The Weeksly Late Edition – 9/2/07

Good evening Ladies & Gentlemen, and welcome back to “The Weeksly Late Edition” for yet another week. I’ve been sporadic as always in my appearances, but it’s mainly due to the fact that I’m about to move house, and let me tell ya something boys & girls – it’s a royal pain in the ass that I don’t wish on anyone – sign this, post this, sign this, pick up this, drop off this, sign this, initial here, drop off a copy of this stuff here – it’s a fuckin’ nightmare…. Combine that with the regular day-job, and it’s just a hassle.

Anyhow – here’s a couple of things that I want to start off with, firstly my thoughts on the boss’s latest column, some of which I agree with, some of which I don’t, and I’m gonna give you a couple of reasons why:

“Just this week, the amusing ‘Tenacious D in the Pic of Destiny’ arrived in Aussie theatres without any fanfare, any media screenings, and besides what we did here at Moviehole, little to no media coverage. Why? Who the hell knows? One publicist, who handles the film, tells me that she’s still trying to figure it out herself. In the same week, ‘Employee of the Month’ – the new Jessica Simpson dud opens – and it’s got much more media coverage, and…. They showed it to the media a couple of weeks back. Go figure.”

OK, first of all, let me make give my nod to one of those things – “Employee Of The Month” is a fuckin’ un-watchable trainwreck of a film. Dane Cook, one of the biggest hack comics doing the rounds now is horrible, Jessica Simpson is smokin’ hot – but still un-watchable. Now, secondly, “Pick Of Destiny” (oh god, I can see myself taking crap on this one) – look, I’m a big fan of Tenacious D, got the first album, got the DVD, got the soundtrack a couple of months back – but it’s still a pretty shitty film. My take on the reason the film is arriving on screen with not much “ta-da!” about it? Jack Black is well known down here, Tenacious D is not – and it’s really a cult band around the world anyway – whether there was a bunch of dollars thrown at a marketing campaign or not, “Pick” was never gonna do much business down under, and I mean, if the film tanked in the U.S. – the home of “The D”, it doesn’t have much chance here.

“This week, news surfaced that Patrick Lussier’s well-received sequel to a poorly-received theatrical release called “White Noise” would be bypassing theatres – it was originally planned to be a wide release – and premiering in your loungeroom instead. Yes, a ‘good’ film goes straight to video. A ‘poor’ film goes theatrically. Nothing new………”

OK, the Boss Man goes on to hypothesize that the main reason that the film may be going to DVD is due to the cast – primarily Nathan Fillion & Katee Sackhoff. Now, Nathan has been great in “Firefly”, “Serenity” & even his turn in “Slither” – same applies to Katee, who I love in “Battlestar Galactica” – what do all of those films / TV shows have in common? All of ‘em have performed pretty badly in ratings and box office, now, to clarify – I love(d) them all, I acknowledge that they all deserve to have done a lot better, but it’s the truth. Clint is also spot on about the future that Nathan has on his new show “Drive”- which from what I told, is gonna be the biggest thing since “Lost” – Universal should really have considered delaying this decision by a couple of months before pulling the pin on a theatrical release. I feel bad for all involved, especially Patrick, who is a helluva nice guy – and believe me, deserves a lot more credit than he has gotten so far, so be kind, show some love, and make sure you pick up a copy when it does come out.

Now finally from the column, here’s some of my thoughts on his past-casting musings, and his future suggestions:

“Kevin Costner in ‘Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves’. The dude couldn’t even speak fuckin’ British!” – got nine numbers here for ya: $390,500,000 US worldwide.

“Keanu Reeves as Harker in ‘Dracula’? – still laughing” – Very true.

“George Clooney as Batman – Now that was just stupid!” – That was Schumacher, Clooney is God.

“Julianne Moore as Clarice Starling in ‘Hannibal’ – um, that chick looks nothing like Jodie!” – but it is true that Harrison Ford is a dead ringer for a young Alec Baldwin.

“Renee Zellweger as ‘Miss Potter’” – I fuckin’ hate “squinty” in everything she’s done, so I’m not surprised that she’s horrible in this.

