Julie: I don't know why I am just realizing this now, but: what the heck is Toy Story 3 adapted from? Just the original story idea? That seems lame. What are the rules for adapted screenplays?
Aaron: They are very wishy-washy. For example, a couple of years ago Before Sunset was nominated in the Adapted category but it was totally original. It was just a sequel. And yet, The Barbarian Invasions was nominated in the Original category: also a sequel. I think they are doing it stupidly.
Julie: Ew. The Academy needs to get its shit together, because this is silly.
Aaron: Right?? I mean Toy Story 3 is not based on anything; it has characters we recognize. So did fucking Nixon!!
Julie: Ahahahahahaha. Truth.
Showing posts with label john lasseter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label john lasseter. Show all posts
17 February 2011
04 February 2011
2011's Nominees: Part 3 of 12
BLACK SWAN
This is my favorite film of the year, and I can't help but think that it should have done better here. But you know what? I have to be thankful for what I get. Black Swan is a very well made B-film and while I completely loved it, no one should be expecting the Academy to be as much in love with it as they are. Small victories. Still, most people were expecting a nomination for Mila Kunis here, as well as Visual effects and Sound nods (the Costume designers were deemed ineligible). Most people expect Portman to win Best Actress on the 27th.
Will Win: Actress
Might Also Win: N/A
My Rating: #1 out of 42
TOY STORY 3
5 Nominations:
· Best Picture
· Best Director: Darren Aronofsky
· Best Actress: Natalie Portman (Closer)
· Best Cinematography: Matthew Libatique
· Best Editing: Andrew Weisblum
Director: Aronofsky
Cast: Portman, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Mila Kunis, Winona Ryder, Benjamin Millepied
Cast: Portman, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Mila Kunis, Winona Ryder, Benjamin Millepied
This is my favorite film of the year, and I can't help but think that it should have done better here. But you know what? I have to be thankful for what I get. Black Swan is a very well made B-film and while I completely loved it, no one should be expecting the Academy to be as much in love with it as they are. Small victories. Still, most people were expecting a nomination for Mila Kunis here, as well as Visual effects and Sound nods (the Costume designers were deemed ineligible). Most people expect Portman to win Best Actress on the 27th.
Will Win: Actress
Might Also Win: N/A
My Rating: #1 out of 42
5 Nominations:
· Best Picture
· Best Adapted Screenplay: Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine), John Lasseter (Toy Story), Andrew Stanton (Toy Story, Finding Nemo, WALL·E), Lee Unkrich
· Best Animated Feature
· Best Sound Editing
· Best Song: Randy Newman (Ragtime, Parenthood, The Paper, Toy Story, Babe: Pig in the City, Toy Story 2, Meet the Parents, Monsters Inc., Cars, The Princess and the Frog)
Director: Unkrich
Cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty, Wallace Shawn, Don Rickles, Michael Keaton, Estelle Harris, John Ratzenberger, Laurie Metcalf
Cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty, Wallace Shawn, Don Rickles, Michael Keaton, Estelle Harris, John Ratzenberger, Laurie Metcalf
This movie is great and everyone knows it. If you have seen it you know. If you haven't seen it, the last fifteen minutes are so moving that I defy you not to cry. I mean, I know I cry at everything, but I saw it with eight other people and we all cried. Even the most cold-hearted of us.
Will Win: Animated Feature, Song
Might Win: N/A
My Rating: #16 out of 42
WINTER'S BONE
4 Nominations:
· Best Picture
· Best Adapted Screenplay: Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini
· Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence
· Best Supporting Actor: John Hawkes
Director: Granik
Cast: Lawrence, Hawkes, Dale Dickey, Garret Dillahunt, Shelley Waggener
Cast: Lawrence, Hawkes, Dale Dickey, Garret Dillahunt, Shelley Waggener
I was so bored by this film I don't know how to talk about it without getting cranky. None of my friends in California liked this either. At any rate, to my complete and utter bafflement everyone seems to love it, the critics and the Academy.
