stars the producers could mustre? Where were Denzel Washington, Liam Neeson, Will Smith, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Quentin Tarantino, Clint Eastwood, Julianne Moore, Meryl Streep, Marion Cotillard, Keira Knightley, Angelina Jolie and so on? Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman were as "Hollywood's Biggest Stars!" as it got. Hell, it's been a couple of years now where Jack Nicholson hasn't been in the front row and it's actually quite disappointing!

Still, if they were so desperate for these to be the "young, hip Oscars" where were the likes of Mia Wasikowksa? The young ator who starred in a Best Picture nominee (The Kids are All Right) and a billion dollar-earning Tim Burton hit. What about Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried, Jamie Bell or Rooney Mara, all of whom have big hits behind them and bigger hits ahead of them? Are they keeping the Harry Potter stars locked up over there in England or are they just waiting to parade them out next year when the eighth and final instalment makes a last ditch effort for Oscar gold? Thank heavens for small mercies at the lack of Miley Cyrus, Robert Pattinson - although James Franco, at times, looked a little Edward Cullen - and Justin Bieber, or whatever other "teen sensations" this years' producer thought the kids would want to see.

As for the awards themselves? Well, we all knew The King's Speech was destined for Best Picture glory, but I still don't think I quite understand Tom Hooper's win for Best Director. The film didn't sweep the technical categories like I had predicted, instead only taking home four trophies. Thankfully The Social Network won three excellent awards (Adapted Screenplay, Original Score and Editing), but Inception showed Academy voters still can't get a handle on what "sound mixing" and "sound editing" actually mean with its haul of four statues. Wins for The Lost Thing (Animated Short), Toy Story 3 (Animated Feature), Inside Job (Documentary Feature) and In a Better World (Foreign Language Film) were all richly deserved, which is more that can be said for Alice in Wonderland's baffling two wins for Costume and Art Direction. huh?


As sad as I was for Jacki Weaver missing out, at least Melissa Leo's speech - f-bombs, continued campaigning and insane yelling included - sure was... memorable, yeah? I did okay with my predictions, but I continue to find myself going against my better judgement when it comes to people like Weaver and David Fincher. I got 15 correct from the predictions I listed here at the blog, however I did submit predictions a week or two earlier for an Oscar viewing party I was attending and on those I correctly predicted Inside Job's win, so we'll say I got 16 and be done with it, yeah?

All in all, I can't say I was too impressed with yesterday's show. I don't think it was as shoddily produced as last year's diabolical "WTF?"-worthy ceremony, but it was so dull and flat. On one hand I blame the people involved - the producers, the writers, James Franco - but, on the other hand I blame all the other award shows that are so desperate to be Oscar harbingers that as the end of February rolls around it's all a bit been there done that with the winners. The Oscars can easily be fixed, it will just take the right people to do it.

Let's end this with a gif from the amazing Clem Bastow's rundown of the evening. The only thing better than this moment was that incredible reaction shot of the Coen brothers looking disinterested by Oprah's Best Documentary introduction. I also loved that Michelle Williams brought along Busy Phillips as her guest. Dawson's Creek and Cougar Town represent!

Rank and File: Predictions for the 83rd Academy Awards

Today is Oscar day! Or, it is in America. As of right now it's 10:36pm on Sunday evening in Australia. The ceremony is telecast live here from 12:30pm tomorrow (er, Monday - are you following this?), which is really quite nice if you're, like me, just sitting around home and not doing anything anyway. Gone, thankfully, are the days where Australians had to avoid television and online media like the plague for fear of having the delayed telecast spoiled - I will, however, never forget the time when Channel 9, the network that has screened the awards for as long as I remember, spoiled Halle Berry's history making win mere minutes before her category was to be announced! - due to declining ratings and the ever-burgeoning presence of social media all but making the ceremony a mere arbitrary obligation for night own diehards.


Here I thought we'd have a bit of fun with the traditional predictions post. Instead of simply listing who I think will win, I have decided to rank all the contenders in their respective categories (with my predicted winner highlighted in bold). I've done quite well for myself this year, having seen the largest number of nominees pre-ceremony ever. Even in the Best Documentary category, where I rarely seem to get past seeing three of the nominees months(/years!) after the awards, I have been privy to four of the five. I kick myself right now for deciding against seeing Wasteland at last year's Melbourne International Film Festival when I had the chance. In fact, the very final Oscar contender I had to watch was Tim Hetherington and
Sebastian Junger's Restrepo, which received a well-timed direct-to-DVD release just last week (as did Dogtooth, which I aim to revisit, but haven't gotten to just yet).

