Archives For academy awards

Let’s see~~~ There’s 65 Countries competing for 5 spots on the Foreign Film category this time around, from which I have seen… around… TWO, hahaha. I’ve seen only Madeo (Mother) from Korea, and La Teta Asustada (Milk of Sorrow) from Peru. But I’m watching No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti from Taiwan this weekend~

Also want to watch Mei Lanfang (Forever Enthralled) from China, The White Ribbon from Germany, and Dare mo Mamotte Kurenai (Nobody to Watch Over me) from Japan. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to find some of those Asian contenders if I look hard enough…

On Animated news~ apparently there are 20 Animated Features that could compete for possible 5 spots for Best Animated Feature. Among these 20 animated films? The kind of Peruvian The Dolphin – Story of a Dreamer. Yup, that’s right. From these 20 films, 7 have yet to be released in the US market (including Dolphin), in the case they can’t meet the deadline, they wouldn’t be able to compete.

There should be at least 16 films that meet the requirement, otherwise we’d be stuck with the 3 regular nominations, which wouldn’t be bad… we just have to be more picky. LOL

From those 20, I’ve seen 5… Coraline, Mary and Max, Monsters vs. Aliens, Ponyo, and UP. And I plan to watch 9 (Nine) over the weekend~~~ so I’ll let you know how that goes~

Late post! Internet issues! But it gave me the time to watch this awesome kick-ass animated film that apparently was released early in the year, but I have heard nothing about it. So Amy do, as Amy does.

I am pushing for a nomination, ha! Here’s a brief write-up:

I just saw the best animated film I’ve seen all year. A stop-motion funny, yet compelling serious drama about the unlikely friendship between one cute, albeit kinda weird, 8-year-old girl in Australia and some 40-something-year-old Jewish/Atheist man living in New York.

You should all try to check it out, even if it’s online because if it weren’t for the internet, I wouldn’t have EVER heard about it.

Now I’m pushing for a nomination… AT LEAST a nomination. We all know Pixar’s UP is a lock on it, and will probably win (boooooring), so I’m pushing for Mary and Max this season.

If it gets a nod (very unlikely, since there’s no marketing or buzz), I will die of happiness~~~ xD

Check out my FyC graphics here and here.

More Japan at the Oscar?

September 10, 2009 — Leave a comment

Kawaii Joyuu is reporting that Japan has just chosen Dare mo Mamotte Kurenai (Nobody to Watch Over Me) to represent them in the next race for the Academy Awards. If they are successful, Japan would win Best Foreign Film for the 2nd time in a row, which would be awesome. I haven’t seen the film yet, but I’m skeptical…

They are also reporting a possible Oscar nod for Mirai Shida… which I’m a little even more skeptical.

First of all, it’s way too early to predict anything considering studios have decided to start late this year, meaning that “most” Academy contenders will be released in November and December. Except for films like Precious (aka. Push) or An Education which premiered at Sundance, it will all be about keeping momentum during new Academy releases season.

Then, as we all know the Academy lurvs English speaking. It is very rare for a non-English lead role to win… It’s happened twice in the Lead Actress category (and once? in Lead Actor with Benigni) with Sophia Loren for Two Women (which I recently saw, *swoon*) and my dear Marion Cotillard for La Vie en Rose~~~

I’m getting excited with this future Oscar race~~~

Carey Mulligan Searches~

August 26, 2009 — 1 Comment

There’s been a sudden search for Carey Mulligan on this site, and now I know why. However, I’m not going to be talking about it because it deals with her personal life, and to be honest… why was this important? Not that she’s not important, it’s just the whole who she is/might/not might be dating.

Yes, I know. I’m being a hypocrite, but I’ve been trying to cut down on gossip on some actors and actresses.  Plus, you should all be focusing in the fact that she is still leading (until aug 24th) the Lead Actress race for the Oscar! And not because she’s been photographed with this actor, and all the fangirls are searching for the competition xD

You should just be approving. LOL
Just watch the An Education Trailer~

Best Actress - Carey Mulligan

Tokyo Film Festival 2009The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF, not to be confused with Toronto LOL) has just announced that Mexican director Alejandro Gonzales Iñárritu (Amores Perros, Babel) will be presiding the 22nd edition of the festival to be held from  October 17 to October 25th this year.

Also… like I’ve mentioned before, the Tokyo Film Fest, alongside the Shanghai Film Fest are quickly turning into the most important in the region.

Anyway, as all things West media… when you search for the news, you get the articles talking about how dolphin documentary The Cove wasn’t allowed to open the festival. With titles such as “Will Tokyo Film Fest man up and show The Cove?” or “Hypocrisy, Thy Name Is Tokyo Film Festival.”

That is why I was so disappointed that our film, after winning awards in the last 13 film festivals it had entered, was rejected by the Tokyo Film Festival, whose theme this year is green. Not that it is that much of a shocker, but the main goal for making the film was to shut down the cove in Taijii, Japan, where 2,300 dolphins are killed every year.

Remember that time when Hayden Panettiere got in trouble in Japan for eh… I dunno, swimming with the dolphins?

But you know, dolphins are cute this is why it deserves a documentary (and it will probably win an Oscar for it if the cuteness continues). Penguins are cute too, I admit it (and they also won an Oscar, LOL). But cows aren’t. This is why cows don’t get a documentary, and we all get to eat meat regardless of how they are slaughtered.

