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KEVYN KNOX'S CINESPEAK COLUMN DECEMBER 3, 2004 - JULY 19, 2005 |
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Well, my computer gave me the finger this week. I hate viruses! But not to worry true believers (a saying borrowed from Stan Lee), as of August 1st I will have a brand new computer - mine was getting ancient anyway. In the meantime, my updates may not be that fast in coming. I'll try to get to the library and update as much as I can - especially with my weekly Top 5 Project - or try to slowly work through my extra-super-slow-at-the-moment computer at home. Either way, I won't be updating regularly until the beginning of August. That is when you will see my new reviews for films such as Howl's Moving Castle, My Summer of Love, A Toute de Suite, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, Yes, Me and You and Everyone we Know, Happy Endings, Bad News Bears and a brand new review of Bergman's Saraband. Also coming in August will be reviews of classic films such as The Magnificent Ambersons, Persona, The Wild Bunch, Woman of the Dunes as well as Andrzej Wajda's War Trilogy. My Film History study will also be postponed til later in the Fall and the Release Calendar will also be on hold until August (sorry).
Monday, July 4, 2005 - 11:33pm:
Just posted the results from week #2 of The Top 5 Project: Top 5 Political Films, and once again, a Kubrick film is the winner - Dr. Strangelove (2001 tied for first last week). So far we have done two Top 5 lists and Kubrick has been mentioned a total of four times (2001 and A Clockwork Orange in week #1 and Strangelove and Paths of Glory this week) - three of those making the Top 5 and one (Paths of Glory) as a runner-up. Of course next week is Top 5 Revisionist Westerns, so I don't think Kubrick will keep his streak going. To get involved, go to my Top 5 Page and see how you can be part of this Summer's hottest ticket - The Cinematheque Top 5 Project.
Friday, June 27, 2005 - 12:57am:
The Cinematheque Top 5 Project is officially under way, with the posting of week #1's topic, The Top 5 Science Fiction Films, just moments ago. The inaugural outing of the project ending in a tie for first place, between Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner - not really surprising.
Friday, June 17, 2005 - 11:01pm:
We here at The Cinematheque - meaning pretty much, just me - have a great new Summer plaything to work with. Beginning this week, I will post the first of a season long project called THE TOP 5. Each week, myself, and some of my cinephiliac friends, including many fellow critiquors, will be compiling a new top five list. This week, the question is What are the top five science fiction films? Next time it might be the top five teen angst films or the top five comedies or the top five literary adaptations or the top five silents (or as my friend Bert suggested, the top five LA noir, 60's Brit comedies, revisionist westerns or the top five films from the critics of Cahiers du Cinema) - you get the picture, eh? The top five sci-fi film results will see the light of day on Sunday, June 26th (just in time to begin the Summer Holiday). If you want to participate, email yr top five sci-fi films (preferably w/ commentary) to The Cinematheque.
Tuesday, June 7, 2005 - 11:57pm:
Sad news: Anne Brancroft dead at 73. Oscar winner for The Miracle Worker, wife of Mel Brooks as well as a pop icon, thanks to The Graduate and a little character known as Mrs. Robinson - a nation turns its lonely eyes to you. Ms. Bancroft died of cancer in New York City.
Goodnight Mrs. Robinson...
Monday, June 6, 2005 - 12:33am:
I told you I'd be back. Having just perused the latest copy of Film Comment, I must make mention on a great interview/article with/on Andrew Sarris, a legend among film critics. To read the entire 'online extended' article (not that you shouldn't go out and buy the damn magazine anyway), go to the Film Comment website and check it out.
Sunday, June 5, 2005 - 5:55pm:
Hello true believers (that one's for the Stan Lee fans), a few weeks ago, a woman wrote into Entertainment Weekly, complaining about one of their resident film critics - Lisa Schwarzbaum - stating that she should bring herself down to the level of those "non crossword puzzle set", and stop sounding so smart in her reviews. First of all, why is intellegence intoned in a bad way? Is it due to the current white house resident (and all those Republicans that have turned Liberal into a curse word!?!)!!!? I for one applaud Ms. Schwarzbaum for her creative use of the English language (as well as naming her one of the ten best critics - but that's something for another day...keep watching). What did I do about it? I wrote a rebutting letter to EW and will hopefully see it in print soon. But as a sneak preview, here is the letter in its entirety:
Monday, May 30, 2005 - 9:37pm:Two new things happening on the webfront this week...Number one is my Harrisburg Film Festival Diary, showcasing the films that played this year (my second year sitting upon the jury) and just some random thoughts on the festival as a whole...and...Item number two is my summer project (which will most likely turn into about a three year project)...Beginning with the films of the Brothers Lumiere and Thom. Edison, and working my way forward through Ed. Porter, Griffith, DeMille, Chaplin, Keaton, Lang, Murnau, Eisenstein, Lubitsch and so on and so on, ad infinum, I am giving myself a self-styled Film History course, looking back on films I have never seen, and revisiting ones unseen in a very long time (after all, I do proclaim to be a Film Historian, so it's time to prove it dammit!!)...the results of this course will be seen on my Film History Pages (although, all you will find right now is a short little introduction - but the critiques will begin within the next week or so)...I'll still be seeing and reviewing new releases (now that the film fest is over, I can get back on that track), so keep looking for those on my New Reviews Page. Other than that - coming soon will be new reviews on The Holy Girl and 3-Iron, as well as Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and Layer Cake. Farewell dear Eddie Albert - farm livin' was the life for you. 
