Star Life Talk and Gossip

This year has been really great for movies. Some of the better ones are even made available for the commercial audience and not just limited to special features or festivals. Below are our choices for this year’s five greatest movies:

INGLOURIOUS BASTARDS – The film delivered artistic value and intellectual relevance all at the same time. It’s also so much entertaining to watch. It was a very ambitious undertaking for Quentin Tarantino, but it was one that he pulled off really well. Story-telling was tight and well-written and the action scenes were killer scenes, as expected. The acting ensemble was also commendable.

UP – This animation touched the heart of many movie-goers. For sure, no one will be forgetting the film’s first 15 minutes any time sooner. The characterization was truly special and resonant, while the graphic details, of course, remained superior.

500 DAYS OF SUMMER – It was quite unconventional how this film was presented. It had a very fitting leading lady who charmed her way into our hearts. But the surprise of the movie is actually in its male lead, who showed his range, depth and versatility.

JULIE/JULIA – Meryl Streep nailed her character really well playing the iconic Julia Child. Amy Adams on the other hand, delivered yet another natural, critically acclaimed performance. The film delivers such a cute story of two people whose lives are actually so much in parallel of each other.

DISTRICT 9 – While everyone was watching Transformers Revenge of The Fallen, they should have actually been watching this film instead. The action scenes may be no match to the Michael Bay flick, but the story line is of a higher standard.

Here’s to more great movies in 2010!

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This time it isn’t me, it’s my friend Robin, who just returned from TwiCon yesterday!  I’m totally jealous, so I took Edward hostage until she agreed to asked her kindly if she would write a little something up to tell the rest of us about it.  Here are some of her thoughts.  Since she’s brilliant, she has a lot of thoughts, so I’m only posting some today.  There will be more tomorrow!

Twilight

I’m guessing you’re not thinking about a romantic image of a darkened sky, are you? Good, neither am I. The book and resulting movie of the same name have created a Harry Potter or even Star Trek-like pop sensation over the last few years. Add the word “convention” and if you’re like me, you’re covering your ears, imagining thousands of screaming teenage girls. Ouch. But when I was invited to attend TwiCon in Dallas, as a fan, I couldn’t say no.

I’d like to think I’m not a “fangirl.” I don’t troll the web every morning looking for the latest scoop on RPattz’s hair or shirtless photos of the cast (okay, I have trolled for that, but I don’t do it EVERY day). I am a mother, after all. I’m too cheap and impatient to get tickets to stand in line to get an autograph, but when I was asked to participate at TwiCon on the fanfiction panel discussions, I eagerly agreed.

I planned to meet up with friends I’d made in the fandom as a fanfiction writer and validator on twilighted.net, and talk about the wonderful things that authors, both new and experienced were doing to extend the world Stephenie Meyer created. My one goal was to get a photo of the cast of The Hillywood Show – they made a hilarious parody music video of the movie that me and my kids LOVE (and I did get the shot). But, if I ran into oh, Kellan Lutz or Peter Facinelli in an elevator, I’d like to think that I’d shake their hand and offer them courteous congratulations on their success and appreciation for their talents as actors. No screaming, no OMG YOU’RE EMMETT!

Kellan Lutz, who plays Emmett Cullen

Alas, we’ll never know. The elevators only held fans when I rode them. And the occasional Klingon – Not sure if he got the dates wrong for the Star Trek convention, but yes, a Klingon attended one of the discussion panels. Who knew that twilight’s reach was interstellar?

A Klingon

So, my first viewing of any celebrity was on Friday night at the 100 Monkeys concert. Jackson Rathbone is one of the lead singers for the band, and I figured that was my one chance to be in the same room with a celeb. I’d post a photo, but he’d be a tiny dot in a blurry black square! Whether you like his music or not (I enjoyed it), I was very impressed by the band. Now, I haven’t been to a concert in years, but these guys did something I’d never seen before. They switched instruments every song (all but the percussionist – he had a ton of instruments all his own). For the first song, Jackson played bass, the next he was on keyboards. He sang, played lead guitar, and even drums! Now that’s talent. Oh yeah, he acts, TOO.

