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News Roundup: Michael Fassbender’s Oscar Snub, Hulk Hogan Comes Clean and More

Laura Aguirre — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:30:12 +0000

This week Hulk Hogan finally came clean and admitted that Darren Aronofsky wanted him to play the lead role in the 2008 critical hit The Wrestler. The role that reignited Mickey Rourke‘s career was originally meant for Hogan, at least according to Hogan. Also this week were the Oscar nominations: while many great performances were acknowledged, many were snubbed by the Academy including Michael Fassbender, who was hailed for his performance in Shame. The Los Angeles Times took a closer look at why the actor might’ve been left out of the running. We also have a couple of movie previews. Catch up below.

Michael Fassbender’s Penis: Among the many who got snubbed by the Academy is actor Michael Fassbender, who, this year, portrayed a sex addict in Steve McQueen‘s NC-17 rated Shame. The Los Angeles Times wrote an article about the actor suggesting he was snubbed because showing his penis on film took away from his “super-brave” performance.
Hulk Hogan Fantasies: Hulk Hogan told Digital Spy recently that he was asked, not once, but several times, to play the role that reignited Mickey Rourke’s career. That’s right, after four years of silence, Hogan said that he turned down the lead role in The Wrestler because he felt he wasn’t right for the role. Could you imagine Hogan playing such a serious and dramatic role? Do you believe that Darren Aronofsky wanted him to play Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson?
Movies In An Alternate Universe: Artist Sean Hartter invented this cool concept where he took titles of current well-known movies, but remade them so that the movie’s poster suggested a different time or era. An example of one film is 2011′s Drive, where James Dean has taken Ryan Gosling‘s place. It’s actually pretty cool. Head over to Behance to see the cool posters.

New Photos:

Snow White Photo: Below is an up-close look at Kristen Stewart as Snow White from the upcoming film Snow White and the Hunstman. There’s not much detail, but if you’re excited about the movie, then enjoy.

New Videos:

Man On A Ledge Preview: The action thriller Man On A Ledge hit theaters today. Below is a special exclusive preview. Check it out.

Brake Trailer: Stephen Dorff stars in a new film called Brake, where the actor spends most of the time locked inside a coffin-like box. Beware, the footage below is not for the claustrophobic.

That’s the end of our round-up. Keep checking back at ScreenCrave for more entertainment news.

What are you excited for?

Tilda Swinton Wants to Party With The Oscar Snubbed

Damon Houx — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:38:20 +0000

When the Oscars were announced, there were some favorites that didn’t make the cut. It happens every year, and a number of performers – like Albert Brooks in Drive, Patton Oswalt and Charlize Theron in Young Adult, and Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin were not nominated. Oswalt – on Twitter – joked about having a party for the snubbies, and Vulture brought this to Swinton’s attention. Her response: she’d be there in a heart-beat.

In fact she said she would love to sing “Is There Life on Mars” with Andy Serkis, and said “That’s a dare! That’s an excellent dare. Okay, Patton, you’re on. Let’s get Andy and let’s go for it!” Her response to not being nominated was positive, as she felt she could go home and not worry. Of course, it’s probably easier as she already has one Oscar, and the process of this year would more than likely have her attend to lose.

The only negative about not being nominated is that it will keep Lynne Shetlon’s fascinating and powerful We Need to Talk about Kevin off of the radar, where the film could have new life with a possible Oscar future. As a film fan, the award season usually gets more wrong that right, and few Oscar winners stand the test of time – often they’re given for a body of work, or a feeling in the moment. To wit, Albert Brooks made an indelible impression in Drive, while Christopher Plummer is excellent in Beginners, but the award feels more like a career-win. Maybe not as shamelessly so as Al Pacino’s win for Scent of a Woman, but still.

Whose Snubbing annoyed you the most?

2012 Academy Award Nominations Announced

traviswoods — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:52:26 +0000

The climax of award season is finally upon us–the Oscars have been announced and, for once, there are a few surprises in the mix (but that’s not exactly a good thing). The Artist is, rather shockingly, not leading the pack with the most reviews (see what film is after the jump), while the critically slammed Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close nabbed some major noms and, yes, 2012 is the year in which Bridesmaids was nominated for an Oscar.

