Findcate

When I first saw Henry Jaglom’s latest film “Hollywood Dreams,” I was left laughing and crying. It’s a film that focuses on the craziness of Hollywood and after watching the film, I am reminded of the phrase “Hollyweird” being used when describing our industry. I love all of Henry Jaglom’s work; the famed director has produced some of the most thought-provoking films on the silver screen. What makes his work stand out is that Jaglom focuses on the characters he’s building a story around, and not on special effects. Special effects dominate storytelling today in Hollywood, which is why movies are so boring today. All movies except Jaglom’s. His are crafted with a brilliant technique only designed and built by movie making geniuses.

Tanna Frederick is a name that many across America don’t recognize, but I promise you, it’s a name you will become acquainted with. Get your autographs from the actress right now, before they become priceless. Almost like a lightning bolt, I was stunned to see the best actress in my lifetime come flying off the screen and into my heart. Not since Bette Davis or Barbara Stanwyck has any actress dominated a film that was an ensemble piece. Everyone knows I’m a very tough critic when it comes to actors today. Many care more about what they look like on the screen than what they convey to the audience. Most characters in movies are so one dimensional that you know how the movie’s going to end.

She is absolutely incredible to look at. The red haired ravenous beauty makes every man pay attention when she’s on screen. But women will love her too. That’s a knack you simply don’t see in Hollywood today. You can’t seem to find an actress who can transcend the sexes. She transcends the sexes, generations and is the must-get for any movie studio looking to revive women’s pictures. Jaglom, like George Cukor, has an edge with actresses that many directors don’t have today. He’s actually good with everyone. So is Frederick.

That is the way Frederick was in this film. I have rarely told people that when they see a movie, they will be absolutely shocked by the ending. Jaglom is a master of mystery and intrigue and wow, it’s the moment well worth waiting for. The only problem at the end of the film was that I immediately wanted another scene. I felt like I wanted to find out what happens to her next. I know what happens with Frederick. She gave me the news that a sequel to this film is in the works. I have one dream before I die: to work with Frederick in a scene and to be directed by the greatest movie maker since Cecile B. DeMille, Henry Jaglom. I’ll have to settle for seeing the sequel to “Hollywood Dreams” I suppose. I’ll do so with excitement and anticipation.

Being able to see Tanna Frederick act is like baking a cake. Just when it’s about to come out of the oven, you want to wait and make sure it’s the right time. The anticipation is just palpable. When interviewing Frederick, you realize the Iowa born native has a lot of life experience and dreams. But she manages to perform on screen as if she were born in the role she portrays.

The game of Hollywood is hers to play. Ms. Frederick will become one of the biggest icons on the silver screen, much like her legend and heroine Bette Davis. I never thought I’d live to say, Bette has been cloned. So The Times can say she’s Bette on crack. I will say she’s Bette incarnate.

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• The week’s best films
• Pushing the envelope
• I am woman, hear me snore
• Heath Ledger’s brilliant career ends in tragedy
• Heath Ledger’s brilliant career ends in tragedy
• Heath Ledger’s brilliant career ends in tragedy
• Heath Ledger’s brilliant career ends in tragedy
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• Blanchett keen to play more screen villains
• Blanchett chases Oscar history

AGEING gracefully is a difficult art. So, hats off to Harrison Ford and Spielberg for showing that when 20 years pass by unless you live in a soap opera two decades do pass by.

The archaeologist-adventurer made famous by George Lucas, Spielberg and Ford returns as an older, wiser and a little slower Indiana Jones, who remains as fallible and as likable as in his first outing in 1981.

Spielberg insisted that the special effects would be kept to a minimum in keeping with both the spirit of the three previous Indiana Jones films and the period in which The Kingdom of the Skull is set, and this does give the film an old-worldly, hands-on feel missing in similar adventures shot now like, say, National Treasure. This includes a sword-fight between two people balanced on two parallel racing jeeps.

Still, sometimes it’s better to adopt a little change. The Kingdom of the Skull moves at a desultory pace and its storyline has few surprises. And then, suddenly in the end, it takes off in a direction that bears the special touch of Lucas and Spielberg.

What’s also surprising is how many parallels it has with National Treasure 2, released just earlier this year from mythical cities to estranged families. Sure, there is a new character being introduced, in the shape of the young flavour of the season Shia LaBeouf. But even with the Marlon Brando get-up, he looks like he has been plonked in the film from sometime else.

Related posts

• Me and Mr Jones
• Indiana Jones survives most perilous quest at Cannes
• Crystal Skull sparkles as Indiana Jones revives the magic
• ‘Indiana Jones’ debut survives Cannes critics
• The best in the arts this spring
• Secret material for Indiana Jones movie ’stolen’
• Indiana Jones set for grand Cannes opening?
• Indiana Jones set for grand Cannes opening?
• Weak plot lets film down
• Shia and higher

