The Razzie Award "Winners"

For shame Razzie panel...



Winners are in bold...The Razzie's didn't think much of The Love Guru apparently. They just didn't get it...

Worst Picture
The Love Guru (Paramount)
Disaster Movie (Lionsgate) and Meet the Spartans (20th Century Fox) (jointly)
The Happening (20th Century Fox)
The Hottie and the Nottie (Regent Releasing)
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (Boll KG/Brightlight Pictures)


Worst Actor
Mike Myers in The Love Guru
Larry the Cable Guy in Witless Protection
Eddie Murphy in Meet Dave
Al Pacino in 88 Minutes and Righteous Kill
Mark Wahlberg in The Happening and Max Payne

Worst Actress
Paris Hilton in The Hottie and the Nottie
Jessica Alba in The Eye and The Love Guru
Cameron Diaz in What Happens in Vegas
Kate Hudson in Fool's Gold and My Best Friend's Girl
The cast of The Women (Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Meg Ryan)

Worst Supporting Actor
Pierce Brosnan in Mamma Mia!
Uwe Boll (as himself) in Postal
Ben Kingsley in The Love Guru, The Wackness and War, Inc.
Burt Reynolds in Deal and In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
Verne Troyer in The Love Guru and Postal

Worst Supporting Actress
Paris Hilton in Repo! The Genetic Opera
Carmen Electra in Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans
Kim Kardashian in Disaster Movie
Jenny McCarthy in Witless Protection
Leelee Sobieski in 88 Minutes and In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale

Worst Screen Couple
Paris Hilton and either Christine Lakin or Joel David Moore in The Hottie and the Nottie
Uwe Boll and "any actor, camera, or screenplay"
Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher in What Happens in Vegas
Larry the Cable Guy and Jenny McCarthy in Witless Protection
"Eddie Murphy in Eddie Murphy" in Meet Dave

Worst Director
Uwe Boll for 1968 Tunnel Rats, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, and Postal
Marco Schnabel for The Love Guru
Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer for Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans
Tom Putnam for The Hottie and the Nottie
M. Night Shyamalan for The Happening

Worst Screenplay
The Love Guru (written by Mike Myers & Graham Gordy)
Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans (jointly) (written by Jason Friedberg & Aaron Seltzer)
The Happening (written by M. Night Shyamalan)
The Hottie and the Nottie (written by Heidi Ferrer)
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (screenplay by Doug Taylor)

Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (sequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (remake of the 1951 film)
Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans (jointly) (rip-off of many films)
Speed Racer (remake/rip-off of the TV series Speed Racer)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (sequel to Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, prequel to Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith)

The Oscar Prediction Post -

My final word:



Performance by an actor in a leading role

* Sean Penn in "Milk" (Focus Features) - Will Win and Should Win. I know, I know, Mickey Rourke could win the award...I just have faith, despite the many times that the Academy has let me down, that they will reward the actual best performance of the year by a leading male. Also, Rourke is gross.

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

* Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) - Will and should win. Definitely. Yeah...I thought Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road was fantastic, and in any other year he'd be the man, but Ledger is the definite winner. Arguably the most "iconic" performance since...?

He's really that amazing in this film. "How bout a magic trick?"


Performance by an actress in a leading role

* Meryl Streep in "Doubt" (Miramax) - Should Win
* Kate Winslet in "The Reader" (The Weinstein Company) - Will Win. I'll put my thoughts here...Kate Winslet, had she been nominated for Revolutionary Road, would be a sure-fire pick for "Should Win / Will Win"...but I just didn't think she was that good in The Reader. I think it is her year, and she'll win the Oscar, but I think Streep, who was great, was just a bit better than Winslet's bad makeup job as the illiterate Nazi.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

* Penélope Cruz in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (The Weinstein Company) - Will Win
* Viola Davis in "Doubt" (Miramax) - Should Win. You try out acting Meryl Streep in a scene...

Best animated feature film of the year

* "WALL-E" (Walt Disney), Andrew Stanton - Will, Should.

Achievement in art direction

* "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo - I mean I guess it Will...and I suppose it should...pretty weak list of nominees.

Achievement in cinematography

* "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight), Anthony Dod Mantle - Should and Will.

Achievement in costume design

* "The Duchess" (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Michael O'Connor - Said it in my original review of the film...should and will win.

Achievement in directing

* "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight), Danny Boyle - Should and Will.

Best documentary feature

* "Man on Wire" (Magnolia Pictures), A Wall to Wall Production, James Marsh and Simon Chinn - Will, and Should. I mean really should. I mean...I'll be crazy upset if it loses to something...