Martin Scorsese’s 3-D film Hugo leads with 11 nominations, with The Artist following with 10, and Extremely Loud is sharing space with them as a Best Picture nominee. Elsewhere, Rooney Mara was nominated for Best Actress for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoowhile Tilda Swinton’s performance from We Need to Talk About Kevin is nowhere to be found; Albert Brooks’ excellent performance in Drive was not mentioned, nor was Michael Fassbender for Shame; also, no best director nods for David Fincher or Steven Spielberg. A surprising roundup, to be sure. Check out the nominees below, and let us know what you think in the comments wall.

Best Picture:
“The Artist”
“The Descendants”
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
“The Help”
“Hugo”
“Midnight in Paris”
“Moneyball”
“The Tree of Life”
“War Horse”

Best Actor:
Demian Bichir, “A Better Life”
George Clooney, “The Descendants”
Jean Dujarin, “The Artist”
Gary Oldman, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Brad Pitt, “Moneyball”

Best Actress:
Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis, “The Help”
Rooney Mara, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williams, “My Week with Marilyn”

Best Supporting Actor:
Kenneth Branagh, “My Week with Marilyn”
Jonah Hill, “Moneyball”
Nick Nolte, “Warrior”
Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”
Max von Sydow, “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

Best Supporting Actress:
Berenice Bejo, “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain, “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer, “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer, “The Help”

Best Directing:
Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Alexander Payne, “The Descendants”
Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”
Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
Terrence Malick, “The Tree of Life”

Best Foreign Language Film:
“Bullhead” (Belgium)
“Footnote” (Israel)
“In Darkness” (Poland)
“Monsieur Lazhar” (Canada)
“A Separation” (Iran)

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, “The Descendants”
John Logan, “Hugo”
George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon, “The Ides of March”
Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin and Stan Chervin, “Moneyball”
Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”

Best Original Screenplay:
Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, “Bridesmaids”
J.C. Chandor, “Margin Call”
Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
Asghar Farhadi, “A Separation”

Best Animated Feature Film
“A Cat in Paris”
“Chico & Rita”
“Kung Fu Panda 2″
“Puss in Boots”
“Rango”

Best Art Direction:
“The Artist”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″
“Hugo”
“Midnight in Paris”
“War Horse”

Best Cinematography:
“The Artist”
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“The Tree of Life”
“War Horse”

Best Sound Mixing:
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“Moneyball”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
“War Horse”

Best Sound Editing:
“Drive”
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
“War Horse”

Best Original Score:
“The Adventures of Tintin,” John Williams
“The Artist,” Ludovic Bource
“Hugo,” Howard Shore
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” Alberto Iglesias
“War Horse,” John Williams

Best Original Song:
“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets,” Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from “Rio,” Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown and Siedah Garrett.

Best Costume:
“Anonymous”
“The Artist”
“Hugo”
“Jane Eyre”
“W.E”

Best Documentary Feature:
“Hell and Back Again”
“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front”
“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”
“Pina”
“Undefeated”

Best Documentary (short subject):
“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement”
“God is the Bigger Elvis”
“Incident in New Baghdad”
“Saving Face”
“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”

Best Film Editing:
“The Artist”
“The Descendants”
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“Moneyball”

Best Makeup:
“Albert Nobbs”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″
“The Iron Lady”

Best Animated Short Film:
“Dimanche/Sunday”
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore”
“La Luna”
“A Morning Stroll”
“Wild Life”

Best Live Action Short Film:
“Pentecost”
“Raju”
“The Shore”
“Time Freak”
“Tuba Atlantic”

Best Visual Effects
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″
“Hugo”
“Real Steel”
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”

Source: CBS News

The Artist, Hugo Lead DGA Nominations

Damon Houx — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 20:14:11 +0000

For those who like playing Oscar pools, DGA nominations tend to be a good harbinger for the actual Oscar nominations. So it’s worth noting what made the cut: Michel Hazanavicius‘s The Artist, Woody Allen‘s Midnight in Paris, Martin Scorsese‘s Hugo, Alexander Payne‘s The Descendants, and David Fincher‘s The Girl With Dragon Tattoo all got nominated today.

The most surprising omissions are Tate Taylor for The Help, Terrence Malick‘s The Tree of Life, and Steven Spielberg‘s War Horse. Taylor being left out suggests that the film – though it should receive a number of nominations – will mostly have heat in the acting categories, and is probably not going to get the best picture prize. Malick’s Tree of Life had its best shot of getting love in the direction category (though best cinematography is all but assured), and this lack of inclusion means that it’s unlikely that Tree will be a sneak-in best picture nomination. The lack of Spielberg is probably the most surprising, and also suggests the film is not getting Oscar traction, though he could be in and Fincher could be out when the nominations finally come in.

