David Shrigley tells you what you need to know about jumpers

Posted by Bel. The time is 12.23pm here in Wellington, NZ.

I have to admit that I'm not enough of a woollenwear connoisseur to be familiar with Pringle of Scotland, a label established in 1815. But apparently they originated the much esteemed Argyle pattern, so congratulations to them as they celebrate 195 years in the fashion business. We fans of patterned cardigans salute you!

 
Argyle platforms? Yes please! And Lou will take them as brogues, I bet.


 
US President of Style, rocking an argyle cardie. (Note overwhelmed children in background, embarrassed by their abundance of beige.)


 
My original icon of argyle (and knee socks), Cher Horowitz.

David Shrigley is a Scottish artist whose illustrations manage to at once capture both the most basic and complex matters of life. His crude drawing style makes his pictures immediately accesible and funny, yet so often the comedy comes from a 'sad but true' element. Oh and he uses lots of text as image...  le sigh!!

 
  

  


And now he has turned his attentions to that simple and essential item, the woolly jumper. (Or 'sweater'. Which do you say?)

That little James Cameron film

Posted by Lou. The time is 12.10pm here in London, UK.

Unlike seemingly everyone else in the Western world I'd managed to get through Avatar-mania without really knowing anything about the film other than who made it, where it was made, and the fact that it's made for 3D. This of course didn't stop me mocking it's march up the box office records table and up to the stage to receive various awards. So I thought it was about time to go and actually see it...

I'll start with the vomitous: According to James Cameron, in the year 2154 alpha white males still dominate. They are the good guys and the bad guys, the heroes and the villains, and everyone else - female, non-white, geek - is just filling up the space in between. Come on James! That is ridiculous - and such an unimaginative vision within a film that is defined by the wealth of imagination that has gone into its creation. Also ironic when the film is making such a desperate attempt at being liberal and leftie. But of course it is also completely fitting - James Cameron himself is one of the kings of an industry defined by their so-called liberal, leftist ideals and the contradictory exclusion of female and non-white.


Our "hero" Jake Sully: young, dumb and full of cum
(with a completely unexplained Australian accent)

Hand-in-hand with this, he has populated the film with the biggest character cliches imaginable - cliches so cliched it is laughable. Now, I'm going to state upfront that I think the film works because he kept it to a simple, straight-forward, familiar story arc - this allows the clarity and cohesion necessary for the audience to be able to go along with the high-concept nature of the world. But that doesn't mean having to go to such extreme lengths of horrific cliche - how can someone who has spent so long creating such a complex idea and world give us a Colonel Miles Quaritch? Even after the despicable characterisation that is Titanic's Jack Dawson, I was still shocked by just how terrible these characters are.

Need I say anything?

But let's put all that aside:

This film is amazing. I thought it was absolutely stunning. Weta - the Kiwi effects house that should be considered a national treasure - have really outdone themselves. Where Lord of the Rings took the technical art of cinema forward in great leaps, this takes it so far forward it's like a whole new world (well, literally I guess - its called "Pandora"). The effects are seamless and the world is staggeringly beautiful (staggeringly beautiful with a familiar touch of Kiwi to the flora). The simple - though high-concept - story allows the imagery to shine, with the slowly developing arc leaving the time and space for breathtaking flights through sumptuous landscapes... I was so taken in I didn't even think about looking at my watch till 90 minutes in, despite previously having worried about being stuck in there for 3 hours.


Nytiri - quite a spectacular physical performance by Zoe Saldana

For me it lost its way towards the 2 hour mark - Cameron becomes a bit too indulgent, over-estimating the extent to which he can hold the audience's attention before the crowning set piece begins (he has left Lord of the Rings-esque intake of breath before battle, without the benefit of Lord of the Rings-esque characters to absorb it). Where for those first 2 hours putting on the 3D glasses had for me seemed like stepping into the Avatar machine and entering a fantasy world, the last hour was more like sitting in a cinema watching a movie and wondering why it is taking so long to end.

Overall, the art of this film dominates and manages to - while you're there in the cinema watching - compensate for the pathetic characterisation. But the taste left in the mouth once the images have faded away is one of disappointment that Cameron couldn't have given us something better. I sort of feel like if it does get that big Oscar it should be jetting its way straight to Miramar, Wellington, Aotearoa.



Film review: Let The Right One In

Posted by Bel. The time is 5.07pm here in Wellington, NZ.

