Bookworm

'Atonement' Stars Talk Oscar

'Atonement' Stars Talk Oscar   
in Entertainment Weekly by Dave Karger, 28 January 2008

Golden Globe winner 'Atonement,' adapted from the Ian McEwan novel, has Oscar aspirations and its young stars are caught in a whirlwind of media attention. In this candid interview, Keira Knightley and James McAvoy answer questions about working with director Joe Wright and what questions they get asked the most by the media. They also discuss creating Atonement's pivotal sex scene while Wright coached them from five feet away. Karger's amusing fluff piece should satisfy many movie fans in this award season.

If you like Will Smith. . .

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is now worldwide box office royalty. Promotional trips for his leading role in the new film I Am Legend, playing a scientist who is the last person alive on earth, will take family man Will Smith to Hong Kong, Tokyo and Korea to meet his global audience of fans. The actor, in Keegan's opinion, has mastered the "delicate art of of appearing artless," but has an MIT-quality brain and a work ethic to match. Will Smith fans should be all over this fast-reading, insightful interview chock full of little known facts and great quotes.

Academy Awards

• Ellen Degeneres did a good job.  She had just the right laidback tone, wasn't trying to show off, was able to josh the audience without sounding condescending. 
• I really liked the concept of honoring all the nominees, not just the winner.
• The little girl who was in Little Miss Sunshine looked so sweet in that beautiful dress.  I found it humorous when Jaden Smith was striding out to help her give the two "short" awards and she's walking as fast as she can in heels and dress trying to get out there at the same time.  I don't think Jaden was paying attention to that.  He's just a little guy.  It was cute that he goofed up and started moving on to the second award before they'd announced the winner of the first one.
• Seinfeld was pretty funny, joking about how we all want to see the faces of the people who don't win the award.  That practice is a bit mean and I'm guessing that some serious acting goes on when folks put a big smile on their face for the winner.  I'm sure they respect their contemporaries, but of course they wish they had won!  They could always have a camera on each person and just cut away from the non-winners once the name is announced.
• They didn't seem to do quite as much crowd-surfing as normal -- didn't see Oprah (who I'm guessing was there).  I didn't see Pitt, Jolie, Aniston, or Katie Holmes there -- perhaps a wise choice on all their parts to miss the chaotic event.
• The members of the dance troupe that did the shadow puppet poses were really amazing.
• Was I the only one that was clueless as to whether the sound effects chorus was a joke or not?  They can't possibly have been making all those noises to accompany the film clips, could they have?  That was one segment that I could have easily lived without!
• I wonder if part of the "going green" aspect of the show was having fewer camerapeople.  Some of the camera work was really bizarre!  In a way, it gave a bit of visual interest versus just showing the presenter or award winner from one angle, but it was disconcerting to see someone giving a speech while being viewed from the side with a camerman crouched in front of the stage (presumably getting reaction shots).  One time a winner had put the statue on the stage and the camera view went to the statue and away from the winner!  One time the camera, seemingly randomly, went to Jack Nicholson standing off-stage.  When Jennifer Hudson was giving her speech, the camera went to Beyonce's smiling face.  Why?  I know they're co-stars, but shouldn't the winner be entitled to his or her fleeting seconds of screen time? 
• Were there any "real" instruments in the orchestra pit?  I saw the conductor and a guy with a synthesizer and possibly a stringed instrument or two behind them. . .
• Is Jack Nicholson ill?  He's had thinning hair & a comb-over for so long, it was startling to see him with a bald pate.
• Forest Whitaker, who won Best Actor, gets my award for the best speech of the night.  It's ironic that such a seemingly nice and erudite man should be winning the award for playing a cruel dictator. 
• Gwyneth Paltrow looked absolutely stunning.  I liked Kate Winslet's simple, classic dress.  I liked Nicole Kidman's red dress, except that the bow on her right shoulder was really distracting.
• I probably haven't seen any of his movies, but I'm glad that Martin Scorcese won Best Director. 
• The song performances were really great, especially Melissa Etheridge and the Dreamgirls songs.  Did you get the feeling that Beyonce and Jennifer Hudson might have been almost competing to give the best performance?  I think Jennifer has better pipes.  (Speaking of which, isn't it odd that she didn't win American Idol, but has been so successful since?  Perhaps Simon Cowell and the mass-dialing TV viewing public aren't always the final, or best, arbiters of talent and potential?)  I love James Taylor, but either he wasn't wildly inspired last night, or it just wasn't a great song.
• Does Clint Eastwood speak Italian, or was the translation up on a teleprompter?  In such an international year for the Oscars, it was kind of fitting for Marconi's speech to be given in Italian and then translated.
• I agree with whomever chose some of the "worst dressed" choices: Anne Hathaway's dress with the big giant black bow covering the entire bodice was odd.  Kirsten Dunst's dress was definitely odd.  (But they also had Gwyneth as "worst" -- what?  The color of the dress wasn't as pretty in daylight, but onstage, I thought she looked beautiful.)
• I found it ironic, but unsurprising, that when Cameron Diaz walked out, all they could think of to say was, And now, the voice of Princess Fiona in Shrek!  I don't see CD's movies, for the most part, but she's one of the richest (and therefore, by that measure, successful) actresses in Hollywood.  But on this night, she's just a tall girl who does voice-overs. 
• I'm glad Helen Mirren won and I'm more likely to see The Queen now after having seen the snippets during the show.  I was disappointed for Kate Winslet, though.

