Amazing nature video shown at TEDTalks via YouTube. Absolutely stunning!
Friday, January 27, 2012
Paul Feig's 'Bridesmaids' Tweet
I had sent him a good luck tweet on Monday night, hoping that an Oscar nomination would come through for 'Bridesmaids' and although the movie was not nominated, Melissa McCarthy received a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her role in 'Bridesmaids' as well as Kristin Wiig, who was the star and screenplay writer, received a nomination for Original Screenplay.
'Bridesmaids' was by far the funniest movie I saw in 2011 and absolutely adored it. Here is the tweet from me and the response I received from him. A really nice gesture, very gracious and classy, especially as Paul (@paulfeig) has over 1 million twitter followers.
84th Academy Awards Nominations
Here are my favourites this year, I have only listed those who I wish to have win in the major categories:
Best Picture
'The Artist'
Best Actor
Gary Oldman
'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'
Best Supporting Actor
Christopher Plummer
'Beginners'
Best Actress
Michelle Williams
'My Week With Marilyn'
Best Supporting Actress
Melissa McCarthy
'Bridesmaids'
Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius
'The Artist'
Best Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki
'The Tree of Life'
Best Animated
Feature
'Puss in Boots'
Original Score
Ludovic Bource
'The Artist'
Adapted Screenplay
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon
and Jim Rash
'The Descendants'
Original Screenplay
Michel Hazanavicius
'The Artist'
Tune in on Sunday, February 26 to see who will take home this year's Oscar gold.
Friday, December 30, 2011
"The Artist" My Favourite Movie of 2011
To say more of the plot, etc. would give too much away. I encourage everyone to go see this movie, if you enjoy(ed) the romance and charm of a movie era long gone, you will love this movie. I will definitely see this movie again.
In British Columbia, the movie it is rated G, however, I would not recommend it to children under 10.
The movie is being distributed by The Weinstein Company and Alliance in Canada and I have heard that Harvey Weinstein supported this small film from the beginning, his brother Bob was a bit more reserved and actually told Harvey that he was out of his mind for marketing a silent, black and white film in the current movie environment. I am so glad that Harvey didn't listen to his brother. Hopefully, this film will win many awards, it would be the first time since 1928 ('Wings') that a silent film has won Best Picture.
Check out the trailer.
An interview with Jean Dujardin.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
What's Up With All the Remakes Lately?!
'Death Originality Takes a Holiday'...the latest 'trend' in Hollywood is remaking films, currently the focus is skewed towards movies from the 1980s and the 1990s. Although it would seem a relatively new development, remakes have been around since Hollywood first entered the movie business. For a full listing, click here. Case in point, 'Death Takes a Holiday' was remade as 'Meet Joe Black' with Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins.
So why the outcry from moviegoers, critics, et al (including myself)? I believe that it is generational and the nostalgia connected to a certain movie. Personaly, when I heard that 'Dirty Dancing' was being remade, I could not believe it. Admittedly, it's not quite a masterpiece and I understand that some may not have seen the original 1987 movie, but why does it have to be remade at all? If you want to see it, just pop in the DVD or view it online.
Hollywood is in the movie-making business, key word here is 'business'. These days when movie-going audiences are dwindling; Hollywood makes more money on releasing its product on DVD and other digital formats then from the actual theatrical release. Hollywood is well aware of this, the movie 'Trespass' starring Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman was released in the theatre as well as being available for download at the same time.
Turning to projects that were successful years ago, may take the guesswork out of trying to match up the movie to the audience, however, given that the latest remakes 'Straw Dogs' and 'Footloose' did not fare all that well at the box office, may give Hollywood some food for thought. More support for original projects such as '(500) Days of Summer', 'One Day', 'Like Crazy' and 'Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist', would be a step in the right creative direction.
So why the outcry from moviegoers, critics, et al (including myself)? I believe that it is generational and the nostalgia connected to a certain movie. Personaly, when I heard that 'Dirty Dancing' was being remade, I could not believe it. Admittedly, it's not quite a masterpiece and I understand that some may not have seen the original 1987 movie, but why does it have to be remade at all? If you want to see it, just pop in the DVD or view it online.
Hollywood is in the movie-making business, key word here is 'business'. These days when movie-going audiences are dwindling; Hollywood makes more money on releasing its product on DVD and other digital formats then from the actual theatrical release. Hollywood is well aware of this, the movie 'Trespass' starring Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman was released in the theatre as well as being available for download at the same time.
Turning to projects that were successful years ago, may take the guesswork out of trying to match up the movie to the audience, however, given that the latest remakes 'Straw Dogs' and 'Footloose' did not fare all that well at the box office, may give Hollywood some food for thought. More support for original projects such as '(500) Days of Summer', 'One Day', 'Like Crazy' and 'Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist', would be a step in the right creative direction.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
New York Musings
One month ago, I was in New York and it feels as though a year has gone by. A lot can happen in a month, and so it has - mostly on the work front. To cheer myself up, am thinking back to the action-packed four days we spent in the Big Apple.
The first day we arrived, we did some site-seeing in the immediate neighbourhood (37th street west, between 5th and 6th Avenues). We were immediately struck by the sheer volume of people on the sidewalks, something we only see if we go to Robson Street in downtown Vancouver and that seems rather tame now.