Let The Right One In. Let the right one in. Choose carefully who you invite in your home - and into your heart. This Scandinavian vampire film is a heart-breakingly bittersweet tale about the horrors of first love.


Oskar is alone and lonely. But the mysterious arrival of Eli, who is both young and ancient at the same time, changes his life. She doesn't feel the cold, but she understands him. The audience learns before Oskar does that of her secret, that she needs blood. Too late, she has his heart, metaphorically at least.


The cinematography is a little bit Kubrick, a little bit Gus Van Sant. Colours are mostly muted, giving a sense of time (1980s, great costuming... and by great, I mean awful) and place - the suffocating dreariness of an austere classroom, uniform and impersonal apartments, a landscape blanketed by snow in a way that seems more dour than delightful.

There is a beautiful soundscape, with the squeaking of brilliant white snow being trod on, and the harsh air-snapping cracks when Oskar is whipped by the bullies, and the thick squelching sloppy sound of flesh being - well, you'll have to wait and see...



Yes, it is scary. But in an atmospheric, suspenseful way. It's not Twilight and it's not Saw Part A Billion. But shouldn't we be grateful for that? See it for the best child actor performances in years, if nothing else.

Book review: Bette And Joan The Divine Feud

Posted by Bel. The time is 1.45pm here in Wellington, NZ.

Maybe you're a fan of the Golden Age of Hollywood, wanting the behind-the-scenes gossip. Maybe you love vintage clothing and the women who started the styles. Maybe you're a huge bitch, looking for tips on how to make miserable the lives of all those around you.

Whatever your reasons for picking up Shaun Considine's dual biography Bette and Joan: The Divine Feud, I'm sure you will find something to delight and entertain you within its salacious pages.

Eyebrows! Posing! Blood-coloured lightening! Actually, that's pretty much the whole book.

Joan Crawford and Bette Davis' careers ostensibly overlapped only once, when they united for Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962, IMDB link), a tale of stale Hollywood stardom and crazed jealousies that may have been startlingly true to life for the pair.

The author does not describe himself as a friend of either, but he did interview both several times, on occasions when one or other would catch a whiff that an article was coming up and the drunken, self-obsessed, verbose broad (this applies to Joan or Bette alternately and unremittingly it seems), would call him up to put her two cents in. And then some.

This wealth of uncensored material (pre-publicist days) is unravelled chronologically, leading us from young Joan's childhood days of being forced to work in the boarding school where she studied in order to be able to stay on there, and Bette's conservative upbringing, to Joan starting off in Hollywood as a chorus line dancer, whilst Bette carved out a name for herself on the stage.

Their infamous rivalry is denied time and time again, but then both women reportedly let rip with zingers against the other - Bette being particularly scathing towards Joan, who seems to personify the type of actress constantly looking for external validation.

An early moment of conflict was when young starlet Bette found herself falling for her leading man, a dashing and swarthy man named Franchot Tone. Married to her high school sweetheart, a union that was swiftly losing its gloss as her star began to rise, Bette was yearning for something more exciting - and the chance for love was snatched away from her by, you guessed it, Joan Crawford.

At that stage the reigning sex bomb of the studio, Joan been having a casual affair with Monsieur Tone (I like to imagine him as some kind of witless French toyboy, even though he was apparently a New Yorker). But when she realised that he was at risk of developing mutual affections for Bette, his on-screen love, Joan whisked him away and married him, despite having only recently divorced her first husband and declared herself well and truly shot of marriage and all its trappings.

Bette did manage to have the last laugh on this round, as she won her first Academy Award for the film, titled Dangerous (1935, IMDB link), voted Best Actress and reportedly receiving a warm embrace from her handsome co-star at the ceremony, much to his new wife's disgust...

Filled with anecdotes like this, Bette and Joan: The Divine Feud is trashy and gossipy and lots of fun. The supporting players are a star-studded bunch - from Clark Gable to George Cukor, with a fair dash of pre-White House Ronald Reagan thrown in there for good measure.

Crawford would have loved our modern age; she diligently responded to all fan mail personally and engaged in correspondence with some fans for years on end. Can you imagine that woman on twitter? However both she and Davis became reclusive towards the end of their lives, even after all the accolades and lovers. The two of them, despite being very different women, had similarly isolated themselves from their friends and families - most spectacularly their daughters.

There's not one, but two photo sections in the book, which I think bumps it up to being one of the best Trade Me purchases I have ever made.

Click to view large (300 dpi) and witness this rare moment of cheerful civility between the divas.

