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The Amazing Unorthdox Interrotron: Academy Award Movie
"Academy Award Movie" is a very funny four-minute short-film by the Oscar winner and documentary filmmaker Errol Morris. He was commissioned to create this short-film to open the 2002 Academy Awards ceremonies, and to replace the awful, dreary dance numbers that usually kick off the show.
Almost one hundred people, many very famous and some just ordinary folks, all talking about movies. Some of the movie-talk was pretentious, some lame, some delightful and some just plain strange. But all of them putting in their own two-cents about movies, crammed into only four minutes!!
And just who are some of these very famous people in the film?? Well, you'll just have to sneak a little peek to find out!!
Great photographs and a video of the hilarious "Academy Award Movie" are included. "Academy Award Movie" is a very funny four-minute short-film by the Oscar winner and documentary filmmaker Errol Morris. He... more -
Elizabeth Taylor's ill health played down
Dame Elizabeth Taylor is 'fine' and is soon expected to return home from a 'precautionary' spell in hospital, her publicist has said.
Dick Guttman called reports that the 76-year-old actress is seriously ill as "dramatic, overstated and untrue". But he declined to give further details about the Oscar winner's condition or where she is receiving treatment. Mr Guttman added: "At present, she is surrounded by family, friends and fabulous jewels."
Over the last decade Dame Elizabeth has been dogged by a number of health problems which have left her confined to a wheelchair. She has broken her back five times, had a benign brain tumour removed in 1997, and suffers from the brittle bone disease osteoporosis. In 2004, the actress suffered from congestive heart failure, which compounded by spinal fractures and a curvature left her almost bedridden. In an interview with CNN in 2006, she denied speculation that she was gravely ill or being treated for Alzheimer's disease, saying: "Oh come on, do I look like I'm dying?"
Dame Elizabeth began her Hollywood career as a teenager in films such as Lassie Come Home and National Velvet. She won best actress Oscars for Butterfield 8 in 1960 and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? six years later. The screen star, who has three children and adopted a fourth with ex-husband Richard Burton, was made an honorary dame by the Queen in 2000. Dame Elizabeth Taylor is 'fine' and is soon expected to return home from a 'precautionary' spell in hospital, her ... more -
The Dark Night’s Insane Joker: Heath Ledger Touted for Oscar
Handsome is as handsome doesn't in "The Dark Knight." Of the three male actors who have major roles the movie, Heath Ledger with his face hidden behind twisted clown makeup, whose perfect features and fair brow are never seen, has proven to be the most memorable one.
Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker in "The Dark Knight" is both a demonic creation and a three-ring circus of one. Ledger's performance is so intense and lasting in part because, despite his insane mask, it's a subtle and nuanced performance that is so powerful it almost erases all memories of the handsome Australian actor behind the Joker's mask.
The makeup seems to have liberated Ledger. Ledger's body movements are flexibly agile, he's expressive using only his eyes and his voice has astonishing oscillating surges of irony, mockery and psychopathology in it.
While the Academy Awards are more than six months away, the late Heath Ledger already is being touted for an Oscar nomination for his demonic and terrifying portrayal of the Joker. His stunning performance is pure magnetic charisma.
This article also presents photographs and three videos about "The Dark Night" (including an interview with Heath Ledger). Handsome is as handsome doesn't in "The Dark Knight." Of the three male actors who have major roles the movie, Heath L... more -
Oscar watchers dampen award hype for Ledger's Joker
When the new Batman movie "The Dark Night" began screenings last month before its U.S. debut on Friday, some moviegoers saw Heath Ledger as an instant Oscar candidate as the deranged villain, The Joker.
But Oscar watchers and veteran critics say the joke may be on fans creating mostly Internet-based buzz because an Academy Award for the Australian actor, who died of an accidental drug overdose in January, would be a rare event.
Only one actor has won an Oscar after death, Peter Finch for 1976's "Network."
"Dark Knight" is the type of comic book, action adventure that Oscar voters generally do not favor and there are many movies to see later this year, the experts said.
Still, Ledger's critically hailed performance may bring a nomination for the U.S. film industry's top award, to be presented next on February 22, 2009.
"All this Oscar talk is a phenomenon of the Internet age that I like to call 'a wish-fulfillment rumor.' If people say it often enough, they think it will happen," said Leonard Maltin, film critic for TV program "Entertainment Tonight."
"That's not to say it might not happen," he said, citing a "great performance" by Ledger. "But I assure you that the people who are spreading all this are neither Oscar voters nor (Hollywood) movers and shakers."
Tom O'Neil, a columnist for award-watching Web site The Envelope.com, said "it really looks good" for a nomination but was "a long shot" to win.
Hollywood has a long history of seeing big stars -- James Dean, Marilyn Monroe and Bruce Lee among them -- appearing in high-profile films released after their untimely deaths.
O'Neil said that when Finch died, Hollywood was in the middle of Oscar season and also in shock. Prior to that, Robert De Niro was sweeping the critics' awards for "Taxi Driver."
Veteran Oscar watcher O'Neil also sees parallels between the truncated careers of Ledger and James Dean.
