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5 articles
Best Pictures... "Play it Again, Clint"
5 hours ago
Nathaniel: Once again we apologize for the long delays between episodes. This Best Picture From the Outside In series… it’s a helluva thing.
1928----1943------------------------1992-----2007
We continue to pull one movie from either end of Oscar’s chronology, working towards the center of their eighty-plus year history. This match up brings us two of Oscar’s most respected prize-winners: Casablanca (1943) and Unforgiven (1992). Both films essentially begin with a sudden eruption of violence (a shooting and a slashing, respectively) followed by the intervention of local law enforcement (embodied by Claude Rains and Gene Hackman, respectively). World War II era Morocco and Wild West era Wyoming are dangerous and morally ambiguous places. They're also fine places to escape from one's past and start anew. At least that's how Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) and William Munny (Clint Eastwood) see it.
Casablanca and Unforgiven toss out key plot points and introduce multiple »
- NATHANIEL R
Yes, No, Maybe So: Sex & the City & Iron Mans 2
18 hours ago
As y'all know, I am not terribly good at simplicity. I can't just post a trailer. I gotta have an angle (charitable view) or a gimmick (uncharitable view) in order to have at it. Otherwise I fear I'll be absorbed into that Borg-like group internet mind that exists only to offer movie studios free publicity. So what to do with trailers? I used to resent them. I spent a lot of 2009 worrying about our All Foreplay/No Sex internet movie culture. 95% of movie discussions these days take place before anyone ever sees the movie in question. The discussion ends on the movie's opening weekend. Doesn't anyone wanna have sex with the movies anymore?
I didn't even realize this until both of these teasers premiered this past week or so but 2010's upcoming summer movie season is basically an elaborately expensive time machine designed to transport us back »
- NATHANIEL R
The Ballots Are Coming! The Ballots Are Coming!
19 hours ago
Ballots for the 82nd annual Oscars went out to the nearly 6,000 AMPAS members today. So anything happening right now is Gold. What'll be on their mind when they open up those ballots in a day or three? How many screeners did they make it through over the holiday break or will they just vote for their friends and their friend's friends again? My predictions in all categories have been updated over the past week and I hope to investigate a couple of the fuzzy technical categories in more detail very soon.
The eligibility list is also available (a lot more films played in La to qualify than I suspected here in NYC). Awards Daily points to a great reminder about the ballot math works. Though the accounting process is interesting I find it's best not to think about it too much. It's such a wormhole to another mentally loony dimension »
- NATHANIEL R
What Did You See Over Christmas?
21 hours ago
Spent the weekend with food, friends and a stack of DVDs. At the movie theater I tried to see Avatar a second time but failed (I'm holding out for the IMAX experience but it's eternally sold out... at least for people like me who don't plan things weeks in advance). We went to Sherlock Holmes since you have to see a movie with friends and family on Christmas day. It's tradition. And judging on the box office results (biggest Christmas weekend ever) I assume that's tradition for just about everyone.
Avatar $75 (for a $212 total)
It's already earned over $600 million worldwide so it looks like they won't lose their shirts, even with that unthinkably monstrous budget. The world's most important question [cough] right now is this: Will James Cameron make us wait 12 more years for his 9th film? And will it be a sequel to this one? He does like the number 2s. »
- NATHANIEL R
Link Flamingos
27 December 2009 10:01 PM, PST
Scanners envisions Precious as a remake of John Waters Female Trouble. No seriouslyFin de Cinema top 100 of the decade. So many great movies...
Nicks Flick Picks is almost done with his, too.
Crossoverman cheats with lots of groupings for his top 50. But they're good movies so we'll let it slide
Just Jared Jude Law and Sienna Miller are back together? My god... when will these two make up their mind? I hope that when they're separated again Sienna has flashbacks about Jude as frenetically edited and obnoxious as the ones she has about Channing Tatum in GI Joe. Sometimes real life should be just like the movies.
i09 5 lessons we hope entertainment taught us in 2009. Good list
In Contention Guy's top ten of 2009, Us and UK versions
42 inch Television's top ten of 2009. I link it becomes Whip It appears and that's nice to see for a change. Firmly agree that »
- NATHANIEL R
5 articles