At the first Academy Award presentations of the year, 20 computer geeks graciously accepted honors for their work on particle flow simulation technology _ stuff that makes water scenes in the movies look more realistic.
With an end to the writers strike in sight, and the prospect of a reassuringly stylish Oscars ceremony on the minds of most everyone in the industry, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts kept its Scientific and Technical Awards dinner Saturday night as charmingly unglamorous as ever. A magician provided the pre-meal entertainment, Jessica Alba showed up to present the awards _ and be gawked at _ and nerddom was held up as something to celebrate.
“Fluid effects rock and all of us who work in fluids know this,” one honoree, Nafees Bin Zafar, said earnestly.
With all the writing for the show done by an Academy administrator who isn’t part of the Writers Guild, picket lines were nowhere to be seen. And though the three-month walkout by Hollywood writers wasn’t mentioned once by awards winners, Academy President Sid Ganis was giddy before the meal over prospects for a settlement over the weekend and a green light for a full-fledged Oscar ceremony Feb. 24.
Organizers had been forced to prepare for two Oscar shows _ one with writers and stars and one without.
“Hopefully, I’ll be getting a call on my cell phone from those who are involved in all this,” Ganis said. “If we have a go, then I’ll call (telecast producer) Gil (Cates) right away. … I can’t wait. I so hope we can say ‘Plan A.’”
Alba was visibly pregnant in a frilly gray dress as she nimbly picked her way through a script laden with difficult technical references like “semi-Lagrangian” (it’s a mathematical process used in special-effects software that simulates gas clouds).
The star of “The Eye” was the subject of several awkward sidelong glances from winners, all but one of whom were male.
“For a computer geek like me, it’s really sexy to hear Jessica talk about stable, semi-Lagrangian fluid flows,” quipped Duncan Brinsmead of Autodesk, a developer of the tools for visual effects.
“They said I got 60 seconds so I might just spend the last 15 realizing I’m 10 feet away from the most beautiful woman on the planet,” said Ron Fedkiw, a Stanford University associate professor and consultant to Industrial Light and Magic on fluid simulation. “And no restraining order this time.”
Other winners were more demure. Honored for the invention of pint-sized fog machines, Jorg Pohler remained silent as if playing Penn to Rudiger Kleinke’s Teller. While Kleinke read an acceptance speech, Pohler smiled sublimely as puffs of smoke wafted up from inside his tuxedo.
Screens at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel ballroom displayed clips of movies that used the honored technologies, including “Happy Feet,” “Poseidon” and “Transformers.” The only face from more well-known Oscar categories to make an appearance was supporting actor nominee Javier Bardem in a clip of “No Country for Old Men.”
Makeup artist Christien Tinsley developed the “Tinsley Transfer” process of self-adhesive markings that made Bardem’s face appear bloody and beaten in the film.
Most winners received certificates, plaques or a medallion; only two actual Oscars were handed out. The Eastman Kodak Company received a statuette for its widely used Vision2 color negative films, and David Grafton got one for his engineering of lenses used to create special effects in films including “Ghostbusters” and “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.”

Related posts

• Jessica Alba dazzles self-professed nerds as academy hands out science and tech Oscars
• Jessica Alba dazzles self-professed nerds as academy hands out science and tech Oscars
• Irony of Blanchett’s Golden Globe
• Christie leads home charge with best actress nomination
• Cate Blanchett wins Golden Globe
• Cate Blanchett wins Golden Globe
• Cate Blanchett wins Golden Globe
• Cate Blanchett nominated for two Golden Globes
• Blanchett wins Golden Globe
• Atonement takes main prize at troubled Golden Globes

At the first Academy Award presentations of the year, 20 computer geeks graciously accepted honors for their work on particle flow simulation technology _ stuff that makes water scenes in the movies look more realistic.
With an end to the writers strike in sight, and the prospect of a reassuringly stylish Oscars ceremony on the minds of most everyone in the industry, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts kept its Scientific and Technical Awards dinner Saturday night as charmingly unglamorous as ever. A magician provided the pre-meal entertainment, Jessica Alba showed up to present the awards _ and be gawked at _ and nerddom was held up as something to celebrate.
“Fluid effects rock and all of us who work in fluids know this,” one honoree, Nafees Bin Zafar, said earnestly.
With all the writing for the show done by an Academy administrator who isn’t part of the Writers Guild, picket lines were nowhere to be seen. And though the three-month walkout by Hollywood writers wasn’t mentioned once by awards winners, Academy President Sid Ganis was giddy before the meal over prospects for a settlement over the weekend and a green light for a full-fledged Oscar ceremony Feb. 24.
Organizers had been forced to prepare for two Oscar shows _ one with writers and stars and one without.
“Hopefully, I’ll be getting a call on my cell phone from those who are involved in all this,” Ganis said. “If we have a go, then I’ll call (telecast producer) Gil (Cates) right away. … I can’t wait. I so hope we can say ‘Plan A.’”
Alba was visibly pregnant in a frilly gray dress as she nimbly picked her way through a script laden with difficult technical references like “semi-Lagrangian” (it’s a mathematical process used in special-effects software that simulates gas clouds).
The star of “The Eye” was the subject of several awkward sidelong glances from winners, all but one of whom were male.
“For a computer geek like me, it’s really sexy to hear Jessica talk about stable, semi-Lagrangian fluid flows,” quipped Duncan Brinsmead of Autodesk, a developer of the tools for visual effects.
“They said I got 60 seconds so I might just spend the last 15 realizing I’m 10 feet away from the most beautiful woman on the planet,” said Ron Fedkiw, a Stanford University associate professor and consultant to Industrial Light and Magic on fluid simulation. “And no restraining order this time.”
Other winners were more demure. Honored for the invention of pint-sized fog machines, Jorg Pohler remained silent as if playing Penn to Rudiger Kleinke’s Teller. While Kleinke read an acceptance speech, Pohler smiled sublimely as puffs of smoke wafted up from inside his tuxedo.
Screens at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel ballroom displayed clips of movies that used the honored technologies, including “Happy Feet,” “Poseidon” and “Transformers.” The only face from more well-known Oscar categories to make an appearance was supporting actor nominee Javier Bardem in a clip of “No Country for Old Men.”
Makeup artist Christien Tinsley developed the “Tinsley Transfer” process of self-adhesive markings that made Bardem’s face appear bloody and beaten in the film.
Most winners received certificates, plaques or a medallion; only two actual Oscars were handed out. The Eastman Kodak Company received a statuette for its widely used Vision2 color negative films, and David Grafton got one for his engineering of lenses used to create special effects in films including “Ghostbusters” and “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.”

