Strange Culture

Reel People: Naomi Watts is Valerie Plame Wilson

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:54:00 +0000

The film is Fair Game, directed by Doug Liman and adapted from Valerie Plame Wilson's memoir Fair Game: How a Top CIA Agent Was Betrayed by Her Own Government.

Valerie Plame Wilson

Valerie Plame was born in Alaska at Elmendorf Air Force Base April 19, 1963. Her father as a lieutenant colonel in the US Air Force, and there family eventually ended up in Pennsylvania where Valerie not only graduated from high school, but also attended Pennsylvania State University in 1985 with a BA in advertising.

Plame was interested in joining the CIA, as was her boyfriend and husband Todd Sesler. Plame's marriage to Todd Sesler was short, and it is believed that Plame's interest in the CIA exceeded that of her husband.

After joining the CIA she studied in Europe where among earning two master's degrees by 1991, she was also speaking French, German and Greek.

Plame as undercover in the CIA using her real name worked in a counter-proliferation role, in Athens and then in Brussels at the front company Brewster Jennings & Associates.

In 1997, her role was being shifted to working at Langley in Virginia. During this time she met former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, and because she couldn't reveal her identity to her husband early on and instead claimed to be energy trader based out of Brussels, Belgium. He was separated from his wife of 12 years, a French diplomat, and they began dating.

Plame did reveal her secret identity to Wilson and they got married to one another in 1998.

Wilson and Plame had twins, Trevor and Samantha in 2000. (Wilson had twins in his first marriage in 1975 as well).

Plame's work continued after giving birth traveling across Europe in a variety of top secret capacities, included managing spies and working to keep Iran and Iraq from getting nuclear weapons.

On July 14, 2003, Robert Novak named Valerie Plame in a column "Mission to Niger." This article effectively ended her career with the CIA.

It is believed that this information was provided to Novak as retribution for opinion articles that Joseph Wilson had written for the New York Times that claimed that George Bush misinterpreted information that led to the invasion of Iraq.

This became a giant investigation into the leak that led to Dick Chenney's chief of staff I. Lewis Libby, Dick Chenney's Chief of Staff which was taken to the court in United States v. Libby. The was convicted, but Bush commuted his sentence eliminating the jail time associated with his charge.

The Wilson's also filed a civil suit in 2007 against Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Richard Armitage and Libby. This case was dismissed despite appeals. But was further discussed by the House Oversite Committee, that confirmed that sharing this classified information of her identity with the CIA was prohibited.

After Plame's identity was revealed, Valerie, Joseph and their two children moved to Palisades in Washington D.C.

Fair Game

Much has been written and discussed about this situation, and of course, the intrigue associated with CIA operations always makes these stories interesting but complicated at the same time. All the same, Valerie's memoir serves as a good tool for story telling although there has been efforts and lawsuits to block certain information into the story.

This film stars Naomi Watts as Valerie and Sean Penn as her husband Joseph Wilson.

Will Naomi Watt's portrayal of this exposed member of the CIA earn her critical attention and even an Oscar nomination/win for portraying this Real (Reel) Person?

Real (Reel) People Win Oscars: 2010 Edition

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:56:00 +0000

When it comes to win an Academy Award, recent years have shown that not any bio-pic performance means a guaranteed nomination, but if you get nominated for your performance playing a real person, then there is a good chance you will win.

Of the past 10 years (20 Lead Actor/Actress winners), 12 of these winners have won for playing real life people. That's 60% of winners since 2000.

• In 2009 Sandra Bullock played a surprise hero as the Southern mother Leigh Ann Tuohy and won for Best Actress.
• In 2008 Sean Penn played controversial politician Harvey Milk and won the Oscar for Best Actor.
• In 2007 Marion Cotillard played French singer Ediath Piaf and won the Oscar for Best Actress.
• In 2006 Helen Mirren played Queen Elizabeth II and won the Oscar for Best Actress.
• In 2006 Forrest Whitaker played Ugandan dictator Idi Amin and won the Oscar for Best Actor
• In 2005 Reese Witherspoon played country music celeb June Carter and won the Oscar for Best Actress.
• In 2005 Philip Seymour Hoffman played author Truman Capote and won the Oscar for Best Actor.
• In 2004 Jamie Foxx played musician Ray Charles and won the Oscar for Best Actor.
• In 2003 Charlize Theron played prostitute/serial killer Aileen Wuornos and won the Best Actress oscar.
• In 2002 Adrien Brody played Jewish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman and won the Best Actor oscar.

• In 2002 Nicole Kidman played author Virginia Woolf and won the Best Actress oscar.
• In 2000 Julia Roberts plays the unlikely activist Erin Brokovich and won the Best Actress oscar.

The non-biopic winners: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), Kate Winslet (The Reader), Daniel Day Lewis (There Will Be Blood), Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby), Sean Penn (Mystic River), Denzel Washington (Training Day), Halle Berry (Monster's Ball), Russell Crowe (Gladiator).

I will add films to this list as the post go up, but a few performances previously discussed appear to be 2010 eligible.

2010 Real (Reel) People Performances:

• Reel People: Haley Joel Osment is Helmuth Hübener
• Reel People: Hilary Swank is Betty Anne Waters
• Reel People: Naomi Watts is Valerie Plame Wilson

See the 2009, 2008 and 2007 Real (Reel) People projects.

Kate & Sam

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:45:00 +0000

I like Kate Winslet. I like Sam Mendes. And despite the lack of "celeb gossip" you typically find here at StrangeCulture, I must say something. I'm sad to hear that E!Online is reporting that they have separated from one another, as reported by a mutual lawyer, Keith Schilling.

