First Look: Infamous

Okay, so in all honesty I have no idea what's going to happen with this film. Early test reviews have been very favorable. I'm not going to disregard it the way most seem to be doing. Capote made almost $30m and was nominated for a bunch of awards and won several majors. This, budgeted at around $20m reportedly, is said to be a more entertaining look at the New York world that Truman inhabitited and how it changed to him when he wrote In Cold Blood. Since Capote was pretty bleak in tone and style, this is more colorful and the costumes look terrific. The cinematographer is the same guy who did Amelie and A Very Long Engagement. So perhaps if it can't sneak into the major categories the way Capote did, it seems a shoe-in for Costume and Cinematography. It should also be more audience friendly, too. It is star studded after all. Here's your first look at Gwyneth in her cameo as Peggy Lee. Relative unknown Toby Jones plays Capote here, and Sandra Bullock is Harper Lee. Soon-to-be-Bond Daniel Craig is Perry Smith, and the cast is rounded out by Sigourney Weaver, Hope Davis, Jeff Daniels, Peter Bogdanovich and Isabella Rosellini to name a few.

More stills are available here.

Infamous is from Warner Independent Pictures and will be released October 13th.

Hey, I finally saw some 2006 releases...

The Hills Have Eyes (2006) - 7/10

She's the Man - 5/10

Failure to Launch - 3/10

Previous 2:

Bubble - 8/10

Something New - 5/10

Here, I'll tell you about Failure to Launch...

So it's like a remake of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, because Matthew McConaghey - I'm sorry People magazine, he's SOOOOO not the sexiest man alive - is apparently the male Meg Ryan-Bullock-Roberts. They just needed some guy who could be the most generic personality on earth, but completely laid back and take his shirt off. (Decent body, ugly face..Seriously, his nose is almost as bad as SJP's.) He lives with his parents who don't seem to mind him that much. Then they do mind it for sole plot advancement purposes. So they hire this woman Sarah Jessica Parker so he'll fall in love with her and eventually move out. But she won't sleep with him of course cuz that would make her a prostitute? Which she is anyways... The parents are played by Kathy Bates and Terry Bradshaw. Isn't that a hoot? Terry Bradshaw. Oh, this is how we can make this funny: we'll give him a nude scene and everyone will laugh cause it's Terry Bradshaw. Cuz that's like hilarious. Terry's ass on the big screen. They laugh. Darren vomits all over the place. It's bad enough we had to deal with Cletus the Slack Jawed Yokel McCon-UGH-hey showing his chest in gratuitous fashion, Terry must be nude also. I'll take 20 minutes of hardcore Kathy Bates in About Schmidt over that shit anyday. So yeah. Back to the plot of the movie. So Carrie Kate Hudson Broderick Parker With a Nose eventually seduces him in some chair place (PRODUCT PLACEMENT!) and he asks her out on a date. Then we meet her roommate, played by Zooey Deschanel. Zooey is quirky and spends an entire subplot of the movie trying to kill a mockingbird. Yes. A MOCKINGBIRD. I feel sorry for the lovely Miss Deschanel. If the screenwriters had been a bit smarter - well, had they had brains at all - they might have made the entire movie about her. Why? Cuz at least she has a personality. Unlike Carrie Bradshaw on the Big Screen. (Yes, this movie stars Carrie Bradshaw and Terry Bradshaw.) Back to Matty - he has 2 buddies as well. One is Justin Bartha - who played the retard in Gigli and the retard in National Treasure. Well, I don't think he was retarded in that movie, but that movie was retarded so he is as well. The other is played by Bradley Cooper from Wedding Crashers and Alias. Bradley Cooper is insanely HOT! He takes his shirt off and it almost makes up for everything else in this miserable piece of shit. 'nother observation: every shirtless guy cept McConaghey sports a decent amount of chest hair. It's like that was in his contract so he could make his own chest glisten and women who favor the unnatural shaven look would swoon. Yeah, I'll take my Bradley over Stetson Matt. Of course, retard guy falls for quirky Zooey and they try to kill the mockingbird. There is even a To Kill a Mockingbird joke that involves Rob Culdry from The Daily Show playing a gun store employee. Zooey thinks the Harper Lee classic is an instruction manual. This is the best line in the film. But get this! They shoot it with a beebee...BB..whatever...gun and try to revive it. Thus we have to witness the retard giving the mockingbird CPR. I shit you not. While this is happening - and it is better than the rest of the movie believe it or not - Sarah Michelle Parker is being ubersweet and ubernonpersonality so Matty the Cable Guy will fall for her. And he does. I guess he figures they go together since neither of them has a personality that exists outside of a film. But yeah, he falls for her and as luck and screenwriters would have it eventually discovers her evil plan to get him to move out. Which leads to a predictable confrontational scene, the confession, the makeup, and the happy ending. The big ending is broadcast in a cafe where hip people sip and everyone eventually gets into the action yelling stuff at them. Personally, I would think Hillbilly Matt and the Sarah the Shemale would kill each other. I mean, it would be just as realistic. And much more entertaining. Yes, we bought it all in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. (Does Matthew only star in movies where people lie to each other then fall in love?) There's also another subplot that has Matthew getting bitten by lots of animals. This is later chalked up to being about nature rejecting him because his way of life is against the natural flow of things. Yeah. And best of all: there is a precocious black child. I don't think its ever explained how or why he is there. But he is. At least he doesn't crack jive jokes, so at least the screenwriters showed some restraint.