Fincher getting is probably the most surprising inclusion – Allen and Scorsese are both old timers and beloved, though have a low chance of actually winning, while Payne and Hazanavicius are behind two of the most obvious best picture nominees. Dragon Tattoo screened late, and so it could be a surprise picture nominee – though Rooney Mara’s chances of getting nominated for best actress just went up – though this could also be an apology vote to those who thought he should have won last year for The Social Network.

What all this says is that The Artist is now clearly the front-runner.

Who would you vote for as Best director this year?

Kim Novak Calls The Artist a Rapist

Damon Houx — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:09:13 +0000

The Artist is gaining steam to be the picture to beat this year at the Oscars, and just today its director Michel Hazanavicius was nominated for the DGA’s best director award. The film has not had many detractors, but there was a shot across the bow today when Kim Novak – star of Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo – complained about the use of music from Vertigo in the film. Not only that, she called it rape.

As reported by Deadline Hollywood, Novak has taken out a full page trade ad complaining about the music usage. Here is the best quote from Miss Novak:

“There was no reason for them to depend on Bernard Herrmann’s score from ‘Vertigo’ to provide more drama. ‘Vertigo’s’ music was written during the filming. Hitchcock wanted the theme woven musically in the puzzle pieces of the storyline. Even though they did give Bernard Herrmann a small credit at the end, I believe this kind of filmmaking trick to be cheating. Shame on them!”

Though her choice of calling this usage rape is similar to comparing something or someone to Hitler (it almost negates the complaint), The Artist is gaining steam to be the front runner, and it’s worth wondering if Novak was provoked to do this. There have been Oscar smear campaigns before. Just the same I like to take it on face value and assume that Novak was offended (mostly because I was offended as well).

Films have used or recycled music from other movies before, partly because when films are edited to temp tracks the director can fall in love with those music cues. Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven, for instance, uses music from The Crow, The Thirteenth Warrior and Blade II. Many composers recycle ideas throughout their careers, and filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino have borrowed cues from Ennio Morricone and Roy Ayers among others. There is precedent here, but this use of Bernard Hermann’s score seems intentional and without context to the film it’s taking it from (QT’s uses have usually offered commentary on the genre or film he’s making). In the article Mike Fleming wonders if anyone remembers the music from Vertigo. Such may explain why the film is an Oscar front runner.

Have you seen The Artist yet?

Funny or Die Produces Terribly Unfunny Academy Awards Trailer Starring Billy Crystal And Megan Fox

traviswoods — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:58:14 +0000

In an attempt to show how edgy and hip the Academy Awards can really be, the Academy decided to hire the clever folks at Funny or Die to make a trailer for the 84^th Academy Awards ceremony. And, despite being jam-packed with cameos by celebrities no one will really care about (host Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Josh Duhamel, Megan Fox, William Fichtner, and Vinnie Jones) and loaded with horridly unfunny jokes (young people text a lot! HA!), the trailer–gosh, get this!–lands flat on its face.

Oh, the yuks just keep on coming in this clip. Honestly, the best thing I can say about it is that Robin Williams isn’t too irritating or grating or over the top. In fact, the most annoying thing about the trailer may be Crystal’s smirky, “aren’t I hilarious?” tone and facial expressions. Check it out:

Well, there you have. The Funny or Die people finally found a way to become unfunny—simply become involved with the Academy Awards, the most notoriously unamusing program in television history.

Academy Award nominations will be announced on January 24^th, and the live broadcast will take place on February 24^th on ABC.

What do you think of the Academy Awards trailer?

Source: /Film

Brian Grazer in for Brett Ratner for the Oscars

Damon Houx — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 01:06:08 +0000

So, that happened. With Brett Ratner‘s recent exodus at the Oscars, and Eddie Murphy quickly jetting as well, it was hard to know how fast it would be until someone was set up with the gig. And now we know it’s Brian Grazer who will be producing the award show to end all award shows, the 84th Academy awards.

Brian Grazer is probably best known for his spiky hair, and his Imagine production company, he and Ron Howard have teamed for nearly thirty years. Most recently, Grazer produced the Clint Eastwood film J. Edgar. Grazer has his own Oscar from producing A Beautiful Mind.

