Contemplating the IMDB ratings thus far.

So, out of the major contenders for Best Pic, this is how they stack up for IMDB voters thus far:

- Slumdog Millionaire, 8.6 with just under 8,000 votes.
- Doubt, 8.0 with about 1,000 votes
- Ben Button, 8.7 with 1,000 votes
- Milk, 8.3 with 5,500ish votes
- Revolutionary Road, 8.0 with 800 votes
- Frost/Nixon, 8.2 with 2,500 votes
- The Wrestler, 8.8 with 2,600 votes

Interesting development: Awards Circuit has now added WALL-E to its predictions for top 5 films. I really liked the film, but I can't believe that will happen. But, they had a big win with the LAFCA and, it's held on to an 8.6 for what must be six months now, with 101,000 votes and #34 on the top 250 list on IMDB.

So, things to note:

I know that Frost/Nixon has had a few sneak previews (freaking Columbia, Mo!), and I assume the same for The Wrestler.

From what I've seen, numbers tend to go up after a wide release* (and people who are less critical than those who review movies for a living or go to sneak previews start voting in force). This makes me wonder, where the heck will Ben Button end up? Will the weirdness of the story affect its reception upon wide release (which was yesterday)? What about The Wrestler? It's higher rating still doesn't have it anywhere near WALL-E on the top 250 list, so most of the regular voters haven't even voted yet (who will, I'll make a wild guess, will love it).
*Note: This does not apply to cult films.

SAG vs Golden Globes

The SAG nominations came out recently and I just wanted to briefly compare them to the GG nominations and speculate on the impending Oscar noms. My thinking is that anything they agree on pretty much becomes a lock for an Oscar nom.

Best Actor: SAG - Richard Jenkins (The Visitor); GG - DiCaprio (Revolutionary Road)
That leaves Sean Penn (Milk), Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler), Brad Pitt (Ben Button), and Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon) as "locks."

Note - Even though Oscar nominations come only from members working in the field of a particular category, the Oscar noms and SAG noms don't always match up. My guess is this is due to the smaller voting pool of Academy actors.

Best Actress: SAG - Melissa Leo (Frozen River); GG - Kristen Scott Thomas (I've Loved You So Long).
"Locks": Angelina Jolie (Changling), Meryl Streep (Doubt), Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married), Kate Winslet (Revolutionary Road)

Note - Obviously, the GG nominate 10 leading actors and actresses. I only looked at the dramatic performances which does leave alive someone like Sally Hawkins (Happy Go Lucky), however, she did not make the SAG five.

Supporting Actor: SAG - Josh Brolin (Milk), Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire); GG - Tom Cruise (Tropic Thunder), Ralph Feinnes (The Duchess)
"Locks": Heath Ledger (Dark Knight), Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt), Robert Downey Jr (Tropic Thunder)

Supporting Actress: SAG - Taraji Henson (Ben Button); GG - Marissa Tomei (Wrestler)
"Locks": Amy Adams (Doubt), Viola Davis (Doubt), Kate Winslet (The Reader), Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)

SAG Best Cast: Doubt, Milk
GG Best Drama: The Reader, Revolutionary Road
"Locks" for Oscar best pic: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Slumdog Millionaire

This puts Milk back alive in the best picture race after getting snubbed by the GG. Things are not looking good for The Dark Knight. Once again, Heath was its only nomination. I could still see it getting four to six total Oscar noms with technical awards, but it seems that's the best it can hope for.

Slumdog Millionaire is ridiculously good.

As amazing as Milk was, and before that The Dark Knight, Slumdog Millionaire has officially unseated them both for the title of My Favorite Movie of 2008... for the time being, haha.

Richie has already voiced many of my thoughts. The story structure was amazing. We followed Jamal through his arrest and torture by Indian police. As he is with them, they watch his entire show on Millionaire, and for each question, he uses an anecdote (flashback) to explain how he knew the answer. It's a great story. It did lack some character development, but I still loved it.

I've never seen a movie's soundtrack contribute so much. The songs used and the original score both contributed SO much to the mood and tempo of the movie. That soundtrack will be purchased immediately. And thoroughly enjoyed.

There won't be any acting awards for this, and I'm not sure if it qualifies for the Best Original Score (but it SHOULD). Directing and cinematography would be my best bet. I'm sure there will be a Best Picture Nom, and I'd support that, but we'll have to wait and see how heavyweights like The Wrestler and Revolutionary Road compare.

Slumdog Millionaire

When I first heard the title and premise of this movie I was extremely skeptical. The trailer, however, was filled will promise and the movie pretty much delivered. While I had a blast watching it, I wasn't as emotionally as involved as I would have hoped. That being said, I've found that I can't stop thinking about it. Last night as I was explaining the premise to my brother I got really excited.