Recent Movie Roundup

• Backstairs at the White House: I've been enjoying watching this miniseries about a mother and daughter who, between them, worked in the White House from the Taft through the Eisenhower administrations.  If you liked it on TV years ago, you'll probably like it the second time around.
• Hitch: This was a cute romantic comedy.  Will Smith plays the Date Doctor, who helps hapless, but good-hearted men get a chance to date the women they've admired from afar.  Eva Mendes is great in the role of Hitch's love interest; she's a strong counterpart to his character.
• World Trade Center: I wanted to see this movie because it was based on a true story of some men who were trapped on 9/11.  And the acting by Nicholas Cage and Michael Pena was amazing.  I like Nick Cage in some things, but often I've felt he was a "one note" actor; this was extremely well-done.  But it's the first thing I've seen that attempted to emulate what it must have been like to be inside a tower that day.  There will never be a time when watching something like this doesn't metaphorically send shrapnel into your heart.
• If Lucy Fell: If you like Sarah Jessica, you'll probably like this flick from 1996.  I felt the character presaged the character she played in Sex and the City in some ways. 
• The Island: A futuristic science fiction dystopian movie, similar to Paycheck and Minority Report.  I liked Scarlet Johannsen and Ewan Macgregor in it and don't regret the two hours of my life I spend watching it. That said, get ready to suspend disbelief at some of the circumstances the main characters encounter!
• September: This movie is based on the Rosamunde Pilcher novel of the same name.  The casting was very good; many of the actors are from Britain, if not Scotland proper. 
• Wordplay: Do you enjoy crosswords, especially the New York Times crosswords?  Ever wonder what Will Shortz is like?  Did you know there was such a thing as a crossword championship (somewhat similar to Scrabble tournaments, except that you're really competing against the clock and yourself in many ways instead of an opponent until the final round)?  I really enjoyed this movie a lot and bought it for some friends for Christmas. 
• The Devil Wears Prada: Meryl Streep is fabulous as the diva in charge of a high fashion magazine who strikes fear into the hearts of many.  I like the young actress (Anne Hathaway) who plays her new assistant; she is the perfect combination of diamond-in-the-rough and newborn colt on one hand and intelligence and beauty on the other.
• Paycheck: Ben Affleck, sci-fi, action/adventure -- imaginative and creepy plot that has some similarity to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
• Carolina: Julie Stiles and Shirley McLaine and a very dysfunctional extended family

A Netflix Hangover

"The digital revolution has introduced us all to the life-altering phenomenon known as asynchronous entertainment. We can now enjoy movies, TV shows and our favorite media sources wherever, whenever, we want. But a decade into this monumental shift, the drawbacks are coming into focus. Episodes of “The Daily Show” and “Letterman” pile onto our DVR television recorders like copies of The New Yorker, begging to either be consumed or wastefully discarded. Netflix movies line up on our shelves like airplanes on a runway waiting to take off. And all of those blog postings relentlessly flood into our Web browsers every hour, every day. There’s certainly not time for all of it. Is this entertainment? It feels more like homework." [MSNBC.com]

This article amused me.  It's true -- it's so easy to queue up all sorts of stuff that, unless you're unemployed or retired, you don't have a prayer of keeping up with.  And even if you are a wonderfully cultured, well-educated human being, you might sometimes opt for the middlebrow or lowbrow items and let the highbrow wait for when you aren't so tired.  (Working Mom of small child here.)

