Before the Golden Globe nominations tomorrow...

My post about Black Swan is coming up. In the mean time, its starting to get on lists and more award show buzz.

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2010/12/13/critics-choice-nominations-5-biggest-surprises/

Big city lists:
http://insidemovies.ew.com/2010/12/12/social-network-wins-l-a-boston-new-york-online-critics-awards/

And the AFI Top 10 of 2010:
Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, 127 Hours, The Social Network, The Town, Toy Story 3, True Grit, and Winter’s Bone.
Two films that were not eligible for the top 10 received special awards: The King’s Speech (ineligible because it’s British) and Waiting for “Superman” (which couldn’t be considered because it’s a documentary).

EW Oscar page

I get much of my info from ew, so here's a link to their Oscar 2011 page.

http://www.ew.com/ew/package/0,,20311937,00.html

Love and Other Drugs

The pace, music and editing of the first scene of Love and Other Drugs, are excellent. It opens in 1996 with Jake Gyllenhaal as an electronics store salesmen, set to the sweet sound of the Spin Doctors. The energy and sly charm of Gyllenhaal's character, Jamie Randall, continue throughout much of the movie. He's a smooth operator and its not the least bit offensive. Its completely cute and funny.

Now as a pharmaceutical rep, Jamie soon crosses paths with Anne Hathaway's free-spirited artist, Maggie Murdock. They are two of a kind and fall right into bed. As the buzz for the movie promises, there's lots of skin and sex scenes. Maggie's character faces a challenge in her life that much of the second half of the film and the conflict of the movie revolve around. I did not know it before seeing the movie, and though most reviews probably mention it, I won't. I like that I didn't know everything about the movie before seeing it.

Over all, its a fun picture, and I enjoyed the trip back to the 90s and the exposure of the relationship between doctors and pharmaceutical companies. The only silver bullet, is the "grand gesture" scene that frequents many rom-coms. It is based on a real story, the screenplay is adapted from the book Hard Sell by the real Jamie. And it wasn't cheesy, my main element to determine a good or bad rom-com.

I'll be seeing Black Swan Friday and The Tourist on Sunday...plus, you never know when there is more Oscar news this time of year.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One

This was the first of the Harry Potter movies that I needed to hurry up and finishing reading before the movie came out. And I failed at that. But I did try really hard to get half-way, its only part one after all, right? Why, you may ask, am I taking so long to read the final book? Well, I'll tell you. With the last three books, I tried to wait to start reading them for as long as I could and then to read as slowly as I could. I flew through the first four books the summer before the first movie came out and had time to reread them. It was a long time to wait between books, and with the final book, that was it. Well, spoilers everywhere soured me on the final book. My own sister and step-brother chatting about it while I waved my hands about "hello, haven't read it yet, PLEASE stop talking about it, RIGHT NOW!" and Stephen King writing an article in ew with no spoiler warning and then saying any true fan would have read the book by then: these things shut me down. To Uncle Stevie, my protest would be, "My fandom is strong and my delay is based in my love of the Potterverse." I open this post with my reading history because I find it fascinating that there are people who see the movies and never read the books. While my brain does not have the capacity to hold all the details of the books at quick reference, I find that there is such a deeper viewing experience to the movies, when you've read the books.

With my dash to read the book before I saw it on Black Friday with Emily, I couldn't help but notice all the nuances between the book and the scenes as portrayed in the movie. Overall, the changes are minor and the entire series as been very true to the books. In fact, I noticed in the credits that JK Rowling was a producer. After doing a little imdb research, this is indeed the first film in which Rowling has a producing credit.

When I first heard that the final installment would be broken into two parts, I was displeased. I felt like they were "pulling an HBO" (HBO often divides the final seasons of their tv series into two parts for basically additional DVD revenue, ie Sex and the City). If the last few, both similar in length, were made in one, why now? Well, there is certainly enough plot to fill Part One, so I'm thankful for the extension of my Harry Potter experience.

The impressive thing with the Potter movie series is that the production value has always been phenomenal and Deathly Hallows holds true to this. While the main, extended characters are all present, the movie centers on Harry, Ron and Hermione and then Harry and Hermione. Wonderful action and visually stunning.