PS: Yes I am aware that this book is not on The List. After three consecutive calendar years of reading The List, I have decided that 2010 shall be the Year of Memoirs and Biographies. In addition to continuing to endeavour with The List!

RIP Alexander McQueen

Posted by Bel. The time is 4.15pm here in Wellington, NZ.


The death of Alexander McQueen, enfant terrible of high fashion, just a month before he was due to show a new collection at Paris Fashion Week, is a loss not just to those who adore spectacular clothes, but to anyone who loves to see imagination played out to its fullest.

McQueen is well known for his collaborations with Isabella Blow, his muse and patron, who kicked started his career by buying his graduate collection in its entirety. After her death in 2007, he dedicated his collection to her, adorning it with creations by milliner Philip Treacy - no one had worn his hats better than her.



McQueen was responsible for one of the great fashion trends of the 1990s: arse-crack revealing jeans. In a 1996 collection, he sent models down the runway in what he called "bumsters", a dramatic swerve away from the nipped-waist silohuette of the 1980s, which were dominated by power suits (epitomised by the elegant tailoring of Yves Saint Laurent).


As a teenage girl of the 90s, for whom Britney Spears was a style icon whether I liked it or not, the trickle down effect of this was undeniable. I even remember cutting the waistbands off jeans to cut them lower. Bumsters, and the extra inches of midriff and groin they exposed, have even been held accountable for the millennial rise in popularity of Brazilian waxes and "tramp stamp" tattoos. My mum was mostly concerned that my kidneys were constantly being exposed to cold drafts.


But let's not hold that against that man. He has also done much to increase the glam factor of many Hollywood events, with celebs scrambling to wear his gowns on the red carpet...


We could even mention the infamous claw shoe things that Lady Gaga has dragged into the spotlight, but I'm not really sure how I feel about those to be honest. We'll probably all be wearing them by next winter.

David LaChapelle's portrait of McQueen and Blow, Burning Down The House (2000).

"This whole situation is such a cliché. The turnover of fashion is just so quick and so throwaway, and I think that is a big part of the problem. There is no longevity."

Google Buzz: Don't get stung

Posted by Bel. The time is 4.45pm here in Wellington, NZ.

UPDATE: Forgot to say - if you just want to get rid of Buzz altogether, scroll down all the way down, downtown to Chinatown on your Gmail page, to where there is a bunch of small print. One of those teeny tiny bits of writing at the centre says "turn off buzz". Click on that link and presumably everything will return to normal. You might want to delete your 'posts' beforehand just to be doubly sure.

...

So Google Buzz has been thrust upon us, a weird mix of Facebook, Flickr and Twitter that appears right there in your Gmail inbox.

A lot of people are worried about privacy issues, and with good reason it seems. Google has become so all encompassing that it is assuming we are all grateful to receive this social networking gifthorse. Who are we to question another free feature connecting us in ways we never before imagined? All hail the googooplex!

And maybe some are embracing Buzz, busy thinking up new twists on language that are as absurb as the ways that we've had to start talking about Twitter. ("I tweeted him about it" is something that still doesn't sit right with me.)

But right now I would advise caution. Being paranoiac about online privacy is high on my lists of Fun Things To Do. There's a lot racing round at the moment about how everyone you've ever emailed can now see everything you've ever written and so on.

There is an easy way to make sure that your lists of followers and who you are following are not visible to anyone. When you are in Buzz, click on your name to go through to what I guess is your profile page. You should see a link through to your "Google profile" right next to where your name is.

Click on this, which opens in a new window. Editing the settings of your Google profile will affect what goes public in Buzz. I clicked on "edit profile" and then unticked the following options (the last one is the most pertinent):
  • Display my full name so I can be found in search
  • Allow people to contact me (without showing my email address)
  • Display the list of people I'm following and people following me
There was also a big pop-up box about how I needed to set up something so that my profile could be found on Google search. NO THANKS. If someone needs to find me, it's not that hard. Chances are I'll bump into them at a bar or swimming pool or a mate's birthday. I don't like the idea of having to feed my full name and details into a search engine in order for my "friends" to be able to find me via the internet.

This is just what I've come across prodding around this afternoon. By no means extensive! In fact, I have a weird mysterious follower who I don't recognise as a Buzz follower. I have no idea how to get rid of this person. Anyone got any tips on this aspect? The Google help forums are not very, ahh, helpful.