I'm sorry if I spoiled the movie for any of you who wanted to see it because there are apparently lots of you as this is a sleeper of sorts. Ah, sad times at Box Office 2006.

Box Office Predictions: Mar.31 - Apr. 2

1. Ice Age 2 - $48m / $48m / $165m
2. Inside Man - $17m / $55m / $94m
3. Slither - $9m / $9m / $23m
4. Basic Instinct 2 - $8m / $8m / $18m
5. ATL - $7.5m / $7.5m / $24m
6. V For Vendetta - $6.5m / $57m / $68m
7. Failure to Launch - $6.5m / $72m / $86m
8. The Shaggy Dog - $5m / $55m / $64m
9. Stay Alive - $5m / $18m / $26m
10. She's the Man - $4m / $26m / $33m

Ellen Barkin is #13....Ocean's Thirteen, that is!

Well, not really. That's just the title of the movie. If they were going by actual numbers, it would be around Ocean's Seventy-first.

I really like this lady as an actress even though I haven't seen her in much. Loved her in Palindromes and, of course, Drop Dead Gorgeous. (You knew I couldn't turn down that picture. -------> ) I like her sexy voice. She also seems to have a great no bullshit attitude that is all too rare. Anywho, they're clearly intent on milking this franchise for all its worth. And Barkin sure is an interesting choice.



Source: Variety March 27, 2006

Warner Bros. Pictures and producer Jerry Weintraub have set a July 21 start date for Ocean's Thirteen, and Ellen Barkin is the third film's new leading lady, reports Variety.

Filming will take place primarily on five soundstages on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, where a fully operational casino will be built.

The first "Ocean's" film was shot at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, the sequel in Europe, but it became too arduous to shoot a movie around the gambling traffic in a real casino, producer Jerry Weintraub told the trade. Director Steven Soderbergh and star George Clooney just used the WB soundstages to shoot The Good German, a European-set period drama.

Soderbergh has already committed to direct returning cast members George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Eddie Jemison, Shaobo Qin, Carl Reiner and Elliott Gould.

With Barkin in, that means previous female leads Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones are sitting this one out. Barkin's character will get closely involved with Damon's character.

Warner Bros. will co-finance with Village Roadshow Pictures for a summer 2007 release. The film is a co-production between Jerry Weintraub Productions and Section Eight.

The film was scripted by Rounders screenwriters Brian Koppelman and David Levien.

Ocean's Eleven earned $450.7 million worldwide and Ocean's Twelve took in $362.7 million.

