It's the commercial with George Clooney, Hillary Swank, William H Macy, etc in - ending with the question "Why does nobody seem to be working in this cafe..?!"
The music to it is brilliant, and I know I have heard it elsewhere, but cannot place it -- can anybody out there help..?
]]>Let me live vicariously through you!
]]>But for the past several years, this year being no exception, the buzz has all been focused on mainstream stars. At Sundance the big draws were Michel Gondry's Be Kind Rewind, which needed no further publicity given Gondry's credentials and the film's billing, and In Bruges, driven by A-listers Colin Farrel and Brendan Gleeson. At AFI Dallas much attention has been paid to Josh Brolin, the No Country for Old Men star whose short film X also played at South by Southwest. Even high-profile festivals like Cannes now tout the premieres of blockbusters like Indiana Jones in their lineup.
Do you think film festivals have become too Hollywood, or are they still accessible to independent filmmakers? Are festivals still valuable in showcasing independent films?
]]>Maybe the reason we don't watch the Oscars any more is because there's nothing new to see any more. And when we do get a breath of fresh air at the movies, it's certainly not coming out of Tinsel Town. Look at Juno, which won the Oscar for best original screenplay -- its author, Diablo Cody, had never written a screenplay before in her life. I think it's telling that Hollywood's best-paid writers who so sanctimoniously walked off the job earlier this year can't come up with anything nearly as inventive as someone sitting at home punching away on their laptop.
Maybe adapting a sequel of an adaptation and remaking it isn't the best way to capture the imaginations of your audience any more. Maybe worrying about the Oscars is concerning yourself with the symptom rather than the disease. Maybe it's time to evict all the writers and producers out of Hollywood and bring in some fresh blood.
]]>I have to say the video you have on your website of Brolin talking about the short film he directed, which played at South by Southwest, sounds pretty fascinating. I hadn't really heard anything about it, but in many ways it sounds like the same kind of movie as No Country -- a point Brolin even speaks to. I'm usually not into short films, but this one sure has me intrigued. My only complaint? After listening to Brolin talk about it, I want him to star in it!
Anyways, that's definitely the coolest thing I've seen come out of SXSW so far (other than the stuff that was also in Sundance, which I'm not counting). What do you guys think?
]]>By that I mean to say that I didn't see any of these awards coming--seriously, had I joined an Oscar pool I would have lost for sure. Bourne? Tilda Swinton? Admittedly, No Country was a great movie, but I really thought There Will Be Blood would have had this year in the bag. At least Daniel Day-Lewis won the best actor award. He was phenomenal in that movie.
How did your predictions turn out? Did anybody see this coming?
Also, some one needs to help me out: When they showcased all the films that had won Best Picture about half-way through the program, what was the movie score that was playing in the background? This is killing me...
]]>Was anyone forgotten? Who should win? And do you think the Oscars will fall victim to the writers' strike just like the Golden Globes before them?
]]>Adrian Grenier is in the same boat. Known as Entourage's leading man, Grenier is starring in Adventures of Power, a new film written and directed--and I swear I'm not making this up--by a man named Ari Gold.
What do you think? Are film artists flocking to television or is it the opposite? Who would you most like to see jump into another medium?
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