Best documentary short subject

* "The Conscience of Nhem En" A Farallon Films Production, Steven Okazaki - Will
* "The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306" A Rock Paper Scissors Production, Adam Pertofsky and Margaret Hyde - Should.

Achievement in film editing

* "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight), Chris Dickens - Will, Should

Best foreign language film of the year

* "The Class" (Sony Pictures Classics), A Haut et Court Production, France - I'll hedge my bets...The Class should win...but...

* "Waltz with Bashir" (Sony Pictures Classics), A Bridgit Folman Film Gang Production, Israel ... Will Win.

Achievement in makeup

* "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Greg Cannom - Will, Should.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

* "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight), A.R. Rahman - Will, Should.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

* "Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight), Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Gulzar - Will, Should.

Best motion picture of the year

* "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight), A Celador Films Production,Christian Colson, Producer - Will, Should.

Best animated short film

* "Presto" (Walt Disney) A Pixar Animation Studios Production, Doug Sweetland - Will.

* "This Way Up", A Nexus Production, Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes - Definitely Should.

Best live action short film

* "Manon on the Asphalt" (La Luna Productions), A La Luna Production, Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont - Will win...just a gut feeling having seen them all.

* "New Boy" (Network Ireland Television), A Zanzibar Films Production, Steph Green and Tamara Anghie - Definitely Should.

Achievement in sound editing

* "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.), Richard King - Will

* "WALL-E" (Walt Disney), Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood - Should

Achievement in sound mixing

* "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.), Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick - Will

* "WALL-E" (Walt Disney),Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt - Should

Achievement in visual effects

* "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron - Will. Should


Adapted screenplay

* "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight), Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy - Will, Should.

Original screenplay

* "In Bruges" (Focus Features), Written by Martin McDonagh - Should.

* "Milk" (Focus Features), Written by Dustin Lance Black - Will.

Henry's Top 100: # 03 - Spider-Man 2

The best Comic Book Movie ever made.


Have you ever had your heart cheer?

Look, if you wanna poke holes in Spider-Man 2...and Sam loves to do so...it's easy. It's corny, some things don't make any sense, a lot of scenes contain bad acting...I can't claim that it is a "flawless" movie like some other movies on this list.

But if you have any romance, humor, or joy in your heart... or if you've ever enjoyed reading a comic book...then you know why I have Spider-Man 2 as my 3rd favorite movie ever.

My top three movies are in another level above all the other 97 films. I appreciate the 97 films that I've written about here. I really, realy, really like them. These last three...I love them. Love. Adore. These last three are a part of who I am, are recalled in my darkest hours...these last three...can't top 'em.

Spider-Man 2...I've never walked out of a movie, with all the movies I've seen, I've never walked out of a movie with as much joy as I did with Spider-Man 2. The last scene...the last line...guh...I turn into an 8 year old girl.

But Spider-Man 2 delivers for the rest of the film too. It captures a perfect Peter Parker, and nearly perfect Spider-Man (he could make a few more jokes...) and nails every supporting character. Kirsten Dunst is actually, somehow, charming and attractive in the film. Rosemary Harris' Aunt May verges on annoying but manages to be the best representation of the character in her nearly 50 years of existence. And Alfred Molina, as Doctor Octopus...how great is he? Until Ledger's Joker, I would argue Molina gave us the best super-villain (Well, Sir Ian's Magneto was pretty great too...) ever.

But for me, when I think of Spider-Man 2, I think of two scenes. One is the aforementioned last scene...and again it really makes me... just so happy. Just happy. I mean outside of hearing good news about a family member, or hearing the right Beatles song on the radio at just the right time, how often does something just make you happy? Just make you believe in fate (in a good way), or humanity, or potential, or just... basically win your heart over? That's what the last few minutes of Spider-Man 2 mean to me. But it's not my favorite scene...

No, the best scene in Spider-Man 2 is an action scene. It contains nothing but Spider-Man fighting the villainous Doc Ock. But, it happens to be in my opinion, the best action scene of all time. But, more importantly, it is the action scene I had been waiting a lifetime to see. Before Spidey 2, the best "comic book fights" in film were in The Matrix, or involved Nightcrawler in X2 (which were great)...but I had never got, man on man, super-hero vs. super-villain, until Spider-Man 2. Spidey 2's "Clocktower to the Train" fight is a childhood dream come to life. All those days and nights spent imagining the choreography of the fights I'd read in comics...it was finally on screen.

So yeah, F-You Sam, Spider-Man 2 is my 3rd favorite movie ever made. No movie, even the next two and final films, makes me as happy to be alive.

Best Scene:

Henry Saw: He's Just Not That Into You

A Nightmare.


This will be brief as I don't want to revisit yesterday's horror show for longer than I have to.