Related posts

• Jessica Alba dazzles self-professed nerds as academy hands out science and tech Oscars
• Jessica Alba dazzles self-professed nerds as academy hands out science and tech Oscars
• Irony of Blanchett’s Golden Globe
• Christie leads home charge with best actress nomination
• Cate Blanchett wins Golden Globe
• Cate Blanchett wins Golden Globe
• Cate Blanchett wins Golden Globe
• Cate Blanchett nominated for two Golden Globes
• Blanchett wins Golden Globe
• Atonement takes main prize at troubled Golden Globes

At the first Academy Award presentations of the year, 20 computer geeks graciously accepted honors for their work on particle flow simulation technology _ stuff that makes water scenes in the movies look more realistic.
With an end to the writers strike in sight, and the prospect of a reassuringly stylish Oscars ceremony on the minds of most everyone in the industry, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts kept its Scientific and Technical Awards dinner Saturday night as charmingly unglamorous as ever. A magician provided the pre-meal entertainment, Jessica Alba showed up to present the awards _ and be gawked at _ and nerddom was held up as something to celebrate.
“Fluid effects rock and all of us who work in fluids know this,” one honoree, Nafees Bin Zafar, said earnestly.
With all the writing for the show done by an Academy administrator who isn’t part of the Writers Guild, picket lines were nowhere to be seen. And though the three-month walkout by Hollywood writers wasn’t mentioned once by awards winners, Academy President Sid Ganis was giddy before the meal over prospects for a settlement over the weekend and a green light for a full-fledged Oscar ceremony Feb. 24.
Organizers had been forced to prepare for two Oscar shows _ one with writers and stars and one without.
“Hopefully, I’ll be getting a call on my cell phone from those who are involved in all this,” Ganis said. “If we have a go, then I’ll call (telecast producer) Gil (Cates) right away. … I can’t wait. I so hope we can say ‘Plan A.’”
Alba was visibly pregnant in a frilly gray dress as she nimbly picked her way through a script laden with difficult technical references like “semi-Lagrangian” (it’s a mathematical process used in special-effects software that simulates gas clouds).
The star of “The Eye” was the subject of several awkward sidelong glances from winners, all but one of whom were male.
“For a computer geek like me, it’s really sexy to hear Jessica talk about stable, semi-Lagrangian fluid flows,” quipped Duncan Brinsmead of Autodesk, a developer of the tools for visual effects.
“They said I got 60 seconds so I might just spend the last 15 realizing I’m 10 feet away from the most beautiful woman on the planet,” said Ron Fedkiw, a Stanford University associate professor and consultant to Industrial Light and Magic on fluid simulation. “And no restraining order this time.”
Other winners were more demure. Honored for the invention of pint-sized fog machines, Jorg Pohler remained silent as if playing Penn to Rudiger Kleinke’s Teller. While Kleinke read an acceptance speech, Pohler smiled sublimely as puffs of smoke wafted up from inside his tuxedo.
Screens at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel ballroom displayed clips of movies that used the honored technologies, including “Happy Feet,” “Poseidon” and “Transformers.” The only face from more well-known Oscar categories to make an appearance was supporting actor nominee Javier Bardem in a clip of “No Country for Old Men.”
Makeup artist Christien Tinsley developed the “Tinsley Transfer” process of self-adhesive markings that made Bardem’s face appear bloody and beaten in the film.
Most winners received certificates, plaques or a medallion; only two actual Oscars were handed out. The Eastman Kodak Company received a statuette for its widely used Vision2 color negative films, and David Grafton got one for his engineering of lenses used to create special effects in films including “Ghostbusters” and “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.”

Related posts

• Jessica Alba dazzles self-professed nerds as academy hands out science and tech Oscars
• Jessica Alba dazzles self-professed nerds as academy hands out science and tech Oscars
• Irony of Blanchett’s Golden Globe
• Christie leads home charge with best actress nomination
• Cate Blanchett wins Golden Globe
• Cate Blanchett wins Golden Globe
• Cate Blanchett wins Golden Globe
• Cate Blanchett nominated for two Golden Globes
• Blanchett wins Golden Globe
• Atonement takes main prize at troubled Golden Globes