Wednesday, May 25, 2005 - 10:55pm:This just in: Producer/Director Ismail Merchant has died at the age of 68. Although a director himself, it was as the producing half of Merchant/Ivory that we know Mr. Merchant from. Merchant, along with James Ivory, brought us such grand literary adaptations as A Room With a View, Maurice, Remains of the Day and the superbly sublime - or is that sublimely superb - Howard's End. Goodbye, farewell and amen Mr. Merchant. Wednesday, May 25, 2005 - 10:55pm: 
Once again, it is time for the annual (seventh) Harrisburg Film Festival, and once again (for the second year) I have been asked to sit upon the jury. It is a great honour to be seated next to the greats of the Cinematic world, such as Emir Kusterica and John Woo and Javier Bardem and...uh, oh yeah, that's the Cannes jury, not the Harrisbur...anyway (now that my lame attempt at humour has failed dismally)...the festival is this coming weekend, and also includes a showing of John Waters' Polyester (complete with Odor-rama cards!???!) and the kitsch classic Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band. Okay, there won't be any Dardenne Brothers or Jim Jarmusch or Woody Allen, but hey, the damn thing is free - and there are a few pretty good films involved (and a hell of a lot of bad ones too).
Well, anything else to report? I guess not. I went to see Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith at a midnight showing last wednesday night, but it was pretty uneventful. A few people in costume - mostly Anakin and Darth Vader, plus a few hot Amadalas and a kid dressed more like the Karate Kid than (I'm guessing) Luke Skywalker. A bunch of faux lightsabres and a whole bunch of losers waiting for their mommies to pick them up after the show. 
Oh yeah, that reminds me - what the fuck is with this "Twenty" bullshit!? At Regal Cinemas (where I saw said Star Wars), there is a "show" before each film that calls itself "The Twenty" (twenty minutes long - how creative) that does nothing but show elongated commercials for everything from TNT (they know drama dammit!) to Popables candies to a very outdated Revelations TV promo (shown this time several hours after the show had its final episode). And then, after about eighteen and a half minutes, we get a recap of what we just saw - a fucking recap of the commercials. I realize that money needs to be made, but c'mon - they're even starting to put commercial monitors at gas pumps, where not only will we be sodomized by Bush and the big oil companies, pricewise, but will now have to listen to an ad selling us Coca-Cola and/or the latest male enhancement drug...aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! Okay, I'm done now. Tomorrow, it's off to Philadelphia to see 3-Iron and The Holy Girl - reviews coming this weekend (I hope). Monday, May 23, 2005 - 2:23am: 
The Cannes Film Festival handed out its awards over the weekend (broadcast live on IFC). The Dardenne Brothers - who won the Palm d'or in 1999 with the brilliantly fatalistic Rosetta - have won again, this time for their new film L'enfant. The Grand Prix (basically second place) was given to Jim Jarmusch and his film Broken Flowers, which stars Bill Murray in what is being called his best performance yet (do I finally smell Oscar?). The other big winner was Michael Haneke, whose Cache (Hidden) won him the Best Director prize (as well as my most-wanted-to-see film from the festival, along with Woody Allen's Match Point, being called his best film since Crimes & Misdemeanors sixteen years ago. Read about all the winners here.
The best speech of the night was Jarmusch's. "I'm speechless," exclaimed Jarmusch. "It's a great honor to accept this prize on behalf of all those who worked on this film. When making a film, all the cast and crew are on equal footing. Thanks to all who made this film possible, especially Bill Murray. Without him, the screeplay would never have been written. And I thank this very strange Jury and the Festival who have also welcomed my work here throughout the years, to Thierry Frémaux, and Gilles Jacob who is one of the great gentlemen on the planet." He added, "I would also like to say quickly that I do not believe in competition for artistic works. It's already an honor to be selected in the competition and to be here next to such great directors as Atom Egoyan, David Cronenberg, Amos Gitaï, Lars Von Trier, Gus Van Sant, Johnnie To and Mr. Hou Hsiao-Hsien as I am one of his students, Wim Wenders who has been so generous with me when I began making movies 20 years ago and Robert Rodriguez. I accept this award in the name of all filmmakers who follow their heart and make films that interpret their vision. We are part of the same family and it's an honor to be included in this family." I'm going to go to sleep now - closing in on three am - so I'll save my thoughts on other things until another day. Good night true believers. 
