I just didn't like the evening... wait... that came out wrong... I loved being with our friends and having a good time...
It's just the Red Carpet.. and the Awards... meh
No stellar dresses... STUPID people doing the coverage of the Red Carpet....and with SO many "dark" movies nominated, it was just kind of depressing, and since we don't see those kind of movies, we had no vested interest with anything in the show.
On top of that, no contest this year at the party because "because Michael always wins!!"
Well... not ALWAYS...
Performance by an actor in a leading role
Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Javier Bardem in “No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
Performance by an actress in a leading role
Marion Cotillard in “La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse)
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Tilda Swinton in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)
Best animated feature film of the year
“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney) Brad Bird
Achievement in art direction
“Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
Art Direction: Dante Ferretti
Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
Achievement in cinematography
“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Robert Elswit
Achievement in costume design
“Elizabeth: The Golden Age” (Universal) Alexandra Byrne
Achievement in directing
“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Best documentary feature
“Taxi to the Dark Side” (THINKFilm)
An X-Ray Production
Alex Gibney and Eva Orner
Best documentary short subject
“Freeheld”
A Lieutenant Films Production
Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth
Achievement in film editing
“The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal) Christopher Rouse
Best foreign language film of the year
“The Counterfeiters” An Aichholzer Filmproduktion, Magnolia Filmproduktion Production
Austria
Achievement in makeup
“La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse) Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
“Atonement” (Focus Features) Dario Marianelli
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“Falling Slowly” from “Once”
(Fox Searchlight)
Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
Best motion picture of the year
“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production
Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
Best animated short film
“Peter & the Wolf” (BreakThru Films)
A BreakThru Films/Se-ma-for Studios Production
Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman
Best live action short film
“Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)” (Premium Films)
A Karé Production
Philippe Pollet-Villard
Achievement in sound editing
“The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal)
Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg
Achievement in sound mixing
“The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal)
Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis
Achievement in visual effects
“The Golden Compass” (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners)
Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood
Adapted screenplay
“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Original screenplay
“Juno” (Fox Searchlight)
Written by Diablo Cody
Today, starting at 11am, select AMC theaters will start a marathon of movies nominated for Best Picture at tomorrow's Academy Awards.
Michael Clayton 11:00 a.m.For $30, you get a free large popcorn with unlimited refills all day. Oh, and there's this "collectible pass" for the event.
There Will Be Blood 1:20 p.m.
Atonement 4:20 p.m.
Juno 7:00 p.m.
No Country for Old Men 9:00 p.m.
I think this would be SO COOL... but... if I have problems sitting through one movie, how am I going to sit for 5 movies over 12 hours?
]]>After a day of getting a haircut, getting food for the rabbits (and fighting the dog and cat adoption chaos inside the store), having a wonderful lunch at CPK, buying a long-overdue new radio for Carol's truck... we went to the AMC South Barrington 30 and caught the 4:20 showing of Michael Clayton.
A great movie... really. And George Clooney is really growing on me as an actor. But, it's becoming apparent to me, that if I am going to the movies, I want something else. I want action. I want fun. The last three movies were none of those. I think I need to find something to watch to break this cycle.
]]>Well, I have to say lately that I think I've decided that "my kind of movie" is one that entertains, it could be "light", it could be "action"... and this movie doesn't fall into that genre for me. I was reluctant to go, but as Carol pointed out to me, I seem to have been steering our movie going in that direction when the four of us are together and it was time to see one of "their" movies.
A bit dark... a bit disturbing (the subject matter)... but.. I MUST admit, well performed... and enjoyable in that sense.
And, to top it off, my legs didn't twitch at all in those seats, and I haven't the foggiest reason why.
After the movie, we drove back to their neighborhood to hit a LITTLE restaurant that we love going to - El Tapatio. The food was great, as always, but tonight our issues were 1) sitting under a speaker that was JUST TOO LOUD... and 2) since when do all these toddlers love Mexican food? the restaurant is TINY and the tables really close together, especially in the back where we always seem to sit, but I don't like have to scoot my chair as close to the table as possible (up against my stomach) to stay out of the way of the lady sitting behind.. .and the toddler always running into my chair... the amount of kids in such a tiny restaurant was startling...
We went to their house afterward to watch Game 3 of the World Series (there's no way Boston is gonna loose this series... sorry Colorado...) and had some yummy hot apple pie from Dinkel's (complete with a great vanilla bean ice cream, too).