The story unfolds expertly in a series of flashbacks intercut with Jamal on stage as a contestant on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The concept is simple and brilliant - winning on this show is not about being a genius and knowing everything; it's about getting the right questions that YOU know. Trust me, that gives nothing away, it's merely the starting point. I think Danny Boyle's a safe bet for a directing nom, setting the tone and the pace perfectly. The story is urgent and sentimental at the same time.

However, I don't think this one can go all the way. A best picture nomination is likely, but I don't think it can win. The acting is fine, but the roles are not particularly demanding. The weakest part of the script is relatively flat characters. Jamal reminded me of Ryan Gossling in The Notebook who was defined only by his desire for "the girl" and, though sweet, was a very unemotional person. Likewise the girl, Latika, was little more than the object of Jamal's obsession. The film was so enjoyable, I would have loved to see another 45 minutes worked in to flesh out the characters. That would have been a romantic epic capable of bringing home Oscar gold.

Oh, and this show had the best closing credits ever. :)

Verdict: Great... but not the greatest.

Got Milk?

Sorry, I realize how lame that was. But I still had to.

Richie and I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Milk on Saturday. I have had a feeling ever since awards predictions started appearing that Milk would be my favorite movie of the year. I'll start of this review by saying that nothing I saw Saturday disparaged that feeling in the least.

Sean Penn is triumphant as Harvey Milk, leading thousands of freedom-seeking people through the streets of San Francisco, first to a safe haven in their own neighborhood and then to be a political force to be reckoned with. He's endearing, telling his lover that a pasta dinner is the best meal he's ever had or shouting, "Hey, I like the way those jeans fit!" at a kid (Emile Hirsch) walking by his campaign table. And he is tragic, breaking your heart along with his when his lover, Scott, leaves him and again when he is killed by a political rival.

The supporting actors were eloquently cast. Emile Hirsch deserves a mention, who has shown himself to be one of the most versatile young actors around. James Franco has drawn attention (deservedly) for this role and also for his part in Pineapple Express. And, as I'm a sucker for anything out of Latin America, it was awesome to see Diego Luna in a high-profile English-language film, stealing the scenes he was in.

What makes this film even more amazing is that Van Sant makes it a complete package, with some of the most creative shots I've seen in a drama piece. Remember when M. Night Shyamalan did that shot in Signs (shut up.) where you saw the alien first in the TV reflection? Van Sant recycles and improves the effect by using it for dramatic juxtaposition. And that's just one example. The film is a technical masterpiece.

It looks like Milk could be a strong contender in several categories - hopefully Best Pic, best actor, best supporting actor (kind of a dude-heavy movie), definitely cinematography, perhaps editing or screenplay? Lots of possibilities.

Milk

My awards season viewing got off to a great start yesterday with Milk. The biopic of openly gay San Francisco politician Harvey Milk is a powerful look at a prejudice that has made some progress in the 30 years since Milk's assassination, but still has a long way to go. While today's debate is over whether or not gays should be allowed to marry, in the 70's they were fighting for the right to be able to keep their jobs and not be randomly beaten by bigoted police.

What starts as Milk's simple stubbornness evolves into devout courage in fighting for his people. As he tells fellow supervisor Dan White, this is not an "issue," it is their lives they are fighting for. Sean Penn is a lock for a best actor nomination.

I like parties. Especially Hollywood awards parties.

Awards season is FINALLY here. Hooray! Here are my initial reactions to this year's GG noms.

1) TOM CRUISE FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, MUSICAL/COMEDY.

2) The Batman thing.

In my humble opinion (which I will back up with data and boundless knowledge if necessary), the lack of Batman nominations for anything besides Heath Ledger is just evidence of the fact that even with Heath's awesome performance (which IS award-worthy), those in positions of award-voting authority are still biased against summer popcorn movies, even if those summer popcorn movies are completely badass and the best movie you've seen all year.

This kind of bias will probably be a barrier to Heath here and at the Oscars, but let's hope not.

3) Geez, how about those best actress categories? This will be one of the toughest years ever for the five Oscar noms.

4) I'm intrigued by the building buzz for Frost/Nixon. That'll be a damn good movie.

As for TV:

- Tina Fey is pretty much the biggest thing in comedy TV right now. I would not be surprised if 30 Rock wins best show, and Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin also bag their respective awards. 30 Rock was awesome when it began, and has only gotten better. I wish I could say the same about the Office (which I still love, but it's not the same deal).

- Mad Men is all over the place, and with good reason. If you have not started watching this show, do so immediately. I watched all but 2 episodes of season one in one sitting during a long, sleepless night in Phoenix. After about three episodes, I kept watching because I couldn't stop. Not because I couldn't sleep (though I still couldn't).

In conclusion:

This is a heck of a year for awards. There are no weak categories! Awesome.

