Flux: January 2006

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Oscar Nominations 2006

OK, here are the main Oscar nominations. Films with a * are ones I have seen, films with a # are those I have yet to watch, and films with nothing by them don't interest me. My choice is in blue, my prediction is in red. If only one name is coloured, that is both my prediction and choice (except for supporting actress where I have no choice having seen none of the performances so far...).

Directly before the ceremony I shall re-evaluate my choices having seen more of the nominees.

Best picture:

Brokeback Mountain (#)
Capote (#)
Crash (*)
Good Night and Good Luck (*)
Munich (#)

Best Director:

Ang Lee - Brokeback Mountain (#)
Bennet Miller - Capote (#)
Paul Haggis - Crash (*)
George Clooney - Good Night and Good Luck (*)
Steven Spielberg - Munich (#)

Best Actor:

Philip Symour Hoffman - Capote (#)
Terence Howard - Hustle and Flow
Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain (#)
Joaquin Phoenix - Walk the Line (*)
David Strathairn -Good Night and Good Luck (*)

Best Actress:

Judi Dench - Mrs Henderson Presents (#)
Felicity Huffman - Transamerica
Keira Knightley - Pride and Prejudice
Charlize Theron - North Country
Reese Witherspoon - Walk The Line

Best Supporting Actor:

George Clooney - Syriana (*)
Matt Dillon - Crash (*)
Paul Giamatti - Cinderella Man
Jake Gyllenhaal - Brokeback Mountain (#)
William Hurt - A History of Violence (#)

Best Supporting Actress:

Amy Adams - Junebug
Catherine Keener - Capote (#)
Frances McDormand - North Country
Rachel Weisz - The Constant Gardener (#)
Michelle Williams - Brokeback Mountain (#)

Best Original Screenplay:

Crash (*)
Goodnight and Good Luck (*)
Match Point
The Squid and the Whale
Syriana (*)

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Brokeback Mountain (#)
Capote (#)
The Constant Gardener (#)
A History of Violence (#)
Munich (#)

Best Animated Feature:

Howl's Moving Castle (#)
Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit (*)
Tim burton's The Corpse Bride (#)

For the full list including other awards such as art direction and score, check here.

Cheers,

Godfather.

Posted by Luciano Howard at 1:48 PM | Permalink | Comments

The Italian Job not going ahead...

I would have loved to live and work in Italy BUT the package was unspectacular, the job wasn't the most interesting and I think writing up whilst learning a language in a new place, alone and being miserable working would have beena bad thing ;)

I am disappointed, but I know that had the job been in England I'd have said no and there are other jobs which, given the chance, I would pick ahead of this one, so lets see how it goes, ok?

Godfather.

Posted by Luciano Howard at 1:45 PM | Permalink | Comments

Friday, January 27, 2006

PRODIGAL SON FOWLER REJOINS THE REDS

I am just gobsmacked. God has returned, and I am in heaven.

Amazing.

Godfather

The Italian Job

Well, on Monday I flew over to Rome Ciampino for the purpose of attending a day visit at Proctor and Gamble's Pomezia site on the Tuesday. Yes, they invited me over in the hope I would be who they wanted to fill a particular vacancy.

So, after getting to my hotel around 8pm, seeing the Italian version of Deal or no deal (third country, after Oz and UK in which I've seen this, evidently very popular game), I went to sleep. I got up at 6.30 am local time, showered, dressed and had some breakfast. Then the taxi arrived to take me to P+G.

I got there about 9 am, waited until ~ 9.30 then gave a presentation on my PhD work which lasted over an hour, including questions. It went ok, which it should have done - I'd plenty of presentation practice and had spent a couple of weeks writing/learning this talk. The questions were a mixed bag - some fine, some foucussing on areas of which I wasn't sure.

Anyway, 30 mins after that finished I had the first of two hour long interviews. These both went fine. I was happy, and hungry by the end and was taken for lunch in the site canteen and then given a tour of the (small) R+D department within which the job would be.

After that I went to the airport where I had to wait for over 8 hours due to delays etc before getting a very nice, clear flight home (where I got to see the Eiffel tower from 39,000 Feet!).

Anyway, a day or two later I was offered the job - woah! I wasn't expecting that. Anyway, here I am, trying to work out the following:

1) Do I want to do this work (not sure)
2) Do I want to work in Italy (Yes, that would be great - Golaccio! - apart from not being in the same country as Katie)
3)Can I finish my thesis whilst working full time, in a foreign country, where I don't yet speak the language?

Who knows. I need to decide and give them an answer by Monday though. Ho hum.

Godfather.

