Review: "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" is Really Good Good

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 141 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
Running time: 103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)
MPAA – R for language, violence, and sexuality/nudity
DIRECTOR: Shane Black
WRITER: Shane Black; from a screen story by Shane Black (based upon the novel, Bodies are Where You Find Them by Brett Halliday)
PRODUCER: Joel Silver
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael Barrett
EDITOR: Jim Page

COMEDY/MYSTERY/CRIME with elements of drama and thriller

Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan, Corbin Bernsen, Dash Mihok, Larry Miller, Rockmond Dunbar, Shannyn Sossamon, and Angela Lindvall

New York City petty thief, Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey, Jr.) cons his way into an acting audition while running from the police. Before long he’s whisked away to Los Angeles for an even more important audition, this time for a part in a big movie. Harry finds an authentic acting coach in L.A. detective, Perry Van Shrike (Val Kilmer) or "Gay Perry," to help him prepare for his audition. The bright lights of Hollywood pale, however, when Harry, Perry, and Harry’s high school dream girl, Harmony Faith Lane (Michelle Monaghan), find themselves thrust into a murder mystery – one with an increasingly high body count.

Shane Black’s calling card is that he is the screenwriter who created Lethal Weapon, but his name may also be slightly notorious with his connection to Hollywood budget excesses, especially as he once received a then-record $1.75 million for The Last Boy Scout script. He didn’t create the buddy picture, an action sub-genre that remains popular but really ruled in the 1980’s and early 1990’s (one could say that the buddy-cop flick came to life with 48 Hours). Still, Black’s Lethal Weapon screenplay defined the buddy action flick, and Black became one of the most influential writers of action flicks.

Perhaps, we can view Black’s directorial debut, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, as a send-up of the genre he, more than any other writer, helped send into the stratosphere of big-time movie making. Almost a movie within a movie, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang seems like a satire of the buddy flick. Self-referential to the point of being meta-fiction, the narrator, Robert Downey, Jr.’s Harry Lockhart, never breaks the fourth wall, but he knows he has an audience.

With all the twists, turns, deceptions, betrayal, and romance in its plot, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a clever P. I. (private investigator or private eye) farce set in the glamour weird side of Los Angeles – think rich people and Hollywood types. Many of the characters are on the edge of Tinseltown – on the outside looking in. This movie is like Get Shorty, but it’s filtered through Shane Black’s penchant for L.A. crime stories – cops and detectives working a sort of modern day Film-Noir City of Angels – a kind of neo-Noir. This is also like The Last Boy Scout, without the big budget action sequences, but more outlandish and eccentric.

Watching this film, one has to wonder why it works. Robert Downey, Jr. seems slightly miscast, but he’s such a fine actor that he makes this part his own. Val Kilmer is quite good in a part that seems a bit short for what both the character and actor can bring to the film. Michelle Monaghan also seems miscast, but she has excellent comic sensibilities and over the long haul of the picture makes a very good, if not perfect, fit.

For all the style and ambience Black and his cast bring to this movie, what ultimately makes Kiss Kiss Bang Bang an exceptional film is how shrewdly written it is. Black has astutely filled his script with the kind of off-the-wall dialogue, situations, and scenes that hooks an audience ever deeper into the film, very similar to what Quentin Tarantino did in Pulp Fiction. It’s a cunning move that both keeps an audience with a short attention span engaged while putting a nimble move on the detective genre that makes even the jaded sit up and take notice. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it is the droll comedy of 2005. It is also one of the most inventive comic turns on the detective flick (that doesn’t have to rely on parody) in decades.

8 of 10
A

Friday, June 30, 2006

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Review: Too Much Nancy Drew in "Nancy Drew" (Happy B'day, Emma Roberts)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 14 (of 2008) by Leroy Douresseaux

Nancy Drew (2007)
Running time: 99 minutes (1 hour, 39 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for mild violence, thematic elements, and brief language
DIRECTOR: Andrew Fleming
WRITERS: Andrew Fleming and Tiffany Paulsen; from a story by Tiffany Paulsen (based upon the characters created by Mildred Wirt Benson writing as Carolyn Keene)
PRODUCER: Jerry Weintraub
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Alexander Gruszynski (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Jeff Freeman

MYSTERY/FAMILY

Starring: Emma Roberts, Josh Flitter, Max Thieriot, Rachael Leigh Cook, Tate Donovan, Marshall Bell, Daniella Monet, Kelly Vitz, Krystle Hernandez, Barry Bostwick, Adam Clark, and Laura Harring (Screen appearances with no screen credit: Bruce Willis, Chris Kattan, and Eddie Jemison)

The 2007 film, Nancy Drew, is a return to the big screen by the famous girl detective.

When her father Carson Drew (Tate Donovan) heads to Los Angeles to take on some high paying temporary legal work, Nancy Drew (Emma Roberts, Julia Roberts’ niece), the resourceful teen detective, is right behind him. She’s leaving her friendly hometown of River Heights for life at Hollywood High School. Nancy’s uncanny intelligence and smarts, as well as her retro manners (including her perfect picnic lunches and penny loafers), earn her some enemies. The less-than-warm reception from reigning fashionistas Inga (Daniella Monet) and Trish (Kelly Vitz) might bother the average new girl, but not Nancy, who has more important things to think about, in particular a brand new mystery.

Nancy promised her worried Dad that she'd quit “sleuthing,” but it isn't long before she gets a lead on one of Hollywood’s greatest unsolved cases of all time: the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of famous actress Dehlia Draycott (Laura Harring). Nancy happened to make sure that the Drews’ temporary L.A. home is the former Draycott mansion. With Inga’s little brother, Corky (Josh Flitter), tagging along, and a surprise appearance from her hometown sleuthing partner, Ned Nickerson (Max Thieriot), Nancy combs the long-reputed haunted mansion to solve the Draycott mystery, but some shadowy and dangerous figures aren’t happy about that.

The modernization of Nancy Drew took a character known mostly for existing in a rural, small town setting and placed her in the fast-paced and more dangerous big city. This is not necessarily a bad thing, nor is the movie bad. The script sets the supposedly unsophisticated Nancy against the Byzantine urban world, but Nancy ends up looking super sophisticated, while L.A./Hollywood seems to be a world full of narcissistic and selfish morons. It’s fun to watch Nancy basically run roughshod over a world determined to keep her in her place.

It’s a shame that the film has so many good supporting characters, but simply drops them here and there, some with no rhyme or reason. This is a Nancy Drew film that is just too Nancy-centric. Still, in spite of its limitations, Nancy Drew is likeable. It lacks the snappy freshness of the Bonita Granville Nancy Drew movie series made in the late 1930s, but this new Nancy Drew is fun on its own.

6 of 10
B

Saturday, March 15, 2008

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"X-Men: First Class" Trailer on Facebook; EW Has Photo Exclusive

Entertainment Weekly likes to share its breaking news and exclusives:

EW.COM PHOTO EXCLUSIVE: 'X-Men: First Class' trailer targets Facebook fanbase tomorrow

Mutants can control minds, burn through walls, control the weather — and now, they can “friend.”

The trailer for the superhero reboot X-Men: First Class goes up tomorrow, with Fox is releasing it in on Facebook as part of an effort to build a social networking community around the film, opening June 3. The fan page can be found at Facebook.com/XMenMovies, and it’s already 1.6 million wannabe-mutants strong.

The trailer will offer fans a first look at the younger years of Professor X and his team of superpowered pupils. The movie, directed by Kick-Ass filmmaker Matthew Vaughn, stars James McAvoy (Atonement) and Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds) in the Professor X and Magneto roles, respectively. Mad Men‘s January Jones co-stars as Emma Frost, the ultra-sexy Marvel Comics telepath known for her revealing white outfits and diamond-skin armor.

There are many questions surrounding the movie, and a big one can be asked about this mysterious new photo from Fox, released exclusively to EW.

Full story and exclusive photo on EW.com: http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/02/09/x-men-first-class-trailer/

DreamWorks Animation Announces Voice Cast for "Rise of the Guardians"

DREAMWORKS ANIMATION NAMES ALL-STAR CAST FEATURING CHRIS PINE, ALEC BALDWIN, HUGH JACKMAN, ISLA FISHER AND JUDE LAW FOR RISE OF THE GUARDIANS ON NOVEMBER 21, 2012

DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (Nasdaq: DWA) today named its all-star cast for Rise of the Guardians, featuring Chris Pine in the lead role of Jack Frost, together with Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher and Jude Law. The film, scheduled for release on November 21, 2012, is based on “The Guardians of Childhood,” a series of highly anticipated children’s books by William Joyce.

Rise of the Guardians is being directed by Peter Ramsey and co-directed by William Joyce, produced by Christina Steinberg and Nancy Bernstein, written by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire and executive produced by Guillermo del Toro and Michael Siegel.

