September Movie Watching

September, my least favorite movie month. I saw three films theatrically this month, plus one on-demand. I'll start with the best, which was World's Greatest Dad, the Bobcat Goldthwait directed-Robin WIlliams' starrer. I saw it on demand (it got a simultaneous theatrical and on demand release) because a friend forced me! And now I can't decide whether I'm glad I saw it at all (I might have skipped it) or whether I'm mad I didn't see it at the theater. It was a truly great film... if very cynical. I gotta tell ya though-- don't miss it. The script is just first rate and I truly hope word gets around and Goldthwait gets an Oscar nomination. Williams, too, by the way is very good and the casting was right on the money. DON'T go by the terrible trailer on this one.

I caught up on Julie & Julia and found it to be very enjoyable. And I didn't think the modern story dragged... don't listen to the old fogey Streep-lovers! In fact, I thought the two stories were woven together quite seamlessly. Streep (and Stanley Tucci) both deserve, and probably will get, Oscar nominations. I also predict that the film will find its way into the Best Picture category. Four reasons for this: a lot of people saw it, it's "prestige," it's well reviewed, and fourth and most importantly— with the Best Picture nominations expanded to ten, the Academy has to pick five films to be nominated without corresponding Best Director nominations, and they will have no problem keeping Nora Ephron's name off that list.

Jennifer's Body was not the box office success I thought it would be. And, although it had a nice screenwritery sense to the dialogue, dare I say it suffered from no character development. Right, I know, its a horror genre piece.... but I had no reason to follow the two female leads through their paces. And Megan Fox, although she sure got her close-ups, was never hot enough in this entire movie as in that one opening-the-hood-of-the-car shot in TRANSFORMERS (nor was she particuarly well used in TRANSFORMERS 2).

EXTRACT was a pleasant surprise. I laughed a lot. And although Jason Bateman just plays his Arrested Development character-- I like that character! And although I GROANED when I saw Gene Simmons name in the credits, he is HILARIOUS in his small part!

1960s Films On My Movie-Radar

The 1960s in film was the decade influx internationally. Particularly in the US, when the Hollywood studio system crumbled and "new Hollywood" entered the fray. Here's a list of six classic 1960s films (making the change from ten as in blog entries past) that have managed to elude me, but I've got them on my radar:

Sons and Lovers— 1960

David and Lisa— 1962

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance— 1962

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow— 1963

Repulsion— 1965

A Man and A Woman— 1966

July Movie Watching

July is such a great month for movies, maybe because it's always the "lighter" fare.... you'll see them just to get out of the heat. Somehow, just saw four theatrically this month. It would have been five but I got sick from dinner a third into Public Enemies. This is only the second time in all my moviegoing years that I had to leave the theater and miss a movie (can't remember the name of the first movie but I do remember rushing home on the subway in NYC!). Never got around to seeing PE, but it kind of (and surprisingly) bombed. The little I saw looked just average.

Saw Year One (it was a free screening!). My friends bemoned how awful it was and I wasn't about to argue. The makers didn't try too hard on this one. It was one of those movies where the only time spent after coming up with the premise was on the casting.

Bruno was, unfortunately, a letdown. It did have a few scattered laughs and shocks, and it at least proved how brilliant Borat was in retrospect. Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher were in the theater when I saw it, that was cool.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was, to me, the best Potter after the (brilliant) Prisoner of Azkaban. Although I like the series, these two are also, unfortunately, the only really good ones: it'd be hard to pick third place from the rest. So, it's nice they pulled this one off. The only bad thing about it is was the conclusion, which only works at a mid-chapter level. What I liked best about the movie was that I really felt like I was a part of the Potter world while watching it. A bit lengthy, but not too bad.

Lastly, I saw Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Again a free screening, but I gotta tell ya, within minutes I was wondering why the hell I went to it. I guess since I haven't seen the other two (theatrically or otherwise) I felt compelled. Ugh. And it's yet ANOTHER IN AN ENDLESS LINE OF ANIMATED MOVIES ABOUT A LOST FRIEND THAT NEEDS TO BE RESCUED!!!! ENOUGH ALREADY ANIMATION PEOPLE. GET A NEW STORY LINE!!!

Heritage Galleries July '09 Auction Realized

Heritage Galleries' July auction ended this weekend with wacky 1923 Hollywood one sheet (grade: FN/VF)--I love this one!-- going for $89,625. Too bad this silent film no longer exists....

A grade FN+ Gilda went for $33,460; a grade FN/VF Broadway Melody went for $31,070; and-- a steal at $5,078.75-- was a VF Vertigo, possibly the greatest poster of all time (I'm actually glad that so many copies of it exist that, conceivably, I could own one someday!).

I was surprised that the foreign posters didn't get big numbers, per se. The Seven Samurai-- a great poster (grade: VF)-- went for $13,145.