… well, at least we’d still have a good crop of
movies. Stephanie Bunbury reports on the trouble in Tinseltown -
and how one strike might overshadow a mini-revolution.
THE main question hovering around the Oscars at the moment is
not who will win what, but (a) whether they will happen at all, or
(b) if they will happen, but in someone’s lounge room with no more
than a few party hats and crackers to create festive sparks.
The Hollywood writers’ strike is now in its third month and
shows no sign of lifting. This means that the Oscars ceremony, or
whatever passes for it, will be unscripted and thinly populated, as
most actors will not be prepared to cross the Writers’ Guild picket
line even if a gold statuette is waiting on the other side.
Which is something of a pity, as the field of contenders is both
wide open and largely deserving, which would normally make for an
exciting night as the envelopes get opened. No Country for Old
Men, the wacky Coen brothers‘ bloody one-man epic, appears to
dominate the field, with eight nominations, but the brothers’
idiosyncratic coolness and the film’s violence means it is by no
means universally loved; it will be hotly contested in every
category.
In the acting divisions, the only dubious inclusion is Cate
Blanchett’s reprised Elizabeth, a curious choice given that
Elizabeth: the Golden Age was widely panned. All the other
nominees in these categories will have strong supporters, however
%26#151; young Saoirse Ronan in Atonement has been hailed a
revelation, while Cate Blanchett’s cross-dressing role as Bob Dylan
in I’m Not There is worth a dozen Virgin Queens %26#151;
making for a series of hot competitions.
Other categories are even less predictable. The contenders for
the screenplay trophies, for example, include four women as
first-time nominees (for Juno, Lars and the Real Girl
and The Savages in the original screenplay category, and
Sarah Polley for Away from Her in the adapted
screenplay).
The hot tip for an original screenplay is, inevitably, the
colourful Diablo Cody for Juno, but the other screenwriters
in the adapted section are all heavy hitters, including Christopher
Hampton for Atonement, and Ronald Harwood for The Diving
Bell and the Butterfly. It could be anyone’s. What is
particularly striking about this play-off, however, is that it is
largely taking place between niche mini-studios and the big
studios’ specialist units.
These small units, many of them thriving within the big studios,
have practically taken over the prestige end of Hollywood
filmmaking. It is astonishing how quickly this has happened. A few
years ago %26#151; in 2003, to be exact %26#151; Sofia Coppola’s clever
Lost in Translation was the cuckoo in a best-picture nest of
epic studio production, all with casts of (not necessarily human)
thousands and spare-no-expense art direction.
The general talk was that films would increasingly be about
special effects, and no studio would bother with anything that cost
less than $120 million. Bigger, in other words, had become the new
better.
But, over the past few years, that pattern has been reversed.
This year, the only studio represented in the best-picture
competition is Warner Brothers %26#151; and that is for Tony Gilroy’s
Michael Clayton, perhaps the most intellectually demanding
film on the list, with a plot that could be usefully unravelled by
lawyers and a dominant mood of weary moral confusion.
Of the other four contenders, No Country for Old Men and
Paul Thomas Anderson’s There will be Blood, the two films
with the most nominations, were shared by the recently refurbished
Miramax and Paramount Vantage, the studio’s boutique division.
Juno, the only comedy, was produced under the Fox
Searchlight banner, and the British wartime drama Atonement
was made by Working Title for the independent Focus Features.
All apart from Juno, moreover, are resolutely serious. If
there is a shared theme in this year’s Oscar nominees overall, it
is one of mordant disappointment with the state of the world.
In a recent interview with Variety, the film industry
magazine, producer Scott Rudin said that audiences were ready to
welcome films with morally complex themes, but big studios simply
weren’t making those films any more. Rudin produced No Country
for Old Men, and was executive producer on There will be
Blood.
“In many cases, the majors have given up the business of serious
movies, and the rise of specialty units has made possible movies
that wouldn’t have been made %26#151; or would not have been made
this well %26#151; just a few years ago,” he said. The specialised
market, agreed James Schamus, of Focus Features, has matured. “The
Academy and the public, in general, are more open to challenging
movies than ever before. It’s not a case of indies sneaking in
there.”
The results of this shift should make for a stimulating night’s
viewing on February 24 %26#151; if, of course, it happens.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has confirmed
that the show will go on in some form.
Gil Gates, who is producing the Oscar Awards telecast for the
14th time, has suggested that they may use clips of previous
ceremonies to make up a show that would be a kind of Oscar archive.
Otherwise, there may be a ceremony, but no telecast.
Or the Writers’ Guild may be persuaded to come to some sort of
one-day truce to allow America’s most popular annual broadcast to
go ahead.
Officially, the Academy is saying that the usual red-carpet
event will go on. Given the current stalemate between producers and
writers, however, what will happen on the night is a good deal more
mysterious than the likely winner of best actor. Daniel Day-Lewis
for There will be Blood, they say, but we’ll have to wait
and see.

Related posts

• What if Oscar threw a party, and nobody came …
• What if Oscar threw a party, and nobody came …
• Arts 2007
• Tinseltown in tears over cancelled Globes
• The week’s best films
• My lovely son, the Hollywood star
• Ledger to be honoured at SAGs
• Ledger to be honoured at SAGs
• Ledger to be honoured at SAGs
• Ledger to be honoured at SAGs