Saturday, May 14, 2005 - 3:03pm:You know what I cannot understand ?? - Why people insist on walking into a darkened movie theatre AFTER the movie has begun !! First off it is fucking ignorant - walking in front of people, blocking their view - and secondly, why would you want to see a film that you missed part of ?? I strongly adhere to Woody Allen's Alvy Singer philosophy: "I can't go into a movie after it has already started!" (let's go see The Sorrow & the Pity instead). Mr. Allen also said people should be shot if they come in after the film starts (not a bad idea). Next to talking in a theatre (which should definately be punishable by death), this is the rudest thing one can do. Get some respect for other people !!! Okay, maybe that sounded bitter, but it happens so often, I can't help but rant about it. Anyway, that aside, the Cannes Film Festival began this week (God I wish I was there!). With films by Haneke, Wenders, Cronenberg, Egoyan, Van Sant, Hou Hsaio-hsien, Johnnie To, Fatih Akin, Hong Sang-soo, the Dardenne Bros., Ki- duk Kim, Jarmusch, Woody Allen, Francois Ozon and Lars Von Trier, it is sure to
give a lot of films world recognition (as the festival always does). I'm most looking forward to Von Trier's follow-up to Dogville, Manderlay and Michel Haneke's Caché.
Speaking of looking forward to new films - I created my Most Anticipated Films of 2005 back in January, and since then, I have come across some other films that probably should have been on that list (if I had known about them earlier). Films like Crash or the upcoming Layer Cake. Well, I'm going to go now (still have to post my new reviews) and by the end of the weekend I'll have seen Look at Me and (hopefully) have posted that review too. I'm also going to be updating my Harrisburg Jewish Film Festival page, with reviews of Eytan Fox's Walk on Water and an updated review on Godard's Notre Musique. note: You may find yourself going into some older reviews (pre-2005) and ending up on one of those white "page cannot be found" pages (ughh, I hate those). Not to worry - I am currently updating all my older review pages (bringing them up to style with the more modern pages) and will hopefully have them fully operational by the end of May. 
Thursday, May 5, 2005 - 7:06pm:Happy Cinco de Mayo So my refurbished site is pretty much finished now, with a new review format for 2005 films and a tighter numbered ranking system - Browse and enjoy (or don't - see if I care) As for other new things: The Harrisburg Jewish Film Festival gets under way tomorrow, so check here regularly for updates and reviews from the festival and also, check out my Summer '05 Box Office Predictions, where I lamely attempt to pick what films will be this Summer's Blockbusters. New films I've seen recently: I was in New York (the city so nice, they named it twice) last week and got to see both Eros, the tryptich co-helmed by Antonioni, Soderbergh and Wong Kar-wai and Kontroll, a great new Hungarian film from first-time Filmmaker Nimrod Antal. I also wanted to mention the odd little tidbit of a pair of "Mother's Day" movies coming to theatres on May 13th (just five days after mom's holiday). The first is Monster-in-Law, which brings Hanoi Jane Fonda out of retirement to play the mother-in-law from hell to J-Lo's bride-to-be. This'll probably be your atypical Hollywooder all over, although Fonda has been known to flourish - but not for a long time. The other film opening the same day is Ma Mère, which stars the ever-wonderful Isabelle Huppert (still sexy at fifty) as the somewhat depraved and incesturous mother of a young spiritually-confused young man. I got to see this film at this year's Philadelphia Film Festival and was blown away by the pure unfettered sexuality of its very presence (at least two dozen people walked out of the screening). Neither film is likely to woo the sensitive side of your mother (although the Fonda flick sure stands a better chance), but then there must be a reason so many channels show Mommie Dearest in early May each and every year. By the way, I took notice to the fact that in the French Ma Mère poster (above left), Ms. Huppert is, rather seductively I might add, smoking a cigarette, but in the American poster it has been airbrushed away. I suppose the moral to this story is "go ahead and fuck your son...just don't smoke while you're doing it". 
April 18, 2005 - 1:11pm:
A friend of mine had made comment on my rating system (100 point scale) fluctuating on occasion - This is because I have been tinkering with the numbers for a while now, trying to find a place where I am comfortable - I may be giving out too many higher ratings to films that may not deserve them - The idea is this: 90-99 (I don't give 100's) are the true masterpieces of Cinema 80-89 are those orgiastic near masterpieces 70-79 are the very good to great pieces 60-69 are the good films 50-59 are the reccomended, but not quite good films 40-49 are not bad, but not good, just mediocre (most Hollywood films) 30-39 are the bad 20-29 are the bordering on atrocious 10-19 are the horrible messes of Cinema 1-9 (I don't give zeros either) are the films that should be burned Most films should fall into the 40-69 range, so I have finally come up with a suitable system and will put that into effect sometime tonight and/or tomorrow - so watch for changes in past films ratings as I update to the new tighter system - after that, I should stop tinkering with the ratings (although my OCD may prevent that promise from coming true)... Go to My Film Rankings Page to see a more detailed explanation of the 100 point scale (that too should be updated in the next few days... And since I give out no one hundred's, it makes me wonder what would get a 99 rating!? My Greatest Films page should be up and running right around Labour Day, so I guess everyone will find out then - but maybe I'll give a hint...hmmmmmmm April 18, 2005 - 12:44pm: 
I'm back...been at the Philadelphia Film Festival (on & off) for the past two weeks - I actually got a Press Pass - and that, combined with Comcast not really knowing what they're doing lately (they've been off-line pretty much every night for two weeks - fix the fucking problem already - you're a billion dollar corporation for Christ's sake!!) - anyway, I digress...I haven't been updating my site lately, so here I am (finally) to talk about the Film Fest... First off, to read my reviews of the films I saw there go to my Philadelphia Film Festival page... As for my comments on the festival itself...behold... Unfortunately, due to me having to actually make a living (I don't get paid for this yet - here me Village Voice! I'd like a job!!), I wasn't able to make the entire festival, but thanx to my first ever press pass (thank you Andrew Preis and the Philadelphia Film Society!!!) I was able to go more often than first I thought (only have to pay for the $38 round trip Amtrak tickets...and food) - But my job wasn't my only obstacle... On my first weekend at the festival, my wife and I stayed with my friend Ryan (aka: Poodle), who lives just outside the city, but due to the atrocity known as the Philadelphia Mass Transit System, the last train to get back to Ryan's place was at 10:10 (and this was on a Saturday night!?), so I had to skip my final film on my Sat. schedule (Survive Style 5+, a Japanese Tarantinoesque film) - No way back to Ryan's except for a potential $50 cab ride, so I went back a film shy of my goal - I still don't understand why a 
city the size of Phila. would shut down their transit system at 10 o'clock ??? (not that my hometown of Harrisburg is any better, but I don't expect as much from a city so infinitely smaller than the city of brotherly love) - I can't wait til I move to New York (will it ever happen?!?)...
