1998

✭✭✭ 1/2
American History X
Saving Private Ryan
The Truman Show
Happiness
A Simple Plan
Shakespeare In Love
Life Is Beautiful

✭✭✭ 
The Spanish Prisoner
A Civil Action
Buffalo 66
Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas
The Big Lebowski
Festen
Rushmore
Pleasantville
Enemy Of The State
There's Something About Mary
Out Of Sight
Rush Hour
He Got Game
The Waterboy
Snake Eyes
Hard Rain

✭✭
Bullworth
The Opposite Of Sex
Dark City
The Thin Red Line
Following
PI
Gods And Monsters
The General
A Bug's Life
Blade
Smoke Signals
Living Out Loud
The Wedding Singer
Antz

✭
Beloved
What Dreams May Come
Lethal Weapon
U.S Marshalls
The Man In The Iron Mask
Bride Of Chucky

Summer kicks off with "Iron Man 3"

It's kind of a funny thing when you think about Robert Downey Jr's story. The drugs, the sex, the crazy partying, the meltdowns - it all led to an insanely triumphant comeback and him becoming an action star playing Iron Man in 3 highly successful movies. It's not like he wasn't talented in the first place. He's made a career of memorable roles. Check out his fake African-American blackface in Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder or even his underseen role in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. The guy has talent. Taking about Kiss Kiss Bang Bang that film's director, Shane Black, has taken over Jon Favreau's duties as director of the newest Iron Man. If Iron Man 2 was a total and utter disappointment, this newest installment seems a bit more fresh and newly invigorated. Not to say that it hits the peaks of the original 2008 film which was one hell of a movie. That one felt fresh, innovative and just downright satirical about the whole superhero genre. Oh how the times have changed. Downey has sort of become a caricature of himself. He's still entertaining to watch but there isn't much freshness to his persona anymore. It helps that Iron Man 3's screenplay is much better written that the last one, much kudos must be given to Shane Black and Drew Pearce who collaborated on the screenplay.

Listen, with all that being said what I'm trying to imply is that it's going to be damn near impossible to reach the heights of the first Iron Man. As far as I'm concerned this is a franchise that can call it quits after this last film, an idea which will probably not be met very graciously by the studio heads given that the series keeps making the big bucks at the box office. In Iron Man 3 the baddies are played by capably brilliant actors -Ben Kingsley and Guy Pierce- that bring a real nice touch to a film that could have easily steered the wrong way. I'm not going to get into the whole plot which involves terrorism held by deeply rooted grudges against Downey's Tony Stark but there's enough meat here to recommend this popcorn movie. Iron Man 3 is sadly part of a summer movie crowd filled with product placements, action figure toys and a safe PG-13 rating. It isn't my kind of movie, it doesn't provoke and raise genuinely human ideas, but I'll still take it over most of the Hollywood drivel that'll get released between now and August 31st.

It's business as usual. The process of commerce over art is nothing new in Hollywood but taking the time to still tell a genuinely interesting story with character development can still be done in what will be a misbegotten summer movie season. No remakes. No reboots. No sequels. Imagine a Hollywood like that, sounds impossible eh? Just pure cinema. This summer expect commerce over art, it just happens. That's why you have to dig deep and find exceptions in the Hollywood studio system, Neil Blobkamp's Elysium, Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim and -yes even- Zack Snyder's The Man Of Steel look like carefully packaged studio products with lots of care and heart put into them. Everything else will most probably be relegated to the idea of business as usual.

Summer Movie MVPs

This is straight out of the archives. At the end of every summer I usually recap it with my "Summer movie Report Card". I thought it would be fun to post past winners of the "A" grade. Which is basically my own opinion of what were the best of the best. Summer is usually lacking in quality for film but these films defied logic and aimed for the sky. I usually bitch and bitch about the countless atrocities I watch every summer but, truth be told, there diamonds in the ruff. Take not, i didn't make one for 2011 but I'm tempted to try and sort the titles out and come up with a few titles.