"Like Heath, James Dean was a heartthrob star who was considered a serious actor, who died tragically young," O'Neil said. "He was nominated twice posthumously, for "East of Eden" and "Giant," and he lost both times."
Even the legendary Spencer Tracy was ignored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which gives out the Oscars, after he died in 1967 just as "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?" was coming. And he was the front-runner, O'Neil said.
Tracy's co-star Katharine Hepburn did win best actress for "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?"
"That's how reluctant Oscar voters are to hug the dead," O'Neil said. "These awards are all about hugs and there's something creepy about embracing the dead." When the new Batman movie "The Dark Night" began screenings last month before its U.S. debut on Friday, some moviegoers saw ... more -
Dark Knight: Greatest Film Ever?
The early reviews are coming in and it looks like Dark Knight is going to be this year's Oscar winner. What do you think? For more debate click the link to read Jason Calacanis' complete review of Dark Knight in IMAX. The early reviews are coming in and it looks like Dark Knight is going to be this year's Oscar winner. What do you think? For m... more
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Exclusive clip: Heath Ledger as The Joker
July 9, 2008 10:00 AM
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid980795811...
The word tragic is possibly the most over-used in the English media, but that's the only way to describe Heath Ledger's death at 28 at the beginning of this year.
The Australian actor had already completed his role as The Joker in Christopher Nolan's sequel to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and here's a first, world exclusive look (barring the bravura but blurry five-minute clip of the opening sequence which keeps popping up online before being unceremoniously felled by the relevant authorities) at this most menacing of performances.
Hard to tell whether talk of an Oscar nod is appropriate from this short segment, which centres on the unwelcome arrival of the super-villain and his henchmen at a black tie dinner, but I love the hunched, feral intensity of Ledger's Joker. The facially scarred, heavily made-up criminal is looking for Harvey Dent, Gotham's new district attorney, and a man who (at the start of the film at least) has cleaned up the city's streets so effectively that Batman wonders if it might be time to hang up his Batcape for good.
Many wondered whether Ledger, a relative ingenue compared to Jack Nicholson, could match the veteran's famous turn in Tim Burton's 1989 Batman, but in my opinion this visceral new take on the character makes his predecessor's look like a hammy pantomime act.
The Dark Knight hits cinemas here on July 25. We'd love to get your views on this one. July 9, 2008 10:00 AM ... more -
Frank Stallone tells about how he got started
I love Frank, underated and underappreciated.
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Could Heath Ledger really win an Oscar?
Jack Nicholson's Joker was a blast. Heath Ledger's Joker is as dark and anarchic a figure as Randle McMurphy in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," the role that brought Nicholson his first Academy Award.
Ledger's performance in the Batman tale "The Dark Knight" is so remarkable that next January 22, the one-year anniversary of his death, he could become just the seventh actor in Oscar history to earn a posthumous nomination. Jack Nicholson's Joker was a blast. Heath Ledger's Joker is as dark and anarchic a figure as Randle McMurphy in "One Fl... more -
Will Heath Ledger win an Oscar for his performance in ‘The Dark Knight’?
What happened
Press screenings for the latest Batman movie The Dark Knight have begun, and many critics are raving about late actor Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker. Buzz has begun about whether Ledger, who accidentally overdosed on prescription drugs last January, will become the only other actor ever to win an Oscar posthumously. (The Canadian Press)
What the commentators said
Heath Ledger will “absolutely be nominated for an Oscar” for his performance as The Joker, said Sam Rubin in KTLA.com’s Morning News blog, and he “is also a hands-down favorite to win it posthumously.” Not only is Ledger’s performance “amazing,” he is “THE BEST villain in a super hero movie of all time.”
“Yikes!” said Tom O’Neil in the Los Angeles Times blog Gold Derby. “Slow down, Sam!” Let’s not forget that “the only other star” that “has ever won an acting Oscar posthumously” was Peter Finch for his role in the 1976 film Network—but he “died of a heart attack just weeks before the awards gala, when Hollywood was still in shock and grieving over his loss.”
“I’m sure thousands of Internet ‘critics’ already have their reviews written” for The Dark Knight without even having seen it yet, said the blog 2Snaps. Who’s really going to have the guts to say, “Heath Ledger sucked?” There’s no doubt that the latest Batman movie “will break box office records.” But most of the discussion surrounding the film will be about whether “a dead guy can win an Oscar,” and “July 18 is going to be more about Ledger than Bat-who?” What happened ... more -
Conversazione con John Carney
Chiacchierata divertente con il regista di Once, uno dei casi cionematografici dell'anno, premio Oscar per la migliore canzone. Un vero irlandese, non c'è che dire. Chiacchierata divertente con il regista di Once, uno dei casi cionematografici dell'anno, premio Oscar per la migliore canzone. U... more
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Oscar Winner says 9/11 was an inside job
Marion Cotillard has won plenty of awards for her performance as singer Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose. She won a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, and her most prized of awards, an Oscar. It should have set her along a path of high earning box office blockbusters but it recently emerged that the French actress could now run into trouble over her opinions about 9/11.
