The Last Breath Before the Festivities Come

Bye-bye, September. Goodbye, last month of bipolar weather (tornados, heat waves, sudden drops and spikes, assholery weather in general), and looking forward to the cooling breath of October. It's raining ferociously today and I'm LOVING it.

Best of all, the fall season means that it's officially time to start speculating Oscar. Of course, it's an yearly ongoing discourse. Bloggers and movie fans briefly sojourn in a state of sickened exhaustion after the Oscars take place, barely taking time to return to a state of normalcy before Sundance comes along and revs them back up. But most early speculation consist of potshots. I came across an Oscar prediction article in April (for God's sake) that predicted The American to win Best Picture for 2011. (Er, just to put it out now and forever, any movie that has the competent but uninteresting Mr. Clooney as its leading man will never win Best Picture. He's charismatic but also an emotional vacuum, and there's always an overly-complacent vagueness to his charm that counteracts any force of conflict of depth. Hence, it's difficult to be invested in him. We like 'em outlandish)

*Dammit! I really did lose half this blog entry. Quick re-write:

September deaths: RIP Sally Menke, editor and MVP to Quentin Tarantino. She was a hero of mine, especially during a short period briefly back when I wanted to become a film editor. Her untimely and tragic death already sparked whispers about whether Tarantino can retain the same level of quality without her. I think he can, but all the same, it's surely a creative and personal blow for him. Menke left big shoes to fill.

Wonderfully funny and (now sad) tradition QT did for Sally Menke:

RIP to Tony Curtis and Gloria Stuart as well.

"The Social Network" marks the beginning of real-time Oscar season, especially with the reviews nearing a hysterical peak. It only makes me more anxious for this to be a Great Movie. Please let it reinvigorate the movie industry into writing great dialogue again, and please let it mark the auspicious beginnings of a better movie decade than the last.

September trailers amp up the growing Oscar excitement: The King's Speech, and True Grit.

Love the song. Love the unknown girl they picked, especially her deliberate line delivery. Cinematographer Roger Deakins is so finally winning his due with this.

Audience members who have already seen it at Toronto are falling over themselves left and right to assure people that it's much better than its pandering trailer. Will rightfully cement Colin Firth's status as one of the best actors of his generation, and perhaps begin a career revival for the unfailingly great Helena Bonham-Carter (no, Harry Potter and her husband's bad movies don't really count, though she was awesome in them).

A Very Tarantino Dream

I had a dream last night about Quentin Tarantino (!). We were sitting together and collaborating for his next movie. Ideas were spinning out of his head faster than I could process them, though at point I told him it reeked in comparison to Pulp Fiction. "And you want to make the protagonist have a dead wife?" I said scornfully. "That's so Christopher Nolan."

"Nolan is a silly director," he muttered, still writing feverishly. "In my hands it'll will be instant auteur material." I nodded, very impressed. Then I opened my mouth again to ask him what he thought of Bright Star - I always strongly associate Tarantino with Bright Star, since one of the biggest surprises of 2009 was hearing that Tarantino was a strong fan, and even wrote Jane Campion a letter detailing his appreciation for the movie. Sadly, my dream zoomed into another dimension before I could ask the question.

+ =

Fight Club Afterbirth and QT on Strangulation

Advantage of having the whole world on your side, a la Conan O'Brien? A kickass roster of interviewees who are actually interesting in addition to being famous. The past week alone saw Jeff Bridges, Ricky Gervais, Martin Scorsese, Colin Firth, Joel McHale of "The Soup" fame, and Adam Sandler (why is it that comedians are so much funnier than the movies they star in? It's like they forget the beauty of improvisation the moment they step on set). And the interviews were rich fodder for useless-trivia geeks like me. Apparently, Jeff Bridges talks to dolphins and Martin Scorsese is a near agoraphobic. You know what they say about geniuses..

One of the best interviews was Tarantino, who at one point reduced Conan into a minute of stunned, nervous chuckles, and I was in the same state. One of the most violent mainstream directors of all time, talking about his great skill with little kids? Tarantino-colored glasses can be quite frightening to peep into. 

(Kenneth the Page sees the world in muppets and Jack Donaghy sees the world in dollar signs. Wonder how QT sees the world? I'd rather not stray into that territory)

But thankfully, Conan actually seemed to be interested in the man's skill, not just his perverse social perspective, and so we got a nice little insight into QT's work. BTW, Tarantino just *has* to be on Inside the Actor's Studio someday. Think about it - James Lipton's meticulously researched, analytical probing + QT's enthusiastic, personal insights = cinematic bliss. 

I cringed when they veered into the topic of strangulation, but QT's take on it turned out to be oddly fascinating. I love how immersed he is into every psychological detail of a physical act. In this video review of "There Will Be Blood", he talks about the opening scene where Plainview breaks his legs, and about the implications of the unseen aftermath on the character. Here on Conan, he talked about how strangulation is unique to humans alone (opposable thumbs), and how the face-to-face intimacy is precisely what makes it such an inhumane and shockingly violent act. 

 =  ??? Cracked.com article on "6 Insane Fan Theories That Actually Make Movies Better". I don't mind analysis and parallels; some of these are actually pretty good, especially the Ferris Bueller-Fight Club allegory. Overanalysis can be fun, as long as it stays within the realm of casual conversation, and not insistence on the fan's part that his theory was the director's "original intent all along". 

I Need a Life

I'm just....kind of waiting until the Golden Globes. Crazy, right? I have homework, I have Avatar tonight, I have a Lit. Club meeting tomorrow, and I have to write an introduction for my EarthWatch presentation next week. But only the GG is on my mind.

I will just not rest until awards season is over, when I've downloaded the entire Oscars 2010 off Youtube for future rewatches. This is getting to be an all-consuming obsession....the more movies I watch every year, the more excited I get about Oscars (to be more precise, to indulge in my fetish for movie montages.) Last night during the Critics Choice Awards, which btw was shitty and unfunny as hell, I literally clapped when my favorite winners were announced, which were pretty much everyone except the Best Actress/Supporting Actress race, (I have no interest in this year - Monique has it tied up, and I don't care who wins for Best Actress as long as it's not Carey Mulligan) I spent the rest of the night rewatching Inglourious Basterds and Googling Christoph Waltz, which is awkward and adorable as shit in real life.




Obligatory picture. I never have any funny subtitles to add. I just feel like it would be too boring without a nice few pics.


May I add, my love for QT has increased tenfold in the past week, while I was watching IG-related media press. His generosity towards his actors, his sheer flamboyance (btw, this man will never get married. He's too out-of-this-world for anyone, period), but most of all, his puttin' on the movies at Cannes. I swear, if I ever see QT one day, I'll scream girlishly like a Twilighter.




Love.