Sundance Grand Jury Prize Winner for Best Documentary, Trouble the Water, is currently in limited release. Kimberly Rivers Roberts and her husband Scott, residents of New Orleans’ lower 9th Ward, were there when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. Kimberly got a video camera shortly before, and she documented what happened to them. I just saw the film, and it’s powerful stuff. Here’s the trailer:
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At least out here in L.A., it’s impossible to go a half hour watching TV – maybe even 10 minutes – without seeing another goddam Mamma Mia! ad. The counter-programming against The Dark Knight ain’t a bad idea, but if this movie fails, it won’t because of an anemic ad campaign. Everyone who would want to see this film and watches TV knows it exists at this point. (Plus, they know it must be exciting – it has an exclamation mark right there in the title!) Sure, everyone who wasn’t planning to see it thoroughly hates it at this point, but can that really outweigh the overall draw of repackaged 70s (and early 80s) pop from Scandinavia? True, it may be no ABBA: The Movie (which, holy crap, was directed by Lasse Hallström), but you can’t have it all!

Hey, to each their own, Meryl Streep seems to be having fun, and romantic comedies with weddings tend to do well. Still, I’ll be very happy when the ads slow down and happier still when they disappear altogether. It’s probably worse because there are also so many billboards out here, and this one is right on my block:
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Sydney Pollack was by every account a nice, humble guy, and I’d say an underrated director. He was never that flashy with the medium, but he was a solid director who I agree made “films for adults,” that were often quite good. Coming from a theater background, Pollack consistently got good performances from actors, nothing to sneeze at by any stretch. As an actor, Sydney Pollack often wound up playing “the Sydney Pollack role,” probably because he played those roles so grounded and so well - the standouts for me off the top of my head were his performances in Tootsie, Eyes Wide Shut, A Civil Action and last year’s Michael Clayton. Desson Thompson has a good short piece on Pollack in The Washington Post (I think the Howard Hawks comparison is fairly accurate), while Roger Ebert, Kenneth Turan and A.O. Scott also weigh in.

Fresh Air re-ran an interview with him full of some great anecdotes (particularly about Tootsie, and his start as a director, thanks to Burt Lancaster!). You can hear NPR’s basic story, also quite good, on the same page. Fresh Air’s Cannes recap with John Powers also makes brief mention of Pollack near the end. My review of Michael Clayton is here and brief review of The Interpreter is here (scroll down for both).

(Cross-posted at Vagabond Scholar)

One of the more remarkable stories I’ve heard recently comes from a Fresh Air interview with Los Angeles Times journalist Steve Lopez. It’s about Lopez and the relationship that developed between him and a homeless musician named Nathaniel Ayers. Lopez was struck by the beauty of Ayers’ playing, and was further amazed to discover Ayers was playing with only two strings on his violin. Next he found out that Ayers had been studying at Julliard, but had to drop out due to the onset of schizophrenia.

Lopez wrote about Ayers in a series of columns, and now has a new book out, The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music. The NPR link above features an excerpt, and the interview is just under 40 minutes long. It’s riveting.
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Here’s Conan O’Brien with “Conan on the Aisle: Oscar Edition.” (I’m hoping NBC won’t yank this one too quickly, or better yet, at all.) The Atonement spoof is quite good, but the No Country for Old Men segment is hilarious if you’ve seen the film.

Speaking of which, the Upright Citizens Brigade has a good spoof of No Country for Old Men award fever. Enjoy!

(Cross-posted at Vagabond Scholar)

Because I’m very shortly out the door (or just lazy), rather than cross-posting these, here’s a Hollywood trio over at VS: A Toast to the Writers, an Oscar Dress Quiz and the Oscar Drinking Game, 2008 Edition. Enjoy!

Via Brave Sir Robin comes this short film by Stefan Nadelman. As Sir Robin writes:

This video is the history of modern war, (WWII to the present), with animated food representing the nations involved.

The Vietnam war sequence is wonderful, and the ending is fantastic.

Can you name all the countries (regions) and the dishes that are representing them?

This is very, very clever.

Very clever, often funny, sometimes a bit disturbing. Check it out:

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.atomfilms.com:80/a/autoplayer/shareEmbed.swf?keyword=food_fight" height="341" width="408" /]

(Cross-posted at Vagabond Scholar)

In an earlier post, “Where’s bin Laden?” I wrote about the changes to the script for the film Charlie Wilson’s War, specifically, the removal of all mentions of bin Laden, al-Qaeda or 9/11. Mike Finnigan at C&L helpfully passed on a link to “Tom Hanks Tells Hollywood Whopper in ‘Charlie Wilson’s War’” by Melissa Roddy at AlterNet.

Now, via Jonathan Schwarz at A Tiny Revolution (here and here), come two good pieces on the real history behind the film Charlie Wilson’s War.