“It’s a thrill to be working with such an all-star team of actors and filmmakers on Rise of the Guardians,” commented Bill Damaschke, Chief Creative Officer at DreamWorks Animation. “When we bring Bill Joyce’s imaginative vision to the screen in 2012, audiences will experience an incredible story with a truly epic sense of adventure.”

More than a collection of the well-known childhood legends, Rise of the Guardians tells the story of a group of heroes – each with extraordinary abilities. When an evil spirit known as Pitch lays down the gauntlet to take over the world, the immortal Guardians must join forces for the first time to protect the hopes, beliefs and imagination of children all over the world. This epic 3D adventure stars Chris Pine as Jack Frost, Alec Baldwin as North (Santa Claus), Hugh Jackman as Bunnymund (Easter Bunny), Isla Fisher as Tooth (Tooth Fairy) and Jude Law as Pitch (The Boogeyman).


About DreamWorks Animation SKG
DreamWorks Animation creates high-quality entertainment, including CG animated feature films, television specials and series, live entertainment properties and online virtual worlds, meant for audiences around the world. The Company has world-class creative talent, a strong and experienced management team and advanced filmmaking technology and techniques. DreamWorks Animation has been named one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” by FORTUNE® Magazine for three consecutive years. In 2011, DreamWorks Animation ranks #10 on the list. All of DreamWorks Animation’s feature films are now being produced in 3D. The Company has theatrically released a total of 21 animated feature films, including the franchise properties of Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon.

Review: Oscar-Nominee "Munich" Asks the Uncomfortable Questions (Happy B'day, John Williams)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 4 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Munich (2005)
Running time: 164 minutes (2 hours, 44 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong graphic violence, some sexual content, nudity, and language
DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg
WRITERS: Tony Kushner and Eric Roth (based upon the book Vengeance by George Jonas)
PRODUCERS: Kathleen Kennedy, Barry Mendel, Colin Wilson, and Steven Spielberg
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Janusz Kaminski
EDITOR: Michael Kahn
COMPOSER: John Williams
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA

Starring: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Ciarán Hinds, Mathieu Kassovitz, Hanns Zischler, Ayelet Zorer, Geoffrey Rush, Gila Almagor, Michael Lonsdale, Mathieu Amalric, Gila Almagor, and Lynn Cohen

Steven Spielberg’s Munich is set in the aftermath of the real life massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The story follows a secret assassination squad, led by a former Mossad (Israeli version of the CIA) officer named Avner (Eric Bana), assigned to track down and kill the 11 Palestinian terrorists and operatives, whom the Israeli government suspects of having planned the Munich attack. The film focuses on the personal toll this mission of revenge and retribution takes upon the team, and in particular, Avner.

Many have argued that Munich has taken both sides in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, but I must have missed something because I didn’t see it that way. I viewed the film as a narrative that with medical precision shows how much it costs men to engage in one act of murder after another. This isn’t about a war where the fighters kill (mostly) faceless men. Avner and his associates (which includes the new James Bond, Daniel Craig, playing a gung-ho, American cowboy-type, Israeli named Steve) have to hunt these men down. In that way, they get to see them as more than targets. Yes, they may be murderers, and clearly they involve themselves in operations aimed at killing Israelis in terrorist attacks, but these aren’t dogs that Avner and his team are hunting. Eventually, killing people and endangering innocents (collateral damage) gets to be too much for them. The explosions, the gore, and most of all the finality of death – always watching, knowing, and talking to people they have to kill.

Avner misses his wife and child, and he begins to mistrust his Israeli bosses, in particular Ephraim (the truly astounding chameleonic actor Geoffrey Rush). Eventually, Avner and his team find themselves competing against American interests, the CIA, and Soviet interests, personified by the KGB, who protect and provide both material and financial support to some Palestinian terrorists. So many of the parties involved see Avner’s mission as some kind of game, a war game for sure, but still a game of capture and defend territory. There are platitudes galore about striking back and sending a message, but in this narrative, only Avner understands that this is dirty work, expensive dirty work. The costs will run into the millions, and will also cost many lives – lives that must often be violently snuffed out if one side is to win and/or survive. One has to wonder what the result of terrorism and the retributive answer to it will be. As one of the characters concludes, “There is no peace at the end of this.”

Still, through Munich, one can tell that Spielberg clearly believes that Israel had to answer the Munich murders with retribution (as do I). He also clearly loves Israel. At one point in the film, Avner’s mother (Gila Almagor) says of the founding of Israel that they (Jews) had to take the land because no one would give it to them, and that they needed a place on earth where Jews could live with other Jews. Spielberg may very likely believe this, but in Munich, he uses film to question Israel using swift retribution for every attack against it, although I don’t think that Israel has always answered every attack against it.

Perhaps, that is why the film meanders. It’s too long, and on just a few occasions it is too preachy – a few of those being embarrassingly preachy. Munich’s resolution is also soft – if there is one. I get the point that the director wants to say that there are no easy answers for this situation, but in saying that, the movie lumbers towards the end like an out of shape and slightly over weight athlete. Munich does indeed take a side (Israel), but the movie wonders about the other side (the Palestinians). Spielberg doesn’t really try to have it both ways, but he muddles the water enough with differing points of view. Still, what is one the screen is outstanding, powerful, and mesmerizing. I could have an adjective field day, but with its engaging performances – Eric Bana is rugged, handsome, and shows his soul with this performance – and taut action (the assassinations are as riveting as anything in the best war and action movies), Munich is must-see cinema for any Spielberg fan and any fan of cinema.

8 of 10
A

Saturday, January 07, 2006

NOTES:
2006 Academy Awards: 5 nominations: “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg, and Barry Mendel), “Best Achievement in Directing” (Steven Spielberg), “Best Achievement in Editing” (Michael Kahn) and “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score” (John Williams), and “Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay” (Tony Kushner and Eric Roth)

2006 Golden Globes: 2 nominations: “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Steven Spielberg) and “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Tony Kushner and Eric Roth)

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DreamWorks Animation and its "Dragon" Dominate 38th Annie Awards

The Annie Awards were born in 1972 and began as a career achievement award.  In 1992, the awards began to honor animation in general, including the birth of the "Best Animated Feature" award.  ASIFA-Hollywood, the Los Angeles, California branch of the International Animated Film Association, gives out the Annies.

Before I list this year's winners, I guess I should mention the controversy.  Disney/Pixar boycotted the awards this year and apparently did not officially submit or campaign for their films.  They claim that the way in which the Annies are judged favors DreamWorks Animation.  This all goes back to the awards handed out in 2009 for the 2008 films, which saw Kung Fu Panda beat Wall-E for best animated feature.

So, this year, DreamWorks Animation won 15 of the 24 competitive awards and the studio's How to Train Your Dragon sweept the feature animation categories, where it won 10 trophies, including best animated feature.  Toy Story 3 did not win any awards, but Pixar did win one award for the animated short, Day & Night.

If I feel like commenting about the children squabbling over awards sometime in the future, I will, but for now, I imagine that you want to know who won.

THE COMPLETE LIST OF 38TH ANNIE AWARD WINNERS:

Best Animated Feature: "How to Train Your Dragon" – DreamWorks Animation

Best Animated Short Subject: "Day & Night" – Pixar

Best Animated Television Commercial: "Children's Medical Center" - DUCK Studios

Best Animated Television Production: "Kung Fu Panda Holiday" - DreamWorks Animation

Best Animated Television Production for Children: "SpongeBob SquarePants" – Nickelodeon

Best Animated Video Game: Limbo – Playdead

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES

Directing in a Feature Production: "How to Train Your Dragon," Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois - DreamWorks Animation

Writing in a Feature Production: “How to Train Your Dragon,” William Davies, Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders – DreamWorks Animation

Animated Effects in an Animated Production: "How To Train Your Dragon," Brett Miller - DreamWorks Animation

Character Animation in a Feature Production: "How To Train Your Dragon," Gabe Hordos - DreamWorks Animation

Character Animation in a Live Action Production: "Alice in Wonderland," Ryan Page

Character Design in a Feature Production: "How To Train Your Dragon," Nico Marlet - DreamWorks Animation

Music in a Feature Production: "How To Train Your Dragon," John Powell - DreamWorks Animation

Production Design in a Feature Production: "How To Train Your Dragon," Pierre Olivier Vincent - DreamWorks Animation

Storyboarding in a Feature Production: "How To Train Your Dragon," Tom Owens - DreamWorks Animation

Voice Acting in a Feature Production: "How To Train Your Dragonn" Jay Baruchel as Hiccup - DreamWorks Animation

Directing in a Television Production: "Kung Fu Panda Holiday," Tim Johnson - DreamWorks Animation

Writing in a Television Production: "Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III": Geoff Johns, Matthew Beans, Zeb Wells, Hugh Sterbakov, Matthew Senreich, Breckin Meyer, Seth Green, Mike Fasolo, Douglas Goldstein, Tom Root, Dan Milano, Kevin Shinick & Hugh Davidson – ShadowMachine

Character Animation in a Television Production: David Pate, "Kung Fu Panda Holiday" - DreamWorks Animation

Character Design in a Television Production: Ernie Gilbert, "T.U.F.F. Puppy" – Nickelodeon

Music in a Television Production: Jeremy Wakefield, Sage Guyton, Nick Carr, Tuck Tucker, "SpongeBob SquarePants" – Nickelodeon

Production Design in a Television Production: Richie Sacilioc, "Kung Fu Panda Holiday" - DreamWorks Animation

Storyboarding in a Television Production: Fred Gonzales, "T.U.F.F. Puppy" – Nickelodeon

Voice Acting in a Television Production: James Hong as Mr. Ping, "Kung Fu Panda Holiday" - DreamWorks Animation

JURIED AWARDS

Winsor McCay Award – Brad Bird, Eric Goldberg, Matt Groening

June Foray – Ross Iwamoto.

