82nd Annual Academy Award nominations announced Tuesday:
1. Best Picture: "Avatar," "The Blind Side," "District 9," "An Education," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," "A Serious Man," "Up," "Up in the Air."
A review of Avatar follows: http://allthingsrarmitage.blogspot.com/search?q=avatar+review
2. Actor: Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"; George Clooney, "Up in the Air"; Colin Firth, "A Single Man"; Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"; Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker."
3. Actress: Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"; Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"; Carey Mulligan, "An Education"; Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious: Based on the Novel `Push' by Sapphire"; Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia."
4. Supporting Actor: Matt Damon, "Invictus"; Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"; Christopher Plummer, "The Last Station"; Stanley Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"; Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds."
5. Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, "Nine"; Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"; Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Crazy Heart"; Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"; Mo'Nique, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire."
6. Directing: James Cameron, "Avatar"; Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"; Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"; Lee Daniels, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"; Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air."
7. Foreign Language Film: "Ajami," Israel; "El Secreto de Sus Ojos," Argentina; "The Milk of Sorrow," Peru; "Un Prophete," France; "The White Ribbon," Germany.
8. Adapted Screenplay: Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, "District 9"; Nick Hornby, "An Education"; Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche, "In the Loop"; Geoffrey Fletcher, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"; Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, "Up in the Air."
9. Original Screenplay: Mark Boal, "The Hurt Locker"; Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"; Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman, "The Messenger"; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "A Serious Man"; Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Tom McCarthy, "Up."
10. Animated Feature Film: "Coraline"; "Fantastic Mr. Fox"; "The Princess and the Frog"; "The Secret of Kells"; "Up."
17. Costume: "Bright Star," "Coco Before Chanel," "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," "Nine," "The Young Victoria." Examples.....
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After reading the list of nominees, curiosity first led me to find the examples above of the costumes in ‘The Young Victoria’ and secondly searched for info on the animated nominee ‘The Secret of Kells.’ We’ve had the great pleasure of observing in person the astounding beauty of the ancient Book of Kells (over 1000 years old), and also of touring the charming medieval city of Kilkenny, Ireland (home for creators of the animation)
The film 'Invictus' is directed by Clint Eastwood, which should signal 'quality entertainment' to all of us, yet it's not among the best film nominations. It is, however, nominated in other categories. Clint has more intelligence & common sense than most show-business types in Hollywood.
Sci-fi is my least favorite form of fiction therefore surprised myself by actually feeling curious about the newly released movie 'Avatar'. Returned home from the theater a short time ago and searched for a review. Will see if I agree with the writer's estimation of the film.
The story set in the 22nd century revolves on disabled ex-marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) who is called to replace his dead twin in the Avatar program. To fulfill his duty, he travels to the planet populated by Na’vi, Pandora. The Na’vi are hostile to the human race due to the humans’ destruction of their home planet caused by mining for minerals. In the humans attempt to win over the race and the planet, they brew up an experiment that combined human and Na’vi DNA to create the unique Na’vi avatars. These avatars controlled by mental link will proxy for humans in the planet.
Sam/Sully is on the right
Following is Sully's avatar and his love interest
Sully is tasked to take control of one of the avatar ambassadors. In the course of his mission, he must gain the trust of the Na’vi people whilst convincing them to abandon their home turf. Unexpectedly, he falls in love with the Na’vi princess Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) who had been training him in their Na’vi life and ways. In the progression of the film, Sully must make a choice whether to help his own human race to carry out their plan or to battle against the tide to side with his new friends, the Na’vis.
James Cameron returns to the directing seat after he sank “Titanic” 12 years ago. Long before, he was known for his high quality sci-fi films that set new standards for 3d effects including “The Terminator”, “Aliens”, and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”. With his refined state-of-the-art, $300 million worth production using CG effects in “Avatar”, he lines up with known sci-fi classics that came down through history: “Star Wars”, “Jurassic Park”, “The Matrix” and “Lord of the Rings”.
The largest achievement of the movie comes from the most-talked about CG animation. Using this technology, Cameron brings to life the ten-foot-tall, blue-skinned, cat-like, indigenous people of the planet Pandora, the Na’vi. Though they’re quite a sore to the eye during promotions, while watching them thrive in their natural habitat, they’re a wonder to behold. Folks from WETA have done an amazing job capturing the features of human actors flawlessly making the CG created creatures feel totally real and living, breathing creatures.
