Craig's MovieBlog

Fast Times at Oscar High

I was talking to a colleague of mine last night about the nominations, and he gave me a dose of amazing insight.

If Forest Whitaker wins, he will be the third cast member of Fast Times at Ridgemont High to win an Academy Award, after Sean Penn and Nicolas Cage.

That cast was phenomenal, wasn't it?  I wouldn't be surprised to see Jennifer Jason Leigh win an Oscar before her career is over... and hey - Judge Reinhold is due for a comeback soon isn't he?   ;)

And then this morning I was thinking... there's another person related to that movie with an Oscar:  writer Cameron Crowe received his award for writing Jerry Maguire Almost Famous.

There is no way that anyone connected to that film way back in 1982 had any idea of the talent they had on their hands.

Sometimes, Someone Else Just Nails It

A few weeks ago, when the official Oscar poster was released, I read a few comments about how exciting it was.  I wasn't impressed, but not in a jaded, cynical way (my norm), but I just couldn't put my finger on why I was so nonplussed.

Then, someone else said it for me.  Both on Jeff Wells' Hollywood Elsewhere and on Movie Marketing Madness, they hit the nail on the head. 

The quotes they used are all quotes that I'm just plain sick to death of.  I mean, come on... haven't you seen this montage of quotes edited together in some Academy Award ceremony about 60 times already?

Find something original... I mean, "Show me the money"?  Really?  Even "you had me at hello" or "help me, help you" might have been better if they absolutely had to have something from Jerry Maguire.  Although, I would have been really impressed if they went with, "a real man wouldn't shoplift the pootie from a single mom."    ;)

I will admit to liking that they included, "No, if anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving."

Match Point Trailer and The Shining: The Power of Editing

It's odd that I ran across both of these clips today, as one is clearly a joke, and one is clearly a genuine trailer... but they both end up saying the same thing: you can lay down your music, and edit something up so that it can tell whatever story you want.

Here's Match Point by Woody Allen, and The Shining by, um... I dunno... Cameron Crowe?  Maybe James L. Brooks?   ;)