Sarah and Dubya Together At Last!

Right on the money again!

Richard Jenkins Is The Man!

The amazing Richard Jenkins has a few new videos on the popular site Funny Or Die for a little webseries called "Hollywood Tales with Richard Jenkins" in which he reflects on his experiences in big name films with big names stars... when he wasn't one really. Richard Jenkins is beyond funny, you just have to see it to believe it! And while you're at it, buy or rent The Visitor! All I can say is, Richard Jenkins is the man! Check it out!

See more Richard Jenkins videos at Funny or Die

See more Richard Jenkins videos at Funny or Die

See more Richard Jenkins videos at Funny or Die

Vedy Vedy Interesting...

I just saw this on CNN a few moments ago and I thought it was worth posting it here.

"The Real One?..."

It has finally happened! Sarah Palin was on SNL last night, and I have to say, nice head bopping Sarah!

But I think it's great that Sarah came on and had some fun making fun of herself. If only Alec Baldwin memorized his lines... but oh well, it was still funny! And SNL recieved its HIGHEST RATINGS in 14 years. Wow!

"All the mavricks in the house put your hands up. All the plumbers in the house put your pants up."

My Analysis For My Best Picture Nominee Predictions For October.

Hey everyone, so as promised, here is my analysis for my Oscar nominee Best Picture predictions for the month of October. I will try to do this every month until the Oscar nominees are announced, and of course as we get closer to the day when the nominations are announced, more and more of the films will have been out in theaters and then we will all be able to get a real gist of where the contenders stand in this race! And so far this looks like one hell of an interesting race! And later on in other posts, I will break down my Acting, Writing, and Directing predictions.

So anyway, lets get to it!

For best picture, I had Revolutionary Road, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, Changeling, and Rachel Getting Married as my top five nominees. It is a very surprising list as I have left off such films as Milk, Doubt, and Frost/Nixon and placed Slumdog Millionaire, Changeling, and Rachel Getting Married in their places. But I feel like Milk, Doubt, and Frost/Nixon will be more of acting showcases then of best picture nominees. But I do have a reason to my madness for my top five, and really I based most of my top five off of recent Oscar trends, as well as the recent trailers and reviews that have come out for these movies. But here is how I rank them for now.

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1. Revolutionary Road - With the new International trailer out, this movie looks phenomenal. This movie is the adaptation of Richard Yates well-known book, and I'm sure many Academy voters have read this book since it came out back in 1961, and maybe some can relate to it as well. The movie takes place in 1955 and focuses on Frank and April Wheeler (DiCaprio and Winslet), who move into suburban Connecticut and realize that they are different from their neighbors and they don't want to fall into the cliches of the typical, boring, everything the same suburban life. I will admit that I am in the middle of reading Richard Yates's book, and so far I have to say, it is a tough book to adapt to the screen, but after seeing the trailer and knowing that Sam Mendes is in charge, I think it will turn out great. I am so glad to see Leo and Kate reunite again after Titanic, which leads me to my number two selection...



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2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - This will be the "big-budget film" nominee, and think of this like Titanic, which is ironic because it will be going up against Revolutionary Road, which stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. But anyways, first of all, the trailer is major eye candy, and Brad Pitt looks great in this film. With a budget of $150 million, TCCOBB is based off of the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald which follows a man who was born in his 80's and ages backwards. TCCOBB is the tale of this man and the people and places he discovers along the way. This will be one movie not to forget, and I'm sure the Oscars will have open arms for this film when it is released during Christmas time.



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3. Slumdog Millionaire - It was the little film that made a big impact lately at the festivals last month, and many critics naming it one of the top five best pictures that will be shown in the year. Fox Searchlight Pictures has acquired the rights for this film, and they have tended to do quite well with the Oscars in the past year with recent Best Picture nominees such as Sideways, Little Miss Sunshine, and Juno. But not only would I compare this movie to those Fox Searchlight royality films, I would also compare Slumdog to Letters From Iwo Jima. No, Slumdog is not a war movie, but like Letters, most of the movie is not in the English language, though it's director speaks English. For Letters, Clint Eastwood was the director and it was mostly in Japanese, and for Slumdog, Danny Boyle is the director and a lot of the movie is in Hindi. So Slumdog may be the "foreign language nominee" of the year, but it also may be that film that everyone loves nominee, just like how Fox Searchlight's past best picture nominees were.