Anyway, as for the films, I saw some really good films (Ozon's 5x2, Jia Zhangke's The World) and I saw some really mediocre films (Wim Wenders' Land of Plenty) - One of my festival favourites was Ma Mere, a film starring the still-sexy-at-fifty Isabelle Huppert as a lost mother, initiating her rather pious teenage son into a world of sexual obsession - This, of course led to at lest 25 or so people walking out in, I suspect, disgust - the same thing that made so many people cringe at such recent films as The Brown Bunny, Irreversable and Anatomy of Hell (last year's Philadelphia Film Festival winner for Best Film) - People in the US just can't take sexual freedom (it'll be released May 13th with an NC-17 rating)... Well those are my ramblings on the 14th Phila Film Fest - I'll stop here so I can get to work on the other updates I must do to my site (at least until Comcast screws up again) - reviews for Sin City and Melinda and Melinda are on their way... 
March 29, 2005 - 10:26pm:
Hello there everybody - Haven't said much of anything lately, so here I am to ramble on a bit... Am way behind on updating my site (as usual), but am determined to be completely up-to-date by April 7th, because that is the beginning of the Philadelphia Film Festival, which I'll be covering (at least in part - unfortunately I still have to hold down a "regular" job to pay the bills, if you can call bartending a "regular" job) - Watch for updates on that throughout the two weeks of the Festival... As for other news - I just added a page showing all of my reviews published in Central Alternative, a local Gay & Lesbian Newspaper I do a regular review column for - So check those out (if you want)... Anything else??? - Guess not, but reviews coming up soon will include Oldboy and Schizo (seeing both this Thursday in NYC) as well as Sin City (opening wide, April 1)... March 11, 2005 - 9:48pm: Just saw the trailer for Kung Fu Hustle - is this a Tarantino film in disguise ?? - for more on this wonderfully hyper trailer (as well as comments on the trailers for Melinda and Melinda, Sin City, The Fantastic Four and Star Wars- Episode Trois, go to my Trailer Talk Page... 
Recently saw Nobody Knows and Travellers & Magicians in Phila. - their reviews should be up this weekend (along w/ The Jacket) - and speaking of Tarantino (look at the paragraph above you right now) - rumour has it (and we all know how reliable net.rumours can be, he said with a cockeyed grin) that he will be writing and directing the new Friday the 13th movie - I'm not a big slasher film fan, but (to sound just like a mooning fanboy) that would be so fucking cool !!! Anyway, I am currently working on a comprehensive Top Ten Vault, which will have Top Ten's for every year (as well as a link to a list of EVERY SINGLE FILM I HAVE EVER SEEN - complete with ratings) - also a Greatest Films list, so I am on a mission to catch up on all those films I should have already seen, but haven't (yet), such as (forgive me): Solaris, Ugetsu, Au Hasard Balthazar, Day for Night, The Life of Oharu as well as other "required viewing" for Cinephiles - The Greatest Films list should appear on my site this Summer... 
