Links: Glenn Shadix (RIP). Plus Jones, Cronenberg, Captain America

/Film first set photos of January Jones as Emma Frost in X-Men: First Class. As I believe I've stated before I love this casting. But it does seem wierd that she is already pigeonholed as "sixties girl". Will this be our first true period piece superhero flick or am I forgetting something? At least they're trying something slightly different with this one.
All Things Fangirl relives the glory of (500) Days of Summer last year with summer concerts in the now featuring JGL and Zooey Deschanel.
Cinema Viewfinder There's a Cronenberg blog-a-thon going on that I didn't know about. Shame. I don't really understand the format to get to the article contributions but I'm certain there's good things to read there. I shall investigate further. Love that David Cronenberg.
/Film long interview with Never Let Me Go director Mark Romanek.
Film Business Asia the upcoming London Film Festival (we'll be covering it again) has a healthy selection of Asian films.
Sina Andy Lau. Let him eat cake (for an early birthday celebration)
Topless Robot would like you to calm the f*** down about that picture from the set of Captain America.
DListed Henry Cavill on the set of The Cold Light of the Day

Finally, in my weekly column over @ Towleroad I've got a brief bit about The Romantics and yet more links including the sad news that character actor Glenn Shadix passed away two days ago. He's best known as "Otho" from Beetlejuice but when I think of him I nearly always think of that funeral scene in Heathers..."ESK-I-MO!!!" I also lovelovelovelove the two-faced Mayor from The Nightmare Before Christmas which he voiced. He hadn't been seen on the screen much lately but he was actually blogging just last week.He will be missed but he sure will live on through those comedy classics.

Oscar Symposium Day 2: (500) Basterds In the Bright Starry Loop

Nathaniel R: I led with the Reality Television problem yesterday because I'm trying to work through some, um, "personal issues". I actually snapped at two friends this week for no reason other than that something they said reminded me tangentially of reality television and how much I hate it and inbetween these outbursts I sat through the entire new episodes of Amazing Race, Project Runway and RuPaul's Drag Race on my DVR. I'm part of the problem! So I needed to binge and purge the reality television issue before moving on. My chief problem with its dominance is the samey samey ness of everything. Art thrives on variety and so often the pop culture pie -- of which the Oscars are my favorite slice -- comes in only one flavor at a time.

And Peter landed on the category that, invariably, I find the most difficult to stomach year in and year out for the exact same reason: Supporting Actor. They seem to use this category as a dumping ground for "types" even more so than the other categories. This will be three years in a row they've gone with a psychotic/charismatic killer for the win... and meanwhile they fill out the category with aging man career tributes. I won't attempt to argue that that winning threesome (Javier/Heath/Christoph) aren't worthy choices but there's something more to it than just coincidence, yes?

Psycho Killers, Qu'est-Que C'est?

Maybe this psycho-killas and revered old men category is actually a metaphor for the glamorous brutality of Hollywood -- they're always trying to kill you but if you survive for any admirable length of time they're sure to kiss your ass...

I'm stretching but anything to take my mind away from this category!

And to take my mind away from Bringing Down The House's blinged up homie --uh, thanks Tim-- because that leads me right back into The Blind Side territory. Racial landmines ahead!



Speaking of... Precious. What Tim said. But the issue of who-gets-credit, which he briefly alluded to in regards to the performances, is so fascinating here (and elsewhere). But for my money, Tilda Swinton in Julia aside, Mo'Nique gave the one performance this year that I can't even wrap my head around fully it's so titanic.

Guy Lodge: Best Supporting Actor may be a dumping ground for "types," but that's no excuse to make it a dumping ground for bad performances too, which is precisely what they've done this year. If they really found Anthony Mackie and Alfred Molina that hard to accept (despite apparently liking everything around them), perhaps they should have applied their new Best Original Song rule to this category, and curtailed the number of nominees. Because, frankly, I'd rather see a two-strong field than have to scratch my head any longer over who was actually impressed enough by Stanley Tucci's sweaty psycho kvetching, or Matt Damon's (more justifiably sweaty, at least) approximation of Afrikaner hulkiness by way of Opie, to place them at the top of their ballot. Because someone did.

Read the rest of DAY TWO
Wherein we move on to individual nominations and snubs that delighted and confused us, what makes some movies click with Oscar or miss entirely, that weird relationship in Crazy Heart and the internal conflict of Inglourious Basterds.

Then return and comment. Continue the conversation.
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FB Awards: Best Screenplays

Words! Words! I'm so sick of words!
I get words all day through; First from him, now from you!
Is that all you blighters can do?
Don't talk of stars burning above; If you're in love,
Show me!
Tell me no dreams filled with desire. If you're on fire,
Show me!