Overall, I'm not sure how successful Buzz can be. It is only available to those with Gmail addresses and really it doesn't seem much better than Facebook, so why would anyone who doesn't already have a Gmail rush over, particularly as initial reaction seems to be that most of us are pretty whelmed...

Movie review: The Lovely Bones

Posted by Bel. The time is 4.23pm here in Wellington, NZ.


You know what? I had half-written a rather level headed review of Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones. I acknowledged the fractious process of adaptation and the importance of regarding a story within its own medium. But you know what? No. Not even.

The Lovely Bones sucks. It's a sucky movie, made worse because it is a sucky adaptation of a pretty great book.

It doesn't know if it's a crime thriller or a teen fantasy or some kind of melodramatic family drama. The script neglects key themes of the original novel, leaving you with characters who do inexplicable things or who are inexplicably boring.

Hence, it's filled with tedious performances, whilst you only get glimpses of star turns. Yes, I mean you, o wonderous and photogenic Saoirse Ronan, and you, o joyous scene-stealer Susan Sarandon - thank the computer generated heavens. You two did what you could - but it would never be enough to save this film from a terrible fate: mediocrity.

Clockwise: 1) Teenage fantasy romance scene: Susie loves being in The Inbetween and doesn't give a crap about her grieving family.
2) Family drama crime thriller scene: Susie's dad, Susie's dad's wig and Susie's mum grieve very much for their daughter, whilst not doing much each occasionally asking the useless community police constable if there's been any clues. (Spoiler: no!)
3) Fantasy crime thriller scene: Susie's dad freaks out a bit when Susie tries to communicate with him and also he sees his reflection.
4) Fantasy Weta Workshop jerk-off scene: take that, James Cameron!

Things that Peter Jackson can do:
  • Sweet special effects. The special effects in this are pretty sweet.
  • Tall, skinny buildings. There is a lighthouse in this which looks pretty good and is only vaguely reminiscent of Sauron's tower. Maybe they recycled the model and just made it a bit different? Like they did with Mount Ruapehu/Mount Doom for LOTR?
  • Scary bearded men. LOTR had many of them, in The Lovely Bones, the main guy is one. Perhaps PJ was one of those children scared of Santa.
Things that Peter Jackson cannot do:
  • Love, romance or sexual tension of any kind. The meet-cute for Susie and Ray is worse than any scene between Aragon and Arwen or Sam and Frodo. It is awful. Excruciating. Cringe-worthy. And not just because of Ray's floating-head inducing skivvy and spiral perm:
Seriously, WTF? Isn't he supposed to be Indian?

This is a bad thing is a movie which is based on a book which hinges on the main character's love and longing keeping her in a state of limbo, unable to let go of a life she feels she hasn't yet lived to the fullest.

Things that managed to happen anyway, despite Peter Jackson's ineptitude:
  • Susan Sarandon went 'fuck this, I'm gonna have me a good time' and set about stealing every bit of limelight possible. She then disappears from the third act of the film. I wish they had just cut in a shot of her passed out behind the couch, you totally would have bought it.

Things that annoyed me most about this sucky film (SPOILERS ABOUND):
  • They took out the bit about the mum having the affair with the police detective, okay, fair enough, time constraints, whatever. I'm not mad because he was played by Michael Imperioli AKA Christopher off Sopranos for whom I still mourn, no. I'm mad because they then changed it to being that the mum just decides to up and leave her family (wee boy, teenage girl whose sister just got mysteriously murdered, messed up husband) and they have this shot of her fruit picking. And they didn't have the family react to her abandonment in any way. They all carried on just as before! And then she comes back and there is no reaction to that either!!
    I would have thought they could at least have someone kicking her in the shins for being such a selfish bitch.

  • They also cut out or trimmed down a whole bunch of other characters, the "lovely bones" as Susie explains it, those who grow up around the space she left behind. With this script's heavy focus on the isolated serial killer at the expense of those others, it seems it was more the "loathsome one".
    The worst for me was the way they made Ruth into this random 'weirdo chick' with seemingly little connection to the story, occasionally frowning in a psychic kind of way and then showing up as girlfriend-of-Ray at the end. I can't imagine how the whole transdental body swapping thing would have made any sense at all for a viewer who hadn't read the book.

  • The complete lack of any reference whatsoever to rape. No one says it. Not even once.