Will Win: N/A
Might Win: N/A
My Rating: #32 out of 42
28 December 2010
Monsieur Hulot Est Vivant!
I find myself biased against animated films, generally. This isn't that they aren't good films. There have been some really great animated movies in the last ten years. This year, I really liked Toy Story 3 and How to Train Your Dragon, for example, and last year I was a big fan of The Princess and the Frog. I like animated movies, in other words, and I see most of the ones that get good reviews.
They almost never, however, rank very high on my end-of-year film rankings. For a while I have wondered why this is, and I have been given a bit of grief over it before -- this was probably around the time of Les Triplettes de Belleville and Finding Nemo. But I think that my anti-animation bias is mostly due to the subject matter of many animated films. Of course there is Miyazaki, and I love John Lasseter, but even when these films are not about children per se, they frequently feel geared toward children.
All of this rambling is a preface to me telling you that I adored Sylvain Chomet's L'Illusionniste. Absolutely adored. And I didn't feel this way about Les Triplettes; L'Illusionniste is a whole other kettle of fish.
The first thing to say about this movie is that it is a Jacques Tati film. That fact, to me, already makes the film a must-see. If you have loved Tati's films in the past you cannot miss L'Illusionniste. Chomet has adapted a Tati script from the mid-1950s that had never been filmed by Tati himself. The adaptation is lovely! The main character is a down-on-his-luck magician named Tatischeff (Tati's own given name) and though he is an animated character, he possesses the unique gangliness, awkward gait, and seeming obliviousness that easily identified Tati's Monsieur Hulot. In other words the film's star is immediately recognizable and lovable on the instant.
But L'Illusionniste is also a Sylvain Chomet film. It is a comical movie, but it is also deeply sad. Chomet's balance of these two is flat-out masterful. The film manages to juggle a persistent nostalgia (the film's star is, after all a beloved icon who has been deceased many years) and a delightful, often breathtaking sense of whimsy with a rather sad plot about a man with outdated skills looking for work in an unkind economy. This is also a movie about regret: a kind of love-letter to or hopeful vision of a more generous mode of parenthood.
For L'Illusionniste is, at heart, a film about parenting; it is not, however, a film about children.
It's also a film about being poor, about how much things cost, and about how children don't understand the sacrifices parents make.
And it is also a movie about magic: illusions, sure, but also noticing the magic around us all the time. Parenting is itself magical in this movie, and Chomet asks us to see the labor our parents do to support us, the worry they expend for our safety, the dreams they give up to nurture our dreams, as quiet, unacknowledged miracles, little bits of magic that grace our lives every day.
L'Illusionniste displays Chomet's characteristic style. Some of the characters are intentionally (if rather beautifully) grotesque, and there is less dialogue than in a silent film.
Instead of dialogue the movie is filled with powerful standalone images, beautifully choreographed farcical sequences, and delightful non sequiturs; these accumulate to form a whole that is emotionally arresting and whimsically transportive. It is easily one of the best films of the year.
They almost never, however, rank very high on my end-of-year film rankings. For a while I have wondered why this is, and I have been given a bit of grief over it before -- this was probably around the time of Les Triplettes de Belleville and Finding Nemo. But I think that my anti-animation bias is mostly due to the subject matter of many animated films. Of course there is Miyazaki, and I love John Lasseter, but even when these films are not about children per se, they frequently feel geared toward children.
All of this rambling is a preface to me telling you that I adored Sylvain Chomet's L'Illusionniste. Absolutely adored. And I didn't feel this way about Les Triplettes; L'Illusionniste is a whole other kettle of fish.
The first thing to say about this movie is that it is a Jacques Tati film. That fact, to me, already makes the film a must-see. If you have loved Tati's films in the past you cannot miss L'Illusionniste. Chomet has adapted a Tati script from the mid-1950s that had never been filmed by Tati himself. The adaptation is lovely! The main character is a down-on-his-luck magician named Tatischeff (Tati's own given name) and though he is an animated character, he possesses the unique gangliness, awkward gait, and seeming obliviousness that easily identified Tati's Monsieur Hulot. In other words the film's star is immediately recognizable and lovable on the instant.