Sometimes an image is all you need. But movies don't start with an image (unless its a comic book franchise or maybe something in pitch form: think Pixar's UP and its house lifted by balloons) but with a screenplay. "Words words words...." I'm not really sick of words. I just like the song from My Fair Lady and "show, don't tell" definitely applies to the cinema.

Where the Wild Things Are, Inglourious Basterds, Fantastic Mr. Fox
and (500) Days of Summer are all nominees right here.

Writing screenplays must be a bizarre practice, as if building a sturdy enough skeleton that will one day be able to sprout the efficient internal organs and developed musculature of great filmmaking and contain the throbbing heart and stunning facial features of great actors. Here are my choices for Best Screenplay.
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She and Him. The Cuteness of Zjoooey

It occurs to me that The Cute Hierarchy must be adjusted yet again to honor the most adorable screen couple of 2009: Zjoooey. I hereby dedicate this week of blogging to them!

"Why do you let me stay here?"

The summer gem (500) Days of Summer wasn't quite enough to unsettle the top tiers of cute. But once combined with the force of their dance moves in the She and Him video (above), small animals with ginormous eyes everywhere were quaking in fear in 2009. So Much Cuteness. Who can compete?

The other big shakeup: After decades in the top ten, chipmunks finally fall off the list altogether, their plump cheeked reputation forever tarnished by Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel [shudder]

1. baby kittens
holding down the top position since 1938 when Shirley Temple was vanquished
2. dolphins (+8)
they're all the rage again

3. puppies
4. baby seals
5. babies
6. otters (-4)
7. cupcakes
8. bunnies
9. WALL•E's Hello Dolly obsession (+5)
10. Hugh Dancy (new entry)

11. dimples
12. baby ducks in a line following their mama (-3)
13. Zjooey
14. unexpected gifts from loved ones
15. Australian accents
16. rainbows
17. Carey Mulligan (especially in the rain) (+6)
18. "The Lonely Goatherd" (+12)
what? Sound of Music was on the tube the other day



19. Natalie Wood in Miracle on 34th Street (+30 ...typical holiday spike)
20. screwball comedy
21. pomeranians
22. bunny slippers
23. Meryl Streep and Steve Martin smoking weed (new entry)

24. Amy Adams (-11)
25. ice cream cones

(95) Days of Spirit

The Spirit Awards are coming! In 95 days. The nominees have a long time to decide which pair of jeans or casual designer wear would best suit the event. Though the Spirits have traditionally passed out their ever-so-slightly off mainstream prizes the day before the Oscars this year they’re moving to a Friday night situation on March 5th. All the better for partying? Still time to use those hangover cures before the Oscars on Sunday.

Sin Nombre, a 3 time nominee

Here are the nominees

Best Feature

(500) Days Of Summer | Amreeka |Precious | Sin Nombre | The Last Station

• I warned y'all that The Last Station would have more awards strength than many pundits are indicating. I must get around to Sin Nombre before the end of this year. I suspect Precious is your winner since the Spirits generally award the actual Oscar hopefuls.

Best Director
The Coen Bros A Serious Man | Lee Daniels Precious | Cary Joji Fukunaga Sin Nombre | James Gray Two Lovers | Michael Hoffman The Last Station

Best First Feature
Crazy Heart | Easier With Practice | The Messenger | Paranormal Activity | A Single Man

John Cassavettes Award (this is for the really low budget efforts)
Big Fan | Humpday | The New Year Parade |Treeless Mountain | Zero Bridge

Documentary
Anvil! The Story of Anvil | Food, Inc. | More Than a Game |October Country |Which Way Home

• If the Spirits want to make an anti-Oscar statement, you might see some rallying for Anvil!

Foreign Film
A Prophet (France) | An Education (UK/France) | Everlasting Moments (Sweden) | Mother (South Korea) | The Maid (Chile)

• I find this category quite curious in that 3 of its 5 competitors are most often lauded for the lead actress at the heart of the film and yet none of the three actresses are nominated in the Best Actress category. But apparently is a rule. It's a very dumb rule if you ask me... Since when should acting prizes not apply to foreign languages... or even the English language? (see Carey Mulligan) I guess this means Bright Star was also a foreign film since its director Jane Campion not American.
  

Best Screenplay
(500) Days of Summer | Adventureland | The Messenger | The Last Station | The Vicious Kind

First Screenplay
Amreeka | Cold Souls | Crazy Heart | Precious | A Single Man

Cinematography
Roger Deakins A Serious Man | Adriano Goldman Sin Nombre | Anne Misawa Treeless Mountain | Andrij Parekh Cold Souls | Peter Zeitlinger Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

And now the acting categories...

