celluloidnotes

PICK OF THE WEEK
Birdsong [limited release]
dir. Albert Serra
Starring: Victòria Aragonés, Lluis Carbo

This quiet meditation is a sort of re-imagining of the Don Quixote story.

Jones Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience
dir. Bruce Hendricks
Starring: Nick Jonas, Joe Jonas, Kevin Jonas (I’m suspicious they are “The Jonas Brothers” of the title)

So, this is the film that is going to make you stop believing in god this week. This is this week’s Paul Blart: Mall Cop, because clearly all the kids are going to be rushing out to the theater for this one, unfortunately.

American Affair [limited release]
dir. William Sten Olsson
Starring: Gretchen Mol, James Rebhorn

A slightly risque political thriller taking a look behind the JFK administration, maybe a little more fiction than fact.

Echelon Conspiracy [limited release]
dir. Greg Marcks
Starring: Shane West, Ed Burns

This appears to be a taut little thriller in the vein of The Network. Maybe a underdog indie film this week, will likely make it to a wide release.

Garisson Keillor: The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes
dir. Peter Rosen
Starring: Garrison Keillor

Garisson Kiellor is always an interesting subject, but a whole documentary dedicated to the man…

Crossing Over [limited release]
dir. Wayne Kramer
Starring: Harrison Ford, Sean Penn, Ashley Judd

Director Wayne Kramer’s tale of immigration is already drawing comparisons to the vastly over-rated Crash. This drama has been in the works for years and draws heavily from Kramer’s own experience (Kramer is a naturalized citizen of the US).

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-LI
dir. Andrzej Bartkowiak
Starring: Kristin Kreuk, Neal McDonough, Michael Clarke Duncan

Anyone else remember the first Street Fighter? Dear lord let’s hope this is a little better than that.

Last Week’s Top Ten:
1. Madea Goes To Jail
2. Coraline
3. Taken
4. He’s Just Not That Into You
5. Slumdog Millionaire
6. Friday the 13th
7. Paul Blart: Mall Cop (I know…still)
8. Confessions of a Shopaholic
9. Fired Up!
10. The International

The Oscars have concluded and Slumdog Millionaire was this year’s big winner. As per status quo there were very few surprises, maybe Penn winning Best Actor over Rourke, but that’s not even that shocking.

Anyhow, here are the winners:

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - Christian Colson

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Winner: Sean Penn for Milk (2008/I)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Winner: Kate Winslet for The Reader (2008)

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
Winner: Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
Winner: Okuribito (2008)(Japan)

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES, ORIGINAL SONG
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - A.R. Rahman, Sampooran Singh Gulzar(”Jai Ho”)

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES, ORIGINAL SCORE
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - A.R. Rahman

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN EDITING
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - Chris Dickens

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
Winner: The Dark Knight (2008) - Richard King

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
Winner: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) - Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron

BEST DOCUMENTARY, SHORT SUBJECTS
Winner: Smile Pinki (2008) - Megan Mylan

BEST DOCUMENTARY, FEATURES
Winner: Man on Wire (2008) - James Marsh, Simon Chinn

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Winner: Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight (2008)

BEST SHORT FILM, LIVE ACTION
Winner: Spielzeugland (2007) - Jochen Alexander Freydank

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - Anthony Dod Mantle

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
Winner: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) - Greg Cannom

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
Winner: The Duchess (2008) - Michael O’Connor

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
Winner: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) - Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo

BEST SHORT FILM, ANIMATED
Winner: Maison en petits cubes, La (2008) - Kunio Katô

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR
Winner: WALL·E (2008) - Andrew Stanton

BEST WRITING, SCREENPLAY BASED ON MATERIAL PREVIOUSLY PRODUCED OR PUBLISHED
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - Simon Beaufoy

BEST WRITING, SCREENPLAY WRITTEN DIRECTLY FOR THE SCREEN
Winner: Milk (2008/I) - Dustin Lance Black

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Winner: Penélope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

The Independent Spirit Awards are all wrapped up. Not too many surprises here, though there definitely were a couple of surprises (like how terrible some of the music was). Here are your winners with selected snarky comments from the evenings festivities.

Best Picture: The Wrestler

Not too surprising. This was the film to beat, the huge number of nominations both here and at the Academy Awards made it clear that The Wrestler was a front-runner at the ISA.

Best Director: Tom McCarthy for The Visitor

This was a shocker. Deserved, but shocking.

Best First Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black for Milk

Best Screenplay: Woody Allen for Vicky Cristina Barcelona

A little surprised that Allen beat out Charlie Kaufman here. Though not surprised that Allen was not in attendance tonight.

Best Actor: Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler

Of course he won.

Best Actress: Melissa Leo for Frozen River

This was a tough field with Hathaway in there for Rachel Getting Married and Michelle Williams great performance in Wendy & Lucy. Leo definitely earned it, Frozen River has been the sleeper indie-hit of the year.

Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Was a tough category and she was great. Between her and Javier Bardem there was little room for anyone else to shine.

Best Supporting Actor: James Franco for Milk

Great decision; great performance.

Best Foreign Film: The Class

Film geeks thought this was the favorite, a film that has just deserved more love than it’s got. Though this was by no means a given with some other great films up for the award including Gommorah and Hunger.

Best First Feature: Charlie Kaufman for Synecdoche, New York

Another obvious one. Kaufman is an Independent Spirit darling, and it was a great film.

Best Documentary: James Marsh’s Man on Wire

This is definitely the film to beat tomorrow night at the Oscars as well.

Best Producer: Heather Rae for Frozen River

Though it may not be a popular opinion I think this was a gimme. The marketing strategy exacted by Sony and the producers on this film is the sole reason this film got as much attention as it has (including a couple of Oscar nods). If you haven’t read about how this film was developed after Sony bought it at Sundance you need to. This is how the independent film is going to survive the collapse of the film industry.

Best Cinematography: Maryse Alberti for The Wrestler

I can get behind this. It was a beautiful film and how often do you see a female cinematographer win an award? Not often enough.

The John Cassavetes Award (for a feature made for under $500,000): In Search of a Midnight Kiss

This was the clear choice for the award. Not the best film of the year by any means, but an impressive film.

The Robert Altman Award (best cast): Synecdoche, New York

Again another one I’m behind, though it may not have been a gimme. This film simply hasn’t gotten a whole lot of love from the critics, and I thought it was great.

The Acura Someone To Watch Award: Lynne Shelton for My Effortless Brilliance

The Truer Than Fiction Award: Margaret Brown for The Order of Myths

PICK OF THE WEEK:
nothing at all, this week I recommend renting a movie. Maybe The Naked City. Stay out of the theaters.

Madea Goes to Jail
dir. Tyler Perry
Starring: Tyler Perry, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Derek Luke

More Tyler Perry non-sense. Will these films ever stop coming out?

(from the live performance)

Fired Up
dir. Will Gluck
Starring: Eric Christian Olsen, Nicholas D’Agosto, Sarah Roemer

more zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Eleven Minutes
dir. Michael Selditch Robert Tate
Starring: Jay McCarroll

If you’ve watched the first two trailers on here take my advice and stay away from this one, it’s just as bad.

Last Week’s Top Ten:
1. Friday the 13th
2. He’s Just Not that Into You
3. Taken
4. Coraline
5. Confessions of a Shopaholic
6. Paul Blart: Mall Cop
7. The International
8. Pink Panther 2
9. Slumdog Millionaire
10. Push

Much has already been made of Joaquin Phoenix’s decision to quit acting and pursue a career in hip-hop, and Casey Affleck’s decision to make a documentary about this process, but Phoenix’s appearance yesterday on Letterman is really the next phase in this.

What is even happening here?

This rivals the weirdness of every Crispin Glover appearance on Letterman, and reminds me more of Zach Galafankis’ uncomfortably funny “Between Two Fern’s” parody on Funny or Die. There are really no comments that can describe how weird this whole interaction is.

If the video below is not appearing it’s because CBS has taken it down. They’ve been taking down the video over and over all day, and people keep putting up new versions. This is the latest version of the full video to get online. If it’s not working go to YouTube and search “Joaquin Phoenix Letterman” and you’ll find one. Ah, the beauty of two underpaid interns hunting down the video online vs. thousands of people who don’t care about outdated copyright laws.

Kind of makes me warm inside.

Michael Moore sent out an e-mail to his list-serve and posted on his MySpace blog that he’s working on a new film about the bailout. The film is sure to be a critical evaluation, obviously goes without saying.

Here’s the text of his release, it’s a short request for people involved in the economic fallout to come forward and tell their stories.

Friends,

I am in the middle of shooting my next movie and I am looking for a few brave people who work on Wall Street or in the financial industry to come forward and share with me what they know. Based on those who have already contacted me, I believe there are a number of you who know “the real deal” about the abuses that have been happening. You have information that the American people need to hear. I am humbly asking you for a moment of courage, to be a hero and help me expose the biggest swindle in American history.

All correspondence with me will be kept confidential. Your identity will be protected and you will decide to what extent you wish to participate in telling the greatest crime story ever told.

The important thing here is for you to step up as an American and do your duty of shedding some light on this financial collapse. A few good people have already come forward, which leads me to believe there are many more of you out there who know what’s going on. Here’s your chance to let your fellow citizens in on the truth.

If you have any info that would help, please contact me at my private email address: bailout@michaelmoore.com.

For the rest of you on my email list who don’t work in the financial industry, you’re probably wondering, “What the heck is this all about? I thought he said he was making a romantic comedy!”

