NO FRENCH THEATER RELEASE FOR THE BLIND SIDE

[10.50 - French Time] Read on Premiere.fr. The Blind side is a huge box office hit in the US and Sandra Bullock won an Academy award (Best Actress) but Warner Brothers will not release the football drama in French theaters.

Apparently, it's Football (as opposed to what is called Soccer in the US) which commercially prevents French audiences to watch the movie on a big screen, as this typical American sport sells not very well in local cinemas. The film is already available in VOD.

http://www.premiere.fr/Cinema/News-Cinema/Sandra-Bullock-un-Oscar-pour-un-inedit-en-France-dispo-en-VOD/(gid)/2242449 (In French)

82ND ACADEMY AWARDS

[6.50 - French Time] Thank God the great Nikki Finke did her usual "Live-Snarking" magic on her site, Deadline.com, which spared us to watch another borefest telecast. That's why Nikki is the best at her job, should I "live-blog" the Academy Awards I'd jump from my second floor before the end of the show.

Talented Austrian actor Christoph Waltz gets a deserved Best Supporting Actor for Inglorious Basterds. Let's hope that Hollywoodland will not stick him into the villain gig, for we can't tell if Y & R will still exist in ten years and French and Brit actors need work too.

Animated Feature goes to Up, which also wins Best Music for Michael Giacchino. The Weary Kind (from Crazy Heart) gets Original Song. JJ Abrams' Star Trek wins Makeup - Makeup! Nikki is right when she says that Star Trek should have been nominated for Best Picture.

Precious wins Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Mo'Nique. « A win for diversity in Hollywood », writes our dear She Who Must Be Read about Adapted Screenplay. Well, it would have been a TRIUMPH for diversity in Hollywood if the charming Gabourey Sidibe had won Best Actress for her groundbreaking performance in the movie. Movies like Precious help to keep some little faith in this industry, but unfortunately Sidibe lost to Sandra Bullock.

Argentinian movie El Secreto de Sus Ojos wins Best Foreign Language Film and beats French favourite A Prophet. Jeff Bridges is Best Actor for Crazy Heart.

Anyway this year's ceremony was all clichéed by the duel between ex-spouses Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) and James Cameron (Avatar). The Hurt Locker wins Best Director, Best Picture, Best original Screenplay and Best Editing (plus the two awards for Sound). Avatar gets Best Art Direction, Cinematography and of course Visual Effects (« Seriously, if Avatar hadn't won this category, Jim Cameron could go home right now » writes Nikki!)

In December your humble servant wrote: « The video game industry makes more money than Hollywoodland. With Avatar it's as if you plunged into the cinematics of a VG and contemporary moviegoers love VGs (moviemakers too and sometimes too much). But is it still cinema? » Nikki Finke thinks Avatar "changed the way Hollywood makes movies" (http://www.deadline.com/2010/03/oscar-barred-academy-of-shame-makes-decision-thats-lame/).

Yes, there will be more 3D films and even more franchises. Will the Smurfs movie or the film adaptation of Gilligan's Island be "3Dised"? I Can't wait.

Everything considered, methinks Academy voters did a rather balanced job this year. I was expecting a Blue Man Group concert, you know.

http://www.deadline.com/2010/03/live-blogging-the-82nd-oscars/
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/news/a206942/in-full-oscars-2010-the-winners.html

81st ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS (PART THREE)

«The musical is back ». Hugh Jackman dressed as Mandrake The Magician and duetting with Beyoncé in the giant musical piece of the evening, created by Baz Luhrmann (Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge!), was so Night of the 100 Stars or The Monte Carlo Show... Regarding what British comedy duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders has done with Mamma Mia! for Comic Relief 2009 just dream of what they could do with such material.

Don't get your humble servant wrong, the number was great and I love musicals but is Top Hat what we expect of an event celebrating the movie industry of the 21st century? As Nikki Finke remarked in her now legendary "Live-snarking" (Nikki dixit) of the ceremony: « Where are the special effects, eye-popping visuals, and other high-tech gizmos? » (http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/live-snarking-the-2009-academy-awards/). And let's pray that Jackman's line about Doubt - The musical was no psychic.