Ub Iwerks Award – Autodesk

Special Achievement – “Waking Sleeping Beauty”

http://www.annieawards.org/index.html

Review: "Night Catches Us" Captures Mackie, Washington, and Hamilton in Fine Form

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 12 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Night Catches Us (2010)
Running time: 90 minutes (1 hour, 30 minutes)
MPAA – R for language, some sexuality and violence
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Tanya Hamilton
PRODUCERS: Sean Costello, Jason Orans, and Ron Simons
CINEMATOGRAPHER: David Tumblety
EDITORS: John Chimples and Affonso Gonçalves
COMPOSERS/SONGS: The Roots

DRAMA

Starring: Kerry Washington, Anthony Mackie, Wendell Pierce, Jamie Hector, Tariq Trotter, Ron Simons, Amari Cheatom, Tariq Rasheed, and Jamara Griffin

Films set in the past can be timely or relevant to the times in which they are released. For instance the 1970 film, MASH, is set during the Korean War (1950-53), but the film was relevant in the Vietnam era and can be viewed as being about the Vietnam War.

Released in 2010, Night Catches Us, an independent film drama from writer/director Tonya Hamilton, is set in 1976. Not only is it timely in addressing current social ills, but the film is also timeless in the way it depicts an oppressed group’s inability to move on from past hurts and persistent bitterness. Plus, Night Catches Us is an extra damn fine movie and dramatic piece of work.

The film focuses on Marcus Washington (Anthony Mackie), a former Black Panther who returns to his Philadelphia neighborhood in 1976 for his father’s funeral. Marcus immediately clashes with his brother, Bostic (Tariq Trotter), and also with much of the rest of this race-torn Philly neighborhood that is not so happy to see the return of a prodigal son. Marcus is still blamed for the death of a revered Panther, Neil Wilson (Tariq Rasheed), at the hands of the hated police years earlier.

One person who is welcoming to Marcus is Patricia Wilson (Kerry Washington), a local attorney and Neil’s widow. Marcus has deep feelings for her, and he quickly befriends Patricia and Neil’s daughter, an intelligent and inquisitive 9-year-old named Iris (Jamara Griffin). However, the police, mainly in the form a shady detective named David Gordon (Wendell Pierce), and “DoRight” Miller (Jamie Hector), a former minor Panther turned local boss, have targeted Marcus for their own benefit.

In Night Catches Us, Anthony Mackie and Kerry Washington give performances that are not only stunning, but also affirm their places as two of the best American actors. Generally, audiences don’t have a chance to see them since both are underutilized by the major American film studios. In this film, both actors give layered, textured performances that bring to the surface the thoughts and feelings of the characters. With subtly and grace, Washington reveals that which ultimately holds back Patricia, while Mackie bares Marcus’ steadfast believe in hope and change. (Yeah, he’s like President Obama, but with a touch of Clint Eastwood.)

Although they are exceptionally talented, one of the reasons both actors are so good in Night Catches Us is because the material is so good. Writer/director Tonya Hamilton reportedly spent a decade writing the script, and the extensive development shows in the writing’s intricacy It has the depth, complexity, philosophical underpinnings, and social themes of a great American novel.

Night Catches Us is timely because it speaks to the same ills that plague African-Americans living in poor neighborhoods, such as a lack of good jobs and the presence of police that are intolerant of the very people they are supposed to help. The screenplay’s timeless quality is the story’s ability to grapple with issues that have plagued African-Americans nearly for the entirety of our presence in America. Like many Black folk (generally speaking), most of the characters cannot escape to better because they fight with the bitterness of past hurts instead of trying to leave some of that past behind them. We can’t find happiness here, Kerry Washington’s Patricia Wilson declares at one point, but the film asks a more pointed question. Why won’t they and we leave?

What testifies to Hamilton’s skill as a director in Night Catches Us is the fact that she gets topnotch performances from her entire cast. It takes cinematic talent to get a multifaceted performance even from a child actor the way Hamilton does with Jamara Griffin as Iris Wilson. Night Catches Us is not just a great Black movie (which it is); it is also simply a superb American film.

9 of 10
A+

Monday, February 07, 2011

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Christopher Nolan Recieves First Guild Award with WGA Win

After recieving several nominations from the Writers, Directors, and Producers Guilds, Christopher Nolan finally won a guild award, receiving the "Original Screenplay" award from the Writers Guild of America for the screenplay of his hit film, Inception, in a ceremony held Saturday night (Feb. 5th).  However, the frontrunner for the original screenplay Oscar is The King's Speech, which the WGA ruled ineligible for its awards.

2011 WRITERS GUILD WINNERS COMPLETE LIST:

SCREEN
Original Screenplay: Christopher Nolan, "Inception"
Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, "The Social Network"
Documentary Screenplay: Charles Ferguson, Chad Beck and Adam Bolt, "Inside Job"

TELEVISION
Drama Series: "Mad Men," written by Jonathan Abrahams, Lisa Albert, Keith Huff, Jonathan Igla, Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Brett Johnson, Janet Leahy, Erin Levy, Tracy McMillan, Dahvi Waller, Matthew Weiner (AMC)

Comedy Series: "Modern Family," written by Jerry Collins, Paul Corrigan, Alex Herschlag, Abraham Higginbotham, Elaine Ko, Joe Lawson, Steven Levitan, Christopher Lloyd, Dan O'Shannon, Jeffrey Richman, Brad Walsh, Ilana Wernick, Bill Wrubel, Danny Zuker (ABC)

New Series: "Boardwalk Empire," written by Meg Jackson, Lawrence Konner, Howard Korder, Steve Kornacki, Margaret Nagle, Tim Van Patten, Paul Simms, Terence Winter (HBO)

Episodic Drama: ""The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" ("Mad Men"), written by Erin Levy (AMC)

Episodic Comedy: "When It Rains, It Pours" ("30 Rock"), written by Robert Carlock (NBC)

Long Form - Original: "The Special Relationship," written by Peter Morgan (HBO)

Long Form - Adaptation: "The Pacific, Part Eight," written by Robert Schenkkan and Michelle Ashford (HBO)

Animation: "The Prisoner of Brenda" ("Futurama"), written by Ken Keeler (Comedy Central)

Comedy/Variety Series: "The Colbert Report," written by Barry Julien, Dan Guterman, Eric Drysdale, Frank Lesser, Glenn Eichler, Jay Katsir, Max Werner, Meredith Scardino, Michael Brumm, Opus Moreschi, Peter Gwinn, Rich Dahm, Rob Dubbin, Scott Sherman, Stephen Colbert, Tom Purcell, Peter Grosz, Paul Dinello (Comedy Central)

Comedy/Variety - Special: "National Memorial Day Concert 2010," written by Joan Meyerson (PBS)

Daytime Drama: "As the World Turns," written by Susan Dansby, Lucky Gold, Janet Iacobuzio, Penelope Koechi, David Kreizman, Leah Laiman, David A. Levinson, Leslie Nipkow, Jean Passanante, Gordon Rayfield, David Smilow (CBS)

Children's - Episodic & Specials: "Happy Ha-Ha Holidays," written by Michael G. Stern, Randi Barnes, Rick Gitelson, Scott Gray (Disney Channel)

Children's - Long Form or Special: "Avalon High," written by Julie Sherman Wolfe and Amy Talkington

Documentary - Current Events: "Flying Cheap" ("Frontline"), written by Rick Young

Documentary - Other Than Current Events: "Wyatt Earp" ("American Experience"), written by Rob Rapley

News - Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin or Breaking Report: "Sunday Morning Almanac" ("CBS Sunday Morning"), written by Thomas A. Harris

News - Analysis, Feature or Commentary: "Resurrecting Eden" ("60 Minutes"), written by Jenny Dubin

RADIO
Documentary: "2009 Year in Review," written by Gail Lee, CBS Radio News
News - Regularly Scheduled or Breaking Report: "CBS World News Roundup," written by Paul Farry, CBS Radio News
News: Analysis, Feature or Commentary: "Passages," written by Gail Lee, CBS Radio News

PROMOTIONAL WRITING AND GRAPHIC ANIMATION
On-Air Promotion (Radio or Television): "CSI" Promos, written by Anne de Vega, CBS
Television Graphic Animation: "Sunday Morning, By Design," graphic designer Bob Pook, graphic artist Diane Robinson, CBS News