  • When the weirdo body swap thing happens at the end, how they totally wussed out of making it a proper sex scene. In the book, when Susie turns her back on heaven in order to have a few moments on earth with Ray, her intention is to indulge physically in enjoying her body with him, with the emotional release that this will bring for her. Alice Sebold's text explicits refers to them having sex together (in the shower, on the couch, in the bedroom) and even makes mention of Susie's reclaiming of sex and of the penis as a (not) weapon, moving from victimhood to an understanding of sexuality in a context of love and sharing and what sounds like some hot raunchy fun.
    In the movie, we get to see them gazing into each other's eyes, then it goes to another scene, then when it cuts back, they are lying fully dressed on the bed. We don't even get treated to the standard Hollywood L-shaped sheet.
    This kind of links back to my point about 'RAPE? AYE? WHAT? NOT HERE. NOTHING TO SEE. MOVE IT ALONG.' but in general, I find it weird that they weren't willing to give her a hint of sexuality or adult passion.
Okay. I could go on. But I will stop now. For my own sanity, let alone yours.

I should have put this link at the top, but my Number #2 Film Critic Girl Crush, Salon.com's Stephanie Zacharek has a brilliantly scathing review here which you should have read instead of this. She mentions that Lynn Ramsay (Morvern Callar) was originally attached to this project - oh what might've been!

Lou's Oscar Picks

Posted by Lou. The time is 11.45 here in London, UK.

**Best Original Screenplay pick adjusted on 22 Feb after discovering that A Serious Man is not A Single Man - ooops**

For me the Oscars this year are all about two people:

Kathryn Bigelow.

Mo'Nique.


Here are my picks for (nearly) all categories - based on having only seen around a third of the key films, mind you.

Actor in a Leading Role

  • Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
  • George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
  • Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
  • Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
  • Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”
I completely disagree with Bel - I think it'll be Jeff Bridges. Cloonster's performance is too run of the mill (to my mind, getting nominated for that role is their show of Clooney love as it's not so much of an Oscar role I don't think), and he won for Best Supporting a couple of years back. Of course my private fantasy is that Darcy, oops, I mean Colin Firth, will win and accept in dripping wet clothes, including the all important white shirt.



Actor in a Supporting Role
  • Matt Damon in “Invictus”
  • Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
  • Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
  • Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
  • Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”
I definitely reckon Christoph Waltz. He was awesome. And I can't see Inglourious Basterds picking up anything except one or two technical awards at best, so this will be the show of love for Tarantino.

Actress in a Leading Role

  • Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
  • Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
  • Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
  • Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
  • Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”
I'd gone for Sandra until reading Bel's point that Meryl hasn't won in more than 20 years...

Actress in a Supporting Role

  • Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
  • Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
  • Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
  • Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
This for me is the one certainty. It has to be Mo'Nique. Not only is it the most talked about film performance of the year, but it's one of the best supporting performances I've ever seen, full stop.


Animated Feature Film

  • Coraline” Henry Selick
  • Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
  • The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
  • The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
  • Up” Pete Docter
Up. Definitely Up.

Art Direction

  • Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
  • The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
  • Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
  • Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
  • The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray
Hmmm... have only seen Sherlock Holmes from this set. Am going out on a limb to say Avatar...

Cinematography

  • Avatar” Mauro Fiore
  • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
  • The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
  • Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson
  • The White Ribbon” Christian Berger
I never get Cinematography right, but maybe this year...

Costume Design

  • Bright Star” Janet Patterson
  • Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier
  • The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
  • Nine” Colleen Atwood
  • The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell
*insert grumble about Bright Star being overlooked in every other category*

Directing

  • Avatar” James Cameron
  • The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
  • Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
  • Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
  • Up in the Air” Jason Reitman
Kathryn Bigelow deserves it, and I really can't see them having the audacity to not break the historical drought for woman filmmakers when they're handed the opportunity to do it via the same sort of war film that has won for men time and time again.

Documentary (Feature)

I'm copy and pasting from Bel's post so don't have the noms, but from memory The Cove is nominated and it is my choice.

Documentary (Short Subject)

No idea.

Film Editing

  • Avatar” Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
  • District 9” Julian Clarke
  • The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
  • Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke
  • Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Joe Klotz
I'm going for this one based on the superb tension of the film which is a lot to do with the editing... maybe?

Foreign Language Film

  • Ajami” Israel
  • El Secreto de Sus Ojos” Argentina
  • The Milk of Sorrow” Peru
  • Un Prophète” France
  • The White Ribbon” Germany
(Disclaimer: even though I hate French cinema)

Makeup

  • Il Divo” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
  • Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
  • The Young Victoria” Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore
??