Jackson Rathbone, who plays Jasper Hale

I did scream along with the crowd when he came out (I whistle, actually), and when he took off his hat, but I agree with my friend Marcy that the other lead guitarist (no, I don’t even know his name, sorry!) was the cutest. See, I’m not a total cynic…but I didn’t tweet about it. (that’s a discussion for another time). If you happen upon the 100 Monkeys, though, and like an alternative rock/bluesy kind of music I recommend checking them out. They put on a great show.

100 Monkeys, image courtesy of Starshine Mag

More on TwiCon tomorrow, when we hear about Peter Facinelli!

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Image courtesy of Buzznet

According to Summit Entertainment, Rachelle Lefevre has scheduling conflicts that won’t allow her to appear in the 3rd installment of the Twilight Saga, Eclipse.  Lefevre has played the role of Victoria, the wicked vampire stalking Bella, for Twilight and New Moon, but now will be replaced by the bigger name Bryce Dallas Howard.

Now, I’m not an agent, but it seems very unlikely to me that a small time actress, who got the biggest break of her career in this series, would suddenly come up with “scheduling conflicts.”  And if you ask Lefevre, my instincts are on the money.  In a statement released yeseterday, Lefevre stated:

“I was stunned.  I was fully committed to the Twilight saga.  I am hurt deeply by Summit’s surprising decision to move on without me…I was happy with my contract with Summit and was fully prepared to continue to honor it.  Summit chose simply to recast the part. I am greatly saddened that I will not get to complete my portrayal of Victoria for the Twilight audience.”

Lefevre does admit that she has a role in another film, Barney’s Version,  but she insists that this film has a very minor overlap with the filming of Eclipse, and that it never occurred to her that there would be any conflict.  “I turned down several other film opportunities and, in accordance with my contractual rights, accepted only roles that would involve very short shooting schedules. Given the length of filming for Eclipse, never did I fathom I would lose the role over a 10 day overlap.”

Summit wasn’t too thrilled with that statement, and promptly issued an official response.

Ms. Lefevre’s representatives were advised as early as April that THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE was expected to start shooting in early August.

If Ms. Lefevre was, as she describes “passionate,” about being part of THE TWILIGHT SAGA, we feel that she and her representatives would have included us in her decision to work on another film that would conflict with the shooting schedule of THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE.

It was not until July 20th that Summit was first informed of Ms. Lefevre’s commitment to BARNEY’S VERSION, a commitment we have since been advised she accepted in early June.  Summit had acted in good faith that she would be available to fulfill her obligations both in terms of rehearsals and shooting availability for THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE. We feel that her choice to withhold her scheduling conflict information from us can be viewed as a lack of cooperative spirit which affected the entire production.

Furthermore Ms. Lefevre took a role in the other film that places her in Europe during the required rehearsal time, and at least ten days of THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE’s principal photography.  This period is essential for both rehearsal time with the cast, and for filming at key locations that are only available during the initial part of production.

Contrary to Ms. Lefevre’s statement, it is simply untrue that the Studio dismissed her over a ten day overlap.  It is not about a ten day overlap, but instead about the fact that THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE is an ensemble production that has to accommodate the schedules of numerous actors while respecting the established creative vision of the filmmaker and most importantly the story.

The fact remains that Ms. Lefevre’s commitment to the other project – which she chose to withhold from Summit until the last possible moment – makes her unfortunately unavailable to perform the role of Victoria in THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE.

You’d think that after all the uproar over replacing Taylor Lautner, Summit would have learned not to screw with fan loyalty.  And fans are not happy about this.  They point out that everyone knew about Lefevre’s role in Barney’s Version, because it was being reported in the trades, so how could Summit NOT know about it?

And does it strike anyone else as just a little suspicious that they could get a star the caliber of Bryce Dallas Howard at a moment’s notice?  I mean, it’s the end of July and she just happens to have August, September and October free for an “unexpected” role with an immediate 3-month shoot?