1998
Saving Private Ryan, The Truman Show, There's Something About Mary, Out of Sight, Buffalo 66, Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas

1999
The Sixth Sense, South Park, Eyes Wide Shut, The Iron Giant, The Blair Witch Project, The Matrix

2000
Gladiator, Chicken Run

2001
Moulin Rouge, Artificial Intelligence, Shrek, Hedwig And The Angry Inch, Ghost World, The Others

2002
Minority Report, About A Boy, Road To Perdition, The Fast Runner, The Bourne Identity, Lovely And Amazing, One Hour Photo

2003
Finding Nemo, Capturing The Friedman's, American Splendor, 28 Days Later, The Magdalene Sisters, Dirty Pretty Things, Swimming Pool

2004
Collateral, Fahrenheit 9/11, Spider-Man 2, Before Sunset, Maria Full Of Grace, The Manchurian Candidate

2005
The 40 Year Old Virgin, Cinderella Man, Batman Begins, Grizzly Man, War Of The Worlds, Me You And Everyone We Know, Broken Flowers, Red Eye

2006
Little Miss Sunshine, The Descent

2007
Ratatouille, Knocked Up, Superbad

2008
WALL-E, The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Tell No One

2009
The Hurt Locker, Up, District 9, 500 Days Of Summer, Inglourious Basterds, In The Loop, Star Trek, Drag Me To Hell, Moon, Public Enemies

2010
Inception, Toy Story 3, Winter's Bone, The Kids Are All Right

2011
The Tree of Life, Bridesmaids, Super 8, Bellflower

12 Movies to Look forward to in Summer 2013

For most cinephiles that look for substance and signs of life in movies, summer is not the ideal movie season. It is a movie season filled with bombastic, popcorn entertainment aimed at horny, action-loving teenagers -and quite a few adults too. You want proof? Adam Sandler and his gang are back for a second round with "Grown-Ups 2", a sixth "Fast and The Furious" movie is coming out, Hugh Jackman is suiting up again for another "Wolverine" movie, and a third "Hangover" is about to attack your local movie theatre. Sequel upon sequel, remake after remake, That's the summer movie season for you. However, don't be discouraged fellow Awardsdaily readers for I have come here with very good news. There are signs of hope, directors trying to break the mold and movies from the studio system that actually look promising. These movies might just make our trips to the theatre a little bit more interesting. They have something most of the other movies don't have; buzz.

The Man Of Steel (June 14th)
Zack Snyder's track record isn't very good. His films -"The Watchmen" "300"- have done very well at the box office but have failed to ignite critics. I still have hope. Judging by the new 3 minute trailer of his upcoming Superman epic "Man Of Steel, producer Christopher Nolan's style has rubbed off on Snyder. This does not look like the sunny, picturesque Superman we saw in 2006's "Superman Returns". Instead, just like in Nolan's Batman trilogy, we have a flawed hero battling more than just the bad guys. The trailer gives hope that this might just be the darkest Superman movie we've ever encountered. I'm crossing my fingers, even with Snyder at the helm.

Only God Forgives (July 19th)
Director Nicolas Winding Refn is one of the hottest directors around. All thanks to his teaming with Ryan Gosling in 2011's retro-noir Drive. That was a great movie filled with luscious, irresistible style. In "Only God Forgives" Refn teams up again with Gosling in a crime-thriller set in Bangkok. Details are very hush hush about the whole thing but how can anyone resist this one. The trailer and newly unveiled neon bright movie poster makes it seem like this will be right up any "Drive" fan's alley. I cannot wait.

Elysium (August 9th)
Neil Blomkamp made one of the best science fiction movies of recent years with 2009's "District 9". This hotly anticipated sophomore effort, "Elysium", stars Matt Damon and Jodie Foster and just like his previous film it explores political themes such as immigration, health care and class issues. Right on. This is the film that might just make or break Blomkamp as a director and show us if "District 9" wasn't a one off hit. It has the potential to be something spectacular. With this kind of ambition and this kind of cast expect a popcorn movie with brains and an abundance of ideas.

