Happy Birthday Peter Jackson!

In seems fitting yet not too obvious that Peter Jackson's birthday would be on Halloween. Imagine the costume fun one could cull from his films alone? 

Since today is his half century mark, we couldn't not tip our pointy Gandalf hats to the man. Whether you're counting down the days until he returns to The Shire with The Hobbit films or wishing he'd move away from Tolkien and on to greener other pastures, it's worth checking in on the official Hobbit blog from month to month (though they sadly haven't had a production video since July and those were fun.) 

Do you think The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) and The Hobbit: There and Back Again (2013) will continue the Rings Oscar streak? Perhaps you're more doubtful like me... even if The Hobbit films are great won't AMPAS voters feel that 11 Oscars in February 2004 was more than enough?

I would rank his films like so.

1. Heavenly Creatures (1994) -check out Melanie Lynskey's memoirs and our "Hit Me..." blog party if you're a fan of this brilliant hysteria.
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
5. King Kong (2005)
6. The Frighteners (1996) ...a revisit is definitely in order. Would I like it more or less?)
7. Meet the Feebles (1989)
8. Forgotten Silver (1995)
9. The Lovely Bones (2009)
   
   P.S. I have not seen Bad Taste (1987) or Dead Alive (1992) but I'm quite certain I'd prefer them to The Lovely Bones.

You?

Madonna is a Member of AMPAS. Pixar Wears Kilts. And Other News

In Contention "No Refunds" sign posted outside The Tree of Life. It's the crazies.
Towleroad gay pride, Cars 2, Bad Teacher, James McAvoy, etcetera
Twitter Look, it's one of the most amusing Official Tweets of the weekend. 

I mean, who knew? Madonna votes on Oscars?!? They haven't even deigned her worthy of Best Song nominations even though she totally has been. 
Boy Culture reminds us that Madonna has good taste in movies. 

Cineuropa I hadn't been following the Cloud Atlas screen adaptation story but talk about complicated. It's got three directors: Germany's Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski (of The Matrix fame though I wish they were more thought of as the Bound duo); four Oscar winners: Berry, Broadbent, Hanks and Sarandon; six different stories all set in different eras with the actors playing multiple characters.
Wesley Morris if you're looking for a surprisingly strong defense of Cars 2. I love Wesley but Cars 2? Blech.
Everything I Know... reviews the stage to screen concert of Company with Neil Patrick Harris 
The Wrap Taylor Hackford will serve another term as President of the DGA. Congrats to Mr. Helen Mirren.
Filmes do Chico top 100 gay films. One may quibble with the order but how many have you seen? 

Oh, remember that movie The Rocketeer? Wonder why they haven't rebooted that? Here's a fanmade short celebrating it... well, the character more accurately.

The Rocketeer 20th anniversary from John Banana on Vimeo.

Off Cinema
Guardian I'd been wondering why we haven't received any Missy Elliott music in so long. Turns out she's been suffering from Graves disease. But "Block Party" is coming in the near future. Yay. And get well soon, Missy.
fourfour Rich's night out during the gayest of gay nights after NY's historic decision. 
The Daily What "Yahoo 'answer of the day'" in regards to the gay marriage decision. Hee.

Third Looks
I hope it doesn't disappoint y'all that I am not one to rush at every "exclusive" that's posted across 203,001 blogs at once whenever a new anything arrives. But here are three newish ones from the past few days that people seem to like and I do, too. From, respectively:  The Hobbit, The Raven and Pixar's Brave.

Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins in "THE HOBBIT" coming December 2012John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe in "THE RAVEN" coming March 2012Princess Merida in "BRAVE" coming June 2012

Final Fun Fact: The Pixar animation department is wearing kilts every Friday while working on Brave (2012). Isn't that adorbs? (I learned that here.)

Look! Fincher, Lohan, Whedon, Pinnocchio, Sheen, "Chloe"

We've gone clip happy in this roundup because there are things to gawk at and it's a slow weekend online,  everyone being outdoors where it's awfully hard to look at computer screens.