All the same, I'm not surprised.

I thought I would quote a thought I shared in January 2009 after Kate Winslet's speech when she won the globe for Revolutionary Road:

In Winslet's win for Revolutionary Road her praise for Leonardo DiCaprio seemed to far outshine her praise for her director-husband Sam Mendes. It honestly felt a little uncomfortable. Sorry Kate...you can't love Leo "with all your heart" and also love your husband with all your heart as well.
--RC of StrangeCulture: 10 Thoughts on 66th Golden Globes Ceremony

I feel a little guilty for writing that now that they are no longer together, but there is something to be said for the way you speak about your spouse in public that people can see through, and it's too bad that it didn't work for this very talented couple.

Weighing in on Health Care: Rationing & Increasing Health

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 02:53:00 +0000

The last thing the world really needs is one more person sharing their thoughts on health care.

America's health care reform effort, led primarily under the White House initiative of Barack Obama will certainly be the discussion of text book authors and college political science classes for ages.

Not just for the initiative and the results (whatever those may be) but because of the process, the successes, the failures, and the politics behind a health care bill that's page count grows by the month.

Yet for all the talk, the summits, and the discussion I continue to feel after well over a year of talk that the point of it all has been missed.

Health Care Rationing.

Whether we like the idea or not, health care is rationed. There is only so much health care that is available.

In some countries health care is rationed by money, if you have a lot of money you can get the health care you need, while the poor are without. In other places, government health care is provided, but certain services are excluded and only certain procedures are available to the general public, perhaps those deemed most medically accessory and involving life sustainability. And in other places, health care is rationed by systems that involve long waits in health clinics or on waiting lists to receive the prescribed services as available.

The fact of the matter is that health care like everything else is a limited resource, not a finite resource and the government wants to play a role in determining how health care will be divided out in a way that does not exclude people from the system simply due to market forces.

Of course, there in lies the debate. Most people are somewhere on the spectrum that would deny someone basic medical care because they have limited financial resources, but how does the system accommodate for this? What care should be provided to those who can't afford it, and how will it get paid for.

My thoughts, Increasing Health

Yet, here is were to me, the conversation has continued to get bogged down. When discussing policy (which is only part of the conversation, as so much of the conversation is about the process of passing the bill, rather than the policy that it will implement) the discussion focus on the what is distributed and how it will get paid for, operating under the mindset that health care is a fixed resource, not with the ability to increase or decrease.

Thinking economically, I wish that instead of just determining how to ration health that the conversation instead would focus more on how to increase health.

If there was more doctors, more medicine, more health care facilities, more nurses, more intellectual capital, then there would be more health, and the cost of health care could potentially decrease and be increasingly available so their would be a decreased need to ration and a decreased bottom line to cover the cost of insuring more people.

In my mind some of the key ways of increasing health would include making it more affordable for individuals to enter the medical field and to practice medicine. What if there were more scholarships at public universities that would allow people to get their degree in medicine to provide medicine in rural and economically depressed communities. If physicians didn't enter the field with thousands of dollars of medical debt they might be willing to work in less profitable fields for lower wages.

What if medical malpractice insurance was less expensive, and there was better caps on what doctors could be sued for? The cost of medicine would decrease dramatically.

Sure these are not final solutions, and there are aspects about the health debate that are messy but good conversations to have, but I think this component of the discussion is grossly ignored.

Instead of just looking to insurance companies, dollars and cents, who's covered, what's covered, and how's it covered, let's look beyond that. Let's look at how we can increase health, not just how we can divvy it out.

Clint, Cecile & Peter - Hereafter

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:28:00 +0000

When I look at the past 10 years and Clint Eastwood's has had a pretty robust catalogue of work...and because his past three films have made only limited impact on the award scene (and the social scene) part of feels like his name is less meaningful, as if he's working a film assembly spitting out movies left and right.

(Changeling, Gran Tarino & Invictus all had some success, but didn't seem to live up to expectations).

But I have to give the guy a break and there's something interesting to me about his next picture called Hereafter.

Part of it is Cecil.

Cecile de France is one of Eastwood's stars in his next film. I am curious in this role he's placed the Belgium actress in, because frankly, Eastwood's past films all seem heavily male, only Million Dollar Baby and Changeling had a female leads, and with award recognition for both of these leads, he might be underselling one of his skills.

So, what does it mean to see a female lead in Clint Eastwood's lens. This is no Space Cowboys, or film about classic cars, soccer players, cowboys, or modern day mobsters with baggage.

Rather Cecil de France plays a french television journalist who survives a natural disaster.

She's one of three main characters who story's collide in a Crash type format with a supernatural element. The other big name co-star is Matt Damon who plays the part of a psychic mechanic.

I'd be skeptical, but the film is written by one director who has demonstrated a true talent for telling stories, and recently seems equally as busy as Clint spitting out respectable projects like it's no big deal.

That screenwriter is Peter Morgan who has brought us recently The Last King of Scotland, The Queen, and Frost/Nixon (as well as the 2011 installment of James Bond)

Hereafter seems like a different project for Morgan (for starters it's not a biopic about English royalty, nor does it star Michael Sheen), and for that I'm excited.

Clint seems to have assembled an interesting crew and I'm interested see this trio particularly working together.

Now What? Best Actress Edition

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:47:00 +0000

So, the Oscar went to an American Sweatheart with a filmography that's recently tended towards romantic-comedy (Bullock), an Actress who probably is so sick of being in Oscar-contender films and probably after last night just wants to retire (Streep), a woman's career has blossomed with age but could be over exposed (Mirren), a fresh newcomer with big expectations (Mulligan), and a new comer who for various reasons might have a rough time finding another mainstream part (Sidibe).