'Brokeback' Writers & Actress Reteam For TV Project

From DarkHorizons:


CBS is working on six-hour prequel to the classic 1989 Lonesome Dove mini-series based on Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain adapter Larry McMurtry's novel reports Variety.


Titled Comanche Moon, Australian director Simon Wincer will return to direct, and CBS has tapped Steve Zahn to play the young Robert Duvall role. They have also added Brokeback's Linda Cardellini as the youthful Anjelica Huston, and two brand-new characters played by Val Kilmer and Rachel Griffiths.


The all-important role played by Tommy Lee Jones in the original has yet to be cast. McMurtry and Brokeback co-scribe Diana Ossana will produce.

TV News - Alias Series Finale Date

It'll be a Monday night?

ABC will be bringing back the show on April 19 at 8PM - a Wednesday - for the last batch of episodes. It will finish May 22 - with a 2-hour finale. That is a Monday. ABC apparently is really fucking up its scheduled with their finales. The previous Monday will be the Grey's Anatomy finale. Yes, Monday. The show's 2 hour finale will be broadcast over 2 nights. The first half will air Sunday, May 14 at 10PM. The second half will air May 15 at 10PM (with a repeat of the first half at 9PM) The reason is most likely that ABC wants to move Grey's to Monday nights. In my opinion, they should bump Housewives to Monday and move Grey's up to 9 Sundays. The show is getting higher ratings than Housewives. But whatever. Desperate Housewives' 2 hour finale airs May 21 from 9-11PM.

Also, watch Will and Grace tomorrow night. Shohreh Aghdashloo is guest starring.

Box Office Predix: Mar. 24 - 26

1. Inside Man - $22m / $22m / $75m
2. V For Vendetta - $14m / $48.5m / $68m
3. Failure to Launch - $10m / $62.5m / $84m
4. The Shaggy Dog - $9m / $48m / $65m
5. Stay Alive - $7m / $7m / $17m
6. Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector - $6m / $6m / $15m
7. She's the Man - $5.5m / $18.5m / $28m
8. The Hills Have Eyes - $4m / $35.5m / $43m
9. 16 Blocks - $3m / $35m / $40m
10. Eight Below - $2.5m / $77m / $83m

I was going to post a picture from Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector with the caption "This looks horrible which means it will top $20m for the weekend." I saw the picture and puked all over myself.

MTV Movie Award Predix & Suggestions

These are typically announced in April, me thinks. I am bored, so here goes...

Best Movie:
Brokeback Mountain
Mr & Mrs Smith
Star Wars: Episode 3
Walk the Line
Wedding Crashers

Male Performance:
Tom Cruise - War of the Worlds
Johnny Depp - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain
Joaquin Phoenix - Walk the Line
Brad Pitt - Mr & Mrs Smith

Female Performance:
Angelina Jolie - Mr & Mrs Smith
Keira Knightley - Pride and Prejudice
Naomi Watts - King Kong
Michelle Williams - Brokeback Mountain
Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line

Breakthrough Female:
Jennifer Carpenter - The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Isla Fisher - Wedding Crashers
Maggie Grace - The Fog
Q'orianka Kilcher - The New World
Jessica Simpson - The Dukes of Hazzard

Breakthrough Male:
Justin Chatwin - War of the Worlds
Ashton Holmes - A History of Violence
Terrence Howard - Crash
Matthew MacFadyen - Pride and Prejudice
James McAvoy - Chronicles of Narnia

Best Villian:
Ralph Fiennes - Harry Potter & Goblet of Fire
Tilda Swinton - Chronicles of Narnia
Elijah Wood - Sin City
Cillian Murphy - Batman Begins (or Red Eye)
Ian McDirmid - Star Wars: Ep. 3

Best Fight:
Mr & Mrs Smith - house fight
King Kong - Kong Vs. Airplanes
Star Wars: Ep. 3 - something with light sabers?
Red Eye - ending house sequence
Batman Begins - Bale & Neeson's ninjas