First up is Chalmers Johnson with “Imperialist Propaganda: Second Thoughts on Charlie Wilson’s War” at TomDispatch.com:
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It’s a better question for George Bush, actually. But where’s bin Laden in Charlie Wilson’s War?

I read a draft of the script last year, and while most of it hasn’t changed much, there were a few notable, disappointing omissions.

Let me be clear: Charlie Wilson’s War is an excellent film, one of the best I’ve seen all year. Overall, the cast is superb. The film combines substance with wit to spare. Aaron Sorkin is a master of exposition, using it as ammunition and often off’setting it with comedy and other activities: sitting in a hot tub, a belly dance, the old West Wing walk and talk, a dance of dueling meetings reminiscent of the Marx Brothers. Director Mike Nichols knows the medium well, but he’s also an actor’s director, well beloved by them. Hanks is quite good as Wilson. I still think Julia Roberts is miscast, but I understand why she was cast (huge box office draw). I was ecstatic to see Phillip Seymour Hoffman cast as Gust; it’s a perfect fit and one of his most enjoyable performances, and that’s saying a lot. His first scene alone is worth the price of admission, and he and Hanks have great chemistry. Ned Beatty plays a small, key role. The film even has Amy Adams, splendid as always (see Junebug if you haven’t), although a friend of mine noted, she should have been sporting big hair for the era (as most American women in the cast are).
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The Poetry Man is one of ten finalists for a “What Do You Stand For?” video contest, as part of a promotion for the film Lions for Lambs. His entry is above. You can see the rest, and vote, here. You can vote once per day from now until 11/7. Although the site says you can vote for up to ten finalist videos per day, the official rules further explain:
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The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Matt Damon is Hollywood’s best investment, says Forbes. com.

For every dollar he was paid for his last three roles, Damon brought in $29 of gross income, the site calculated.

That put the 36-year-old “Bourne” star atop a Forbes list of 22 film heavyweights, ranked by the same financial formula.

The first two “Bourne” movies grossed an estimated $850 million at the box office and in DVD sales, Forbes said. The third installment, “The Bourne Ultimatum,” opened last weekend and raked in $70.2 million at the box office. It was the biggest August film opening ever.

Brad Pitt took second place on the list, with a gross income return of $24 for each dollar of his pay, and Vince Vaughn tied with Johnny Depp for third with $21.

Pitt’s ex-wife, Jennifer Aniston, is the most profitable actress with a gross income return of $17. Pitt’s current significant other, Angelina Jolie, ranked sixth with $15.

“The biggest stars in Hollywood are not the actors that deliver the biggest returns,” Forbes senior editor Michael Ozanian said in a statement Monday.

Russell Crowe is at the bottom of the list. His last three films - “A Good Year,” “Cinderella Man” and “Master and Commander” - averaged just $5 in gross income for every dollar spent on the Oscar winner, Forbes said.

Movies starring the two Toms - Hanks and Cruise - averaged $12 and $11 of gross income, respectively. Will Smith and Denzel Washington each brought in $10.

On the comedic front, Adam Sandler brought in $9 per dollar earned, Will Ferrell and Jim Carrey $8 each).

read more HERE

By DAVID GERMAIN, AP Movie Writer
from YAHOO! NEWS

LOS ANGELES - Disney has put a rodent on top of the box office, though not the studio’s venerable mascot, Mickey Mouse.

“Ratatouille,” an animated comedy about a gourmet rat that gets a chance to cook in a French restaurant, debuted as the No. 1 weekend movie with $47.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

20th Century Fox’s action thriller “Live Free or Die Hard,” Bruce Willis’s return as unstoppable cop John McClane, opened in second-place with $33.15 million. Since opening Wednesday, the movie has grossed $48.2 million.

In narrower release, Michael Moore’s health care documentary “Sicko,” released by the Weinstein Co. and Lionsgate, took in $4.5 million in its nationwide debut to finish at No. 9. The movie opened in one New York City theater a week earlier.

Focus Features’ family drama “Evening,” with an all’star cast that includes Meryl Streep, Vanessa Redgrave, Glenn Close and Claire Danes, opened at No. 10 with $3.5 million.

The previous weekend’s No. 1 movie, Universal’s “Evan Almighty,” fell to No. 3 with $15.1 million, raising its 10-day total to $60.6 million. The movie’s sharp 52 percent fall from opening weekend dims the studio’s prospects for recouping the enormous $175 million production budget for the film.

read more at YAHOO! NEWS

By Bob Tourtellotte

CANNES, France (Reuters) - Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, two heavyweight actors of world cinema, will team up for only the second time on movie screens in a new film called “Righteous Kill,” the film’s producers said on Friday.