… well, at least we’d still have a good crop of
movies. Stephanie Bunbury reports on the trouble in Tinseltown -
and how one strike might overshadow a mini-revolution.
THE main question hovering around the Oscars at the moment is
not who will win what, but (a) whether they will happen at all, or
(b) if they will happen, but in someone’s lounge room with no more
than a few party hats and crackers to create festive sparks.
The Hollywood writers’ strike is now in its third month and
shows no sign of lifting. This means that the Oscars ceremony, or
whatever passes for it, will be unscripted and thinly populated, as
most actors will not be prepared to cross the Writers’ Guild picket
line even if a gold statuette is waiting on the other side.
Which is something of a pity, as the field of contenders is both
wide open and largely deserving, which would normally make for an
exciting night as the envelopes get opened. No Country for Old
Men, the wacky Coen brothers‘ bloody one-man epic, appears to
dominate the field, with eight nominations, but the brothers’
idiosyncratic coolness and the film’s violence means it is by no
means universally loved; it will be hotly contested in every
category.
In the acting divisions, the only dubious inclusion is Cate
Blanchett’s reprised Elizabeth, a curious choice given that
Elizabeth: the Golden Age was widely panned. All the other
nominees in these categories will have strong supporters, however
%26#151; young Saoirse Ronan in Atonement has been hailed a
revelation, while Cate Blanchett’s cross-dressing role as Bob Dylan
in I’m Not There is worth a dozen Virgin Queens %26#151;
making for a series of hot competitions.
Other categories are even less predictable. The contenders for
the screenplay trophies, for example, include four women as
first-time nominees (for Juno, Lars and the Real Girl
and The Savages in the original screenplay category, and
Sarah Polley for Away from Her in the adapted
screenplay).
The hot tip for an original screenplay is, inevitably, the
colourful Diablo Cody for Juno, but the other screenwriters
in the adapted section are all heavy hitters, including Christopher
Hampton for Atonement, and Ronald Harwood for The Diving
Bell and the Butterfly. It could be anyone’s. What is
particularly striking about this play-off, however, is that it is
largely taking place between niche mini-studios and the big
studios’ specialist units.
These small units, many of them thriving within the big studios,
have practically taken over the prestige end of Hollywood
filmmaking. It is astonishing how quickly this has happened. A few
years ago %26#151; in 2003, to be exact %26#151; Sofia Coppola’s clever
Lost in Translation was the cuckoo in a best-picture nest of
epic studio production, all with casts of (not necessarily human)
thousands and spare-no-expense art direction.
The general talk was that films would increasingly be about
special effects, and no studio would bother with anything that cost
less than $120 million. Bigger, in other words, had become the new
better.
But, over the past few years, that pattern has been reversed.
This year, the only studio represented in the best-picture
competition is Warner Brothers %26#151; and that is for Tony Gilroy’s
Michael Clayton, perhaps the most intellectually demanding
film on the list, with a plot that could be usefully unravelled by
lawyers and a dominant mood of weary moral confusion.
Of the other four contenders, No Country for Old Men and
Paul Thomas Anderson’s There will be Blood, the two films
with the most nominations, were shared by the recently refurbished
Miramax and Paramount Vantage, the studio’s boutique division.
Juno, the only comedy, was produced under the Fox
Searchlight banner, and the British wartime drama Atonement
was made by Working Title for the independent Focus Features.
All apart from Juno, moreover, are resolutely serious. If
there is a shared theme in this year’s Oscar nominees overall, it
is one of mordant disappointment with the state of the world.
In a recent interview with Variety, the film industry
magazine, producer Scott Rudin said that audiences were ready to
welcome films with morally complex themes, but big studios simply
weren’t making those films any more. Rudin produced No Country
for Old Men, and was executive producer on There will be
Blood.
“In many cases, the majors have given up the business of serious
movies, and the rise of specialty units has made possible movies
that wouldn’t have been made %26#151; or would not have been made
this well %26#151; just a few years ago,” he said. The specialised
market, agreed James Schamus, of Focus Features, has matured. “The
Academy and the public, in general, are more open to challenging
movies than ever before. It’s not a case of indies sneaking in
there.”
The results of this shift should make for a stimulating night’s
viewing on February 24 %26#151; if, of course, it happens.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has confirmed
that the show will go on in some form.
Gil Gates, who is producing the Oscar Awards telecast for the
14th time, has suggested that they may use clips of previous
ceremonies to make up a show that would be a kind of Oscar archive.
Otherwise, there may be a ceremony, but no telecast.
Or the Writers’ Guild may be persuaded to come to some sort of
one-day truce to allow America’s most popular annual broadcast to
go ahead.
Officially, the Academy is saying that the usual red-carpet
event will go on. Given the current stalemate between producers and
writers, however, what will happen on the night is a good deal more
mysterious than the likely winner of best actor. Daniel Day-Lewis
for There will be Blood, they say, but we’ll have to wait
and see.

Related posts

• What if Oscar threw a party, and nobody came …
• What if Oscar threw a party, and nobody came …
• Arts 2007
• Tinseltown in tears over cancelled Globes
• The week’s best films
• My lovely son, the Hollywood star
• Ledger to be honoured at SAGs
• Ledger to be honoured at SAGs
• Ledger to be honoured at SAGs
• Ledger to be honoured at SAGs