He's Just Not That Into You fails on every level. The men are unlikable, the woman are unlikable (or crazy), the relationships aren't compelling, the affairs are boring, the humor is non-existent, the insights are limited and dull, it's too long, it sucks. It sucks. It really, really sucks.

Someone, and she knows who she is, owes me big time. I'm gonna make her see the worst ****ing stupid guy movie ever made.

This movie stinks.

Grade: D

Best Scene: Scarlet Johanson's Boobs.

This movie sucked.

Henry Saw: The Oscar Nominated Live Action Shorts

Not the best batch this year...


The 2009 Live Action shorts were far less entertaining than their animated counterparts.

First up was:



Auf Der Strecke (On The Line). Swiss / German. A department store security guard who is drawn to one of his co-workers makes a fateful decision. The longest of all the entries, and in some ways, the most interesting film. Which isn't to say it was the best. This was the most "professional" of all the live action films. It had the highest quality film stock, the best acting, and one could easily see how this same story could be expanded to a feature length film. The problems with the film however, nearly outweigh the positives. The main two actors are good but everyone else in the film, and there are a surprising amount of speaking parts given the film's length, are pretty weak. Also, while I give the film credit for creating interesting characters and an intriguing plot...I wanted more. Perhaps this should have been a full length movie. Still, it was worth seeing and had a very solid central story to tell...I just think it misfired in the execution some. Grade: B.



New Boy - Irish. A nine-year-old African boy begins his first day of school in Ireland. By far my favorite of the Live Action Shorts. I found this short film (the shortest of all the nominees at only 10 minutes or so) to be a very funny, warm, and actually touching film. The kid actors are all great (the main character is a little bad-ass) and I just thought the film really, really worked. I'll have my fingers crossed for this one on February 22nd. Grade: A.



Spielzeugland (Toyland): German. In 1942, a German mother tells her son that his Jewish neighbors are going to Toyland. A horror show. Just a mess of a film. Preposterous, confusing, unrealistic, laughable, garbage. If this wins just because it's all Holocaust-y it would be a travesty. Grade: D.



The Pig: Denmark. A man facing surgery finds comfort in the painting of a pig hanging in his hospital room. Really pretty bizarre. I actually found the main character and his obsession over this silly painting of a pig to be rather charming but then the film enters into moral/ethical debates that, honestly, it didn't need. Still, not totally bad, just kinda forgettable. Grade: B-




Manon On The Asphalt: A young woman, who gets hit by a car, spends her last moments imagining how her friends will react to her death. Meh...This was another film that clearly had a great deal of talent and effort put into it but I don't think it actually worked. A lot of shots were poorly constructed / edited and the execution of the narrative of the film touched on interesting aspects more than fully investigated any of them. In the end, you've seen this kind of thing before, and you've seen it done much better than this. Grade: C+.

So...

Will Win: On the Line

Should Win: New Boy

Seek out: New Boy, On the Line

Avoid: Toyland and Manon on the Asphalt.


That's all folks.

Henry Saw: The Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts

Not the worst batch this year...


Caught a double feature last night with Ben that was showing the 10 Oscar nominated short films. Apparently these will be available on itunes starting on February 17th, so here are a few thoughts on the ones worth your 2 dollars and which to avoid. This is a review of the Animated Shorts - I'll put up my thoughts on the Live Action Shorts tonight.

THE ANIMATED SHORTS:



Lavatory Lovestory: Russian. A simple story about a woman who works in a bathroom who wants to find love. I found this one to be completely unremarkable, the humor to be clumsy, and the ending both predictable and nonsensical. I refuse to believe this is one of the 5 best animated shorts on the year...in fact I know it isn't. (More on this later). Grade: C-



Oktapodi: French. An octopus struggles to save his beloved and engages in a high speed chase through Santorini, Greece. I really, really enjoyed this one. I found it exciting, funny, economical (it's only 3 minutes), and it had the best ending of any of the other animated shorts. I don't think it should win, but this one was really fun. Grade: B+



La Maison En Petits Cubes: Japanese. In a world gradually flooding with water, an old man adapts to changing circumstances and looks back on his life. A grim, pretentious, bore. The animation is unique but not quite beautiful or gritty enough. The story is one-note and the film leaves you feeling nothing but "well that was a downer...". A dark horse to win, as it's sad and "meaningful", but it's really just crap. Grade: C



This Way Up: English. A series of misfortunes befalls a pair of undertakers on their way to the cemetery. My favorite of the nominees. It's actually funny, has a great pace, by far the coolest sequence of any of the shorts (a quick, bizarre, musical sojourn into Hell that echoes the best of Disney's Pink Elephants on Parade). A must see and I'll be pulling for it on Oscar night. Grade: A