Geekologie sneak peek of a marionette for the new stop motion Pinnocchio (produced by Guillermo Del Toro). Eery little false boy, that.
Film on Paper is a new website devoted to poster art. Big collection on launch with beautifully prepared photos of original posters.
Tailgate 365 looks at the three most recent Joss Whedon series (Firefly, Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible) to determine what makes them tick and what makes them so rewatchable.
Ken Levine feels for character actors. It's hard out there for a number of reasons.

The Hobbit everyone's favorite beautiful blond braided elf is back; Orlando Bloom officially reprising "Legolas" for The Hobbit. Quoth Peter Jackson.

"10 years on, I’m thrilled to be working with Orlando again.  I look older – he doesn’t!"

Look! it's a camcordy peak at the teaser for David Fincher's Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. It's very rapid fire "greatest hits" of the now well-known story but it looks enticing (as Fincher's films always do)

Look! it's Lindsay Lohan in a "psychological portrait" that's basically riffing on famous screen imagery from the 60s. But if a "psychological portrait" is only homages to great European and Scandinavian cinema, what is that actually saying about the object of the study. I'm not sure I see the point. But some of the images are very pretty even if Lindsay's psychology is not.

Look! It's Drew returning as "Chloe" for a special Memory-ial day video. For the life of me I can't decide what makes these "Chloe" spots so funny but they're just brilliant bliss.

Look! it's a Twilight fanfic reading by Michael Sheen. Feel free to LOL. I know I did.

Big Morning Buzz Live |Carrie Keagan |Full Episodes |Reality TV Shows

Sheen's big movie roles (Frost/Nixon, The Queen, Underworld) always reveal a very solid actor but I prefer him best when he's using that actor's wit like he is here. He has fun with his self-aggrandizing know-it-all in Midnight in Paris as well. As much fun as Woody allows him to have, I mean. He's barely in it.

Reason #487 To Love Sir Ian McKellen

He posts this type of photo and caption on his flickr stream.

Photograph © Peter Jackson

THE HOBBIT is being filmed in 3D. Even wizards have to wear the glasses.

The Lord of the Links: Two Jacksons

Cracked uses that late minute reworking of the Red Dawn remake as a jump off point for a very funny article on "6 Groups Who Don't Work as Movie Bad Guys Anymore". I'm not proud but I even ended up LOL'ing at a poop joke.
Boy Culture Jesus. I was on to something posting that "stars as other stars" post just a few days back. Now Madonna went and did Charlie Chaplin for Purim. Cute.
Little White Lies has a nice piece on double readings of Blade Runner depending on whether you view Deckard as a Replicant or regular human man.
My New Plaid Pants Tom Hardy on the other hand is no machine but man. He's got the peen to prove it in a new digital short [NSFW].
Ester Goldberg is that Barbra Streisand Gypsy movie really dead? Some people aren't letting the ghost go.
Cinema Blend has an alarmist headline "No More Nudity For Ewan McGregor". I'm not sure that the quotes support the headline but made me look. You win.

And finally Awards Daily shares the first photos from the set of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit. I know it is probably my duty as a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings trilogy as well as a denizen of planet Earth to be excited about this movie... er movie²... but I think it's a terrible idea.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy was so Aughts-defining in a way and why not go out on a high note like, I dunno, sweeping at the Oscars? Just a thought, Peter. I can't see how this won't feel like either

a) a rerun retread reboot
b) nostalgia exercize / faded glory
c) The Lord of the Rings Episode IV: The Phantom Menace.

Oh shush. I feel that "C" is a fair barb given the tonal "I completely forgot how to direct" chaotic atrocity that was The Lovely Bones. But I'll allow that maybe this is just cynical fretting. As a huge fan of LotR and Heavenly Creatures even moreso and even as an admirer of that Meet the Feebles gusto, I'll always hope that Jackson can work new magics.