… well, at least we’d still have a good crop of
movies. Stephanie Bunbury reports on the trouble in Tinseltown -
and how one strike might overshadow a mini-revolution.
THE main question hovering around the Oscars at the moment is
not who will win what, but (a) whether they will happen at all, or
(b) if they will happen, but in someone’s lounge room with no more
than a few party hats and crackers to create festive sparks.
The Hollywood writers’ strike is now in its third month and
shows no sign of lifting. This means that the Oscars ceremony, or
whatever passes for it, will be unscripted and thinly populated, as
most actors will not be prepared to cross the Writers’ Guild picket
line even if a gold statuette is waiting on the other side.
Which is something of a pity, as the field of contenders is both
wide open and largely deserving, which would normally make for an
exciting night as the envelopes get opened. No Country for Old
Men, the wacky Coen brothers‘ bloody one-man epic, appears to
dominate the field, with eight nominations, but the brothers’
idiosyncratic coolness and the film’s violence means it is by no
means universally loved; it will be hotly contested in every
category.
In the acting divisions, the only dubious inclusion is Cate
Blanchett’s reprised Elizabeth, a curious choice given that
Elizabeth: the Golden Age was widely panned. All the other
nominees in these categories will have strong supporters, however
%26#151; young Saoirse Ronan in Atonement has been hailed a
revelation, while Cate Blanchett’s cross-dressing role as Bob Dylan
in I’m Not There is worth a dozen Virgin Queens %26#151;
making for a series of hot competitions.
Other categories are even less predictable. The contenders for
the screenplay trophies, for example, include four women as
first-time nominees (for Juno, Lars and the Real Girl
and The Savages in the original screenplay category, and
Sarah Polley for Away from Her in the adapted
screenplay).
The hot tip for an original screenplay is, inevitably, the
colourful Diablo Cody for Juno, but the other screenwriters
in the adapted section are all heavy hitters, including Christopher
Hampton for Atonement, and Ronald Harwood for The Diving
Bell and the Butterfly. It could be anyone’s. What is
particularly striking about this play-off, however, is that it is
largely taking place between niche mini-studios and the big
studios’ specialist units.
These small units, many of them thriving within the big studios,
have practically taken over the prestige end of Hollywood
filmmaking. It is astonishing how quickly this has happened. A few
years ago %26#151; in 2003, to be exact %26#151; Sofia Coppola’s clever
Lost in Translation was the cuckoo in a best-picture nest of
epic studio production, all with casts of (not necessarily human)
thousands and spare-no-expense art direction.
The general talk was that films would increasingly be about
special effects, and no studio would bother with anything that cost
less than $120 million. Bigger, in other words, had become the new
better.
But, over the past few years, that pattern has been reversed.
This year, the only studio represented in the best-picture
competition is Warner Brothers %26#151; and that is for Tony Gilroy’s
Michael Clayton, perhaps the most intellectually demanding
film on the list, with a plot that could be usefully unravelled by
lawyers and a dominant mood of weary moral confusion.
Of the other four contenders, No Country for Old Men and
Paul Thomas Anderson’s There will be Blood, the two films
with the most nominations, were shared by the recently refurbished
Miramax and Paramount Vantage, the studio’s boutique division.
Juno, the only comedy, was produced under the Fox
Searchlight banner, and the British wartime drama Atonement
was made by Working Title for the independent Focus Features.
All apart from Juno, moreover, are resolutely serious. If
there is a shared theme in this year’s Oscar nominees overall, it
is one of mordant disappointment with the state of the world.
In a recent interview with Variety, the film industry
magazine, producer Scott Rudin said that audiences were ready to
welcome films with morally complex themes, but big studios simply
weren’t making those films any more. Rudin produced No Country
for Old Men, and was executive producer on There will be
Blood.
“In many cases, the majors have given up the business of serious
movies, and the rise of specialty units has made possible movies
that wouldn’t have been made %26#151; or would not have been made
this well %26#151; just a few years ago,” he said. The specialised
market, agreed James Schamus, of Focus Features, has matured. “The
Academy and the public, in general, are more open to challenging
movies than ever before. It’s not a case of indies sneaking in
there.”
The results of this shift should make for a stimulating night’s
viewing on February 24 %26#151; if, of course, it happens.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has confirmed
that the show will go on in some form.
Gil Gates, who is producing the Oscar Awards telecast for the
14th time, has suggested that they may use clips of previous
ceremonies to make up a show that would be a kind of Oscar archive.
Otherwise, there may be a ceremony, but no telecast.
Or the Writers’ Guild may be persuaded to come to some sort of
one-day truce to allow America’s most popular annual broadcast to
go ahead.
Officially, the Academy is saying that the usual red-carpet
event will go on. Given the current stalemate between producers and
writers, however, what will happen on the night is a good deal more
mysterious than the likely winner of best actor. Daniel Day-Lewis
for There will be Blood, they say, but we’ll have to wait
and see.

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A PLACE in Oscar history could await Cate Blanchett at this year’s film industry night of nights.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning (AEDT) the elegant Australian mother-to-be is likely to be nominated for two Oscars and join a small, elite group of Hollywood actresses to have received such a double honour.

Blanchett could also go one step further and stand alone in Oscar history.

If, as expected, Blanchett does pick up nominations for best actress for Elizabeth: The Golden Age and best supporting actress for I’m Not There, she is a shot to capture acting’s Holy Grail - two acting Oscars at the one ceremony.

It’s an achievement that has not been done before.

The Academy has had a love affair with Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters, Meryl Streep and Jodie Foster, awarding them multiple times, but never granted a clean sweep of the two actress categories on the one night.

Julianne Moore (2003), Holly Hunter (1994) and Emma Thompson (1994) hold the distinction of being nominated in the best actress and supporting roles the same year, but they failed to win both.

With few Oscar nomination opportunities expected for Australians this year, Blanchett’s shot at history is the most tantalising prospect for Australian film fans at the 80th Annual Academy Awards, set to take place at Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre on February 24.

The Academy reveals its nominees in Beverly Hills at approximately 12.38am Wednesday AEDT.

Blanchett’s name will likely be the only Australian called.

Nicole Kidman’s performance in Margot at the Wedding, Naomi Watts’ role in Eastern Promises and Russell Crowe’s two films, American Gangster and 3:10 to Yuma, have all failed to muster much support.

Blanchett’s Australian co-stars Geoffrey Rush and Abbie Cornish in Elizabeth: The Golden Age also appear to have no chance for supporting nominations.

The same goes for the less glamorous, technical categories where the odd Aussie always seems to pick up a nomination.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age’s Australian editor Jill Billcock, no stranger to Oscar voters after her nomination in 2001 for Moulin Rouge, is considered a long shot.