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4. Changeling - With the recent mixed reviews on this film in the past weeks, I've moved Changeling down to number 4 and have kept it in my top five mainly because it is a Clint Eastwood film and it stars Angelina Jolie. I would like to think of this film as Atonement from last year - you either loved it or you hated it, but the Academy was going to nominate it regardless. And so far with Changeling, you either love this film or you don't love this film, but simply, the Oscars love Clint and Angelina will bring in viewers (and Angelina going head to head with Brad, it's just what the Oscars need if they want to their viewership to go up, because they really need it up, and this is the year to do it!), so I think we will see this nominated "regardless."



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5. Rachel Getting Married - Call me crazy, I know, but I think this will be the "indie comedy" that gets nominated this year. Yes, unlike Slumdog Millionaire, and past "indie comedy" nominees, it is not from Fox Searchlight, it is from Sony Picture Classics though. And with the recent success of this film with both critics and box office alike, this film should really be considered much higher when it comes to predicting the nominees for Best Picture. Last week in it's opening weekend, RGM scored an outstanding $32,597 per theater, and it was only in 9 theaters last weekend. Unbelievable! Anne Hathaway has a brand new image in Hollywood from this movie and she is now being considered a "lock" for her amazing performance as Kym, the sister from hell who arrives at her sister's wedding after being released from rehab. The movie also comes from Jonathan Demme, who is very well known among voters considering he won for Best Director for The Silence of the Lambs, and maybe the Oscars will want to nominate this film because of how different this film is from all the other films that have premiered this year.



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So there you have it, my reasoning to my madness. Soon, I will have my analysis for my Acting nominee predictions, as well as Writing and Directing.

TV Roundup - Life On Mars, Kath & Kim, Crash, and The Starter Wife

Yes, I will mostly write about movies, but here and there I will try and write some tv (which I have done already).

Life On Mars

Wow, what a great pilot episode! Jason O'Mara will be big one day! I was blown away by this pilot! This pilot has been one of the strongest pilots I've seen in a while (drama wise...). This might just be the best new drama series since Mad Men, and it definetly has that nostalgic tone like Mad Men.

And also, what a great supporting cast. Harvey Keitel was a knock-out in his role as the boss of the precinct in 1973. I would not be surprised if he wins the Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series next year. This is a perfect tape for him (unless he has a better tape soon that will top this one...) that could give him the gold. Plus, it doesn't hurt to be a familiar name as well... (It recently worked for Dianne Wiest...).

Gretchen Mol was delightful as the lone female dectective in the department. She adds a very nice flavor to the show. And Michael Imperoli was solid in this episode. I think the writers will give him better material to work with later on in the series.

And of course Jason O'Mara, who will be one helluva breakout star in the next couple of years (James Bond anybody?). This guy is a phenomenal actor. I remember him from Men In Trees (when it was a fairly good show at one time...) and The Closer, and I am so glad that he finally has a lead role. I would like to call him the Jon Hamm of the year!

The scene when Sam (O'Mara) first saw the twin towers was very powerful. And then I had a few laughs when Sam was wondering where his cell was, the the guy responds "you want to sell what?" And of course, the writing for this show was so top-notch. I can't wait until next week's episode!

And also, it was nice to see Phyllis Somerville in a nice short role! I hope she will come back later on in the show! Also, did anyone think that that one detective in the 2008 scenes looked and seemed like Morgan Freeman? I literally had to do a double-take! But overall, what an amazing show! ABC has me coming back craving for more! ABC has another hot show on their hands! I really hope that this show doesn't get screwed up down the long road because this show is amazing. Now I am really curious to see the original pilot with the different cast as well as the British version!

Kath & Kim

I gotta say, I had higher expectations for this show. The commercials looked funny, but it was really only those scenes in the commercials that were funny in the entire episode, and after seeing it like a million times on tv, they weren't that funny anymore. I love Molly Shannon and Selma Blair had her moments, but the writing wasn't that great. It was subpar. Kath & Kim really needs to step it up writing wise if they want to stay on that NBC Thursday Night Comedy Block, because if K&K continues to be "kinda" funny week after week, then it's not going to make it, but I do see potential, and right now the only thing keeping this show on its feet are its stars, Molly Shannon and Selma Blair. They are great as their characters, but they unfortunately have to work with not so great writing. I really hope it gets better because I would love to see Molly Shannon get recognized for this, but the writing has to be there, and its not right now... I will watch again next week, or should I say I will tivo it next week and watch whenever I have any free time at all, and maybe I am making too quick of an assumption, but maybe the second episode will be better. Who knows?