I'm sure that I am not the first to make this observation but the terror of Voldemort and his followers reminds me of Hitler and the Nazis. I've read that some have regarded the last Potter books as a critique of the Bush administration. As much as I am not a fan of the Bush administration, that leaves me scratching my head. It seems so evident to me that the reference is to the Nazis. The hiding that so many must do, the trials over peoples race (muggle or pureblood) and the distinction of those that are muggles.

If your a fan of the books and movies, or just the movies, continue to keep up with the series.

Oscar news for Blue Valentine & early predictions

Looks like Harvey Weinstein made his case. As I mentioned in my Holiday Season movie preview, if the NC17 rating had stuck, it could have been detrimental to the film's chances of a successful Oscar season.

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2010/12/08/blue-valentine-wins-mpaa-appeal-for-r-rating/


Here's an early, early list. Can't wait for the ew 25 to see before Oscar night list. Its not 100% but it gives me "homework" before the actual nominations come out.

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2010/12/07/oscarwatch-ranking-the-contenders/

Oscar Season, let it begin!

Time to start talking about the Oscars. I'm WAY addicted to Entertainment Weekly, or ew, for those of you not so inclined. I'm sure that there will be several other of these updates throughout the season.

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2010/11/29/james-franco-and-anne-hathaway-to-host-oscars/

This is my first Oscar season with the movie blog and I couldn't be more excited to have an outlet to share what I find. I'm thinking that there will also be items shared that friends send my way. I know last year Jennica, Kate, Katy and others all provided me with interesting articles and Oscar related tidbits. HOORAY!

Holiday Movie Season

Well, I can't wait to see Harry Potter. I know I'll be seeing it with Emily, and I hope that we'll be seeing it over Thanksgiving weekend. Laura and I also have plans for a movie that weekend. Holiday movies also mean Oscar bait time. Here's my glimpse at what is coming out soon...

Love and Other Drugs -- Pharmaceutical sales rep Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway love story (Nov 24th). I'll be seeing this.

Burlesque -- Cher and Christina Aguilera musical (Nov 24th).
Tangled -- Disney's animated Rapunzel (Nov 24th).

Black Swan -- Natalia Portman is a ballerina, it may not sound like it but this is supposed to be a real mind trip. And is anticipated to have Oscar nominations (Dec 3rd).

The Tourist -- Have you seen the trailer for this? Hotness! Just knowing it stars Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie is probably enough said but the Venice location and caper/thriller feel add to it (Dec 10th). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iXHDFqI7qk

The Fighter -- Mark Walberg stars as the boxer and he has been working to get this movie made for years. There were talks of Matt Damon playing his brother at one point (oh the Boston hotness that brings to my mind) but after seeing how Christian Bale looks in the film, it wouldn't have been the most sexy role for Damon. Plus he has all those 30 Rocks spots to shoot, right?! Amy Adams also co-stars as Walberg's girlfriend (Dec 10th).

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader -- The third in the series of the CS Lewis books (Dec 10th).

Tron: Legacy -- I really only remember Tron from tv but I still really want to see this. It looks badass. Jeff Bridges is back and the plot and space between movies seems well written (Dec 17th).

Yogi Bear -- Was pretty horrified to see clips of this. Its a mix of live action and Yogi and Boo Boo are animated. Dan Aykroyd does a good Yogi voice but Justin Timberlake as Boo Boo?! What? (Dec 17th).

How Do You Know -- James L Brooks wrote and directed (As Good as It Gets, Terms of Endearment, Spanglish) this movie starring Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson and Jack Nicholson (Dec 17th). I'll be seeing this one too.

Country Strong -- This is the Gwyneth Paltrow as a country singer movie. As some of you may recall, the Duets soundtrack played constantly in my ford escort for a good year or so (Dec 22nd). Looking forward to it.

Gulliver's Travels -- Gets an update with Jack Black (Dec 22nd).
Little Fockers -- There needed to be a third one? Well, here's to an open mind and the right mood. Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman are back as Ben Stiller's parents, though I think its more of a cameo thing (Dec 22nd).

True Grit -- The Coen Brothers remake of the John Wayne Western classic. Jeff Bridges stars as the one-eyed Rooster Cogburn (Dec 22nd).

Blue Valentine -- Tough drama of the marriage between Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. Harvey Weinstein is appealing the MPAA's NC17 rating of the flick. This one has had Oscar buzz from the get-go and the rating may effect the likelihood (Dec 31st).