So, without further ado, let's get to it!

Best Picture
1. Toy Story 3
2. The Social Network
3. Black Swan
4. The Kids are All Right
5. 127 Hours
6. Inception
7. The King's Speech
8. True Grit
9. Winter's Bone
10. The Fighter

Best Director
1. Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
2. David Fincher, The Social Network
3. Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, True Grit
4. Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
5. David O. Russell, The Fighter

Best Actor
1. James Franco, 127 Hours
2. Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
3. Colin Firth, The King's Speech
4. Jeff Bridges, True Grit
- Javier Bardem, Biutiful

Best Actress
1. Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
2. Annette Bening, The Kids are All Right
3. Natalie Portman, Black Swan
4. Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine
5. Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone

Best Supporting actor
1. Mark Ruffalo, The Kids are All Right
2. John Hawkes, Winter's Bone
3. Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech
4. Christian Bale, The Fighter
5. Jeremy Renner, The Town

Best Supporting Actress
1. Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom
2. Amy Adams, The Fighter
3. Melissa Leo, The Fighter
4. Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
5. Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

(I'm better on a lot of last minute screener action for Weaver, as well as every Australian member of the Academy ticking her box, so to speak.)

Best Original Screenplay
1. Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Bloomfeld, The Kids are All Right
2. Mike Leigh, Another Year
3. David Seidler, The King's Speech
4. Christopher Nolan, Inception
5. Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson & Keith Dorrington, The Fighter

Best Adapted Screenplay
1. Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
2. Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich, Toy Story 3
3. Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy, 127 Hours
4. Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini, Winter's Bone
5. Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, True Grit

Best Editing
1. The Social Network
2. Black Swan
3. The Fighter
4. 127 Hours
5. The King's Speech

Best Cinematography
1. Black Swan
2. True Grit
3. Inception
4. The Social Network
5. The King's Speech

Best Costume Design
1. I Am Love
2. True Grit
3. The King's Speech
4. Alice in Wonderland
- The Tempest

Best Art Direction
1. Inception
2. The King's Speech
3. True Grit
4. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Part 1
5. Alice in Wonderland

Best Make-Up
1. The Wolfman
- Barney's Version
- The Way Back

Best Original Score
1. How to Train Your Dragon
2. Inception
3. The Social Network
4. The King's Speech
5. 127 Hours

Best Original Song
1. "Coming Home" from Country Strong
2. "A Whole New World 2.0" from Tangled
3. "Randy Newman's Burps Would Get Nominated Here" from Toy Story 3
4. "The Song That Sounds Like Nothing" from 127 Hours

Best Sound Mixing
1. The Social Network
2. Salt
3. True Grit
4. Inception
5. The King's Speech

Best Sound Editing
1. TRON: Legacy
2. Unstoppable
3. Inception
4. True Grit
5. Toy Story 3

Best Visual Effects
1. Inception
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1
3. Hereafter
4. Alice in Wonderland
- Iron Man 2

Best Documentary Feature
1. Inside Job
2. Exit Through the Gift Shop
3. GasLand
- Restrepo
- Wasteland

(The category I've gone back and forth on the most. I have Restrepo here to watch before the ceremony and will update this when I've finished it.)

Best Animated Feature
1. The Illusionist
2. Toy Story 3
3. How to Train Your Dragon

(The one category were I don't care what wins - even if we know what will - and the first time this category that thrown up an entire roster of nominees worthy of the win!)

Best Foreign Language Film
1. In a Better World
2. Dogtooth
- Biutiful
- Incendies
- Outside the Law

Best Documentary, Short Subject
- Killing in the Name
- Poster Girl
- Strangers No More
- Sun Come Up
- The Warriors of Quigang

Best Animated Short
1. Day and Night
- The Gruffalo
- Let's Pollute
- The Lost Thing
- Madagascar, A Journey Diary

Best Live Action Short
- The Confession
- The Crush
- God of Love
- Na Wewe
- Wish 143

Beautiful Things

I love a juicy bit of celebrity nostalgia. I love an interesting "behind the scenes" look. I love a great poster. I love Madonna. Add all these together and you can just guess how much I loved reading this article at My Life as a Blog (link via The Film Experience) about the making of the poster for Desperately Seeking Susan in the the mid-80s.