The Great Gatsby (May 10th)
So Baz Luhrmann decided to take one of the great literary works of the last 100 years and turn it over its head by adding his trademark mix of glitz and excess. I'll take that over any sequel or remake coming out this summer. Add a great cast that includes the always remarkable Leonardo Dicaprio, Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire and you have a film that might just be remembered come Oscar time. Will this be the Luhrmann that popped our eyes with colorful visuals in 2001's "Moulin Rouge"? or will it be the director that completely bombed with his failed epic "Australia"? I'm not sure but I'm excited to see what he has in store for us.

Before Midnight (May 24th)
This might be the most anticipated sequel for any true movie fan this summer. And guess what? 95% of the general public have no idea that this is even coming out. Amen to that. Director Richard Linklater is a true American maverick and with this movie trilogy he has explored some of the greatest questions we have had about love and relationships. 2004's "Before Sunset" was a great movie but left us with a few questions unanswered. The filmmaking was incredible and the acting solid. In "Before Midnight" our couple is back but this time they are mired in married life and struggle to find the unity they once had.

Fruitvale (July 26th)
Coming off one of the greater Sundance showings in recent memory, in which it won both the Jury Prize and Audience Award, Ryan Coogler's "Fruitvale" is bound for greatness. Taking place on the last day of 2008, the film expores a day in the life of Oscar, a 22 year old Bay resident who crosses paths with family and friends. An air of doom is the ambience here and director Coogler has gotten tremendous praise for this small indie film. It might just be this year's "Precious" or "Beasts Of
The Southern Wild" and we all know how well those movies turned out when it was nomination time.

The Bling Ring (June 14th)
Director Sofia Coppola has not really had an Oscar contender since 2003 when she made the masterful Bill Murray/Scarlett Johanssen love story "Lost In Translation". "Marie Antoinette" and "Somewhere" both garnered mixed reviews and were quickly forgotten come awards time. Inspired by the true story of a group of celeb obsessed teenagers that would track down celebrity homes and rob them,  Coppola's "The Bling Ring" promises to be a return of sorts to the teen angst of her very impressive 2000 debut "The Virgin Suicides". With a cast of mostly unknowns -safe for the very reliable Emma Watson- Coppola will surely try to garner back the acclaim that she once had as a very promising filmmaker. I still think she is.


Frances Ha (May 17th)

Noah Baumbach has never been big with Oscar but his films are more than just that. "The Squid And The Whale" director is a talent that doesn't play by Hollywood's rules. His latest is called "Frances Ha" and it has garnered plenty of solid buzz at film festivals. I have seen it and it is great. A return to form from a director who's last few efforts lacked a little something something. Going back to New york and shooting in beautiful black and white, Baumbach casts his "Greenberg" star Greta Gerwig as a woman in her late 20's looking for herself post college-life. It's a film that greatly describes the dilemma many young women face once college life is over and responsibility kicks in. 

Monsters University (June 21st)

What would summer be without a new release from our favourite film animation company. Pixar has been in a rut as of late. As much as I liked "Brave"it didn't reach the heights of previous Pixar classics such as "WALL-E", "UP" and "Ratatouille". Their penchant for making sequels as of late is also rubbing off on me the wrong way. A "Finding Nemo" sequel is in the works for next year and their dreaded sequel to "Cars" constituted a new low for the film company. Their latest is a sequel to Monsters Inc, a solid film from 13 years ago that didn't really need the back to school treatment. Nevertheless, I'm hoping this doesn't turn out to be a cash grab like "Cars 2" and turns out to be as witty and smart as the first film. 

Pacific Rim (July 12th)

Here's one that could either suck or kick ass. Since director Guillermo Del Toro is a visual wizard -watch "Pan's Labyrinth", "Hellboy" or "The Devil's Backbone"- I'm betting this one will kick ass. Judging by the trailer the plot is all over the place and involves aliens taking over earth and human-controlled robots trying to destroy them. It's not masterpiece theatre nor is it likely an awards contenders but sometimes all need to check your brain at the door and just enjoy the ride. This might just be the ticket. Movie geeks all around the world will be drooling. 