VIDEOGAME
Videogame Writing: "Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood," written by Patrice Desilets, Jeffrey Yohalem, Corey May, Ethan Petty, Nicholas Grimwood, Matt Turner (Ubisoft)

NEW MEDIA
Original New Media: "The Real Thing," "Identity Crisis," "Girl Talk," "Naming Things," "Curtain Up" ("Anyone But Me"), written by Susan Miller and Tina Cesa Ward
Derivative New Media: "Strip Pong," "Tear Jerks," "Brainstorm" ("Frank vs Lutz"), written by Jon Haller

Review: "Dazed and Confused" Always a Winner

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 197 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Dazed and Confused (1993)
Running time: 102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)
MPAA – R for pervasive, continuous teen drug and alcohol use and very strong language
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Richard Linklater
PRODUCERS: Sean Daniel, James Jacks, and Richard Linklater
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Lee Daniel
EDITOR: Sandra Adair

COMEDY

Starring: Jason London, Rory Cochran, Sasha Jenson, Wiley Wiggins, Michelle Burke, Adam Goldberg, Anthony Rapp, Matthew McConaughey, Marissa Ribisi, Shawn Andrews, Cole Hauser, Milla Jovovich, Joey Lauren Adams, Christin Hinojosa, Ben Affleck, Jason O. Smith, Deena Martin, Parker Posey, Nicky Katt, Catherine Morris, Christine Harnos, Estaban Powell, Mark Vandermeulen, Jeremy Fox, Kim Krizan, and Rick Moser

Director Richard Linklater (Before Sunrise, The School of Rock) got the attention of a lot of young moviegoers in the mid-1990’s with his comic film, Dazed and Confused. Set during the last day of school, May 28, 1976, the film recounts the exploits of the incoming freshman class and the Class of ’77 at Lee High School, situated in a small Texas enclave. The male seniors-to-be beat the incoming freshmen with wooden paddles and the senior girls haze the incoming freshmen girls by pouring food and condiments all over them. The kids buy and smoke marijuana, buy and drink beer, make out and talk about having sex, plan parties, and listen to lots of classic early to mid-70’s rock music.

The film is very laid back, but very entertaining. It may be an acquired taste, likely popular with people who are nostalgic (those who lived it and those who only know it through media) about a kind of mid-70’s suburban idyllic, an almost pastoral setting that never really existed. However, Dazed and Confused is about an ideal, and it’s a very fine version of that ideal. The acting is so natural, and Linklater directs his cast and moves the film with such an alluringly lazy pace that suggest that this small town is a paradise or utopia.

Dazed and Confused is a tale about rites of passage and the relationship among a diverse student body of geeks, stoners, athletes, snobs, etc. with such facile grace that I wish it were real. I certainly think that every movie fan should see it at least once, especially because many may find it somewhat familiar.

7 of 10
B+

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USC Libraries Honor Aaron Sorkin and Ben Mezrich

USC Libraries Friend The Social Network

The writers behind the story of social-networking site Facebook take home the 23rd-annual USC Libraries Scripter Award.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Author Ben Mezrich and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin were feted with the 23rd-annual USC Libraries Scripter Award for the film The Social Network and the book The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal upon which it was based. Film critic and historian Leonard Maltin announced the winners at the black-tie banquet on Friday, Feb. 4.

“When you get that phone call that Aaron Sorkin is interested in adapting your book, it’s like getting hit by lightning,” Mezrich said.

“I sat down in the movie there and the movie opens. There is that line, ‘dating you is like dating a stairmaster.’ At that moment, I thought, this is the best movie I’ve ever seen,” added Mezrich.

Sorkin, who won multiple Emmy Awards for his work on the NBC program “The West Wing” and is nominated for an Academy Award for his Social Network screenplay, related an incident from early in his career that put entertainment award in perspective.

“Early one morning a few years ago, my father came over to my apartment in New York City where I was living at the time because the Academy Award nominations were being announced and there was some hope that a movie that I wrote that year would be nominated” explained Sorkin. “When it wasn’t, my father turned to me and said ‘Aaron, how many people in the world do you think woke up this morning with even reasonable expectation that something like this might happen.’ That’s when I discovered that for most, people it’s an honor just to be nominated…in my family, it’s an honor just to be overlooked.”

“You can imagine how they and I feel about getting recognition like this, from a group of people like this,” said Sorkin.

The Social Network’s Scripter win adds to its slew of accolades. The film has been named best film by the Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Toronto film critics associations, among others, as well as by the Golden Globes and the National Board of Review. The film is nominated for eight Academy Awards and six BAFTA awards.

The Scripter awards gala, presented by the Friends of the USC Libraries, honors the year’s best cinematic adaptation of the printed word. During the ceremony, one Twitter follower described the Scripter Award as “the most civilized awards show of all.”

With filmmaker and USC alumnus Taylor Hackford (‘67, International Relations) and Academy Award-winning actress Helen Mirren serving as honorary dinner chairs, master of ceremonies Nancy Sinatra welcomed the capacity crowd gathered in Los Angeles Times Reference Room of USC’s historic Edward L. Doheny Memorial Library.

“We know that a great story might transport us, but it’s about more than escapism,” explained Sinatra about the importance of the writing creatively and the unique significance of the Scripter Award. “We know that history comes to us through stories and that storytelling helps us understand ourselves as much as it helps deepen our understanding of the world.”

“The great stories yet to be written will depend on all those that came before...and that’s why a great library is important to the past, present, and future of the creative arts and why we’re here to honor accomplished storytellers,” said Sinatra.

The other finalists for the 2011 Scripter, in alphabetical order by film title, were: screenwriters Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy for 127 Hours, adapted from Aron Ralston’s autobiography Between a Rock and a Hard Place; screenwriters Robert Harris and Roman Polanski for The Ghost Writer, adapted from Harris’ novel The Ghost; screenwriters Joel and Ethan Coen for True Grit, based on Charles Portis’ classic Western novel; and screenwriters Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini and author Daniel Woodrell for Winter’s Bone.

Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning screenwriter Naomi Foner chaired the Scripter selection committee for the fourth consecutive year.

Author Dennis Lehane was named the 4th-annual USC Libraries Scripter Literary Achievement Award recipient for his body of work. Lehane is the author of such books as Gone, Baby, Gone; Moonlight Mile; Shutter Island; The Given Day; and Mystic River for which he received a Scripter Award in 2004.

“[Dennis Lehane] has said that, were it not for a specific place, he never would have become a writer. He grew up in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston,” noted USC Libraries Dean Catherine Quinlan in announcing the award. “He has demonstrated again and again his talent for carving convincing, creative landscapes out of words and populating them with intriguing characters and gripping mysteries.”

Lehane, who was unable to attend the ceremony, said in a statement that “It’s an honor to receive this award. My profound gratitude to the Friends of the USC Libraries.”

“It would be disingenuous of me not to note the depth of gratitude I owe the exceptional screenwriters who have adapted my novels for film: Brian Helgeland, Ben Affleck, Aaron Stockard, and most recently, Laeta Kalogridis, whose superb craftsmanship enabled her to take a near-unfilmable novel and turn it into pure cinema,” added Lehane.

Dr. David and Gracie Fermelia were the Premiere Sponsors and Dr. Verna B. Dauterive was the Gold Sponsor of this year’s event.

The USC Libraries welcomed Audi of America as the transportation sponsor for Scripter 2011. A fleet of Audi A8 sedans chauffeured nominees and special guests to the black-tie event.

Final Draft Inc. also has supported Scripter 2011 by providing copies of Final Draft 8 to USC students. The libraries will make the scriptwriting software available through the USC Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Library Multimedia Commons. Final Draft will complement the suite of authoring software the Multimedia Commons offers students and will provide a tool for storytelling and completing coursework while drawing on the riches of the libraries’ collections.

Proceeds from the Scripter gala support the USC Libraries’ Endowed Collections program. For more information about Scripter—including additional images from the ceremony and information on sponsorship opportunities for Scripter 24—visit http://scripter.usc.edu/.

Review: "Collateral" is Flashy, Gritty, and Edgy (Happy B'day, Michael Mann)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 143 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Collateral (2004)
Running time: 120 minutes (2 hours)
MPAA – R for violence and language
DIRECTOR: Michael Mann
WRITER: Stuart Beattie
PRODUCERS: Michael Mann and Julie Richardson
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dion Beebe (D.o.P.) and Paul Cameron (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Jim Miller and Paul Rubell
COMPOSER: James Newton Howard
Academy Award nominee

THRILLER/ACTION/CRIME/DRAMA

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg, Bruce McGill, Irma P. Hall, Barry Shabaka Henley, Javier Bardem, and Klea Scott

Director Michael Mann is certainly a master of filming deliciously eye candy movies; from his hit 80’s TV series “Miami Vice” to such glossy power ballad films as Last of the Mohicans and Heat, he has delighted us with his visual acumen. His most recent film, Collateral, is, as a visual feast, an absolute delight and, just maybe, a masterpiece, albeit one with a flaw here and there.