Music (Original Score)

  • Avatar” James Horner
  • Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
  • The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
  • Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
  • Up” Michael Giacchino
Hmm no idea

Music (Original Song)

  • Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
  • Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
  • Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
  • Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
  • The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by c and T Bone Burnett
Based on seeing the song in Bel's post. Reminds me of the wonderful song (Falling Slowly - one of my all-time favourite songs) from Once that came in and blew the big commercial "made to be number one hits and win Oscars, not actually to advance the film" songs and the bloated celebrity performances of them out of the water with their authenticity and visceral appeal.

Best Picture

  • Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
  • The Blind Side” Nominees to be determined
  • District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
  • An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
  • The Hurt Locker” Nominees to be determined
  • Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
  • Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
  • A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
  • Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
  • Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Oooooh I don't know!! In the past it has generally gone to the same winner of Best Director, but actually in the past decade or so there have been several anomalies. Um um um... um... I have a little theory that Precious could sneak in based on the new voting methods, but post- Avatar winning the Best Drama Golden Globe I think there will be a reactionary movement in support of The Hurt Locker.


Short Film (Animated)

No idea.

Short Film (Live Action)

As above.

Sound Editing

  • Avatar” Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
  • The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
  • Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman
  • Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
  • Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers
Um... I think it was one of the Oscar-nominated gaffer folks from King Kong who told us the difference whilst we were hanging out in the room full of King Kong sound effects props (like the old washing machine they used to make the boat creaks). Whilst I remember the person and the place I can't remember the actual difference thing... Is it that the missing is all about the layers of sound, and the editing... no wait, that would be editing... um... *googles* Aha, I was on the right track - mixing is the actual layering of the sounds together - like volumes etc - and editing is the creation of the actual sounds.

Sound Mixing

  • Avatar” Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
  • The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
  • Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
  • Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
  • Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson
I have no reasoning to back up this choice beyond loving the sound of his baseball bat hitting the tunnel as he slowly emerges...

Visual Effects

  • Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
  • District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
  • Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton
I'm saying Avatar because it is Weta right? So this would be another Kiwiland Oscar...


Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

  • District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
  • An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
  • In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
  • Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
  • Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner
I'm torn! I can't choose! Heart says Precious, brain says An Education... oooh actually now I'm thinking Up in the Air... hmmm... no, I'm going to go with An Education. This is a fantastic category, btw. With the what-the-fuck exception of District 9.

Writing (Original Screenplay)

  • The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
  • Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
  • The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
  • A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
  • Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy
Changed to The Hurt Locker


2010 Oscar nominations: the rundown

Posted by Bel. The time is 10.22am here in Wellington, NZ.

What's not to love about this time of year? From the day Oscar nominations are announced to the evening (afternoon over here) of the ceremony itself, I love revelling in the awards season.

Yes, okay, the Academy is dominated by self-interested old white dudes and Hollywood is a creaking outdated system of narrow-minded films but... squeee! Fun!! The frocks, the gossip, the underdogs, the rivalries...

New Zealand's link to the Oscars is tenuous this year, with PJ's The Lovely Bones ignored on all fronts except Stanley Tucci's performance. The short film The Six Dollar Fifty Man just scooped a top honour at the Sundance Festival, but we won't have a repeat of seeing any of our local filmmakers on the red carpet at the Kodak Theater.

There is still a lot to like about the 82nd Academy Awards, particularly as, for only the 4th time ever, a woman has been nominated as Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker. And with her film up for an Avatar-equalling total of nine awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, there seems a real chance that a female could take out this award for the very first time.


Kathryn Bigelow has a good laugh at James Cameron
busting out that "King of the woooorrrld!" line for one last time.

The Women & Hollywood website has a very interesting piece on female writers responding to the nominations (including current girl crush and all round awesomenessest Manohla Dargis), whereas I am just going to go through the list and tell you my Unfounded Opinions.

Actor in a Leading Role

  • Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
  • George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
  • Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
  • Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
  • Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”
The Academy are gonna vote for the Cloonster. You know it, I know it.

Actor in a Supporting Role

  • Matt Damon in “Invictus”
  • Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
  • Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
  • Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
  • Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”
The Nazis were the only non-laughable thing in QT's mess of a movie (that and how pretty it was - see the Cinematography nom).

But, despite this and my secret crush on Woody, I don't wonder if they might go soft and give it to 80 y.o. Plummer who has never had a prize!

Actress in a Leading Role

  • Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
  • Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
  • Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
  • Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
  • Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”
I rolled my eyes and went 'Meryl Streep? Agaaain?' but have since read that it's been over 25 years since she's actually won an Oscar. And otherwise they might have to give it to a fat black girl.