Getting the Party Started

I'm going to call today the official start of the movie awards season (and jump start of this blog) with the announcement of the Golden Globe nominations this morning. You can find the complete list of nominees at IMDb. http://www.imdb.com/features/rto/2009/globes

The most notable omissions were in the Best Motion Picture, Drama category, which lacked The Dark Knight, and, perhaps more surprising, Milk.

I like to think this is simply because these are very "American" movies that the Hollywood Foreign Press didn't fully appreciate. But that is probably just wishful thinking. It seems unlikely now that The Dark Knight will be able to go the way of Lord of the Rings by breaking out of the shackles of its own genre. My research is a bit rusty, but the only Oscar best picture nominee that comes to mind that did not also receive a GG nom is The Shawshank Redemption 14 years ago. If that trend is bucked again this year, it will more likely be Milk that sneaks in (IMO).

I'll still keep rooting for The Dark Knight and, to be fair, I have yet to see any of the GG drama nominations, though I seriously doubt two (let alone all 5) of them will impress me more than TDK. In the meantime I'm forced to rest all my TDK hopes on Mr. Ledger bringing home the posthumous Oscar gold.

On the comedy/musical side, I have seen 3 of the 5 nominees - In Bruges, Burn After Reading, and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. I have to say VCB is my favorite of these, but I still can't get over its obscenely gratuitous voice over. I sincerely hope (while equally sincerely doubting) there will be an option on the DVD to watch it sans the VO.

Not much else to say for the moment. I'm just really excited to be able to see some great movies, which, unfortunately are far too rare.

Damn it, I will get back into this; also, I watched Se7en and it was awesome.

Thoughts on movies:

1) I watched Se7en. My first copy died a terrible death about 1/3 of the way through the movie. It was at that time when I realized that Se7en is possibly the worst movie to stop in the middle of, ever. When I finally finished the movie a couple of days later, I figured out the ending about the same time Morgan Freeman did. Freaking amazing.

2) Things I need to see:
WALL-E - let's face it, anything touched by the hand of Steve Jobs, even if it's from a board room, is gold. Scratch that, it's platinum.

Wanted - well, maybe.

Batman - This movie will be ridiculously amazing. Buddies have insinuated that Heath Ledger's death/drugs were because he was so messed up from getting into character to be the Joker. The director said he is "terrifying." It's going to be fantastic.

Quantum of Solace - maybe. If it doesn't fall down the same hole as every single other James Bond movie except Casino Royale.

I'm sure there are things missing from this list.

For the love of all that is holy, get off 'Speed Racer''s back. Please and thank you.

I have been wanting to start writing again for oh, about the amount of time that it's been since my last blog post. And the unfounded criticisms that have made 'Speed Racer' a "eh, maybe when it comes out on DVD" movie to the general public have gotten me riled up so much that I had to post about it.

(Richie, this is not in response to the conversation that we had. Promise. I just should not read rotten tomatoes).

I saw the movie twice and was completely absorbed both times. The movie is funny, sweet and exciting. The visual effects are as good as in any movie, ever. Just different (and INNOVATIVE). And it's the best cinematography and film editing I've ever seen.

I went to Rotten Tomatoes to find out exactly what 'the experts' had complained about. Here are my responses to the first ones I found:

Diabetics need to be wary of Andy and Larry Wachowski's adaptation of the cult anime series Speed Racer. The big-screen version contains so much eye candy, you're liable to slip into a coma.
I'm sorry, is the complaint here that the visual effects were too colorful? They were very much so, but ... what did he expect?


This is not family time, it's boredom time. Whizz, whizz, whizz, yet another car zooms past and it's less exciting than building one from Meccano. Speed Racer is a snore.
Um... no. Did we not pick up on the race-fixing plotline? Speed's fight to keep racing a sport and not a business? His journey of self-discovery?

The ultimate problem is that this is a film based on a lousy cartoon from the '60s that can only be properly called a "classic" through the muddied lens of Boomer nostalgia.
Wow. Someone has a heart of stone.

At 134 minutes, Speed Racer throws so much color on the screen for so long, younger viewers (and even some not-so-young ones) will get worn out and want this ride to stop.
Wow, better make sure your kids don't see Willy Wonka, either. They might not like all the fun!

Provides all the hallucinogenic benefits of an LSD trip without any of the nasty side-effects
Still confused as to why sweet-ass special effects have to be in earth tones to be appreciated. This just isn't a valid complaint.


There's no thrill of victory and no agony of defeat here -- just more cars flying through the air...and cartwheeling before bursting into flames.
Again. Did we miss the plot?

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Seriously. What kind of complaints are these? "The special effects are too much?" What the hell did you expect from a futuristic movie about racing cars in exotic locations on impossible tracks? 'Speed Racer' made no secret about that.

The movie more than captured the spirit of the hilarious '60s cartoon. It took it to a whole new level. I think if the creators could have made it this way the first time around, they wouldn't have thought twice about it.

So, go see the movie. And remember, it's supposed to be fun.