Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Programming Note ~ TFE in 2009

The next seven weeks are understandably heavy with Oscar stuff but we'll step away from that whenever possible for balance, this being the film experience rather than the oscar experience (though yes, I do lean gold/naked this time of year). So let's consider next week, January 11th~ 17th, premiere week.


Top Tens, Requests, Hotties, Best Pictures From the Outside In and Monologues return from hiatus. Inbetween or amongst them... continued Oscar brouhaha and weekly reviews (it's the one area this blog is lacking in and it's my New Year's Resolution to correct).

This week: An interview with Waltz With Bashir's Ari Folman, Play Time (1967), a review of Bride Wars and more FB Awards nominations.

$$$: There will soon be more ads on the site so please consider clicking on them, once they arrive. You'll notice that TFE has been mostly without but it's an impossibly to continue much longer without money coming in. If you're recession proof, please consider donating (see sidebar)

In the comments: Out of curiousity, which of the presumed Best Picture hopefuls this year do you think deserves more attention/review/indepth coverage here?
*

30 comments:

alex said...

I'm so excited for your Waltz with Bashir review! I just caught it at the Landmark Sunshine yesterday - loved it.

It felt more vibrant, more vital than anything else I've seen this year - except for perhaps Rachel Getting Married. Damn thing puts Persepolis to shame in terms of imagination and visual fluidity, and I am quite the Persepolis fan.

Michael Parsons said...

Happy-Go-Lucky please

Catherine said...

I sort of hated Waltz With Bashir. No, hatred is too strong a feeling for what I experienced. Mild apathy is probably a better description. At the same time, I'm extremely curious to read your review and excited about the return of all those series!

ZiZo said...

I want some Bashir love too! yey!

And regarding your question... I guess Slumdog Millionaire, you haven´t talk about it much.

E Dot said...

Perhaps a 'from the inside out' on Milk. I loved that movie, but it's fading away behind a CGI Brad Pitt and a friggin' game show...

Anonymous said...

Un peu plus sur Entre les Murs s'il vous plaît

abstew said...

WALL-E!!!!! i know you have been talking about it, but if we all collectively join forces to discuss it non-stop the academy will HAVE to nominate it for best picture. and if i see either the word frost or nixon anywhere near best picture when nominations are announced i'm gonna be pissed!!!

Anonymous said...

Slumdog Millionaire would get my vote though I wouldn't mind hearing more about Milk as well.

Or you can just wax more poetic on Lee Pace. It's really your choice.

NATHANIEL R said...

i actually like frost/nixon better than slumdog and even though benjamin button is way more ambitious/beautiful i think frost/nixon doesn't have as many "problems" in its telling.

that said frost/nixon deosn't really have any business being near best picture and even though it's not my least favorite it's the exact one that in a few years time people will be all "why was anyone excited about that?" at least th eothers (even if they're not your favorite or even something you don't like) it's easy to see why they have obsessive fans.

Anonymous said...

I haven't seen Frost/Nixon yet, but of the other presumed five the only one I honestly love (and I really love it) is Milk.

Anonymous said...

please, god. no frost/nixon. but (breaking the question rules) i want mucho mas Cate.

abstew said...

i didn't mind FROST/NIXON. it was a handsome, solid film that left no impression on me whatsoever. it's a typical oscar bait film that isn't a bad movie, just bland and, like you said, nowhere near the 'best' picture of the year. it annoys me that year after year films like this get in over more ambitious, creative films.
i just wish the academy would get over the stigma of 'genre' films and what a prestige film is and just look at the work. because in years to come movies like ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, MEMENTO, CHILDREN OF MEN, PAN'S LABYRINTH, and WALL-E are gonna still be watched and admired. but does anyone even remember A BEAUTIFUL MIND, BABEL, SEABISCUIT, RAY, and what's it called? oh, yeah FROST/NIXON. come on academy.

Anonymous said...

NAT...we're still awaiting more of your Film Bitch Awards....I'm getting impatient...lol :)

Anonymous said...

More about The Curious Case of Benjamin Button please. I know you try to avoid too much admiration for Cate Blanchett... but we still love her.

gabrieloak said...

More about Milk, Slumdog, and The Wrestler. Less about Benjamin Button and Frost/Nixon.

Something about Emma Thompson, so lovely in Last Chance Harvey.

A piece about Hawkins vs. Winslet.

Anonymous said...

Nathaniel I was thinking there's a good chance Frost/Nixon falls out of the fab 5 because of a lack of #1 or even 2 votes. I think a lot of people had similar thoughts on Michael Clayton last year but I thought that had more power. any opinion on that thought?

NATHANIEL R said...

well like i think glenn said in another comment section, the #1 ranking system never seems to eliminate the stuff you'd think it would eliminate like RAY, SEABISCUIT, FINDING NEVERLAND, etcetera...

frost/nixon doesn't seem to have any trouble getting precursor attention. like NO trouble. So, if you go by precursors and yet there's a surprise snub so that WALL-E can get it, it's looking more and more like that snub would be to DARK KNIGHT or MILK instead.

which is said because a

SLUMDOG
CURIOUS CASE
MILK
DARK KNIGHT
WALL-E

list would be all kinds of fun and atypical even though i only llove 2 of them.

Anonymous said...

Not sure whether it applies here, but I sure would like to hear more about "Tell No One". I do not know what awards it is eligible for, but it ought to win a few. With only "The Wrestler", "The Reader" and "Revolutionary Road" left to see among the heavy hitters, I still think "Tell No One" was the best film I have seen so far for 2008 consideration.

Sally Belle said...

Enough Slumdog Millionaire already. Everyone is talking about it and I don't think it needs anymore attention. Likewise The Dark Knight and Wall-E.

Happy-Go-Lucky, The Wrestler, The Reader or more discussion on Milk would be great!.

I've been thinking a lot about Milk. The Wrestler, Milk and Rachel Getting Married...the only ones that have REALLY stayed with me.

Anonymous said...

renee zellweger has something coming out soon.

Anonymous said...

I forgot to add...

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN.

Who knows if it'll show up anywhere in the Oscars, but I saw it last week and LOVED it. So if you could talk more about it, it would be lovely.

Anonymous said...

Milk! Even though it's not my favorite film of the year, I was completely surprised by how good it was, but I think it's gotten swept under the rug a bit this year.

James Hansen said...

You Don't Mess With The Zohan

Anonymous said...

Hi Nate,

In the minority here, but would appreciate more about F/N. Saw it yesterday and I actually enjoyed it. Go figure.

John P. said...

Play Time is fantastic. It's motivated me to see more of Tati's stuff, although I'm not sure where I should start. I'm really looking forward to your writeup.

Glenn said...

I really didn't like Mon Oncle. I haven't watched any Tati since, although I am looking forward to Sylvan Chomet's The Illusionist, which is based on an unproduced Tati screenplay.

Peter Chan said...

How about a nice article on Woody Allen's recent resurgence?

alex said...

God bless resurgent Woody Allen.

Anyone else pleasantly surprised by Cassandra's Dream? I just caught it yesterday, and I quite liked it. Colin Farrell is really coming into his own as an actor, what with this and In Bruges.

Uncle Gustav said...

That Brad Pitt pic is excellent!

Anonymous said...

Hey Nathaniel...what ever happened to the Vanity Fair Hollywood issue posts?