Posted by Luciano Howard at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

24 - Day 5

What is there to say? 24 returns for a fifth series with 4 hours more intense and explosive than ever before (arguably, at least for the opening). The first hour in itself is incredible and stands head-to-toe with the Myers, Mason, Chapelle and the Palmer/Soul-Patch/Chloe episodes (you know which ones I mean - If not scroll down for the spoils...) of previous seasons'. In fact, at this point I would put it as the best hour of 24 ever, and as such, the best hour of TV. Ever.

It certainly stands as the bravest opening of any TV series ever, the most intense opening of any TV series ever and quite honestly just has to be seen to be believed. Truly.

Wow. 24 is back. Thank-you.

Godfather.

Highlight the inviso-text for some spoilerage from seasons 1-4:

By the Myers episode I mean the penultimate episode of season one where we learn Nina is actually a mole; the Mason one relates to the nuclear bomb drop in season two where we believe Jack is going to sacrifice himself only for Mason to pop up; the Chapelle episode is in season three where Jack has orders from Saunders to execute Ryan Chapelle; and the other three are from season four, the season I refer to as the greatest hits collection where one by one we get treats - Palmer returns when we thought he'd gone, Soul Patch returns to save the day and Chloe shoots people!

Posted by Luciano Howard at 9:43 PM | Permalink | Comments

The 2006 Movie Preview - Part III

So, my top ten is done. What else am I looking forward to over the coming year? Lots, I guess. Superman Returns by the genius that is Bryan Singer is a no-brainer, as is Munich - hardcore Spielberg at last.

Walk the line, a biopic of Johnny Cash's early life appeals to me, as does the wonderfully titled Snakes on a plane starring Sam Jackson. Deja Vu is this year's actioner from Tony Scott starring Denzel and The Black Dahlia featuring the ubiquitous Scarlet Johansson promises labyrinthine mystery on a par with LA Confidential, and a return to form for De Palma.

The Proposition looks a fairly uncompromising western, and The Assasination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford, despite having the longest title ever, looks a solid enough bet for a good night out.

There are others but I'm all filmed out currently. Just one more thing, then that will be the end of movie previews for now - I think if pushed I would say The Da Vinci Code is my most wanted movie. Despite my disinterest in Hanks the cast is fantastic, the source material some of the most entertaining hokum I've ever read and the film itself something I've wanted to see since I first read the book. I want to see how well it turns out, if its how I imagined it and if its as exciting on screen as in text. Time will tell but for those reasons I make this film my number one wanted this year.

Cheers,

Godfather.

Posted by Luciano Howard at 3:42 PM | Permalink | Comments

The 2006 Movie Preview - Part II

So, on to the second part of this 2006 filmic preview, where I divulge in-depth details of the remaining five films in my top ten most anticipated movies and list a few others I plan on checking out. Onto the listings then:

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

For a long time this was simply known as Will Ferrell's untitled NASCAR comedy, and that information alone should allow you to make the decision of whether or not you'll go out and see this film.

As arguably the most talented comedian in the 'Frat Pack' (Ben Stiller is overrated, Owen Wilson is more a straight man, Vince Vaughn is better away from the central role and Steve Carell needs more movies to be fully judged), his performance as Ron Burgundy lead to Anchorman becoming the greatest comedy vehicle starring any of these actors mentioned (cf Dodgeball, The 40 year old virgin, Meet the Fockers), in my humble opinion.

The guy is just superb when allowed to go off the rails (cf Bewitched for what happens when he isn't) and given the starring role (cf Old School when he isn't). This WILL BE the best comedy, and highest grossing comedy of 2006. No question.

PotC 2: Dead Man's Chest

Johnny Depp is Captain Jack Sparrow.

Its produced by the hidden king of all action cinema Jerry Bruckheimer.

Keira Knightley is the starring female. These three facts are all I need to know to know I'll be watching this. Actually, I only really needed to know the first one.

The Fountain

The latest movie from another young, up and coming director (cf Richard Kelly), Darren Aronofsky this film has finally been made after a previous aborted attempt due to spiralling budgets (set to star Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett) in 2002.

It centres around a scientist (Hugh Jackman) who is trying to develop a cure for his terminally ill wife's (Rachel Weisz) illness in the present, whilst also covering the 'same' man 500 years in the past and 500 years into the future. So, to sum up, its a romantic science-fiction tragedy. Obviously.

Aronofsky produced the magical Requiem for a dream in 2000 and is likened to Richard Kelly in that they both have outstanding, unconventional potential, and in the case of this film and Kelly's Southland Tales, more to the film than just the film - in this case only one graphic novel though ;). It probably won't make much sense, so we can add it to the confusion genre, alongside Southland, but I bet it will be a highly memorable experience...