]]>After work tonight, we decided to start catching up on the major releases, so we dashed over to the AMC South Barrington 30 again to catch a 6pm showing of X-Men: The Last Stand.
I have mixed feelings about this one. Great action. I don't think I care. There were some really nice things, though. Like Ian McKellen (Eric Lensherr/Magneto) and Patrick Stewart (Professor Charles Xavier) looking over 20 years younger thanks to CGI.
My most favorite new character? Dr. Hank McCoy, Secretary of Mutant Affairs / Beast (Kelsey Grammer).
But... I just didn't REALLY get into the movie. Too bad that's the end of the movie franchise.
]]>Speaking of Indy... there's another Indy on TV today - the Indianapolis 500.
WHY THE HELL CAN'T ABC BROADCAST THE INDY 500 IN HD? Hell, Fox broadcasts all of the NASCAR events in HD, and this is a special event! What the hell!
We had to get new blinds for the bedroom - the one on my side of the bed actually started to fall apart from all that exposure to the sun after all of these years. Carol went to Lowes and had some blinds cut to size... too bad they were the wrong size. At least she had them cut too long so she could go back and take some more off. After she struggled with that, then we had to change the mounting hardware... Let's just say the task took way longer than either of us thought. Then, when everything was done, we rushed to the AMC South Barrington 30 to catch a 3:10 showing of Mission: Impossible III.
Eh.
It was OK (I got over my Tom Cruise issues quickly), and there was a LOT of action, but... I don't know, it seemed a little implausible (what? an IMF Mission being implausible? Well, it wasn't the mission - it was the fact an IMF agent would get married to someone that doesn't know what he really does for a living - I think that was my problem)
UPDATE: On Thursday night, ABC broadcast the Scripps Spelling Bee. LIVE. IN HDTV
]]>B & B drove out from the city and the four of us went to the AMC South Barrington 30 this afternoon to catch a 4:00 showing of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
This film really is darker and more intense than the prior movies. Still great acting, great story and yet the directors have all been aware that even though it's am effects laden movie, the effects never overwhelm the storyline or experience. Also, a bit longer than I remember.
After the movie, we went back to our house for shrimp and orzo with garlic bread, and talked for an hour or so. We love seeing each other and just spending time together.
]]>LOVED IT!!!
TWO things:
OOMPA-LOOMPAS!!!! Holy crap I loved these guiys... or guy actually (It was one guy - Deep Roy - who played 165 oompa-loompas via digital effects) GREAT new songs - all from Roald Dahl himself (lyrics, anyway. Music and vocals by Danny Elfman)
and Squirrels! (or, has Veruca says "squir-rels" - I don't know about you, but around here we call them "squirlz" and not "squir-rels") You have to see 40 REAL (not digital produced) squirrels opening nuts in the nut sorting room (they do get digitally animated later in the scene for some specific actions), but they actually trained the squirrels for the nut-sorting!
Over-all, very enjoyable! And the inclusion of a Willy Wonka backstory seems to round-out the script and gives what I think is a more satisfying ending to the moving (compared to the original).
I only missed one thing - I would have LOVED to hear Johnny Depp deliver that wonderful verse:
"There's no earthly way of knowing]]>
Which direction we are going
There's no knowing where we're rowing
Or which way the river's flowing
Is it raining?
Is it snowing?
Is a hurricane a-blowing?
Not a speck of light is showing
So the danger must be growing
Are the fires of hell a-glowing?
Is the grisly reaper mowing?
Yes, the danger must be growing
'Cause the rowers keep on rowing
And they're certainly not showing
Any signs that they are slowing! "
I'm still not sure how I feel about the movie. Effects - SUPERB. Technology is really getting effective. I guess I'm still stumbling around the plot, or story line, or how I feel about it. I guess I have to just look at it as "a day in the life" (or many days in the life) of a divorced dad and his kids... when aliens invade the earth with the intent of wiping out all of humanity and succeeding easily with NO HOPE of being able to fight them off, even just a little, to just save a small town or city, only to slowly realize that perhaps they cannot save the entire human species from genocide. The ending scenes... sucked, I think. I wasn't expecting resolution, but surely you would think that something changed in the family relationships by the end... (and why the hell did those few blocks in Boston look surprisingly untouched?)