World War Z (June 21st)
Zombies are all the rage these days. In "World War Z" Brad Pitt teams up with director Marc Foster for an apocalyptic Zombie film that is more "28 Days Later" than "Warm Bodies". It has the ingredients to be one hell of a film and if the trailer is any indication we probably won't have much time to catch our breath in this film. I trust Pitt's film choices -safe for "The Mexican" what was that all about?!- and director Marc Foster has proven himself to be a pretty damn competent mainstream filmmaker -Watch "Monster's Ball".

Star Trek - Into Darkness (May 17th)
Who are we kidding here?! The first Star Trek of this newly rebooted franchise was fresh and fun to watch. It even made a bunch of critics top ten lists. JJ Abrams is back as director of the second film and it looks like we might be in for one hell of a ride. Abrams really seems to be coming in on his own as a filmmaker and the trailer makes it look like he's going to be playing with a lot of different colours and images. Expect lots of surprises for this one.

Holy Moses

Cannes 2013

Another great Cannes lineup is upon us. This year you can count on having some new films by such auteurs as Winding Refn, The Coen Brothers, Polanski, Payne, Soderbergh, Gray and Farhadi. The big Prize is the Palme D'Or and it probably is the most prestigious film festival prize in the world. Below is the competition and after that are recent Palme D'Or winners.

Competition:

• Only God Forgives – Nicolas Winding Refn
• Inside Llewyn Davis – Ethan & Joel Coen
• Borgman – Alex Van Warmerdam
• Venus in Fur – Roman Polanski
• Nebraska – Alexander Payne
• Jeune et jolie – François Ozon
• La grande bellezza (The Great Beauty) – Paolo Sorrentino
• Behind The Candelabra – Steven Soderbergh
• Wara No Tate (Shield of Straw) – Takashi Miike
• La vie d’Adèle – Abdellatif Kechiche
• Soshite Chich Ni Naru (Like Father, Like Son) - Hirokazu Kore-eda
• Tian Zhy Ding – Zhangke Jia
• Grisgris – Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
• The Immigrant – James Gray
• Le Passé – Asghar Farhadi
• Heli – Amat Escalante
• Jimmy P. (Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian) – Arnaud Desplechin
• Michael Kohlhaas – Arnaud des Pallières
• Un Château en Italie – Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi

2012 Amour 
2011 The Tree Of life
2010 Uncle Boonmee
2009 The White Ribbon
2008 The Class
2007 4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days 
2006 The Wind That Shakes The Barley
2005 The Child
2004 Fahrenheit 9/11
2003 Elephant
2002 The Pianist
2001 The Son's Room
2000 Dancer In The Dark

Pixar, "Finding Dory" and the end of an era?

Pixar ended up revealing earlier last week that they will be making Finding Dory -a sequel to Finding Nemo- set for release in 2015. Which got me thinking .. did we really need this? I've championed Pixar for as long as I can remember, I mean just look at their track record filled with animated classics -WALL-E, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Finding Nemo, Toy Story 1,2,3 and Up. Lately they've taken a liking to making sequels, sure it worked with the Toy Story franchise but it didn't work with the preposterous followup to Cars and this summer a sequel to the playful Monsters Inc. smells of a money grab and there's been talk of a sequel to The Incredibles.