Best Kiss:
Mr & Mrs Smith - Pitt & Jolie after fight
Brokeback Mountain - Ledger & Gyllenhaal reunion
Fever Pitch - kiss at the end
Star Wars: Ep. 3 - Portman & Christianson ???
Walk the Line - Phoenix & Witherspoon first kiss

On-Screen Team:
Scott & Knoxville & Simpson - The Dukes of Hazzard
Watts & Serkis - King Kong
Bledel & Ferrera & Lively & Tamblyn - Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Phoenix & Witherspoon - Walk the Line
Wilson & Vaughn - Wedding Crashers

Comedic Performance:
Steve Carell - 40 Year Old Virgin
Jim Carrey - Fun With Dick and Jane
Johnny Depp - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Will Ferell - Kicking & Screaming
Vince Vaughn - Wedding Crashers

Action Sequence:
Batman Begins - Batmobile chase
King Kong - dino stampede
Mr & Mrs Smith - highway chase
Star Wars: Ep. 3 - something with explosions and chases
War of the Worlds - tripod invasion

Dance/Musical Sequence:
The 40 Year Old Virgin - "Age of Aquarius"
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Oompa Loompas
Pride and Prejudice - first ball sequence
Rent - "La Vie Boheme"
Walk the Line - "Jackson"


The nominees I'd pick:

Best Movie:
The 40 Year Old Virgin (obligatory comedy)
Batman Begins (obligatory blockbuster)
Brokeback Mountain (obligatory Oscar-winner)
Hustle and Flow (obligatory indie)
Walk the Line (obligatory drama)

Male Performance:
Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain
Terrence Howard - Hustle and Flow
Joaquin Phoenix - Walk the Line
Jake Gyllenhaal - Brokeback Mountain
Vince Vaughn - Wedding Crashers

Female Performance:
Keira Knightley - Pride and Prejudice
Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line
Maria Bello - A History of Violence
Nicole Kidman - The Interpeter
Rachel McAdams - Red Eye

Breakthrough Male:
Terrence Howard - Crash
Matthew MacFadyen - Pride and Prejudice
Ashton Holmes - A History of Violence
Nathan Fillion - Serenity
Joseph Gordon Levitt - Mysterious Skin

Breakthrough Female:
Q'orianka Kilcher - The New World
Kate Mara - Brokeback Mountain
Michelle Monoghan - North Country
Miranda July - Me and You and Everyone We Know
Felicity Huffman - Transamerica

Best Villian:
Gong Li - Memoirs of a Geisha
Ed Harris - A History of Violence
Cillian Murphy - Red Eye
Elijah Wood - Sin City
Gena Rowlands - The Skeleton Key

Best Fight:
Sin City - Mickey Rourke Vs Elijah Wood
Mr & Mrs Smith
King Kong
Red Eye
Kung Fu Hustle - the landlord lady vs. whoever she took on

Best Kiss:
Brokeback Mountain
Mr & Mrs Smith
Match Point - Johannson & Rhys Meyer in the rain
Fever Pitch
Elizabethtown - Bloom & Dunst in the sprinklers

On-Screen Team:
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Wallace and Gromit
Brokeback Mountain
Walk the Line
Wedding Crashers

Comedic Performance:
Steve Carell - The 40 Year Old Virgin
Vince Vaughn - Wedding Crashers
Amy Adams - Junebug
Brenda Blethyn - Pride and Prejudice
Robin Williams - Robots

Action Sequence:
War of the Worlds
Batman Begins
King Kong
House of Wax - the house melts
Serenity - the chase before the line "I swallowed a bug."

Dance/Musical Sequence:
The 40 Year Old Virgin
Pride and Prejudice
Walk the Line
Elizabethtown - Sarandon tap dancing
Wedding Crashers - "SHOUT" montage

The 50 Most Beautiful People in Film - A List by Me!

Yes, I am superficial. I see these lists that Maxim (blech!), People and various other magazine puts out and I don't like them. So here's mind. Ranked - both sexes. Enjoy.