Female Lead
Maria Bello Downloading Nancy | Helen Mirren The Last Station | Gwyneth Paltrow Two Lovers | Gabourey Sidibe Precious | Nisreen Faour Amreeka

• No Mulligan, huh? Hmmm. Sidibe has this locked up. Though if you're dubbed a "foreign film" apparently you're not eligible. And An Education was... even though The Last Station (also British) was not. People are Awards groups are strange.

Male Lead
Jeff Bridges Crazy Heart | Colin Firth A Single Man |Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500) Days Of Summer |Souléymane Sy Savané Goodbye Solo | Adam Scott The Vicious Kind

• The curious omission here is Hal Holbrook since his vehicle, That Evening Sun received two acting nominations. It's worth noting here that the Spirits reversed the (500) Days Satellite nominees and left out Zooey Deschanel's fantasy girl for Joseph Gordon-Levitt's wounded boy. I suspect this contest between Bridges and Firth will be tighter at the Spirit Awards than at the Oscars.

Supporting Female
Dina Korzun Cold Souls | Mo’Nique Precious | Samantha Morton The Messenger | Natalie Press Fifty Dead Men Walking | Mia Wasikowska That Evening Sun

• I can totally get behind Mo'Nique and Morton nods. I liked Wasikowska (Tim Burton's Alice) in ...Sun but I think her screen mother Carrie Preston gives a more impressive and more complicated performance. So... I don't get it.

Supporting Male
Jemain Clement Gentleman Broncos | Woody Harrelson The Messenger | Christian McKay Me and Orson Welles | Raymond McKinnon That Evening Sun | Christopher Plummer The Last Station

• Even if McKay don't gain any Oscar traction, that Orson Welles performance sure is turning into a resume builder.

Then there’s a few categories that don’t get a lot of attention. The Robert Altman prize, which goes to one films director, casting director and ensemble is going to A Serious Man, The “Piaget Producers Award” will go to either Karin Chien (The Exploding Girl, Santa Mesa), Larry Fessenden (I Sell the Dead, The House of the Devil) or Dia Sokol (Beeswax, Nights & Weekends). The “Someone to Watch” Award will go to either Kyle Patrick Alvarez (Easier With Practice), Asiel Norton (Redland) or Tariq Tapa (Zero Bridge) and the “Truer Than Fiction” prize to either Natalia Alamda (El General), Jessica Orek (Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo) or Bill and Turner Ross (45365)

The Take Away
Should be a fun night for (500) Days of Summer and a trophy gathering night for Precious. The Spirit's nominating team wants you to see Amreeka and Sin Nombre. Will you?
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The Satellites Have Launched. What Are They Orbiting?

The Satellites (formerly Golden) have announced their 2009 nominations for what it's worth. And you might be screaming "not very much".

It's hard to know what to make of this Golden Globe splinter group. There is never much of a narrative thread in their nominations. You can't sense from year to year a type of film they like or whatnot. Which makes them feel a bit suspect. They also do very strange things which you're about to see if you read their nominations. They never get much attention and yet they keep plugging away. This year they were especially kind to 2012 (who knew?), Nine and The Stoning of Soraya M. But they were downright rude to the sci-fi drama Moon which received zero nominations despite their lack of aversion to sci-fi films. I mention this because the moon is a natural satellite and the Satellites are artificial. Maybe they're jealous. What they're orbiting we know not.

Their Top Ten List...
Bright Star | An Education | (500) Days of Summer (not nominated in their best picture categories)| The Hurt Locker | Inglourious Basterds (not nominated in their best picture categories) | Nine | Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire | A Serious Man | The Stoning of Soraya M. | Up in the Air

• I like looking at top ten lists -- even artificial ones -- because I like seeing the curveballs. The Stoning of Soraya M is definitely it. Note to self: watch the screener. But a top ten list is not enough... there's also several best picture categories. Everyone is a winner!

Best Motion Picture (Drama)
Bright Star | An Education | The Hurt Locker | The Messenger | Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire | The Stoning of Soraya M.

Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical)
The Informant! | It’s Complicated | Julie & Julia | Nine | A Serious Man | Up in the Air

• This particular lineup is actually feasible as a Golden Globe prospect as well. But the Globes are hard to predit. We'll see.
  