It's written by a man who worked on PR for the somewhat iconic 1985 film and the creation of the actually very iconic poster. It's an ode to the world of celebrity in the 1980s (Madonna catching taxis!) as well as the lost art of poster design that Susan a perfect example of. You know, when actors had to be in the same room rather than Photoshopped from opposite sides of the globe. The piece explains the story behind costume designer Santo Loquasto's duel jackets of the film, has multiple amazing Madonna quotes (even if, naturally, she comes of as a bit of a bitch) and features a cameo by Andre Leon Talley so delicious that I'm positively salivating.

At one point, Ritts was shooting some sultry glamour shots of Rosanna posing against a cloth backdrop, when Madonna came over. After gaping at Rosanna for a minute she said, “You look so good I’d like to fuck you myself.” It was funny, but you could almost hear the air—sssssss!—slipping out of Rosanna’s confidence, as her moment was stolen, and it became all about Madonna. And come on! This was Rosanna Arquette, after all—a true fantasy figure for a good portion of the men in America! Moments later, Madonna grabbed the backdrop, commandeered the same pose… and Herb shot an image that became a famous poster.

I suggest y'all check the piece out, it's fascinating from so many different points of view.

Want more beautiful things?

How about this list of the 50 best title sequences from IFC Film. It's an exhausting list - get prepared to lose at least an hour of your day with it - that includes video of all the films with some great discussion going on, too. I think this moment from the article's introduction is quite truthful, although even serious films seem to have jettisoned the art of opening title sequences, haven't they?

Of course, the current fashion in big blockbusters is to skip the opening credits entirely: a studio name, the film's title, and that's it. That decision says a lot about these big blockbusters' priorities: screw mood and tone! Who cares about characters and themes? Let's get to the action!

I've included some of my favourites below.


The Naked Gun | Do the Right Thing


Charade | Taxi Driver


Seconds | Goldfinger


Warriors | Vertigo
If you asked me to pick a favourite, I would have to go with Taxi Driver, and it's a shame they didn't include any David Lynch intro's since his are always so good with their creation of mood through imagery and music. I actually think Gasper Noe's Enter the Void managed to trump every single one on the list - although I may be jumping the gun - just this past year. I didn't care for the movie, but those opening (and closing, which feature at the beginning?) is a "tour de force"



If, for a moment there, this entry was becoming a piece of "the lost art of something-something" then let me change that by noting that giant floating heads are still alive and thriving. The Book of Siberia has assembled a whole bunch of them together and, I'm sad to say, there are quite a few Australian films featured. I don't think any of these posters are anything, although I'd say my favourite was Breaking the Waves, since the way the images are illustrated has some lovely texture to it. Make sure to click on over for the entire compilation of giant floating heads!


The music branch at the Academy lost any chance they may have mad to make audiences care about the musical numbers when they failed to nominated the Diane Warren penned, Cher performed, "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" for Best Original Song. The music branch hasn't had "taste" in a very long time, so why choose now to get some. I say that, of course, even though I think the film and the song are both legitimately very excellent, but even I can't deny that the general aura around the film is "omgsocamp!itmustbebad!!", which is a shame. Still, the film was one of only a few to actually insert its original songs into the film in the form of musical numbers and they still don't nominate it? And for "If I Rise"? A song that is, I think quite literally, air. There is nothing there to even be considered a song, right?

Oh well, how's this for... well, whatever it is? James Franco rehearsing a "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" number for the Academy Awards that will, unfortunately, never see the light of day. Yet another reason to think the Academy's music branch deserves a punch in the face for their incompetence.


It's still better than either of the four songs actually nominated thought (give or take "Coming Home" from Country Strong).

Let's end this with some more "beautiful things" that this entry originally started out as. I went to see "Hairspray" last night at the Princess Theatre. I had originally decided not to see it because, well, the movie is so good that I didn't feel like spending over $100 on seeing it performed on stage, and especially since I'd heard the production used LED screen sets rather than actually, ya know, sets. However, I purchased a couple of tickets at OnyaAid and, ya know, it was for charity!