But L'Illusionniste is also a Sylvain Chomet film. It is a comical movie, but it is also deeply sad. Chomet's balance of these two is flat-out masterful. The film manages to juggle a persistent nostalgia (the film's star is, after all a beloved icon who has been deceased many years) and a delightful, often breathtaking sense of whimsy with a rather sad plot about a man with outdated skills looking for work in an unkind economy. This is also a movie about regret: a kind of love-letter to or hopeful vision of a more generous mode of parenthood.
For L'Illusionniste is, at heart, a film about parenting; it is not, however, a film about children.
It's also a film about being poor, about how much things cost, and about how children don't understand the sacrifices parents make.
And it is also a movie about magic: illusions, sure, but also noticing the magic around us all the time. Parenting is itself magical in this movie, and Chomet asks us to see the labor our parents do to support us, the worry they expend for our safety, the dreams they give up to nurture our dreams, as quiet, unacknowledged miracles, little bits of magic that grace our lives every day.
L'Illusionniste displays Chomet's characteristic style. Some of the characters are intentionally (if rather beautifully) grotesque, and there is less dialogue than in a silent film.
Instead of dialogue the movie is filled with powerful standalone images, beautifully choreographed farcical sequences, and delightful non sequiturs; these accumulate to form a whole that is emotionally arresting and whimsically transportive. It is easily one of the best films of the year.
09 February 2007
The Nominees: Part IV of VIII
Director: Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, Insomnia, Memento)
Cast: Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johanssen, Rebecca Hall, Piper Perabo, Andy Serkis, David Bowie (!), Samantha Mahurin, Roger Rees, Edward Hibbert, Ricky Jay
One of the two "magician movies" that graced theatres this summer, this film seemed to get forgotten, since it was released a few weeks after the other "magician movie" of the summer, The Illusionist. The superior script, filmmaking, acting, etc. of The Prestige does not seem to have been lost on the Academy, who remembered it well on nomination morning. The Academy clearly likes Christopher Nolan's work. Pfister's surprise nomination last year means that they are paying attention to Nolan's movies (which are all thrillers—a genre traditionally overlooked by Oscar). As well they should be. Nolan's movies are the best the high-gloss thriller genre has to offer and his Batman Begins is easily the best comic book movie I've seen in years. We should note that The Prestige was one of two movies this year that starred both Scarlett Johanssen and Hugh Jackman (the abominable Scoop was the other). The Academy continues to overlook Johanssen (not that her work was particularly good in this film. The movie also boasts yet another excellent supporting performance by Michael Caine. He just keeps cranking them out (he was also great in Children of Men).
Will Win: N/A
Might Also Win: Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction
My Rating: #23 out of 69
Director: Clint Eastwood (Letters from Iwo Jima, Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River, The Bridges of Madison County, Unforgiven)
Cast: Ryan Phillippe, Adam Beach, Jesse Bradford, John Benjamin Hickey, Melanie Lynskey, Barry Pepper, Jamie Bell, Paul Walker, Joseph Cross
One of two Clint Eastwood films. It's really part two of a pair, though the films are only related by subject matter; the content hardly links at all. This was the first of the films out of the gates and was mostly crucified by critics, but expected to do well with the Academy. The Academy was cold on the movie for some reason (there are myriad explanations for this). At any rate, Warner Bros., seeing Hollywood's cold reception of Flags, decided to bring out Letters from Iwo Jima in December (it was originally scheduled for 2007). This explains two things: the (ever-so-slight) resurgence in love for Flags and the very limited amount of love for Letters which seems to be almost universally admired, though mostly ignored by the Academy. It just came out too late to hit the jackpot. This is all Warner's fault, of course. (I blame them for lots of things. See: The Departed.) I, for one—I am well aware of my minority status on this one—am delighted that there was at least a small amount of love shown for this earlier Eastwood film, which I liked quite a bit when I saw it. But then, I'm a sucker for father/son narratives...