If I were bidding, I would have had my eye on the Trader Horn poster (grade: VG/FN), which went for $11,950-- an odd but interesting poster and an underrated film.



There were many noteworthy items in this auction. Just to name one more, a lobby card from Alfred Hitchcock's Blackmail (a VERY rare item), went for $14,340.



Here is Learn About Movie Posters compilation of top sellers of all-time.

2010 Leonard Maltin Guide's Ratings of Last Year's Award Winners

The Leonard Maltin Guide, for better or worse, sets a standard for how movies are ranked in later years. Although there are many examples of aberrations (for example Unforgiven, which frequently lands on best-films-of-all-time lists, is rated just *** out of ****) the guide has had influence in general in accessing films for future generations.






With that in mind, here are the films that received the main awards from critics, guilds, etc. from last year and where they placed in Maltin's rankings.

AMPAS Best Picture Nominees:
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (****)
FROST/NIXON (****)
MILK (*** 1/2)
THE READER (*** 1/2)
SLUMDOG MILIONAIRE [winner] (****)

Best Actor: Sean Penn for MILK (*** 1/2)
Best Actress: Kate Winslet for THE READER (*** 1/2)
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger for THE DARK KNIGHT (**)
Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz for VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA (*** 1/2)
Best Director: Danny Boyle for SLUMDIG MILIONAIRE (****)
Best Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black for MILK (*** 1/2)
Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy for SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (****)
Best Foreign Film: DEPARTURES(***)
Best Animated Film: WALL•E (** 1/2)
Best Documentary Feature: MAN ON WIRE (*** 1/2)

Multiple Oscar winners (features):
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE— 8 (****)
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON— 3 (****)
THE DARK KNIGHT— 2 (**)
MILK— 2 (*** 1/2)

Golden Globes Best Motion Picture Drama: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (****)
Golden Globes Best Musical or Comedy Film: VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA (*** 1/2)
Golden Globes Foreign-Language Film: WALTZ WITH BASHIR (*** 1/2)
Golden Globes Animated Film: WALL•E (** 1/2)

BAFTA Best Film: SLUMDOG MILIONAIRE (****)
BAFTA Best British Film: MAN ON WIRE (*** 1/2)
BAFTA Best Foreign-Language Film: I’VE LOVED YOU SO LONG (***)
BAFTA Best Animated Film: WALL•E (** 1/2)

PGA Best Film: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (****)
PGA Best Animated Motion Picture: WALL•E (** 1/2):
PGA Best Documentary: MAN ON WIRE (*** 1/2)

SAG Ensemble Award: SLUMDOG MILIONAIRE (****)

DGA Award: Danny Boyle for SLUMDOG MILIONAIRE (****)

WGA Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black for MILK (*** 1/2)
WGA Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy for SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (****)
WGA Documentary Screenplay: Ari Folman for WALTZ WITH BASHIR (*** 1/2)

Online Film Critics Society Best Picture: WALL•E (** 1/2)
OFCS Best Foreign-Language Film: LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (*** 1/2)
OFCS Best Documentary: MAN ON WIRE (*** 1/2)
OFCS Best Animated Film: WALL•E (** 1/2)

Broadcast Film Critics Best Picture: SLUMDOG MILIONAIRE (****)
BFCA Best Action Movie: THE DARK KNIGHT (**)
BFCA Comedy Movie: TROPIC THUNDER (** 1/2)
BFCA Best Documentary Feature: MAN ON WIRE (*** 1/2)
BFCA Animated Movie: WALL•E (** 1/2)
BFCA Foreign-Language Film: WALTZ WITH BASHIR (*** 1/2)

Nat’l Society of Film Critics Best Picture: WALTZ WITH BASHIR (*** 1/2)
NSFC Foreign-Language Film: n/a
NSFC Non-Fiction Film: MAN ON WIRE (*** 1/2)

New York Film Critics Circle Best Picture: MILK (*** 1/2)
NYFCC Best Animated Film: WALL•E (*** 1/2)
NYFCC Best Non-Fiction Film: MAN ON WIRE (*** 1/2)
NYFCC Best Foreign-Language Film: 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, 2 DAYS (*** 1/2)

Los Angeles Film Critics Assn Best Picture: WALL•E (** 1/2)
LAFCA Best Animated Film: WALTZ WITH BASHIR (*** 1/2)
LAFCA Best Non-Fiction Film: MAN ON WIRE (*** 1/2)
LAFCA Best Foreign Language Film: STILL LIFE (n/a)

National Board of Review Top Ten Films:
BURN AFTER READING (** 1/2)
THE CHANGELING (***)
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (****)
THE DARK KNIGHT (**)
DEFIANCE (** 1/2)
FROST/NIXON (****)
GRAN TORINO (***)
MILK (*** 1/2)
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE [Best Film] (****)
WALL•E (** 1/2)
THE WRESTLER (*** 1/2)