The followup to Finding Nemo -a Pixar classic- has me filled with doubt about its very existence. I really,  truly believe that it is not a priority for them to make sequel after sequel but to make art instead .. yet Disney is probably pushing them hard to make as much money as possible and the safest way to do that is to make a sequel to an already very popular film.  Pixar is at its best when they create a story from scratch. The creative team behind this company is second to none and has gained a great reputation over the years for their mix of art and commerce. The fact that lately they keep piling up the sequels is bad news for anyone that cherishes and sees their films as works of art. So it is then no surprise that news has come out that Disney has layed off most of its hand drawn animation staff - terrible news that only enhances the fact that Pixar will probably be taking over most of the company's animated releases. Which also means that there will be even more pressure on Pixar to perform at the box office - this will all result in more sequels to come and much less emphasis on the artistic process

Of course I hope I'm wrong. I still look forward to a Pixar release every year and DID enjoy last year's innocent but beautifully made Brave. When Pixar started more than 2 decades ago the sky was the limit for the animation studio, they had free reign to do whatever they wanted, could choose stories that were more adult  that any other animated movie around and could take risks that payed off magnificently. Now, it is turning into business as usual as Pixar will be getting more and more pressure from Disney to perform at the box office, let's see how this one turns out but I'm betting there isn't a happy ending to this story.

Roger Ebert 1943-2013

 

Hearing about Roger Ebert's passing yesterday brought back memories. Some very vivid, others very melancholic. I remembered a time when movie criticism meant something and the notion of Friday coming up meant new reviews by Roger Ebert at the Chicago Sun Times. His passing will be felt. No one wrote like him. No one loved movies as much as he did. No one convinced me more to watch a movie as he did. He was the epitome of what film criticism should be about, coming from the old school and integrating himself with the new school -with his world famous, highly intelligent blog- but NEVER losing touch of himself or his ideals.

He never let the nasty, relentless cancer he was battling for close to 10 years get to him. It took his jaw and it took away his speech but it never took away his breathless words. Words that seemed to come out so effortlessly and with such rigor and passion that you almost hated him out of jealousy for the way he could make you or any other film writer look like a second-tier fool. We all knew this day would come and so did he but we didn't want to think about it, we didn't want to believe in a film world without him. Now it has come and it feels like the end of an era. The end of a time when a review could mean sometime and could change the way your perceived everything around you.

Roger Ebert IS the last breed of film criticism, in a world now filled with wannabes masqueraded as bloggers and high brow type. He lived a long fruitful life that I'm sure he was quite appreciative of. We all know of his unadorned love for his wife Chaz - their marriage looked to be like the example of what a successful marriage should be like. We all know of his love for not just movies but writing. And boy did he write well, no film critic wrote as well as Roger Ebert. His explanations and notions of a movie were beautifully written and every review he wrote had a passion that defied everything you first thought at first of that movie. He made you rethink it all and want to watch the movie again. THAT is really what a film critic is supposed to do. I will miss Roger Ebert tremendously and as life goes on I will go back to his reviews and remember a time when film criticism meant something. The balcony has been closed.

"Side Effects"

Steven Soderbergh's filmography reads like a true cinematic almanac of the past 20 years. Landmark stuff such as “Traffic”, “Out Of Sight”, “Sex, Lies And Videotape”, “Ocean's Eleven”, “The Limey” and “Erin Brokovich” have given the enigmatic director a truly unique style. So it is sad to hear him say that his latest film –Side Effects- will be his last one and that he will start focusing more on producing and TV. Well if he’s going out, it’s with a real bang. “Side Effects” might just be the twistiest, most playful film of his career. An homage to Hitchcock of sorts. To reveal the plot would be the same as explaining to a newbie what Hitchcock's Psycho is about, you just don’t say anything. You want to know as little as possible about the film going into it, its guilty pleasures are surprising to say the least.

This is probably the best big studio movie I've seen so far in 2013, which doesn’t say much considering its competition is non-existent. Even though “Side Effects” is easily the best Hollywood has come up with so far this year, don’t sweat into thinking it’ll make it to the big dance at the Kodak theatre come next March. Soderbergh’s film is not about awards, it is instead about cinematic jolts and it’s got plenty of them in its 100 minute running time.