25. Jennifer Garner
Sean William Scott

24. The Rock
Maria Bello

23. Elizabeth Banks
Cillian Muprhy

22. Colin Farrell
Cameron Diaz

21. Anna Faris
Jonathan Rhys Meyers

20. Kevin Zegers
Audrey Tautou

19. Jessica Alba
Paul Walker

18. Nathan Fillion
Kate Beckinsale

17. Gwyneth Paltrow
Heath Ledger

16. Mark Ruffalo
Angelina Jolie

15. Jennifer Connelly
Karl Urban

14. James Marsden
Kate Winslet

13. Scarlett Johansson
Bradley Cooper

12. Brad Pitt
Monica Belluci

11. Nicole Kidman
George Clooney

10. Ewan McGregor
Kate Hudson

9. Natalie Portman
Hugh Jackman

8. Matt Damon
Eva Mendes

7. Halle Berry
Eric Bana

6. Leonardo DiCaprio
Rosamund Pike

5. Sienna Miller
Jude Law (didn't try that)

4. Jake Gyllenhaal
Keira Knightley

3. Ziyi Zhang
Christian Bale

2. Chris Evans
Rachel McAdams

and #1....

The Two Most Beautiful People in Film Today...







CHARLIZE THERON & CLIVE OWEN

Faris puts on a 'Smiley Face'

Here's one to look forward to:

Brokeback Mountain's Anna Faris, next to be seen in Scary Movie 4 and the Luke Wilson/Uma Thurman superhero comedy My Super Ex-Girlfriend, has signed on to play the lead role in Smiley Face. Directed by Gregg Araki, the comedy follows a young slacker actress who goes through her day with a series of misadventures after ingesting her roommate's pot-laced brownies. Wait - it gets better! The cast is rounded out by The Office's adorable John Krasinski, Harold & Kumar's John Cho and The 40 Year Old Virgin's Jane Lynch. All of these people are funny. Anna Faris is funny. This movie will be funny. If the concept sounds familiar, at one point the project was titled Mary Warner and was to be Winona Ryder's comeback vehicle. That never happened, and now we got some more of the funny Faris.

Box Office Predictions: Mar. 17 - 19

1. V For Vendetta - $28m / $28m / $82m
2. Failure to Launch - $15.5m / $48m / $80m
3. The Shaggy Dog - $10.5m / $32.5m / $52m
4. She's the Man - $10m / $10m / $28m
5. The Hills Have Eyes - $7m / $28.5m / $42m
6. 16 Blocks - $4m $29.5m / $36m
7. Eight Below - $3.5m / $72m / $78m
8. Madea's Family Reunion - $3m / $60m / $65m
9. The Pink Panther - $2m / $78m/ $82m
10. Aquamarine - $2m / $15.5m / $19m
Find Me Guilty - $2m / $2m / $5m


we love you natalie! i wanna f*ck you too!

For those of you with subscriptions to Daily Variety....

take a look at your issue for today.

:-)

Box Office Predictions: Mar. 10 - 12

1. The Shaggy Dog - $22m / $22m / $80m
2. Failure to Launch - $18m / $18m / $55m
3. The Hills Have Eyes - $15m / $15m / $40m
4. Eight Below - $7m / $68m / $82m
5. Madea's Family Reunion - $7m / $57.5m / $69m
6. 16 Blocks - $6.5m / $22m / $36m
7. Aquamarine - $4.5m / $13m / $20m
8. The Pink Panther - $4m / $75m / $83m
9. Ultraviolet - $3.5m / $15m / $21m
10. Dave Chappelle's Block Party - $3.5m / $11.5m / $17m
**The Libertine - $2.5m / $2.5m / $6.5m
Brokeback Mountain - $2m / $82m / $88m


bradley cooper from alias is in failure to launch. he is a million times hotter than cletus mcconaghey

So what we got now is Brokeback Mountain

With the Oscars now over, that officially means the previous film year has come to a close. And with that, I say goodbye to covering - except for an upcoming DVD review - the film I spent most of my blog life anticipating and discussing. I was going to do a long-winded, sentimental article...

...till I stumbled onto THIS.