I really liked it, of course, as one does with "Hairspray". It's hard to dislike, truly. I was a bit disappointed we had the understudy for Seaweed since "Can We Talk" hitmaker Tevin Campbell would've been a trip to see! Remember "Can We Talk"?


Amazing.

Still, my favourite part of the show was getting to watch Jack Chambers on stage for a couple of hours. Is this guy not just one of the most adorkable guys you've ever laid eyes on? Okay, well, for me he is. He was most definitely my favourite from the one season of So You Think You Can Dance that I watched. Why doesn't he realise we're meant to be together? Gosh, how rude! Naturally, I took a few cute screencaps from an interview he did with Undercover. It's what I do.







Okay, so more than a few. We're made for each other, can't you tell?

Jacki Weaver, Academy Award Nominee.

I think I predicted this back in March.


While I didn't do all that well with my Oscar predictions, I did foresee a couple of the notable things. How about Javier Bardem and I was so happy to see The Illusionist get the leg-up over Tangled and *shudder at the the thought* Despicable Me. Although I wish I'd kept Another Year in my original screenplay predictions instead of swapping it out for Blue Valentine. Meanwhile, in the Best Director category I correctly predicting a big omission, I just went in the wrong direction.

I thought Darren Aronofsky would miss out ala Baz Luhrmann in 2002 when everyone thought there was no way the branch could look at it and not recognise the direction. It was not Aronofsky though, but Christopher Nolan. I must say, I let out a laugh when his name was not read because, as a cinephile I was very distinctly in the minority in thinking that The Reader was the best film nominated in 2009 - give or take a Milk. Hearing all of Nolan's "fanboys" all but shit over that film and it's director Stephen Daldry for "stealing" Nolan's nomination. I am anticipating who these people will claim "stole" Nolan's nomination.

I find it incredibly insulting to throw around this "Inception directed itself?" line because, well, the five nominees all did fine work and earned their nominations. And then there's the issue of the four other directors who didn't get nomination alongside their movies in the Best Picture category. I feel a bit bad for the likes of Debra Granik and Lisa Cholodenko who have to listen to these people yammer on about Nolan being "snubbed" and yet there they are, also having directed Best Picture nominees and... well, I just think it's really poor form. Nevertheless, next year Christopher Nolan has a film in contention will we be seeing 10 nominees for Best Director? Hmmm...

One last word: Burlesque?

Okay, more than one last word. I can live with Burlesque not being nominated, but not nominated against *that* line-up? Or, more specifically, *that* song from 127 Hours? It's fitting that it's played during a shot that just hangs in the sky because it's the musical equivalent of air. It barely exists! I'm not even sure how it qualifies as a song to be perfectly honest with you. Add in the two animated tunes and it's one of the dullest lineups in that category's history. And that's from someone who tends to defend that category more than others. What a load of rubbish!

2011 Oscar Predictions: "Why Not?"

To paraphrase The Cranberries... everybody else is doing it, so can't I? And trust me, there are some people doing it that, quite literally, haven't the foggiest idea what they're doing. It baffles me that even people who run famous Oscar watching websites don't even know eligibility rules for major films, but there you go. Because I don't claim to be an expert I can have a bit of play around with the nominations, which is what I've done. So, let's take a stab at these things, shall we?

Best Picture:
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids are All Right
The King's Speech
The Social Network
The Town
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone
alt: 127 Hours



The final spot it definitely a battle, I think, between The Town, Winter's Bone and 127 Hours. I gave the edge to the first two because I imagine they'll benefit from preferential balloting and #1 slots respectively. Personally, I'd prefer 127 Hours over Winter's Bone, but there's a bunch of titles in the entire top ten that I could do without being nominated so it's six of one half a dozen of the other, really.



Best Director:
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, True Grit
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
Christopher Nolan, Inception
David O Russell, The Fighter
alt: Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan

Conventional wisdom seems to suggest Aronofsky getting in over the Coen's because his film would've been the likelier top 5 contender in a regular year, but I'm going with the filmmaking brothers in a sort of Woody Allen type nomination (he of the ubiquitous "lone director" nominations) for a directing team that are obvious well respected. I just feel incredibly nervous for Darren Aronofsky in a "Moulin Rouge!-directed-itself" kinda way.

