Yazdi

53 posts

Fancy One of These Wagers for the Academy Awards?

Not to be outdone by the categories of awards themselves, a betting company in the UK is creating their own inventive assembliges to incentivize anyone who wishes to gamble this year.  At Bodog.com (supposedly the world’s largest betting brand) instead of voting for the usual “Best Film”, “Best Director”, “Actor” or “Actress”, one can place a wager on the following:

  • How many of the big 3 award winners (Director, Actor, Actress) will visibly cry when receiving their award?
    • None: 4/7
    • 1: 3/2
    • 2: 5/1
    • All 3: 20/1
  • Oscars Specials – How many times will the word Thanks or Thank You be used in the acceptance speech of the Big 3 Awards (Director, Actor, Actress)?
    • Over/Under 20: 10/11
  • What will be the Predominant Color of Natalie Portman’s Dress at the Awards Ceremony?
    • Black 3/1
    • White 3/1
    • Blue 4/1
    • Cream/Beige 9/2
    • Pink 9/2
    • Red 5/1
  • Will Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds attend the Oscars together? Yes 6/1
  • Will any Oscar recipients fall on their way to the stage? Yes 15/1
  • Will Geoffrey Rush be wearing a hat? Yes 6/4

Dice

Now you may be asking yourself “why”? Well, apparently there is a feeling that the Oscars look even more predictable than normal this year (Colin Firth is 1/50 to win Best Actor!) so the categories were put togteher to help the long evening be a little more entertaining.  Perhaps our own moviewalla listeners could come up with a few inventive categories of our own???

Envious About the King’s Speech? – Julia Roberts is Crowned Queen

The ultimate “Pretty woman” now has a new title; “Wicked step mother” or “Queen” even.  Relativity Media has closed a deal with Oscar®-winner Julia Roberts to play the Queen in its upcoming untitled Snow White feature, based on the Brothers Grimm story which will be directed by Tarsem Singh (Immortals, The Cell).  The studio stated Pre-production has begun and principal photography will start in April. The theatrical release date is set for June 2012.

Julia Roberts

Relativity’s Snow White a retelling of one of the most beloved fables of all-time, will eschew the traditional story in favor of a more modern tale full of comedy and adventure. After her evil stepmother kills her father and destroys the kingdom, Snow White bands together with a gang of seven quarrelsome dwarfs to reclaim what is rightly hers. The script was written by Melissa Wallack (Meet Bill) and Jason Keller (Machine Gun Preacher).

The film’s producers are Ryan Kavanaugh (The Fighter), Bernie Goldmann (300) and Brett Ratner (Rush Hour franchise). The executive producers are Tucker Tooley (The Fighter), Jeff Waxman (Immortals), Tommy Turtle (Immortals), Jamie Marshall (Immortals), Josh Pate (Friday Night Lights) and John Cheng (Horrible Bosses).

Relativity’s CEO Ryan Kavanaugh commented, “Julia was our first and only choice to play the Queen. She is an icon, and we know that she will make this role her own in a way that no one else could.”

I don’t know about you, but I love me a good fairy tale and can’t wait to see who will be Prince Charming

Snow White

Will the Annie Awards winner be a good predictor of “Best Animation” for the Oscars?

Which one is best “Toy Story 3” vs. ‘How to train your dragon” has long been a sometimes heated debate amongst the moviewallas.  With two of the wallas adoring “Toy Story 3” and the other backing the “How to Train Your Dragon” train all the way to the Oscars.  Needless to say, this will be a hard fight to the end since both animations are extremely good.  Methinks this could turn into a replay of the “Big Mac vs. Whopper” debate of Ye Olde time (PS, who won that by the way?).

how to train your dragon

However at the 38th Annual Annie Awards held on Saturday, February 5 at UCLA’s Royce Hall a choice was made and DreamWorks Animation’s “How to Train Your Dragon” won top honors as the Best Animated Feature. Often a predictor of the annual Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, the Annie Awards honor overall excellence as well as individual achievement in a total of 25 categories ranging from best feature, production design, character animation and effects animation to storyboarding, video games, writing, music and voice acting.  (A complete list of the 38th Annual Annie Award winners can be viewed at www.annieawards.org.)

I decided to think of some of the merits of each of these terrific submissions to see if there was any way to separate the two:

Categories

Toy Story 3

How to Train your Dragon

Best Story

Winner

Most heart wrenching

Winner

Best rendition of a dragon that acts like a dog or Cat

Winner

Best story arc

Winner

Best ensemble cast EVER

Winner

The one that made me cry the most

Winner

The one that I would watch again and again

Winner

The one that I would watch if Toy Story 3 got worn out

Winner

So there you have it, both animations, both excellent and little to separate them.  Even in trying to rate the two against each other, I found the choice so difficult.  But remember, I loved “Toy Story 3” and sobbed uncontrollably at the end…for me I think what it comes down to was the familiarity and joy I felt seeing Woody, Buzz, Mr. Potato Head and the rest of the gang for the third time.  That intertwined with Pixar’s amazing talent to tell the story of a young boy all grown up and leaving home for the first time and the impact it has on all of those you leave behind.  Gosh, I’m tearing up just thinking about what a GREAT story this was as I write.  Whatever your preference, “Toy Story 3” or “How to Train your Dragon” what more could we ask for than two brilliant animations in one year that are both deserving of the title “Best animation”

Toy Story 3


Oscar Nominations Tomorrow Morning – Am I the Only Excited One?