February 28, 2005 - 3:03am:
Just some quick Oscar things before I collapse into bed (throwing our annual Oscar Bash is fun, but tiring) - For 7 years now, my friend Bert and I have been battling for Oscarmeister Supremacy - in 1998 I beat him by two (and it came down to the wire - I picked Shakespeare in Love / he picked Pvt. Ryan) - but then 5 straight victories for Alberto (1999 thru 2003) - but finally this year I took him down again (total score: me=18 / him=17) - as for Amy, my beautiful and brilliant other half, she has beaten and/or tied me for 6 straight years (tied in '99 / beat me in '00 / tied in '01 / beat me in '02 and '03) - but this year I am victorious for the first time over her piddly score of just 13 (I am much better at picking the nominees than the winners, but this year = 18 for 24 or 75% - my best year since my last victory in '98, where I also picked 18 correct) As for the show - Chris Rock's monologue was hilarious - wonderful to see the great Cate finally win the Oscar she should've won in that aforementioned year of 1998 (Gwyneth Paltrow???) - and she looked georgeous as ever, as did Halle Berry, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Annette Bening, Julia Roberts and Kate Winslet - also good to see Morgan finally win an Oscar, which brings me to the point of Race in Hollywood - People talk about how the Academy is racist in not giving African Americans Oscars (until 2001, only Hattie McDaniel, Sydney Poitier, Louis Gossett Jr. and Whoopi Goldberg had Oscars - then Halle and Denzel in '01 and Foxx and Freeman this year - a year that had a record setting five African American nominees) - But it's not just The Academy, it's Hollywood as a whole (as Chris Rock touched on in his monologue), Whites get so many great roles and Blacks get Soul Plane - In the past few years there have been many more good Black roles in Hollywood (Ray, Ali, Monster's Ball, Hotel Rwanda, Training Day), but there is still a great way to go (although tonight's telecast had more color in it than any past ceremony - Beyonce performed three of the Best Songs / Jay-Z, Spike Lee, Prince, P. Diddy was even on stage / Rock hosted / five nominees) - Maybe once we stop thinking black and white and start thinking just human beings, then maybe the world will be better... 
As for the rest of the show - the idea of not bringing the "lesser" award winners up on stage had me irked when I first heard about it, but having presenters all throughout the audience had a fun flair to it - as for the winners, well, check out my Cinematheque Awards Nominations, and tune back in next Sunday, when I announce MY WINNERS - overall though, I guess it wasn't that bad (Cate=great / Morgan=great, although I would've picked Clive / Jamie=great, although I am sick of hearing his name lately - do love him though / Hilary=good, I guess / Clint=good - although I still say Marty should have an Oscar, or three, but not for The Aviator / Eternal Sunshine=fantastic - Kauffman finally gets his Oscar / Sideways=great - at least they won one / Million$Baby=eh, my second favourite of the nominees)... Well, I'm going to bed now - maybe I'll talk more tomorrow night after work (I'll update my Oscar pages then for sure) + maybe post some new reviews soon (now that Oscars are fin) - recently saw The Color of Pomegranates for the first time and was mesmorized (might do a full review on that) as well as Hong Sang-soo's Turning Gate (Village Voice's Best undistributed film of 2002) - anyway, g'nite... February 12, 2005 - 12:33am: Hello out there - I've been lax in my reviewing duties as of late - you see, I am a PEZ Collector (currently with 919 PEZ dispensers in my collection) and I have been creating a "PEZ ROOM" in our apartment, with different displays and what have you - my concentration on that aspect of my life has stopped my critical bent - but not to worry (in case you were actually worrying!??), within the next week you will see newly written reviews for such films as The Woodsman, Million Dollar Baby, The Sea Inside, Bad Education and others - I know, I know, I've given these promisese before, but this time I am determined to fulfill those promises - also coming up will be the Best of 2004 page (The Worst of 2004 is already up and running) - For Christ's sake, it's February 12th and I still haven't listed my thoughts for the best of 2004 yet - and my 25 Most Anticipated of 2005 page will also be up very soon - and don't forget to check my site on the morning of Thursday, February 17th to see the nominations for The First Annual Cinematheque Awards (more than twice as many categories than those old Oscars!!) 
January 31, 2005 - 10:44pm:
Just saw the trailer for Charlie & the Chocolate Factory - like a retro Turtles video circa 1969 - which makes me want to talk about other recent trailers So go HERE to read my thoughts... January 26, 2005 - 10:56pm: I'm finally getting around to giving my reactions to yesterday's Oscar Nominations, so here they are... No surprises at all really (Alan Alda being the closest thing), which just adds to the most boring Oscar year in a long time (my prediction rating was just a 69% though, but in the major categories it was an 83%)... Best Pic: I decided to go out on a limb and pick Hotel Rwanda over Ray - everyone else was picking the same five films and I just had to be different (The Pianist had snuck in in 2002 without anyone guessing it) - my plan was to either be the only one to go 4/5 in Best Pic OR be the only one insightful enuff to pick Rwanda (you see how that turned out) Best Director: 27 years running now with at least one foreign Director on the shortlist (Mike Liegh is this year's overseas candidate - deservingly so, I might add) Best Actor: The biggest snub of the morning (but really not a surprising snub) was Paul Giamatti - just shameful !!! Best Actress: Yawn - I went for a perfect 100% in this category - really glad to see Catalina get in too (although this will be a four way race between the only nominees - her nomination was award enogh in Oscar-speak) Best Supportings: Glad to see Alda make it, even if it means David Carradine got left out - but my real problem is with the nomination of Jamie Foxx here - Now don't get me wrong, I loved Foxx in Collateral (maybe even moreso than in Ray), but there is no way in Hell he is a SUPPORTING Actor here (Tom Cruise was lead ? Just due to name recognition) - no more than five minutes go by without Foxx on screen - This is a LEAD performance - Sure, there are others (Natalie Portman has more screen time than Julia Roberts in Closer, even though Natalie is supporting and Julia was pushed as the lead AND Laura Linney in Kinsey ? wasn't she the female lead ?...and while we're at it - Anthony Hopkins won the Oscar for Best LEAD Actor in 1991 for Silence of the Lambs, but is only in the film for approx. twenty minutes), but Foxx's nomination is the most blatently fraudulant category ripoff of the year (of all time??) - anyway, congrats to Mr. Foxx for his dual nominations!! I was thinking about how Alan Alda and Thom. Haden Church both came from TV (M*A*S*H and Wings respectively) and looked at the other nominees for Supporting Actor - Morgan Freeman started on The Electric Company (remember that show kiddies!?) and of course Foxx was on In Living Color - so I looked up Clive Owen on IMdb and found out he had gotten his start on the BBC - So all 5 nominees from that category were first on TV - but that ain't it folks - Look at Lead Actor - Jamie Foxx again (In Living Color again), Johnny Depp (21 Jump Street), Leo (Growing Pains), Clint (Rawhide) and Don Cheadle was on Picket 
Fences (as well as the Golden Girl spin-off/continuation show, The Golden Palace) - so all the men were on TV first - as for the Actresses - Hilary Swank was on 90210 but none of the others were prominant on TV (Staunton and Winslet both had small parts on TV early on though) - anyway, just some trivia for you...