Best Actor:
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
alt: Robert Duvall, Get Low

Firstly, I chose Javier Bardem as a sort of "Tommy Lee Jones from In the Valley of Elah" style it-seems-so-obvious-yet-didn't-quite-see-it-coming nomination. And as much as I'd love to predict Ryan Gosling for his best of the year work in Blue Valentine, with so many young'ns in the field, I imagine many might put down the soft lob of Duvall if they veer away from my predicted five.

Best Actress:
Annette Bening, The Kids are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
alt: Hilary Swank, Conviction

Oh how I worry for Nicole Kidman. She's been right in there all season, but never winning. That's the sort of position that can lead to complacency from voters. Hailee Steinfeld, however, will wind up here, I suspect, much like Kate Winslet did for The Reader (something I correctly predicted, mind you). She did get the BAFTA nod for lead after all and that is, I think, quite telling.

Best Supporting Actor:
Christian Bale, The Fighter
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids are All Right
Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech
alt: Sam Rockwell, Conviction



I am not at all confident about Garfield or Ruffalo, but have stuck with them anyway. I'd love to see John Hawkes surprise for Winter's Bone, but I'm just not sure how.



Best Supporting Actress:
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
Mia Kunis, Black Swan
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom
alt: Barbra Hershey, Black Swan

Supporting Actress is always the first category announced on nomination morning so by the time the five nominees have been announced I will be either incredible ecstatic to pay attention to the rest of the nominees or too miserable to pay attention to the rest of the nominees. If I could have any Oscar morning wish it would be for Jacki Weaver to get nominated. We're officially on red alert for her, but I think if Steinfeld gets the bump to the lead race like I expect then we'll be seeing Weaver's face pop up on the monitor.

Best Original Screenplay:
Blue Valentine
The Fighter
Inception
The Kid's are All Right
The King's Speech
alt: Another Year

Kinda going off on a tangent with these nominations, but the writing categories have been surprisingly keen lately to honour the films that aren't getting noticed elsewhere and I suspect Blue Valentine will rank highly enough on enough ballots to get nominated.

Best Adapted Screenplay:
The Ghost Writer
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone
alt: 127 Hours

Yeah, by this stage we're all just theorising on one spot since four of these are locked up. It won't make much of a difference either way, right? I'm figuring the writer's branch will find more to like in The Ghost Writer's adaptation (plus novelty factor of high profile writer) than 127 Hours which, at least for me, finds its strengths elsewhere than the screenplay.

Best Cinematography:
127 Hours
Black Swan
I Am Love
Inception
True Grit
alt: The Social Network

Okay, I Am Love is obviously wishful thinking, but I'm holding out hope for a Malèna style nomination, okay? I can dream, can't it? Either way, I'll just be thankful for any lineup that doesn't include The King's Speech's gaudy lenses. Please!


Best Art Direction:
Alice in Wonderland
Inception
The King's Speech
Shutter Island
True Grit
alt: Black Swan

I don't really have anything to say about this category. Sometimes they nominate certain things and sometimes they don't. Who can tell, really?


Best Costume Design:
Black Swan
Burlesque
The King's Speech
Robin Hood
True Grit
alt: Alice in Wonderland

Just a completely random idea to throw out Alice in Wonderland. I'm absolutely positive it will indeed get a nomination for Colleen Atwood, but... I just want to throw it out on the off chance they do indeed snub her and I can be all "see, I knew they wouldn't nominate that trash." Of course, I'm then predicting Robin Hood, so... er... ummm...

Best Film Editing:
Black Swan
Inception
The King's Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
alt: The Fighter

I dunno. All six of these films have aspects that I can see the Academy responding too. I'm just banking on some sort of boxing movie fatigue with The Fighter (although the editors branch could just as easily be turned on by the inserting of documentary footage as they are turned off by the routine boxing sequences.) To quote Lisa Simpson: Like, ya know... whatever!

Best Make-Up:
Alice in Wonderland
True Grit
The Wolfman
alt: The Way Back

I typed "The W---" and left it blank for several minutes as I tried to decide which movie to predict. I went with The Wolfman, but I can easily see it being left off in favour of, well, anything, really? Same goes for True Grit, but I feel confident that that's film's prestige will get it across the line.

Best Visual Effects:
Alice in Wonderland
Inception
Iron Man 2
Scott Pilgrim vs The World
TRON: Legacy
alt: Harry Potter and the I've Forgotten It's Name For Real, Part 1

Yeah? I dunno. Why is this category five wide again?