The Oscar nominations are announced tomorrow morning – is anyone as excited as I am?  I am not sure why I am so excited, I mean it’s not like I am waiting to find out if I get nominated or anything but I am really excited.  I can’t even imagine how I would feel if I had a dog in the race?  If I was in any jeopardy of getting a statuette, a gold-plated britannium on a black metal base which is 13.5 in (34 cm) tall, weighs 8.5 lb (3.85 kg) and depicts a knight rendered in Art Deco style holding a crusader’s sword standing on a reel of film with five spokes, would I be even more excited than I am now; a mere watcher of films?

oscar statue

If I was Colin Firth (c’mon I am British!) what would I be thinking tonight?  Would I be nursing my cup of cocoa reassuring myself that it doesn’t matter what happens tomorrow because “I know I did a great job?” or “I don’t need another statue to prove I’m a great actor – I just loved playing a stuttering monarch that no one ever talks about”

What if I was Annette Bening – Surely the fact that I played “same sex marriage” and made it look damn convincing vs. that little whippersnapper who just had to learn to dance is worth a nod?  C’mon guys you’ve looked me over so many times, everyone knows I am a GREAT actress!

And if I’m David Fincher, I mean I have a great body of work behind me already and I made a film about a networking website look like an exciting week in Ibiza – that takes a lot of talent

I am Christian Bale now – marveling at my ability to pull off the great Dicky Eklund.  I had to train just as hard as Natalie Portman and I’ve been around longer, wait, statues make great things to throw at people, no?  By the way, I wonder if Amy Adams or Melissa Leo will be nominated – wouldn’t it be great of we all got one.

Finally, what if I’m Toy Story 3 – I mean I totally deserve best film – just because I am rendered in code and not celluloid, should that be held against me?

Anyway, six hours to go, so I will just have to wait like the rest of them.  My own hopes for nominations in one form or another are – “The Social Network”, “Kings Speech”, “Toy Story 3”, “Blue Valentine”, “127 Hours”, “The Kids are All Right”, “True Grit” and of course, “The Fighter”.  Good luck all my faves of 2010!

Were The Golden Globes Worth Watching?

So what did you think of last night’s “Globes” telecast? I was mildly entertained at best and much as I was excited to see if moviewallas had got it right throughout the year with respect to what we thought were good performances and films, I feel like most of the day and the day following was/is being taken up not by the show victors themselves but rather by the before and aftermath.

picture of globes

It seems like the effort of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) to recognize excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign has turned into the rather marginal part of the day vs. a plethora of shows that have sprung up around it, “Live from the red carpet” “Live form the red carpet pre-show” “After show party” and today the day following is even worse; “Fashion Police” “E! News” “ Access Hollywood”, “The Today Show” amongst others. Don’t get me wrong, I am as celebrity obsessed as the next guy but really, do we need this much coverage? Good job it’s MLK day today and I get to sit on the couch all day with the remote controlled taped to my hand but how many more times can I watch Ricky Gervais give another cringe worthy introduction or Angelina Jolie reapply her lip gloss whilst draping herself over Mr. Pitt? Of course I could get up and switch the TV off but I find myself paralyzed and mesmerized by images of women in beautiful gowns and handsome actors in well-pressed tuxedos and I feel like the world will end if I can’t figure out where to buy the knock off version of the Marchesa gown worn by Amy Adams already available online – I mean have knock off factories on the other side of the world been working all through the night?

Well, on to the actual show now (given I have just learned that the proximity of your breasts in your cleavage can make you look older or younger – thanks “Access Hollywood”). For the most part, the show was adequate apart from Ricky Gervais (and I usually LOVE Ricky and sarcasm); why do we even need a host HFPA – although I have a strong feeling that there will be no host next year especially not Mr. Gervais. I was so pleased to see that some moviewalla faves were honored (unanimous loves for the gang were “The Kids are All Right”, “The Social Network” “The King’s Speech”, “Toy Story 3”, Natalie Portman in “The Black Swan” and my own fave “The Fighter” (sorry Joe no love for “Inception”) and no love for “True Grit”, “127 Hours” or even “Fair Game” which didn’t even get a fair nomination! Loved that the Cecile B Deville award went to Bobby DeNiro and loved Matt Damon’s intro speech (maybe he could host next year?) however, I was surprised that there weren’t more musical acts in between the awards.  For a full list of winners and nominees, go to www.goldenglobes.org/nominations/

So award season is truly underway and if you’re like me and can’t wait for the next set of who’s going to wear what, the complete timetable is below.

Award

Date

The 36th annual People’s Choice Awards

January 5, 2011

The 68th annual Golden Globe

January 16, 2011

The 15th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards

January 30, 2011

The 53rd annual Grammy Awards

February 13, 2011

The 83rd annual Academy Awards (Oscars)

Feb. 27, 2011

The 62nd annual Emmy Awards

August 29, 2010

Finally, you may be asking about the correlation between the Globes and the Oscars; not much actually given none of the 88 voting members of the HFPA overlap with the nearly 6,000 Academy members who vote for the Oscars. In addition, the deadline for the first round of Academy Award voting was Jan. 14, so whatever transpires at the Globes can’t really sway how the Academy votes for it’s nominees, who are due to be announced on Jan. 25 – well that’s the theory anyway. However, when it comes to the winners, that’s another story since many nominees often get nods for both awards and given the Globes have such high visibility, it’s hard for Oscar voters not to be influenced by the Globes’ outcome when choosing their prizewinners weeks later.

Listen shortly for a moviewallas Oscars prediction show