So...who will we see again in 2010 films? And what direction are they going next.

Sandra Bullock isn't have a project change, she's currently attached some "more of the same" comedies including One of the Guys about a girl who throws off her male friends when she embraces her feminine side, a Christmas film called Jingle. And a romantic comedy called The Sprinkler Queen. Needless to say, she hasn't been signing up for The English Patient 2. Honestly, I think that's a good call in her current stardom and establishing a continued Bullock brand that people are interested in.

Meryl Streep's schedule seems light right now. Honestly, what role would she want at this point? I've read some that she will be in an Alexander Payne (Election, Sideways) film called Downsizing, but Payne has three other films in the works so I'm guessing Streep will have another film leap-frog this one, but she'll probably want to eat a couple tubs of Ben and Jerry's ice cream before she picks up another script.

Helen Mirren packs a schedule some films already in the can, including The Debt by Shakespeare in Love director John Madden, the story of a Nevada brothel directed by husband Taylor Hackford (Love Ranch), Julie Taymor's version of Shakespeare's The Tempest playing Prospero, voice work in Zack Snyders Legend of the Guardians, Bruce Willis vehicle Red, and an expected performance in Hungarian director Istvan Szabo's directoral adaptation of The Door. I read this saying that Helen Mirren will say yes to anything she can fit into her schedule by any director who any sort of name.

Carey Mulligan seems like she has a great chance to get some prime roles. She wll be in the film Brighton Rock with Helen Mirren, Oliver Stone's anticipated Wall Street sequel Money Never Sleeps (Mulligan will play Winnie Gekko). There's also the film I'm anticipating, Never Let Me Go based on the Kazuo Ishiguro novel. Were else Mulligan goes, we'll see, but I have a feeling we'll see her at another award show before long.

Gabourey Sidibe seems like a great girl, but I'm not sure how she fits in the Hollywood scene. She has gotten some type of role on Showtime's drama "The Big C" alongside with Oliver Platt and Laura Linney, but not sure on the size of the role. She also has a role in the film Yelling to the Sky by first time writer/director Victoria Mahoney.

The Oscar Ceremony in Brief

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:46:00 +0000

Enjoyable Oscar telecast, not too many surprises in the acting races, although a few categories kept us guessing, but as predicted when I made the above graphic back in January, the winners were clearly a consistent bunch this season.

As for what I'm sure people will talk about is the overwhelming love for The Hurt Locker. 6 Wins of their 9 nominations vs. it's perceived competitor, Avatar with 3 out of 9.

As for my predictions, this year I got 17 out of 24, and accepting the fact I will never guess the best foreign language category.

Hope you enjoyed the show, and I imagine many people will be watching The Hurt Locker this week if they hadn't caught it previously, as one of the lowest box-office performers of all 10 nominees. Fortunately it's out on DVD.

18 Films That Weren't: 2009 Films That Didn't Live Up To Expectations

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:25:00 +0000

This post is not about the lowest box office take, or the films with the worst critical response. Or even whether I like them or not.

Instead this is a ranking of the films that a year ago people were buzzing about for Oscar glory, and that will likely warrant hardly a peep at this year's ceremony.

This doesn't mean that they were bad films, but rather they didn't live up to their high expectations.

17 & 18. Greenzone/Shutter Island - These were two films I figured would come into play in at tomorrow's Oscar ceremony. Both film with respected director (Paul Greengrass & Martin Scorcese) with respectable cast. And yet...they were moved to early 2010.

16. The Young Victoria - I think everyone is waiting for Emily Blunt to have a breakout role and score herself an Oscar nomination. It seemed like playing the young queen in a biopic would be the winner. She previously fit in with "the crowd" of Tucci, Hatheway, & Streep in Devil Wears Prada and since then she's picked up little awards and accolades here, but never had the right role to take the prize. Despite critical prizes and satellite noms, she struck out for Oscar's art branches still gave it three nominees but Blunt wasn't in the picture. Nor were any of the other performers.

15. Away We Go - I was intrigued by this project and the cast. Sure John Krasinski and Maya Rudolf aren't, but Sam Mendes is. I appreciated his departure from a typically heavy handed suburban story, and yet this film wasn't.

14. (500) Days of Summer - How can this film get so much hot & cold love. You would have though early summer that this film was a shoe-in for the original screenplay nod. But was completely shut out at the Oscars. Not a single nod.

13. State of Play - After Michael Clayton came out, I was sure Tony Gilroy would be a name we'd have to reckon with and here again and again. But with two lackluster projects this year, Duplicity & State of Play, I feel like his name might disappear back into the world of ice skating sequels. State of Play was actually an alright film, but it's pretty sad when Rachel McAdams is the best performer in a film staring Russell Crowe, Helen Mirren, Ben Affleck, and Jeff Daniels.

12. The Soloist - Once it got bumped from the 2008 schedule, you knew there was concerns, but it still baffles me how Joe Wright, director of Pride & Prejudice and Atonement, could create a film with two hot actors, Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx and end up with a film without a single critical award. A biopic none the less. Wright should go back to the drawing board before he does his next project.

11. Bruno - Sacha Baron Cohen had love, love, and more love for 2007's Borat...but the opposite was true of this project. This film was on no-one's short list for another original screenplay nod, nor an actor nod. A complete strike out. Fine by me, but it seems like Cohen's Oscar love was a one time phenomonon.

10. Capitalism: A Love Story - Besides the fact it wasn't short listed in the documentary race, there was time when people though Michael Moore's documentary would jump into the top 10 of the year. But of all the films Moore has ever done this one seemed the least discussed, watched, and cared about.

