(Your non-Harvey-influenced round-up for the morning…)
• Is Armando Iannucci planning to take the world of “In the Loop” to HBO? [CHUD]
• Bill Mechanic responds to criticism over move to eliminate original song performances. [The Odds]
• Actors on an actorless “Avatar.” [Los Angeles Times]
Alright, now that the booze and the hangover have worn off, let’s talk last night’s Critics’ Choice Movie Awards.
It was a decently produced evening, the venue having shifted from the Santa Monica Civic Center to the Hollywood Palladium, right in the middle of Tinseltown. The scheme of having 10 tables rounding the stage representing the 10 films nominated for Best Picture was a nice touch. I was fortunate enough to be at the “Up in the Air” table with Jason Reitman, Vera Farmiga (who I was meeting for the first time) and Anna Kendrick.
George Clooney was a no-show (working on his upcoming Haiti telethon), though at least that didn’t make for an awkward moment later when Jeff Bridges won the lead actor prize, the first on his way to an eventual Oscar win.
Anyway, a few notes (since Guy has already given you a thorough rundown of last night’s implications)…
• Matt Damon on packing on the pounds for “The Informant!,” among other things. [USA Today]
• Which earth crisis documentary is for you? [Beyond the Multiplex]
• In honor of “A Prophet,” newly submitted as France’s foreign film Oscar representative, a list of the best-ever prison films. [Awards Daily]
If anything good can be said to have from such a sad event, the premature passing of John Hughes has at least inspired an unusually high standard of obituary-writing. The personal connection still felt by an entire generation with his films has manifested itself in a number of heartfelt, idiosyncratic tributes from a wide range of voices.
As someone too young to have experienced the Hughes teen phenomenon first-hand — I was in diapers when he made his directing debut with “Sixteen Candles” — I’ve gained a lot of understanding this week as to why his work means so much to so many, and why that makes him an important filmmaker. While I’ve enjoyed several of his films, I’m looking forward to revisiting them from this perspective.
Meanwhile, the most interesting tribute I’ve read yet comes from an unlikely source: Washington lawyer Edward McNally, who grew up and attended high school with Hughes, and is rumored to be the inspiration for Hughes most beloved creation, Ferris Bueller.
• Todd Gilchrist talks to “The Goods: Live Hard Sell Hard” star Jeremy Piven. [Cinematical]
• Anthony Breznican has the scoop on Charlyne Yi and “Paper Heart.” [USA Today]
• Who’s your favorite cinematic psychopath? [Talking Movies]
• Kevin Kelly digs into the J.J. Abrams “Dark Tower” project. [Cinematical]
• In honor of “Julie & Julia,” 10 blogs that could be movies. [Film School Rejects]
• Liam Neeson walks his first red carpet since the death of wife Natasha Richardson. [Associated Press]
Apologies for the lateness today. I’m hammering this out on the plane en route to Los Angeles. God bless Virgin America/on-board Wi-Fi.
• Alan Duke talks to the Jewish Eli Roth about his pro-Nazi short “Nation’s Pride.” [CNN]
• Saturday Night Live star Bill Hader on why a hard R “MacGruber” might work. [Vulture]
• The top 10 gangster films ever. [Daily Telegraph]
I’m stilling a bit bummed from the news of director John Hughes’ sudden passing last week in New York. Even though he was years past his prime, these things come to mark the end of an era and signify an abrupt change that is, well, slightly unwelcome.
The tributes and remembrances have been coming fast and furious, of course. But my favorite take so far has come from the newly tube-bound A.O. Scott, who penned this surprisingly thoughtful dedication in The New York Times over the weekend.
In remembering the Hughes films that molded a generation, Scott goes so far as to compare the director to French New Wave titan Jean-Luc Godard for his adeptness at harnessing the attitude of the populace. As I wrote in my brief last week, “Hughes got an entire generation.”
• Charles Burress chats up legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki. [Los Angeles Times]
• John DeVore goes fly fishing in Vermont for the “A River Runs Through It” Blu-ray junket. [Premiere]
• A.O. Scott wraps up the summer with a tired old argument against the dumbed down summer movie season. [New York Times]
• Patrick Goldstein revisits a collection of filmmakers’ tributes to John Hughes, “the Tolstoy of American teenagers.” [The Big Picture]
• The irrepressible Pedro Almodovar talks aging, Cruz and “Broken Embraces.” On a side note, how sweet is the photo to the right? [Daily Telegraph]
• Meryl Streep has a problem with male bloggers. Love you anyway, Meryl. [Salon]
Stolen from us, a true staple of the 1980s cinema, “Mr. Mom,” “Sixteen Candles,” “Pretty in Pink,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Weird Science,” “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” “Home Alone,” the great “Christmas Vacation” and, of course, a personal favorite I’ll defend to the ends of the earth,” “The Breakfast Club.” Dead at 59 from a sudden heart attack.
Saturday, March 24,1984. Shermer High School, Shermer, Illinois, 60062. Dear Mr. Vernon, We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did was wrong. But we think you’re crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us – in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct? That’s the way we saw each other at 7:00 this morning. We were brainwashed.
Hughes got an entire generation. That’s an artistic commodity, no matter how you slice it. He will be missed.
• David Poland takes stock 22 weeks out, and somehow thinks early buzz on Sean Penn’s “Milk” performance is “soft.” [Movie City News]
• Warner Bros. sends out a mailer offering Academy members the choice of a Blu-ray “Dark Knight” awards screener. Wally Pfister’s nomination moves further into place. [The Hollywood Reporter]
• In a nutshell, “Little Children” author Tom Perrotta wonders whether John Hughes was full of shit. [The Guardian]
• An A.O. Scott overview of the New York Film Festival. [New York Times]
• Susan King digs into the legacy of John Wayne. [Los Angeles Times]
• Alright, this is getting out of hand — and just stupid. Reporting on an alleged bet on the test screening score of “The Reader” for its release prospects? [The Big Picture]
• Top 10 tear-jerkers. [Premiere]