A cabby named Max (Jaime Foxx) finds himself the hostage of Vincent (Tom Cruise), an engaging contract hit man, as he uses Max to ferry him around Los Angeles from hit to hit. The screwy duo eventually attracts the attention of Fanning (Mark Ruffalo), a savvy homicide detective. But despite the attention of the police, Max must, on his own, find a way to save himself and the last of five victims, Annie (Jada Pinkett Smith), a federal prosecutor who rode in Max’s cab before Vincent and befriended Max.

Collateral’s success is definitely the product of Michael Mann’s vision and of his cast, especially Cruise and Foxx. Mann’s film feels like his last L.A. blast off, the aforementioned Heat, but don’t mistake his visual flair for lack of substance. Mann’s films are always thrilling, even the character dramas, and they breath with life and vitality. Every frame suggests motivation and conflict, so Mann’s glossiness isn’t the shallowness of the many filmmakers his 1980’s work influenced.

Cruise is, of course, a delight to watch; he merely takes his usual film persona and turns of the heat to super intensity and makes Vincent a cold, ruthless machine – a machine that simultaneously has disdain for life and how we live it and a fascination with existence and how we understand it. This performance by Foxx is likely another hint that he is a comic who will reinvent himself as dramatic star much the way Robin Williams and Steve Martin did, but with the success of the former. Foxx’s Max is a troubled man, dealing with the failures and disappointments of life with a mixture of weariness and hope, cynicism and optimism, and stoicism and passion.

But Mann, Cruise, and Fox can’t do it alone. Ms. Smith and Mark Ruffalo are excellent supporting performers, and Ruffalo’s Fanning would himself make an excellent lead character in his own film. Stuart Beattie’s script is also good, especially in creating Vincent, part cipher and intriguing mystery man, but an inviting character who leaves us wanting more. The script did seem a little soft on really fleshing out Foxx’s Max, but overall, the script is a tightly-crafted short story that Mann was able to turn into a thrilling, short, dangerous crime tale that is both gritty and glorious. Collateral may be somewhat lacking in substance, but it’s just about the best confection you can have.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2005 Academy Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Achievement in Editing” (Jim Miller and Paul Rubell) and “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Jamie Foxx)

2005 BAFTA Awards: 1 win: “Best Cinematography” (Dion Beebe and Paul Cameron); 5 nominations: “Best Editing” (Jim Miller and Paul Rubell), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Jamie Foxx), “Best Screenplay – Original” (Stuart Beattie), “Best Sound” (Elliott Koretz, Lee Orloff, Michael Minkler, and Myron Nettinga) and “David Lean Award for Direction” (Michael Mann)

2005 Black Reel Awards: 1 win “Best Supporting Actor” (Jamie Foxx) and 1 nomination: “Best Supporting Actress” (Jada Pinkett Smith)

2005 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Jamie Foxx)

2005 Image Awards: 3 nominations: “Outstanding Motion Picture,” “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Jamie Foxx) and “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Jada Pinkett Smith)

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Season 2 "Naruto Shippuden" Episodes Available for Download

DOWNLOAD THE LATEST NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ANIME EPISODES THE DAY AFTER THEY AIR ON THE DISNEY XD NETWORK

iTunes, PlayStation® Network, Xbox LIVE, and Amazon To Offer The Latest Action Packed Adventures Beginning February 3rd

VIZ Media has announced the availability to Download-to-Own/Download-to-Rent new NARUTO SHIPPUDEN Season 2 anime episodes from leading online content providers iTunes, PlayStation® Network, Xbox LIVE, and Amazon Video On Demand the day after being broadcast on the Disney XD television network beginning Thursday, February 3rd.

Fans are invited to visit these outlets to download the latest NARUTO installment, Episode 66 (dubbed), for FREE between February 3rd and March 7th. Subsequent new installments will be only $1.99 per episode for Download-to-Own, while Download-to-Rent costs are only $0.99.

In the newest episodes of NARUTO SHIPPUDEN, the rogue ninja Furido attempts to use the Lightning Style Jutsu of the Guardian Shinobi to rain destruction upon the Leaf Village. To make matters worse, the ninja are running out of chakra. Does Naruto have enough power to save his village? Then, the Akatsuki are working their way from one Jinchuriki to another, and it's only a matter of time until they get to Naruto!

Created by Masashi Kishimoto, NARUTO was first introduced in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in Japan in 1999 and quickly became that country’s most popular ninja manga targeting tweens and teens with more than 100 million copies in circulation to-date. The manga series (rated ‘T’ for Teens) and animated counterpart (NARUTO rated ‘T’ for Teens, and NARUTO SHIPPUDEN rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens) are among VIZ Media’s most successful properties and have captivated millions of fans across North America, Europe and South America.

For more information on NARUTO please visit the official NARUTO website at http://www.naruto.com/.

Review: "The Cave" is B-Movie Fun

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 9 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Cave (2005)
Running time: 97 minutes (1 hour, 37 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense creature violence
DIRECTOR: Bruce Hunt
WRITERS: Michael Steinberg and Tegan West
PRODUCERS: Gary Lucchesi, Andrew Mason, Michael Ohoven, Tom Rosenberg, and Richard Wright
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ross Emery
EDITOR: Brian Berdan

HORROR/ACTION/THRILLER with elements of sci-fi

Starring: Cole Hauser, Morris Chestnut, Eddie Cibrian, Daniel Dae Kim, Rick Ravanello, Marcel Iures, Kieran Darcy-Smith and Lena Heady and Piper Perabo

Deep in the Romanian forest, scientists have discovered the ruins of a 13th century abbey. What they don’t know is that 30 years earlier, the abbey was till intact when a group of mercenaries entered it to find something the scientists are now about to discover for themselves. The abbey was built over the entrance to a giant underground cave system.

Local biologists hire seasoned cave explorers, led by the enigmatic Jack (Cole Hauser), to guide them on what should be a routine deep-cave dive and expedition of this cave system beneath the Carpathian Mountains. The expedition suddenly turns deadly when the cavern they’re surveying collapses. Being trapped isn’t the end of the world for this team, as the explorers themselves would rank as the number one rescue party were a similar thing to happen to some other group. However, getting out becomes complicated when they discover that weird and monstrous creatures occupy the cave and these beasts have an evil hunger for human flesh.

Savaged by critics and reviews, The Cave may have in the minds of many moviegoers the reputation of being something really awful. The truth is that it’s a rather thrilling monster movie. Think of it as Alien set in the alien world that is the world of deep caverns, but without the cinematic pedigree. The film’s producers hired a many actual cave explorers as consultants for the film, so the characters, their equipment, and technology ring as true. The film is also dimly lit and awash in a drowning world of blackness and deep shadows in which even strong light can’t make much of a dent. That really adds to our sense of dread for the characters. We hear the growls, roars, and assorted noise of the monsters. We hear the characters running and searching for a way out, but it is often hard to see key moments clearly. Director Bruce Hunt uses that to create an exciting and invigorating sense of paranoia.

But all that really needs to be said is that The Cave is a fun monster movie. It has more scares and thrills than cheese, and the filmmakers took their project seriously enough to make a surprisingly effective horror movie. For those who like the idea of monstrous animals creeping in the shadows our world and waiting to eat us, this is for you.

6 of 10
B

Saturday, January 14, 2006

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VIZ Cinema Announces Anime and Drama at New People for February

NEW PEOPLE PRESENTS SPECIAL THEATRICAL EVENTS FOR THE GARDEN OF SINNERS, KIM KI-DUK’S BREATH AND GANTZ IN FEBRUARY

 

VIZ Cinema at NEW PEOPLE, the nation’s only movie theatre dedicated to Japanese and Asian film, presents a trio of special movie events taking place at the venue in February. Trailers, screening times and tickets are available at www.VIZCinema.com. The venue is located inside NEW PEOPLE at 1746 Post Street in San Francisco’s Japantown.

The month begins as Aniplex of America, Inc. and NEW PEOPLE present the U.S. premiere of the anime feature film, THE GARDEN OF SINNERS, on February 5th, to be followed by a discussion panel with key members of the movie’s production staff. This one-day-only event will celebrate the highly anticipated release of the film’s Blu-ray Box Set which will be released in North America on February 8th (a week after the Japanese release).

Also slated to screen on February 19th will be the acclaimed Korean director Kim Ki-duk’s romantic prison drama, BREATH, which will be followed by a reception with The Red Lantern: Bay Area Asian Cinephiles, based in San Francisco and the world's largest Meetup group for Asian films - http://www.meetup.com/sf-asian-film.

Finally, by popular demand, VIZ Cinema at NEW PEOPLE will offer a special one-night-only screening on February 19th of the live-action sci-fi thriller GANTZ (in Japanese with English subtitles). GANTZ is based on the smash hit manga and anime series and was world-premiered at 334 theatres nationwide in January.