A better prospect is US-based visual effects supremo Nathan McGuiness, who could snag two nominations.

McGuiness’ visual effects house, Asylum, worked on two of Hollywood’s special effects heavy blockbusters, Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.

Both films have made the seven-film short list for the visual effects Oscar.

Members of the Academy’s visual effects branch viewed 15 minute excerpts from the seven short-listed films last week and the top three will receive nominations.

The five other films in the running for the visual effects Oscar are: The Bourne Ultimatum; Evan Almighty; The Golden Compass; I Am Legend; and 300.

If McGuiness’ movies are nominated, his name may not make it as the Academy only announces four people per film on the nomination ballot.

Transformers and Pirates both had large teams of special effects wizards so McGuiness’ name could be dropped off.

Australia’s fine record in the cinematography category - six nominees the past six years - could hit a pothole this year with no outstanding prospect.

If Blanchett were to win an Oscar for her performance as Bob Dylan in I’m Not There, she would earn a place in the record books.

The last actress to win a supporting actress Oscar for playing a man was American Linda Hunt in 1984 when she played a man in the Peter Weir directed drama The Year of Living Dangerously, which also starred Mel Gibson.

With or without a limousine full of Australian nominees, next month’s Oscar ceremony is shaping up as an interesting affair.

The threat of striking screenwriters targeting the Academy Awards still remains serious, although a recent deal involving the Directors Guild of America and the Hollywood film studios and TV networks has given some hope the screenwriters will achieve a similar deal.

If the nominees are allowed to walk the Oscar red carpet, it promises to be glamorous, with Blanchett, Angelina Jolie (A Mighty Heart), Keira Knightley (Atonement) and French actress Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose) expected to be nominated for best actress.

The frontrunner, however, is British veteran and past Oscar winner Julie Christie for Away From Her.

The best actor nominations should keep female fans happy, with Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd), George Clooney (Michael Clayton) and Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises) expected to be bracketed with the favourite, Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood).

Leading the best picture race is No Country For Old Men, followed by Atonement, There Will Be Blood, Sweeney Todd and Into the Wild.