Best Music - Original Score:
Alice in Wonderland
How to Train Your Dragon
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network
alt: The Illusionist

Alexandre Desplat, almost always getting nominated for the wrong score entirely. This year it's The King's Speech over (apparently) The Ghost Writer. Hmmm. So disappointing since I thought this year had so many great scores. They really do need to reinstate that adapted/song score category though, don't they?


Best Music - Original Song:
"Welcome to Burlesque" from Burlesque
"You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" from Burlesque
"Coming Home" from Country Strong
"I See the Light" from Tangled
"We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3
alt: "Shine" from Waiting for Superman

I will be happy as long as something from Burlesque is nominated!

Best Sound Editing:
Black Swan
How to Train Your Dragon
Inception
127 Hours
Toy Story 3
alt: True Grit

I went back and forth. Settled on this combination. looks decent enough, right? (rhetorical question, don't answer that!)

Best Sound Mixing:
Black Swan
Inception
The Social Network
True Grit
Unstoppable
alt: Salt

Again, who really knows? These categories occasionally throw up really weird stuff.


Best Animated Feature:
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3
alt: Tangled

I haven't seen Tangled yet, but gosh I really hope The Illusionist really snags that final contested slot. Or, if not that, then something like My Dog Tulip or Idiots and Angels that will throw people for a loop like they did last year with The Secret of Kells. Do we really need Despicable Me nominated? Why not just nominate Kim Possible: The Movie while you're at it?

Best Documentary Feature:
Inside Job
Restrepo
The Tillman
Waiting for Superman
WasteLand
alt: William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe

I can see all the contenders being nominated, to tell you the truth. And, for what it's worth, that includes Exit Through the Gift Shop. If it got this far...

Best Foreign Language Film:
Incendies from Canada
In a Better World from Denmark
Biutiful from Mexico
Life Above All from South Africa
Even the Rain from Spain
alt: Dogtooth from Greece (for laughs)

Again, it's a total throw-the-darts idea for the final spot and I went with Spain since it sounds like the where-did-that-come-from surprise that is always there due to the tiny nature of the branch.

I'm not going to predict the short categories since I can't even fake having any true knowledge about them at all. We'll see how we go when the nominations are announced Tuesday American time, which I believe is usually about Midnight on Wednesday here. What fun.

Craven's Documentaries

I watched Music of the Heart yesterday; Wes Craven's first and only venture outside of the realms of "genre" filmmaking (not including his inclusion in Paris je t'aime). He apparently agreed to only make Scream 3 if he could direct it. The story in the video below is a bit different (the Weinstein's "offered" him the chance to direct a Miramax movie), but I'm not sure I believe that. As I was scooting around YouTube I did indeed find the following video and it's an interesting one for a few reasons.

One of which is that Craven admits to being on the Academy's documentary committee. Or, at least, he was in 1995 when Allen Miller's Small Wonders, a documentary that became Music of the Heart, was nominated for the Oscar. Am I the only one surprised by this? I wonder if he's still involved or not.


"Wes sees reality in a different way than other people do. He has a very clear understanding of the darkness in life and I think that he waited 20 years to explore the flip side of the darker side.
The other bit I love is during the parts of Meryl Streep's interview where she lavishes praise on Craven. I like it when actors I like are so open about the affection for a director I like, especially when they're someone such as Wes Craven who, by his own admission, quite easily have been called a fraud as he made this wholesome "nice white lady" movie. My favourite bit is how she admit to "not knowing anything about him" ("I'd never seen any of those scary movies because I don't go to them. I'm a total wimp.") and that she relied on her son to tell her that "he's a really good storyteller". I hope she went home after the shoot ended and watched some. Can you imagine Meryl Streep sitting at home on her couch watching Scream or A Nightmare on Elm Street? "Poor Drew!" she'd wail, I'm sure of it!

Nicole on Gwyneth

This is Gwyneth Paltrow performing "Country Strong" at the CMAs recently. She's quite obviously very nervous, but she does a fine job.


My favourite bit, however, was this:


You totally know that Nicole Kidman is all "Keep smiling! Bitch better not steal my Oscar nomination!"

You know it!