Back to the nominations: What else can I say - I'm glad to see Before Sunset up for Screnplay, but upset by the one lonely nod for House of Flying Daggers (Cinematography) and no Foreign-Language nomination !!!??? (I suppose that was the one real surprise of the day) - nothing else to report here - My Oscar pages should be updated by this weekend (the main page is up now) - and remember that coming soon will be my very own First Annual Cinematheque Awards (over fifty categories) - They should be here within the next coupla weeks... Goodnight for now...and goodnight to you Mr. Carson... 
January 24, 2005 - 2:49am:
Finally !!! Here are my final Oscar Predictions - just in the nick of time too I went out on a limb and picked Hotel Rwanda to get nominated over Ray (even though Ray prob. has the best ad campaign of the Oscar Race) - Everyone was picking Ray, so I had to go differently (will it affect me - we'll see in approx. 5 and a half hours) - Remember that The Pianist came out of nowhere in 2002 at the last minute - but I suppose my main reason for choosing the film was that this year's Oscar Race is so fucking boring, I had to hope for some surprises (howzabout Julie Delpy for Actress or Jeff Bridges for Actor ??!!?) - anyway, I'm going to bed dammit !! See you all in the morning... 
January 20, 2005 - 8:58pm:
It looks like I may be snowed in this weekend, so by Monday morning you will see my Best of 2004 AND my 25 Most Anticipated of 2005 up and running... As for right now, I'm working on a couple of paintings - yes I do Artwork too...and Poetry...and obsessively collect PEZ Dispensers (885 of 'em as of earlier today)...so back to my Art and I'll post my reviews for The Life Aquatic, Phantom of The Opera, The Sea Inside and Elektra this weekend too and in case you wanted to know, here are The Golden Globe results (as well as my pre-show predictions)...
January 11, 2005 - 7:42pm:
January 10, 2005 - 10:27pm:
Here are the BFCA winners: (the ones in bold are the ones I predicted correctly) Best Picture: Sideways Best Director: Martin Scorsese, The Aviator Best Actor: Jamie Foxx, Ray Best Actress: Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby Best Supporting Actor: Thomas Haden Church, Sideways Best Supporting Actress: Virginia Madsen, Sideways Best Popular Film: Spider-Man 2 Best Acting Ensemble: Sideways Best Writer: Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Sideways Best Aninmated Film: The Incredibles Best Song: "Old Habits Die Hard" - Alfie Best Composer: Howard Shore, The Aviator Best Soundtrack: Ray Best Foreign Language Film: The Sea Inside Best Documentary: Fahrenheit 9/11 Best Young Actor: Freddie Highmore, Finding Neverland Best Young Actress: Emmy Rossum, The Phantom of the Opera Best Family Film: Finding Neverland I went 14 for 18 (or 78%) - WoW... I missed Best Pic, but am I ever glad to be wrong !!! 
This could mean Sideways may get the upper hand come Oscar time...