M:I:3

The third film in this franchise based on a great 60's TV series. It stars Tom Cruise which is not to everyone's taste but it can't be denied that he a) can act and b) is a star despite personal opinions and equally he owns the rights to M:I and as such would appear to very much love the subject matter and thus wish to make the best film possible.

The first was a terrific mind-bender with a brilliantly choreographed vault breaking scene, the second a little too dumbed down for my tastes but with enough to keep me hoping for a third.

JJ Abrams of Alias/Lost fame is the director this time around, having tried to get the film going with both Joe Carnahan and David Fincher. Whilst this makes me expect an ok film, nothing more, it could well help me enjoy the film more due to my expectations, or JJ could hit it out of the park, who knows. The question is though, if I don't expect much, why is it in this top ten? It is still Mission Impossible, after all.

Dreamgirls

This is pretty much my wildcard entry to the list. Its nominally a musical biopic of Diana Ross and The Supremes. Not something that would get me going, normally, but its based on the award winning Broadway musical of the same name, stars, amongst others Eddie Murphy and is due out december time in the US, thus indicating the studio expect it to vie for Oscars. Worth keeping your eyes on.

So, that's the top ten done. I hope you find something you didn't know about (unlikely as most are high profile) or something you want to see (highly likely). I'll post a few words later on about other interesting films coming this year.

Thanks for reading,

Godfather.

Posted by Luciano Howard at 2:34 PM | Permalink | Comments

Monday, January 16, 2006

The 2006 Movie Preview - Part I

Having settled into the year 2006 I have taken my time and assimilated a lot of information about a lot of the movies on their way to America and the UK in the next year. This post will provide some information on those I most want to watch. Of course no list like this can ever be considered comprehensive as there will be many I don't know about as they haven't been announced, reported on or quite simply exist currently only in some Mandarin dialect. I will limit my list to ten films, but also mention a few more in a brief way at the end as quite frankly, I don't give a damn if you all are bored by that point :)

Each film is due for release in 2006 in the USA or UK. The titles are named in no particular order other than the top ten (of which any film could be number one or ten).

The Da Vinci Code

The world's best selling novel, the world's biggest actor and a twisty plot to confuse even the calmest of logisticians? Absolutely. The second of Dan Brown's Robert Langdon stories takes place primarily in London and Paris with our Harvard symbologist hero's search for the Holy Grail taking him from clue to clue, art work to art work and place to place, with a little bit of action, comedy and romance thrown in.

Whilst the novel is a personal favourite it is hardly worth describing in detail here as most will know of it. As such the film is a home-run for Sony and fully deserving of a place as one of my most anticipated movies. However, a few reservations remain. Firstly I tend to find Ron Howard's output rather dry and unengaging, as well as not thinking Tom Hanks is all that. Still, the story is a kicker, Audrey tautou I feel fits the role of Sophie better than anyone else could and we also have Jean Reno in the film. Excellent.

It opens in the US on May 19, two weeks after the hot M:I:3 but before X3 which opens on the Memorial weekend. I put it as film most likely to win the box office wars this year - it really can't fail. I also imagine it will be one of the most enjoyablke and thrilling films this year and I'll be right there, hopefully!

Hostel

The second film from Eli Roth, the horror-nerd who gave us an excitingly hyped old-school type scary movie in Cabin fever, which ultiamtely left me feeling a little disappointed. This time I doubt I'll feel the same.

This is the story of some american backpackers who find Eastern Europe, some Eastern European ladies and some fun. For a while, for after the fun is offered the torture, severing of limbs and killing begins. What do they do?

I really belive this can be the kick-start to a cycle of true 70's horror type films - balls achingly raw, scary and brutal. Combine this opener (April 21st in the UK - its already opened to commercial and critical success in the US) with The Hills have Eyes (remake of the Craven film of the same name, by the guy who did Haute Tension which is having trouble getting past the MPAA uncut) and we could be in for a glorious year, and beyond.

Southland Tales

Written and directed by the guy who made Donnie Darko, centering around the end of the world, it involves Sarah Michelle Gellar as a porn star who gets it on with The Rock's forgetful action hero (best action star since Arnie - discuss).

Exactly in what way could you not anticipate this movie? DD is a masterpiece of the confusion cinema genre (cf. Mulholland drive, Lost highway), SMG is an attractive actress who could finally break out from her small screen (Buffy) persona and become a movie star at last and The Rock, is well, The Rock.