Best Motion Picture (Animated or Mixed Media)
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs | Fantastic Mr. Fox | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | The Princess and the Frog | Up | Where the Wild Things Are

Best Documentary Feature
The Beaches of Agnes | The Cove | Every Little Step | It Might Get Loud | The September Issue | Valentino: The Last Emperor

Best Foreign Language Film
Broken Embraces | I Killed My Mother (Canada's Oscar submission) | The Maid | Red Cliff | The White Ribbon (Germany's Oscar submission) | Winter in Wartime (The Netherlands Oscar submission)

Best Director
Jane Campion, Bright Star | Neill Blomkamp, District 9 | Lone Scherfig, An Education | Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker | Rob Marshall, Nine | Lee Daniels, Precious

• The best director citation for first timer Neill Blomkamp (District 9) is straight up bizarre even if you think he's deserving. His film didn't make their top ten list or any of their best picture lists, not even Mixed Media! What's up with that?
  

Best Actress (Drama)
Shohreh Aghdashloo, The Stoning of Soraya M. | Emily Blunt, The Young Victoria | Abbie Cornish, Bright Star | Penelope Cruz, Broken Embraces | Carey Mulligan, An Education | Catalina Saavedra, The Maid

• No Sidibe but they gave her a special prize. Aside from Mulligan they ignored the expected Oscar competitors
  

Best Actor (Drama)
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart | Hugh Dancy, Adam | Johnny Depp, Public Enemies | Colin Firth, A Single Man | Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker | Michael Sheen, The Damned United

• I knew that somebody would mention Johnny Depp. He's too big of a star for all of the star hungry awards groups to ignore. Will the Globes be able to resist this mega wattage?
  

Best Actress (Comedy Or Musical)
Sandra Bullock, The Proposal | Marion Cotillard, Nine | Zooey Deschanel, (500) Days of Summer | Katherine Heigl, The Ugly Truth | Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

• I can't really see this lineup repeating at the Globes. We're probably in for a Streep two-fer. And the Globes have always been fond of Michelle Pfeiffer so it'll be interesting to see if they go for Chéri. But they probably won't given the lack of campaigning.
  

Best Actor (Comedy Or Musical)
George Clooney, Up in the Air | Bradley Cooper, The Hangover | Matt Damon, The Informant! | Daniel Day-Lewis, Nine | Michael Stuhlbarg, A Serious Man

• As we know the studio requested Up in the Air to compete in "Drama" at the Globes. But the Globes aren't required to do as the studio says. Though they usually do. Also it's worth noting here that Joseph Gordon-Levitt was left out despite driving (500) Days so effortlessly to its most whimsical and its most painful moments. That's a shame. It's also tremendously weird that it's considered one of the ten best movies of the year but not one of the six best comedies, even though half of the competition there did not make the top ten list.
  

Best Supporting Actress
Emily Blunt, Sunshine Cleaning| Penelope Cruz, Nine | Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air | Mozhan Marno, The Stoning of Soraya M. | Mo’nique, Precious

• er.... Emily Blunt as a double nominee? Weirdness. I guess they really want her to show up at the ceremony.
  

Best Supporting Actor
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger | James McAvoy, The Last Station | Alfred Molina, An Education | Timothy Spall, The Damned United | Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

• I'm curious if anyone or anything from The Messenger is able to get any Oscar traction. In some ways Woody Harrelson might be an ideal candidate for AMPAS notice given the year he's having with a big hit Zombieland and given the nature of this here role. But the film is teeny-tiny and that's what the Indie Spirits were created to honor.
  

Best Original Screenplay
Jane Campion, Bright Star | Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, (500) Days of Summer | Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker | Joel and Ethan Coen, A Serious Man | Bob Peterson and Pete Docter, Up

• This list seems very likely to repeat all the way to Oscar
  

Best Adapted Screenplay
Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, District 9 | Nick Hornby, An Education | Nora Ephron, Julie & Julia | Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious | Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air

• Yet more kudos for District 9 which has excellent everything... but is not excellent itself! Please note that Satellite distinction. I hadn't really thought about Julie & Julia as an Oscar threat in this category. But maybe the industry would like to honor sometime hit maker Nora Ephron?
  

Best Art Direction
Terry Gilliam, Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus | Nathan Crowley, Patrick Lumb and William Ladd Skinner, Public Enemies | Eddy Wong, Red Cliff | Chris Kennedy, The Road | Ian Philips and Dan Bishop, A Single Man | Barry Chusid and Elizabeth Wilcox, 2012

• I am perplexed all over the place. 2012? It's nice to see foreign films like Red Cliff honored but on the other hand, it just opened. And all awards groups tend to have that "we just saw it!" problem. Which is one of the many reasons that studios make your life miserable with the waiting. Would that all awards voters would take their jobs seriously and keep lists of great stuff all year that they could consider once it's time to vote.
  