9. Public Enemies - Michael Mann is one of this directors you always want to consider will show up at the Oscars, and that his films will have some punch that attracts people either to the characters, editing, sound, screenplay, or something. Yet, this film came and went and didn't even show up as a bleep on Oscar's radar.

8. Bright Star - Abbie Cornish, Abbie Cornish, Abbie Cornish. Well before this film came out it seemed like Abbie was a lock as the new young thing that was going to finally get her day of critical love and joy with awards raining from heaven. Yet Jane Champion's film's intrigue waned almost instantly as that release date came close and this film ended up just being one of those sideline costume nominees.

7. Invictus - The two leads in this bio-pic got nods (Matt Damon & Morgan Freeman) but neither are expected to win, and beyond that, people expected more. In the early days (let's call it Spring 2009) we would call this film "The Human Factor" and it was the film to beat. Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela seemed like the baitiest award performance of all, one that we've been waiting for since Mandela was to star in The Long Walk to Freedom. And this was Clint Eastwood and his powerhouse. Yet Clint Eastwood seems to be loosing his street-cred and this film couldn't even make a best picture nominee in a year with 10 nominations...something that was early in the season considered impossible.

6. Where The Wild Things Are - Spike Jonze won over hearts and minds with Being John Malkovich and Adaptation. Yet somehow despite huge advertising compaigns and hype this film this film polarized audiences, occasionally picked up critical support, and lost enthusiasm by fans quickly.

5. Creation - I was intrigued with the film about Charles Darwin's moral battles until everyone was talked about what a bore of a movie this was. I still might rent it and give it my own vote, but as for now it seems like a bomb of a film in the eyes of anyone I've heard talk about it.

4. Nine - Rob Marshall swept the awards with Chicago, and Daniel Day-Lewis seems like he's the Academy voter's secret crush, plus you have an award studded cast that plays off all the Oscar's favorite women like Dame Judi, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, and Sophia Loren. And yet...Cruz was the only actress who slipped in, and Rob Marshall's name is shown nowhere on the awards lineup, nor did the film even make the 10 nominee best picture line-up.

3. The Lovely Bones - Every actor in this category was tossed around as a potential nominee, and as an adaptation of best selling novel with some spiritual themes directed by Peter Jackson there was always the potential of a bust, but hopes were high a year ago. Saorise Ronan was tossed around as a potential nominee back in the time when everyone thought that the average age of the actress race this year would be in the teens/low-twenties with Meryl Streep pulling up the average (Ronan, Cornish, Sidibe, Mulligan and Streep). But in the end Stanley Tucci got the nod, and some even attribute that nod to his Julie & Julia work, so this film in some eyes only has half a nomination.

2. Amelia - Mira Nair's biopic of Amelia Earhart was an absolute strike out. You would think the world would love an Amelia film, but something about this didn't click with critics or audiences and ended up being one of the biggest surprise bust of the year in my opinion.

1. The Road - This film was hyped for awards in 2008, and then was moved to end of year 2009 and still was a bust. Adapting Pulitzer Prize winning fiction has it's challenges, and perhaps one of the most lauded books of the decade wasn't meant for adaptation, at least not like this. Great cast, and bleak sets couldn't push this film into the hearts and minds of anyone and didn't match any one's earliest expectations or excitement.

30th Anniversary of Coal Miner's Daughter

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 07:01:00 +0000

Released March 7, 1980 (30 years ago today) is one of my surprisingly favorite films. And certainly my favorite film o f the year 1980...the film is Coal Miner's Daughter directed by Michael Apted.

I say surprisingly a favorite, because prior to watching Coal Miner's Daughter, I knew nothing about Loretta Lynn whom the biopic is based, and because I feel like musician bios all seem the same...usually a surprise rise, a fall, and a settling somewhere in the middle.

Not to say that the Loretta Lynn story doesn't have those same characteristics, but I think the character of Loretta Lynn is different because there is this strange yin and yang of a weak submissive woman and a strong take on the world woman all wrapped up in one person. Not only that but Sissy Spacek captures this magic wonderfully, particularly playing a character over a variety of ages.

Sissy Spacek deserves her Oscar win for this role. And while this film was nominated for many other Academy Awards, I think retrospectively, it might have deserved some additional wins.

In addition to Spacek's tremendously captivating performance, I think Tommy Lee Jones makes this movie a success as well. His character is stressful, tense, and emotional. The way his character is written carries the same strength/weakness balance of Spacek's character and so he responds in just the dramatic way at every turn to make for an interesting story. One that is supporting, frustrating, and intense.

So while you have music in the story, you also have the story of a couple, both of them too young for what they are taking on and struggling as they change.

I'm glad I watched this film, and as it celebrates the 30th anniversary of it's release I say happy anniversary, I hope that people continue to watch this movie. I think it is a great film.

Imagining the Oscars: My Predictions

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 03:16:00 +0000

It's that time of year...and I have to put in my predictions...there's a lot of things I think are guaranteed...but I always feel so compelled to suggest a surprise...I don't know why. I feel like it could be an Avatar sweep, but I'm hoping the awards won't match the hype.