Will Win: N/A
Might Also Win: N/A
My Rating: #8 out of 69
Director: John Lasseter (Toy Story 2, A Bug's Life, Toy Story)
Cast: Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, Larry the Cable Guy, Michael Keaton, Jenifer Lewis, Cheech Marin, Jeremy Piven, John Ratzenberger
Geez. Look at all those previous nominations for Randy Newman. And that's just in the Original Song category. He could win again, of course, but I think it unlikely. Cars is in a much-loved lineup of Pixar films, and though it is not as widely loved as its predecessors—Toy Story and its sequel, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Monsters, Inc., you get the drift—I think it could win simply on the basis of these past successes. However, I don't think it will. I think most everyone saw this film, thought it slightly sub-par, and will give the big trophy to the other huge money-making animated film from 2006.
Will Win: N/A
Might Also Win: Best Original Song, Best Animated Feature
My Rating: #37 out of 69
Director: Davis Guggenheim (Gossip)
Cast: Al Gore
I'm putting this film next because, although I don't include documentaries in my awards numbers, it obviously does have more than one nomination. It is also nominated (and will probably win) in the Best Documentary Feature category. I think, in fact, that it will take home both of the trophies it's nominated for. Plus the song is a really cool anthem by a hugely popular artist.
Will Win: Best Original Song (& Best Documentary Feature)
Might Also Win: N/A
My Rating: Unranked: I don't rank the documentaries I see. It doesn't seem fair.
Director: Larry Charles
Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Ken Davitian, Pamela Anderson, Luenell Campbell
This film's nomination is very exciting, I think. The Academy, it seems to say, is not as stuffy as you might think. Sacha Baron Cohen probably just missed out on a Best Actor nomination, as well. (Hey, if Roberto Benigni can fit in this category—Benigni even took home a statue—so can Cohen.) Some have wondered why this film is an "adapted" screenplay and not considered in the "original" category. Screenplays that are based around characters who were not invented for a specific film, but were invented for a previous film or some other medium are usually considered "adapted". This is an odd thing for the Academy that they seem to decide both ways. It always seems arbitrary to me. For instance: in 2005, the brilliant script for Before Sunset, which told the story of characters invented for the film Before Sunrise was nominated in the "adapted" category. And yet the year before (2004), Denys Arcand's script for The Barbarian Invasions, which is clearly based on characters from his earlier film The Decline of the American Empire was nominated as "original". It's possible that they evaluate such things on a case-by-case basis. I'm not sure.
Will Win: N/A
Might Also Win: Best Adapted Screenplay (dark horse)
My Rating: #26 out of 69
More soon. I'm playing catch-up...
08 February 2007
The All New Pixar Movie
I am of two minds about Disney/Pixar's Cars. Let me first say that I am a big fan of Pixar and an even bigger fan of John Lasseter, Cars' director. But Cars is not Pixar's usual, innovative, hilarious fare. In fact, it's a whole lot different. Cars looks fabulous. The movie is, in fact, worth seeing just for the amazing visual panache that the film boasts. There are some really awesome sequences and very cool camera angles. The casting, too, is nearly uniformly excellent, with some wonderful, grin-inducing cameos (my favorite was hearing Click and Clack from NPR's Car Talk). The film stars Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Larry the Cable Guy and John Ratzenberger (of course).
But then the film is also kind of, well, formulaic, simple and totally clichéd. It's another in a long line of films about people who are just going too fast in their lives and need to learn to slow down and appreciate the lives that are just racing by them (I haven't seen it yet, but I'm assuming Click is next in line--it arrives next week.) This movie is directed at people like me: people who are in too much of a hurry to notice how beautiful life really is. Except that all of that fantastic nostalgia is bullshit. Call me a cynic, but I think I can move quickly through life and appreciate what it has to offer. I don't think it's completely necessary for me to be living in a small town in order to live a good life. I live in a small town now and I have to say I think the slow life is a little overrated. The kind of ideological sermonizing in Cars bores me to tears.
