By now you know that Sandra Bullock won the Oscar for Best Actress Sunday night. Her acceptance speech was humble and touching and she looked fabulous. But did you know that she also received another prestigous award on Saturday and by winning both back to back she actually set a record?
On Saturday the annual Razzie Awards were held in Los Angeles to celebrate the very worst Hollywood has to offer. Bullock was nominated for her performance in All About Steve and, in keeping with her self-depricating humor, she showed up to accept. She was charming and her appearance was the highlight of the evening. You can check it out below. And, yes, she is the only actor to win an Oscar and a Razzie in the same year. Read the rest of this entry »
I have long praised Pixar and their movies. They took animation, which had largely been a children’s only genre, and focused on bringing depth and meaning to the story and characters. While the animation was amazing, it was their creative storytelling that always hooked me.
I’ve worked at an animation company long enough now to appreciate some of the more technical but still very creative aspects of CGI. And now there is an excellent article on those break throughs over at Den of Geek. Of all these, I do remember being completely blown away by Sulley’s hair in Monsters Inc. You can read the full article here.
Nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards were anounced this morning. (Groundhog Day!) No major surprises. I didn’t expect major nominations for (500) Days or Star Trek but I was disappointed that (500) Days of Summer was not nominated for Original Screenplay. Oh well.
My main question - will this be the year that a woman finally wins Best Director? Many feel Kathryn Bigelow is deserving. We’ll find out March 7th. Read the rest of this entry »
Love this new spot for Nickelodeon! It has great music and fantastic editing & pacing. The energy and charisma of the actors show why they are leads on Nick programming. And I love seeing the physics of the slime in slomo. Interesting that only one of these stars has the sense to keep his mouth closed when being slimed. Gross. Makes me wonder what it tastes like.
Hans Zimmer is one of my favorite composers and I know I’m not alone in that feeling. He’s an incredibly prolific and varied writer. From Twister & Driving Miss Daisy to The Lion King & Prince of Egypt to Gladiator and Pirates of the Caribbean, his work is really amazing. Gladiator & Pirates are two of my favorites of his and I tend to associate him with big epic scores. But his work is not as easily identified as John Williams or James Horner (whom I can sometimes identify by a single chord). Read the rest of this entry »
Ever get a giggle at the completely-not-connected-with-reality computer screens that are often shown in the movies? I’m looking at you, Mission Impossible. Remember the screen when Ethan is sending emails to Job. It’s awful. Granted, it was 1996 and the internet & email were still relatively new but most folk knew it looked nothing like that.
Sometimes the unrealistic screens work within the world of the movie. In The Matrix, the computer interface is obviously an important part of the script and we’re willing to believe that the strange characters and the falling green columns are meaningful to the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar. Read the rest of this entry »
The Golden Globes were Sunday night and while I didn’t do a blow by blow blog (& probably won’t for the Oscars either) I will offer a few scattered ramblings.
First off, of course I’m thrilled that my boy Downey Jr won Best Actor in Comedy/Musical for Sherlock Holmes. It’s great to see him so happy & his charming speech was one of the highlights of the night. But while his performance was awesome, I’m not sure he should have won. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve occasionally stumbled across Ted Talks on MentalFloss.com but I’ve never really had the time to explore them. Yesterday I discovered this 20 minute manic and somewhat scattered speech by Lost & Alias creater, JJ Abrams. While I do wish he had gone a little deeper into the topics, I appreciate his perspective on mystery & what good “action” movies are really about. His thoughts reveal why he is such a successful writer and director. Enjoy.