Here’s what I think.  I think that Summit was so pleasantly surprised by the positive feedback they got when they cast Dakota Fanning as Jane that they thought they’d see if they could pull it off again.  But since everything was cast, they had to replace someone.  They must have been in talks with Howard for months–she’s too big a name to just step into a role like this without months of negotiations. When Lefevre informed them of her little tiny scheduling overlap, they saw a chance to push her out without looking like bad guys–I mean, who could get upset over a scheduling conflict, right?  But Lefevre didn’t go along with their plan, and now they DO look like bad guys.

Twilight fans are furious, but we all know they (ahem, we) will still go see this movie.  Eclipse is the best book in the series, and far and away the fan favorite.  And who doesn’t want to see Edward rip Victoria to shreds?  Unfortunately, when Rob Pattinson takes her apart in this movie, the cheers will be very personal.  We’ll go see it, but there’s nothing Bryce Dallas Howard can do now to make fans approve of her in this role.  And I wouldn’t be surprised to see fans boycott her in the future, either.  That would be only marginally useful; the one we should be boycotting is Summit Studios.  However, since they produce the Twilight films, I don’t think that’s going to happen.

Image courtesy of askmen.com

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There’s a lot of news coming out the Oscars this year, but I think that this particular story is especially close to people’s hearts.  It’s close to mine, anyway.  Heath Ledger won his only Oscar last night, posthumously, for  his role as the Joker in Batman: The Dark Knight. 

His sister, Kate, accepted the award for him.  The statuette will not go into trust for his daughter Matilda to inherit when she turns 18.  When someone gets an Oscar after his death, it’s often a referendum of his whole career, and in this case, that’s all right.  Ledger was a very good actor, though he often had parts that didn’t showcase his talents, especially in his early teen-rebel days.  But he should have won something for Brokeback Mountain, and I’m satisfied to see him get something for both an indivudual performance and the accumulation of a career that was ultimately far too short.

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Here they are, straight from The Academy! 

Performance by an actor in a leading role

• Richard Jenkins in “The Visitor” (Overture Films)
• Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon” (Universal)
• Sean Penn in “Milk” (Focus Features)
• Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
• Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

• Josh Brolin in “Milk” (Focus Features)
• Robert Downey Jr. in “Tropic Thunder” (DreamWorks, Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
• Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Doubt” (Miramax)
• Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.)
• Michael Shannon in “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage)

Performance by an actress in a leading role

• Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married” (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Angelina Jolie in “Changeling” (Universal)
• Melissa Leo in “Frozen River” (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Meryl Streep in “Doubt” (Miramax)
• Kate Winslet in “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

• Amy Adams in “Doubt” (Miramax)
• Penélope Cruz in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (The Weinstein Company)
• Viola Davis in “Doubt” (Miramax)
• Taraji P. Henson in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
• Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight)

Best animated feature film of the year

• “Bolt” (Walt Disney), Chris Williams and Byron Howard
• “Kung Fu Panda” (DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by Paramount), John Stevenson and Mark Osborne
• “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Andrew Stanton

Achievement in art direction

• “Changeling” (Universal), Art Direction: James J. Murakami, Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Peter Lando
• “The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Art Direction: Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
• “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage), Art Direction: Kristi Zea, Set Decoration: Debra Schutt

Achievement in cinematography

• “Changeling” (Universal), Tom Stern
• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Claudio Miranda
• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Wally Pfister
• “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Anthony Dod Mantle

Achievement in costume design

• “Australia” (20th Century Fox), Catherine Martin
• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Jacqueline West
• “The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Michael O’Connor
• “Milk” (Focus Features), Danny Glicker
• “Revolutionary Road”  (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage), Albert Wolsky

Achievement in directing

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), David Fincher
• “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), Ron Howard
• “Milk” (Focus Features), Gus Van Sant
• “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), Stephen Daldry
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Danny Boyle

Best documentary feature

• “The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)” (Cinema Guild), A Pandinlao Films Production, Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
• “Encounters at the End of the World” (THINKFilm and Image Entertainment), A Creative Differences Production, Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser
• “The Garden” A Black Valley Films Production, Scott Hamilton Kennedy
• “Man on Wire” (Magnolia Pictures), A Wall to Wall Production, James Marsh and Simon Chinn
• “Trouble the Water” (Zeitgeist Films), An Elsewhere Films Production, Tia Lessin and Carl Deal