Due out sometime this year, it is a small part of a much larger story Richard Kelly has to tell (he's producing various graphic novella to add to the film) and although very little is yet known, if the excitement I have for it already is any measure, it could well become the film of the year. Also, did I mention its part comedy/thriller/science fiction and apparently, musical? No? I should have done.

Zodiac

The best director currently making films, David Fincher makes his first film since 2001's claustro-thriller, Panic Room. In a change from the camera trickery of that movie's action by numbers, we have the Finch back doing what he does best - serial killer thrillers. This one though, unlike Seven, is based on a true story - that of the Zodiac killer (the baddy in Dirty Harry) - a man who terrorised San Francisco with apparently randomised murdering during the 60's and 70's and is in this film the backstory which allows us to follow the lives of the detectives on his trail.

This currently has no actual release date other than 2006 and having not read the source material I can't tell you much more about the plot, but with such a director and cast (Jake Gyllenhall, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr.) it must be good!

The Prestige

Director: Christopher Nolan of Batman Begins and Memento fame

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Sir Michael Caine, Christian Bale and Scarlett Johansson

Plot: Two magicians (Bale and Jackman), rivals in the late 19th century, become so involved in their magic and one-upping the other that they turn to murder to succeed.

That should be enough to pique interest in this one....if not, check out the novel on which this film is based, watch Nolan's work and imagine what he could do with turn of the century magicians, magic and murder. Sounds better now, doesn't it?

I'll be back later with the next five of my top ten films to come...

Cheers,

Godfather

Posted by Luciano Howard at 7:10 PM | Permalink | Comments

Monday, January 09, 2006

MovieMall Film Quiz

:D

Godfather.

Posted by Luciano Howard at 2:22 PM | Permalink | Comments

The Empire 200 Poll Results

I hate the public. I have only checked out the first page of these poll results and am extremely irritated. In what world is LOTR the best film franchise ever? Let's look at the evidence, briefly:

The first film is good. The second is tedious as anything aside from Gollum and the thirds one equally so until the elephants turn up. Orlando Bloom is in it. I haven't read the books, but I saw all the films and just got bored, yet I was impressed with the first. Peter Jackson has far exceeded these films with King Kong. And for it to beat Star Wars, or Indy, or BTTF? Just insanity. I do not think that in 20-30 years these films will have the same effect.

Its probably just me, granted, but these are my thoughts. I suspect a lot of people voted for it as they thought they should, or because of the practicality of finishing 3 lengthy movies to such a standard in such a way, but honestly, are they more enjoyable than Indy? More romantic than Star Wars? More inventive than BTTF? Better action than The Matrix? No.

Godfather.

Blu-ray Disc & HD-DVD at CES 2006

Oh my. Oh my, oh my. Check out all this kit. Impressive stuff. I long for the day the title of this blog can become 'New job for the new Doctor' (a long way off, I feel...) just so I have the cash to buy these things.

Page 4 or 5, not sure which, it has some Pioneer kit - 50" Plasma with their elite BD player. Forget costs, forget mortgages and pensions and things like that, I want to spend all my new salary (when I get one) on these things. Gorgeous.

I forgot to mention that last week I was in Dixons and they had a 60" Plasma. Never seen a screen that big before and I was impressed. Even more so when I noticed it was playing a 1080i source DVD. Oh my, I was dropping my jaw all over the shop and just stood there mesmerised for ages. And that was ONLY 1080i. Wow.

Godfather.

Saturday, January 07, 2006

Melbourne

So, we flew into Melbourne on wednesday 8th November at about 7 AM local time. The airport was surprisingly small but they did come round with a sniffer dog to check everyone's bags for dodgy disease carrying food. They're especially paranoid about such things in Oz, and we were coming from Asia, the home of Avian flu...

We were met and picked up by Natasha and Ivan, the couple whose wedding we had come to see. They took us back to their house and Ivan cooked Leon and I (Me, Katie, Leon and Caz were all visiting for the wedding, and staying in the same flat in Melbourne)a fry-up on the barbie! Woohoo! In Oz for a couple of hours and already we get a barbeque. It was lovely - the usual stuff plus some interesting oysters. Nice. For the rest of the day we basically chatted, sat in the sun, bought some food and when we could we went and checked into our flat.

That night we got the tram (an excellent tram service operates throughout the CBD and into the suburbs - great prices and regular) to a restaurant on a place called Fitzroy street which is adjacent to Albert Park, where the Grand Prix is run each year.

So, over the next few day we enjoyed Melbourne and went to a Serbian wedding. The wedding will be described in its own post I think, but here is some info. about what we did in Melbourne:

The first thing we did was walk up George street and head into and up the observation tower. Some great views of Melbourne from here, as we'd hoped:

We checked out the old Melbourne Gaol, where Ned Kelly, amongst many others, was hung (including a Mr Barnes ;)) and checked out some of the nice architecture around before going out for a meal that evening.