The actors do a great job, starting with Rooney Mara as a depressive-suicidal ad agent who's husband just got out of jail. Mara, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and The Social Network, is an actress with a very bright future. The roles she picks have serious depth and the directors she chooses to work with are very talented. She is fast becoming one of my favourite actresses around and in this particular film you can feel the anger, passion and angst that consumes her on a daily basis. It's an emotionally charged performance that again impressed me a whole lot. Ditto Jude Law, who's been MIA the last few years -what with that whole babysitter scandal- but he brings here real dark humor to his lead role as a psychiatrist prescribing meds left and right. I almost forgot just how good of an actor he is, if there is anyone in this film that deserves a nomination it’s him.

This is an entertaining time at the movies and the way Soderbergh handles the camera fully justifies some of the absurd directions the screenplay goes to, especially at the film's end (WTF). That very screenplay could have used some more polish to explain a little better some of the more dumbfounding plot holes. Nevertheless, this is just really well done filmmaking from a director that is a master at his craft. Soderbergh has had a great impact on American cinema in the past 25 years, he is one of the few American directors left that I would truly consider as an “auteur”. I hope this this isn’t the last we hear of him.

AN IMAGE - Cannes 66

What a beauty of a poster to kick start what will most likely be another great Cannes Film Festival -the 66th one! Movie buffs will revel in the kiss shared between Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward from 1963's little seen A New Kind Of Love. A beautiful poster that took my breath away the first time I saw it. Director Melvin Shavelson's film might not be a masterpiece but it is remembered for this great kiss between Woodward and Newman. Leave it to the folks over at the Cannes Festival to make art out of advertisement. Now if only I can find a way to get that poster. As for the fest itself, it starts on the 15th of May and ends on the 26th of that month - it was recently announced that Baz Lhurmann's long delayed adaptation of The Great Gatsby will open the fest. The rest of the lineup has not been announced but is eagerly anticipated as it always produces new work from great auteurs.

Kubrick's "The Shining" further explored in new DOC

Stanley Kubrick's films are quite something aren't they? The more you watch them the more you start

noticing new things you hadn't seen at first hand. THAT my friends is what cinema is all about to me. The potential for revelation. The potential to explore the great beyond. Most movies are two and two is four. What are the movies that represent the most ADVANCED math? The far bounds of particle physics? The Einstein or Stephen Hawking notebooks that no one has quite figured out the squiggles of? The skullcrushing Advanced Calculus to the 99th Power? That was a question that was recently asked by a friend of mine on Facebook - to which I had to mention recent fare such as; 

Terrence Malik's The Tree Of Life 

David Lynch's Mulholland Drive 

Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan 

Michael Haneke's Cache 

Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood & The Master

Joel Coen's No Country For Old Men

Alfonso Cuarron's Children Of Men

Let's face it. No brainers right? Films that will be undisputed film school staples for years to come. Just like Stanley Kubrick's films already are. 2001: A Space Oddysey is his visionary masterpiece, a film that cannot fit into the 2+2=4 category. One that needs a closer look to -at least try to- fully understand its vision and impact on your mind. These are the kind of movies I eat up. Films that don't give a fuck and aim for the beyond. Kubrick's The Shining -another masterpiece of his- deserves inclusion into this category. It is a film that doesn't play by any rules of the horror genre and decides to not explain to us the full gist of what's happening on screen. We know it is about a father that completely loses it on his family and tries to murder them but why the sudden murderous rage? Kubrick doesn't answer that question in a linear manner. The hotel at which the family is staying is filled with a haunted past that we -as the audience- need to figure out. 

The images Kubrick conjures are indelibly puzzling but haunting. Too many scenes cannot be fully explained on the spot. Why does the wife walk in on a man in a bear suit giving a blowjob to a hotel clerk? What's the deal with the film's final image in which an eerily ancient painting features Jack Nicholson's Jack Torrence? Who was that creepy woman in room 237? Redrum? The "river of blood"? Those creepy twin girls? "all work and no play". Just so much stuff to dissect. Which brings me to this new documentary called Room 237 which will come out in the next few weeks and has gotten great buzz for its obsessive look at some of The Shining's most puzzling moments and the fans that eat this stuff up for breakfast.
 