I’m usually not a big fan of this one-side documentaries, because I’m pretty sure they won’t show how Taiji sees this as a way to sustain its town. And it will be all about saving the dolphins… and the people saving them. – I’m looking at you Panettiere. xD – I wonder if they give an alternative to sustain the town’s economy, as well as ranting about how people kill dolphins. You know, it’s fine to show the problem, but it’s not much use without a solution. So we stop hunting them, then what? How would they survive? Please, they’d better not suggest “Dolphin Watching” or I’ll shoot myself. As far as I’m concerned, we shouldn’t be allowed on “x-animal watching” ever and allow the disturbance in their habitat.

Anyway, this has turned into a rant instead of reporting. LOL

I love eating. I love meat, I can’t live without it. A meal without meat feels not done.

One of the reasons I can’t be a Buddhist – I tried a Buddhist meal once in Hong Kong. So good, but gone so fast. Had to eat again 2hrs. later. Perhaps, I can suggest watching Departures? Things sometimes need to die for you to survive.

Here’s The Cove website.

Here’s a bit more on the Film Festival timeline~~~

Also, when I was 17-ish… I used to sort of look up to PETA, now I just think they’re pretty annoying. Perhaps they should try to change the way they preach. It seems like they just lost something along the way. Like their sanity.

Crap! Now I’m really in the mood for some Sirloin. T-T

Joan Crawford - Mildred PierceIt’s been announced that Kate Winslet will be in a new adaptation of James M. Cain’s novel Mildred Pierce. This time around a miniseries… possibly involving HBO, directed by the Far from Heaven (Julianne Moore) director Todd Haynes. HBO does pretty good miniseries…

but I dunno how to feel~~~

Before, the novel was adapted into the movie that earned Fab Joan Crawford her Oscar for Best Actress in 1945.

I loved the movie. It came with my Joan Crawford movie collection, and it made me want to slap Veda so so SO bad~~~ I’m fascinated by the way Crawford led her life… she took it all, man. Until the end.

They don’t make them like that any longer. Stars love to bitch now. They want their privacy, but do nothing. They love the attention, but they bitch. That’s how they make them now…

As you may also know… I’m also fascinated by Greta Garbo. Fell in love with the both of them. Garbo gave it all up for her privacy. That’s how you do it… stars now can’t.

Also, my dad loved the movie too. xD
Had so much fun watching it, and wanting to slap Veda around too.

This just in via InsidetheGold and TheEnvelope

The next Oscars derby will be more heated – and crowded. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences just announced that the best picture race will now include 10 contenders instead of the usual five.

I don’t know what to feel. On one side, I feel sort of happy that there will be more films to be included as Best Picture – on the other hand, I think it’s a very bad idea. On a voting-side, having 10 nominees means that each film has a 10% chance… the film that get’s over 10% has the better chance of winning. Let’s say the Academy has 5000 members (just saying…) that means only 500 votes.

I also don’t like the number 10 for nominations. Seems to chunky a list. LOL

I would be very happy with the decision of making it 10 Best Picture nominees, if the rules for foreign films were to change, and all countries are allowed to send more than one film. Moreover, independent films should be included or at least get a chance against big studios who spend tons of dollars to promote it just for Award Season. Otherwise, we’ll just end up with a 10 big studio film list. What’s up with that?

Carey Mulligan

That is a photo of Carey Mulligan looking a bit different, but a pretty cool photograph. Who’s Carey Mulligan, you say? Well, I first spotted her as Elsie on My Boy Jack (starring Daniel Radcliffe), but truth be told~ I couldn’t pay much attention to it until her scenes came up.

Where else have you seen her? She was also Kitty on Pride & Prejudice (the one with Keira), and Doctor Who as Sally Sparrow. And she seems to be having a pretty busy 2009~~~ with The Greatest (with Susan Sarandon), Public Enemies (with Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard~~~ Ooh la!), Brothers (with Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Natalie Portman~~~ another Ooh la!), and An Education (by writer Nick Hornby) – in fact, I was checking out The Awards Circuit, and turns out they have her listed for this film as a Best Actress Nomination until now!

Now that’s pretty impressive.

Next-next up for her? Never Let Me Go (by Kazuo Ishiguro… with Keira, and Sally Hawkins) and The Electric Slide (with Ewan McGregor).

Ooh la~~~

I finally got to see Tsumiki no Ie (or La Maison en Petits Cubes)!! This year’s Academy Award-winning animated short~~~ I remember I had only read the synopsis, after watching all the other four nominated shorts, and thought “Wow, that’s a pretty interesting write-up. I’m giving it my vote” and then it WON. Woohoo!

Well, perhaps it was just chance~~ After watching it, I feel it was very deserving. To tell you the truth, I’m a little tired of 3d animation, so watching this was like a breath of fresh air. It’s a quiet little piece that explores the memories of an old man that was forced to ‘bury’ part of his history… I liked it. It made me feel very melancholic~~ NO dialogue… though I’ve read the Japanese version has a voiced-over version (by Masami Nagasawa… which surprised me a little.) – However, I don’t think the piece needs narration~~~

Check out the shorts after the break,
Continue Reading…

For Part I of this post, click away~~

Okay, today is not really early either… but this will have to do because I only have 3 years to go. In case you haven’t read the first part, or are lazy to read it now that I’ve given you the link… I got a little mad remembering films that should have won in years past~~ which include Tekkonkinkreet, and/or Paprika getting nominations in 2006 (or 2007, pick your release date issue).

So just after the break, I will be talking about 2005, 2007 and 2008…

Continue Reading…