Larry Gelbart, one of the great stage, screen and television writers has died.
posted by dances_with_sneetches on Sep 11, 2009 - 35 comments

Ladies and gentlemen, would you please rise for the Grouch Anthem? (Background)
posted by grobstein on Feb 8, 2009 - 22 comments

Is Slumdog Millionaire

A) A white man's imagined India
B) The reality of Mumbai
C) An immensely likeable slice of broad entertainment – nothing else
D) All of the above?

And will it win the Oscar for Best Picture now that it's taken the Producers Guild Award for Best Picture and the SAG award for Best Ensemble?
posted by crossoverman on Jan 26, 2009 - 118 comments

Andrew Stantion, director of Wall-E, briefly talks about a sequel, why the female robot has a gun and the separation of animated and live action films.
posted by Brandon Blatcher on Jan 23, 2009 - 62 comments

I really didn't want to be the one to post this, but there are riots raging in Oakland.
posted by MaxK on Jan 8, 2009 - 362 comments

Lost Ray Harryhausen footage? No, it's a real bird that keeps itself fully plucked due to an unfortunate malady. Sort of cuddly in a leathery, scuttling way, don't you think?
posted by [NOT HERMITOSIS-IST] on Apr 20, 2008 - 22 comments

The Cheating of Salim Baba [video | projector]
posted by hadjiboy on Jan 29, 2008 - 25 comments

I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE! In light of this morning's Oscar noms, here's a site where there will be discussion about There Will Be Blood. Via Projects.
posted by hermitosis on Jan 22, 2008 - 55 comments

In 1964, Mel Brooks won both the Oscar & BAFTA Best Short Film awards for The Critic. His first film, it revolves around an old man heckling abstract animation that he doesn't understand. Youtube (lower quality) | brettratner.com (higher quality)
posted by miss lynnster on Sep 23, 2007 - 37 comments

Oscar the cat. Harbinger of death. (more info available behind registration at the NEJM)
posted by revmitcz on Jul 25, 2007 - 95 comments

"Best Animated Short" is the Oscar category that (arguably) gets the least love. But why? They're often the most accessible, usually coming in at less than 10 minutes in length. Thus, for you consideration, here are direct links to three of the five 2007 nominees: "Maestro", "No Time For Nuts", and "The Danish Poet" (via).
posted by JPowers on Jan 24, 2007 - 14 comments

Say "cheese" — stinky, expensive, overprocessed American cheese. The venerable Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has revealed its set design for the Seventy-Eighth Academy Awards® Telecast. This year's edition is described as "an homage to old movie theaters" by designer Roy Christopher. "It's a no-holds-barred return to classic Hollywood glamour." Others may beg to differ.
posted by rob511 on Feb 22, 2006 - 56 comments

“Wouldn’t you know, the kid they pick to play tramps is the only good girl in Hollywood.”
Before Myrna Loy rose to stardom with Manhattan Melodrama and The Thin Man (both 1934), she was often relegated to playing vamps, mistresses, and other assorted flavors of wicked women. Then, after 80 movies playing mostly bad girls, Montana native Loy became “the perfect wife.” “Men Must Marry Myrna Loy” clubs were formed around the country. She and Clark Gable, in a poll conducted by Ed Sullivan, were voted by 20 million of the nation’s moviegoers as The King and Queen of Hollywood. She was FDR's favorite actress, and John Dillinger died just to see her new movie. A staunch anti-Nazi since the mid-Thirties (to MGM's dismay, Hitler promptly banned her films from the lucrative German market), wondered aloud in the press why blacks were always given servants' roles, and was the first major star to buck the studios in a contract dispute (the issue: equal pay for equal work. She was making half what William Powell was, didn't like it and quit work for nearly a year until MGM capitulated). When WWII broke out she quit Hollywood and worked full time for the Red Cross, and helped run a Naval Auxilary Canteen. More inside.
posted by matteo on Feb 3, 2006 - 27 comments

Eastwood wins. Clint Eastwood got the double dipper tonight with Best Pic and Director. Not that Scorsese isn't badly due one, but the fact is, The Aviator is not one of Marty's top five films, while Million Dollar Babies is top five among Eastwood's pics. It's that simple. My thought: I think this film and Mystic River proves, once and for all and without argument, that Eastwood is among the top American directors ever, up there with Scorsese, Sidney Lumet, Woody Allen, and the others. (He's actually better than Allen). I think all of the critics like Pauline Kael who dissed Clint without thinking over the years have to eat it and eat it hard.
posted by Leege on Feb 27, 2005 - 115 comments

Ryan, the Best Animated Short for the 2005 Academy Awards, is fully viewable in 3 different video formats through the National Film Board of Canada (along with a preview of the Best Documentary (Short Subject) of Hardwood). The 14 minute piece tackles the life of NFB animator Ryan Larkin, who himself was an Oscar nominee back in the 1960s for the classic Walking until eventually becoming a panhandler. (prior discussion without full film) [cont'd]
posted by myopicman on Feb 27, 2005 - 20 comments

The 10 unwritten rules of Oscar "For the Academy, whatever stands out the most is best – even though, in terms of quality of work, it’s usually exactly the opposite: the less you notice something, the more accomplished it actaully is. But when it comes to second-guessing Oscar voters, it never hurts to ask yourself: Who did the “most” acting? Most editing? Most noticeable cinematography or music? Most conspicuous costumes or makeup or production design or screenwriting or directing?"
posted by Turtles all the way down on Feb 23, 2005 - 16 comments

76th Annual Academy Award Nominations
posted by ColdChef on Jan 27, 2004 - 77 comments

Revoke the Oscar. Should "Bowling For Columbine" be considered non-fiction if it manipulated scenes and knowingly left out key information? Would a new category be better, like say adjusted documentary or propaganda? Or is it impossible to make a documentary without some point of view?
posted by destro on Apr 18, 2003 - 53 comments

Michael Moore update. Judging from this column he is still alive. and is thriving after his Oscar rant. Bowling for Columbine and his book Stupid White Men continue to break new records.
posted by thedailygrowl on Apr 10, 2003 - 55 comments

2003 Oscar Schwag
posted by crunchland on Mar 18, 2003 - 21 comments

James Coburn passes on...
RIP James...
posted by tomcosgrave on Nov 19, 2002 - 20 comments

Make an Oscar-nominated documentary, get fined $25,000. Ry Cooder gets slapped with a fine from the US Treasury Department for "spending money in Cuba without its permission." Are they pissed because The Buena Vista Social Club was a terrific movie that opened the eyes of millions of Americans to the pointlessness of the Cuban embargo? [via RRE]
posted by mathowie on Sep 4, 2001 - 16 comments

Jack Lemmon, RIP
These things seem to happen all at once....Johm Lee Hooker, now Jack Lemmon...such a pity :-(
posted by tomcosgrave on Jun 28, 2001 - 23 comments

The Oscar Nominees Page is up... ...and it looks like both Gladiator and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon are the two big movies this time, with 10 Nominations each, including Best Picture. In addition, Julia Roberts finally has her oscar nod, as well as Tom Hanks, Ed Harris and Geoffrey Rush returning for another round in the Best Actor Category.
posted by Cavatica on Feb 13, 2001 - 38 comments