The Hot Blog Archive for November, 2009
The Doc Shortlist
A very strong list… heavy on good deeds with a few titles about show biz thrown in for entertainment value.
Of course, the first thing many of us wonder about is who got left out… and so… docs that have been released, had some real heat, and did not make the cut…
Capitalism: A Love Story
Anvil: The Story of Anvil
The September Issue
Tyson
It Might Get Loud
We Live in Public
Crude
The Yes Men Fix the World
Collapse
It is possible that a couple of these were not qualified or were disqualified. (Anvil may have been last year’s qualifier) But after We Live In Public went through the process of actually getting dispensation from The Academy for a webmaster webcast, we know that political positioning does not always take in this very odd system of nomination.
Every Little Step, The Cove, and Valentino: The Last Emperor would have to be considered the frontrunners now, though I would be keeping an eye out for Garbage Dreams, and The Beaches of Agnes coming up from behind.
Of course, the way things work at The Academy, any number of those 5 titles could miss the final nominations list.
(You can meet the filmmaker behind Garbage Dreams in this DP/30… and the Every Little Step guys are here…)
ADD 4:20p – It seems there is going to be a lot of whining, screaming, and general complaining about this list. I would guess that less than 10% of the whiners have seen all the movies and that less than 20% have seen 10 of the 15.
That said, much as I personally care for some of the left out titles, the only one that strikes me as truly offensive in its absence is Tyson, a movie that does such a mighty job of getting through that history and a truly unique interview with the man, showing skills far more complex than the split-screen shenanigans. It is worthy in the way Errol Morris’ The Fog of War was.
But there is not a single title on that list that urges me to wonder how “that piece of crap” made the list. Some are better than others, but even on the weaker ones, it is pretty clear why a committee would find them so compelling.
And frankly, the guts to leave Michael Moore off the list for the first time since they idiotically snubbed Roger & Me, aside from the dubious removal of Fahrenheit 9/11 from consideration, is kinda a winning notion. He made a weak movie. Happens. And he didn’t get a free pass for being America’s best-loved doc filmmaking character. He will recover. He’s a very smart and capable man.
The September Issue was very overrated, a shadow of the Valentino doc. I’m not 100% sure Collapse was qualified, but it is also a chat doc based on an little known guy. Loud & Yes Men are not really Academy speed. Crude is- can’t believe I am actually typing this – last year’s issue. And Public might have been too public for the committee, perhaps hurt politically by the special treatment it was given. Or maybe they just didn’t like it.
In any case, not as shocking a list as I think some are saying. Not the greatest year ever for docs. The system is still a bit screwy. But overall… pretty good.
DP/30 Sneak Peek – Anna Kendrick on The Twilight Series
I Heart Pie Charts!!!
I am not a big believer in internet surveying. I have had many experiences in which I know the survey is factually incorrect, others that make no sense in perspective.
And the chart below, from Nielsen, is pretty iffy… to the degree that they misname Lisa Schwartzbaum “Lisa Schwartzman.” Oy. But one clear thing does seem clear. When any single “answer” dominates a survey of any size this clearly, that dominant answer bears attention.
After years of literal silence, Ebert’s voice is as loud as ever.
Kenny Ober Dies At 52
The thing that none of the obits I have read seem to recall is that the Ober-hosted MTV’s Remote Control was a real melting pot for NY-based comedy talent at a time when a lot of rising stars were coming up. Adam Sandler and Denis Leary turned up on the show often. Ben Stiller was floating around those hallways. MTV was just trying out the idea of series, the network still dominated by music videos, so there was all kinds of experimentation.
The show was unwatchable as a game show. Kari Wuhrer was, pre-implants, the girl every straight geeky guy in Manhattan wanted to run into at a Duane-Reade and talk into bed… the Olivia Munn of her generation. Colin Quinn played the lazy stooge, but was one of the smartest (and laziest) comics in NY.
But the thing that was great was watching some of the best and silliest NY comics stream from comedy club stages to the show as guest categories.
Ken Ober was sometimes a good guy… sometimes a very angry guy. In some ways, he preceded Jon Stewart, though Ober never had the quality of writing – by the writers or himself – that Stewart has. But he was the sane center of the madness. And that show was madness.
It’s sad and scary for those of us who are over 40 to see someone go so “young.” Fame is fleeting. Life too. Those were good days… at least until everyone started feeling like they had something to lose and acting like the angry children they often were. Long time ago…
When News Corp Met Google
So, Rupert Murdoch seems intent on leading the charge against invasive aggregation. Google is, amazingly, the most constant target.
Here are three interesting perspective pieces on the current state of the situation…
Doing the Math on News Corp.
Twittered By An Academy Member This Morning
where the hell are the screeners???!!!
This is one of the major events of this year’s awards season. Magnolia and Sony Classics have shipped. Everyone else… not yet.
And the same is pretty much true of the ad campaigns. Expect a big, fresh wave of ads this week and next. But studios large and small have been playing it very close to the fiscal vest this season so far.
The same is true with the last four big awards films to be seen. Nine junketed this last weekend because they had it planned months ago and they have a big cast of very busy actors. But everyone who saw the film – the soundtrack of which is still two weeks away from being done – including the HFPA, signed agreements not to review or every mention the film on social networking sites.
Avatar, no. Invictus, no. The Lovely Bones, no.
As usual, the one high-profile movie that is being long-lead screened, Sherlock Holmes, is suddenly getting odd awards buzz from the long-lead monkeys. There is even some new buzz around It’s Complicated.
Why hasn’t every member of The Academy had The Hurt Locker and District 9 and A Serious Man and Inglourious Basterds in their DVD players for weeks now? Not to mention long shots like Star Trek and The Hangover and The Informant!?
The reason is money, it seems… not so much as in no one spending as in studios hedging on their awards spending through a very scary corporate summer and preparing to lock-n-load just before Thanksgiving… some just before Christmas.
All of this is… well… interesting… if hard to analyze. Of the big new movies, you can be sure that Academy members will be drawn to Invictus and Avatar and Nine in a big way. The Lovely Bones may find it more challenging to get older viewers to the theaters (screening rooms and public) and could be very SAG-reliant to get it rolling.
But it may be that the long shots get longer as, literally, dozens of DVDs suddenly pile up on the doorstep next week.
Question du Jour
Okay… this is a real question. Please don’t take it to be ironic or disparaging. But…
Beyond being a good, great or crap movie, the group responding most powerfully to Precious seems to be gay, white men. Why do we think that’s the case? (Or perhaps you disagree with the premise of the question.)
DP/30 – Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Weekend Estimates by Klady – 11/15/2012
(NOTE: “Weee” is a typo… the film is Richard Kelly’s The Box.
So a few stats from the folk at Sony:
With $160 million worldwide, 2012 is the biggest international opening of all-time for a non-sequel and the #5 international opening of all-time.
1) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 236m
2) Spider-Man, 3 231m
3 )Pirates of Caribbean:At World