So, even though we initially talked about going to Big Bowl for dinner, Buffy mentioned she needed meat. So. we made dinner reservations at Chicago Prime Steakhouse, which we haven't been to in years. Had a WONDERFUL wait-person named Cindy who was one of the better servers that we've had in years (If you go - ask for her - you won't be disappointed). We had wonderful meals - though it was quite a bit pricier that we were prepared for.
Afterward, we went back to our house so that we could show them the landscaping that Diane had done, the new rugs that they haven't seen in the living room/dining room, and of course, to take a short spin in front of the big screen TV for a while.
In just two weeks we're heading up to Diane's house in Michigan for a mini-getaway. We're all looking forward to that.
]]>I actually shed a tear at the end. Not because of the acting, not because of the storyline. Because it's over. Six movies and 3 decades. It's over.
]]>Had an unusual experience in the theater. For the ENTIRE movie, I was the only one in the theater. No one even poked their head in to see what the crowd looked like APR peek at the movie. It was my own private screening. Carol called my cell phone during the movie. I actually talked on my cell phone in the middle of the movie - I wasn't disturbing ANYBODY!
]]>The movie was... good. I think Carol enjoyed it more than I. It was hard to follow because there were a lot of flashbacks and plot points that weren't revealed until late in the movie. It just wasn't as satisfying as Ocean's Eleven.
]]>We typically don't go to the movies on a Saturday, especially as it turns toward evening. Today, we found out why that's a good thing.
We got to the theaters about half an hour before the scheduled showtime. We were in Theater 29 (out of 30), so we were in one of the smaller theaters, and already there were people camped out in the "good seats". (Everyone has "good seats" when they go to the movies - it's that place where you always want to sit because it gives you the correct angle to the screen, not too close where you can't see the whole sctreen, but not too far away where the screen appears too small for your liking and the audio is now at a lower level than what you like). During the next 20 minutes, there was a steady flow of people coming into the theater, eventually filling up every seat 10 minutes before showtime. The group is mixed between adults, teens and parents with kids of all ages. It was so bad, coples were plitting up so they could sit in individual seats across the theater.
Then the wait seemed to be getting longer. Sure enough, it's 5 minutes after trhe scheduled start and a quick look into the projection booth shows... the projector opened-up and somebody working inside. Another 5 minutes pass and I look around the auditorium and see kids starting to run around and popcorn everywhere. This could get messy.
The lights come down and the audio of the trailers starts up. The audio is familiar and when the bulb in the projectror turns on, everyone realizes it's the trailer for Star Wars III. But - the framing is off and the top half of the film is on the bottom of the screen and vice-versa. The crowd is screaming for someone to fix it as the trailer plods on... eventually someone hears our pleas. Damn. It was the only trailer I really wanted to see. We see the SpongeBob SquarePants trailer and then anothertrailer startes for some animated story I didn't know when the film comes off the sprokets, and out of the gate and shuts down. Now management is involved trying to calm the crowd. Because the delay is so long, we are given free small drink and free small popcorn vouchers. The trailers start again, this time it starts in the middle of Pixar's next picture - Cars - due in November of next year. A Pixar short starts - and abruptly stops. Management is back - we're getting free passes for a movie as compensation for our trouble. The theater all this time is pandemonium of kids being restless, people going to and from the concessions, people just leaving from having to endure these delays, and people still coming into the theater looking for non-existant seats.
50 minutes after the scheduled start, The Incredibles is finally on the screen.
Thre wasn't a hitch during the show, which was a relief. The movie itself was absolutely great! It explores ideas never brought before on the screen - such as what happens to superheroes when society turns litigious? How do superhero families cope with their powers... or just cope to fit-in with society? The animation is great, the voice acting again is great. This is well worth seeing! It will be another Pixar hit - guaranteed!
]]>Well, it was... good. I thought it was odd that it was video projected instead of being on film. The film had an interesting concept - everyone in the future would have the option to implant an organic chip in their child that will record (audio/video) everything in your life (I think, based on clips in the film, that the chip is implanted in eutero) from birth until death. Then, instead of a normal wake, the family and/or friends would hire a "Cutter" to edit all of the recorded material into a feature-length movie that's called a "Rememory" that is shown at a Remembrance ceremony that is held at what is a cross between funeral parlor and movie theater. There are interesting ethics issues that come up when dealing with this kind of material and the movie tries to show how they could all play out - though a bit unsuccessfully. Recommendation? Wait for cable - if that.
]]>