Well, I just can’t say much right now. I’m sure you can understand why. One thing I can tell you is that you’re gonna like this movie when I’m done with it. Oh, yeah…

So, again, if you work for a bank, a brokerage firm or an insurance company — or if you have seen things or heard things that you believe the American people have a right to know — please contact me at bailout@michaelmoore.com.

Thank you in advance for your help!

Yours,
Michael Moore
bailout@michaelmoore.com

Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds is currently one of the most talked about films online, and with the barrage of actual marketing that’s about to take place don’t expect that to stop until the film actually hits theaters on August 21st.

ET recently ran a small preview of the film and the trailer is going to be hitting theaters on Friday in front of the new reimagining of Friday the 13th. Which, as over blown as the hype may be already, this may be the best reason for anyone to possibly buy a ticket to Friday the 13th.

Expect the trailer for Inglourious Basterds to be online sometime this weekend or early next week, and then the Tarantino-ites will take over the movie blogosphere. Be wary.

The footage is a little grainy, but this about all you’re going to get until the trailer comes out.

PICK OF THE WEEK:
Gomorrah
dir. Matteo Garrone
Starring: Gianfelice Imparato, Salvatore Abruzzese, Toni Servillo

This film weaves five stories of organized crime in modern day Naples. This film was a big hit at on the festival circuit and Scorsese’s endorsement has certainly helped. It could definitely be a sleeper hit this spring.

The International
dir. Tom Tykwer
Starring: Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl

Tom Tykwer has consistently been an interesting filmmaker at least dating back to his brilliant Run, Lola, Run, if not earlier. This thriller about conspiracy at the International Bank looks like it could be a great film. Though Clive Owen seems like the easy casting choice and the film could easily slip into the cheesy.

Confessions of a Shopaholic
dir. P.J. Hogan
Starring: Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy, Krysten Ritter

If films like this frustrate you, remember that they only make these because people watch them. If you stop watching them, they will stop making them. Please, true friends will stop their friends from seeing this.

Friday the 13th
dir. Marcus Nispel
Starring: Jared Padalecki, Amanda Righetti, Derek Mears

This - um - reimagining of the classic horror film is being helmed by Marcus Nispel, the man behind the surprisingly solid Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake. The buzz on this has not been all that rave yet, but they’ve kept a pretty tight lid on this so far. Which, naturally leads you to believe that it will be terrible, but that remains to be seen.

Two Lovers
dir. James Gray
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow, Vinessa Shaw

Most of the buzz on this film has simply been focused on Mr. Phoenix’s proclamation that he’s quitting acting in favor of his new rapping career. (Aside: early reports were that this was a stunt, his manager’s recent statement on the situation - basically a no comment - seems to indicate that Phoenix is dead serious about this.)

Under the Sea 3-D
dir. Howard Hall
Starring: Jim Carrey

The new barrage of 3-D films continues. This looks about like the vast majority of snooze-fests that have come in 3-D form.

PICK OF THE WEEK
Fanboys
dir. Kyle Newman
Starring: Dan Fogler, Jay Baruchel, Kristen Bell

This documentary picked up some steam at the festival circuit and has been delayed a bit for an American theatrical release. If what everyone is saying about this one is right, this should be a very interesting film.

Pink Panther 2
dir. Harald Zwart
Starring: Steve Martin, Jean Reno, Emily Mortimer

Dear God,

What have we done to deserve this?

sincerely,
me

Push
dir. Paul McGuigan
Starring: Camilla Belle, Dakota Fanning, Chris Evans

Dear God,

Isn’t Dakota Fanning 11? Why are there so many bad films coming out right now? Can’t you do anything about this?

best,
me

He’s Just Not That Into You
dir. Ken Kwapis
Starring: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly

Dear God,

Why do you continue to torture me? What the fuck?

cordially,
me

Coraline
dir. Henry Selick
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman

Dear God,

not happy

me.

Last Week’s Top Ten:
1. Taken
2. Paul Blart: Mall Cop
3. The Univited
4. Hotel for Dogs
5. Gran Torino
6. Slumdog Millionaire
7. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
8. New in Town
9. My Bloody Valentine
10. Inkheart

This weekend was the Director’s Guild awards. This is always the most accurate barometer of who will win the directing awards at the Academy Awards. If this year’s Director’s Guild Awards are any indication there will be no surprises in this category at the Oscars. The only real surprise here is that Tom Hooper didn’t win for his direction of the TV mini-series “John Adams.” “John Adams” is the clear front runner in all categories regarding movies made for television.

The Winners:

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures:
Danny Boyle - “Slumdog Millionaire”

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary:
Ari Folman - “Waltz with Bashir”

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television
Jay Roach - “Recount”

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series - Night
Daniel Attias - The Wire: ‘Transitions’

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series
Paul Feig - The Office: ‘Dinner Party’

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Musical Variety
Bucky Gunts - Beijing 2008: Games of the XXIX Olympiad