Talking about musicals, Mr Joel Grey, the living god of the genre (Cabaret), was with Christopher Walken, Alan Arkin, Cuba Gooding Jr and Kevin Kline for the Best actor in a supporting role category. Gooding Jr joked that the next Robert Downey Jr movie was Shaft because of his role in Tropic Thunder with a black face (« The brothers need to work! »). Did the authors ignore the 2000 remake of Shaft by John Singleton? The late Heath Ledger won for The Dark Knight.

Best documentary feature, introduced by Bill Maher, went to James Marsh and Simon Chinn for Man on Wire - about tightrope walker Philippe Petit. This inspired Nikki Finke her snarky « You know the Kodak Theatre audience is starved for entertainment when a Frenchman balancing an Oscar on his chin gets the night's biggest applause », already noticed on this blog (http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2009/02/only-reason-to-keep-eye-on-academy.html). What we'd do to amuse America, hey?

The Action 2008 "yearbook" with its vis-a-vis of car chases from Quantum of Solace and Speed Racer illustrated by Tick Tick Boom, sung by The Hives, left the impression that the Hollywoodland actioner factory is déjà vu all over again. And Iron Man worths far more than that. I know the idea was to put all the post production categories together but the transition between the yearbook and the introduction by Will Smith of the Outstanding visual effects category sounded strange. I didn't know Benjamin Button was an action movie, but the movie won this one.

« Yes they still have me here. I believe Hugh is napping » said Smith after Outstanding sound editing (for The Dark Knight) and Best sound mixing (for Slumdog Millionaire). Chris Dickens won the Best Film editing for Slumdog Millionaire. Next time we'll try to terminate one of the most enduring cultural clichés about France (Have a guess).

PS: Hear the voice of She Who Must be Read. My attention missed this Oscar Preview on the Aussie ABC Radio National (February 23 2009) with Nikki Finke (http://www.abc.net.au/rn/breakfast/stories/2009/2498204.htm).

(To be followed)

Part One: http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2009/02/81st-annual-academy-awards-part-one.html
Part Two: http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2009/03/81st-annual-academy-awards-part-two.html

81st ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS (PART TWO)

Jennifer Aniston («Talking squirrels, romantic robots and super-powered dogs... ») and Jack Black (« ... These are just a few of the ways producers describe actors behind their backs») introduced the Best Animation category.

A "yearbook" reminded us that maybe it's time for the animation industry to move on: a robot, a panda, chimps, a whole zoo, an elephant, penguins and a mouse. All creatures great and small... except for The clone wars and Wall-E, this animated year looked like Noah's Ark! Jack Black was fantastic: « Each year I do one Dreamworks project, then I take all the money to the Oscars and bet it on Pixar» - even Jeffrey Katzenberg seemed to sincerely enjoy the line. Wall-E won, how much won Mr Black this evening? Fortunately, the beautiful La maison en petits cubes, won the Best Animated Shortfilm.

Then came the unlikely tandem of Sarah Jessica Parker and Daniel Craig... for the Best Art Direction category and Best Costume design. Why can't I help thinking that the fact that Parker and Craig presented the latter is revelatory. « We don't have to tell you what the makeup artist does » SJP went on, « Just look at us », added Craig. I'm a James Bourne quitter since I fell asleep during Casino Royale, but Daniel Craig, who is a fine actor (Layer Cake) deserves better. You can't imagine Chris Noth saying that... The curious case of Benjamin Button won Best Art Direction and Best Achievement in Makeup, The Duchess won Best Costume design.

Best cinematography was introduced by Natalie Portman and Ben Stiller. Sorry Nikki (Finke), but I found Ben Stiller hilarious as Joaquin Phoenix (« I heard that Slumdog Millionaire was shot entirely on a cell phone »). For our readers who may ignore it, Phoenix announced in October 2008 his retirement from film to focus on a career as a rapper. And since then he wears a long beard and dark glasses. Stiller will certainly not "retire from being a funny guy" with this one but Nikki Finke is right: "Christian Bale" as Batman (with an Adam West costume) and "Joquin Phoenix" at the IFC Spirit Awards, with Brit comic genius Steve Coogan and director Frank Coraci (1), were by far much better (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPLs6v_52GQ&hl=fr). Anyway, Anthony Dod Mantle won for Slumdog Millionaire, which is amazing for a movie shot entirely on a cell phone.