The movie isn't boring, though. It's not boring at all. There are some slower sequences, but they're nothing like the down time in, say, the excruciating Blood Diamond or the sleep-inducing V for Vendetta. Cars zips right along, gets lots of laughs and engenders all kinds of good will. I didn't fully understand the mechanics of the races (the opening one or the final one--why does that yellow car slow everyone down?), and it isn't anywhere near A Bug's Life or Monsters, Inc. or The Incredibles but I think Cars is my favorite animated feature of the year. (It's a year without Miyazaki. What can you do?)
But then the film is also kind of, well, formulaic, simple and totally clichéd. It's another in a long line of films about people who are just going too fast in their lives and need to learn to slow down and appreciate the lives that are just racing by them (I haven't seen it yet, but I'm assuming Click is next in line--it arrives next week.) This movie is directed at people like me: people who are in too much of a hurry to notice how beautiful life really is. Except that all of that fantastic nostalgia is bullshit. Call me a cynic, but I think I can move quickly through life and appreciate what it has to offer. I don't think it's completely necessary for me to be living in a small town in order to live a good life. I live in a small town now and I have to say I think the slow life is a little overrated. The kind of ideological sermonizing in Cars bores me to tears.
The movie isn't boring, though. It's not boring at all. There are some slower sequences, but they're nothing like the down time in, say, the excruciating Blood Diamond or the sleep-inducing V for Vendetta. Cars zips right along, gets lots of laughs and engenders all kinds of good will. I didn't fully understand the mechanics of the races (the opening one or the final one--why does that yellow car slow everyone down?), and it isn't anywhere near A Bug's Life or Monsters, Inc. or The Incredibles but I think Cars is my favorite animated feature of the year. (It's a year without Miyazaki. What can you do?)
07 March 2004
Best Weekend in a While
Yeah, so today was like old times in so many ways. As posted earlier, I watched the John Lasseter movie A Bug's Life. Such good times. Then I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyooooond to look for draperies. I found very little stuff that liked, but I did settle on some sheer linen drapes in eggshell that were made in Turkey. (Always trust any fabric that says 'made in Turkey.') I couldn't find anything heavier to go over them that I liked. But there certainly are other places than Bed Bath & Beyond. I will shop for additional curtains next week perhaps.
Then I went to Jonny's grave, which I haven't seen in a while. Not sure why I still go, but I feel that if I go I am taking an active role in remembering him, not just passively going "oh, yeah, him, that boy." If I make myself visit his grave every once in a while, I am forced to deal with the reality of his absence.
Then I spent some time with Jaime and Derek at our old stomping grounds: the Claremont Village. We went to Rhino (where I bought Miss Saigon (UK) and Little Shop.) I love buying used cast recordings. It's the only way to go now that I finally decided that I like musical theatre to a certain extent (this does not extend to the LaChiusa Wild Party or that Webber trash Starlight Express/Jesus Christ Superstar.)
Derek dropped a bomb on us that is going on in his house and Jaime discussed her mother and that nightmare. Then we went to eat at Mimi's like we used to and we discussed my university plans. They will both have to get PhDs too. We had a long talk about our goals and dreams and stuff, then we went back to Claremont and stood in the parking lot for so long talking about Senator Kerry and Bush and Howard Stern and the FCC and other political stuff, and then we moved on to the moon and science. They are so fucking intelligent and I am so lucky to call them my friends. These are my two best friends in the whole world. This really hit home to me today. These are the people who I believe in and trust more than anyone else.
Just finished watching A Bug's Life by John Lasseter. Fucking amazing shit. Seriously I cannot believe I waited this long to see this little gem. I cannot wait until Lasseter's next film Cars. Those Pixar folks are bloody geniuses.
I am off to buy drapes. Do you really want me to get you some, Wahima?
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