Learning From the Pros

Well I am forced to delay the movie review one more day owing to some production-based dilemmas that needed to be solved and my television being occupied, to my utter disgust, with sex and the city.

But I thought I might give away a trade secret... where I'm learning a lot of the filmmaking stuff I use. I learn it from the people I admire. While part of that is ALWAYS inclusive of watching their films, I am actually referring to a distinct advantage in our digital world of websites like youtube where the artists and craftspeople you admire are only a click away.

I can't tell you how many interviews I've since ripped from youtube and kept on hard drives, well over a few hundred gigabytes. From Spielberg to Tarantino, there's plenty of material with some really interesting and useful knowledge imparted to those who go searching.

This is especially evident with every Oscar season when all the "great" directors (except Terrence Malick) will come out to talk a bit about their work and craft.  I stumbled upon this goldmine of information the net has to offer during the 2009/2010 Oscar campaign when nominees included AVATAR, INGLORIOUS BASTERDS and THE HURT LOCKER, and I was merely searching for Tarantino-related videos to satisfy my hunger for every word that man speaks and I came across the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) Directors on directing panel... Basically they put all the talked about directors of the season at a table with each other and have them talk and discuss films for over an hour.
This particular panel had Quentin Tarantino, Kathryn Bigelow, James Cameron, Lee Daniels, Pete Doctor and Todd Philips... it's awe inspiring to say the least.




My only caveat for this video treasure trove is to avoid interviews (aside from some brilliant Hitchcock clips floating about by the AFI) that are shorter than 5 Minutes, usually most of that is a moronic interviewer asking stupid questions ("if you could have any superpower...", when it's a superhero film for a painful example) that add nothing to the conversation, and in my personal experience, the best ones are the interviews and panels that last long enough for the filmmakers to say something truly valuable. So my suggestion is to first search videos longer than 20 min as youtube allows in their advanced search to weed out the less insightful clips.

Hopefully I will be back tomorrow with a short review and the beginning of my "Movie-a-day" feature. I can say, however, that the first on the pile is an Australian film called BLURRED.

AVATAR is here!!!!!

Nerds unite and cream your pants the trailer for AVATAR, by Filmmaker James Cameron (Titanic) is here!!!!

From the trailer alone, I would say it lives up to all expectations and more and should definitely be a contender for Best Picture.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/avatar/index.html

R.I.P. John Hughes

After suffering a Heart attack the 59 year old ICONIC film director is now in the history books of the great directors. As the maker of the most influential films of the 80's (The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Home Alone, Pretty in Pink), we will mourn the loss and celebrate the work of John Hughes, may your spirit live on in your work.

New Trailer!!!- The Lovely Bones

The new video for Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings)'s new suburban 70's almost epic. My personal favourite novel of all time, this film is sure not to disappoint with a powerhouse cast (including Oscar nominated Saoirse Ronan a newcomer who shall rock the industry, and Stanley Tucci of insurmountable critical acclaim) and unbelievable source material, this movie is a surefire Oscar Sweeper and destined to be in my (and other critics) top movies of 2009.

First Oscar Predictions

With the announcement of the 10(rather than 5) best picture nominations returning to the prestigious ceremony, I thought i should take a crack at the crystal ball.

1) The Lovely Bones - Dir: Peter Jackson, Cast: Saoirse Ronan, mark Whalberg, Susan sarandon, Stanley Tucci (see above)

2) Shutter Island - Dir: Martin Scorsese, Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo (though not a personal fan of his work, it's Scorsese, a master of his art)

3) Avatar - Dir: James Cameron, Cast: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver (An odd choice i know but there is no question that James Cameron of Titanic fame has the abillity to revolutionise 3D with this, I only hope it does not dissapoint, however the thematics of his idea seem very solid indeed.)

4) UP - Dir: Peter Docter & Bob Peterson, Cast:Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai (I haven't seen this year as I am still waiting for an Aus release [so bloody far away from the American one :( ] the reviews from audiences and critics alike are nothing but praise, and despite it's early release it will still get best Animated if not in this category)

5) Where The Wild Things Are - Dir: Spike Jonze, Cast: Max Records, Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker (this is one from the blue, but if Spike has anything to say about it this will be a sleeper hit with critics and audiences alike, and the trailer looks fantastic)

6) Nine - Dir: Rob Marshall, Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz (Musicals have always had their place at the Oscars, and being an adaptation of the Fellini masterpiece 8 1/2, and considering the success of Chicago, Rob Marshall may be on the money)

7) Invictus - Dir: Clint Eastwood, Cast: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon (come on, it's Clint Eastwood and Morgan freeman doing a biopic on Mandella, an easy shoe-in, that's not to say it won't be a masterpiece

8) The Hurt Locker - Dir: Kathryn Bigelow, Cast: Jeremy Renner, Guy Pierce, Rolph Fiennes (though it has an early release, there are non-stop rave reviews about this extremely different war movie and a very engaging plot if i do say so myself)

9) Precious - Dir: Lee Daniels, Cast: Gabby Sidibe, Mo'Nique (again, rave reviews and an intense dramatic plot put this one up here for now)

10) I am saving this spot for that independent movie that always seems to come out of nowhere 3 months before the Oscars as we saw with Juno and Slumdog Millionaire and Little Miss Sunshine, they almost always get at least a few nominations.

Happy cinema going :)