Archive for the ‘Lists’ Category
Filed under: Awards, Lists, Fan Rant
There’s no good roles for women anymore? The Oscar-worthy choices for Best Actress for 2009 are slim pickings? I call shenanigans! SHENANIGANS! Movie marketing may be largely male-centric, but if you think it was tough for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to come up with five ladies worthy of Oscar recognition, then you simply aren’t seeing enough movies.
Off the top of my head, I can think of five additional amazing actresses in five amazing performances that will be snubbed this Sunday night when ABC airs the 82nd annual awards ceremony. Consider this the “alternate team”…
- Zoe Saldana for Avatar – The only mo-cap performer to give Andy Serkis a run for his money, Saldana is the emotionally raw centerpiece in an excessive fantasy spectacle. I’m starting to believe she’s the real secret weapon to Avatar’s success.
- Rachel Weisz for The Brothers Bloom – Weisz has never been more charming than in the scene where she experiences her first kiss. I don’t really throw around the word “winsome”, but, yeah, she’s just so damned winsome.
- Maya Rudolph for Away We Go – Rudolph’s first outing as a leading lady reveals her to be a down-to-earth screen presence, accessibly beautiful, with a dramatic range that rivals her SNL-honed comedic chops.
- Melanie Laurent for Inglourious Basterds – This is by far the snubbiest of the Oscar snubs. I can’t fathom why Laurent didn’t end up making the cut. It’s a fierce, sit-up-and-take-notice role, with some of the best scenes an actress was given in 2009, from simply changing a theatre marquee while trying to avoid conversation with a Nazi war hero, to her intense dessert with the man who killed her family, all leading up to her part in the film’s fiery, unforgettable finale. Laurent is an honest-to-God movie star.
- Charlotte Gainsbourg for Anti-Christ – There is no female performance in 2009 that matches the unholy fearlessness of Gainsbourg in Anti-Christ. She just goes there as an actress, wholly placing her trust in a mad director with a prickly question — are women inherently evil? Gainsbourg is terrifying, heartbreaking, and frightened, and many times all three at once. Regardless of how the film was received, she deserves recognition.
What other great female performances from 2009 belong on our Oscar alternate team?
The whole “Jews run the media” shtick is one I’ll never tire of, if only because, well, I’m a Jew in the media. My fellow media-controlling (and far more powerful!) peeps at Heeb have diligently assembled the 100 greatest Jewish moments in movies, and they are a hoot, as well as a juicy lot of movies to add to your Netflix queue. With plenty of clips from the movies themselves and tons of trivia, this is definitely a well-researched and badass article. Badass like Heeb cover girl Mélanie Laurent from Inglourious Basterds, not that she was frigging cheated out of a best supporting actress nomination or anything. Except that she was.
But anyway, this is one thorough list, with trivia about Jewish actors like the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, lesser-known films like Carl Reiner’s Where’s Poppa?, which features a scene where Ruth Gordon bites her son on the tuchus, classics like Funny Girl, and random and absolutely hilarious one-offs, such as when Ronnie in Role Models finds out the members of KISS are Jewish (“I didn’t know Jews could sing like that!”). Seriously, this is a true feat of extensively researched, Jewish movie nerd awesomeness.
In light of this year’s Jew Bear-tastic Inglourious Basterds sweeping the noms (and perhaps the awards as well, if Harvey Weinstein has any say in it – we’ll find out Sunday!), give it a little look, okay? It’s Friday, so I know you want to take it easy. But remember, do it before sundown or have your Sabbath goy click through for you. Don’t roll on shabbos!
Filed under: Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Casting, Fandom, Family Films, Lists
Do you suffer from insomnia? Work the late shift? Live off the blood of mortals in the pale moonlight? Good, then we’ve got a new Cinematical feature we’d like to run by you. As you can tell from the title above, it’s a special Cinematical Late Night edition where we’ll be covering the smaller goodies that tend to get lost in the shuffle over the course of a busy day. Think of this first post as a pilot; if there’s enough interest, we’ll keep it going on a regular basis. If not, just pretend this was all a dream…
- Neil Patrick Harris has been cast in the leading role of Raja Gosnell’s Smurfs movie. He won’t have a self-descriptive Smurf name, however, as he’ll actually be playing a human.
- Stephen Lang, who absolutely nailed Colonel Quaritch in Avatar, has been offered the role of Khalar Singh, the villainous warlord in Marcus Nispel’s reboot of Conan.