It says everything that needs to be said and showcases the legacy the film leaves behind. In regards to the film's loss at the Oscars and whatever Crashlash (as the media is dubbing it, that and Guess Which Stereotype is Coming to the Accident) ensues and political agendas that may have been exposed, I'd point you to a list of films that lost Best Picture: Pulp Fiction, Network, Citizen Kane, Vertigo, Star Wars, Raging Bull, Fargo, Traffic, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Graduate, The Wizard of Oz, All the President's Men, Nashville, Chinatown, A Clockwork Orange, The Last Picture Show, The Exorcist, Bonnie and Clyde, Tootsie, and the list goes on....

Congrats to everyone involved for THIS rather impressive list of awards, for inspiring future films, touching the hearts and souls of millions of movie lovers across the world, and creating a modern masterpiece. I anxiously look forward to all of your next projects.

Also, to Focus Features and the people I spoke with on various message boards including IMDB, OscarWatch and Wrangling Wranglers.

And to Anne Hathaway for wearing those wigs. Hathaway - Brokeback = Sandra Oh - Sideways. Think about it.

A Prairie Home Companion Trailer & Poster

Viewable here.

*sigh*

Aren't Meryl and Lily wonderful?

One Big Oscar Post!!

Tomorrow - Brokeback Mountain: A Look Back

Instead of 3 or 4 posts, which I planned on doing today, I'll just do one. La de la.

First off, the red carpet coverage EVERYWHERE needs to be revamped. E!'s decision to have Ryan Seacrest in his own little room with celebs casually "dropping by" (and not there to promote ANYTHING AT ALL - note sarcasm) was retarded. ABC's official preshow showed about 10 people. Too many clips. Save the acting clips for the show. Seeing Felicity rooted on by her DH costars was great - even though they were in different rooms. Here's what you need: shorter interviews with celebs. Get the dress, your date, who you want to see and leave it at that. Stop it with all the "deep acting" questions. Get more overhead shots and pans of the carpet. I know you only want to show people you're interviewing, but it seemed like this year the majority of women we didn't actually see till the ceremony started.

On to the show...

Stewart did a great job. Lots of funny jokes - the best: Bjork getting shot by Cheney. Perfect. And the upcoming montage of montages. I thought I heard that before though. Loved the opening shot of all the images put together - Satine was on there. Steve Martin's kids. LMAO. Meryl Streep & Lily Tomlin should host an award show together. Jack Nicholson's "oh shit" look when Crash won - priceless. He said backstage he was shocked - he voted for Brokeback. As he should, starring in Terms of Endearment and all. In the Deep's song was like watching a zombie version of Crash. Somehow it seemed better. Taraji Henson from Hustle and Flow can sing. Dolly's fucked up version of the Transamerica song was disappointing. Westerns are gay, after all. Suck it all you so-called purists who think guys need to shoot each other at high noon for it to be a western. And my favorite bit of the night:

The Actress campaign.

Oh my god, I fucking live for that. God dust. Forever embedded in my vocabulary. That all but makes for the rest of it....

It's embarassing.

The whole thing.

The show went off without a hitch. Predictable winners - Reese and Philip finally looked decent and gave real speeches. Sorry, Reese said "real" too much though. The show was funny and felt grander than the other award shows. George gave a speech about Hollywood leading the way, a speech I'm sure he wouldn't have given had he seen the final award handed out. Like the worst films, the Oscars were good, then just sucked. It was a good show. We wanted surprises. We got them - one that no one will ever live down.

It's embarassing for people who follow this stuff. What good are precursors? I can't imagine how hard all the other major awards bodies must be laughing right now.

It's embarassing for fans of Brokeback Mountain, who now have to look at the rightwingers glow and piss the loss back in their face. The fans who have sat by all year with modest expectations and watched the film overcome everything to become a genuine phenomenon. It's like being served a delicious meal by a world famous chef. The maid then comes out and tells you "oh fuck you, you can't have dessert."