Details were scarce as the deal to put the two stars together was sealed late Thursday, but Los Angeles-based independent producer Millennium Films said the long-time friends play police detectives tracking down a serial killer.

Oscar winners De Niro and Pacino have worked together once before in 1995’s widely-touted “Heat” from director Michael Mann, and while both starred in “The Godfather Part II” they did not share any scenes on screen.

“You see those two icons on screen together for virtually the whole film,” Millennium chief Avi Lerner told showbusiness newspaper The Hollywood Reporter about “Righteous Kill.”

De Niro, 63, and Pacino, 67, are considered two of the greatest U.S. actors of their generation. De Niro has won two Oscars for acting in 1980’s “Raging Bull” and 1974’s “The Godfather Part II.” Pacino won one acting Oscar for 1992’s “Scent of a Woman.”

The new film is expected to begin shooting in August in Connecticut and New York.

I sometimes joke the beauty of a Celtic song is in direct proportion to its body count. If you want to hear some heart-rending melancholia, head for the Scottish Highlands or the Emerald Isles. In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, here’s a good one, “The Wind That Shakes the Barley.” The singer is Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance. Here’s one set of the lyrics.

My copy of the The Irish Songbook says:

This is an excellent example of many songs that serve both as love lyrics and rebel song. The scene described refers to the 1783 rising. The words are the work of Robert Dwyer Joyce, a professor of English Literature at Catholic University at Dublin. In danger of arrest for rebel activities, Joyce fled to the United States. He later returned to Ireland and died in Dublin in 1883.

Meanwhile, I-m looking forward to seeing the 2006 film, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, soon to hit the United States. Directed by Ken Loach, it stars Cillian Murphy and won the Palme D-Or at Cannes. Here’s the official website and here’s the trailer:

[youtube]Hc61Cjmmbkg [/youtube]

Happy St. Paddy’s Day!

(Cross-posted at Vagabond Scholar)

My contribution to alcohol abuse for this Sunday is the following. Some of these are cribbed from other folks’ lists in previous years, many are original, but many are pretty damn obvious regardless. Feel free to adapt or improve this list as you wish. (And remember, you don-t need to use this drinking alcohol!)

OSCAR DRINKING GAME

Every time Jack Nicholson is shown, take a drink.
If Jack is sitting with an actress younger than one-third his age (70), take three drinks.

Every time George Clooney is shown, take a drink.

If the director cuts from Brad Pitt to Jennifer Aniston or vice versa, take a drink.

For every joke about Mel Gibson, Michael Richards or Isaiah Washington, take a drink.
If “rehab” is mentioned in the joke, take another drink.

If someone makes a joke about Russell Crowe and he scowls at it, take a drink.

For every Arnold Schwarzenegger joke, take a drink. If they say “Cally-forn-nia” take another, and if they mention Conan, take three more.

For every reference to Marty Scorsese and his winless streak, take a drink.

If Helen Mirren says anything about almost falling “ass over tit” again, take a drink.
If Jessica Simpson says “ass over tit,” finish your drink.

If one of the presenters can-t pronounce a nominee’s name or can-t read the teleprompter, take a drink.

For every lame joke that bombs - drink some water, you need to pace yourself.

If anyone thanks his or her agent, take a drink.
If anyone says he or she is “humbled” or “blessed,” take a drink.
If the music starts before the winner is finished, take a drink.
If not all the winners in a group get to speak, take a drink.
If someone forgets to thank their significant other, take a drink.
If anyone cries, whether onstage or in the audience, take a drink.
If a winner says, “Gosh, I don-t know who to thank,” only to begin immediately thanking people, take a drink.

If anyone is caught snoozing in the audience, take a drink.

If Beyoncé changes her eyeshadow color mid’show, take a drink.

If any of the musical numbers involve tap-dancing, Debbie Allen, or homeless people slowly writhing through dry ice, take a drink.

For every plea to stamp out movie privacy, take a drink.
For every seemingly purposeless montage, take a drink.
If the montage or a presenter in some way plugs seeing movies in the theater, take another drink.

If anyone climbs over Steven Spielberg and says they want to make love to the audience in the firmament, finish your drink.

If Dreamgirls somehow still wins Best Picture despite not even being nominated, finish your drink and get another case.

OSCAR PRE-SHOW

If Joan Rivers insults her daughter, take a drink.
If she misidentifies someone, take a drink.

If Oprah snubs an interviewer, take a drink.

If anyone on the red carpet says, “it’s a honor just to be nominated,” take a drink.

If Billy Bush makes a bad pun to a celebrity, take a drink.
If Billy Bush asks an intelligent question, slap yourself to make sure you-re not dreaming.
If anyone smacks Billy Bush, finish your drink and send that man or woman a case of beer.