- Eclipse, the third film in the Twilight Saga, has undergone a change in the editing department. Director David Slade’s pick, Art Jones (who edited both of Slade’s previous films, Hard Candy and 30 Days of Night) has been replaced by Nancy Richardson, whom diehard fans will recognize as the editor of the first Twilight film.
- A new Indiana Jones movie may be inching closer to life with the familiar rumblings from Harrison Ford that Spielberg and Lucas have agreed on what idea they’ll use for the story.
Continue reading Cinematical Late Night: Smurfs, Conan, Indy 5, New John Hughes Film(?)
Filed under: Fandom, Cinematical Seven, Lists, Columns, Stars in Rewind
Watching the dramatic exploits of Dawson Leery and his pals back in the day, it seemed a no-brainer that Dawson himself – or, as he’s known in the real world, James Van Der Beek – was destined to rise the highest in Hollywood. After all, he was the star of the show! It was named after him! (That said, I was always on Team Pacey.) But sometime during his post-”Dawson’s Creek” career, after he snagged his first big role in the 1999 football flick Varsity Blues, Van Der Beek’s career drifted off, little by little, into indie movie oblivion. Yes, he scored a prime role in the epic-on-paper Texas Rangers, but that became one of the biggest bombs of 2001. And then he played the lead in Roger Avary’s racy Bret Easton Ellis adaptation The Rules of Attraction, a divisive film that earned its own solid cult following. But where, oh where, was Dawson Leery during the better part of the ’00s? Answer: languishing in TV movies, direct-to-DVD pics, and – shudder – an Andy Dick film (Danny Roane: First Time Director).
In light of all that, this March marks a triumphant resurgence of sorts for James Van Der Beek, who stars in not one, but two theatrically released films in the span of a month. In Formosa Betrayed (released February 28 in select cities), he plays an FBI agent investigating a conspiracy of politics and murder in 1981 Taiwan; next week, he stars in the mystery thriller Stolen alongside Jon Hamm and Josh Lucas. (Stolen is available on VOD from IFC Films starting March 3.)
But enough about Dawson. The show was about more than just his drama — it was about everyone’s drama, too! Where have the other Capesiders gone in the years since The Creek? And whose star has risen the highest?
Continued below…
Continue reading Cinematical Seven: ‘Dawson’s Creek’ Alumni on the Big Screen
I’ve definitely been lucky in the years that I’ve been involved with Cinematical in that I never once came across a celebrity who treated me poorly in person. Of course, some are friendlier than others — and when the press are involved, they’re usually on their best behavior — but that doesn’t mean all celebrities are warm, approachable and, like, totally down with becoming your new best friend. The Frisky decided to put together a list of the 14 Celebs Who Are Jerks In Person, based on anonymous accounts from people (most of whom appear to be press) who’ve come into contact with a celebrity and did not have a pleasurable experience.
The list isn’t ranked, but among those featured are Jennifer Lopez, Ryan Gosling, Michael Pitt (who I met briefly and will agree with their claims that he was completely spaced out), Ludacris, Danny Glover (“he punched my friend, who’s an AP photographer, in the face”), Bill Cosby (“Bill thought that my questions were stupid because at one point he condescendingly asked me which college I went to”), Michael Showalter, Henry Rollins and more. In addition to those mentioned, the comments section is littered with more names — like Jared Leto (who sat in front of me at a Sundance screening and then got up to move down a row after someone near me mentioned his name) and Will Ferrell (“all of my friends that have met him say that he’s a jerk”).
With every negative, there’s always a positive, though, so maybe the above mentioned celebs were just having a bad day. What do you think? Have you ever had a bad experience meeting a celebrity in person? And afterwards, did you then stop watching his or her films?
Filed under: Classics, Fandom, Lists, Polls
It’s a question that mortifies the young movie geeks and sometimes stymies even the old veterans: What’s the best movie you never saw? And by that I mean this: a film that you know is a “classic,” that thousands of people adore, and that you’d probably enjoy yourself … remains unseen by your eyes to this very day.
Could be something as obvious as Casablanca or Gone with the Wind. Perhaps it’s something foreign, new wave-ish or film noir-y, and therefore it doesn’t feel all that accessible. (Watch it anyway.) Might be a more recent favorite like The Usual Suspects, The Shawshank Redemption, or (gasp) the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
One good way to figure out which highly-regarded films you’ve missed is by rating the films you HAVE seen at Flickchart. After a few thousand votes you’ll have an interesting list of films you’ve never seen, and ranked by popularity, as well.