Crash

I kinda wish this was better, but really, this is an ensemble show, so it really to be expected... The true standout in this show though was Dennis Hopper, as he plays Ben Cenders, the freaky, "off-the-wall" jerk of a music producer who has been around a while. You immediately want to hate Ben (Hopper), especially in his first scene. Ben is simply the biggest jerk anyone would ever meet, and some, no most of his decisions are very shocking (may I mention threatening someone while holding a knife to their throat). But still, Hopper makes his character Ben what he is, and this is why Dennis Hopper is such a great actor! Other than Hopper, there really isn't any big name actors in this show, but two other actors really stood out in this show, and they were Jocko Sims (who is great in his scenes with Hopper) and Moran Atias (who stood out in her scenes when her storyline wasn't that great). The first two episodes are online on Starz's website, which is how I viewed them, but I only got a chance to see the first episode. The show definetly has potential, but it is starting out low so far, and apparently the second episode is worse than the first. But nonetheless, there are some money shots in this show, and really the only interesting storyline to follow in this show is the storyline of Ben (Hopper) and Anthony (Sims). The second interesting storyline would be the interesting relationship between the irresponsible and immature police officer Kenny (Ross McCall) and the woman he irresponsibly crashed into and arrested, Inez (Atias), who is truly a standout in her role. Though the storyline is, well, dumb, and could be played out better, Moran Atias makes this storyline interesting and steals the spotlight from McCall, who really should be replaced by another actor, but too late now... All the other storylines in the show, like the former gang-member turned EMT who unwillingly gets dragged back into the gang life from which wants to get as far away as possible from to the high-class, trophy-wife who has to fake a smile to the public while her life is crumbling away, it's really not that interesting. Definetly watch the first episode to see if this show is your cup of tea, but really, the only reason to watch this show week after week would be for Dennis Hopper and Jocko Sims (and Moran Atias).

The Starter Wife

I have to say, the miniseries was better, but there is a ton of potential for this show. Debra Messing is great as always and Judy Davis is still a riot! The show really goes deep in to the high-class society of Hollywood, and the pressure to keep up appearances. Molly (Messing) is trying to find out what she wants to do with the rest of her life, and writing seems to be her answer so far, but after the flop of her children's book, it is her gossip-y journal that may be the one that makes her big, but it gets stolen, and instead a blogger posts some juicy secrets that Molly wrote down in her journal and are released on a Perez Hilton-like blog. Also, her ex-husband, which by the way I don't get why they completely recasted him for the series, is not doing so well, as he gambles on very stupid decisions, like investing all of his money on a terrible movie and selling his house, and he still thinks that he is a better parent than Molly, though he is clearly not. And then Judy Davis's character, Joan McAllister, is going through a rough time with her trying to stay sober and then her marriage, which isn't what it used to be. Judy Davis is such a wonderful actress, and she really takes this show to a whole other level. She won rightfully won the Emmy last year when The Starter Wife was a miniseries, and she deserves to be nominated again. The Starter Wife "The Series" wasn't terrible, but it could have been better, and I wish they kept most of the same elements in the show from the miniseries, like Molly's original ex-husband, or actually, this is really stupid, but Joan's house. I remember it being on the beach and it was actually a really cool house, but now they have her living in a more conventional, high-class house. Oh well... But also, I like those movie-recreation scenes. It is something different, but also it shows how Molly really was living in a fantasy world before and she is now getting a taste of reality while still living in the "dream world."

Debra Messing says "Say Please"

David Letterman's reaction is hilarious!

Once you see this, this will be your obsession of the week too!

The Tidbits For The Day... It's Yom Kippur!

-Yes everyone, it's Yom Kippur, which means that I have to fast all day tomorrow... but to make up for it, I get to eat like crazy tomorrow night! I've already made a great Apple Brown Betty! But enough talking about food, I might get hungry...

*And now on to some tidbits:



-Can Josh Brolin get a nomination for W.? Oliver Stone's controversial film comes out next week, but early reviews say that Josh Brolin is deserving for an Oscar nomination for playing the one, the only Dubya. And it's chances are starting to look good! Just the other night, the W. premiere was star studded, as pointed out by Pete Hammond (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/season/2008/10/how-w-plans-to.html), with such stars as Bill Maher, Paul Haggis, Al Pacino, Martin Sheen, Diane Lane, Maria Bello, Jodie Foster, Jonah Hill, James Brolin, and Barbara Streisand all there. And even Academy prez himself Sid Ganis was there as well. Is that a sign of things to come considering it was a "near-unanimous thumbs up" at the premiere as well?