THE GARDEN OF SINNERS
Saturday, 2/5 at 1:30pm – ONE DAY ONLY! Tickets: $15.00
(Directed by Ei Aoki, Takuya Nonaka, Shinsuke Takizaw, Japan, 49min, 58min, and 119min, Digital, Japanese with English subtitles)

After spending two years in a coma caused by a traffic accident, Shiki Ryougi awakens with amnesia. Inexplicably, she finds that she has also obtained the “Mystic Eyes of Death Perception” in which she can see the invisible lines of mortality that hold every living and non-living thing together. Working for a small independent agency, Shiki attempts to unravel the baffling mystery behind a series of abnormal, horrifying incidents, but are they a foreshadowing that leads to something even more tragic and ominous? Things are not what they appear to be on the surface, but what dark revelations lie underneath? This is a modern occult-action thriller where Shiki must tackle supernatural incidents with her special abilities while searching for a reason to live.

This screening will be immediately followed by a special discussion session with key members of the movie’s production staff.

BREATH
Saturday, 2/19 at 5:00pm – ONE NIGHT ONLY! Tickets: $12.00
(Directed by Kim Ki-duk, Korea, 83min, 2007, Digital, Korean with English subtitles)

On a cold winter day, after learning her husband has found a new woman, Yeon absent-mindedly heads for a prison where an inmate name Jin is confined. Although she doesn’t know him personally, repeated news of his suicide attempts on TV have subconsciously grown in her mind which now is leading her to seek him. Jin has no visitors and normally would not agree to meet a complete stranger, but hearing that it’s a woman, he accepts her request out of curiosity. Their first encounter is awkward. Yeon treats Jin like an old friend whereas Jin doesn’t open up so easily. To Jin’s surprise, Yeon comes back for a second visit…One day her husband follows her to the prison and witnesses an intimate exchange between Yeon and Jin. The jealous husband drags her home and tries to separate the new couple. While forced to be apart, time winds down for Jin’s execution. But the two are already attached to one another more than her husband assumed – more than life and death. And desperate Yeon finds a way to elude her husband and help Jin out of his misery.

GANTZ (English Subtitled Version)
Saturday, 2/19 at 7:15pm – ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Tickets: $12.00 (attendees will also receive a special GANTZ poster)
(Directed by Shinsuke Sato, Japan, 129min, 2011, Digital, Japanese with English subtitles)

GANTZ is based on a hit manga series created by Hiroya Oku and stars leading Japanese actors Kazunari Ninomiya (Letters from Iwo Jima) and Kenichi Matsuyama (Death Note, Detroit Metal City). The film tells the story of two childhood friends that are accidentally killed while trying to save another man’s life. Rather than find themselves in the hereafter, however, they awaken in a strange apartment in which they find a mysterious black orb they come to know as “GANTZ.” Along with similar abductees, they are provided with equipment and weaponry and manipulated into playing a kind of game in which they are sent back out to the greater world to do battle with alien beings, all while never quite knowing whether this game is an illusion or their new reality.

VIZ Cinema at NEW PEOPLE is the nation’s only movie theatre devoted exclusively to Japanese film and anime. The 143-seat subterranean theatre is located in the basement of the NEW PEOPLE building and features plush seating, digital as well as 35mm projection, and a THX®-certified sound system.

Review: Angelina Jolie's "Salt" is Good For You

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 11 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

Salt (2010)
Running time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action
DIRECTOR: Phillip Noyce
WRITER: Kurt Wimmer
PRODUCERS: Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Sunil Perkash
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Elswit
EDITOR: Stuart Baird, John Gilroy, and Steven Kemper
COMPOSER: James Newton Howard
Academy Award nominee

ACTION/THRILLER

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Daniel Olbrychski, August Diehl, Hunt Block, Andre Braugher, and Olek Krupa

Written by Kurt Wimmer, the writer/director of the film Equilibrium, Salt was originally about a male character named “Edwin A. Salt,” and Tom Cruise initially wanted to play the character. A little more than half a decade later, the character became a woman, now played by Angelina Jolie. The resultant film is, in the hands of the supremely skilled director, Philip Noyce, one of 2010’s best movies.

Salt focuses on Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie), a CIA agent recently released from a North Korean prison. Salt’s plans to celebrate her wedding anniversary with her husband, arachnologist Michael Krause (August Diehl), is interrupted by a sudden turn of events at the CIA. Vassily Orlov (Daniel Olbrychski), a Russian defector, arrives with shocking secrets. During Salt’s interrogation of him, Orlov reveals details about “Day X,” a Russian plot to destroy the United States by using highly-trained, English-speaking, Russian sleeper agents. And Orlov claims that Salt is one of those sleeper agents.

Suddenly, a rogue CIA agent, Salt is on the run, and she uses every tactic, accent, and disguise she knows to elude her pursuers, clear her name, and find her now-missing husband. Her CIA supervisor, Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber), believes that she may not be an enemy, but U.S. counter-intelligence agent, Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor), absolutely believes that Salt is an enemy. To save herself, however, Salt may end up doing the very things Orlov said she would.

Salt has two stellar supporting actors in the talented Liev Schreiber and Chiwetel Ejiofor, who both deliver their usual good work in this film. Outside of Asian cinema, no one is capable of delivering terrific work in both dramatic films and action movies the way Angelina Jolie does. Jolie makes Evelyn Salt the kind of secret agent/spy who is every bit the man James Bond or Jason Bourne is.

Salt is a magnificent CIA/spy film, however, because of the work of director Phillip Noyce (Dead Calm, Clear and Present Danger). The Australian director is a master of the thriller: action thriller, historical thriller, political thriller, social thriller, suspense thriller, and thriller thriller. From the beginning of Salt, it was as if Noyce threw a rope around me and dragged me along for a ride, and what a great ride Salt was. Its action is so visceral and its narrative so visually powerful that you might choose to ignore the set pieces that seem way, way farfetched. I can find very little about which to complain or criticize.

At times, Salt is like a comic book superhero story, and it occasionally seems as much a fantasy as it is a CIA thriller. Noyce took his more-than-capable dramatic action star, Angelina Jolie, and spun what will hopefully be the beginning of a beautiful new spy thriller franchise.

8 of 10
A

NOTE:
2011 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Sound Mixing” (Jeffrey J. Haboush, William Sarokin, Scott Millan, and Greg P. Russell)

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"The Dark Knight Rises" Adds Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Quite a bit of info and news has been trickling out about Christopher Nolan's third Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises," which is due July 2012.  Deadline is reporting that Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who appeared in Nolan's Oscar-nominated Inception, is in talks to join the new Batman flick.  No word on what role Gordon-Levitt will play.
At the Santa Barbara Film Festival, Nolan revealed that DKR will start shooting in May of this year and that he and David Goyer had been working on the script for "a long time."

At /Film, in a short article Christopher Nolan's Director of Photographer Wally Pfister says that DKR's script is phenomenal.  He gave no details, but did talk about plans for photographing the film.

For Those About to Bubblegum Rock: Justin Bieber Movie Tickets on Sale

ADVANCE TICKETS FOR THE “JUSTIN BIEBER: NEVER SAY NEVER” MOVIE ON SALE!

The Ultimate Golden Ticket Will Be Awarded To One Lucky Fan

Movie Opens in RealD 3D, Digital 3D and 2D Nationwide on February 11, 2011

HOLLYWOOD, CA (January 31, 2011) - Paramount Pictures announced today that advance tickets for the upcoming movie JUSTIN BIEBER: NEVER SAY NEVER will go on sale today, Tuesday, February 1st. Tickets will be available online and at participating theatre box offices across North America.

JUSTIN BIEBER: NEVER SAY NEVER is the inspiring true story and rare inside look at the rise of Justin from street performer in the small town of Stratford, Ontario to internet phenomenon to global super star culminating with a dream sold out show at the famed Madison Square Garden in 3D. It is directed by Jon M. Chu and produced by Scooter Braun, Justin Bieber, Antonio “L.A.” Reid, Usher Raymond IV, Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz.

JUSTIN BIEBER: NEVER SAY NEVER opens in RealD 3D, Digital 3D and 2D nationwide on Friday, February 11th.

Moviegoers who purchase tickets on Fandango.com and MovieTickets.com will be automatically entered to win "The Ultimate Golden Ticket Sweepstakes", in which one lucky person from each site will win a date with Justin for their very own hometown screening of JUSTIN BIEBER: NEVER SAY NEVER for them and their friends. No purchase necessary. For details and restrictions, see Official Rules at http://www.fandango.com/ and http://www.movietickets.com/.

For more information go to: http://www.justinbieberneversaynever.com/


About Paramount Pictures Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. The company's labels include Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Digital Entertainment, Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., Paramount Studio Group, and Worldwide Television Distribution.