NBR Best Foreign Film: MONGOL (***)
NBR Best Animated Film: WALL•E (** 1/2)
NBR Best Documentary: MAN ON WIRE (*** 1/2)

AFI Top Ten
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (****)
THE DARK KNIGHT (**)
FROST/NIXON (****)
FROZEN RIVER (***)
GRAN TORINO (***)
IRON MAN (** 1/2)
MILK (*** 1/2)
WALL•E (** 1/2)
WENDY AND LUCY (***)
THE WRESTLER (*** 1/2)

Indiewire Top Ten
1. THE FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON (***)
2. A CHRISTMAS TALE (*** 1/2)
3. WALL•E (** 1/2)
4. WENDY AND LUCY (***)
5. HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (***)
6. PARANOID PARK (** 1/2)
7. STILL LIFE (n/a)
8. SILENT LIGHT (n/a)
9. SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK (**)
10. WALTZ WITH BASHIR (*** 1/2)

Village Voice Top Ten
1. WALL•E (** 1/2)
2. THE FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON (***)
3. HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (***)
4. STILL LIFE (n/a)
5. A CHRISTMAS TALE (*** 1/2)
6. WALTZ WITH BASHIR (*** 1/2)
7. MILK (*** 1/2)
8. WENDY AND LUCY (***)
9. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (*** 1/2)
10. SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK (**)


2008 additions to They Shoot Pictures…. website Top 250 Films of the 21st Century:

30. FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON (***)
54. A CHRISTMAS TALE (*** 1/2)
55. WENDY AND LUCY (***)
68. WALL-E (** 1/2)
73. STILL LIFE (n/a)
78. MY WINNIPEG (*** 1/2)
79. PARANOID PARK (** 1/2)
84. HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (***)
86. WALTZ WITH BASHIR (*** 1/2)
116. SILENT LIGHT (n/a)
117. SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK (**)
118. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (*** 1/2)
123. IN THE CITY OF SYLVIA (n/a)
127. THE LIVES OF OTHERS (*** 1/2)
141. RACHEL GETTING MARRIED (***)
144. HUNGER (*** 1/2)
153. MILK (*** 1/2)
159. THE WRESTLER (*** 1/2)
172. HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE (2004) (*** 1/2)
176. THE DUCHESS OF LANGEAIS (***)
186. THE EDGE OF HEAVEN (n/a)
196. MAN ON WIRE (*** 1/2)
197. BALLAST (***)
219. WOMAN ON BEACH (n/a)
220. REPRISE (** 1/2)
223. CHE (**)
231. CHUNHYANG (2000) (**)

2010 Leonard Maltin Guide: Actors and Directors Index Adds

With the new Maltin Guide comes the addition of new names to the star/director index (plus the inevitable axing of others). Since putting the guide together every year and making editorial decisions is no easy task, let's not be too harsh on the deletions (although considerable this year: 21), including: Ann-Margret, John Barrymore, John Belushi, John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Irene Dunne, Douglas Fairbanks, Laurence Fishburne, Lillian Gish, Jeff Goldblum, Helen Hunt, Anjelica Huston, Al Jolson, Ashley Judd, Kevin Kline, Hayley Mills, Mary Pickford, Eleanor Powell, Kurt Russell, Winona Ryder, Rudolph Valentino. Instead, let's take a look at the "graduating class" of 2008/09.


New "Faces" added to the Leonard Maltin Guide 2010 Index:

STARS—

Penelope Cruz

Robert Downey, Jr.

Ed Harris

Anne Hathaway

Viggo Mortensen

Seth Rogen

Mickey Rourke

DIRECTORS—

Guillermo del Toro

Baz Luhrmann

Sam Mendes

Christopher Nolan

Gus Van Sant

2010 Leonard Maltin Guide Is Out!

Every year I greatly anticipate Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide (as usual, out at the bookstores way before its Amazon street date). His capsule reviews and ratings set the standard for how a film will be seen by future generations. Of late, the **** rating was practically unattainable for new releases, but last year, both the Iraq War doc No End In Sight and the Apollo space program doc In the Shadow of the Moon received the coveted ****; this year I noticed at least three films were **** rated: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, and Slumdog Millionaire.

Here's how my top ten 2008 stacked up against the Maltin Guide's ratings:

Synecdoche, New York (**) [My #1, rest alpha]
Cloverfield (***)
Frost/Nixon (****)
In Bruges (***)
JCVD (***)
The Mother of Tears (* 1/2)
My Winnipeg (*** 1/2)
Rachel Getting Married (***)
Religulous (** 1/2)
The Wrestler (*** 1/2)