The Unknown Veteran

I don't do much awards chatter these days here at the blog. There are so many other places that do it and do it far better than I so I stopped for the most part. Every now and then, however, I really get the itch to do my Oscar watching right here instead of in the comment sections of other, better blogs and I've decided to go out on a limb and predict that "Australia's own" (hello Herald Sun "entertainment" pages favourite saying) Jacki Weaver will be nominated for an Academy Award come early next year.

Weaver, as anybody who reads Stale Popcorn knows, is the eye of the cyclone that is David David Michôd's Animal Kingdom. She's the calm centre of the raging storm around her, but her placidness belies the true destructive force that's at work; she's a monster through and through. Normally a performance by a 63-year-old unknown in a foreign film (especially one that has only grossed $900,000) wouldn't cause much of a ripple on the other side of the Pacific, but she's the only contender in the Best Supporting Actress field, thin as it may be, to already have herself a genuine, bona fide fanbase. She has a catchphrase, for cryin' out loud! Still, that won't be enough to get the nomination.

My belief in Weaver's nomination comes from what I hope will be the influence of the critics. Looking at the list of known contenders in the category - ignore the fact that she will be nominated for, and win, the Best Actress category at the AFI Awards come November, the AFIs generally always bump up the most prominent of each gender to the lead categories whether it is justified or not - and it's hard to see a name that sticks out as the sort that critics associations throughout the United States would rally behind.

Most of the other names that people think will be in the Oscar race don't instantly strike me as the type of roles that critics reward. As much of a breeze as Helena Bonham Carter may find it to get an Oscar nomination for The King's Speech does this really strike you as a big enough, note-worthy enough, for the critcs? Will they go for the supportive "mom" or the supporting girlfriend, played by Melissa Leo and Amy Adams respectively, from The Fighter? That movie hardly looks like the sort of project that will endear itself to the critics with its apparent old-fashioned nature. I could see Barbara Hershey getting some success from Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan, but does her domineering mother character rank alongside Weaver's? And if they really want to help that movie they'll award Aronofsky or Natalie Portman, surely.


More likely contenders would be Dianne Wiest for Rabbit Hole and Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit. One is a bona fide legend and the other could prove to be a breakout youngster, but unless Weist steamrolls through the season I can't see critics giving her their prize for a role that's (at least from the outset) looks so unflashy. Maybe that's just me. Steinfeld? Well, it could be a way for the critics to reward True Grit if they decide to really get on the bandwagon of The Social Network in the big categories.

Other than those, who is there? I'd love to see Dale Dickey show up there for Winter's Bone, but her brand of character actress so rarely get noticed and, no offence intended, Dickey is not a "natural beauty" so she can't hang her hat on the "i-went-ugly-but-look-how-sexy-i-really-am" rack. I doubt the critics will go for Tyler Perry's For Colored Girls (as an aside, the number of times I have to correct myself on the spelling of that title is getting ridiculous!) or the women of Nowhere Boy. Miranda Richardson for Made in Dagenham? Maybe if they realise they've really missed her, but the film strikes me as a little bit lightweight for the critics, doesn't it?

We've seen the monster mother routine rewarded plenty of times rewards. Recent examples of this include Amy Ryan for Gone Baby Gone and Mo'Nique for Precious. Will they go to that particular well again? I hope so, especially when someone such as Weaver is so deserving. If you follow the reviews then it's hard to argue that Weaver's is the most critically acclaimed performance of the year so far give or take a Lesley Manville. If nobody gives her an award this season then they will be doing themselves a great disservice.

The only way Weaver will be able to really make a legitimate claim to a Best Supporting Actress nomination will be with the support of critics, but the critics might not reward her because they don't feel she has a legitimate shot of a Best Supporting Actress nomination, and these days these associations are all about being "relevant". Still, nobody was predicting Amy Ryan or Amy Adams (for Junebug) for an Oscar nomination and the support they were shown shoehorned her into the race. I'm hoping - I'm predicting - they will do the same for Jacki Weaver. She deserves it.

And if anybody wants to send me their Jacki Weaver catchphrase t-shirt I'd be more than willing to accept it!

Review: Piranha 3D

Piranha 3D
Dir. Alexandre Aja
Year: 2010
Aus Rating: MA15+
Running Time: 88mins

Sometimes a title can tell you everything you need to know. Such is the case with Piranha 3D, a film in which prehistoric piranhas fly out of the screen at your face. If that sounds like a good time at the movies then run to the cinema immediately. Filled with recognisable faces, packed with excessive blood and gore and jokes as corny as they are hilarious, Piranha 3D is, if nothing else, the most honest and unpretentious piece of filmmaking of 2010.

