Sorry this is late but do you like the new look?

Movie buzz

  The Other Boleyn Girl (release February 29, 2008; click here for preview) – This movies seems like it could be one of those, really, is that really true type period dramas. At the same time, the movie could also be really entertaining. The infamous Anne Boleyn (Natalie Portman) is told that she will be “given” to King Henry VIII (Eric Bana). Nevermind that Henry was a bludgeoning balloon, it’s probably better that a rising male lead play him in an attractive way to keep bringing in those moviegoers. Back to the movie. As Anne sets out to win Henry, Henry becomes enraptured by the beautiful Mary (Scarlett Johansson), Anne’s sister. Hate to do this to you Natalie, but if I had to choose, I’d choose Scarlett. Besides, everyone says you’re a B*tch anyways. The trailer has this great part where the naïve Mary protests, “but we’re sisters,” and Anne finishes with “and therefore born to be rivals.” Either way, you get to watch Scarlett and Natalie for two hours, sounds like a good deal.

In Bruges (release February 8, 2008; click here for preview) – This movie looks ENTIRELY hit or miss – just like most of Colin Farrell’s other movies. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson are Ray and Ken, two hit men who are sent to Bruges, a Belgian city that maintained it’s medieval airs by their boss (Ralph Fiennes). In typical profound turn of events fashion the city begins to change them and their experiences becomes more and more surreal. After reading up about this and watching the preview, I still can’t quite figure it out. But I think its kind of like a cross between The Matador and Lost in Translation. And I liked both of those, so I’ll probably check this one out.

Movie fuzz

Over Her Dead Body (release February 1, 2008; click here for preview) – This movie looks pretty poor and isn’t really helped by a shoddy preview. A few plusses are that it is a starring vehicle for Paul Rudd, it features the (hopefully) blossoming movie career of Eva Longoria(-Parker) and the return of everyone’s favorite, Jason Biggs. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like Rudd can carry this dog, and Biggs has not improved on his routine. Meanwhile, Eva just looks like a short, even whinier version of Reese’s character from Just Like Heaven. In the end, this is just a recycled juxtaposition of Ghost, Just Like Heaven, and My Super Ex-Girlfriend. Considering those were all fine films, I bet you will be falling all over yourself to see a movie about a ghost who tries to sabotage her former boyfriend’s current relationship. Considering the woman is a psychic he contacts while trying to communicate with her, you would think his girlfriend would either (a) give him a break, or (b) figure he has enough sense to take a woman who says she’s a psychic with a grain of salt.

The Hottie and the Nottie (release February 8, 2008; click here for preview) – This movie makes  Over Her Dead Body seem like a masterpiece. I’m not even going to go into all the plot devices this movie steals from. And it’s not like it even stole from remotely original vehicles. What is even more embarrassing is that the movie couldn’t even get that lame guy from Good Luck Chuck to reprise an almost EXACT carbon-copy of the role he already turned in. Instead they get some hack who actually calls himself “The Greg Wilson.” New lows, everyday. In case you’re a sadist, the movie follows Nate (Joel David Moore) who searches for Cristabel (Paris Hilton), the woman he's been in love with since childhood a la There’s Something About Mary, but for some reason he needs to get June (Lakin) a date too, a la The Taming of the Shrew. But, gasp, she’s not hot! Looks like she needs to be conformed to fit the beauty-myth-image of Hollywood a la She’s All That. But then, gasp, Nate begins to develop feelings for June. Sounds real dramatic. If you’re wondering why either Joel David Moore OR Paris Hilton are staring in a movie without any real actors, well, join the club.

TV buzz

The Globes experiment kind of fizzed? Hopefully the alternative format they choose for the Oscars will be better. Meanwhile, Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles took off on Sunday and Monday and I loved it, hopefully I will manage to get my review done soon. But I’ve been really busy. I’ll summarize: Lena Heady is amazing, Summer Glau is amazing, and everyone else is good enough.