Best Cinematography
Robert Richardson, Inglourious Basterds | Guillermo Navarro and Erich Roland, It Might Get Loud | Dion Beebe, Nine | Dante Spinotti, Public Enemies | Lu Yue and Zhang Yi, Red Cliff | Roger Deakins, A Serious Man

• Inglourious... I'd be very happy to see Richardson honored at the Oscars but I have so many doubts. They passed over his beyond excellent work on Kill Bill. It could happen again. I think Beebe is winning the eventual Oscar.
  

Best Costume Design
Consolata Boyle, Cheri
Monique Prudhomme, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Colleen Atwood, Nine
Tim Yip, Red Cliff
Sandy Powell, The Young Victoria

• Chéri... yay!
  

Best Film Editing
Julian Clarke, District 9
Chris Innis and Bob Murawski, The Hurt Locker
Greg Finton, It Might Get Loud
Claire Simpson and Wyatt Smith, Nine
Angie Lam, Yang Hongyu and Robert A. Ferretti, Red Cliff
David Brenner and Peter S. Elliot, 2012

• They really liked this It Might Get Loud doc. Unfortunately they also really liked 2012 all over the place. Like Red Cliff that just opened which might explain the fervor.
  

Best Original Score
Gabriel Yared, Amelia
Marvin Hamlisch, The Informant!
Elliot Goldenthal, Public Enemies
Michael Giacchino, Up
Rolfe Kent, Up in the Air
Carter Burwell and Karen O, Where the Wild Things Are

• Yared's Amelia score annoyed the crap out of me. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come but then it is a very LOUD and IMPORTANT SOUNDING and EMOTIONAL CUE type score so maybe the Oscar's music branch will go for it. They Like It Loud.
  

Best Original Song
“The Weary Kind” from Crazy Heart (T Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham)
“We are the Children of the World” from The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Terry Gilliam)
“Cinema Italiano” from Nine (Maury Yeston)
“I See in Color” from Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (Mary J. Blige)
“Almost There” from The Princess and the Frog (Randy Newman)
“Down in New Orleans” from The Princess and the Frog (Randy Newman)

• I suppose I should just say it. I H-A-T-E "Cinema Italiano"... it's a blight on the otherwise fine Yeston Nine score. The other new number "Take It All" is much stronger as songs go.
  

Best Sound (Mixing and Editing)
It Might Get Loud | Nine | Red Cliff | Terminator Salvation | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | 2012

Best Visual Effects
District 9 | Fantastic Mr. Fox | The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus | Red Cliff | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | 2012

• Basically they just decided on about 7-8 films to nominate for everything. In this way they're exactly like the Oscars... only in this way though.
  

And that's that!

Michael York in 2009 --->

But wait there's more. For no explicable reaon they mix up their nominations with awards without competitors. They're giving Best Ensemble to Nine, Outstanding New Talent to "Precious" herself Gabourey Sidibe (who I suspect will be splitting the "breakthrough" prizes at the other precursors with Carey Mulligan) and special achievement awards to Roger Corman, Roger Deakins (also a nominee, strange) and 70s star Michael York (Cabaret, Logan's Run) and his cheekbones. Those babies do deserve an "Artistic Contribution" prize.

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A Little Link Music

Everything I Know... Will Catherine Zeta-Jones star in A Little Night Music on Broadway?
Slog Oopsie. a joke billboard for Inglourious Basterds causes offense [thx]
<--- Starblinx (500) Days of Summer illustrated. teehee [thx]
Just Jared Dollhouse Season 2 promos
Scanners overheard at the movie theater
fourfour reconsiders Project Runway. His mind isn't changed but to his credit he does make Models of the Runway, the spinoff, sound about 5,000 times more interesting/funny than it actually is.
Read Roger on Miyazaki's Ponyo
A Blog Next Door Leonardo DiCaprio's one-two punch rule


Finally, Cozzalio doesn't like the ads for Bruce Willis' new scifi picture Surrogates. You know the ones... "human perfection. what could go wrong?"


They're plastered all over the city now. The internet has been kind of mum on this film, which opens shortly (Sept 25th) so I was interested to finally read someone's reaction. Unlike Dennis, I rather like the ads. I appreciate that they feel as vapid as clothing ads so they're sort of subverting / mocking the idea of clean airbrushed beauty. What could be wrong with that? Quite a lot, you know. But maybe I'm just a sucker for android/cyborg stories (a la Terminator / Blade Runner). In some hierarchal geek place in my mind that's just a notch or two below vampires as a subgenre that immediately wins my attention. Holding the attention is another matter. We'll see what reviews are like.