Presto: American. A carrot triggers a war of wits between a magician and his hungry bunny. The most likely to win. It's a Pixar joint so it could be a big night for them (Wall*E is also going to win for Best Animated Film). Don't get me wrong, Presto is really good. It has the high energy of an old Warner Brothers cartoon, is genuinely amusing, and has flawless animation. I just didn't like it quite as much as This Way Up. Still, worth seeing, and you might have already (Presto was shown before Wall*E in theaters). Grade: A-

I mentioned earlier that I knew Lavatory Lovestory was not in the top 5 animated shorts of the year. I know this because along with the 5 nominated shorts, they also showed some "honorable mentions". One of the extra shorts we were shown was called "John and Karen" and was a short little story about a polar bear named John apologizing for some rude comments he made to a Penguin he has a crush on named Karen (Short clip here). It was a delightful and strange little tale that the crowd really seemed to like. It should have been among the 5 nominated films. The other shorts among the honorable mentions included the pedestrian 2005 nominee "Gopher Broke", a creepy, disturbed, and incredibly tiring epic called "Varmints", and the relatively unpleasant "Hot Dog".

So...in the end...

Will Win: Presto

Should Win: This Way Up

Seek out: This Way Up, Oktapodi, Presto, and John and Karen.

Avoid: La Maison En Petits Cubes and Lavatory Lovestory (And Varmints...if you ever should come across it somehow just run in the opposite direction).

Scene of the Day: Adams Family Values

Wednesday and Pugsley take over the Summer Camp Play.

Henry Saw: Taken

Kick-Ass.


First of all, watch the trailer for the film, which immediately enters the Trailer Hall of Fame:



There is not much for me to say here - I know Ben will add more thoughts soon - but I just wanted to strongly recommend you go see Taken. It is a silly, incredibly fun, suprising (kinda), and fully satisfying action movie.

Liam Neeson plays a role that Harrison Ford could have taken in the late 90's; he's an obsessed man looking for his family (this is where my uncle Craig reminds us that this role was really created by John Wayne in The Searchers but I dislike that movie so I'm going to ignore that). Taken movie has a grit and edge to it which makes it feel more like a 70's revenge movie or an 80's low-budget action film than anything you would expect to see in 2009.

Taken has a solid car chase, a great hand-to-hand fight, and two fun shootouts. What more could you want? This is the film that Quantum of Solace wanted to be in someways. This is a very enjoyable little action film and I'm happy it found an audience in this dark days of movies (January and February are just brutal months).

Is Taken a very post-Bourne, post-24, film? Yeah, you can see the influences, but Taken is so proud of what it is, and what it isn't, that it is very easy to look past the echos of other movies and TV shows and enjoy it for what it is.

See Taken. It's the best film of the year thus far and I'm not sure I'll have a better time with a movie for the rest of the year.

Grade: A

Best Scene: Liam Neeson on the phone (the scene in the trailer)

Henry's Top 100: #04 - The Exorcist

Scariest. Movie. Ever.


Imagine you're walking up the stairs, like you've done a hundred times before, up to your comfy bedroom.

The door to your bedroom is closed, there is a slight chill coming from your room (did you leave a window open?), and you open the door...



And that thing is looking at you.

It's an image that has terrified me since I was 11 (give or take a year).

.
.
.

The Exorcist is a timeless masterpiece. Horror or no, this is one of those rare horror films that completely transcends the genre. And please note - this is a true horror film. People always say that Silence of the Lambs is the "only horror film to win best picture". Silence, as much as I clearly love it, is not a horror film. It has suspenseful moments and some frights, but that is clearly more of a "police" movie.

So very few horror films can be viewed as rising above that label. The Oman doesn't, Texas Chainsaw doesn't...these are great horror films but they aren't great films. Rosemary's Baby, Psycho...these are great films. And the best of them all is The Exorcist.

It is such a skillfully made film. The very deliberate, slow, build-up...the progression of Reagan's...weirdness...and then of course the pure terror of fully poccessed Reagan.

As I alluded to before, the film is filled with some of the scariest images ever put on the big screen...or anywhere for that matter. The Spider-Walk, the 360 head turn, the random flashes of the demon face...shudder....

If you want to never really want to feel totally okay walking into your bedroom ever again - The Exorcist is the film for you. If you wanna see the most disturbing performance by a child actor ever - The Exorcist is the film for you. If you want to see a bizzarely quoatable film...The Exorcist fits the bill. And if you want to see one of the truly great films ever made...the only movie that still legitimatly freaks me out...see the Goddamned Exorcist.

Best Scene: Hm...there are a lot to choose from...I'll go with when Father Karras first meets Reagan.