Craig's MovieBlog

Movie of the Decade?

Bill Simmons from ESPN (aka The Sports Guy) has opened up a poll to try and determine the Movie of the Decade.  Here’s his list:

• Almost Famous (2000)
• Brokeback Mountain (2005)
• Cast Away (2000)
• The Dark Knight (2008)
• The Departed (2006)
• Gladiator (2000)
• The Lord of the Rings (2001)
• No Country for Old Men (2007)

Fine movies, all of them, and Almost Famous is a personal favorite, but are any of those really the best movie from the last 10 years? 

My friend over at Yes MSG emailed me about the Sports Guy’s poll, and that set me off.  I spent the next hour on IMDB, researching Oscar nominations, and rummaging through the archives of my old box office and movie review site (you know, from when I used to actually go and see movies).  I sent him my thoughts, and then Yes MSG responded inline, so I’ll try to represent that all below.  His responses are in red. 

Enjoy… and let us know – what movies did we miss? 

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Well, thanks.  The next hour is shot for me.  You’ve got me going…

Almost Famous (2000) is up there.  It’s pretty fantastic.  The Departed (2006) is in the conversation.  And you know what?  The first Pirates of the Caribbean (2002) movie was pretty freaking great as a mainstream, genre-breaking, fun movie.  The sequels ruined people’s memory of how good the first one was.

I guess it’s been a relatively weak decade.  It’s arguable that the Lord of the Rings Trilogy was the best movie achievement for the decade…  not kidding.  Or maybe it’s a Pixar movie like Finding Nemo (2002) or The Incredibles (2003).

On my list of movies that have to be in the conversation:

• Almost Famous (2000) – will have to see it again; don’t care for Kate Hudson, but will stick it out.  Plus, my first internet business was selling online the www.fugit-about-it shirt.  Didn’t go so well.
• Traffic (2000) – good, but a complete knock off of a German movie so really cannot give it high marks – maybe Best Adapted 2000s movie ;)
• Memento (2001) – My #1.  Forgot about this and loved it. Still don’t know if he ever killed anyone or not.
• Finding Nemo (2002) - yep
• Lost in Translation (2002) – too artsy for me I guess; I never understand these indies, but at least it meant that Sophia stopped acting
• Mystic River (2002) – too painful for me; Tim Robbins taking a knife in the gut – ooh.  No rewatchability for me; more avoidability.  But yes, well done.
• Pirates of the Caribbean (2002) – that was a fun film – made me a Depp fan. Have you seen Public Enemies?
• Sideways (2003) – Yep, entertaining too.
• Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) – Clooney at his best again
• Little Miss Sunshine (2006) – funny cause Rick James never so well represented.
• The Departed (2006) – Too, Marty deserves an Oscar for me, and Jack mailed it in as Jack.  Loved Leo though.  And you can never get enough Vera Farmiga!
• Michael Clayton (2007) – excellent film.  That, my friend, is why you have a blog.  The scene at the end where he gets her to offer $10M was fantastic.  And any movie that gives Danny Noonan another shot is OK with me.
• Juno (2007) – Entertaining, but as the Sports Guy would say, so underrated it became overrated
• The Dark Knight (2008) – What am I missing?  Why don’t I like these?  The first two X-Men were better – sure, not as ‘deep’ – but more entertaining, and I have a huge mancrush on Hugh Jackman

Movies I love that I would not call the “Movie of the Decade”:

• Billy Elliot (2000) – yes, any movie where an Irish kid can dance and is not kneecapped by the IRA is a keeper
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) – All I can say is Hell Yeoh!
• Gosford Park (2001) – saw it, the Murder of the guy with the knife? That was good.
• Moulin Rouge! (2001) – did not see it and usually cannot stand Nicole Kidman; so overrated she is overrated.
• Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) – did not see it; Gong Show goes CIA?
• Igby Goes Down (2002) – The other Culkin?  Did not see it.
• Narc (2002) – Also did not see this, even though I DRV’d it and had it on my ‘to watch’ list for like two years.
• The Incredibles (2003) - Excellent
• Garden State (2004) – again, a bit indie for me, but Braff and Portman is the best Jew hookup since, well, David and Bathsheba (at least as I imagine Bathsheba)
• The Constant Gardener (2005) – LeCarre always depresses, but very good.
• Syriana (2005) – could have been a bit less convoluted but good too.

It is certainly not Crash (2005) or Million Dollar Baby (2003).  Hated those movies with a passion…  pandering, obvious garbage.  – agree.  Swank taking a header into the stool was silly.  Clint should know better.