(500) Days of Summer Vodcast Review

Day (2) of my vacation and I'm still working. I totally forgot to upload the latest vodcast with Katey. I was in Jersey this weekendand she was in San Diego for Comic-Con. But by the magic of my forgetfulness and technology and non-linear chronologies here we are together talking up (500) Days for you. So here it is...



If you've seen the movie at this point, we'd love to hear your opinions. Do you share Katey's mild reservations or did you fall for it (mostly) wholesale like me?
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"LINKTUMSEPRA!"

Vanity Fair that lengthy piece on Heath Ledger is now online in case you haven't read it

The Big Picture offers a pointed critique of the same

Cinema Blend I Love You Philip Morris trailer. Does this explain the distribution problems?
PopWatch Another photo of Jake Gyllenhaal from Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. For the sake of Gyllenhaalics everywhe

re, I hope this movie opens big. His taste seems to run towards smaller dramas and a franchise on the side would help bolster those opportunities

Coming Soon a couple of set and prop pics from Clash of the Titans and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Nick's Flick Picks has been doing a series on 00s films that need a second look. Nick & Tim discuss Spike Lee's controversial Bamboozled
/Film a third lawsuit for The Lord of the Rings. Will The Hobbit actually happen? Speaking of... worst idea ever: Harry Potter as Bilbo Baggins. I'm convinced that that particular casting rumor is only breathless fangasm and entirely removed from reality. Peter Jackson isn't dumb.
Antagony & Ecstasy offers up a great review/defense of (500) Days of Summer

One thing I've never mentioned here: I absolutely love the snide snail's

pace of Alan Rickman's line readings. He's a joy.

Potter Everywhere

i09 "Harry Potter and the Half-Hearted Ending"

Towleroad a few words from me... though you've heard my take on the vodcast
YouTube Harry/Voldemort rap battle. Kinda funny in concept. Less so in execution. I mean, a full 90 seconds before the rapping actually start? Er...

MTV Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) has his eyes on being a musician?
The franchise's new hunk Cormac McLaggen? He's played by Freddie Stroma who already has breathless fangirls and gayboys going weak at the knee which is all well and good since Hermione wasn't the slightest bit interested. For those who love beefcake, these underwear ads featuring the actor have been making the rounds (NSFW). Hey, a man's gotta make a living before that role in a billion dollar franchise lands in his lap.

Lazy Eye Theater shares a personal response to the growing Harry Potter franchise but his defense of the movie reads to me like an ode to the strengths of television series, not cinema. Since the majority of moviegoers seem to only care about franchises, does this mean they'd rather be watching TV but just like the bigger screens?
Bad Manors Squirrel Diner Harry Potter hovers, Have you ever seen this live stream? It's so silly. Each day new objects for squirrels to interact with as they eat. (Today it's hula girls).

Best of the Fest ~ Goodbye Nashville

As you read this I am quite possibly thousands of miles above you in a huge aluminum alloy vessel, travelling back to NYC. Nashville was a treat and I hope I get invited back to NaFF in some capacity. Here's a quick run down of the cinematic highlights for me. I was on the short film jury and didn't have a chance to see some of the narrative features so this is from a limited pool.

Best Overall Prodigal Sons Filmmaker Kimberly Reed tells me she'll be ineligible for the Oscar for Best Documentary because of something to do with BBC screening or funding (?) which is a real shame because I could see it getting nominated. Other goodies: (500) Days of Summer and That Evening Sun, pictured left. [more on Prodigal / more on Summer]
Best Actress Zooey Deschanel in (500) Days of Summer
Best Actor Hal Holbrook as "Abner Meecham" in That Evening Sun. It's based on the short story by William Gay about a farmer who escapes the old folks home and returns to his beloved farm only to find it occupied by new tenants. The film is well directed by Scott Teems, graduating from short films to his first feature, and an Oscar campaign could materialize for Holbrook if this movie gets a solid enough release. Holbrook plays a stubborn old ornery codger... one could say it's an Eastwood'ish role with less of Clint's squinty menace and more of Hal's weary sensitivity. Honorable mention: Joseph Gordon-Levitt in (500) Days of Summer

Best Supporting Actress Three standouts for me. Don't make me choose. It's actresses.

Kaitlin Olsen in Weather Girl pictured right. At first I thought she was doing just an amusing but generic perky blonde sendup. Then she took a late film monologue much farther than I believed it could go. Laugh out loud funny. 4realz. I actually LOLed. Shellie Marie Shartzer in Make-Out with Violence. She has no lines to speak of as dead girl "Wendy" but man does she sell the conceit and work her physicality [more on Make-Out]. Remember that woman that Clive Owen comically seduced over martinis in Duplicity? That's Carrie Preston who is moving in That Evening Sun as a woman who is trying to stand by her man. Mia Wasikowska is also good as her restless friendly daughter. [You'll be seeing the In Treatment regular a lot onscreen soon. She's in Amelia later this year and then Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland]. She wants to get away from Daddy as soon as possible.