It's embarassing for the Oscars. In a political year when one film's buzz trumped everything and they finally had the chance to award the most acclaimed film of the year - the critical gem, they didn't.

It's even embarassing for Miramax when it was run by the Weinsteins. This was surely the most aggressive campaign fought - sending out over 100k screeners to members of various guilds. Say what you will about Lions Gate - okay, they make low budget shit movies then market them to morons who shell over $9 to see Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Saw 2 and Hostel - but they apparently knew what they were doing.

But here's who it's most embarassing for...

Crash and its fans.

Crash, a solid good - sometimes really good - film that is no where near a Best Picture winner in feel, suddenly is Best Picture winner based on, what?, 2-3 weeks of ascending buzz that was based solely in LA and Roger Ebert's head. No Best Picture winner has ever won so little awards outside of the Oscars. The film is the first Best Picture winner to win only 3 total Oscars since Rocky. Take into consideration that Rocky went up against Network, Taxi Driver and All the President's Men. Deja vu, in some respects. Isn't that interesting? The fans of Crash who have stood by it while tanked in early award shows got their hopes enlivened by its prescense in most of the major guilds. But it only won the SAG Ensemble and WGA Original Screenplay awards. That's it. Nothing more. Now, they will have to live with the fact that the film they so loved has gotten the most reputation as "The Worst Best Picture Winner In History." almost instantly. The lowest winner grossing in, like, 20 or so years. Did anyone even think when the film was released back in May that it could do this? No.

It's embarassing.

Anatomy of an Upset -

I'm going to direct you to two links that fully explain how Crash won. This is a controversial assessment, but one that is ringing all over the place. Go here and here. It wasn't that this is an actor's film. Why did it get more than one acting nomination? Actors films don't just get one nomination. It could be that it was set in LA and that more so than any other group, AMPAS largest percentage of voters reside in LA. But really - how narrow minded is that? Do they love Paul Haggis that much? He's Canadian? That's still closer than Taiwan isn't it? While I don't believe the reason presented in those two articles could be the leading factor in this upset - I, at least, hope not - it is part of it. You can't deny that.

Hollywood is filled with liberals like Clooney and Ben Affleck who talk the talk but don't really walk the walk. Then, you have the slightly famed liberals - Laura Linney, for instance - who do. She not only criticizes the right, but marches in gay pride parades despite not being a lesbian. How's that! I believe the term coined for the people who allowed for this upset are "limo liberals." They are there more as self promotion and to pat themselves on the back.

But, let's face it...

It is a fashion show with some bowling trophies. :-)


To that, I present my 10 Best Dressed for the 78th Academy Awards.

Worst Dressed:

Oscar-nominee NAOMI WATTS
I don't know what's going on here. She normally looks great.


Mixed Decision:

Oscar-winner CHARLIZE THERON
I think that bow wants to eat her head. Or she brought her Oscar with her in there. The hair seemed really bad at first but now not so much. This outfit goes from being so campy bad, it's just downright awesome.



Best Dressed....

#10 - SANDRA BULLOCK
It turns out she's not angry all the time, and now we know why.



#9 - Oscar-winner NICOLE KIDMAN
Simple hair, could've done more with the hair. But she's great.



#8 - Oscar-nominee JAKE GYLLENHAAL
Someday I will have a mock prom, and he shall be my date. As if you thought he wasn't going to be here.



#7 - JESSICA ALBA
I wasn't as crazy about this as some, but she looks great. I'd like to see her with different hair, though. I preferred her Golden Globes look.



#6 - Oscar-nominee AMY ADAMS
The pockets strike back. Sandra and Jake's sis had them. I love Amy's dress. It's very original.



#5 - JENNIFER LOPEZ
She has looked fucking awesome in the past - I believe the 1999 Oscars with the black dress. Looks great here, too.



#4 - Oscar-winner HILARY SWANK
Va va voom. Damn, she works that black dress. Proof of why that blue dress from last year was SOOO wrong for her. Awesome hair.



#3 - Oscar-nominee MICHELLE WILLIAMS
Hated it for a second, then loved it to pieces. Very 1970's. Bright and beautiful.