The BFCA Best Pic Winner has been nominated for the Oscar ALL 9 years that the BFCA has been around AND 5 years running now, their choice has been the Academy's choice --- Lookin' good for Sideways here To see an in-depth analysis of the awards (and others) go HERE also up on my site is my Worst of 2004 page and my abyssmal attempt at pinpointing the National Society of Film Critics Awards Will be updating my Oscar Pages tonite and in the next few days, after a two day stay in Philadelphia, to visit with Ryan, and see some films (Million $ Baby, Beyond the Sea and Hotel Rwanda), I'll be back with brand new reviews (since I am so damned behind in my duties) of House of Flying Daggers, The Sea Inside, The Life Aquatic, The Phantom of the Opera, Bad Education, Notre Musique and some others - as well as my Best of 2004 page 
January 9, 2005 - 6:49pm:
My predictions for tomorrow night's Broadcast Film Critics Awards Best Picture: beginning it's Oscar sweep, The Aviator Best Director: Martin Scorsese (The Aviator) Best Actress: Hilary Skank..er, Swank (Million $ Baby) Best Actor: Jamie 'this is my year baby' Foxx (Ray) Best Supp Actress: Virgina Madsen (Sideways) Best Supp Actor: Thomas Haden 'I survived Wings' Church (Sideways) Best Writer: Charlie Kauffman (Eternal Sunshine yada yada) Best Ensemble: Sideways (consolation prize??) Best Young Actress: Lindsay Lohan (Mean Girls) Best Young Actor: Freddie Highmore (Finding Neverland) Best Song: Old Habits Die Hard (Mick and Dave, from Alfie) Best Soundtrack: Ray (how can ya beat Ray Charles!?) Best Composer: Howard Shore (The Aviator) Best Popular Movie(?!): He can do anything a spider can... Best Family Film (live action): probably that dreadfully boring Neverland Best Animated Film: duh, The Incredibles (not that it deserves all these accolades) Best Documentary: Fahrenheit 9/11 Best Made-for-TV Movie: The Wool Cap Best Foreign Language Film: Maria Full of Grace Well, there you go, my predix for the BFCA's tomorrow night also coming soon: My Best and Worst of 2004 My Most Anticipated of 2005 Final Globe and Oscar Predix and My Cinematheque Award Nominations 
January 6, 2005 (the Epiphany) - 3:11pm
Welcome to 2005 (sorry for being so late to get here myself) !! Announced today were the Directors Guild Nominations: Martin Scorsese for The Aviator Alexander Payne for Sideways Clint Eastwood for Million Dollar Baby Marc Forster for Finding Neverland and Taylor Hackford for Ray What do I think? No real surprises, even though I was expecting at least one surprise (Michael Mann, Michael Moore, Mike Nichols, Michel Gondry or that one non-mike, Zhang Yimou) - If this is the five man Oscar race as well (and the DGA usually picks 4 out of 5 of the eventual nominees - the past two years have seen them go perfectly in the Best Picture race though) then we may end up with a five for five match-up between Pic and Director (which has not happened since 1981) - but I still have my doubts about Ray and (especially) Neverland - If Neverland doesn't land a single Golden Globe, it could mean curtains for its Best Pic nod (and it looks doubtful at this point that it will win any) - but to see that film dropped from the roster would be a delight for me (Forster does not deserve a nod himself, just for the fact that he directed two of the most exciting Actors in Depp & Winslet, and managed to make them both seem boring ?!?) - but Forster, who was born in Germany and grew up in Switzerland, would get that token Foreign Director spot (at least one every year since 1978) - although Auteurs like Almadovar or Zhang Yimou or Mike Leigh deserve it more ... The question remains though, if Ray or Neverland fall out of the Best Pic race, what film has the strength to take the open spot ? - Closer and Kinsey seem too risque for Academy tastes and The Phantom flopped big time, which leaves either Hotel Rwanda (if it can be pushed enough with voters) and/or Eternal Sunshine, which could be the big surprise come Nomination Morning - we shall see (updated Oscar Predix should be coming in a few days time) ... December 29, 2004 - 5:03pm HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE CINEMATHEQUE !! Coming on January 3, 2005: My National Society of Film Critics Predictions Coming on January 5, 2005: The Worst of 2004 Coming on January 9, 2005: The Best of 2004 Coming on January 15, 2005: My Final Golden Globe Predictions Coming on January 24, 2005: My Final Oscar Nomination Predictions Coming on February 1, 2005: The Cinematheque Awards Nominations Coming on February 26, 2005: My Final Oscar Predictions (and year-in-advance) Coming on March 1, 2005: The Cinematheque Award Winners are announced Coming on March 13, 2005: My list of the 100 Greatest Films of all-time December 23, 2004 - 11:19pm Happy Xmas (just a little early) - A whole bunch of Critics groups have been weighing in lately (go here for all that) and I've been going on a movie watching buzz, but I'll be back after Xmas with new reviews (The Aviator, Life Aquatic, Phantom, House of Daggers, Sea Inside, Million $ Baby...and so on) and updated Oscar predictions, as well as my best of and worst of lists for 2004 (prob. the first week of Jan.) and my Cinematheque Awards (announced on February first)..for now, enjoy the Holidays and I'll see you all soon... also: check out Film Comment's top fifty of 2004 
December 16, 2004 - 3:24pm
And yet ANOTHER group calls Sideways best film of 2004 - The Toronto Film Critics named the Alexander Payne film as the best, while giving Director to Michel Gondry for Eternal Sunshine... Sideways is really looking like a sure thing in the Oscar Race, although Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby is grabbing rave reviews, while the early frontrunner, Scorsese's The Aviator seems to falling to the wayside... Anyway, I am about to go on a filmwatching binge - I need to see the following before I make my year-end lists: Million Dollar Baby, Hotel Rwanda, House of Flying Daggers, The Aviator, A Very Long Engagement, The Sea Inside, The Life Aquatic, The Woodsman, Lemony Snicket, Phantom of the Opera, Kinsey and The Assassination of Richard Nixon - also gotta watch Crimson Gold, Saddest Music in The World and Zatoichi on DVD (since I missed them in theatres)... My biggest regrets (as far as missing films this year): Cowards Bend the Knee, Los Angeles Plays Itself, Distant and Sex is Comedy... 