Agree to a certain extent -- would not place 'Avatar' however on the same scale with the classic 'Star Wars'. However, the words enormously imaginative fail to do justice to the breathtakingly exotic world created from Cameron's dream.
Another highly-talked about CG success in the movie is the dense forests populating the world of Pandora. The depiction of the ecologically-balanced, harmonious, and bio-diverse environment is filled with a lush jungle, floating mountains, and a gargantuan tree that stands out among the rest. The team has also created unique wildlife roaming around the planet like vicious viperwolves, six-legged direhorses, mighty thanators, graceful woodsprites, griffin-like banshees, and the predator leonopteryx.
With years into development and four years dedicated to production alone, it’s no doubt Cameron has created a masterpiece, his best work-of-art to date that would push the boundaries of films today to set the stage for the future of cinemas.
Disagree: To refer to 'Avatar' as a masterpiece sounds like quite a stretch. 'Titanic' is far and away still James Cameron's best movie to date. As already mentioned, science-fiction usually leaves me cold, BUT my companion at the movie has always been a huge fan and gave his opinion that the new movie cannot compare with the quality of former blockbuster 'Star Wars'. After recalling the quantum leap of imagination used in some of the episodes of that other antique sci-fi classic, 'Star Trek', I must agree with his assessment. Cameron's movie probably benefits from the fact there are far fewer good movies produced today than a couple decades ago, therefore any film that transports viewers beyond the here and now seems above average in comparison.
Aside from his CG work on the film, Cameron’s collaborators had played a huge role. Actors, particularly offer vitality and justice to the roles they’re given whether as human or as native Na’vis. Leads Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana both gain praise for their acting prowess. Worthington is a credible hero while Saldana acts genuinely as an alien not as a human trying to pass off as a Na’vi. They both embraced the roles given to them.
The whole masterpiece is attributed to the great work of the production crew from cinematographer Mauro Fiore’s dazzling and cohesive visual elements, Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg’s design, James Horner’s complementing score, and Stephen Rivkin and John Refoua’s editing together with Cameron. Every person in the production crew and cast has contributed to create a must-see movie. Rest assured not a minute is wasted; every single moment is worth it.
Disagree: Actually there are far too many wasted moments in Avatar -- the last approximately 40 min are downright tiresome. By then our senses were saturated by the special effects, exploding space vehicles, and non-stop frenetic motion. If the film had ended 40min earlier, we would've felt pleasantly satiated and content instead of weary and more than ready to go home. Director Cameron forgot the show business truism---leave the audience hungry for more.
Special Valentine's Day for many RA fans - they've got their Gizzy back...;)
EXCERPT: Richard Armitage (Thorin) spoke surprisingly little, but when he did he had a notably deep voice, exactly right for Thorin, and real gravitas. He walked into the conference with a kind of testosterone charged lope. I don’t think he’ll have any trouble holding the audience’s attention.
February 10th, 2011 by Tehanu
Martin Freeman (Bilbo) and Aidan Turner (Kili) at today's press conference - this cast is a killer combo of wit and good looks.
“Fourteen individuals – and an ensemble.”
Today’s press conference opened with an apology from Peter Jackson, who said he couldn’t be there as he was “under a form of medical house arrest” since being hospitalised with a perforated ulcer last week.
“And to be honest, perhaps it’s just as well. These guys make me laugh so hard that I’d be in danger of popping a stitch or something,” Jackson continued in his statement.
Confirming the truth of that, the cast of 13 dwarves and one hobbit kept up a constant flow of quips and wisecracks throughout the whole press conference. We knew Martin Freeman was funny with a good script – well, he’s hilarious without one as well.
Many fans have been wondering whether 13 dwarves would become a generic mass in the film, or whether they would be fleshed out in the script to have individual personalities.
Dwarf actors William Kirchner and Peter Hambleton spoke on that: “We are thirteen distinct and strong personalities – but we are an ensemble as well”.
Speaking of ensemble, the dwarves confirmed they’d be doing their own singing. “It’s all staying very close to the book – yes, there WILL be singing.”
The dwarves apparently all look very different. Aidan Turner, or Fili, said that they were still experimenting with different amounts of facial hair to define their look. “Facial hair is under review – hence the different beards we’ve got today!” Jed Brophy, or Nori, (who played numerous highly- prostheticised characters in LOTR) said that yes, he [and we presume the others] would be recognisable. “I’m so happy to be me. And I hope to get through this film without dying. Horribly.”