If you put a gun to my head, it’s Memento or Michael Clayton for me.  CraigBe and Yes MSG right there on this!

Craigslist

• I don't love Noah's writing, but his Summer Movie Preview is pretty complete, if nothing else.  I find myself looking forward to Iron Man, Speed Racer, Indiana Jones, Get Smart (why open this on the same day as another huge comedy, The Love Guru?), Wall-E, Wanted, Hancock (could be Will Smith's first misfire in some time), The Dark Knight, Step Brothers, The X-Files sequel, Choke, Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder, The International, Towelhead, Hamlet 2, and finally, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (no, not really).
• David Poland handicaps and predicts the box office of the summer hits.  If Hancock hits $250 million, I'll be stunned.  Also, I think he's underestimating the geek quotient on Wanted.  I mean, if 300 can hit a massive opening weekend, then don't you think Wanted will gross more than $62 million all up?  Finally, if Sex and the City only makes $60 million, someone's getting fired at New Line Cinema.  Oh, wait - nevermind.  See David's full box office chart here.
• Dilbert author Scott Adams hated No Country for Old Men and proposes a new system for reviewing movies.
• The first full-length movie has been launched on YouTube, and the creators have an interesting business model behind it.  And by interesting, I mean "no way in hell will this work."
• David Poland again, talking about the Juno Blu-ray DVD.  It comes with a "bonus digital copy" that you can put on your iPod, PC, etc, etc.  This is brilliant, and I'd love to see every DVD come with this.  I mean, if I buy the DVD, and I want to put it on a different platform - can the studios save me some frustration and do the extra work for me?  I don't want to go find special ripping software, potentially breaking several laws... I want to put 17 Curious George episodes on my laptop or iPod for the airplane trip with my kids, but there's no convenient way to do this today.

Predicting Tonight's Oscars

I've been super busy, family, work, life, honest to blog... blah, blah, blah, so I apologize for the lack of writing.  I'm about to take the kids out, but I figured I had to get a few chicken scratches out before tonight's big ceremony. 

Can't wait for Jon... but let's keep the strike jokes to a minimum - most of the country doesn't care.

Anyway, I wrote about this a while back, but here are my predictions (not what I want to win... what I think will win) for the categories that we care about:

Best Picture: No Country For Old Men will win - I'm feeling 100% confident about this one.

Best Director: The Coen Brothers, No Country For Old Men again - Super high confidence... 100%

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood.  Clooney would have had a shot in any other year that DDL didn't perform.  Confidence = 98%

Best Actress:  This is a total mystery to me.  I'll pick Julie Christie, Away From Her, but it could easily go to Marion Cotillard, who apparently has been making a big late push, and maybe they split the vote and give it to Juno's Ellen Page.  Confidence = 35%

Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men.  This is done and done Friend-o.  Confidence = 100%

Best Supporting Actress: Another wide open one.  The critics love Amy Ryan and Cate Blanchett, but no one saw those movies and Cate literally just won for The Aviator when she played a real person.  I think Tilda Swinton gets this.  She's put up a great body of work already, the Academy gets to give a nod to Michael Clayton (which will unfortunately lose everywhere else), and it was one of the three phenomenal performances in my favorite film of the year.  Still... confidence = 60%

Best Original Screenplay: I still think Diablo Cody for Juno will win this, but I'm wondering if she's lost some ground to Tony Gilroy's Michael Clayton, just because I'm not sure the Academy wants to put her up onstage (you know... the whole former stripper thing), but it's really the one script that everyone talked about all season.  Confidence = 85%

Best Adapted Screenplay: It seems like the Coens should get this, but I'm still wondering if there's enough sentiment to give something to There Will Be Blood.  I'm picking No Country For Old Men, but I'll put it at 75% confidence.

The Mainstream Oscar Nominations

The headlines will go to There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men (and rightfully so) for leading the field with 8 nominations each.

However, each year, I like to go through the 8 mainstream categories (Picture, Director, Acting, Writing) and redo the tallies, just so it's easier to see whether a film racked up a bunch of nominations thanks to categories lie Best Costume Editing by a Farm Animal.  Anyway, here's the new list... if you're only looking at the 40 nominations from the mainstream categories:

Michael Clayton - 6
Juno - 4
No Country for Old Men - 4
There Will Be Blood - 4
Atonement - 3
Away From Her - 2
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - 2
The Savages - 2
American Gangster - 1
Charlie Wilson's War - 1
Eastern Promises - 1
Elizabeth: The Golden Age - 1
Gone Baby Gone - 1
I'm Not There - 1
In the Valley of Elah - 1
Into the Wild - 1
La Vie en Rose - 1
Lars and the Real Girl - 1
Ratatouille - 1
Sweeney Todd - 1
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - 1

Oscar Nominations - Craig's Thoughts

Overall, no complaints.  This has been a very, very strong year, but if they have to cancel an Oscar ceremony due to the strike, this is the one.  The box office of the Best Picture nominees are staggeringly low (save Juno), so ratings will be down this year anyway.

