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The Film Habit #38 - February 23, 2005 Welcome back to The Film Habit, not as weekly as advertised.
The past couple of weeks it came down to a choice: Do I want to get the CB Awards done, get the reviews out that I’ve committed to, oh and buy a house… or do I want to work on The Film Habit? FH got cut. Things have settled down a bit now, and as you can probably tell I’ve held off on doing reviewing this past to make sure I can get things in order after the chaos of mid-February. Hopefully, now I can get back to my usual schedule of frantically reviewing things, doing news stories, and then just barely squeezing in The Film Habit at the last minute by cutting out a few hours of excessive sleep. What man needs more than five hours? I’m in the midst of watching the really fantastic Bambi: Special Edition DVD that Disney will be releasing next week, and in the next few days have to head out to a slew of screenings, including unfortunately, Vin Diesel’s version of Daddy Day Care, The Pacifier. You know the movie with the bald hating duck. Poor Vin, if only someone besides me had appreciated The Chronicles of Riddick. That xXx sequel looks pretty good right about now doesn’t it? me with mortgage tips or to offer to install my wood flooring. Movie Terrorism Grow Up  What is worthy filmmaking fodder and what isn’t? Should anything be off limits? Last Friday we heard that Last Samurai director Ed Zwick is adapting the novel, “Who Killed Daniel Pearl” into a movie. Pearl, as you may remember, was the journalist kidnapped and beheaded in Pakistan by terrorists early in the war on Osama. It smacks of opportunism, but Zwick is a respected director and it’s not as if a movie on Daniel Pearl is likely material for puff entertainment purposes.
Instead, Zwick’s motives must be something a little heavier. Is he just using the story to create a great, serious drama? Maybe he’s trying to make a political statement. Maybe somewhere in there we’ve a lesson to be learned. Spielberg thinks so, since he’s already hard at work on a similarly themed film, detailing the kidnapping of the 1973 Munich Israeli Olympic team by terrorists. We’ve been through a storm of made for TV movies and political documentaries raping and pillaging the topic of terrorism to benefit their cause, or to make a quick buck. Perhaps now we’re really ready for something meatier and more meaningful. If filmmakers like Spielberg and Zwick can get it right, we could be in for a crop of movies both shocking and thought provoking. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it, right? Movies are often better at sticking with us than cold, hard, historical facts. Let’s hope that there’s something in there worth learning. me with your terrorism money-making ideas. Oscar Predictions You Can’t Rely On - Mine  On to something a bit lighter and meaningless. Our Academy Awards coverage starts Sunday at 6:30PM EST with Oscar Chat 4. Make sure you’re there! For those of you not watching or in the chat room with us, I’ll also be updating our news section live with Oscar results and commentary. Or, if you just don’t like the Oscars at all, check out our alternative, The CB Awards.
So I suppose that means I am socially obligated to regale you all with Oscar predictions, and I don’t just mean predicting that Chris Rock will have all the funny sucked out of him by overzealous censors and nervous-nelly Oscar committees. That’s obvious. No, it’s time I threw down the gauntlet and actually predicted the winners. I’ll stick to the major categories, simply because doing anything more would tire my fast typing fingers. Best Picture (The Aviator, Finding Neverland, Million Dollar Baby, Ray, Sideways) It’s no secret that I’m rooting for The Aviator as best picture, but I’d also be pretty happy to see the cast and crew of Finding Neverland up there. I just can’t see it happening. After sweeping up top honors in so many  other critics lists and generating so much buzz, to me it looks like Million Dollar Baby’s award to lose. Granted, I think it’s lost a little momentum in the past month or so but Clint’s sort-of-about-boxing drama has enough steam to keep barreling right on through.
Best Director (Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Taylor Hackford, Alexander Payne, Mike Leigh) There’s no way Scorsese loses this. Aside from the fact that he’s the most worthy, he’s freakin Scorsese! The man should have a matched pair of Oscars by now, and the Academy, big on righting past wrongs recently, will give him the award based not just on how much he deserves it for The Aviator, but for how much he deserved it all the other times they didn’t give him one. The only other legitimate contender in this category is Clint, but I think they’ll assuage their Million Dollar guilt by handing his film Best Picture, leaving voters free to reward Scorsese for being Scorsese. Best Animated Feature Film (The Incredibles, Shrek 2, Shark Tale I’m throwing this category into my predictions, just so I can have one spot where I’m guaranteed to be right. The Incredibles nearly got nominated for Best Picture, it’ll have no problem carrying the Animated category. Shrek 2 was a nice movie, but Shark Tale was an affront to civilization. I’d have rather seen an anime film nominated than that piece of chum... and I hate anime. The Incredibles is one of the best films animated or otherwise, ever made. They can’t lose.  