In case you missed it: PINEAPPLE EXPRESS at the Oscars

Add comment February 23rd, 2009

…. here’s the comedic high point of last night’s Oscar ceremony, the PINEAPPLE EXPRESS skit featuring James Franco and Seth Rogen chortling through this year’s movies:

A brief Oscar recap

1 comment February 23rd, 2009

Last night’s Oscar show was silly, sloppy and sometimes just strange, but it did move, by golly, and there was rarely a boring moment. At first I wished they’d actually show clips from the nominated performances, but it was interesting to see five previous winners take the stage and announce this year’s five nominees in each category. I wish we’d have a few more stars from the classic era, though — use ‘em, Hollywood, they ain’t gonna be around much longer. And why not the same treatment for director? Surely Scorsese, Spielberg, Clint and a few others could be convinced to take the stage.

Hugh Jackman was fine as the host, and what he lacked in comedy chops he certainly made up for in pure energy. That opening number was a potential train wreck, but Hugh (almost) singlehandedly saved it through pure force of will. What happened to him, though? He seemed to disappear in the last hour or so.

The best part of the evening was the skit featuring James Franco and Seth Rogen as a couple of cinema-loving stoners who bought all the nominees in Chinatown and proceeded to giggle their way through THE READER and THE WRESTLER. The scene where they watched Franco’s performance in MILK as he kissed Sean Penn was worth sitting through the entire Oscar ceremony for.

The other big comedy bit, Ben Stiller doing Joaquim Phoenix, was funny — but think how funny it would’ve been if they’d actually had Phoenix do it. Now that would be a classic bit.

Nice to see Kate Winslet finally take home the big prize, even if it was completely expected. She’s a truly great actress, and still young enough to have a career that could rival (or even surpass) Meryl Streep’s. Want to see her in an amazing movie? Rent HEAVENLY CREATURES, which was directed by none other than Peter Jackson. You won’t regret it.

I’m sorry Mickey Rourke didn’t win, mostly because it would’ve been the perfect ending to this long redemption story he’s been starring in (and I’m talking about his own life, not THE WRESTLER), but Sean Penn is a heck of an actor and he gave an eloquent, funny speech. And by the way, I watched part of FAST TIMES last weekend, and he’s really, really good as Spicoli. You almost forget, because it’s so funny, what a strong performance it is.

The most unnerving part of the night for me was seeing Jerry Lewis accept the Jean Hersholt award. I’d expected Jerry to do some schtick, or make some heart-rending speech, or go off on a rant, or something — but the truth is, he didn’t seem to be in good enough shape to do any of that. For the first time, he genuinely looked old, and didn’t seem to have the energy for more than his quick “thank you.” It’s too bad. He’s one of the last of his breed, the bigger-than-life, classic Hollywood star.

As for SLUMDOG and all its victories, I suppose I’m glad it won — always nice to see an underdog take the big prize — but in the end, I thought it was very good, but not great. Last year was such a strong year for movies — NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, THERE WILL BE BLOOD and Fincher’s non-nominated ZODIAC (my pick for best movie) — that this year seemed a bit of a letdown. Even Fincher’s film, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, was a bit too bland to make much of an impression.

So, what did you think?

Friday Morning Videos: THE OSCAR

5 comments February 20th, 2009

In honor of this Sunday’s impending Academy Awards ceremony, here’s a highlight (or, more accurately, lowlight) reel from THE OSCAR, a 1966 drama generally considered one of the worst movies ever made. It stars charisma-free Stephen Boyd as ruthless actor Frank Fane, and features a memorable supporting performance by Italian crooner Tony Bennett as the obviously not-Italian flunkee Hymie Kelly. As a bonus, you get to see such Hollywood legends as Joseph Cotten, Milton Berle, Walter Brennan and Broderick Crawford trying desperately not to embarras themselves.

Be sure not to miss Borgnine back-flipping over a desk!

It’s not on DVD, alas, but it does show up on Turner Classic Movies every so often. In the meantime, here’s a sample of its sheer badness…

Page versus screen

4 comments February 20th, 2009

Over at Slate.com, Willing Davidson, who says “REVOLUTIONARY ROAD is both the worst movie I saw this year and one of the best novels I’ve read,” tries to answer the question: why do great novels make such bad movies?

He has an answer, too: Novels are long, but movies are short.

This is what the movies do to literature, typically: There’s so much plot to get in that there’s no time to tell the story. Perhaps it’s the insecurity of Hollywood: Inflated by the borrowed prestige of books, producers and directors won’t stray too far from the guide-ropes of the story.  

And he’s right — though, of course, it’s a lot more complicated than that. Read the rest of his piece here.

As American as baseball

Add comment February 20th, 2009

Cinematical has posted a trio teaser posters for Quentin Tarantino’s INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS. Naturally, since they’re from a World War II film where Brad Pitt demands “one hundred Nazi scalps!,” they’re a bit violent. Here’s my favorite…

You can see the rest of them here.