Picture: The Hurt Locker
Actor: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Actress: Sandra Bullock, The Blindside
Supporting Actor: Cristoph Walz, Inglourious Basterds
Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique, Precious
Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Original Screenplay: The Hurt Locker
Adapted Screenplay: Up in the Air
Cinematography: Avatar
Art Direction: Avatar
Costume Design: Coco Before Chanel
Editing: The Hurt Locker
Sound: Avatar
Sound Editing: Avatar
Visual Effects: Avatar
Make-up: Star Trek
Original Song: "The Weary Kind," Crazy Heart
Original Score: Up, Michael Giacchino
Animated Short Film: "Logorama"
Live Action Short Film: "Istallet for Abrakadabra"
Documentary Short Subject: "The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant"
Documentary Feature: The Cove
Foreign Film: A Prophet, France
Animated Feature Film: Up

Well see how these predictions pan out...some years those short film categories and foreign films kill me.

Ryan Bingham Meet Ryan Bingham

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 04:58:00 +0000

Two Ryan Bingham's will be at the Oscars this year.

1. Ryan Bingham the song-writer who worked with T-Bone Burnett on Crazy Heart, including the Academy Award nominated song "The Weary Kind" (who also acted in the film as well, you will recognize him as the band-for-hire that performs at the bowling alley at the beginning of the film, his character's name is Tony).

2. Ryan Bingham the character performed by George Clooney in the Oscar nominated performance for Up in the Air.

Kind of crazy coincidence if you ask me? I would hope they'd do a red carpet photo op, but kind of doubt it'll happen.

Current 2009 Box Office Rankings for the 10 Best Picture Films

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:22:00 +0000

I've talked some about how this year's box office hits aren't built around stars, and I've talked about the release schedule of the 10 best picture nominated films. I like to think about how business and the Oscar's mix...so with only a few days before the award ceremony I thought I would look at the current box office rankings and grosses for 2009 and see how these films rank in the 2009 film landscape.

10 Best Picture films current 2009 box office ranking based off US domestic gross.

1. Avatar ($709 million)

5. Up ($293 million)

8. The Blind Side ($249 million)

25. Inglourious Basterds ($120 million)

27. District 9 ($115 million)

38. Up in the Air ($82 million)

65. Precious: Based on the Novel Push By Sapphire ($47 million)

131. The Hurt Locker ($12 million)

135. An Education ($11 million)

150. A Single Man ($8 million)

I think having 5 of the 10 films above the $100 million mark definitely communicates that this year's award nominees are more accessible choices. Had their been 5, only 1 or 2 films would have been in that range and the awards would have seemed more elite.

The expansion of 10 films certainly seems to have made the awards more "accessible" although, it's hard to tell what that'll do for ratings. I was skeptical at first, but I think I'm happy with the change in having ten nominees.

I must admit, it's nice to see a wide range of films making the cut, and it's a pity that some of those at the bottom didn't get more attention in the theaters, but it's nice to see that they haven't been ignored in award season.

Parenthood Knee Jerk Thoughts

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 02:44:00 +0000

I usually avoid watching new TV shows, because I like to "test their longevity" and see if they continue to maintain interest because the worst experience is getting hooked on a show and continuing to watch it through it's downfall.

(I did this with Heroes. Yikes! The one good season hardly justified what followed.)

But I got sucked into the idea of watching the first episode of Parenthood for the following reasons.

If Ron Howard did Arrested Development, then I want to support his new work so it doesn't get canceled mid season with a 4 episode finale opposite the Winter Olympics (2006, so sad!).
My wife and I don't mind inviting Lauren Graham into our living room. Gilmore grew on me, so I want to give her a chance.
Every preview featured a different scene and many made me laugh.

So...we watched it.

Now, it's pretty clear that Ron Howard and Brian Grazer are not ashamed to borrower from the 1989 comedy, Parenthood they were involved in. In fact, the contrast between certain characters is pretty easy.

I know there was a 12 episode attempt to do a similar show in 1990 that flopped, but now is also noted for some of it's unfamous children stars, now famous...Thora Birch, David Arquette, and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Well see how this mid-season start up for NBC does.

Here's my knee jerk thoughts after watching the pilot...

Drama, Drama, Drama...and did you see the "next time on Parenthood" there's more drama, drama, drama.
It's like an alternate reality Gilmore Girls, as if, what if Lauren Graham had bad kids and was poor
Speaking of bad kids, Mae Whitman is totally impressing me. Forget Anne Veal from Arrested Development, this girl the other side of the coin. Nice work.
I remember when I saw Erika Christensen in Traffic I thought she would go places...she really hasn't, but I was excited to see her in this role and hope this puts her on radar. Although after episode 1, her family was the least interesting.
Max Burkholder as Max Braverman really did a great job in a role that will probably be discussed the most...a kid with high functioning autism
Craig T Nelson makes me laugh...in a good way
I think different people will connect to different characters based on their own parenting experiences and personal stresses, the question is can you handle all the stress of all the characters in a 60 minute episode.
With the cellphone sequencing in the start of the episode it makes me wonder if Peter Krause's character (Adam Braverman) will continue to be the lead character or if this is a true ensemble?

We'll see if I keep this on my TV watching radar...I hope this is a success story. It certainly has the mixed bag potential to fizzle quick. Here's hoping for success for this multi layered ensemble.

Food Inc.

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 02:19:00 +0000

Probably one of the most watched documentary contenders of the year in the Oscar race was Food Inc.

While the documentary Oscar is The Cove's to lose, I think that Food Inc. will for many people be one of the most important documentaries of the year because it deals with something near and dear to our hearts...food, but ask a question we probably don't ask enough which is "where does my food come from?"

I must be honest, and say that while very impactful and dealing with a variety of important topics, Food Inc. is a little disjointed. It's message is become a person who questions your food sources and takes the opportunity to buy food that is both healthy and ecologically sound, even if that means spending a little more.