The film does massively play with a sense of space and time - e.g. the blueprint of the Overlook doesn't add up. The doors beside room 237 make no sense (the interior of the apartement covers these doors, so they go nowhere). There is a corridor running behind Ullman's office, yet his office window shows the outside. There are windows on three sides of the Torrance's apartment, yet when Danny is dropped through the bathroom window, that whole side of the hotel is flat. All this leading to a final head-screw image, to twist your head off completely as the film finishes. The film should be looked at more in terms of its feelings and tones (like a David Lynch film) rather than logic. The subtext is about Jack being weak as an abusive alcoholic, Wendy being weak as a mother who ignores it, Danny being a kid who dissociates as a way of dealing with it - and how that dynamic breaks the family apart. Everything on the surface hints at those themes, but without a clear sense of logic.

The film cannot all be taken literally but this new documentary does try to attempt to solve some of the film's nuttiest mysteries. Which brings me back to the movies that represent "advanced math". If The Shining isn't one of those very movies, I don't know what is. I look forward to watching Room 237 but with a little hesitation. Some films don't need to explained but do in fact need to be dissected. Does that make sense? It sure does to me. Cinema is an art form and like all great art there doesn't need to necessarily be one answer. There can be many. Kubrick knows that. That's why The Shining is a full fledged masterpiece.

Roger Deakins.

I Guess I shouldn't really diss Oscar any further BUT I can't help it. Case in point; Roger Deakins. A legendary cinematographer that has NEVER won an Oscar. The below montage will show you some of his best shots and why the boneheads over at the Academy can't their minds straight and finally award this genius the Oscar he deserves. I know, I know .. an Oscar doesn't mean jack but still it's the recognition that counts for me and Deakins has already 10 nominations but zero wins. Absurd. Especially considering he's probably the best cinematographer at the moment in the industry. Blasphemy. I expanded on this idea after having read the FOLLOWING  piece over at Awards Daily. Anyways on with the montage.

Kubrick and Spielberg team up again for "Napoleon"?

Here we go. Now THIS is film news ! People have long known that I have an unequivocal obsessions with Stanley Kubrick's long lost passion project on Napoleon. Hell, the un-filmed screenplay is one of the most popular screenplays downloaded online. It's become the stuff of legend. In the 60's Kubrick was developing a possible film on the life of Napoleon and had already cast Jack Nicholson in the role. The legendary director even said this would be "The greatest movie I've ever made" - which says a lot given that is the same guy that gave us classics such as 2001 A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange and Dr. Strangelove. Anyways long story short a film about Napoleon came out before his even began filming and was a complete flop, which had studios scared at the prospect of another one, especially since this one already had a high budget to begin with. The whole project was scrapped and became the stuff of legend. I mean, think about a 3 hour Kubrick epic about one of the most fascinating characters to have ever lived on the face of the earth.

Yesterday's news was a breath of fresh air has it was unveiled that Spielberg will try and tackle Kubrick's screenplay for the small screen as part of a TV Mini Series. This isn't the first time Spielberg tackled a lost Kubrick opus, the other time was in 2001 when he released AI: Artifical Intelligence which was based on an idea Kubrick had developed over three decades. Suffice to say, I believe that film is a masterpiece -some clearly don't- and the thought of Spielberg tackling Kubrick again sounds incredible. Kubrick spent years researching Napolean, going through as many as 18,000 documents and books. The Kubrick family trusts Spielberg and I do too. Of course the contrasting differences between Spielberg and Kubrick are big but hey, is there anyone out there who can mimic Kubrick well enough? Maybe Paul Thomas Anderson. Now that would be something. For now let's just trust Spielberg with this one, his last film -Lincoln- was a very well made historical drama.

