Hugo Nominees Or: How To Stop Worrying and Love The Geek

The quickest thing you learn once you become obsessed with awards is that they never end; someone is always handing out prizes for something. And since the eligibility periods are different for everything it takes forever for a single year's entertainment to finally be "old" aka ineligible. Such is the case with 2010 entertainment (mostly the second half of it) which is still eligible for Emmy nods (July 14th), Tony nods (May 3rd)... and The Hugo Awards, which are science fiction based, and newly announced today.

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION – LONG
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
How to Train Your Dragon
Inception
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Toy Story 3

Inception and Toy Story 3 can breathe a sigh of relief that The King's Speech featured neither threatening alien invaders (Wallis Simpson does not count) nor superpowered heroes (Helena Bonham Carter does not count, her super powers being off screen).

BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION – SHORT
Doctor Who: ‘‘A Christmas Carol''
Doctor Who: ‘‘The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang''
Doctor Who: ‘‘Vincent and the Doctor''
Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury
The Lost Thing

I've embedded this "Ray Bradbury" vid once before on the old blog but it made me LOL so here it is again. With Doctor Who cancelling itself out (one assumes) Will The Lost Thing, the animated short, repeat its Oscar win at the Hugos?

Shaun Tan, the Australian illustrator behind that short, is also up for Best Artist, a category which includes Dan Dos Santos, Bob Eggleston, John Picacao and Stephan Martiniere.

Since there are definitely not enough awards for online entertainment (The Film Experience certainly hasn't won any trophies, y'know *sniffle*), here are some webzines to check out if you're into sci-fi. They're all nominated: (Semi-Pro) Clarkesworld, Interzone, Lightspeed, Locus, Weird Tales, (Fan) Banana Wings, The Challenger, The Drink Tank, File 770, StarShipSofa

Here's a complete list of the nominees should you enjoy sci-fi.

"Something's crossed over in me. I can't go back. I couldn't live."

For those who experienced the tumultous "girlpower" ride of 1990s popular culture this Pretty Woman vs. Thelma & Louise essay in The New York Times is wonderfully mnemonic... and insightful.

Love that accompanying illustration by Tom Gauld. Spot on, spot!

Here's a morsel from the article on the narrative transformational journeys of Thelma (Geena Davis) and Vivian (Julia Roberts), the "ingenues" as the narratives go.

...only Thelma transitions into a new, more independent self, while Vivian finds a way to be preserved as a wide-eyed child-bride forever.

It was precisely this happy ending that made people love “Pretty Woman,” just as it was the flying-off-the-cliff part that made some people object to “Thelma and Louise.” But while Vivian was happily giving herself to a callous oligarch who would purchase her personhood (as she chirped inanities about “rescuing him right back”), Thelma was saving herself by holding up a gas station and locking a cop in the trunk of his car. As every moment of Vivian’s transformative love story — from buying new outfits to subsuming herself to her Pygmalion husband — is transactional, every step of Thelma’s transformation is about evolving from chattel to free agent. In fact, you can make the argument that it was actually Vivian, not Thelma and Louise, who ceased to exist at the end of her film.

Guess which film predicted the next two decades of pop culture? Sigh.

In the magazine version (alas not online) the sidebar features Susan Sarandon Haikus by Adam Sternbergh. These were the two funniest:

Kind Sister Prejean
Bravely faced down injustice
And Sean Penn's Acting.

Nun, hooker, stepmom,
Your only regret, no doubt:
"Mr Woodcock," yes?

Teehee.

Come back to the five and dime Susan Sarandon, Susan Sarandon. And by five and dime, we mean "good movies."

Take Three: Jérémie Renier

Craig from Dark Eye Socket here with another Take Three. Today: Jérémie Renier

Take One: Private Property/Nue propriété (2006)
Joachim Lafosse’s beautifully-crafted French family drama Private Property, starred arthouse doyenne Isabelle Huppert alongside Renier and his brother Yannick (also an actor). They're just about getting on in a country house that non-identical twins Thierry (Jérémie) and François (Yannick) don’t want to sell, but Mater Dearest does; the live-away father/ex-husband backs the twins – and it’s his house. The drama is all about the to and fro of this looming possibility, the elephant smack bang in the front room and pregnant with the biggest pause imaginable. Lafosse curiously shapes his narrative with inharmonious tension between the three: it’s sometimes sexual, sometimes queasily thick, and most times unavoidable. Freud would’ve loved a visit with this Gallic clan.

Renier plays the pivotal character; an invisible finger seems to poke us into scrutinising him more than the others. Though the twins share a bond and personality traits, hes' the independent one. The connection between these adult brothers is still very adolescent (computer games, play fights etc) and  proves to be part of the family’s undoing. Everyone is excellent (come on, it’s Huppert!), but Renier has the most baggage to haul. In a scene where his childishness is on full display he hides from the family in nearby woods. Renier's face goes blank and he seems to be disappearing inside himself. It's incredibly powerful but he handles extensive complex, quick-fire dialogue just as maturely as an actor. Thierry is one of his strongest recent roles.