Actress in a Supporting Role

  • Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
  • Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
  • Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
  • Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Two women from the same movie? Srsly? Were they like, 'Hmm. Crap. Ladies... ladies... Surely they did some movies around the place... Hmm dunno. Let's just stick in another one what that was in that Clooney movie.' Sigh.

Do we think Mo'Nique could actually take this one out? Her role is certainly the most hearty of any of these.

Animated Feature Film

  • Coraline” Henry Selick
  • Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
  • The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
  • The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
  • Up” Pete Docter
Gah. I really don't like that this is a different category - or maybe it's more that films from this category can be in Best Picture as well. Dumb! Surely this is a bad thing for Up??

If Fantastic Mr Fox wins, I am personally flying over to wherever animal-hater Wes Anderson lives and hiding outside his house until I can throw a bucket of red paint over him and yell out "FUR IS DEAD!" whilst shaking my fist manically.

Art Direction

  • Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
  • The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
  • Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
  • Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
  • The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray
Sherlock Holmes was bang-on in terms of look and feel (yes, I think you could almost use that term), recreating an amazing world. But I imagine that that mad ole bugger Gilliam went hard out too so who knows...

Cinematography

  • Avatar” Mauro Fiore
  • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
  • The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
  • Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson
  • The White Ribbon” Christian Berger
Harry Potter?! LOLZ (Although it was one of my favourite trailers of 2009.)

Costume Design

  • Bright Star” Janet Patterson
  • Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier
  • The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
  • Nine” Colleen Atwood
  • The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell
Jane Campion's only toe in the door :( And she's up against Chanel!

Directing

  • Avatar” James Cameron
  • The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
  • Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
  • Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
  • Up in the Air” Jason Reitman
Please, please, pleeeeease Kathryn Bigelow. Or Lee Daniels, even. It's the first time there's been a black director of a Best Picture nom - even more history in the making!

Yes, that's political, but hey you can't tell me the whole damn thing's not political. They talk about 'campaigning' for an Oscar for pete's sake!

Documentary (Feature)

No one in New Zealand ever gets to see these so not relevant.

Documentary (Short Subject)

As above.

Film Editing

  • Avatar” Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
  • District 9” Julian Clarke
  • The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
  • Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke
  • Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Joe Klotz
Always tough. Editing is something you're not supposed to notice in a film, and now that we've gotten over that boisterous 90s music video style, you can't even be self-consciously stylistic in a film without coming across like a prat...

Foreign Language Film

  • Ajami” Israel
  • El Secreto de Sus Ojos” Argentina
  • The Milk of Sorrow” Peru
  • Un Prophète” France
  • The White Ribbon” Germany
The White Ribbon is Michael Haneke, right? In the bag.

Makeup

  • Il Divo” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
  • Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
  • The Young Victoria” Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore
Star Trek!! For all the awesome spocky ears!

Music (Original Score)

  • Avatar” James Horner
  • Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
  • The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
  • Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
  • Up” Michael Giacchino
I never notice this. Unless it is awful. The only name I recognise here is Zimmer's. Although I think I shall recall "Desplat" from now on... heh heh..

Music (Original Song)

  • Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
  • Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
  • Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
  • Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
  • The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by c and T Bone Burnett
Randy Newman! Twice! Dear me. I think he must have some kind of overarching contract wherein he is obligated to churn out music for the Oscars just to pad out this category and provide the ceremony with light entertainment.

I have spent time trying to find an embeddable video or even link to the DEFINITIVE Family Guy clip featuring Randy Newman but have failed and thus am very unhappy.

However I'd like to put my money on the song from Crazy Heart. Why? Oh just because Ryan Bingham is going to make Alec Baldwin cry during the telecast, that's all.



Best Picture

  • Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
  • The Blind Side” Nominees to be determined
  • District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
  • An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
  • The Hurt Locker” Nominees to be determined
  • Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
  • Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
  • A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
  • Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
  • Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers
Ahhhhh!!!

I like the extended list format - sure, it was done just for the ratings but regardless it does open up the field and make things a bit more exciting.

I'm still banking for The Hurt Locker but would also love to see a thought-provoking and beautiful film that deals with people and relationships, like Lone Scherfig's An Education, take the top prize over something full of spectacle and melodrama like Avatar, District 9 (which I enjoyed on the big screen, but thought was a very transparent parable), or even The Blind Side.