Our first outing was to Rockefeller Plaza (or as it is called '30 Rock'). We did a quick tour of the NBC store and then got our tickets and wristband to attend a live taping of the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show. The guests for that night were Anna Faris and Michael Emerson with musical guests MGMT (Pink Floyd tribute week). It was a great experience, the show is taped fairly close to real-time, no retakes - started at 5:30pm and was over by 6:45pm. Jimmy Fallon is a gracious person, he is very down-to-earth - quite tall and very cute :)
We walked a lot! Probably, more than what we should have done and found out why the locals take the subway or other forms of transportation. However, our exploration gave us a great introduction to New York and we saw many sites that otherwise we may have missed.
We also took part in the 'Sex and the City' tour, which was great fun! So many people from all over the world, it makes you realize how small the world really is. It was neat to see some of the restaurants, stores, etc. where the show had filmed some of the iconic episodes.
Of course, a trip to NYC is not complete without taking in a Broadway show, we saw 'Wicked' at the Gershwin Theatre. Having seen this show in Vancouver in June, it was thrilling to see it where it all started and to be able to share it with my friend who was seeing it for the first time. The production was grand and did not disappoint.
All to soon, our trip was winding down and we spent our last day having lunch at Serendipity 3, the restaurant featured in the movies 'Serendipity' and 'One Fine Day'. We actually sat at the 'One Fine Day' table :) We also observed two, what appeared at first to be secret agents, they turned out to be bodyguards. They ushered in a distinguished-looking family who were seated across from us. My curiosity was just too great not to ask the waiter as to who they were...he smiled and asked "have you heard of a small sports team called the New York Yankees?", duh yes. He continued "they are the Steinbrenner family (the owners)." A brush with local celebrities, quite cool.
Later that night, we had dinner at a local Italian restaurant, where we saw the actress Rutina Wesley (Tara from True Blood) at supper! Very exciting. She was with friends and didn't make eye-contact so I did not approach her, ever the polite Canadian.
I really miss the bagels, so so good. Never knew that bagels were to be fluffy and light. Really hoping that an Au Bon Pain will open up in Vancouver. It became our go-to place in New York, all the food tasted amazing whether it was a simple meal or a more formal dinner - it all tasted great. New York was a lot of fun, I highly recommend it. It is true what they say, there is no other city quite like it.
The first day we arrived, we did some site-seeing in the immediate neighbourhood (37th street west, between 5th and 6th Avenues). We were immediately struck by the sheer volume of people on the sidewalks, something we only see if we go to Robson Street in downtown Vancouver and that seems rather tame now.
Our first outing was to Rockefeller Plaza (or as it is called '30 Rock'). We did a quick tour of the NBC store and then got our tickets and wristband to attend a live taping of the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show. The guests for that night were Anna Faris and Michael Emerson with musical guests MGMT (Pink Floyd tribute week). It was a great experience, the show is taped fairly close to real-time, no retakes - started at 5:30pm and was over by 6:45pm. Jimmy Fallon is a gracious person, he is very down-to-earth - quite tall and very cute :)
We walked a lot! Probably, more than what we should have done and found out why the locals take the subway or other forms of transportation. However, our exploration gave us a great introduction to New York and we saw many sites that otherwise we may have missed.
We also took part in the 'Sex and the City' tour, which was great fun! So many people from all over the world, it makes you realize how small the world really is. It was neat to see some of the restaurants, stores, etc. where the show had filmed some of the iconic episodes.
Of course, a trip to NYC is not complete without taking in a Broadway show, we saw 'Wicked' at the Gershwin Theatre. Having seen this show in Vancouver in June, it was thrilling to see it where it all started and to be able to share it with my friend who was seeing it for the first time. The production was grand and did not disappoint.
All to soon, our trip was winding down and we spent our last day having lunch at Serendipity 3, the restaurant featured in the movies 'Serendipity' and 'One Fine Day'. We actually sat at the 'One Fine Day' table :) We also observed two, what appeared at first to be secret agents, they turned out to be bodyguards. They ushered in a distinguished-looking family who were seated across from us. My curiosity was just too great not to ask the waiter as to who they were...he smiled and asked "have you heard of a small sports team called the New York Yankees?", duh yes. He continued "they are the Steinbrenner family (the owners)." A brush with local celebrities, quite cool.
Later that night, we had dinner at a local Italian restaurant, where we saw the actress Rutina Wesley (Tara from True Blood) at supper! Very exciting. She was with friends and didn't make eye-contact so I did not approach her, ever the polite Canadian.
I really miss the bagels, so so good. Never knew that bagels were to be fluffy and light. Really hoping that an Au Bon Pain will open up in Vancouver. It became our go-to place in New York, all the food tasted amazing whether it was a simple meal or a more formal dinner - it all tasted great. New York was a lot of fun, I highly recommend it. It is true what they say, there is no other city quite like it.
Friday, October 7, 2011
NYC
 |
| Mid-town Manhattan from La Guardia Airport |
We started off with an ambitious itinerary, which was scaled down considerably as people told us it would be impossible to squeeze that much into 4 days. True enough. I think we did manage to do everything we had on the final itinerary except for maybe a couple of things.
There are many stand-out moments, it is difficult to choose just one, so in no particular order here are some of my favourite New York moments:
- Seeing New York as we landed, a bit surreal.
- My friend opening the drapes of our hotel room and seeing the Empire State Building (our neighbour).
 |
| Taken from hotel room-no zoom required :) |
- Seeing many of the buildings that have become iconic as featured on television and feature films.
 |
| 30 Rockefeller Plaza aka 30 Rock |
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| The new One World Trade Centre tower and complex. Will be 104 stories tall. |
The Bow Bridge in Central Park
There are just so many things to see and do in New York, we didn't even scratch the surface. It was a great first visit and look forward to another visit where we can explore even more sights and sounds of this world-class city!
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