Take Two: In Bruges (2008)

Martin McDonough’s In Bruges holds a small, throwaway role for Renier, an elevated cameo if you will.

Click to read more ...

Easter Egg Movie Madness

Happy Easter TFE readers. I ran out of time this year but I had totally planned to create Black Swan Easter Eggs to add to my previous collections of movie-themed easter eggs. The visual has to be iconic and easily reduced to oval form, see. Nina Sayers and her scary eyemakeup totally work. In order to be somewhat festive today, anyway, here's a reprint of a classic post. If you haven't read it before it's new to you!

Movie Themed Easter Eggs

Time for Arts & Crafts! All holidays lend themselves to movie obsessing and Easter is no exception.Plus, who doesn't love brightly colored edibles? Here are a few movie themed easter eggs you can make with your kids, godchildren, nephews, nieces or your adult friends who behave like children.

Materials needed: eggs, food dye, vinegar, water and the ability to measure and boil it, spoons, glasses, white crayons, black crayon or black marker, red candle, hand/eye coordination and some degree of artistic ability.

Get started! Boil water. Insert eggs (leave boiling for 10-12 minutes). Take water off stove without burning self. Rinse eggs in cold water. Put eggs on cooling rack. Leave for a few hours. Return. Mix different colors of dye into glasses (1/4 tsp food coloring / 1 tbsp white vinegar / 3/4th cup hot water) into which you can dip zee eggs. Ready... and GO.

Superheroes and Salmonella after the jump.

Click to read more ...

"Hit Me With Your Best Shot" Summer Schedule

An exciting special episode of this series is coming up on Wednesday night! But until then, let's look ahead. If you're a new reader the concept of this series is that we choose a movie and anyone with a web home can post their choice for "best shot" with or without explanation and we link up. Complete List of Previous Episodes. It's like a tightly focused mini blog-a-thon. Some of the titles readers have been  suggesting we'll get to eventually, some never and some I'm purposefully saving for later for various anniversary or other project reasons. [Please note: Somewhere (2010), previously announced, was cancelled due to highly annoying studio contract finagling spoiling our group play experiment. Studios have just started this one-month delay thing where certain titles are only available for purchases for the first 30 days, making for confusing DVD release calendars. If you've already written something up let me know...]

Summer Schedule 

May 4th Eraserhead (1977) David Lynch
Netflix, Quickflix, Blockbuster, GreenCine, LoveFilm

May 11th Matador (1986) AND/OR Law of Desire (1987) [Pedro & Antonio Double Feature]
The Cannes film festival kicks off on this day. Let's celebrate by honoring the reunion of Pedro Almodóvar and his only true male muse Antonio Banderas in The Skin I Live In. For this edition you can do a double feature or choose either of Antonio's first two leading roles for Pedro. I'm watching both since the former is the only Pedro I've disliked and the latter is one of my all time favorite films; a revisit/reconsider seems in order.
Matador: Netflix, Quickflix, Blockbuster, Green Cine, LoveFilm
Law of Desire: Netflix, Quickflix, Blockbuster, Green Cine, LoveFilm

May 18th Tarzan the Ape Man (1932) Maureen O' Sullivan Centennial. She Jane!
Netflix, Quickflix, Blockbuster, Green Cine, LoveFilm

May 25th Star Wars (1977) The Ultimate Summer Blockbuster on its 34th anniversary.
Counter-Programming: The Hidden Fortress (1958) If you're feeling opressed by Emperor LucasFilms, join the Rebellion and cover the Akira Kurosawa swashbuckler that inspired it instead.
Star Wars: Netflix, Quickflix, Blockbuster, Green Cine, LoveFilm
Hidden Fortress: Netflix, Quickflix, Blockbuster, Green Cine, LoveFilm

June 1st Moulin Rouge! (2001) Insanity! 10th anniversary
Netflix, Quickflix, Blockbuster, GreenCine, LoveFilm

 

June 8th The Woman in the Window (1944) Several people suggested "M" or "Metropolis" which would be totally amazing but I need to step outside of my personal Fritz Lang comfort zone. Let's do this noir.
Netflix, Quickflix, Blockbuster, GreenCine, LoveFilm

June 15th Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) Francis Ford Coppola
Netflix, Quickflix, Blockbuster, GreenCine, LoveFilm

June 22nd Rocco and His Brothers (1960) Luchino Visconti
Netflix, Quickflix, Blockbuster, GreenCine, LoveFilm

Closing titles for Season 2 will be announced in June.