Here's Amy & Michelle - so cute:



A very close call between #2 & #1

#2 - Oscar-nominee SALMA HAYEK
She really knows what to do with those jugs. DAMN! Love the classic look, though.



#1 - Oscar-nominee KEIRA KNIGHTLEY
Fun fact: She changed for the afterparty. This year was relatively boring when it came to fashion, but I just adore Keira's look here. Her fast-witted personality comes through. God dust, indeed. And sitting next to Jack.

Happy Oscar Day!

YAH!!!!

My favorite day of the year. Ah, all day E! coverage. Yes, their anchors are dumbshits, but whatever.

I can't wait to see everyone tonight. My basement is hella decorated.

I think I'm most looking forward to seeing Keira Knightley tonight. I watched Pride and Prejudice again last night, and the film is practically life affirming. I can't believe it didn't go further than 4 nominations. I just love it. I probably should have ranked it higher on my top 10 list than number 9.

Anywho, for all the people who can't make my party, here's the menu:

A gallon of water (A History of Violence)
Olympic Coca-Cola (Munich)
Green Tea (Memoirs of a Geisha)
Cocktail Bar & Champagne (Capote)

A plate of cheeses (Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit)
Veggie Tray (The Constant Gardener)
Cocktail Weenies (Transamerica)

Ham & Bean Soup (Brokeback Mountain)
Ethnic Food Tray (Crash)

Black and White Cake (Good Night and Good Luck)

Various Candies (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
Heath Bars (Brokeback Mountain's Heath Ledger)
Reese's Pieces (Walk the Line's Reese Witherspoon)
Gummi Worms (Tim Burton's Corpse Bride)
Jolly Rancher Lollipops (Brokeback Mountain)
Star Wars Pez Dispensers

Have a blast and

GO BROKEBACK GO BROKEBACK GO!!!!

1 Day to Go!!!! - Indie Spirit Winners & Behind the Scenes Pic

Watch Oscar-nominee Natalie Portman on SNL tonight. Hopefully, there will be at least one Oscar-related parody.

Independent Spirit Award Winners:
(how awesome is that pic of Amy & Sandra!!!)

Best Feature - Brokeback Mountain
Best Female Lead - Felicity Huffman
Best Male Lead - Philip Seymour Hoffman
Best Supporting Female - Amy Adams
Best Supporting Male - Matt Dillon
Best Director - Ang Lee
Best Screenplay - Capote
Best Cinematography - Good Night and Good Luck
Best First Feature - Crash

(Isn't it bizarre how everything above is nominated for an Oscar? The Oscars are very indie this year, or the ISPs are very mainstream.)

Best First Screenplay - Transamerica (this fucking shit script beat Junebug????)
Best Foreign Film - Paradise Now
Best Documentary - Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
John Cassavetes Award - Conventioners
Truer Than Fiction Award - Occupation: Dreamland



Scheduled to appear tomorrow night at the Oscars as presenters:
Jessica Alba, Jennifer Aniston, Eric Bana, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Sandra Bullock, Steve Carell, George Clooney, Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, Morgan Freeman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tom Hanks, Salma Hayek, Dustin Hoffman, Terrence Howard, Samuel L. Jackson, Nicole Kidman, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Lopezn Jack Nicholson, Keanu Reeves, Will Smith, Ben Stiller, Meryl Streep, Hilary Swank, Charlize Theron, Uma Thurman, Lily Tomlin, John Travolta, Naomi Watts, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon and Ziyi Zhang.
Unconfirmed but spotted at rehearsals - Halle Berry, Tom Cruise, Clint Eastwood, Jennifer Garner, Mel Gibson, Clive Owen and Winona Ryder

I was initially disappointed with the presenters list, but that is a fairly awesome group. I would still like to see a few more people as it seems like everyone is on that list based on them having a movie coming out soon. Of course, the people I would suggest coming - Lindsay Lohan, Jodie Foster - also have movies coming out. So whatever.

Behind the Scenes Pics: