Directors Guild of America Awards

Last night the Directors Guild Awards (DGA) were handed out in Hollywood - and I'm so happy to report that Kathryn Bigelow received the Best Director nod for 'The Hurt Locker'. She is the first woman ever to win the DGA!

I followed along on twitter and it was so neat to see the following first-hand accounts of the moment the winner was announced:

via @ebertchicago: "Bigelow wins, room erupts."
Kathryn said "This is the most incredible moment of my life!"

58 times in the last 60 years the DGA winner has gone on to win the Academy Award. Keeping my fingers crossed that Kathryn will also win the Academy Award, she deserves it.

Other nominees were James Cameron (Avatar) and her ex-husband, Jason Reitman (Up in the Air), Lee Daniels (Precious) and Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds).

Roger Ebert said that "Hard to recall a more popular DGA winner than Kathryn Bigelow. James Cameron was really happy and not just pretending."

Congratulations Kathryn on this well-deserved win and achievement in raising the profile of female directors.

Roger Ebert's Oscar Nomination Predictions

On Tuesday, February 2 the Oscar nominations will be read. Roger Ebert has just posted his picks/predictions and why reinvent the wheel when I concur with his choices.

We shall see what happens on Tuesday morning, I will be tuning in bright and early (5:30am PST).

Time Lapse of Vancouver

Vancouver will welcome the world in two weeks for the 21st Olympic Winter Games. This is a great video, lovely song.

Meet the Vancouver 2010 Mascots

Screen Actors Guild Awards

I was going to write a rather scathing review of last week's Golden Globe show, however, others have said what I wish to say, so will leave it at that...Avatar over The Hurt Locker? Come on, really??? *end of rant*

Tonight the 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards air (in Canada on Global). The nominees are nearly a duplicate of the Golden Globe Awards, one important addition in the Best Actor category is Jeremy Renner of The Hurt Locker, you already know how I feel about that film - loved it, so tonight will be tough as he and Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart, one of my all-time favourite actors, go head-to-head in this category.

Someone mentioned after the Golden Globes last week, that the real indicator of who would/might win an Oscar is to watch the SAG Awards, the Directors Guild & Producers Guild Awards as the nominees and winners are selected by those directly involved in the industry. We shall see. I will only address motion pictures and my picks are indicated with an asterix.

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture:
An Education
The Hurt Locker *
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Precious

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role:
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart *(1st choice)
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker **(2nd choice)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role:
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious *
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role:
Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds *

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role:
Penelope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Diane Kruger, Inglourious Basterds
Mo'Nique, Precious *

Golden Globe Awards

The first major awards show will air on Sunday, January 17, the Golden Globes. In a previous post from December 27, 2009 I listed who I think should/will win.

I have now nearly seen all the nominees as I do every year, see as many movies, performances which are nominated. One cannot watch an awards show without being informed :-)

As the Golden Globes set the tone for the Oscars here are my win predictions, which I posted on December 27 http://dscully324.blogspot.com/2009/12/and-nominee-is.html We will see how accurate my predictions are on January 17.

KStew on Camels, Pies, Martha Stewart & RPattz

In November, most of late night television was abuzz with visits by The Twilight Saga-New Moon cast members. One of the funniest interviews was Kristen Stewart (KStew) on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on November 19, 2009. This was Kristen's last interview before the American Thanksgiving holiday and a well-earned vacation.

It would seem that Jimmy really likes Kristen and she was quite comfortable and relaxed. So much so that 3mins.10secs. into the interview she talks about a segment she taped on Martha Stewart's show about pies - Kristen bakes a mean pie - and after the cameras stopped rolling Martha tells Kristen she had a dream about Robert Pattinson (RPattz). Personally, after seeing this interview, I knew that 'Robsten' was on. And by-the-by, Kristen can throw a football like a pro.

The Eclipse Script Leak

On Tuesday, January 5, twitter was all abuzz in the Twi-universe about a purported leaked Eclipse script. For those not yet in the know, Eclipse is the third installment in the highly popular The Twilight Saga and will be released in theatres on June 30 this year.

Of course, I missed out on most of the excitement as I had been unable to access twitter until I got home in the evening. After some quality time with Google, managed to locate a copy and then spent a couple of hours perusing the 114 page manuscript.

Many blogs had 'spoiler' alerts, etc. what is there to spoil as those who are true Twi-hards have read the books at least twice (more like four times) and are quite familiar with the storyline. Melissa Rosenberg, the screenwriter, wrote the scripts forTwilight, New Moon and Eclipse (and hopefully Breaking Dawn) and has taken great care to stay true to the spirit of the books. So had to laugh at all the mystery surrounding 'spoilers' - the real spoiler would be if Victoria did not die at the end of Eclipse and came back to wreak havoc in Breaking Dawn.

Summit Entertainment is most likely not amused by this leak, if it was a leak - if you know what I mean - however, they should know by now that the Twi-fans will come in droves to see Eclipse on June 30 whether or not they read this second draft of the script dated July 14, 2009, which most likely was changed before filming started on August 17, 2009. Upon reviewing it myself, it seems authentic to me when compared to the book, twitter updates from cast members and David Slade, the director, plus some personal set-stalking observations.

Summit take heart, if you make it, we will come.

New Moon Parody by the Hillywood Show

What a way to start 2010, this morning the 'official' parody of New Moon by the Hillywood Show was released. It is very funny and actually filmed in LaPush and Forks, Washington. The truck used in the video is the official truck used in the movie, courtesy of Summit Entertainment. Enjoy!

The Hurt Locker

In a previous post, I mentioned writing an essay in university about how the Vietnam war was portrayed on film. If I were to write a paper on the Iraq-Afghanistan conflict, one of the movies highlighted would be 'The Hurt Locker'.

'The Hurt Locker' is this year's 'Slumdog Millionaire', a little movie about a big and complex topic. Initially, I did not want to see this movie - who needs to see a movie about war when we can turn on the television and watch the news coverage. If you have the opportunity go see this movie - it is great.

The film has been touted as a front-runner to win the Best Picture Golden Globe and perhaps an Academy Award. It has been winning a lot of the critic's choice awards in the past few weeks. Kathryn Bigelow, the director and producer, is part of a small and elite group of women directors in Hollywood, even more rare is a woman directing a movie about war.

The story in brief is "An intense portrayal of elite soldies who have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world: disarming bombs in the heat of combat. When a new sergeant, James, takes over a highly-trained bomb disposal team amidst violent conflict, he surprises his two subordinates, Sanborn & Eldridge, by recklessly plunging them into a deadly game of urban combat. James behaves as if he's indifferent to death. As the men struggle to control their wild new leader, the city explodes into chaos, and James' true character reveals itself in a way that will change each man forever." Written by BWR Public Relations.

Jeremy Renner plays Sergeant William (Will) James, a performance which walks a tightrope between brash, cowboy-like, hot-shot a bit like Jesse James yet also showing that although his methods deem to put his unit in danger, he shows himself to care for his fellow soldiers as well as attempting to connect with the native population. This is my favourite best actor performance of the year and the National Society of Film Critics awarded him, Kathryn and the movie respectively Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture earlier today.

The subject matter is difficult, some of the scenes are very graphic however it is well worth your time to observe the lives of those part of a bomb disposal unit in Iraq.

What You See Isn't Always What You Get

For videophiles or film geeks, this is a very interesting video by Stargate Studios to illustrate the magic of film making. Featured are samples of the use of 'green screen' or what is technically called ChromaKey. You may recognize clips of Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, 24, Ugly Betty and more...viewer alert, you may now start analyzing television programs and movies as to whether what we see is really what we get. It really is amazing what can be achieved with this technology.

Happy New Year!

Another year has ended, a new one has begun as we venture into a new decade - the teens. Hopefully these teen years will not be as frought with angst when we were teenagers. As with any new year, we are hopeful both for society that time be kind to us and that we may accomplish all that we wish to.

"May the dawning of this New Year, fill your heart with new hopes, open up new horizons and bring for you hopes of brighter tomorrows. May you have a great New Year!" Anonymous