Read the rest at Trespass Mag
I doubt there is a movie released in 2010 that earns it's B more than Piranha 3D. It's a B movie through and through both in intent and execution.

Piranha 3D: For Your Consideration from Piranha 3D

And for what it's worth, the recent "Funny or Die" sketch that aimed to place this movie amongst the year's Oscar contenders is worthwhile for one category: Best Make-Up. It will never happen, but I am quite positive that the make-up work here will be far superior to any of the old age make-up or fat man make-up that the Oscar's branch will ultimately bestow a nomination upon. The bit where a girl's hair gets caught in a boat propellor that proceeds to then rip her entire face off is a better example of cinema make-up than The Wolfman, Alice in Wonderland or whatever other terrible movie will fill the space.

Also, this new "Funny or Die" video is hilarious! "Ving Rhames can send video through time", indeed.

Ving Rhames Wins Oscar for Piranha 3D from Piranha 3D

High Praise

It amazes me to this very day to read movie websites and blogs that still harp on about Shakespeare in Love beating Saving Private Ryan to Best Picture honours. Even though people don't seem to realise that Saving Private Ryan would have made for perhaps the most cliched Oscar-winner in the history of the Academy (Spielberg! Hanks! WWII! Vin Diesel!) In that debate I remain firmly in the camp of Shakespeare, but if given the option between that or The Thin Red Line... well, the call would be close.

Meanwhile over in the Best Actress category people still think Cate Blanchett was robbed for her performance in Elizabeth, who was beaten to the golden statue by Gwyneth Paltrow for Shakespeare in Love. At the time I was all about Blanchett and in my very young life as an Oscar watcher (the first ceremony I remember sitting down and watching the entirety of was one year earlier when Titanic swept the board) I couldn't quite fathom how she lost. Since then I am all about Paltrow in the battle of Best Actress '98.

However, I imagine that all those people who cry foul over Blanchett's loss have never seen Lisa Cholodenko's High Art, for if they had they would have a far bigger snub complaint in the form of Ally Sheedy's performance as "Lucy Berliner". I had never seen it either and had only heard mythical whispering from the likes of Nathaniel Rogers and... umm... er, anyone else? Now that I have seen it, on the eve of Cholodenko's next lesbian love tangle The Kids Are All Right (released 5 September), I can wholehearted agree that Ally Sheedy should have an Academy Award on her mantel right now.

As Nathaniel mentions in the piece I linked to, "How could any of (the five nominated) performances not have been nominated", since there was Meryl Streep with cancer, the next big thing making Royalty Porn, Hollywood's daughter reciting Shakespeare, an aging international stay bonding with a small child and the star of a biopic of a tortured musical genius. Still, one watch of High Art and you've got to wonder the Academy let Sheedy's performance pass through their fingers. Is it because a) the film's confronting homosexuality (something I am unaware of them embracing at that stage), b) High Art came at the tail end of the '90s indie movement at a time when all the big names were breaking out and taking their culturally hip audiences with them along with their multi-million dollar budgets or c) they couldn't resign themselves to the fact that an actress who made a name for herself in 1980s teen dramas was actually capable of giving a performance richer than one by Meryl Streep and the traditionalists couldn't handle it.

Hmmm.

Yes, "hmmm" indeed!

Nevertheless, Sheedy deserved that Oscar. It's interesting to wonder what may have happened if she had even been nominated. What would her career be like today? Since High Art in 1998 Sheedy's most high-profile work has come on TV series such as CSI, Oz and Once and Again. Her recent cameo in Todd Solondz' Life During Wartime should hopefully kick start something, maybe another auteur will notice her, remember how great she is capable of being and cast her in a great role.

It's interesting to look at the 1998 Best Actress race and wonder what happened to some of the also rans. Christina Ricci, so very good and Golden Globe-nominated in The Opposite of Sex, has slid so far down the chain of great actresses since that role that it's nigh on depressing (Black Snake Moan and Monster notwithstanding although even those have their detractors). Jane Horrocks' Golden Globe-nominated performance in Little Voice lead to this and it's arguable that Meg Ryan (also Globe-nominated) has effectively been a complete non-entity since You've Got Mail. Ally Sheedy's in good company then.