By Aaron 1/28/2008

Bob wrote an interesting article last week about young actors, and two of the five were in one of my favorite teen comedies, The Girl Next Door. It got me thinking, how good was that cast? Dano and Hirsch have already had large roles in Oscar caliber fare, but what about “the others?”

Paul Dano as Klitz
Post TGND Highlight: Little Miss Sunshine & There Will Be Blood
Upcoming Splash: Where The Wild Things Are & The Stanford Prison Experiment

Dano is in one of the biggest movies (in terms of critical acclaim) of the year, after playing a minister of the Church of the Third Revival in There Will Be Blood. Hence, Dano has the most hype right now, especially after landing a role in last year’s indie favorite, Little Miss Sunshine. Dano was pretty funny in TGND, playing the more naïve, studious teen to Chris Marquette’s cliché horny as hell porn fiend. It would be great if Dano mixed in some solid comedies after he hits it big, but who knows. His next two projects look pretty sweet, and the cast for The Stanford Prison Experiment is unfairly good.

Chris Marquette as Eli
Post TGND Highlight: The Invisible
Upcoming Splash: Fanboys & Infestation

Now, I know you are all thinking, WHO IS CHRIS MARQUETTE. Now, take a step back. Marquette was the one from TGND who was obsessed with porn. He kept it low key after that, taking small roles in movies with deep acting talent. But he is about to start reaping commercial gold in two movies that sound REALLY entertaining. Fanboys is about (surprise) some fanboys who go on a quest to steal a copy of Star Wars Episode I for their dieing friend. The cast makes this movie look like it could be pretty sweet; with the small exception that annoying hack actor Dan Fogler is in it. But he could also be perfect for that role. Infestation sounds like it could be fun too, depending on how seriously it takes itself. IMDb describes it as, “A slacker awakes to find himself weak and wrapped in a webbing; after realizing that the world has been taken over by giant alien insects, he wakes a ragtag group of strangers and together they fight for survival.”

Timothy Olyphant as Kelly
Post TGND Highlight: Live Free or Die Hard & Hitman
Upcoming Splash: Stop Loss

Olyphant was probably my favorite character from TGND. Actually, my favorite was obviously Elisha Cuthbert. But besides her. The movie really opened Olyphant up and showed that he could be an aggressive antagonist. That is probably how he landed blockbuster roles in Live Free or Die Hard and Hitman. I liked both those movies, but Olyphant was TOTALLY out of place – leaving behind the slick and slimy personality of Kelly for completely dispassionate turns in great action movies. I really hope Olyphant can turn it back around and find his niche in Hollywood. Hell, he rebounded pretty well after he starred in Catch and Release

Elisha Cuthbert as Danielle
Post TGND Highlight: The Quiet & Captivity
Upcoming Splash: Sassy Girl & Cat Tale

Cuthbert has a lot of potential as a blonde beauty in the vein of Katherine Heigl, and can still play the teen parts for a few more years. She could also (gasp) learn how to act. That would probably help a lot. She could also get a real agent who would tell her that the way to capture a real fan base and gain major studio attention is NOT making shitty horror movies and animated films that seem bound to fail. Sassy Girl though offers Cuthbert a window into the rich romantic comedy market where Cuthbert could make a killing. TGND shows that she has enough acting talent – more than Alba and Biel and those types, and timing – to really do well in comedy.

Emile Hirsch as Matthew
Post TGND Highlight: Alpha Dog & Into the Wild
Upcoming Splash: Speed Racer & Milk

Hirsch followed up his role as smooth faced Mathew with a gritty role in Lords of Dogtown. After that though, Hirsch jumped into the Oscar fast track when he started making Oscar caliber movies at a really young age – I’m talking about Into the Wild, not Alpha Dog. Hirsch will also leap into the commercial blockbuster craze with Speed Racer, a movie that could possibly spawn sequels. Milk (where he has a supporting role) is the type of dramatic follow up that will start getting Hirsch starring roles in similar Oscar soft balls.

While Dano and Hirsch are going gangbusters, Marquette is poised to leap into Jonah Hill/Michael Cera type audiences with his roles, and he could easily turn that into sustainable spotlight. All Olyphant has to do is seize a role with a dynamic personality and he is back in the driver’s seat. Elisha on the other hand can find the gold brick road if she slips into the romantic comedy genre. We shall see…

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.