"What You See in the Dark" Giveaway

If you don't love Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, and much to my surprise I heard from two readers who don't at all, this past week has probably been a bit of a "???" on the blog. So much Psycho excitement. And all on account of a book. You know those, right? It's the oddest thing but they're made of paper and they have no moving pictures! 

If you missed my interview with "What You See in the Dark" author  Manuel Muñoz it's here. I had three copies to give away and entrants had to name their favorite thing about Psycho. I drew the winners randomly from the entries.

Congratulations to...

Lindsay in Oregon who loves Psycho because it always scares her.

Dan in Michigan considers himself a musicologist. His favorite thing about Psycho?

I've always obsessed about the meaning of that shot of the Beethoven Eroica Symphony.  That and the resemblance between Herrmann's score and the Shostakovich 8th Quartet.

I do know who Beethoven and Shostakovich are but otherwise I'm lost. I am unschooled in music.

And the third winner Joel in Illinois wrote simply...

REE-REE-REE-REE-REE!

LOL. I hope by 'favorite thing' he meant the score and not the stabbing. God, that score. A lot of people mentioned it actually. Because our "best shot" series is so much about the visuals Wednesday was a rare instance of a lot of Psycho talk that barely ever drifted to that indelible and influential score.

"Tangled" Contest Winner

Congratulations to Christopher in Los Angeles who is the winner of the Tangled Blu-Ray contest. I pulled the winner randomly from your entries but read all of them so that I could LOL at your answers to "Which movie characters hair would you most like to braid?" It was the girliest question I have ever asked on this blog and maybe even in my life. Which is [ahem] saying a lot.

As for Christopher, he said.

I would like to braid Ariel's hair. I had a mad crush on her as a kid. Must be because she was the only Disney princess wearing a bikini.

Those specialty bikinis always do it, don't they? Think of what a formative experience Princess Leia's gold bikini was to boys in the early 80s.

I thought I'd share two more entries that particularly amused me. These are from Evan and Matthew who said respectively.

Shelby Eatenton from "Steel Magnolias." Why? Because clearly, I'd be braiding her hair at Truvy's shop, which would mean I'd get to hang out with five of the sassiest women of all cinematic time.

I think I'd pick Clementine's from "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" -- all the different hair colors she has! A magical rainbow braid.

Thanks to all who entered and voted on the poll of which animated films I should write up next. Coming up this month: The Rescuers and Beauty and The Beast as per your votes.

Take Three: Isabella Rossellini

Craig here with Take Three. Today: Isabella Rossellini

Take One: Blue Velvet (1986)
“She... Wore... Bluuuuuue Vel-vet.” Indeed she did: bluer than velvet was the night. Ladies and gentlemen, Rossellini was the Blue Lady, Miss Dorothy Vallens, in David Lynch’s mid-eighties masterpiece Blue Velvet. Vallens was a tortured torch singer, a gas-guzzling freakopath Frank Booth’s (Dennis Hopper) late-night inviter and pervy amateur detective Jeffrey Beaumont’s (Kyle MacLachlan) sexual initiation vixen. And yet, behind it all, lay a fretful wife and mother. Rossellini’s introductory scene in the film showed her as a midnight siren, a depressed blue dahlia who, once done with her sad, strange rendition of Bobby Vinton’s titular song, seems to dematerialise into a pair of Lynch’s signature red curtains.

 After she finds snooping Jeffrey in her closet she’s both defender of her home and explorer of her own dark thoughts. She’s furious, but as excited by the imminent enveloping mystery as he is; you can just make out the glimmer of utter thrill creep across Rossellini’s face as she jabs his cheek with a breadknife. Here's to Rossellini for nearly making Dorothy as kinky as her male lead. She doesn’t so much break the fourth wall as demolish it, with an infuriated stare and exclamation to camera (“Grand Central Station!”) when more than one guest visits her gloomy apartment at once.

More of the sublime Saddest Music within Blue Velvet, plus the ageless silliness of Death Becomes Her after the jump.

Click to read more ...

Oscar Predix: Best Actor and Leonardo DiCaprio

It's that foolish time of year - April Foolish to be precise. I try and suss out what's going to happen nearly a whole year from now without having seen any of the films. I am actually better than most at the year-in-advance thing... it's only later when my skills and prediction ratios put me a bit further back in the Best Prognosticators pack. Must be letting my familiarity with the films cloud the actual buzz! (They do always say that people who don't follow the race closely win Oscar pools just by casually parroting the buzz.)

The big year in advance question that people are already talking about of course is whether Leonardo DiCaprio can finally win for J. Edgar (if the film is released this year as I firmly expect it will be.)

THE PREDICTION CHART

Whether or not Leo is truly overdue is another matter. I was a very early disciple (1993, baby) but I have been losing interest over the years. I may be the only one who thinks that he's actually kind of bad in Inception. That performance just gets clunkier on repeated views, and he's not nearly as successful at making the exposition sound natural and conversational as the other actors are. But then again. That may just be the problem of "The Dead Wives Club," previously discussed. When actors get in role-ruts, it sometimes dulls the range of their imagination.

Still and all, biopics may suit him. (And they definitely suit Oscar.) He was very good in The Aviator (2004) but here's the other odd thing about his "overdue" status. It comes more from the fact that he's his generation's biggest star than from "should've won!" issues. I personally don't think he's ever come close to winning (which is usually when overdue status sets in). In 1993 the race was between Fiennes & Jones, in 2004 there was no race at all with Jamie Foxx sweeping in one of those Helen Mirren/Colin Firth style inevitabilities. 2006 was a "just happy to be nominated" situation and for the wrong film to boot.

Though he has to be considered a contender for a multiplicity of reasons, the year has barely begun. Other major stars that may have roles tailor-made for their persona or skill set include George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Mel Gibson, Ryan Gosling and there's always the reliably strong actors like Gary Oldman, Ralph Fiennes, Woody Harrelson or the rising stars like Michael Fassbender who already seems to be staking claim on 2011 and His.

I have lots more to say about the actors but I'll save some of it for the supporting actor post.

What do you make of The Film Experience chart or Leo's "winning" chances?

Too Much Adaptation.

Apologies: Having some computer maintenance issues today so it's slow going this weekend on these new Oscar predictions. Currently offline, I'm marvelling at the lack of Original material in the movies this year. It seems like almost all the major contenders are adapted from books or plays. For every 7 viable from a distance adapted contenders there's maybe one something that seems "original" screenplay-ish. Hmmmm.