Generally, I think this claim is quiet reasonable and one of the producer's Eric Schlosser, author of many investigative journalism works including Fast Food Nation, makes a strong case in the film for deterioration of food quality because it is delivered to our dinner table (or cars, or restaurant table) at the lowest price, hence we can have dollar menu items you couldn't replicate for the price in your kitchen.

But this idea, is just one of many. Through the graphic images of a few select slaughter houses, is the story of chicken, beef, corn, e.coli bacteria and soy bean patents. I think this film will speak to people in different ways, perhaps making them more interested in grass-fed beef, wanting to write congress about Kevin's Law, or perhaps scratching their head at a system that allows for vegetable libel to have such inertia.

Perhaps it is this disjointed expose that lends itself to such varied conclusions, but tends to speak to our challenge a variety of people.

For putting all these ideas out on the table, the film is a good starting point for discussions. Honestly, if I could chose a follow up documentary I would like to see a documentary that explores in a balanced way the role of corn subsidies, the intentions, history, and impact. Of course, what is only touched on partially in this film is a whole new realm to explore.

Yet, for something so common the film demonstrates how many topics are worthy of our attention to be explored, and while the regular farmer's market purchaser might walk away with a different perspective that the typical Sam's Club bulk ground beef purchaser, I think it should leave viewers with something to chew on.

10 Oscar Contenders & Their Release Dates

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:15:00 +0000

One of my hopes, assuming the Academy Awards continue to have ten films nominated for best picture is that studios will feel more freedom to not have to release their award prospect films all in month of December.

Here's a list of this year's 10 nominees in order of their non-festival US release date...

Up (May 29, 2009 - 3766 screens)

The Hurt Locker (June 28, 2009 - 4 Screens)

District 9 (August 14, 2009 - 3049 Screens)

Inglourious Basterds (August 21, 2009 - 3165 screens)

A Serious Man (October 4, 2009 - 6 screens)

An Education (October 18, 2009 - 18 screens)

Precious (November 6, 2009 - 18 screens)

The Blindside (November 20, 2009 - 3140 screens)

Up in the Air (December 4, 2009 - 15 theaters, wide Dec 18 with 1895 theaters)

Avatar (December 18, 2009 - 3452 screens)

This really communicates to me a potential for a longer season of award quality movies, with the possibility for top contenders in the awards game to feel the freedom (whether mainstream or independent) to seek out at least summer release dates, and expect that their buzz can extend through, or be reinvigorated through out the award season.

I love the fact that there does not appear to be a magic formula, and hopefully this will free up studios to release quality films year round.

Here's hoping.

A Winter Olympics Conversation with my Wife

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 05:56:00 +0000

My wife and I were talking about the Winter Olympics, as the Vancouver Games were wrapping up...some thoughts.

RC: The Winter Olympics are fun but, I don't think I like them as much as the Summer Olympics, not that they're meant to be compared. Something like running anyone can do, but most of these Winter sports are sports of privledge. Bobsled? Ice skating? Snow board jumps?

Kim: I don't think they're sports of privledge, I think they're niche sports that the majority of people do not ever participate it.

RC: Not that I'm down on these sports, I think these athletes are testimonies of dedication, hard work and skill. But, as for me, I've never ice skated before, and half these sports are on ice skates. While we're at it, I've never snow boarded before, either.

Kim: What's wrong with you? Why have you never done those things? You were born and raised in a place where people do that stuff all the time?

RC: Well even if I had ice skated, I sure wasn't ice dancing.

Kim: I completly don't understand ice dancing.

RC: Those who can't, ice dance. It's for the girls who are too heavy for the guys to lift up in pair skating, and for guys who get really tired spinning and can't jump.

Kim: What I want to know is how someone determines they're a world class Skeleton racer.

RC: I think they find people that are missing the part of the brain that makes good decisions.

Kim: Those must be the same people who came up with the McDonald's commercials that says "You don't have to be an Olympic athlete to eat like one."

RC: I'm sure Kim Yu-Na and Lindsey Vohn don't really seem like the chicken nuggets and coke type of people.

Kim: I think Steven Holcomb from the US bobsled team likes himself some chicken nuggets. He was a big dude.

RC: Do you think Bob Costas likes chicken nuggets? Well maybe Mary Carillo can do a story on that.

Not Evan Sure What I Think of Mel & The Beaver Pic

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 03:22:00 +0000

I must admit, I don't have expectations for Jodie Foster's rare directorial effort we'll see later this year.

And it's not just that it stars Mel Gibson as Foster's husband.

It's also that Gibson's character, Walter Black, carries a beaver puppet on his hand who he talks to.

Even if this screenplay is good, how can this film be anything but a mash up of concepts of films like Harvey and Lars and The Real Girl.

I like Harvey, I like Lars, and I even like Mr. & Mrs. Beaver from The Chronicles of Narnia. But not sure I like the idea of this film.

The one thing I know for sure, the movie will probably be better than if Mel Gibson directed a beaver film with actor speaking real Beaverish. (What language do Beaver's speak anyways?)

Originality Vanishes: Watching the Copy Cat First & A Few Thoughts on 'The Lady Vanishes'

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:49:00 +0000

The picture above is Miss Floy (Dame May Whitty) writing her name on the window because the train whistles are two loud for Iris (Margret Lockwood) to hear her spell it.

Good thing she wrote on the window because when Miss Floy disappears and everyone thinks Iris is having a mental lapse due to being hit on the head with a brick shortly before leaving on her train.

The Lady Vanishes is one of Alfred Hitchcock's last British films before he exploded in Hollywood, and this film was not part of his artistic exposure.

And as I watched it was not only interesting, but also reminded me of the Jodi Foster film Flight Plan...even in terms of the writing on the window.