Best Picture
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

Into the Wild, Sweeney Todd, and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly get shut out here.

Best Actor
George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd
Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises

Tommy Lee Jones is the surprise here, meaning Emile Hirsch gets left out.  Also no James McAvoy...

Actress
Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie, Away from Her
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Laura Linney, The Savages
Ellen Page, Juno

I guess I understand why people don't want to nominate Angelina Jolie for A Mighty Heart, but Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth 2?  C'mon people...  that's just lazy.  And what did Kiera Knightley do to piss off the Academy so badly?  I guess that's how Cate and Laura Linney snuck in.

Best Supporting Actor
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James...
Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson’s War
Hal Holbrook, Into The Wild
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton

Yep, sounds right.  Nothing surprising here.

Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There
Ruby Dee, American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan, Atonement
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

I'm just gonna say it.  Ruby Dee is the only African American nominated in a major category.  Happy day after MLK day.

Best Director
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Jason Reitman, Juno
Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood

Holy crap - I can't believe Juno and Michael Clayton snuck in here!  (Doing a little happy dance...)  So Sean Penn is out, Joe Wright can't get a nomination even with Atonement's tracking shot that people couldn't shut up about, and Tim Burton is still on the outside looking in.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Christopher Hampton, Atonement
Sarah Polley, Away from Her
Ronald Harwood, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood

Yep - nice surprise for Sarah Polley, but this is going to the Coens.

Best Original Screenplay
Diablo Cody, Juno
Nancy Oliver, Lars and the Real Girl
Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton
Brad Bird, Ratatouille
Tamara Jenkins, The Savages

Sounds about right.  All the best picture nominees are accounted for in the writing categories (even Atonement)

Tracking Oscar Season

I've updated my page tracking the various year-end awards, and trends are definitely emerging.  The Oscars don't always (or ever) hold to this form, since we're tracking film critics instead of actual Oscar voters, but seeing wave after wave of the same people winning these awards must affect the way voters might think.

Almost nothing has changed since before the holidays, with the Big Board looking like this:

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Best Picture: No Country For Old Men over There Will Be Blood (17-3).  I guess the only thing that can stop this film is if lots of people go to see it, and have the same reaction to the last 20 minutes that I did.  Namely, "huh"?  If Juno or Michael Clayton can pull off an upset, I'd be stoked... but I don't see it happening.

Best Director: The Coen Brothers over Paul Thomas Anderson (15-4).  This one is done.  I think they've got it in the bag.  If Tim Burton and Sweeney Todd push themselves over the edge, I'd be shocked.

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis over George Clooney (12-5).  DDL could win an Oscar any time he steps in the ring.  It's almost not fair.  By the way... could someone tell Paramount Vintage to OPEN THIS DAMN MOVIE IN SEATTLE SO I CAN SEE IT?!?!?  Cool - thanks.  Also, does it mean anything that Johnny Depp received no critic awards and no SAG nomination?  Just throwing that out there.

Best Actress:  Here's where the biggest only change took place - Julie Christie over Ellen Page (11-9).  Julie Christie was dominating before the holidays, but Juno's current box office momentum sent Ellen Page soaring up into what might be the only battle of the evening.  Marion Cotillard could still win, but she's not really on this radar screen.

Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem over Casey Affleck (15-3).  I think this one is done too.  Even people who didn't love this movie know in their hearts that Bardem's performance was devastatingly terrifying.

Best Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan over Cate Blanchett (14-4).  Even though this looks like a blowout, in my heart I believe that this one is still open, simply because I think approximately 4 people around the country have seen Gone Baby Gone and I'm Not There combined, and no one had heard of Amy Ryan before this film.  Does the combination of a previously unknown actress in a film that no one saw scream Academy Award winner to you?  I can definitely see Tilda Swinton pulling off an upset here.

Best Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody (Juno) will win this.  I wish I could give it to Tony Gilroy for Michael Clayton, but it's not to be.  Original Screenplay usually goes to the quirky film that gets the Best Picture nomination, but not the win (Pulp Fiction, Sideways, Lost in Translation, Almost Famous, etc.).  You know... for the kids.