Grazer seems a natural choice as a respected member of the community, though every year people complain about how boring and silly the whole thing is. There’s really no winning with the event, and likely Grazer will be one of many who’ve tried and failed to re-engergize what amounts to the world’s most famous graduation ceremony.

Many names have been thrown out as alternatives to Murphy, though Grazer has suggested he would court Murphy to come back, which wouldn’t be that much of a stretch as the two have worked together numerous times, including The Nutty Professor and Murphy’s recent Tower Heist. There is already a campaign to get The Muppets to host. We shall see.

Who would you like to have host the Oscars?

Eddie Murphy Backs Out Of Hosting The Oscars

traviswoods — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 22:02:47 +0000

Because his bestest buddy Brett Ratner decided to back out of producing the Oscars next year (for lobbing a an offense comment towards homosexuals, and then bragging about sex with Lindsay Lohan, and for making a ton of offensively bland films), now Eddie Murphy has also followed suit, joining his Tower Heist director in bowing out of next year’s ceremonies.

While the ousting of Brett Ratner was probably for the best, Murphy’s bow out probably isn’t exactly going to help his floundering image of “that guy who was really funny once,” nor is it going to be all that great for the audience—say what you will about Murphy these days, he’s got to be better than last year’s James Franco/ Anne Hathaway (“Isn’t the Academy just so young and hip? Make sure and tune in, you guyzzz!”) debacle.

So now The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is back at square one, with no one producing the show, nor hosting it. If I may make a humble suggestion, I’d toss in the director/ actor team of John Carpenter/ Kurt Russell into the running, if only because it would just be really badass, and Russell might wear an eyepatch and callously shoot someone Paris Hilton. You know you’d tune in for that.

What do you think of Murphy’s move?

Source: The AV Club

Brett Ratner Quits The Oscars Due To Controversy, Eddie Murphy May Follow

traviswoods — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:31:10 +0000

Remember earlier in the week when we reported that Brett Ratner slipped his foot into his mouth and stated that only “fag” directors rehearse their films before shooting? Well, on top of that, he’s been spending his Tower Heist promotional tour talking less about the film (which might be for the best) and is spending more of his time graphically describing sex with Lindsay Lohan and Olivia Munn, as well as his sperm count and sexual prowess. All of which has led the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to say, “hey, maybe this isn’t the guy to produce the Oscars next year.”

After repeatedly asserting on the Howard Stern Show that he slept with Lindsay Lohan, that he has an “insane” sperm count, and that he insists that all women he date go to a doctor and prove that they have no venereal disease before he commits to them, even Ratner realized that he wasn’t doing himself or the Academy any favors. And, with that realization, the director bowed from pressure and has removed himself from the Oscar production next year.

Ratner also wrote a long apology, and by “wrote,” I mean his team of publicists sat around with a basic Hollywood apology template, and Mad Lib’d in specific nouns like “Brett Ratner,” “LGBT community,” and “84^th Academy Awards”:

An Open Letter To The Entertainment Industry From Brett Ratner

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last few days, I’ve gotten a well-deserved earful from many of the people I admire most in this industry expressing their outrage and disappointment over the hurtful and stupid things I said in a number of recent media appearances. To them, and to everyone I’ve hurt and offended, I’d like to apologize publicly and unreservedly.

As difficult as the last few days have been for me, they cannot compare to the experience of any young man or woman who has been the target of offensive slurs or derogatory comments. And they pale in comparison to what any gay, lesbian, or transgender individual must deal with as they confront the many inequalities that continue to plague our world.

So many artists and craftspeople in our business are members of the LGBT community, and it pains me deeply that I may have hurt them. I should have known this all along, but at least I know it now: words do matter. Having love in your heart doesn’t count for much if what comes out of your mouth is ugly and bigoted. With this in mind, and to all those who understandably feel that apologies are not enough, please know that I will be taking real action over the coming weeks and months in an effort to do everything I can both professionally and personally to help stamp out the kind of thoughtless bigotry I’ve so foolishly perpetuated.

As a first step, I called Tom Sherak this morning and resigned as a producer of the 84th Academy Awards telecast. Being asked to help put on the Oscar show was the proudest moment of my career. But as painful as this may be for me, it would be worse if my association with the show were to be a distraction from the Academy and the high ideals it represents.

I am grateful to GLAAD for engaging me in a dialogue about what we can do together to increase awareness of the important and troubling issues this episode has raised and I look forward to working with them. I am incredibly lucky to have a career in this business that I love with all of my heart and to be able to work alongside so many of my heroes. I deeply regret my actions and I am determined to learn from this experience.