“Everyone in ‘The Fantastic Four’” – Pity Alba’s clothes weren’t invisible, Chiklis was a cool choice though, you have to admit that.

“Sly Stallone in ‘Get Carter’ and ‘Judge Dredd’” – Yes to “Judge Dredd”, I actually enjoyed “Get Carter” in a strange kind of way – they should never have fucked with the ending though.

“and did anyone think Kate Bosworth was a little ‘off’ for Lois Lane?” – Yes.

“Hulk 2 – Muse Watson to play General ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross” – Muse shares God duty with Clooney, so that’s a yes.

“Josh Duhamel – to play Namor in ‘Sub-Mariner’” – Oh please, Douchemel?

“Luke Cage – Tyrese Gibson is the fan-fave… and deserves it.” – Best thing in “2 Fast, 2 Furious” – absolutely yes.

“Captain America – Lucas Black, no butts about it.” – Loved him in “Friday Night Lights”, would rather see Damon playing it.

“Supergirl – Can you really look past Hayden Panettiere?” – Well, past parts of her, no.

“Magnum P.I – If it can’t be Selleck, then probably Clooney” – God has a busy schedule.

“Joan Jett – I like the Jennifer Love Hewitt idea” – Oh. God. No.

“The Green Arrow – Can picture Nathan Fillion….” – I’m thinking more along the lines of Josh Holloway.

“Weird Science – Diane Lane as the female lead” – Diane Lane circa 1984, or today?

“Keith Moon biopic – Nicolas Cage as Pete Townsend. No buts.” – Errrr, for Pete current day, I think Chloe’s boyfriend on “24” could pull that off, for a younger guy…… don’t know, Ellen Degeneres?

And now, on with the show:

My Television Is Trying To Kill Me

OK, first of all, something kinda slipped under the radar here, apparently NBC have picked up the U.S. rights to “Thank God You’re Here”. Now, if you’re not aware of this show from an international perspective, what the Australian version is about is a group of comedians / actors being put through a fairly vigorous series of improve situations. Think “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” with an extended scenario section – it’s a great show over here, so hopefully it replicates the success in the States.

Now, potentially some bad news here for it’s fans (which include both myself & The Boss) – “My Man In Amsterdam” who has given me some goods in the past, has told me that he has heard “Studio 60” will absolutely not be renewed for a second season. If you’ve been following the schedule on NBC, you would know that the plan is to take “Studio 60” off temporarily for one of the new shows about to air, but from the way that I hear it, chances are it will not be back in a prime slot, and when it does return, it will be played out very quickly. It’s a bummer, because alongside “Heroes”, this has been my favorite new show – I just wish that the ratings had been as good.

The Boss kinda stole my thunder here, with the news that “Kitchen Confidential” is coming to DVD. TV Shows On DVD (which is a great site btw), has the full scoop. Bradley Cooper (“Alias”) & Nicholas Brendon (“Buffy”) both starred in the show based on Anthony Bourdain’s book of the same name (which will put you off eating in most Restaurant’s around the world), which was prematurely cancelled after only 4 of the 13 episodes filmed. It was a crap time for this type of show, with “Reunion” & “Love Monkey” both getting axed around the same time – “Monkey” is another one that I hear is also coming to DVD shortly. Special features for “Kitchen” are TBA, but hopefully there will be a few commentary tracks to be found.

The 2006 Academy Awards Winners, As Predicted By Weeksy

Last year, I successfully predicted that “Crash” would win for “Best Picture”, over that strangely feminine cowboy film. Can I do it again? Probably not, but here I go:

Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role
Leonardo DiCaprio in “Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.)
Ryan Gosling in “Half Nelson” (THINKFilm)
Peter O’Toole in “Venus” (Miramax, Filmfour and UK Council)
Will Smith in “The Pursuit of Happyness” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Forest Whitaker in “The Last King of Scotland” (Fox Searchlight)

Who Will Win: Forest Whitaker has definitely pulled off his best role in ages, and there’s a reason that a lot of praise has been coming his way – he’s outstanding in it.

Who Should Win: Surprise, surprise – Forest Whitaker absolutely deserves to take it home.

Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role
Alan Arkin in “Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight)
Jackie Earle Haley in “Little Children” (New Line)
Djimon Hounsou in “Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.)
Eddie Murphy in “Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount)
Mark Wahlberg in “The Departed” (Warner Bros.)

Who Will Win: Eddie Murphy has been getting a lot of praise for making what amounts to a film that isn’t shitty with his name attached to it. I personally think he was entertaining in it, but an Oscar? A lot of people seem to think so.

Who Should Win: Alan Arkin was fantastic in “Little Miss Sunshine”, and I really wish that he could win it, but I don’t see it happening.

Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role
Penélope Cruz in “Volver” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Judi Dench in “Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight)
Helen Mirren in “The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)
Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada” (20th Century Fox)
Kate Winslet in “Little Children” (New Line)

Who Will Win: Helen Mirren will more than likely take this one home, and honestly, I think it’s gonna be that kind of Paul Newman / Sean Connery deal where she gets it, but it’s mainly for her past works – not that she doesn’t deserve the nomination for it, it just isn’t her best film.

Who Should Win: Honestly, I’d be comfortable with either Kate Winslet or Meryl Streep take it home, but gun to head….. ummm, I’d go with Streep.

Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role
Adriana Barraza in “Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)
Cate Blanchett in “Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight)
Abigail Breslin in “Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight)
Jennifer Hudson in “Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount)
Rinko Kikuchi in “Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)

Who Will Win: Mark it down people, I’m going with Abigail Breslin on this one. I’ve got the feeling that “Little Miss” is going to do reasonable well on the night, and this is one that will probably manage to knock off the Hudson express.

Who Should Win: I just told ya!

Best Animated Feature Film Of The Year
“Cars” (Buena Vista) John Lasseter
“Happy Feet” (Warner Bros.) George Miller
“Monster House” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Gil Kenan

Who Will Win: I’ve got the sneaking suspicion that “Cars” will manage to beat out its opposition here.

Who Should Win: Although I thought both “Happy Feet” & “Cars” were good films, I honestly thought you couldn’t go past “Monster House” for good ol’ fun this year.

Achievement In Cinematography
“The Black Dahlia” (Universal) Vilmos Zsigmond
“Children of Men” (Universal) Emmanuel Lubezki
“The Illusionist” (Yari Film Group) Dick Pope
“Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse) Guillermo Navarro
“The Prestige” (Buena Vista) Wally Pfister

Who Will Win: While it very unfairly didn’t get much love in other areas, “Children Of Men” should get some decent love here.

Who Should Win: I’ll go the same here – “Children Of Men” deserves whatever it can take away for the night.

Best Documentary Feature
“Deliver Us from Evil” (Lionsgate)
A Disarming Films Production
Amy Berg and Frank Donner
“An Inconvenient Truth” (Paramount Classics and Participant Productions)
A Lawrence Bender/Laurie David Production
Davis Guggenheim
“Iraq in Fragments” (Typecast Releasing)
A Typecast Pictures/Daylight Factory Production
James Longley and John Sinno
“Jesus Camp” (Magnolia Pictures)
A Loki Films Production

Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady

“My Country, My Country” (Zeitgeist Films)
A Praxis Films Production
Laura Poitras and Jocelyn GlatzerWho Will Win: As much as I loved “Jesus Camp”, I haven’t had as good a time watching a Doco since I sat down with “Murderball” – “An Inconvenient Truth” is gonna take it home.

Who Should Win: Al Gore, the guy you never thought could be cool until he showed up on “Futurama” scared the shit out of us all with “An Inconvenient Truth”.

Achievement In Film Editing
“Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)
Stephen Mirrione and Douglas Crise
“Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.)
Steven Rosenblum
“Children of Men” (Universal)
Alex Rodríguez and Alfonso Cuarón
“The Departed” (Warner Bros.)
Thelma Schoonmaker
“United 93” (Universal and StudioCanal)
Clare Douglas, Christopher Rouse and Richard Pearson

Who Will Win: Ohhhhhh, here’s a tough one. I remember thinking like there were some pretty rough cuts to “The Departed”, and as much as I love it, recently watching it again just seemed more obvious to me that something was missing. One of the tightest jobs of the year in my book was “United 93” – it should win.

Who Should Win: Yup, “United 93”.

Achievement In Music Written For Motion Pictures (Original Score)
“Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Gustavo Santaolalla
“The Good German” (Warner Bros.) Thomas Newman
“Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight) Philip Glass
“Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse) Javier Navarrete
“The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Alexandre Desplat

Who Will Win: I think for this one, Gustavo Santaolalla will probably take it for “Babel”.

Who Should Win: Javier Navarrete did an amazing job with the music for “Pan’s Labyrinth”, and I’d love to see it win the Oscar here.

Achievement In Music Written For Motion Pictures (Original Song)
“I Need to Wake Up” from “An Inconvenient Truth”
(Paramount Classics and Participant Productions)
Music and Lyric by Melissa Etheridge
“Listen” from “Dreamgirls”
(DreamWorks and Paramount)
Music by Henry Krieger and Scott Cutler
Lyric by Anne Preven
“Love You I Do” from “Dreamgirls”
(DreamWorks and Paramount)
Music by Henry Krieger
Lyric by Siedah Garrett
“Our Town” from “Cars”
(Buena Vista)
Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Patience” from “Dreamgirls”
(DreamWorks and Paramount)
Music by Henry Krieger
Lyric by Willie Reale

Who Will Win: Geez, tough to guess which film will take this one, huh? OK, assuming that it’s pretty much a lock that one of the three “Dreamgirls” tracks will take it, I would say the most likely is either “Listen” or “Patience” – based on the performance during the film alone, I’m guessing “Listen” will take it.

Who Should Win: Call me a big softy, but I do like “Love You I Do”.

Achievement In Sound Editing
“Apocalypto” (Buena Vista)
Sean McCormack and Kami Asgar
“Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.)
Lon Bender
“Flags of Our Fathers” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by Paramount)
Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
“Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.)
Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (Buena Vista)
Christopher Boyes and George Watters II

Who Will Win: I think that “Letters from Iwo Jima” will take it over the top of “Flags”, and honestly, it deserves it out of the two.

Who Should Win: “Dead Man’s Chest” sounds amazing, watching it again the other night through the new entertainment set up confirms it, great mix throughout.

Achievement In Visual Effects
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (Buena Vista)
John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and Allen Hall
“Poseidon” (Warner Bros.)
Boyd Shermis, Kim Libreri, Chas Jarrett and John Frazier
“Superman Returns” (Warner Bros.)
Mark Stetson, Neil Corbould, Richard R. Hoover and Jon Thum

Who Will Win: I’m actually thinking that “Dead Man’s Chest” will probably take it – but to be honest, I actually think despite the main FX, some of it was actually pretty weak.

Who Should Win: “Superman Returns” really does deserve it – even though “Poseidon” did it really well, it wasn’t anything we hadn’t already seen a few years back with “The Perfect Storm”.

Adapted Screenplay
“Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” (20th Century Fox)
Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Peter Baynham & Dan Mazer
Story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Peter Baynham & Anthony Hines & Todd Phillips
“Children of Men” (Universal)
Screenplay by Alfonso Cuarón & Timothy J. Sexton and David Arata and Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby
“The Departed” (Warner Bros.)
Screenplay by William Monahan
“Little Children” (New Line)
Screenplay by Todd Field & Tom Perrotta
“Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight)
Screenplay by Patrick Marber

Who Will Win: Oh man, I’d be so happy to see “Borat” take it, but I don’t see it happening. “Children Of Men” may have been a little too confusing for some viewers, so in a pinch, I see “The Departed” taking this one.

Who Should Win: “Borat”, baby.

Original Screenplay
“Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)
Written by Guillermo Arriaga
“Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.)
Screenplay by Iris Yamashita
Story by Iris Yamashita & Paul Haggis
“Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight)
Written by Michael Arndt
“Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse)
Written by Guillermo del Toro
“The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)
Written by Peter Morgan

Who Will Win: Even though I don’t think it deserves it, I think that “The Queen” will win this one.

Who Should Win: It really is too close to call in my book – I’d be happy to see either “Little Miss Sunshine” or “Pan’s Labyrinth” get called out.

Achievement In Directing
“Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Alejandro González Iñárritu
“The Departed” (Warner Bros.) Martin Scorsese
“Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.) Clint Eastwood
“The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Stephen Frears
“United 93” (Universal and StudioCanal) Paul Greengrass

Who Will Win: Even though it’s not “Goodfellas” Scorsese, I still think this is his year (fingers crossed of course).

Who Should Win: I was just so blown away by “United 93” that I’d love to see it get every award that it can get its hands on, but not getting the nod in “Best Picture” makes me think that Paul Greengrass might have to wait a while for his turn.

Best Motion Picture Of The Year
“Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)
An Anonymous Content/Zeta Film/Central Films Production
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Jon Kilik and Steve Golin, Producers
“The Departed” (Warner Bros.)
A Warner Bros. Pictures Production
Graham King, Producer
“Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.)
A DreamWorks Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures Production
Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg and Robert Lorenz, Producers
“Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight)
A Big Beach/Bona Fide Production
David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf and Marc Turtletaub, Producers
“The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)
A Granada Production
Andy Harries, Christine Langan and Tracey Seaward, Producers

Who Will Win: First of all, I enjoyed the hell out of all of these films – that being said, I don’t think that “Babel” is gonna take it despite a lot of people saying that it’s a lock. I’m once again going for the dark horse, I’m putting the cash down on “Little Miss Sunshine”.

Who Should Win: Despite my love for “Sunshine” – I stand by my statement that “The Departed” is Scorsese’s best flick since “Goodfellas”, and should win it.

The Most Salacious Piece Of Tabloid Gossip

I love this one – I personally am not a fan of the guy, but he’s like that car crash you can’t stop looking at, and with thanks to the guys at the IMDB, you can share in the fun:

Andy Dick Forcibly Removed from Talk Show
Comedian Andy Dick was forcibly removed by security during an appearance on US talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live last Friday night, after repeatedly touching guest Ivanka Trump without her permission. Trump, the daughter of real estate mogul Donald Trump, was attempting to promote her reality show The Apprentice, when Dick kept interrupting her with rude comments. The troubled comedian repeatedly rubbed Trump’s legs and touched her hair, while Kimmel begged him to behave himself. When Dick asked Trump to “give him a big, fat, sloppy wet kiss right on the lips” and grabbed her arm, Kimmel called in two security guards. The talk show host carried Dick’s feet and helped the guards drag him out of the studio. Trump was a good sport after the incident telling Kimmel, “That was brilliant. See, that was a much more entertaining segment. I could sit here and talk to you about the buildings I’m building in Chicago and Las Vegas, but I’m sure you’d much prefer to see Andy Dick actually forcefully removed from a stage.”

Nice!

The Official Weeks Seal Of Approval DVD Release Of The Week

Here’s a film that I never had any intention of seeing, but ended up loving – my pick of the week, “The Devil Wears Prada”:
In the dizzying world of New York fashion, where size zero is the new 2, six is the new 8, and a bad hair day can end a career, Runway Magazine is the Holy Grail. Overseen with a finely manicured fist by Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) – the most powerful woman in fashion – Runway is a fearsome gauntlet for anyone who wants to make it in the industry. To make Runway the fashion bible of New York and therefore the world, Miranda has let nothing stand in her way…including a long line of assistants that didn’t make the cut. It’s a job no self-respecting person can survive, yet it’s an opportunity a million young women in New York would kill for.

A stint as Miranda’s assistant could blast open the doors for recent college graduate, Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway). More college drab than haute couture, she stands alone among the small army of “Clackers” on staff at Runway – super slim fashion divas checking their stilettos down the halls of the magazine’s Manhattan headquarters. But when Andy comes in for the job, it dawn on her that making it in this industry will take more than drive and determination.

And her ultimate test stands before her in head-to-toe Prada.

The special features are:

– Audio Commentary with Production Crew
– The Trip to the Big Screen
– NYC and Fashion
– Fashion Visionary Particia Field
– Getting Valentino
– Boss From Hell, Danda Santini
– Real Life Editor-in-Chief
– Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary
– Gag Reel

Definitely check it out – if you’re a dude, it’s probably not what you’re expecting, and if you’re a chick, you probably already have it.