What do you think about…

I watched Eternal Sunshine again this week and it made me remember how good it was – so much love and pain in such an entertaining movie. Plus, I would love to meet a woman who grabs a shy man by the horns and breathes life into him. I also had an eerie feeling that the Stars’ 2007 album, In the Bedroom After the War would be perfect for this. Perhaps just the lyric, “You despise me and I love you/It's not much but it's just enough to keep...”

On the web

Characters that didn’t make the cut was one of the most interesting things I had found. But I did find it. Sure, some of the stuff, like about Mr. & Mrs. Smith I knew, but a lot of the rest is pretty ridiculous. Definitely worth checking out.

Gossip Girl “real”? Somehow this stuff is published in New York Magazine, but here an author rants about how real/unreal the show Gossip Girl is. Frankly I’m just shocked that this stuff is published in New York Magazine, and I’m also shocked that someone thought this was newsworthy. Then again they might think a bunch of my articles aren’t newsworthy. But come one. Gossip Girl?

Diablo Cody’s column in Entertainment Weekly is her second, but I think she’s going to have a regular thing – and she still has plenty of punch left in her. The article is pretty funny, but I was just generally happy that Diablo is writing a lot, and I’m totally psyched for her next flick.

Um…really???

House is moving to Fridays because of American Idol? WHY? Why would you endanger one of your best shows, with the largest following, when it’s competing against other shoddy reality shows because there is no other programming, AND when you don’t have 24 in the mix because of the strike? Why why why why why. They almost make NBC look smart.

Who am I?

I came to Hollywood to front a band but ended up hitting it big as a pirate.
Send your reply to saltystixtrivia@gmail.com.
Last week’s answer was Robin Wright.

Could “Avatar” Win Best Picture?

By Brett Hogan

 

Last week, the trailer for James Cameron’s sci-fi experiment “Avatar” debuted. While initially unimpressed with the teaser, I began to wonder: Could this film win best picture? 

 

Buzz has been generating for this movie for years. Years. The technology to make this movie didn’t exist when Cameron conceived it, so he invented it. When is the last time you heard of a director spearheading the invention of anything? The casting started in 2005. Most movies these days, even epics, are done in half that time. I could go on. 

 

The most important thing to take away from all of this is that people are saying this will be the future of movies. Now, I don’t agree with the idea that CGI will become more prevalent than it already is. But I do believe that this will set the bar miles higher for sci-fi. I mean, that is what Titanic did. And that won some awards if memory serves.

 

I’ll bet you’re asking yourself, how can you even suggest that a film like this will win Best Picture when the initial trailer was nothing better than visual stimulation? Well, there are a couple of reasons. First, the Academy has expanded Best Picture to ten films. This doesn’t guarantee anything other than improved chances for most films on the cusp.

 

Second, after last year’s Oscars debacle, which saw the best film of the year, “The Dark Knight,” not only get shafted in awards but nominations as well, the Academy is pulling out all the stops to appease those with the loudest voices in the film industry, the fanboys. Now, the Academy probably didn’t lose anything because of that other than some viewers of the award show. Perhaps if people are again outraged with the winners or nominees, the heads of the Academy would lose their jobs. So this is all about the Academy protecting itself, which is not so outrageous.  

 

 

Third, there is an economic motive here. I’ve heard this film will cost $190 million, not counting the R&D costs associated with Cameron’s inventions or the cost of getting 3-D cameras into every theater in the country. The Academy will do everything in its power to get people into the seats and make this the next “Titanic” or “The Dark Knight.” But the Academy doesn’t have much power, besides nominating and awarding, so they will slap the “Nominated for Best Picture” moniker onto every commercial and print ad to get the people who didn’t believe the critics to relent and see this movie.

 

Of course, all of this is pure conjecture, and no revolutionary film (Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, etc.) has ever won the Best Picture category because it changed the game. Except maybe Titanic. But still, could this movie actually win? My answer is no but a nomination is certain and who knows what could happen from there. We’ll know more come February 2010.