Brief Oscar Observations

• The only movie I saw in the theater last year was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire -- somehow this was not nominated for Best Picture. We also saw, on DVD, March of the Penguins, which did win for Best Documentary.  How cute was it that the people accepting the award all had penguins and even whistled "thank you" in penguin.  Gotta love geeks. :-)
• It's often noted that talented comedic actors and actresses don't win awards (or get nominated) for comedies most of the time, but finally do get them when they act in dramas.  Comedies are seen as more lightweight, less challenging, perhaps? (Renee Zellweger, Bill Murray, Julia Roberts, Reese Witherspoon are all recent nominees/winners that come to mind)
  
• Why did so many women wear black dresses?  Is it because we're still at war?
• I like Michelle Williams, but disliked her dress and makeup choices.  The dress was the color of a yellow-orange Crayola crayon and her lipstick was way too dark.
• Felicity Huffman looked wonderful in her black dress with plunging neckline.  I don't think I'm interested in seeing the movie she was nominated for, but I loved her in Sports Night and am glad to see her recognized for her talent.
• I can't believe a song called "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" won an Academy Award. (And despite the fact that I am not a rap fan, I couldn't get it out of my head!!)  Granted, it seemed like a slow year for song nominees.  Dolly Parton really sold her nominated song with her enthusiastic performance -- I loved that all these fancy Hollywood folks were clapping along with a country song -- but the song itself wasn't all that exciting.  The song from Crash was ok. 
• Jon Stewart was funny.  A few of his jokes bombed, but the pretaped humor segments were well-written and poked fun harmlessly.  My favorite off-the-cuff joke he made was when he said (after rap song mentioned above was performed live and won the award) that obviously the way to reach the Academy was through interpretive dance.  *giggle*
• I thought the Western spoof segment was tasteless and not appropriate for prime time TV on a major network.  They took snippets of old Westerns and made it look as if there'd been homosexual elements in the old movies (not just in this year's Brokeback Mountain).  The show was rated for viewers 14 and over, so at least parents had some guidance in this regard.

Film Reviews in 4 Words

There's a website called The Four Word Film Review.  They invite people to submit reviews of movies they've seen, with the caveat that the review can be no longer than four words.  I submitted sixteen reviews, but none were accepted.  Oh, well, guess I can't quit my day job. ;-)  So, I decided I'd post my mini reviews here.

Along Came Polly: Bland outing for Jennifer
Closer: No likeable characters here
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Psychedelically odd love story
First Daughter: A Chasing Liberty clone
Garden State: Who can he trust?
Laws of Attraction: Objection! Not enough passion.
Miracle: Work hard, win gold!
The Notebook: Sweet, improbable love story
Shall We Dance?: Richard Gere still sexy
Sideways: Telling truth wins woman
Spanglish: Tea, fire your agent!
Spiderman 2: Spiderman gets happy ending
Super Size Me: Well-researched documentary packs punch
The Terminal: Character shows inhuman patience  (in retrospect I should've put something about his interminable wait -- hee, hee)
Wimbledon: Flick for tennis fans
What a Girl Wants: Teenager finds roots, happiness

Which Narnia Character Are You?

I am Mr. Tumnus (although with one more point I'd have been Lucy): "You do a lot of good for other people, but often are stymied by fear of repercussions or what others will think. You pursue your own needs and goals but also make time for others. You are Mr. Tumnus, the faun who intends to kidnap Lucy for the Witch but realizes he shouldn't."  I will say that some of the questions didn't have answers that really fit me. . . Visit Beliefnet's Narnia page to take the quiz yourself.

Ismail Merchant, R.I.P.

"Ismail Merchant, whose film-making collaboration with James Ivory created a genre of films with visually sumptuous settings that told literate tales of individuals trying to adapt to shifting societal values, died on May 25 in a London hospital. He was 68."  [The Telegraph - Calcutta]

Merchant-Ivory filmography

New Search Function from Google

"Just in time for the Oscars, we've created a new "movie:" operator that enables you to find movie-related information faster and more easily, whether you're looking for titles or actors, director or genre, famous lines or obscure plot details. Can't remember the name of that film where Tom Hanks made friends with a volleyball? Search for [movie: Tom Hanks talking to a volleyball] and Google will tell you: it was Cast Away. Want rental recommendations? Try searching for [movie: awesome car chase] or [movie: good chick flick]." [Google Blog]