Actually the funniest part of the show was James Franco and Seth Rogen watching DVDs and laughing loud watching The Reader, even if I don't get the stapler stuff a la Jackass. But the "intrusion" of Janusz Kaminski (director of photography on Saving Private Ryan or the last Indiana Jones) and a film crew in their apartment saved the segment. « If you liked that piece, I helped write it. If you didn't, then it was all Judd Apatow » said Seth Rogen - allow me here to salute one of my friends, the great Tristan Harvey, who's the French-speaking dubbing voice of Rogen in Quebec.

Franco, Kaminski and Rogen introduced the Best live action short film, won by Spielzeugland (Toyland). One of the commenters under Deadline Hollywood Daily's Live blogging of the Oscars (http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/live-snarking-the-2009-academy-awards/) wrote: « I’m totally enjoying the Oscars this year. So much better than last year. Vicodin really makes everything better ». Even Gregory House reads Nikki Finke!

(To be followed)

(1) http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2008/06/frank-coraci.html

Part One: http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2009/02/81st-annual-academy-awards-part-one.html
Part Three: http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2009/04/81st-annual-academy-awards-part-three.html

81st ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS (PART ONE)

The stakes were high this Sunday, February 23, for the 81st Annual Academy Awards ("The Oscars"), because of the terrible ratings of last year's telecast on ABC (http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/update-worst-rated-oscars-since-nielsens-started-tracking-them-in-1974/).

So, last september, Sid Ganis - president of the Academy Of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) - gave the production of the event to Laurence Mark and Bill Condon (http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/yet-more-cronyism-in-choosing-81st-oscar-producers-larry-mark-bill-condon/). Then the AMPAS asked Australian actor Hugh Jackman to host the show (http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/motion-picture-academy-wants-hugh-jackman-to-host-he-may-say-yes-if-this-oscars-are-different/).

At the time your humble French servant made a cheap joke: « Wolverine: The AA’s Final Cut… ». The fact is I wanted Brit comedian extraordinary Ricky Gervais. Then I learned (how ignorant I am!) that Jackman hosted the prestigious Tony Awards - which recognize achievement in live American theatre - three times (2003-2005) and that he's a consumed entertainer.

I don't want to be trivial but the view of Hugh Jackman in a tux almost made cry the old James Bond fan I am, as he would have made an an acceptable 007 (even if Clive Owen is still my personal choice). The intro jokes were great, especially the « I'm an Australian, who played an Australian in a movie called Australia - Hosting ». And the « Next year I'll be starring in a movie called New Zealand » because of recession downsizing was brilliant.

All started rather well then came that - er, how to put it - embarassing opening number qualified by Nikki Finke as « Worst Academy Awards opening ever » (http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/live-snarking-the-2009-academy-awards/). She adds that the infamous 1989 opener with Rob Lowe and Snow White (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qeygd0qPDM) looks « like a masterpiece in comparison ». How cruel... But no, Snow White stays N°1. Poor Anne Hathaway, by the way...

The introduction of the nominees for the Best actress in a supporting role by five previous recipients of this category was heavy. But hearing Whoopi Goldberg saying « Your love interest is always off screen » when talking about nuns in the movies, made us wish she stayed to host. Is this line from former Hollywood Squares alumnus Bruce Vilanch - one of the authors?

One of the highlights of the evening was Tina Fey and Steve Martin for the the Best original screenplay category. Tina Fey was the best reason to watch SNL before the election, and Steve Martin is one of my childhood heroes - that's why I find Pink Panther 2 very sad. This segment was a great moment of fun but also of emotion, with the touching acceptance speech of Dustin Lance Black for Milk. Personnally, I would have given the Oscar to Martin McDonagh for In Bruges, one of the best films I've ever seen in my life of movie buff.

Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire), winner for the Best adapted screenplay, thanked his wife « for whom repressed English writers have to write love stories because they don't really say what they mean ». Wonderful! That's why the UK is the country of Charlotte Brontë and Jane Austen.

(To be followed)

Part Two: http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2009/03/81st-annual-academy-awards-part-two.html
Part Three: http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2009/04/81st-annual-academy-awards-part-three.html