And there is the challenge of older films. When you watch them for the first time what is original might seem old hat if it has since been copies time and time again.

I personally find The Lady Vanishes to be a great film, with a good mix of comedy, intrigue, and thrills. I haven't seen a British film from this time period like it.

Somehow even if elements are copied, Hitchcock's originality tends to be unrepeatable.

You can copy the Miss Floy story, but you can't copy the magic of The Lady Vanishes.

Respect for Moon

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 01:43:00 +0000

There was a time a few years back when I would have thought that science fiction films were dead. I wasn't holding a funeral or anything, nor was I throwing a party. It just started to seem that post-Minority Report there just wasn't any more Sci-Fi that could be done.

It seemed like the themes about the future were covered, Alien themes were kind of no longer interesting, and movies like A.I. lasted just an hour too long. So long, Sci-Fi.

I was wrong, as I often am and 2009 proved rich with Sci-Fi including Star Trek, District 9, and Avatar.

One of the sci-fil films that received less buzz this past year is the independent film Moon directed by Duncan Jones and staring the under appreciated Sam Rockwell.

I will be honest, this film won't hit my top 10 list, but I do think it's one of the most intriguing films of last year.

If you are a person who can have even a moderate appreciation for 2001: A Space Odyssey and are looking for a little Sci-Fi love in your life, you have to see Moon.

Not only is the plot intriguing, Sam Rockwell's performance amazing, it's nice to see that genre films like sci-fi films don't have to be stuck in the world of insane budgets. It's hard to believe you can make a Hollywood film for $5 million dollars any more, let alone a sci-fi film.

Today director Duncan Jones won the BAFTA award for Outstanding Debut by A British Director, writer, or producer. I have to agree he deserves this award and I'm hopeful to see what he might be able to do with a slightly more padded budget and crew.

Stars: Building an Expectation & Working Together

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 22:59:00 +0000

The other day I mentioned that the big successful films didn't necessarily come with the most typical list of stars. People like Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Kristen Stuart, Bradley Cooper, and Chris Pine played lead roles in last years top films.

One of the reasons I think we've such a steep decline in stars having a following is because many film celebrities have, for whatever reason, have such a diverse range of performances. As a result people are easily disappointed if they see a certain movie because they like the star, especially if they don't have a diverse pallet.

I consider Angelina Jolie won of those "true stars" of today. Someone who critics and US weekly both talk about. And yet, who can say "I love everything that Angelina Jolie does?" Think about the films she's done in the past decade alone. Crowd pleasures like Mr. & Mrs. Smith, heavy true life dramas like A Mighty Heart, over budget bust like Alexander, action films like Tomb Radar, Wanted, Gone in 60 Seconds, indie films like Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, not to mention heavy emotional period piece Changeling, and then throw Beowulf into the mix and a ton of animated voice work.

Angelina's mix of films is so diverse, she makes it hard for her name on a poster to say anything about the quality and type of film you will be viewing.

That makes me think of some actors who are stars who have been a little more consistent. I was thinking about someone like Leonardo DiCaprio. Granted his films are not all huge box office explosions, but I think people know what to expect when they see DiCaprio's name on the poster. It helps that he works largely with one director these days (Martin Scorsese). But the pairing of a director and actor creates a consistency and expectation. Films like Gangs of New York may not be your taste. But when you see the pairing of Scorsese and DiCaprio there is a feeling of what you might be getting into...a heavy actor centered drama with larger than life settings, high drama, and some violence and shouting. So if you know that's what you want you see The Departed, The Aviator, and Shutter Island. I'm interested to see how Shutter Island's box office plays out this weekend.

I think pairings of directors, and similar actors is good for the movie going public. I think the unpredictability of films keeps some people away from the movie theaters. At the potential cost of around $10 a ticket, do you really want to walk into a bust? And if you are worried about a bust, the biggest way to be disappointed is to see a film just because it stars Julia Roberts, Robin Williams, or Cameron Diaz.

I appreciate seeing stars take on new roles that show a higher degree of dramatism or take on independent roles or work outside of their cookie cutter personas.

But I think the long term result of that is that despite the respect people might have for your acting skills, in terms of bankability your name looses value.

This seems bad for the Hollywood elite, but it seems good for smaller actors, and maybe for films themselves. It opens up the possibility for directors to cast the right actors, not the most famous ones. It's because of that change that J.J. Abrams was free to cast Chris Pine as Captain Kirk instead of having the pressure of casting Matt Damon in the role.

And it's all because of our skepticism that the top box office films will also be sequels or projects that don't need big names to achieve. It's also why products with clear expectations (Pixar Films or Tyler Perry Films, for example) pick up more theater viewers at every turn. The people that like these products can no what to expect.

Do Stars Really Have Star Power?

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:10:00 +0000

I was thinking about how one of the unique things about Titanic was that James Cameron was able to make a huge box office success without any huge stars. Granted, Titanic wasn't the end of the road for Kate Winslet or Leonardo DiCaprio, but they were certainly new names on the scene and opened up the door for independent film actors and actresses to have an increased opportunity to have lead roles in large films.

Not only did James Cameron do it again with Avatar, but most of 2009's top films were not packed with traditional star power.

Look at these names: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Laurent, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Chris Pine, and Zachary Quinto.

These are the stars of the top live action films in Hollywood this year.

This does not look good for the traditional stars...the Meg Ryan, John Travolta, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Jamie Foxx, and any other star that graces the cover of People Magazine every week.

