Author: David Medsker (Page 26 of 65)

Oscar recap: We need a montage, or Cate was jobbed

February 25, 2008 /

I was having a chat with Film School Reject and Fat Guys at the Movies co-host Kevin Carr last Friday about the Academy Awards. I naively thought that, because of the writers’ strike, this year’s show should be pretty brisk because they won’t have time to prepare any elaborate bits. But Kevin set me straight: he said, because the producers are doing the majority of heavy lifting, the show will be filled with self-congratulatory, back-slapping puff pieces.

Smart guy, that Kevin Carr.

I had an All-Star lineup of writers at my house last night, including Carr, fellow BE critic Jason Zingale, Film School Rejects editor in chief Neil Miller, Nights and Weekends EIC Kristin Dreyer Kramer, and From the Balcony EIC Bill Clark. About 20 minutes into the broadcast, all of us were singing Trey Parker’s “We Need a Montage” song. Holy cow, are the members of the academy proud of themselves. Here are some wacky moments from Oscars past. Here are a bunch of Best Actress winners. Here are a bunch of Best Actor winners. Here are ALL of the Best Picture winners. Thank goodness, then, for Jon Stewart’s tribute to periscopes and binoculars.

As for the awards themselves, there were some pleasant surprises and some pleasant non-surprises. I was thrilled to see Brad Bird get an Oscar for “Ratatouille,” likewise Javier Bardem getting the Supporting Actor award for “No Country for Old Men.” Marion Cotillard snagging Best Actress was a nice shocker too, as was “Falling Slowly” beating three songs from “Enchanted” for Best Song. Mega-bonus points to Stewart for bringing Marketa Irglova back out on stage to say her thank-yous after the orchestra drowned her out.

Something must be done, though, about the academy’s tendency to vote for someone in a category just because they liked the movie and want to make sure it gets some kind of recognition, even if the person in question doesn’t exactly deserve it.

Tilda Swinton, I’m looking at you.

My jaw hit the floor when Entertainment Weekly listed her as the favorite to win. Did they see the movie? She wasn’t all that memorable. Not that she was awful or anything, but between her, Clooney and Tom Wilkinson, she was easily the weakest link in “Michael Clayton,” and she sure as hell was no Cate Blanchett in “I’m Not There.” This isn’t grade school, people; if someone doesn’t deserve an award, you don’t give them one just because you don’t want the movie to get shut out. Really, Swinton winning is a joke. It’s like Votefortheworst.com took over Price Waterhouse for a day. I would rather have seen Ruby Dee win than Swinton, and Dee had no business even being nominated. How many lines did she even have in “American Gangster,” six?

By the way, the group and I casted three biopics last night. Casey Affleck should play David Byrne, Amy Adams is the perfect person to play Kirsty MacColl, and Tilda Swinton as…David Bowie. Admit it, you were thinking it too when you saw her fiery red hair.

The producers of the Academy Awards know that their show has a reputation for being unnecessarily long. The strike gave them the perfect opportunity to correct that. They didn’t take it. They made montages. Lots and lots of montages. And in their “honor,” I present them with “The Montage Song.” Boneheads.

Action Movies, Actors, Actresses, Humor, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies

See Spot Run: Snickers, “Feast”

November 7, 2007 /

We at Premium Hollywood have been dating ourselves — insert your own “isn’t that against the law” joke here — with our love for bad ’70s commercials and the opening credits to zany TV shows that were only greenlit by mountains of coke, so we thought it was only fair to show some love for a TV commercial currently airing that looks like it was also the work of someone who has done mountains of coke. Sweet, hilarious, wonderful coke. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Humor, TV

Mr. Magorium’s Product Placement Emporium?

October 23, 2007 /

I’m still not sure what to make of this. Visa recently launched another ad in their ‘cash and checks are evil’ series, taking place in a toy store. It is easily the most visually stunning of these spots to date, thanks in large part to the fact that literally everyone in the commercial is juggling. (You can view the clip here, scroll down to “View ‘Juggling’ TV Commercial). I love the fact that they used Danny Elfman’s theme to “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure” as the background music. That piece changed soundtrack music forevermore, no joke. It was also the song my wife and I chose as cake-cutting music at our wedding. Again, no joke.

Now here is where my spider sense starts tingling.

Have you seen the trailer for the upcoming Dustin Hoffman/Natalie Portman family movie “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium”? The majority of it takes place in a toy store, and in the background they play, yep, Danny Elfman’s theme to “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.” Huh. How about that. To 20th Century Fox’s credit, they also commissioned a remix of the Pilot song “Magic” for the spot as well, and anyone who wants to resurrect that song has our blessing. Still, something here just seems off.

Now, you could argue that the creative directors from two very different companies decided to use the same song at the same time, each one unaware of what the other was planning. Or, perhaps, this is calculated product placement, only we’re not supposed to know it yet. Maybe, a couple weeks from now, that Visa spot comes with a tag that says “See ‘Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium,’ in theaters November 16.”

Changes things, doesn’t it? I suppose time will soon tell whether I’m a prophet or paranoid, though I suppose those traits aren’t mutually exclusive.

Action Movies, External Movies, Trailers, TV

Tschochkes gone wrong: if you want to curry favor with film critics…

September 29, 2007 /

…send them booze. If you can’t send them booze, then for God’s sake, don’t send them something like this.

Heartbreak Kid Pillow

This arrived at my doorstep yesterday, and my first thought was: are you kidding me? Who on earth wants a pillow featuring Ben Stiller’s likeness, with the possible exception of his mother? I already had a bad, bad feeling about “The Heartbreak Kid,” and it was confirmed when one of our stringers covered the press round table discussion earlier this week (which Ben Stiller did not attend), and informed us that the movie was, well, awful.

I’m not sure whether to put this up for sale on eBay or throw it away. Or set it on fire. Any suggestions?

Actors, Actresses, Movie Comedies, Movies

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