Short Film (Animated)

No one in New Zealand ever gets to see these so not relevant.

Short Film (Live Action)

As above.

Sound Editing

  • Avatar” Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
  • The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
  • Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman
  • Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
  • Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers
You guys! Controversy!! Up has been nominated for sound editing but not for sound mixing. And GET THIS: Transformers got the nod for sound mixing but not for sound editing!! Can you imagine the UPROAR!

(Someone once actually explained the difference between the editing and mixing of film sound to Lou and I and why it was so fundamentally different that it required separate Academy Awards but, lordy me, I have no recollection and quite possibly immediately tuned out at the time. Lou?)

Sound Mixing

  • Avatar” Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
  • The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
  • Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
  • Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
  • Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson
Awh man it's gon be DRAMZ. Greg, Gary and Geoffrey ("Team G") are very upset re the overlooking of their editing skills right now.

Visual Effects

  • Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
  • District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
  • Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Avatar. But I haven't actually seen it yet, so don't hold me to that.


Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

  • District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
  • An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
  • In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
  • Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
  • Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner
What the feck is District 9 adapted from? The history books of South Africa??

Writing (Original Screenplay)

  • The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
  • Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
  • The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
  • A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
  • Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy
Usually a good call is made in this category. We, of course, do not refer to the year Crash was chosen over both Syriana and Good Night And Good Luck. In general, we do not refer to Crash at all. Please note.

Oh and no, QT, no. Sit back down. You had no right, personally or politically, to write that revisionist piece of delusional claptrap and the Jews that run Hollywood do not take kindly to what you have done.




Well then. Much to be done before 7th March. I haven't even heard of this film The Messenger and I really do need to join the queue and go see Avatar in 3D.

I shall soon be downloading my official ballot form (ooOOoooh they've been redesigned this year!) and plotting my choices. Then, how to wrangle the afternoon off so I can fully indulge in the gratuitousness of the Western film industry apex?

The Hurt Locker

Posted by Lou. The time is 2.45pm here in London, UK.



Finally, on the day it got 9 Oscar nominations, I got to see The Hurt Locker. It of course comes with a whole host of expectations: people have told me it's the best film they've seen in a year, it is a fair chance of the Best Picture Oscar, and of course - and even more importantly - it is the best chance of a female winning Best Director in, well, forever.

I so wasn't disappointed - the film is absolutely fantastic. The story follows a bomb disposal unit on the countdown to the end of their year-long rotation in Iraq. Each sequence of a bomb disposal job is so wrought with tension and suspense that I could hardly breathe. Which carried over into the other more innocuous scenes where I found myself sitting on red alert, waiting for something to happen every minute. Of everything I have ever seen of modern warfare - whether fictionalised or true-life - this has most made me feel like I have had even a teensy, tiny, microscopic peek into what it must feel like to constantly be on alert, constantly suspicious that death is around the corner.



That being said, this film isn't just about the action. The leading character - played a very rightfully Oscar nominated Jeremy Renner - is fucking great. Renner and Katheryn Bigelow have given us a complex, part-madman, part-genius of a protagonist who is perfectly unravelled in a way that surprises and engages. Alongside him are two guys trying to survive to the end of their rotation: one a top-notch professional, one motivated by patriotic duty but in over his head.

The film does not address the political whirlstorm of Iraq - it is squarely and intimately focussed on these men and their task and is almost completely apolitical. For this I felt it actually said something more than more politically-motivated films have been able: we see the struggle to interact and mutual alienation of life in war-torn Iraq and are reminded that on both sides we are dealing with people. My leftie perspective interpreted the final scenes in a way totally different than how an ultra-conservative might, but without this ambiguity diffusing what for me was a powerful insight into the culture of war.

Please see this film and support a hugely important female filmmaker. I'm shocked that it has had such small box office return on such utterly gripping action and characterisation. If Kathryn Bigelow wins the big one, she will wholeheartedly deserve it.

Vigilante acts of guerilla punctuation

Posted by Bel. The time is 1.47pm here in Wellington, NZ.

I always have a marker in my bag. Along with a whole pile of generally unnecessary crap, but then there are those times when a big black pen is just what you need.

Those times, for example, when you just can't walk past the blatant misuse or neglect of an apostrophe. Although, perhaps I was wrong - perhaps this is a barber for multiple Daves?


Oh dear. I have only just noticed that they did also decide that there are several James Smithsesesss, rather than that the market belongs to James Smith.

Hmmm. Perhaps they get some kind of bonus point for consistency at least?