Best documentary short subject

• “The Conscience of Nhem En” A Farallon Films Production, Steven Okazaki
• “The Final Inch” A Vermilion Films Production, Irene Taylor Brodsky and Tom Grant
• “Smile Pinki” A Principe Production, Megan Mylan
• “The Witness – From the Balcony of Room 306” A Rock Paper Scissors Production, Adam Pertofsky and Margaret Hyde

Achievement in film editing

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Lee Smith
• “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
• “Milk” (Focus Features), Elliot Graham
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Chris Dickens

Best foreign language film of the year

• “The Baader Meinhof Complex” A Constantin Film Production, Germany
• “The Class” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Haut et Court Production, France
• “Departures” (Regent Releasing), A Departures Film Partners Production, Japan
• “Revanche” (Janus Films), A Prisma Film/Fernseh Production, Austria
• “Waltz with Bashir” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Bridgit Folman Film Gang Production, Israel

Achievement in makeup

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Greg Cannom
• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O’Sullivan
• “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” (Universal), Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.),Alexandre Desplat
• “Defiance” (Paramount Vantage), James Newton Howard
• “Milk” (Focus Features), Danny Elfman
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), A.R. Rahman
• “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Thomas Newman

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

• “Down to Earth” from “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, Lyric by Peter Gabriel
• “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Gulzar
• “O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman andMaya Arulpragasam                  

Best motion picture of the year

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), A Kennedy/Marshall Production, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
• “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), A Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment and Working Title Production,Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Eric Fellner, Producers
• “Milk” (Focus Features), A Groundswell and Jinks/Cohen Company Production, Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, Producers
• “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), A Mirage Enterprises and Neunte Babelsberg Film GmbH Production, Nominees to be determined
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), A Celador Films Production,Christian Colson, Producer

Best animated short film

• “La Maison en Petits Cubes” A Robot Communications Production, Kunio Kato
• “Lavatory – Lovestory” A Melnitsa Animation Studio and CTB Film Company Production, Konstantin Bronzit
• “Oktapodi” (Talantis Films) A Gobelins, L’école de l’image Production, Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
• “Presto” (Walt Disney) A Pixar Animation Studios Production, Doug Sweetland
• “This Way Up”, A Nexus Production, Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes

Best live action short film

• “Auf der Strecke (On the Line)” (Hamburg Shortfilmagency), An Academy of Media Arts Cologne Production, Reto Caffi
• “Manon on the Asphalt” (La Luna Productions), A La Luna Production, Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont
• “New Boy” (Network Ireland Television), A Zanzibar Films Production, Steph Green and Tamara Anghie
• “The Pig” An M & M Production, Tivi Magnusson and Dorte Høgh
• “Spielzeugland (Toyland)” A Mephisto Film Production, Jochen Alexander Freydank

Achievement in sound editing

• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Richard King
• “Iron Man” (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment), Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Tom Sayers
• “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
• “Wanted” (Universal),Wylie Stateman

Achievement in sound mixing

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten
• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
• “WALL-E” (Walt Disney),Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt
• “Wanted” (Universal), Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

Achievement in visual effects

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
• “Iron Man” (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment), John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan

Adapted screenplay

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Screenplay by Eric Roth, Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
• “Doubt” (Miramax), Written by John Patrick Shanley
• “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), Screenplay by Peter Morgan
• “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), Screenplay by David Hare
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

Original screenplay

• “Frozen River” (Sony Pictures Classics), Written by Courtney Hunt
• “Happy-Go-Lucky” (Miramax), Written by Mike Leigh
• “In Bruges” (Focus Features), Written by Martin McDonagh
• “Milk” (Focus Features), Written by Dustin Lance Black
• “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

 I am sure I’ll have more comments, but here are a few to start with:

• Good for you, Academy, for getting over yourselves enough to nominate Heath Ledger, even though he was in a (*shudder!*) popular movie.
• Good for you, Mickey Rourke, for nabbing that Best Actor nom.  Talk about a comeback!
• WHERE is Carter Burwell’s nomination for the Twilight score???  And WHERE is the nod to “Bella’s Lullaby” from Twilight for best song?  Carter Burwell is legit, and this soundtrack and score are cutting edge.  This is a rip-off.

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