-Entertainment Weekly is "Recall[ing] the Gold!" This past week, EW sent out ballots to 7,000 film industry professionals and insiders, many of whom are Academy members themselves, asking them to "re-vote" years later to see if in fact the winners have held up over the years. But it gets even better, every Tuesday and Thursday until the end of the year, anyone can vote online from one year's race and see, if out of the five nominees, if the same winner would be picked today just like years ago. And when "Recall the Gold" is over, EW will tally all the results of both the readers of EW and and the 7,000 industry pros and insiders. Pretty cool EW, I just wonder what the Academy will think of it?

-Lately, I don't think you can go one day in life now without hearing the name Sarah Palin at least five times a day, and Tina Fey thrown in there at least one or two times in that five! Well, my friend recently sent me an article on how Palin and politics made TV better, and it's actually very interesting - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=24&entry_id=31111.

-And still on the topic of Sarah Palin, the guys over at The TV Zone had some fun with wondering what would happen if Sarah Palin came face to face with "Sarah Palin"... - http://weblogs.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/blog/2008/10/snl_fake_palin_to_meet_real_pa.html


-Life On Mars is premiering tomorrow, and ABC is promoting the hell out of this show, and for example, ABC and the NY Daily News have teamed up to create this (it's actually pretty cool) - http://www.nydailynews.com/news/1973/



-And last but not least, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GOOGLE! The company said it actually wants only 5 presents - the top 5 world-changing ideas submitted to the Project 10^100. In a statement, the company said it was "asking our users to send us exciting ideas for ways to improve people's lives," adding that it has "committed $10 million to turn up to five of the best ideas into reality." The company said that an idea could use technology or not, could be big or small, but it must have an impact. The 100 best ideas will then be identified, and users will be asked to vote on which ideas the company should back with funds.

An Even Better Trailer For Revolutionary Road!

Hey Guys, sorry I haven't been able to post in a while. I swear, this is the most hectic time of my life right now, but anyways there is a new trailer for Revolutionary Road... and it's even better than the original!

Though this trailer for the first part is narrated in Swedish, the rest is all in English, and it is so much better! This trailer even shows a little bit of Kathy Bates. I couldn't find the "embed" link, but here is the site in which you can view it! - http://www.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/noje/article3481785.ab

I am so excited for this movie now!

EDIT: Here is the trailer without the Swedish narration.

BREAKING NEWS: SARAH PALIN MAY SPOOF TINA FEY ON SNL!

From The Chicago Sun-Times:

Take that, Tina: Palin wants to spoof her spoofer

October 5, 2008
BY BILL ZWECKER Sun-Times Columnist

It's looking more and more likely that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will appear on ''Saturday Night Live'' -- to have some fun with Tina Fey.

As the comedian's impressions of the GOP vice presidential candidate draw laughs from Republicans and Democrats alike, a top honcho from the John McCain campaign tells me there's a debate going on about how to respond.

Some key McCain staffers are content with Palin joking about the "SNL" routines on the campaign trail -- as when scribbled "I'm not Tina Fey" on a supporter's cell phone and said she'd dressed as Fey on Halloween. But others -- including the governor herself -- think a return punch on the NBC airwaves is what's needed.

I'm hearing some sort of Palin tweak of Fey's American Express commercials is in the works.

While next weekend's ''Saturday Night Live'' will be a rerun, it is possible Palin could appear Thursday on the first of NBC's ''Weekend Update'' specials in prime time.

Otherwise, the next orginal 'SNL'' show will be broadcast Oct. 18, a little more than two weeks before the election.

http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/zwecker/1203739,CST-FTR-fey05.article

The Oscarologist's OSCAR® Nominee Predictions For October!

Here are my nominee predictions for October:

Best Picture

Changeling
Rachel Getting Married
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

Next In Line: Doubt, Frost/Nixon

Best Actor In A Leading Role

Leonardo DiCaprio, Revolutionary Road
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

Next In Line: Josh Brolin, W., Benicio Del Toro, Che, Michael Fassbender, Hunger

Best Actress In A Leading Role

Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Sally Hawkins, Happy Go Lucky
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road

Next In Line: Kristin Scott Thomas, I’ve Loved You So Long, Shohreh Aghdashloo, The Stoning of Soraya M.

Best Actor In A Supporting Role

Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey Jr., The Soloist
James Franco, Milk
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Kodi-Smit McPhee, The Road

Next In Line: Peter O’Toole, Dean Spanley

Best Actress In A Supporting Role

Amy Adams, Doubt
Elizabeth Banks, W.
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Rosemarie DeWitt, Rachel Getting Married
Kate Winslet, The Reader

Next In Line: Viola Davis, Doubt, Hiam Abbass, The Visitor, Frances McDormand, Burn After Reading

Best Director

Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Clint Eastwood, Changeling
David Fincher, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Baz Luhrmann, Australia
Sam Mendes, Revolutionary Road

Next In Line: Jonathan Demme, Rachel Getting Married, Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon

Best Original Screenplay

Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, New York
Mike Leigh, Happy Go Lucky
Jenny Lumet, Rachel Getting Married
Thomas McCarthy, The Visitor
J. Michael Straczynski, Changeling

Best Adapted Screenplay

Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
David Hare, The Reader
Justin Haythe, Revolutionary Road
Joe Penhall, The Road
Eric Roth, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

Best Animated Feature

Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E
Waltz With Bashir

Best Foreign-Language Film (top 9 short-list)

The Baader Meinhof Complex, Germany
The Class (Entre Les Murs), France
Dream Weaver: Beijing 2008, China
Everlasting Moments, Sweden
Gomorra, Italy
Revanche, Austria
Stars On Earth, India
Three Monkeys, Turkey
Waltz With Bashir, Israel

Best Documentary Film

I.O.U.S.A.
Man On Wire
Religulous
Roman Polanski: Wanted & Desired
Stealing America: Vote By Vote

Best Original Song

“All Dressed In Love,” Sex And The City: The Movie
“Down To Earth,” Wall-E
“Rock Me Sexy Jesus,” Hamlet 2
“The Story,” My Blueberry Nights
“The Wrestler,” The Wrestler

Best Art Direction

Catherine Martin, Australia
Gary Fettis & James J. Murakami, Changeling
Donald Graham Burt & Victor J. Zolfo, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Debra Schutt & Kristi Zea, Revolutionary Road
Mark Friedberg & Adam Stockhausen, Synecdoche, New York

Best Cinematography

Javier Aguirresarobe, The Road
Roger Deakins, Revolutionary Road
Claudio Miranda, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Declan Quinn, Rachel Getting Married
Mandy Walker, Australia

Best Costume Design

Patricia Field, Sex And The City: The Movie
Eiko Ishioka, The Fall
Michael O’Conner, The Duchess
Jacqueline West, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Albert Wolsky, Revolutionary Road

Best Film Editing

Tariq Anwar, Revolutionary Road
Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Chris Dickens, Slumdog Millionaire
Pietro Scalia, Body Of Lies
Lee Smith, The Dark Knight

Best Makeup

Kate Biscoe, Iraina Crenshaw, Heather Plott, Mitchell Stone, & Jay Wejebe, Tropic Thunder
Carla Brenholtz, Stacey Herbert, Elaine L. Offers, & Ghislaine Sani, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
John Caglione Jr., Linda Rizzuto, Sue Robb-King, & Vicki Vacca, The Dark Knight

Best Original Score

Donald Harrison Jr. & Zafer Tawil, Rachel Getting Married
David Hirschfelder, Australia
Thomas Newman, Revolutionary Road
A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire
John Williams, Indiana Jones And The Crystal Skull

Best Sound Editing

Australia
The Dark Knight
Indiana Jones And The Crystal Skull
Iron Man
Quantum Of Solace

Best Sound Mixing

Australia
The Dark Knight
Indiana Jones And The Crystal Skull
Iron Man
Wall-E

Best Visual Effects

Hanc*ck
Iron Man
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

TALLY OF THE NOMINATIONS:

Revolutionary Road – 10 nominations
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – 10 nominations
Australia – 6 nominations
Rachel Getting Married – 6 nominations
Changeling – 5 nominations
Slumdog Millionaire – 5 nominations
The Dark Knight – 5 nominations
Indiana Jones And The Crystal Skull – 3 nominations
Iron Man – 3 nominations
Milk – 3 nominations
The Road – 3 nominations
Doubt – 2 nominations
The Visitor – 2 nominations
Happy Go Lucky – 2 nominations
Sex And The City: The Movie – 2 nominations
Synecdoche, New York – 2 nominations
The Reader – 2 nominations
Wall-E – 2 nominations
Body of Lies – 1 nomination
Frost/Nixon – 1 nomination
Hamlet 2 – 1 nomination
Hanc*ck – 1 nomination
Kung Fu Panda – 1 nomination
My Blueberry Nights – 1 nomination
Quantum of Solace – 1 nomination
The Duchess – 1 nomination
The Fall – 1 nomination
The Soloist – 1 nomination
The Wrestler – 1 nomination
Tropic Thunder – 1 nomination
Vicky Cristina Barcelona – 1 nomination
W. – 1 nomination
Waltz With Bashir – 1 nomination (2 nominations including Foreign Film)

*My explanations for my predictions will come later, so stay tuned!*