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Coens again seem to own this, with the only real competition coming from Paul Thomas Anderson.  It would be interesting if they wanted to recognize both films this year, giving Picture and Director to No Country for Old Men, but giving Screenplay to There Will Be Blood.  Hmmm....

Director Jason Reitman Reviews Celebrity Porn

As if I didn't love this guy enough after giving us Juno and Thank You For Smoking, but he recently wrote reviews for the Colin Farrell, Pamela Anderson, and Paris Hilton sex tapes on his blog.  There are many to choose from, but I think this might be my favorite line, as he refers to Paris' performance:

There are honestly moments when you can’t help think, I had no idea feigning ennui could be done with a full mouth.

No, wait... maybe it's this:

One Night in Paris – A one-act Pinteresque evening with a reprobate and a lithe hotel-heiress told mostly in first person.

Roger Ebert's Top 10 of 2007

Caught Juno today.  Pretty darn perfect if you ask me... or Roger Ebert:

1. Juno
2. No Country for Old Men
3. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
4. Atonement
5. The Kite Runner
6. Away From Her
7. Across the Universe
8. La Vie en Rose
9. The Great Debaters
10. Into the Wild

Conspicuously Missing: Sweeney Todd, Michael Clayton, There Will Be Blood, Charlie Wilson's War, The Savages, American Gangster, Zodiac, Once, etc...

Ellen Page and Ethan Hawke - Separated at Birth?

I happened to catch Reality Bites over the Thanksgiving Holiday (gosh I wish Winona didn't screw up her career...) so I guess the flick was fresh in my mind.

Then just now, I was watching the international trailer for Juno, and there's this one shot of Ellen Page (pictured below) where my screwed up brain said, "Whoa... she, she... she looks like Ethan Hawke from Reality Bites!"  So, I've been digging around the interwebs, and while I can't find a great picture to match where my head was, I found some that might be close.  Thoughts?  Am I completely nuts?!?

Take Ethan's hair from the first picture, and put it on the second picture where he's doing the eyebrows thing, and I think we've got ourselves another Ellen Page.  Maybe.  With facial hair.

Please note that I don't mean this as an insult to Ellen (or Ethan) in the slightest, and I cannot wait for Juno to come out.  Maybe it was even her tone of "Go Carol," that sounded like Ethan being a smart ass to Ben Stiller's character that triggered it for me.  Still, I think I'm onto something here... no idea what though.

Independent Spirit Award Nominations

...and Award Season is here!

If you've got a budget under $20 million, then you too can be an Independent Spirit Nominee.  I've cut-and-paste a few of the categories below, and you can read David Poland's analysis here.  By the way, look at all the amazing films that were first-time screenwriters (Juno, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, etc.)

Best feature
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
I'm Not There
Juno
A Mighty Heart
Paranoid Park

Best director
Todd Haynes, I'm Not There
Tamara Jenkins, The Savages
Jason Reitman, Juno
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Gus Van Sant, Paranoid Park

Best screenplay
Ronald Harwood, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Tamara Jenkins, The Savages
Fred Parnes & Andrew Wagner, Starting Out in the Evening
Adrienne Shelly, Waitress
Mike White, Year of the Dog

Best first screenplay
Jeffrey Blitz, Rocket Science
Zoe Cassavetes, Broken English
Diablo Cody, Juno
Kelly Masterson, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
John Orloff, A Mighty Heart

Best female lead
Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
Sienna Miller, Interview
Ellen Page, Juno
Parker Posey, Broken English
Tang Wei, Lust, Caution

Best male lead
Pedro Castaneda, August Evening
Don Cheadle, Talk to Me
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Savages
Frank Langella, Starting Out in the Evening
Tony Leung, Lust, Caution

Best supporting female
Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
Anna Kendrick, Rocket Science
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Margot at the Wedding
Tamara Podemski, Four Sheets to the Wind
Marisa Tomei, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Best supporting male
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Talk to Me
Marcus Carl Franklin, I'm Not There
Kene Holliday, Great World of Sound
Irrfan Khan, The Namesake
Steve Zahn, Rescue Dawn

Juno Trailer

Wow... take Thank You for Smoking, Hard Candy, and Arrested Development and blend it on puree to get Juno.  Here's just a taste of the dialog from the trailer that you'll be wishing you could write:

"Where have you been?" 
"Just out... dealing with things way beyond my maturity level."

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"Your parents are probably wondering where you are."
"Naw, I mean, I'm already pregnant so what other sort of shenanigans could I get into?"