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/2013/03/04/speilberg-developing-kubricks-napoleon/

Top 50 American films 1980's

1) Do The Right Thing (Spike Lee)
2) Blue Velvet (David Lynch)
3) Platoon (Oliver Stone)
4) Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese)
5) The Fly (David Cronenberg)
6) Brazil (Terry Gilliam)
7) Terms Of Endearment (James L Brooks)
8) Blow Out (Brian DePalma)
9) The Elephant Man (David Lynch)
10) Back To The Future (Robert Zemeckis)

11) Broadcast News (James L Brooks)
12) The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner)
13) Die Hard (John McTiernan)
14) Something Wild (Jonathan Demme)
15) Rain Man (Barry Levinson)
16) The Last Temptation Of Christ (Martin Scorsese)
17) The Shining (Stanley Kubrick)
18) Witness (Peter Weir)
19) Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown (Pedro Almodovar)
20) Batman (Tim Burton)

21) Prizzi's Honor (John Huston)
22) The King Of Comedy (Martin Scorsese)
23) After Hours (Martin Scorsese)
24) Mississippi Burning (Alan Parker)
25) Mask (Peter Bogdonovich)
26) The Killing Fields (Rolland Joffe)
27) Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Robert Zemeckis)
28) Big (Penny Marshall)
29) Raising Arizona (Joel Coen)
30) Risky Business (Paul Brickman)

31) The Untouchables (Brian DePalma)
32) The Terminator (James Cameron)
33) Hannah And Her Sisters (Woody Allen)
34) The Purple Rose Of Cairo (Woody Allen)
35) Broadway Danny Rose (Woody Allen)
36) Blood Simple (Joel Coen)
37) Full Metal Jacket (Stanley Kubrick)
38) The Accidental Tourist (Lawrence Kasdan)
39) Dead Poets Society (Peter Weir)
40) Bad Boys (Rick Rosenthal)

41) Mad Max (George Miller)
42) Scarface (Brian DePalma)
43) Predator (John McTiernan)
44) Fatal Attraction (Adrian Lyne)
45) Atlantic City (Louis Malle)
46) River's Edge (Tim Hunter)
47) Superman 2 (Richard Lester)
48) Crimes And Misdemeanors (Woody Allen)
49) Raiders Of The Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg)
50) The Temple Of Doom (Steven Spielberg)

Post-Oscar bashing

It's not always fun to watch the Oscars, one would even call it a frustrating experience.What with all the infuriating choices they pick year by year. Remember when Crash won Best Picture in 2006? Or Goodfellas getting beaten by -wait for it- Dances With Wolves. Ahh yes, the Academy Awards .. the same organization that has never given an Oscar to Alfred Hitchcock or Stanley Kubrick and waited a whole 35 years before giving Best Director to our greatest living filmmaker Martin Scorsese. The same Academy that never gave a Best Picture nomination to such classics as Do The Right Thing, The Player, Leaving Las Vegas, Breaking The Waves, The Truman Show, Being John Malkovich, Fight Club, Mulholland Drive, Memento, Eternal Sunshine, A History Of Violence, Children Of Men, The Dark Knight, The Wrestler, Black Swan, Drive and -most recently- The Master  ... And that's just the last 25 years of cinema. Imagine the other 75. You get what I'm saying, this is a race infused with political bullshit and it's not may the best picture win but may the best campaign come out on top. This is how it went down this year and how it should have really went down.

Best Picture
who won? Argo .. grrr
Who shoulda won? The Master ..not even nominated

Best Director
Who Won? Ang Lee Life Of Pi
Who shoulda won? Paul Thomas Anderson The Master .. not even nominated

Best Actor
Who Won? Daniel Day Lewis Lincoln
Who shoulda Won? Joaquin Pheonix The Master

Best Actress
Who Won? Jennifer Lawrence Silver Linings Playbook
Who shoulda won? Jessica Chastain Zero Dark Thirty

Best Supporting Actor
Who won? Christoph Waltz  Django Unchained
Who shoulda won? Samuel L Jackon Django Unchained or Matthew McConaughey Magic Mike .. both not even nominated

Best Supporting Actress
Who won? Anne Hattaway Les Miserables
Who shoulda won? Anne Dowd Compliance .. not even nominated