December 13, 2004 - 6:51pm
Just finished updating my Golden Globes page (and other awards pgs), so since that is done, here are my comments/thoughts/inane ramblings on the nominations: Do you hear that? ... That is the sound of Spanglish's Oscar hopes dying a quick and merciful death - Just one nomination (Score?) pretty much takes them out of this year's Oscar Race ... So who does that leave? ... The Aviator, Million Dollar Baby and (thanx to just about every critics group) Sideways are now the triumvirate of front-runners - Can you believe it? ... 7 Noms for Sideways (more than anyone) and winning Best Picture from The New York, L.A., Boston and San Fransisco Critics groups, as well as the New York Online Critics puts Sideways smack dab in the middle of this year's Oscar Race... Not really any major surprises and/or upsets though (Ashley Judd probably being the most surprising or maybe Jamie Foxx for Collateral) - and look at Foxx too, nommed for Actor in a Motion Picture, Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture AND Actor in a made for TV Movie (Redemption, which also got him an Independent Spirit nomination last week)... and it all happened on his birthday... Overall, helped by the nominations were Closer, Kinsey, Hotel Rwanda, Phantom of The Opera, Imelda Staunton, Don Cheadle, Paul Giamatti, Scarlett Johannson, Javier Bardem, Meryl Streep, Marc Forster and David Carradine and being hurt were Spanglish, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Tea Leoni, Paz Vega, Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Cloris Leachman, Collateral and Michael Mann... It also looks like it's about time for a Top Ten List - still a few more films to see, but I should have my best-of and worst-of columns up around January 5th or 6th -- David Ansen of Newsweek has already published his (naming Sideways Best Film...suuuprise suuuprise...) - I had some crazy idea of listing everybody's Top Ten's on my site ///BUT DAT IS KRAZY/// - so go here to see all that... Well, I've gotta go and update my Oscar Pages before the night is over ... sleep tight kiddies... 
December 12, 2004 - 6:26pm
The AFI Top Ten was just announced: THE AVIATOR COLLATERAL ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS - ???!!!??? THE INCREDIBLES KINSEY MARIA FULL OF GRACE MILLION DOLLAR BABY SIDEWAYS SPIDER-MAN 2 The thing about these awards is that 4 out of 5 of the eventual Oscar Nominees are on this list (every time) - so this does not bode well for Phantom, Closer, Neverland, Ray or Spanglish (all of which will live or die come tomorrow morning's Globe announcement) - Who is this announcement good for? - Collateral, which could become an actual contendah tomorrow... As for me, am posting reviews for Alexander, Closer, Spanglish and Bad Education tonight...and I am still updating my site, visually, done soon, I hope... also check out my Globe predictions, and I'll see you all tomorrow morning... 
DECEMBER 7, 2004 - 2:27am
Squirrels ate my sweaters !! I never thought I would utter those words, but I did - I opened my closet today to get a sweater and I found a big hole chewed through the wall and a squirrel's nest (made off chewed wood and MY SWEATERS - all chewed up) - Mostly when I tell this story, people laugh (including my wife) and I suppose it is funny, especially when I say it with a forlorn face - anyway, this really has nothing whatsoever to do with the Cinema, but I had to share my day's dilemna with whoever is listening out there...is anybody listening ??? Anyway, I am finally updating my Oscar Predix for the first time since the NBR shook things up a bit - I should have them done tomorrow night - I have also added a precurser column and have colour-coded each category - more will be coming soon, as well as more re-vamping of my site and some new reviews, which I am incredibly lax on right now (shame shame shame) - Reviews for Alexander, Birth, Closer and Spanglish should all be here this weekend - As well as my Golden Globe and NYFCC predictions (by Friday on those) - Hopefully all the re-stylization will be done by X-mas and a brand new site will unfold before your eyes... DECEMBER 3, 2004 Welcome to what I hope will become a regular thing I do to get out all those Cinematic ramblings that don't go into my reviews - tell me if you like it or if you don't (or if the title is crap!) 
What a week in the Film world - Who woulda guessed that the NBR would give Finding Neverland Best Pic !!! Just when its Oscar buzz was fading away, it's suddenly back in the game AND Phantom !!! - Since the NBR didn't even place it in their Top Ten (a group that notoriously adores Musicals - Evita even made the grade in '96) - It looks as if its Oscar chances are fading I've got to make changes to MY Oscar Predix this weekend (aaaaaargh!!!) - and another change would be to up the ante on Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby - I saw the trailer for it tonight (when I saw Closer - which due to its high sexual content, even though there is not one actual sex scene - I don't think the stodgy Academy will vote it into their Top Fiver) - but back to Clint's new film - buzz is really building on this one (from out of nowhere) - so I gots me a lot of Prediction updating to do - as well as re-vamping my site - What do you think so far ??? - And I am soooooooo behind on my reviewing duties (I just posted Sideways nine days after seeing it) - aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Well, gotta go, sorry for freakin' out... |
Monday, July 19, 2005 - 3:14pm:
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