Review: "Burn After Reading" is the Best Moron Movie

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 10 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

Burn After Reading (2008)
Running time: 96 minutes (1 hour, 36 minutes)
MPAA – R for pervasive language, some sexual content and violence
WRITERS/DIRECTORS: The Coen Brothers
PRODUCERS: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Emmanuel Lubezki
EDITORS: Roderick Jaynes (Ethan Coen and Joel Coen)
COMPOSER: Carter Burwell
Golden Globe nominee

COMEDY

Starring: George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins, J.K. Simmons, Olek Krupa, Michael Countryman, Kevin Sussman, Elizabeth Marvel, and David Rasche

I certainly like Coen Brothers movies like No Country for Old Men and True Grit. These are classically formal, traditional Hollywood tales of murderous men and frontier justice done in the Bros.’ idiosyncratic style. These are the kinds of movie that will appeal to broad audiences and attract Oscar attention.

However, I prefer to watch the Bros.’ films that reflect their assumed quirky sensibilities: movies like The Big Lebowski, Intolerable Cruelty, and the 2008 flick, Burn After Reading. “Quirky” may not necessarily be the appropriate word. Coen Bros.’ films like Burn After Reading and the Academy Award-winning Fargo seem strange because, from top to bottom, the characters in these movies are unusually fascinating, especially compared to the characters that appear in most American movies.

Burn After Reading takes place in Washington D.C. It begins with Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich), a CIA analyst who quits his job in a huff and decides to write his memoirs. A compact disc copy of the memoirs ends up in the hands of two moronic employees of Hardbodies gym. After perusing the contents of the disc, Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) and Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) decide that Cox should pay them money to get it back. Meanwhile, Osbourne’s wife, pediatrician Katie Cox (Tilda Swinton), is having an affair with Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney), a womanizing U.S. Marshal and agent of the U.S. Treasury. When Osbourne refuses to pay them, Chad and Linda try to sell the disc to the Russian embassy, but that only makes things worse.

Joel and Ethan Coen are supernaturally good at creating characters that seem eccentric, odd, and even peculiar. When you look at them closely, however, you may discover how maddeningly, poignantly, and hilariously human they seem to be. Their motivations are petty and absurd, but oh-so familiar. Their lives are exciting, strange, and sometimes boring, and the characters are as dull as they are fascinating. The Coens fill Burn After Reading with such characters. This tale of Washington D.C. insiders and outsiders playing a poorly executed game of espionage is an unforgettable farce because of them.

As usual, the Coens get excellent performances from the cast, acting that brings such atypical screen characters to life. Once again, George Clooney is dead-on as (for the third time) a Coen Bros. fool. Frances McDormand’s sparkling dramatic turn is pitch-perfect for this farce, and she has marvelous screen chemistry with Brad Pitt, who once again proves that he is exceptionally good in supporting roles and character parts.

Burn After Reading creates a confederacy of dunces for our entertainment. This savage comedy about vain idiots who always think they have the goods on everyone else may one day be an American classic. Today, it is a slice of America that captures the entire American pie.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2009 BAFTA Awards: 3 nominations: “Best Screenplay – Original” (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen), “Best Supporting Actor” (Brad Pitt), and “Best Supporting Actress” (Tilda Swinton)

2009 Golden Globes: 2 nominations: “Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” (Frances McDormand)

Tuesday, February 01, 2011

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Henry Cavill is the New Superman

27-year-old Brit, Henry Cavill has been cast in the dual role of Superman and Clark Kent in the 2012 movie that will reboot the Superman film franchise.  The movie is reportedly entitled, "The Man of Steel."

 

Apparently, this is not the first time that Cavill has been considered for the role.  He was the leading candidate before Brandon Routh was chosen to play the star in Superman Returns (2006).  Cavill was supposedly considered for the role of James Bond before it went to Daniel Craig.

 

Here, is the Warner Bros. press release announcing Cavill as the new Superman:

 

Henry Cavill Will Take on the Dual Role of Clark Kent / Superman in the New Film from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures

 

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures announced today that Henry Cavill has won the coveted role of Superman, the iconic superhero.

 

The film will be directed by Zack Snyder, who stated, “In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time, and I am honored to be a part of his return to the big screen. I also join Warner Bros., Legendary and the producers in saying how excited we are about the casting of Henry. He is the perfect choice to don the cape and S shield.”

 

Charles Roven, Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Deborah Snyder are the producers of the film. The screenplay is being written by David S. Goyer based on a story by Goyer and Nolan. Thomas Tull and Lloyd Phillips are serving as executive producers.

Cavill recently wrapped production on “The Cold Light of Day” and stars in the upcoming “Immortals,” opening this fall.

Targeted for release in December 2012, the new Superman movie will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. [END]

Negromancer History Month

I'm still here!  It's Oscar month, welcome to Negromancer, the rebirth of my former movie review website as a movie review and movie news blog. I’m Leroy Douresseaux, and I also blog at http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/ and write for the Comic Book Bin (which has smart phones apps).

All images appearing on this blog are © copyright and/or trademark their respective owners.

17th Screen Actors Guild Award Winners Movie Categories - Complete List

Screen Actors Guild presented its Actor® statuette for the outstanding motion picture and primetime television performances of 2010 at the “17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards” in ceremonies held Sunday, Jan. 30, at the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center.

Morgan Freeman also presented Ernest Borgnine with Screen Actors Guild’s highest honor, the 47th Annual Life Achievement Award. Just before Freeman presented the award, Tim Conway introduced a filmed tribute to Borgnine.

17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards Winners Movie Categories:

THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
COLIN FIRTH / King George VI - "THE KING’S SPEECH" (The Weinstein Company)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
NATALIE PORTMAN / Nina Sayers – “BLACK SWAN” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
CHRISTIAN BALE / Dicky Eklund – “THE FIGHTER” (Paramount Pictures and Relativity Media)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
MELISSA LEO / Alice Ward – “THE FIGHTER” (Paramount Pictures and Relativity Media)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (Primary cast members each get Actor trophy)
THE KING’S SPEECH (The Weinstein Company)

ANTHONY ANDREWS / Stanley Baldwin
HELENA BONHAM CARTER / Queen Elizabeth
JENNIFER EHLE / Myrtle Logue
COLIN FIRTH / King George VI
MICHAEL GAMBON / King George V
DEREK JACOBI / Archbishop Cosmo Lang
GUY PEARCE / King Edward VIII
GEOFFREY RUSH / Lionel Logue
TIMOTHY SPALL / Winston Churchill

SAG HONORS FOR STUNT ENSEMBLES

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
INCEPTION (Warner Bros. Pictures)

LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Screen Actors Guild Awards 47th Annual Life Achievement Award
Ernest Borgnine

17th Screen Actors Guild Awards Television Category Winners - Complete List

The complete list of recipients of the 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® in the television categories:

PRIMETIME TELEVISION

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
AL PACINO / Jack Kevorkian – “YOU DON’T KNOW JACK” (HBO)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
CLAIRE DANES / Temple Grandin – “TEMPLE GRANDIN” (HBO)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
STEVE BUSCEMI / Nucky Thompson – “BOARDWALK EMPIRE” (HBO)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
JULIANNA MARGULIES / Alicia Florrick – “THE GOOD WIFE” (CBS)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
ALEC BALDWIN / Jack Donaghy - “30 ROCK” (NBC)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
BETTY WHITE / Elka Ostrovsky – “HOT IN CLEVELAND” (TV Land)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
BOARDWALK EMPIRE (HBO)

GREG ANTONACCI / Johnny Torrio
STEVE BUSCEMI / Nucky Thompson
DABNEY COLEMAN / Commodore Louis Kaestner
PAZ DE LA HUERTA / Lucy Danzinger
STEPHEN GRAHAM / Al Capone
ANTHONY LACIURA / Eddie Kessler
KELLY MACDONALD / Margaret Schroeder
GRETCHEN MOL / Gillian Darmody
ALEKSA PALLADINO / Angela Darmody
VINCENT PIAZZA / Lucky Luciano
MICHAEL PITT / Jimmy Darmody
MICHAEL SHANNON / Agent Nelson Van Alden
PAUL SPARKS / Mickey Doyle
MICHAEL STUHLBARG / Arnold Rothstein
ERIK WEINER / Agent Sebso
SHEA WHIGHAM / Sheriff Elias Thompson

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
MODERN FAMILY (ABC)

JULIE BOWEN / Claire Dunphy
TY BURRELL / Phil Dunphy
JESSE TYLER FERGUSON / Mitchell Pritchett
NOLAN GOULD / Luke Dunphy
SARAH HYLAND / Haley Dunphy
ED O’NEILL / Jay Pritchett
RICO RODRIGUEZ / Manny Delgado
ERIC STONESTREET / Cameron Tucker
SOFIA VERGARA / Gloria Delgado-Pritchett
ARIEL WINTER / Alex Dunphy

SAG HONORS FOR STUNT ENSEMBLES

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series
TRUE BLOOD (HBO)

NOTE: The "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Awards" go to the primary cast members.
 