Sincerely, Brett Ratner

And now, rumors are swirling that Ratner’s good friend Eddie Murphy might bail from the Oscars as well. Which may not be the end of the world, seeing as Murphy hasn’t been funny in over a decade.

What do you think?

Source: The AV Club

Eddie Murphy to Host The Oscars

Damon Houx — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:49:49 +0000

Brett Ratner is producing the next Oscar telecast. Brett Ratner just directed Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy in Tower Heist, and has been the rumored choice for a Beverly Hills Cop 4 movie. So perhaps it’s no surprise that Ratner asked Murphy to host the Academy Awards. The surprise is that Murphy has said yes (according to Deadline Hollywood).

Murphy’s career started in stand-up and sketch comedy, having broken into the mainstream on Saturday Night Live as one of the few consistently funny performers during the show’s biggest off years. He leapfrogged into movies, and quickly became the biggest star in America with a string of hit films. And such is why – since the 1987 release of a concert film called Eddie Murphy Raw – Murphy hasn’t been doing a lot of stand-up. That’s one of the most interesting parts of this decision, it’s a skill-set he seemingly abandoned. Having grown up in the 1980′s, most kids had his comedy albums memorized, though much of his humor was profanity-laced, inappropriate and now politically incorrect (Murphy had at least twenty minutes of material dedicated to homosexuals). So regardless if he has to change his tone or character a little, Murphy returning to that form is exciting and must be a bit daunting for an artist who hasn’t spent much of the last two decades challenging himself artistically.

The other fascinating aspect about this is that Murphy famously walked out of the ceremony when he lost best supporting actor to Alan Arkin in 2006. And then also: What if Tower Heist bombs? And what will Brett Ratner do with (and quite possibly to) the Oscars? And can it be better or worse than the dullish three hour ceremonies of the last couple years? All I know is that for the first time in a long time I honestly want to watch now.

Can you recite any of Eddie Murphy’s old routines?

Five to Ten Best Picture Nominees?

Damon Houx — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 21:24:52 +0000

Two years back the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided that five wasn’t enough best picture nominees. Some thought this had to do with 2008′s biggest blockbuster The Dark Knight not making the cut. Regardless, for the last two ceremonies there have been ten nominees. This year the academy says that there will be five nominees, but for there to be more that every picture over five must recieve at least 5% of the first place picks.

From an insider perspective, having ten best picture contenders didn’t really change the race. When The Hurt Locker won best picture, it was mostly seen as a two picture race between Locker and Avatar, with Inglourious Basterds the Dark Horse. No one was suggesting that The Blind Side, or District 9 were in any shape to get the big prize. And for the most part this trend followed this last year, with the best picture Oscar a contest between The Social Network and The King’s Speech.

Of course this may be different for those people who don’t read or follow the Oscar prognosticators, and there are probably people who play the Oscar pool by betting their favorites instead of the odds. This decision suggests that the ten picture idea didn’t play out as well as had been hoped. What this means is that each year this rule continues, it will be interesting to see if more than five nominees comes from it being a very good year in cinema, or the lack of a clear favorite.

Do you prefer five or ten?

New DVD Releases: The King’s Speech, Gulliver’s Travels, Somewhere

Andrew Payne — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 17:06:09 +0000

A very solid week on DVD this week, crowned by this year’s Best Picture winner, The King’s Speech, making its way on to small screens. But that’s only leading a charge that includes bombs aplenty including misfires from Peter Weir, Sofia Coppola and a colossal pile of sunk costs from Jack Black!

All that plus some very cool retro TV on DVD choices and the latest film from one of the most legendary action stars of all time. Betcha can’t guess who it is.

Check it out below…

Feature Films

The King’s Speech

There are so many lazy Oscar prognosticators out there. So many. And what was there favorite cliche this year? That The King’s Speech was a movie “tailor-made for the Academy”. That if you could make a movie specifically for the Academy it would be this one?

Really? This is the movie that you’d make? In what world does that make sense? This movie couldn’t be less tailor-made for the Academy. Let’s play a little game where we go back in time to see how many Best Picture winners we have to go through in order to find one that resembles the type of “tailor-made Best Picture winner” that The King’s Speech is.

The Hurt Locker

Gritty, ultra-realistic war picture without a touch of “prestige”. Not even close.