Best Actor (Jamie Foxx, Don Cheadle, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood)Clint Eastwood is a what the fuck nomination, forget about him. Everyone loves fawning over Jamie Foxx, he’ll take the category. I’d rather see him win for Collateral in the supporting category, but Ray is a more obvious performance and easier to vote for. My choice would’ve been Leo, but despite its massive amount of nominations, I don’t have any faith that The Aviator will get a deserved amount of love. Best Supporting Actor (Alan Alda, Thomas Hayden Church, Jamie Foxx, Morgan Freeman, Clive Owen) If Jamie Foxx wins Best Actor as I predict, that means he’s out of the running for Best Supporting and leaves the category wide open. This may be the spot where the Oscar voters reward Sideways, or it could be the place where Clive Owen is finally confirmed as the “Big Deal” everyone keeps telling us he is. I’m going to guess the vote will go to Thomas Hayden Church, since Giamatti got robbed out of a Best Actor nod. I don’t think he deserves it, Church is massively overrated, but these are predictions and good taste doesn’t matter. Best Actress (Annette Benning, Imelda Staunton, Catalina Sandeno Moreno, Hilary Swank, Kate Winslet) A couple of weeks ago I had myself talked into believing Winslet would win here. I’ve since waffled a bit on that. Hilary Swank has been out there campaigning hard, and like it or not that sometimes helps “convince” voters. Catalina Sandeno Moreno has gotten a lot of recent buzz as well, so as much as I’d like to see Kate get some recognition, I guess I’ll pick the unknown Ms. Moreno instead of the man-faced Ms. Swank. Her appearance on Saturday Night Live gave me nightmares. Best Supporting Actress (Cate Blanchett, Laura Linney, Virginia Madsen, Sophie Okonedo, Natalie Portman) This is the place where The Aviator will get its other big win. Cate was stunning in The Aviator, she gave the kind of performance that people seem to THINK Jamie Foxx gave as Ray Charles. Jamie had the help of grainy camera filters, Cate did it on her own. She deserves it, and in a category with undeserved nominees like Virginia Madsen, maybe she can actually win. Best Visual Effects (Spider-Man 2, Harry Potter 3, I, Robot) Come on, it has to be Spidey! Harry Potter had a pretty cool whomping tree, but Doc Ock’s arms alone qualify the film as a clear winner here. Rafe to get free Oscar DVDs. I'm not giving you anything. Letters From Close Enough to the Edge to See the View But Not So Close That There is Danger of Falling Off  Guided by the spirit of the small Asian woman to your left (who I really need to replace with something more snazzy), I answer reader mail. It’s new, it’s innovative, and no doubt this idea will be ripped off by thousands of copycats, like that hack David Letterman. your comments to have them read on the… er answered here. Let’s see what you folks have to say this week: Keith: Just wanted to let you know that Brian Cox the actor is not directing El Meurto, it is another Brian Cox, who despite numerous requests by his friends and co-workers will not change his name so things like this don't happen. Actually he is a bit of an asshole, I worked with him on a kids television pilot("Studio Bob"). Here is his imdb link, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0184938/. El Meurto has a shot of being great, the script is well written and the comic has a huge cult follwing. I've worked with Rattner on numerous projects, he is mostly a slumlord of B-horror films but sometimes he pulls out a gem, like "Dahmer" and he was also involved with "Down in the Valley" the new Edward Norton film. But with Brian Cox could be hard to pull off go rent "Keep'in it Real" at your local blockbuster and you will see what I mean. Great Site Josh: Rafe will regret running this story forever. However, your honesty regarding Brian “Not That Brian Cox” Cox’s character is refreshing. Tama: Your preview is alittle wrong. Yes, he did “Charlie’s Angels” just for money (although he liked the kung-fu), but he LOVES “Willard”, he’s really proud of it and he says that all the time and actually he names only three project his favorite: “The Orkly Kid”, “River’s Edge” and “Willard”. What totalirism?? He’s all for freedom of individuality. I don't think he's crazy, he is surrealist. Josh: You may also be a “surrealist”. Me, I’m just a realist. David: Superman is a d*%k. Who knew? . Josh: Bert probably knew. Kitty: Would you like to keep me some company? My Asshole Husband works night shifts, which makes me very lonely at night . Josh: That jerk! His name isn’t Rafe Telsch is it? Sorry about keeping him so late. Gareth: Not sure if I am becoming Jaded but it seems to me that the Oscars are lacking all sorts of credibility. First you had Star Wars The Phantom Menace with its numerous new digital innovations losing the FX Oscar to the Matrix with its one trick pony Bullet Time effect, that was not even a new feature. Russel Crowe losing not due to his work but a personal issue over him scuffling with a media person. The fiasco of Lord of the Rings being Rubber Stamped under intense pressure and non stop gifts from New Line, when few critics would argue that Master and Commander was by far a better film, and now we get Michael Moore, who won every single International and other local award not even nominated. Lets not forget The horrible injustice of Passion of the Christ being snubbed in most categories. It seems the Oscars have become rife with popularity contests and special interests instead of their intended purpose, recognizing the best cinema of the year. My question to you is this, should there be reform in the Oscar process, and should the nominations be expanded to include film critics? If not, what would you say shoiuld be done to improve the process? . Josh: Sorry, looks like the critics in favor of Return of the King have Master and Commander out numbered. It by far got better reviews: RETURN OF THE KING on RottenTomatoes: 94% MASTER AND COMMANDER on RottenTomatoes: 84% Your premise seems flawed. The horrible injustice of Passion being snubbed? Perspective is recommended. I’m not certain, but I think you just may be a surrealist. Hey! Do you like writing for mildly successful movie websites with no guarantee that you’ll ever be paid? Are you over 18? You’re in luck. CinemaBlend.com is looking for writers just like you. If you think you can capture the signature Cinema Blend style as a DVD critic and/or BNN reporter send me an with a few samples and we’ll talk. |
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