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The Return Of The Pink Panther (Blake Edwards, 1974) 5.10pm, C4That restless Pink Panther diamond has gone missing again, and much as long-suffering chief detective Herbert Lom hates it, the only sleuth who can solve the mystery is the legendary Clouseau. Peter Sellers, in his third appearance as the bungling inspector, is as fall-about funny as ever, particularly in attempting the seduction of cool beauty Catherine Schell; but there are longueurs, with Christopher Plummer a rather bland gentleman thief.The Manchurian Candidate (Jonathan Demme, 2004) 9.30pm, C4Demme remakes John Frankenheimer’s brilliant 1960s conspiracy thriller as a far-fetched science fantasy, and seems more interested in the apparatus of mind-altering than the cynical politics behind the plot. Still, there’s Denzel Washington as one of the brainwashed platoon (the action shifting from the Korean war to the first Gulf conflict), now suffering nightmares and looking for answers.Snake Eyes (Brian De Palma, 1998) 11.40pm, BBC1The bravura opening, a single 12-minute take in which we follow Nicolas Cage’s hustler-cum-cop Santoro going about his dodgy business in an Atlantic City sports stadium before a big fight, is a homage to De Palma’s beloved Hitchcock, and sets the scene for a gripping thriller. The champ takes a dive and a political bigwig is shot: are the two events linked? Santoro starts to sift the evidence in an entertaining, just-about credible yarn, though the visual trickery grows distracting.Sun Sep 23Superman (Richard Donner, 1978) 5.25pm, FiveThere’s something for everyone here: apocalyptic special effects; larger-than-life acts like Marlon Brando as Superman’s dad; Christopher Reeve a natural man of steel; an engaging romance with Margot Kidder’s Lois Lane and a scene-stealing villain in Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman). It doesn’t have the haunting visual style of Tim Burton’s Batman, but still quite a power play, and superior to the recent Return.Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000) 8pm, C4Ang Lee’s foray into the martial arts movie set new standards of balletic grace, furiously choreographed action and jaw-dropping beauty. In a mythic Chinese past, heroic warriors Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeo fight to keep the Sword Of Destiny out of evil hands. The special effects are mesmerising - especially the extraordinary tree-top swordfight - but it’s also an evocative exploration of love, loyalty and friendship.Hellboy (Guillermo Del Toro, 2004) 8pm, FiveDel Toro, who sharpened his comic book teeth on Blade II, does a terrific job with the do-gooding demon who tackles any number of satanic bad guys. It’s a brilliantly imagined cross between traditional superhero fare and gory horror, while Ron Perlman brings an unexpected tenderness to the hulking, cigar-chomping, red-skinned imp with the filed-down horns that is Hellboy.How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days (Donald Petrie, 2003) 10.10pm, C4Contrived New York-set romcom in which Kate Hudson’s magazine journo has to attract a man then make him dump her, then write all about it. Problem is, the man she settles on is cynical Matthew McConaughey, who has just taken a bet that he can make a woman fall in love with him. Oh, and they both have 10 days to fulfil their tasks. Little romance; less comedy.Arachnophobia (Frank Marshall, 1990) 11pm, BBC1The problem for new doctor in town Jeff Daniels is the simultaneous arrival of a deadly South American spider. He gets the blame for the alarming death rate among his patients, until loopy scientist Julian Sands guesses the truth. Marshall’s comic horror is both creepy and very funny - none more so than John Goodman’s nutty bug exterminator.That’ll Be The Day (Claude Whatham, 1973) 1.40am, ITV1Depressing rock’n'roll movie with David Essex selfishly trampling over family and friends to become a pop star: Ray Connolly’s writing is not so much warts and all as pure warts. Good rock’n'rolling soundtrack, but the sleazy fairground scenes and Ringo Starr’s sidekick are dispiriting.Omkara (Vishal Bharadwaj, 2006) 1.50am, C4Bharadwaj, director of a Bollywood Macbeth called Maqbool, turns his attention to Othello here. It’s set vividly and ingeniously in modern India, where the Othello figure Omkara (Ajay Devgan) is a bandit chief who kidnaps the woman he loves (Kareena Kapoor) when he is rejected by her parents.Mon Sep 24LA Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997) 10.55pm, C4Superb, dense and dark thriller with Russell Crowe as a hardnut cop teaming up with colleagues Guy Pearce and Kevin Spacey to root out crime and corruption. Hanson and Brian Helgeland richly deserved their Oscars for adapting James Ellroy’s long, intricate novel. Kim Basinger is impressive, but the biggest surprise, after his kindly farmer in Babe, is James Cromwell’s calculating police captain.Perfect Friday (Peter Hall, 1970) 11.55pm, BBC1This light and sexy caper movie is a quirky addition to the distinguished career of the RSC director. It stars Stanley Baker in a worm that turns role as a dull bank clerk who hatches a daring plan to rob his own bank, with sexy Ursula Andress and her languid aristocratic hubby David Warner for accomplices. Neat, efficient and stylish, with a cool Johnny Dankworth score.Withnail And I (Bruce Robinson, 1987) 1.30am, C4This sordid, supremely funny trudge through the pathetic lives of two destitute young actors is the orginal and best slacker movie. Paul McGann and the languidly furious Richard E Grant are the pair who survive on drugs and drink in grotty Camden Town, then head for the hellish rural idyll of Uncle Monty’s (Richard Griffiths) freezing country cottage in order to rejuvenate.Tue Sep 25Leave Her To Heaven (John M Stahl, 1946) 1.30pm, C4This intense and powerful thriller is every inch a film noir, despite being shot in colour. Gene Tierney stars as the insanely jealous Ellen Berent, who marries Cornel Wilde’s writer because he reminds her of her dead father, then makes his life a misery by murdering anyone who looks at him twice.Titanic Town (Roger Michell, 1998) 11.50pm, BBC1A barnstorming Julie Walters is the focal point of this literate and engrossing drama. It’s set in Belfast in 1972, at the height of the troubles. Walters’ Bernie McPhelimy is a Catholic housewife who becomes a peace activist when the war between the British army and the IRA explodes in her Andersonstown backyard.Wed Sep 26The Children’s Hour (William Wyler, 1961) 1.30pm, C4When Wyler brought Lillian Hellman’s play about lesbianism and slander to the screen in 1936 as These Three, he was manacled by the Hays code. By the 1960s he could be more frank in his treatment of a still taboo subject, and the result is a hefty, atmospheric drama with Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine.Heist (David Mamet, 2001) 9pm, FiveAll the cliches are in place for what might have been just another tiresome retread of the one last heist movie. There’s a master thief Gene Hackman; his slightly dodgy girlfriend (Rebecca Pidgeon); a hood (Danny DeVito) hooking him into the big job - but he has to take along a troublemaking youngster (Sam Rockwell). So far so predictable, but the acting is sharp and the dialogue crackles.Escape From Alcatraz (Don Siegel, 1979) 11.45pm, BBC1The last Siegel/Eastwood collaboration, a true-ish story of convict Frank Morris, who either escaped from the infamous prison island in 1960 or died in the attempt. A tough and efficient movie, the final escape is no gung-ho leap over the top, but a laborious, single-minded chipping away at walls.Thu Sep 27The Missing (Ron Howard, 2004) 10pm, FiveLike The Searchers, this deals with the attempt to rescue a woman kidnapped by Native Americans. Cate Blanchett is the frontiers woman who sets out to find her daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) with the help of her long-lost father (Tommy Lee Jones).Fri Sep 28Magic Town (William A Wellman, 1947) 1.30pm, BBC2Set in small town USA and starring genial James Stewart, this is Capraesque to the core. Stewart plays opinion pollster Rip Smith, who finds in the small community of Grandview a miniature model of America at large; but crusading newspaper gal Jane Wyman wants to change all that in a satire on American postwar society.Stir Of Echoes (David Koepp, 1999) 11.35pm, BBC1In The Sixth Sense, a boy sees dead people; in Koepp’s less celebrated supernatural tale, a boy (Zachary David Cope’s Jake) sees just the one ghost: a girl who mysteriously disappeared from the Chicago neighbourhood some months before. But the focus here is more on his father, Kevin Bacon’s Tom, an ordinary guy dragged into his son’s scary visions. It’s not as polished as M Night Shyamalan’s tale, but sustains a heavy air of menace, with some jolting shocks.The Triple Echo (Michael Apted, 1972) 1.10am, BBC2A tale of rural gender-bending folk adapted from an HE Bates novel. It’s set on a remote Wiltshire farm in 1942, where lonely Glenda Jackson awaits news of her PoW husband, and begins a passionate relationship with young Brian Deacon. When he decides to desert, she disguises him as her sister, which is fine until beefy sergeant Oliver Reed shows up and fancies him/her. It’s uncertain in tone, and has a perfunctorily violent climax, but Jackson and Reed make it worthwhile.

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