We went to the botanical gardens the next day, which was ok, then a little train ride to an old naval town called Williamstown. Very pretty place, with some nice views of Melbourne city and some cool ships :)

Then there was Captain Cook's childhood home, transported and rebuilt brick-by-brick from Yorkshire to Melbourne :) - very cool! We also saw a very odd statue that to this day we're unsure whether it's designed that way or altered as a prank....

On our last day in Melbourne we did two very cool things. Firstly it should be noted that Melbourne is THE sporting city in Oz. It hosts the Grand Prix, the Australian Open in Tennis and is home to the world famous (and massive) MCG. Without much time in the morning due to our afternoon outing we were unable to check out the Rod Laver Arena (Tennis) so went for the MCG tour which was great fun, despite a) the ground being renovated for this year's Commonwealth Games and b) the tour guide seemingly being more interested in the drainage rather than cricket despite my questioning him!

Anyway, here are some pics of a ground that is majorly impressive compared to all UK cricket grounds - probably due to it holding around 100 thousand people rather than the 20 K or so that is BIG for us here :)

Then, the last 'cultural' (and I use the word loosely) thing we did in Melbourne was an extremely fun (but equally sad) trip to Pin Oak Court, known over here as Ramsey Street :)

The last two things we did in Melbourne were a) eat a proper Ozzie meal and b) drive out with the aim to get to Sydney, via Narooma, on the coastal road (~ 1100 Km). Here are some photos of part a) and as for part b), I'll leave that for the Narooma section of this historical archive. As this one's too long already....

So what do we have on the plate? A Yabbie (crustacean), Emu and Kangaroo sausages, Wallaby, Kangaroo, Crocodile and Oysters. Crocodile is great, though tough, Kangaroo is surprisingly disappointing (but still a great eat) and Emu had to be the tastiest thing. Oysters, well, salty things, they are. On the whole a truly fine meal that was a highlight of the trip; in fact this whole final day in Melbourne (MCG, Ramsey Street and Ozzie tucker) was a particularly fine day.

Godfather.

Posted by Luciano Howard at 4:12 PM | Permalink | Comments

My DVD Collection

Hey,

Being a major movie fan and a collector of DVDs since december '99, I have finally got around to collating my DVDs via DVD Profiler. Very cool, just a bit laborious when typing in 278 bar codes! Anyway, here is the link to my collection:

Godfather's DVDs

I had been using DVD afficionado but these data can be kept offline and browsed/sorted very easily.

Highly recommended.

Godfather.

Posted by Luciano Howard at 2:44 PM | Permalink | Comments

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Blu-ray and HD-DVD pricing/dates

Hmmm. Curiouser and curiouser. Now with MS chucking a HD drive into the 360, HD coming out before Blu-ray and with aggressive pricing (not forgetting the possible delay of the PS3 and definite price premium) the situation is clouded and my belief that Blu-ray will win is a less confident one.

Now, even though Blu-ray ahs the better studio support, that is its only definite advantage currently that is certain. A big advantage, true, but nevertheless...

Godfather.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

News - First Blu-Ray movies announced // PlayStation 3 /// Eurogamer

So, some info. on the first Blu-ray movies. Not majorly exciting as the first films on a new format are always a mix. The interesting things here are 1) the regions and 2) the whole PC type sensibility behind new movie formats. Let me explain...

If you always wait for the next new thing in PCs you'll never buy one. Same thing is now happening with film collections - DVD has been around 10 years now, in the mainstream for 4-5. VHS was here for 20-30. Blu-ray and HDDVD are based on optical storage, so at least your DVDs are still gonna be useful, but what of newer, better formats coming? How long until these are superceded?

I guess it doesn't really matter tbh as Blu-ray/HDDVD will have HD transfers of films and TV series and that will be the televisual standard for years, really. But the film studios and TV people will still re-release everything and the like, so when do you get that complete X-files set? Do you plump now for the 59 DVDs at small prices, or wait for the 5-10 disc Blu-ray super-duper edition?Well, Blu-ray won't be affordable for a while, but I'm gonna wait when it comes to TV series and the like that I haven't yet really started collecting. Films and the like I'll keep going with, but I'm gonna wait for the next big thing before I get my X-files.

Whilst I'm here I should say that I fully believe Blu-ray will win the format war over HD though. Its all about the PS3. Ho hum.

Godfather.

Flux

This blog, like my life, is a work in progress.