Slumdog Millionaire

A hyper-kinetic trip through the slums of India. Doesn’t exactly scream upper-crust.

No Country for Old Men

An ultra-violent commentary on present society. (Which beat The Queen, by the way)

The Departed

A dirty crime drama filled littered with violence and Bah-stahn accents. No British manners here.

Crash

A hyper-link modern-day Los Angeles film about race relations. Wasn’t a whole lot of diversity in Speech.

Million Dollar Baby

A boxing drama. Hey, at least the sport was invented in England.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

A fanboy fantasy epic. At least it has the word “King” in the title.

Chicago

A subversive musical about murder with a total post-modern presentation. Though there was some “sing-as-speech”

A Beautiful Mind

A character study about a crazy southern mathematician.

Gladiator

A swords and sandal action epic.

American Beauty

A comedic modern-set suburban satire. Couldn’t be more the opposite.

Shakespeare in Love

British? Check. High-Class? Check. Prestigious Subject Matter? Check check check.

Yes! We finally have a film that sort of resembles the type of “surefire Oscar film” that was The King’s Speech.

It took us an amazing twelve Best Picture winners in order to finally find a film that looks and feels like The King’s Speech. So where did these Oscar writers find this cliche? There are several Oscar winners in recent years that couldn’t be less like The King’s Speech, yet this is the movie that you’d make in a paint-by-numbers Oscar formula?

Look at those Best Picture winners again. See what they have in common? That’s right, they won Best Picture. That’s it! This is a genre grab-bag and tonal mishmash if there ever was one on all sorts of different scales, budgets and pedigrees.

In other words, there is no formula for an Best Picture Oscar winner. It just happens.

And if you want to see why that happened to this film, you can buy The King’s Speech on DVD.

Gulliver’s Travels

I thought about writing a brief few paragraphs about how Jack Black has become irrelevant (and this movie proves it), but then I got to wonder – was he ever really the big star that everybody seems to think he is?

Think about it, he’s only had one real hit that was a “Jack Black Movie” – The School of Rock. His other big hits were Tropic Thunder (an ensemble piece of which he was about the seventh most memorable character), The Holiday (a chick flick where his role could’ve been played by anybody), King Kong (a minor role at best, a role you didn’t even remember at worst) and Kung Fu Panda (a cartoon where his voice role could have been filled by anybody).

That’s about it. The rest of his career is mostly cameos and huge misfires such as Year One, Envy and Nacho Libre.

And now this massive bomb. A movie that bombed so horrifically that it didn’t really effect him because nobody even remembers it came out.

So is this guy really a gigantic comedic movie star? You look at the Eddie Murphys and Ben Stillers of the world in their primes and you see nothing but $100 million hits for a five-to-ten-year run. Where is Jack Black’s run? I don’t see a prime anywhere.

And that’s not to rag on Jack Black. I think he’s great. By my count he should have two Oscar nominations right now (for High Fidelity and Rock), but I don’t think he’s ever gotten close to the Comic Megastar Status people seem to want to attach to him.

But if you really dig him, you can buy Gulliver’s Travels on DVD.

Also:

Ip Man 2 – Buy Now
Rabbit Hole – Buy Now
Somewhere – Buy Now
The Way Back – Buy Now

TV on DVD

“Captain Planet and the Planeteers”: Season 1

Nickelodeon recently announced plans to dedicate a channel to all the great Nick shows of my youth. Shows like “Clarissa Explains It All” and “Hey Dude”. I’m extremely excited, but it’s just not enough for me.

It’s probably too much to ask, but I wish we could go without network borders and combine all the shows I loved in my youth to one channel regardless of who produced them. “Captain Planet” would definitely be on that list, if only for the theme song.

Also, now that I’m more sophisticated than I was when I was drooling out of a sippy cup and watching this show, I may finally find out why exactly the Planeteers didn’t just summon Captain Planet right at the beginning of every episode. It seemed each storyline revolved around one of them getting separated from the rest of the group (usually that pipsqueak Heart) and the other four desperately trying to find that person so they could summon Captain Planet and the episode would end.

Luckily, we can at least finally solve that mystery and buy Captain Planet: Season 1 on DVD.

Also:

“American Dad”: Volume 6 – Buy Now
Ernie Kovacs Collection – Buy Now
“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”: Season 6 – Buy Now

ScreenCrave.com » oscars

News Roundup: Michael Fassbender’s Oscar Snub, Hulk Hogan Comes Clean and More

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