But this post was never meant to be a free plug for Flickchart. It’s a sincere question to all of the hardcore movie-watchers out there. Which Oscar winner / AFI list-topper / fan favorite are you most embarrassed at having overlooked? I’ll even get us started. Ahem. “My name is Scott Weinberg, and I’m a movie geek, site manager, and film critic who thinks he knows sooooo much about everything — but the best movie I’ve never seen is probably (pause for dramatic effect) It Happened One Night.”
Hey, that felt kinda good. Who’s next?
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, Lists
Hardcore science fiction fans don’t need the mainstream to validate their love of the genre, thank you very much. Still, it’s always intriguing to see how a mainstream director — for the purposes of this article I’ll define “mainstream” as a filmmaker not known for his previous interest in the genre — approaches a science fiction property.
Martin Scorsese, for example, has not tackled science fiction yet, but his knowledge and love for all types of cinema is clearly felt in his latest film, Shutter Island. The thriller reeks (in a good way) of atmosphere, mood, and tone informed by the classical brand of horror movies, the kind practiced by James Whale and Val Lewton. In a similar way, Ridley Scott’s The Duellists placed the action in foreboding, menacing, gorgeous settings, allowed the story to unfold at its own pace, and displayed respect for the the genre (if Napoleonic sword fighting pictures can be termed a genre), qualities that would serve Scott well with Alien and Blade Runner.
Here, then, are the top mainstream directors gone sci-fi. These are not (all) among the best films ever made, but are fascinating nonetheless — sometimes like that car wreck you can’t tear your eyes away from.
1. Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey
As brilliant as his previous pictures were, Kubrick exceeded himself with this carefully-crafted, mind-blowing masterpiece. Science fiction allowed him to let slip the surly bounds of gravity — and narrative convention. It marked a turning point in his career, as his films became increasingly poetic and untethered to earthbound reality.
Read the rest over at SciFi Squad
Continue reading The Best Mainstream Directors Who’ve Gone Sci-Fi
With The Trade in mind, I thought I’d help them out and write up five friendly movie pitches they could take on. We don’t want them to really resort to making Dogma 2: Angels Strike Back or Good Will Hunting 2. But there’s no reason why they can’t be this generation’s Paul Newman and Robert Redford, and just keep playing the bromance game in a variety of different settings. There’s plenty of famous friends that are begging to bring their arcs to the big screen, and if there’s one thing an onscreen relationship needs, it’s the offscreen chemistry that can only come from winning Oscars and making Kevin Smith cameos together.
Because I like the idea of these two in costume, I’ve chosen to stick to historical friendships. Hopefully, Cinematical readers can pitch in with a few fictional ones just to keep things interesting.
Continue reading Five Famous Friends Matt Damon & Ben Affleck Can Play
Filed under: Lists, Oscar Watch
The list junkie in me just got another great list-fix this morning. Three of the writers over at Time Out New York have cooked up a very cool, comprehensive list of the 50 Most Deserving Oscar Winners, in ranked order. We’re not talking just Best Picture winners either. Their list includes Cinematography, Animated Short, Score, Song Score, Makeup, and the lot. Starting at the bottom of the list, at #50, it’s good to know that The Third Man won Best Cinematography in 1950, even beating out such worthy adversaries as Sunset Boulevard, All About Eve, The Furies and The Asphalt Jungle. Too bad Orson Welles wasn’t nominated for his supporting performance. Next up at #49 is also a good one, Joel and Ethan Coen winning Best Director(s) for No Country for Old Men. I applaud this one because I know that the outstanding film critic Dave Fear, who wrote the blurb, chose There Will Be Blood as the best film of the decade, and the Coens beat out Paul Thomas Anderson that year in that category. It shows good sportsmanship.
Continue reading Are These the Most Deserving Oscar Winners?
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Filed under: Horror, Mystery & Suspense, Cinematical Seven, Lists
Sometimes you just need to get away from all that pesky sunshine and sanity, and when movies themselves just aren’t enough of an escape, Hollywood can point us all in the right direction when it comes to making the perfect wrong turn. In honor of this month’s Shutter Island and Frozen, we proudly present a list of seven places that filmdom has taught us to just stay the f**k away from already.
1. An asylum — Look, every once in a while, you have to work with you. I get it, the checks won’t earn themselves. But if your job takes you to an asylum, whether working and isolated on a cold, rocky island (as in Shutter Island) or abandoned and filled with asbestos on the mainland (as in Session 9), the general rule of them is simple: don’t go there. Give it up. Nothing good ever comes of these joints. I know that times are tough, but find yourself a new line of work, because there’s no way this is going to end well.