...speak of the devil.

Best Supporting Actor Ray McKinnon as Lonzo Choat in That Evening Sun. He plays the tenant of Meecham's old farm. They both want each other off the land. They both intend to stay. McKinnon never once lets his white trash role teeter towards dimensionless bad guy, even though he does despicable things and is pitted against the ultra sympathetic Holbrook. That's quite a feat and this treatment of the character really girds up the central conflict. You might remember McKinnon as Revered HW Smith on Deadwood.

I didn't see the performance that won a special prize for acting from the main jury here (Vincent D'Onofrio in The Narrows) but since the character is disabled I don't know how much to trust that prize. You know how disabled equals kudos as acting goes.

I don't know if I'll have time to talk about the dozens upon dozens of short films I screened but Nick has done a frankly awesome job of relating what our jury decisions were about and reviewing many of the best shorts along his way.

Here's his take on the animated shorts (my favorite was Western Spaghetti) documentary shorts (The Witness was tops and I wanted Steel Homes for our honorable mention but I couldn't convince my fellow jurors to go with it for the prize. grrrr) and several posts on the plethora of live action shorts. We watched for hours upon hours.

Oh, look here's Western Spaghetti. It fills me with delight.

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500 Days of Joey & Zooey

Nashville Film Festival ~ Day One
NFF chose well with their opening film. (500) Days of Summer = exuberant crowd pleaser. It's always so enjoyable to see smart comedies with an audience that actually laughs out loud repeatedly (critics screenings can be brutally quiet). The audience was totally with the movie and Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer's (Zooey Deschanel) difficult romance from start to finish. I was a little more tentative about falling for it. Within its first few minutes it threw four things at me that I am completely allergic to: omniscient narrator, precocious child as wizened soul, men vs. women ('they're different!') jokes, and chronology jumbling. I didn't even sneeze. It won me over.

It's 'Zooooey'

I predict big things at the box office. I'm not suggesting it's going to be Juno-sized but I'm guessing it shouldn't have a problem entering that Tyler Perry zone -- $40ish? Or maybe even that Forgetting Sarah Marshall / Role Models $60ish zone? The film cost less than $10 million to make (or, as the moderator joked with its director Marc Webb during the Q&A, 'less than the catering on The Dark Knight') so it should turn a nice profit is what I'm saying.

[editor's note: Who has stolen this blog? Nathaniel knows squat about box office!]

At the very least (500) Days... will make bigger stars of its leads. Zooey may be on her 11th variation of free spirit fantasy girlfriend (definite echoes of her roles in Yes, Man and All the Real Girls in particular) but she's not phoning it in. The film has very smart pacing but in one of the more interesting bits within the Q&A, Webb mentioned that it was hard to control that because Zooey has such unusual "back beat timing" and was always finding new things to work off of within the scenes. He also adjusted the film's entire color palette with the production designer to better accentuate Zooey's popping blue eyes. Good move. The movie falls hard for her just like Tom.

Speaking of. The film is told from Tom's perspective and Gordon-Levitt is _________ [insert your superlative of choice, it probably applies]. He has no trouble whatsoever carrying the picture (see also Brick). Webb called him a "super, intellectual, intense actor" and noted his "great command of his physicality", the latter an observation which I had already scribbled in my notebook whilst watching so I concur. Not only does Levitt shift Tom's body language for every gradation of his relationship with Summer and his own arc but he also completely sells the film's funniest sequence, a dance number, which maybe shouldn't work but works like gangbusters. You feel as happy as Tom by the end of it.

It was strange in the Q&A to hear the director's confession that JG-L didn't think they'd get funding for a movie starring Zooey and himself because they weren't big enough stars. I was thinking to myself: 'But everyone loves Joseph Gordon-Levitt!' And then I remembered. 'Self. Bubble. Bubble. Self. You live through cinema and you talk to other movie fanatics all day long on the web. John Q Public still mostly wants to see Nicolas Cage on opening weekend.'

Opening Night Festivities
No celebrities present (sniffle... although I suppose local celebrities could have been there) but free booze to help you pretend that they were. The festival did provide celebrity intro commercials before the films, though. First up was Mr. Nicole Kidman Keith Urban who welcomed us to the festival onscreen (where was Nicole? I demand Nicole!). Carrie Underwood did the same. In her bit she said "my fellow film lovers" which cracked me up. I was trying to picture Carrie Underwood conversing on Spanish cinema ("Almodóvar and Buñuel. Discuss.") or taking sides in the great critical debate of 2007 (No Country For Old Men or There Will Be Blood?) but my imagination failed me. What do you suppose her preferred genre is? favorite actor?