Directors Guild Awards Friend "The King's Speech"

The winners of the Directors Guild of America Outstanding Directorial Achievement Awards for 2010 were announced last night (Sat. Jan. 29th).  The big news:  Tom Hooper won the DGA's "Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film" for The King's Speech.  The awards were handed out at the 63rd Annual DGA Awards Dinner at the Grand Ballroom in Los Angeles.  For a complete list of winners and nominees, please visit the DGA site.

The Directors Guild Awards Winners:

Best Feature Film: Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech

Best Documentary: Charles Ferguson, Inside Job

Dramatic Series: Martin Scorsese, Boardwalk Empire

Comedy Series: Michael Spiller, Modern Family, Halloween Episode

TV Movie/Miniseries: Mick Jackson, Temple Grandin
 
The winner of Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film has traditionally served as a near-perfect barometer for predicting the winner of the best director Oscar. Only six times since the DGA Award's inception in 1948 has the winner not gone on to receive the Academy Award for Best Director.
 
Here are the six DGA winners who did NOT win the best director Oscar the same year (with the Oscar winner in parenthesis):
 
1968: Anthony Harvey for The Lion in Winter (Carol Reed-Oliver!)
1972: Francis Ford Coppola for The Godfather (Bob Fosse-Cabaret)
1985: Steven Spielberg for The Color Purple (Sydney Pollack-Out of Africa)
1995: Ron Howard for Apollo 13 (Mel Gibson-Braveheart)
2000: Ang Lee for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Steven Soderbergh-Traffic)
2002: Rob Marshall for Chicago (Roman Polanski-The Pianist)

2011 Screen Actors Guild Award Nominations Complete List

Tonight is the Screen Actors Guild Awards.  Now, that The King's Speech has won both the Producers Guild and (last night) Directors Guild Awards, all eyes will be on the winner of "Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture," the Screen Actors Guild's (SGA) version of a best picture award.  A win by The King's Speech more likely than not means that this film will win the best picture Academy Award:

2011 Screen Actors Guild Award Nominees:


Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Black Swan (2010)
The Fighter (2010)
The Kids Are All Right (2010)
The King's Speech (2010)
The Social Network (2010)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Jeff Bridges for True Grit
Robert Duvall for Get Low
Jesse Eisenberg for The Social Network
Colin Firth for The King's Speech
James Franco for 127 Hours

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Annette Bening for The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman for Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence for Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman for Black Swan
Hilary Swank for Conviction

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale for The Fighter
John Hawkes for Winter's Bone
Jeremy Renner for The Town
Mark Ruffalo for The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush for The King's Speech

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams for The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter for The King's Speech
Mila Kunis for Black Swan
Melissa Leo for The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
"30 Rock" (2006)
"Glee" (2009)
"Hot in Cleveland" (2010)
"Modern Family" (2009)
"The Office" (2005)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
"Boardwalk Empire" (2009)
"The Closer" (2005)
"Dexter" (2006)
"The Good Wife" (2009)
"Mad Men" (2007)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin for "30 Rock"
Ty Burrell for "Modern Family"
Steve Carell for "The Office"
Chris Colfer for "Glee"
Ed O'Neill for "Modern Family"

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Edie Falco for "Nurse Jackie"
Tina Fey for "30 Rock"
Jane Lynch for "Glee"
Sofía Vergara for "Modern Family"
Betty White for "Hot in Cleveland"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Steve Buscemi for "Boardwalk Empire"
Bryan Cranston for "Breaking Bad"
Michael C. Hall for "Dexter"
Jon Hamm for "Mad Men"
Hugh Laurie for "House M.D."

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Glenn Close for "Damages"
Mariska Hargitay for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"
Julianna Margulies for "The Good Wife"
Elisabeth Moss for "Mad Men"
Kyra Sedgwick for "The Closer"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
John Goodman for You Don't Know Jack
Al Pacino for You Don't Know Jack
Dennis Quaid for The Special Relationship
Édgar Ramírez for "Carlos"
Patrick Stewart for Macbeth

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Claire Danes for Temple Grandin
Catherine O'Hara for Temple Grandin
Julia Ormond for Temple Grandin
Winona Ryder for When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story
Susan Sarandon for You Don't Know Jack

SAG Honors for Stunt Ensembles

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
Green Zone
Inception
Robin Hood

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series
Burn Notice
CSI: NY
Dexter
Southland
True Blood

47th Life Achievement Award:
Ernest Borgnine

Review: 2001 Oscar Nominee "U-571" Great Historical Fiction for Men

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 111 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

U-571 (2000)
Running time: 116 minutes (1 hour, 56 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for war violence
DIRECTOR: Jonathan Mostow
WRITERS: Jonathan Mostow, Sam Montgomery, and David Ayer; from a story by Jonathan Mostow
PRODUCERS: Dino De Laurentiis and Martha De Laurentiis
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Oliver Wood
EDITOR: Wayne Wahrman
2001 Academy Award winner

DRAMA/WAR/HISTORICAL/THRILLER

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel, Jon Bon Jovi, David Keith, Jake Weber, Jack Noseworthy, Tom Guiry, Will Estes, Erik Palladino, Dave Power, Thomas Kretschmann, and Terrence “T.C.” Carson

It’s 1942, and Nazi Germany is decisively winning the Atlantic war. Their Enigma encoding device makes their ciphering system unbreakable, so the Allies cannot decipher Nazi messages they intercept. When the German submarine U-571 becomes adrift in the North Atlantic, Naval Command sends an American sub masquerading as a German sub to intercept U-571, in hopes of capturing the German’s sub Enigma machine. After disaster strikes, Lt. Andrew Tyler (Matthew McConaughey) and the survivors commandeer U-571 and race for safety with a German warship right behind them.

U-571 is woefully inaccurate history. Apparently, the British Royal Navy was the first to capture the Enigma machine, and did so before the United States entered World War II. History aside, U-571 is a rousing old-fashioned submarine movie that keeps up the edge-of-the-seat suspense from start to finish. The performances are good, but the movie’s success as a thriller-at-sea is mainly because of director Jonathan Mostow and his creative crew: cinematographer, editor, sound and sound editing, etc. If only this effort had gone into making a historical accurate movie, but cinema doesn’t owe history the courtesy of being accurate. On its own terms, U-571 is a rousing sea-going adventure and an excellent “movie for guys who love movies.”

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
2001 Academy Awards: 1 win for “Best Sound Editing” (Jon Johnson); 1 nomination for “Best Sound” (Steve Maslow, Gregg Landaker, Rick Kline, and Ivan Sharrock)

Thursday, August 02, 2007

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Walt Disney Studios Celebrates Multiple 2011 Oscar Nominations

The Walt Disney Studios Celebrates 12 Oscar® Nominations for Toy Story 3, Alice in Wonderland and More

Disney•Pixar animated film earns Best Picture nomination for second straight year

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Walt Disney Studios is proud to announce its 2010 films have earned 12 Oscar® nominations. Today, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced five nominations for Disney•Pixar’s Toy Story 3, including for the coveted title of Best Picture; three for Alice in Wonderland, and one each for Day & Night, Tangled, The Tempest and TRON: Legacy.

“2010 was a banner year for The Walt Disney Studios, and we are thrilled that the Academy has chosen to recognize both our animated blockbusters Toy Story 3 and Tangled and our live-action hits Alice in Wonderland and TRON: Legacy for their artistry, technical achievements and storytelling,” said Rich Ross, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios.

Toy Story 3 marks only the third time in history that Academy members have honored an animated film in the Best Picture category. It also earned a nomination for Adapted Screenplay – making it the fourth consecutive screenplay nomination for a Disney•Pixar film. The Toy Story trilogy’s tally of Oscar nominations now stands at nine.

Commenting on the announcement, John Lasseter, chief creative officer for Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, said, “To have Toy Story 3 represented in the Best Picture category is a great honor, and a fitting tribute to director Lee Unkrich, producer Darla Anderson, screenwriter Michael Arndt, and all of the talented people at Pixar, who worked so hard to live up to and exceed the standards and expectations of Toy Story fans and moviegoers all over the world.”

A summary of nominations for The Walt Disney Studios is as follows:

Toy Story 3
Best Motion Picture of the Year - Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney) A Pixar Production: Darla K. Anderson, Producer
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year - Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney): Lee Unkrich
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song) – “We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney):  Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
Achievement in Sound Editing - Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney): Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
Adapted Screenplay - Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney): Screenplay by Michael Arndt. Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich

Alice in Wonderland
Art Direction - Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney): Robert Stromberg (Production Design), Karen O’Hara (Set Decoration)
Achievement in Costume Design - Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney): Colleen Atwood
Achievement in Visual Effects - Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney): Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips

Day & Night
Best Animated Short Film - Day & Night (Walt Disney) A Pixar Animation Studios Production: Teddy Newton

Tangled
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song) – “I See the Light” from Tangled (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Glenn Slater

The Tempest
Achievement in Costume Design - The Tempest (Touchstone): Sandy Powell

TRON: Legacy
Achievement in Sound Editing - TRON: Legacy (Walt Disney): Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague