Wednesday, 10 March 2010

DVD COLLECTION ??

There Will Be Blood
SD DVD 2-disc Collector's Edition

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
DVD Release: 7/7/2008
Region: 2 (UK)
Label: Disney

Sunday, 7 March 2010

OSCARS 2010...

The 82nd Academy Awards kicks off State-side this evening and will continue well into the wee hours of the morning. Sadly, due to work commitments and the lack of SKY TV I shan't be staying up to watch the show (something I used to do every year back in the day). However, one tradition I am sticking to is filling out a ballot sheet pre-show in order to try my hand at predicting the winners. The full list of nominations can be found here and below I have indicated my predition (as well as my personal preference if different based on the films I've actually seen) in several of the categories.

Picture
- Avatar (prediction)
- Up (preference)

Director
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker (prediction)
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds (preference)

Actor
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart (prediction)
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker (preference)

Actress
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious (prediction)
Carey Mulligan - An Education (preference)

Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds (prediction & preference)

Supporting Actress
Mo'Nique - Precious (prediction)
Vera Farmiga - Up In The Air (preference)

Animated Feature
Up (prediction & preference)

Art Direction
Avatar (prediction & preference)

Cinematography
The Hurt Locker (prediction)
Avatar (preference)

Original Screenplay
The Hurt Locker (prediction)
Up (preference)

Adapted Screenplay
Up In The Air (prediction)
District 9 (preference)

Foreign Language Film
The White Ribbon (prediction)

Costume Design
The Young Victoria (prediction)

Editing
The Hurt Locker (prediction)
District 9 (preference)

Makeup
The Young Victoria (prediction)
Star Trek (preference)

Original Score
Up (prediction & preference)

Original Song
Crazy Heart (prediction)
The Princess and the Frog (preference)

Animated Short
A Matter of Loaf and Death (prediction & preference)

Sound Editing
The Hurt Locker (prediction)
Star Trek (preference)

Sound Mixing
The Hurt Locker (prediction)
Star Trek (preference)

Visual Effects
Avatar (prediction & preference)

For my money's worth Pixar's Up was easily the best film of the year and I really would like to see it win in every category it is nominated. Elsewhere the battle between Avatar and The Hurt Locker leaves my slightly cold as both are hugely over-hyped and over-rated in their own ways. As films, out of the two I preferred Avatar but only just. Elsewhere, I think it is a real oversight that District 9 wasn't nominated in more categories and Let the Right One In should be recognised as one of the best films, regardless of genre or language, of the past year (although the latter may be disqualified due to it being a 2008 film in its country of origin?).

Anyway, enjoy the show! Some like it, others loathe it but for me the OSCARS are always entertaining and I look forward to catching up with a broadcast of the ceremony in the coming days.

Sunday, 28 February 2010

Friday, 26 February 2010

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG ***½

USA: Ron Clements and John Musker, 2009

IMDB reference

Saturday, 20 February 2010

(*) UP *****

USA: Pete Docter and Bob Peterson, 2009

IMDB reference

Friday, 19 February 2010

Thursday, 18 February 2010

SILENT HILL ***½

Canda/France/Japan/USA: Christophe Gans, 2006

IMDB reference

Wednesday, 17 February 2010

Tuesday, 16 February 2010

Monday, 15 February 2010

THE PIXAR TOUCH

It's February, second month of the year and I've read my second film-related book of the year: The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company by David A. Price. Thus, keeping with my preferred rotation system of fiction book/film book/fiction book/film book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the key figures and business politics which led to the forming of this ground breaking animation studio. Although I would have appreciated the balance favouring the creative origins of each film rather than the coverage given to the financial machinations of influential executives. In fact, I'm giving it an extra point simply because not enough literature has been produced and made available in book form in the UK on what is the most successful film studio operating today.

Score: 9/10

SHERLOCK HOLMES ***½

USA/Germany: Guy Ritchie, 2009

IMDB reference

Sunday, 14 February 2010

Saturday, 6 February 2010

MEMORIES OF MURDER ****

Original Title: Salinui chueok
South Korea: Joon-ho Bong, 2003

IMDB reference

Friday, 5 February 2010

ROCK & CHIPS (TV) ****

UK: Dewi Humphreys, 2010

Doing a prequel to Only Fools & Horses must have been both a temptation and a challenge for writer John Sullivan. I suspect for many it will be the subject of criticism and be viewed as a superfluous project. However, speaking as a life-long fan of OFAH I thought Rock & Chips was fine, nostalgic, entertainment with a decent period setting and further proof of Sullivan's knack for emotional drama. I would be surprised though if this one-off feature length drama was picked-up for a full-length series.

IMDB reference

Thursday, 4 February 2010