""I think we’re lied to about a number of things," she said, singling out September 11. "We see other towers of the same kind being hit by planes, are they burned? There was a tower, I believe it was in Spain, which burned for 24 hours.
It never collapsed. None of these towers collapsed. And there [New York], in a few minutes, the whole thing collapsed."
The actress was once an environmental activist and for a while was a spokesperson for Greenpeace. Is she entitled to her own view point? What do you think about what she said and should it affect her career? Marion Cotillard has won plenty of awards for her performance as singer Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose. She won a BAFTA, a Golden Globe,... more -
And to You Whoopi Goldberg, Bravo!!
As most people probably already know by now, Sunday night’s Academy Awards featured many montages, one of which was described as a “Montage of Oscar Hosts.” That montage included almost every host in the show’s history. But there was one host who was not included, the 4-time host and Academy Awards winner Whoopi Goldberg.
Until now, most writers have described what took place on "The View" the next day simply in terms of how displeased and upset Whoopi's co-hosts were about the slight. However, there is a different, possibly more plausible perspective on what actually took place Monday on "The View." Consider that not only does Whoopi have to suffer the daily indignity of being reduced to just another “chatting-head”, but also that her co-hosts insisted upon going on and on, in front of millions of American people, rubbing in the fact that the Oscar winning and Oscar hosting actress had not been shown in Sunday's montage. Dumb and dumberer Elisabeth Hasselbeck babbled on and on about how it must feel so terrible to have been so slighted. Placing a cherry atop the poison pudding, the ever-duplicitous Barbara Walters intimated that nothing Whoopi had ever done at the Oscars was really a Great Moment anyway.
Whoopi just sat there, looking unbelievably miserable, trying to collect the remaining shards of her dignity that were being scattered around the set. When the others just wouldn’t stop, Whoopi quietly got up and gave each of them “the kiss of death” just to shut their mouths, briefly weeping when she got behind Barbara Walters.
Update: On Tuesday, the producer of the Oscar awards show apologized to Whoopi for leaving her out. The View should be interesting to watch tomorrow.
Photographs, the video of the "Oscar Hosts Montage" and the video of Monday's embarrassing moments on "The View" are included. As most people probably already know by now, Sunday night’s Academy Awards featured many montages, one of which was described as a “Mo... more -
The ebb and flow of movies
Even box offices experience tides, with summer blockbusters and Oscar buzz making up the bulk of revenue each year. The New York Times has put together this cool visual to illustrate how well movies from 1987 to 2007 did, adjusted for inflation.
Click the link to see the interactive chart. Even box offices experience tides, with summer blockbusters and Oscar buzz making up the bulk of revenue each year. The New York Times... more -
Oscar snub leaves Whoopi sad, choked up
Whoopi Goldberg seemed sad an choked up on this morning's "The View" when she and her co-hosts discussed how she was not included in the montage of past hosts.
Whoopi has received two Oscar nominations, an won one of them for her role as Oda Mae Brown in "Ghost." She also hosted the event in 1994, 1996, 1999 and 2002.
However, she did appear in a separate montage for Oscar winners.
It seemed as though Oscar was in a snubby mood this season. Brad Renfro was apparently not included in the montage of actors and other movie notables who died between Feb. 1, 2007, and Jan. 31, 2008.
Was Halle and Angelina snubbed too (they weren't at the Oscars, but I guess there could be other reasons)? Whoopi Goldberg seemed sad an choked up on this morning's "The View" when she and her co-hosts discussed how she was no... more -
Michael Moore says insurance industry would love Clinton's healthcare plan
He also said he will not offer an endorsement unless a candidate at least moves closer to his position on single-payer healthcare.
He offers a link to Obama's and Hillary's web for comment
Tell Barack Obama You Need Their Help More Than the Insurance Industry Does
http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/contact2 He also said he will not offer an endorsement unless a candidate at least moves closer to his position on single-payer healthcare. ... more -
Gary Busey attacks at the Oscars
This happened LIVE during a Pre-Oscar red carpet show and it is just so damn good I can't stop watching it!
Over and over and over...
I keep asking myself...why in the HELL was Gary Busey even at the Oscars!?
What was the last movie he did that was not straight to DVD or made for TV? Rookie of the Year? Under Seige in '92?
The priceless look on Jennifer Garner's face will forever be ingrained in my mind! This happened LIVE during a Pre-Oscar red carpet show and it is just so damn good I can't stop watching it! ... more -
Oscars are a TV ratings dud
I watched for 5 minutes and then felt dumber for it.
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Oscars in 60 Seconds
Check here for the 60 second Oscars extravaganza: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j2ccPEplGM from daily.mahalo.com
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Oscar win goes to the bros.
A take at the Oscars. The Coen brothers take best director(s) and best picture. uoohhh, I'm jealous. Marion Cortillard- best actress, she also won best attempt to hold back tears, or was that Diablo Cody? A take at the Oscars. The Coen brothers take best director(s) and best picture. uoohhh, I'm jealous. Marion Cortillard- best actr... more
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Oscars