The Only Oscars where THE LOVE GURU gets an award

Add comment February 19th, 2009

Esquire presents its “2009 Alternative Oscars,” including a nod for Mike Myer’s abyssmal THE LOVE GURU as “Best Failure.” According to them, “Awards celebrate success, but some failures should be cherished. Mike Myers could make another five Austin Powers movies and then a nostalgic Wayne’s World, please every executive at the studio, all the while earning enough money to warm his collection of homes by burning bricks of $100 bills. He instead chose to go way out on a limb and try to be absolutely hilarious. He landed on his ass and made a movie that nobody should watch but everybody should applaud.”

Um, sorry. No applause from this corner.

I did like how they honored Elizabeth Banks as “Best Fun Blond” for playing both ex-First Lady Laura Bush and starring in ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO in the same month. Now that’s versatility!

Read the whole list here. There’s some (OK, a lot of ) profanity in the “Best Profane Dialogue” category, but if the name of the category doesn’t tip you off that you might be encountering some dirty words, you deserve to be offended.

For what it’s worth

1 comment February 19th, 2009

This site claims to have a list of leaked Oscar winners. I’m more than a bit skeptical*, but in case you’re looking for guidance in your Oscar pool, here’s a sample:

Actor in a leading role: Mickey Rourke
Actor in a supporting role: Heath Ledger
Actress in a leading role: Kate Winslet
Actress in a supporting role: Amy Adams

Check the rest of them out at the site.

* Meaning I don’t believe it for a second.

If Heath Ledger wins, who gets the statue?

3 comments February 18th, 2009

Heath Ledger is widely expected to win the Oscar posthumously for his portrayal of the Joker in THE DARK KNIGHT. But if he does, who actually gets to keep that coveted gold man?

Here’s what The Associated Press says:

If Heath Ledger is named best supporting actor at Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony, his daughter, 3-year-old Matilda Rose Ledger, will become the owner of the Oscar statuette. But it won’t really be hers until her 18th birthday on Oct. 28, 2023 — and even then, only if she signs a contract.

Matilda, daughter of the late Ledger and actress Michelle Williams, has been designated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as the eventual owner of her father’s Oscar… But Ledger’s nomination, and his daughter’s young age, led to one of the trickiest situations the academy has dealt with in its eight decades of awarding posthumous Oscars.

Academy tradition calls for a posthumous statuette to go to the spouse, or, if there is no living spouse, to the oldest child. Ledger wasn’t married, and Matilda is his only child. Yet because she is only 3, Matilda is legally unable to sign the winner’s agreement — a contract required of all nominees that says the recipient will not resell his or her Oscar without first offering it back to the academy for $1.

In other words, the Oscar statuette can spend the next 15 years with Matilda, but her mother, who has signed the academy’s agreement, will be the legal custodian. When Matilda is old enough, she can claim ownership by signing the agreement. If she does so, she’ll become the official owner and will be legally bound not to sell her Oscar; if she opts not to sign, the statuette will revert to the academy without any payment.

So who will actually accept the award on Oscar night?

According to the same AP story, producers know, but they’re not telling.

A pair of WATCHMEN opinions

4 comments February 17th, 2009

Courtesy of Jeffrey Wells’ HOLLYWOOD ELSEWHERE site, here are a couple of wildly different opinions about WATCHMEN, which opens in theaters on March 6, and which you might have heard mentioned once or twice on this site.

First, from Nerdworld blogger and SIMPSONS writer Matt Selman:

“Sitting in that screening room and watching the visual world of the Watchmen movie unfold was one of the most powerful experiences I’ve ever had.  Not film experiences.  Just EXPERIENCES.  I don’t think I realized how close I was to the original book until I saw such a loving, detail-rich, almost obsessive recreation of that universe.  It had my heart pounding and head swimming.  I barely slept that night.  Someone took the most special personal thing of my adolescence and put it on a movie screen.  That doesn’t happen every day.”

Read the rest of Selman’s not-quite-a-review here.

Next, there’s this from someone Wells describes as “trusted journalist friend”:

“I’ve seen WATCHMEN, and speaking as a huge admirer and devotee of the graphic novel, the film is a staggering failure. On the plus side, you’ve got a pretty literal adaptation of the source material. It is at times a meticulous and gorgeous recreation of Alan Moore’s original work. Unfortunately it’s an empty, inert, meandering and, yes, boring 2 hours and 45 minutes.”

Read the rest of his comments here.

Ladies and gentlemen, I’ll be brief

Add comment February 17th, 2009

The Onion AV Club has a “Random Roles” today feature with actor Tim Matheson, where he discusses his time guest-starring on LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, providing the voice of Jonny Quest and, of course, played pre-law (or was it pre-med?) Faber College student Eric “Otter” Stratton in one of the great comedies of all time, NATIONAL LAMPOON’S ANIMAL HOUSE.

Read the interview here, and as a bonus, here’s Otter’s memorable defense of his fellow fraternity brothers.

By the way, it’s not an Otter line, but I love how Hoover says Delta House has “a long tradition of existence.” It sounds impressive until you think about it for a second.