We Can't Wait #16 500 Days of Summer

Directed by first timer Marc Webb
Starring Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Synopsis Boy meets girl, boy and girl like each other, boy falls in love, girl doesn't quite yet.
Brought to you by The Sundance Film Festival
Expected Release Date July 24th

Whitney: Here in Salt Lake City, July 24th is "Pioneer Day," and I will be spending my Pioneer Day seeing 500 Days of Summer. Not only is the cast adorable and fairly trustworthy (All the Real Girls and Brick being two of my favorite recently released films) but this seems to be a romantic comedy done right. My husband and I covered the Sundance Film Festival for Film Threat and he got to see 500 Days of Summer. He's a romantic comedy person by nature (whereas I'm a horror gal), but he said it was the best one since Love Actually. That sounds pretty good.

Nathaniel: I'm suspicious. Are you sure you got that synopsis right. How does one not quite fall in love with JG-L?

Fox: If I was a kid and heard that a film called 500 Days of Summer was coming out, I would be ecstatic! Think about how over-the-top lovely and seductive a title like that is. It's like "300 Presents for Christmas", "800 Puppies on Your Birthday" or "2000 Coffee Dates w/ Nathaniel".

Hold tight Whitney... it's only 176 days until 500 Days of Summer!

Joe: I had started following this movie back over the summer solely because I liked the of Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt headlining a movie, and I called them "Joooey" because I am also the kind of gay that means "lame."


But then I was pretty well knocked out by the trailer, and the word out of Sundance (including raves for JGL) has me very, very excited to see this. Even the negative reviews were saying things like "too precious," and I always end up liking those kind of movies.

JA: I've been in love with Zooey ever since she told that old lady to get peed on and I've loved JGL ever since he trolled for gay sex in a park bathroom. So these two seem like a naturally fun fit. Skinny emo indie kids in love! Watch them warble and bat their big eyes! I know that sounds smart-assy but I really can't wait to do just that.

Fox: I have spent the last ten minutes trying to figure out if "Joooey" should be pronounced like "Joe"-"ey" or "Jew"-"ey". I've never seen three Os in a row before and it's kind of freaking my sh*t out!

Joe: The preferred pronunciation of Joooey is "Joey," but you have to hold on to the "oh" sound for a little bit.

Nathaniel: Too precious ???


In case you missed any entries they went like so...
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We Can't Wait:
#1 Inglourious Basterds, #2 Where the Wild Things Are, #3 Fantastic Mr. Fox,
#4 Avatar, #5 Bright Star, #6 Shutter Island, #7 Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
#8 Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, #9 Nailed, #10 Taking Woodstock,
#11 Watchmen, #12 The Hurt Locker, #13 The Road, #14 The Tree of Life
#15 Away We Go, #16 500 Days of Summer, #17 Drag Me To Hell,
#18 Whatever Works, #19 Broken Embraces, #20 Nine (the musical)
intro (orphans -didn't make group list)
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Shocking Development in Cute Hierarchy

Amy Adams has dropped four notches! I've seen her new movie Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day, so I know. More on Friday.

1. baby kittens
(holding down the top position since 1938)

Their latest nemesis Amy Adams defeated, the kittens curl up for another 4 hour nap.

2. otters
3. puppies (+1)
4. baby seals
5. babies
6. Amy Adams (-4)


7. baby ducks in a line following their mama
8. dimples
9. bunnies
10. chipmunks (-7)
11. Takeshi Kaneshiro
12. dolphins
13. anthropomorphic fruit

some photos like these and rankings were inspired by cute overload

14. Making Fiends
15. marshmallow peeps (+2)
16. Babe (1995)
17. cupcakes
18. panda bears
19. Rupert Graves as "Freddy" in A Room With a View (+8)
(returning to the top twenty for the 279th time, a perennial)

20. screwball comedy
21. Olivia Newton-John as "Sandy" in Grease (-2)
22. bunny slippers
23. Pixar (-4)
24. ice cream cones
25. rainbows
26.pig tails
27. Hello Kitty
28. Sally Field (+12)
29. toe socks (+2)
30. Drew Barrymore

The rest of the top 100 is pretty stable and you probably know it by heart... but you can recite it in the comments if you want. [related post: Oscars Live Blogging -in which Amy Adams threatened the baby kittens for their crown]