Perhaps directors are finding films are more successful when the cast the right person and that film viewers are more interested in film concepts and popular buzz then in seeing a movie poster with two big head of Nicholas Cage and Jennifer Aniston co-staring in a romantic crime drama.

Inspiration from the Movies

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:20:00 +0000

In 2007 I complained that we'd rather be inspired than informed and that I was inspiration overloaded.

I think that tides have turned and we see a lot less inspiration...maybe I'll wax & wane on that later but for now a little mid-week inspiration.

Video discovered on Ben Sternke's blog.

Love & The African Queen

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 05:10:00 +0000

Another movie that deals with love in a different way is the John Huston classic The African Queen.

One of my favorite things about this film is that the love story in this film changes and evolves, and in that typical way deals with two unlikely people who fall in love, but in that untypical way it just all feels different and you're not sure how it's going to turn out.

Their love forms out of spending time together, much like how normal love forms. Their love also forms out of a common goal, much like how love also takes shape.

What's interesting about this film is that their initial love that forms is a surprise to the characters, with love the last thing on their mind. And once they fall in love, they have to revisit what brought them together, a goal of a virtual suicide mission to take out a German gunboat.

The other day I posted on the The Last Station and the way that we change and love must also. This film speaks to the reverse scenario, that sometimes love changes and we then make different decisions. This theme in film is probably more similar, more because you can only do so much with a couple hours of film, but I think The African Queen tells this type of story in such a unique way.

Love & The Last Station

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 03:19:00 +0000

As part of Valentine's Day, my wife (we take turns planning the holiday) decided to surprise me with a trip to see The Last Station.

I wasn't really sure what I would think about the film. Biopics in foreign countries about historical figures can sometimes be slow, choppy, unmoving, or flat out boring. Just because someone was important doesn't mean there story is interesting, dramatic, touching, or somewhere in between.

On of the things that I think works for The Last Station is that in concentrates more on telling a story than creating an historically impressive biopic. If you've seen the film there are some very unique title cards that play close to the beginning of the film that in a Star Wars like fashion throws the viewers into the action instead of focusing on "back story."

This makes for an interesting Valentine's film because while it plays on themes of love, it certainly is not you're "romantic" drama. Instead, it probably speaks a lot to the longevity of love.

My wife & I have not been married 48 years like Leo & Sofya Tolstoy, but already it's pretty clear to me that as marriages continue we change. My wife & I are changing in different ways, and I've seen change occur in the lives of other married couples.

As my wife changes, I am tasked with the responsibility and pleasure of learning about my changing wife and renewing my love towards her. The responsibility (and hopefully pleasure) rest again on her shoulders as well.

Without a continued devotion to spending time together, learning about eachother, and renewing our love for one another I know we would diverge, perhaps like we see the Tolstoy's do in their lives.

And I think that responsibility belongs to both parties of the relationship. I think it would be interesting to have a group of people watch this film and discuss whether Sofya or Leo Tolstoy is responsible for the changes in their relationship. I imagine literary historians, romantics, males and females, would all have a varying degree of blame. But it probably rest on both of their shoulders.

In this film, both characters (portrayed by Helen Mirren & Christopher Plummer) are both intriguing characters and seem like remarkable people, but together their final days lacked a spark one imagines existed previously.

Just some thoughts on love and The Last Station, hope if you have some one you love you're taking the chance to relearn who they are and how to love them.

Effect of Best Picture Nominations on the Best Actor Race

strangeculture@gmail.com (RC) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 03:30:00 +0000

If you're up for the Best Actress Oscar and your film is nominated for best picture does it hurt your chances of winning? Probably a little, but it's certainly no doomsday scenario (see related post, 60% of winners over the past 40 years win from a film that's also nominated for best picture).

If your a man up for the Academy Award for Best Actor, is this situation different.

You bet. It seems that unless you are the hot actor destined to win the prize (perhaps like this year's Jeff Bridges who's been sweeping the precursor's for his role in Crazy Heart), then the race is really an award to be won by an Actor who appears in one of the films nominated for best picture, or even expected to win.

31 of the past 40 winners (77.5%) of the winning actors over the past 40 years have been in films that were nominated for best picture (represented by the two shades of gold in the graph above).

No only that, but 30% of the winners (12 of the 40) have not only been in a nominated film, but also the winning film. This is a huge shift from the numbers we see in the actress category where far fewer Oscar winning actresses come from the winning film (7, as opposed to 12).

I would assume this is representive of male-lead films and so when the Academy loves Rain Man, Forrest Gump, Patton, American Beauty, or Gladiator) they love both the lead and the lead actor. Not quiet the same situation we see in the Actress category.

This isn't a statistic to scoff at since it is very common in this category that many of the nominees in the Best Actor category are not riding on the coat-tails of their nominated film, and yet this would seem to indicate that it's a tough road to a win without this accompanying nomination of the best picture.

For example, the last time an actor won the Best Actor prize without an accompanying picture nomination with Forrest Whitacre for the Last King of Scotland. In that category that year, not a single one of the lead actor nominees were nominated for their role in a best picture nominated films.

In fact over the past ten years of Oscar nominees, only 21 of the 50 Best Actor nominees have their films as a best picture nominees (42%). So for these actors who come into the award season with a nominated film, their odds increase dramatically.

As already discussed, this year Jeff Bridges is considered the front-runner, and his film is not a best picture nominee. Only two actors are in nominated films this year, George Clooney (Up in the Air) and Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker). I would say it's a fair bet that these two are close behind in the voting while the other two contenders (Colin Firth for A Single Man, and Morgan Freeman for Invictus) don't stand a chance at an upset.

It's interesting to crunch the numbers and see what trends show, although there is clearly room for exceptions.