As we saw before in LOTR, the script apparently offers each dwarf a chance to be highly individual, but furthermore, PJ, Fran and Philippa were alert to the quirks and strengths of each actor that became evident as they rehearsed together. So in that sense, the script – and its impact on the characters – is fluid.
Seeing the humour, camaraderie and respect between the actors already, I felt very positive that once again the film makers have picked a group whose synergy will power the appeal of the movie.
“It’s a great bunch of guys,” said Hambleton. “We feel like a bunch of mates already.”
“We’re all strong personalities, but we’re all equal and we get on well together.”
The cast said that far from being downcast about the delays in filming, they were appreciating having even more time to bond with each other. (There were a lot of jokes about dwarf bonding/bondage). “We don’t have to wear as much latex for these roles…but we can still enjoy some on the weekends.”
The team have been training hard in the four or five weeks since they arrived – going to the gym, learning some stunt moves, getting dialogue coaching. (Didn’t get to ask what dialect – a question for another day!)
The Kiwi actors talked about meeting and working with international stars like Martin Freeman, Ken Stott or James Nesbitt. Mark Hadlow (Dori): “It’s an amazing experience as a theatre actor, when you’ve been an admirer for years, as I have been, of Ken Stott’s work on stage and screen…to meet with him and get to talk about all the things that we share, has been extraordinary.”
The visiting actors paid tribute to the Kiwi’s talent as well. “Look at Jed here, he’s done it before and he’s been everything in the [LOTR] movies!”
John Callen (Oin) said it wasn’t just the cast who got on well. “When we’re together, we’re a group. We’re ‘as one’. But it’s not just us. The crew work ‘as one’ too. I’ve met hundreds of people working on this movie, and I have not met one tosser. Except Mark Hadlow,” he joked.
The cast have met their scale doubles briefly (“What a great bunch of guys”) and will be working closely with them later. The scale doubles are doing their own gruelling schedule of gym, fight and stunt training alongside the cast.
During the press conference I took note of who took a leadership role or spoke the most, since I suspect that will be a good indicator of how they act on screen.
William Kircher and James Nesbitt – Bifur and Bofur – spoke a lot and also bounced off each other like a naturally comic team. They’re very funny. Nesbitt went to the rubgy Sevens ( a sort of sports carnival we have in Wellington, with lots of costumes) dressed as a chicken. “I was in the corporate box and I was the only one in costume. People were talking to me obviously thinking ‘he’s supposed to be somebody [important] ….but….he’s a chicken.’” Why a chicken? “It just felt right.”
Rob Kazinsky – Fili – also took charge of a lot of the answers, with well-thought-out responses. He was sitting next to Aidan Turner, or Kili, who was also very charismatic “take charge”, as well as funny. They’re both good-looking guys and I imagine we could expect to see a lot of them on screen.
John Callen (Oin) said a few things. He had the air of a wise elder statesman, undercut by a strong vein of very dry, sly humour bubbling just underneath.
Richard Armitage (Thorin) spoke surprisingly little, but when he did he had a notably deep voice, exactly right for Thorin, and real gravitas. He walked into the conference with a kind of testosterone charged lope. I don’t think he’ll have any trouble holding the audience’s attention.
Martin Freeman (Bilbo) was simply hilarious. He spoke a little more seriously about how he had spent time watching Ian Holm’s performances as Bilbo. “Of course I’ve been looking at what he’s been doing…I need to look at it and then forget it, in a sense, though. I look at what he does with his voice and movement…Without trying to blow my own trumpet nor with too much false modesty, I think I’m quite a good match for him. I have to try to echo and give a nod to what he’s done, but still be me.”
Freeman spoke highly of PJ. “For somebody who is as rich as Croesus and has that many Oscars, he’s phenomenally normal. And I mean genuinely normal, as opposed to those people that play at being hip or cool or ostentatiously normal, sort of ‘look here’s me being normal and having a normal cup of tea’. No, PJ is a practitioner, not a star. I get the feeling that if you were to have known him when he was twelve, he’s basically the same person now – an enthusiast.
“There’s no tossers on this production – and you certainly don’t want one at the top.”
Nesbitt (Bofur) commented that PJ, Fran and Philippa, the writing team, were exceptionally clear and could articulate what they wanted. “But very importantly, they’re great listeners and take on board what you have to offer.”
Asked how they were preparing for megastardom and crazy fan hysteria, Freeman and the rest said that it was all theoretical at this point. “We’ve got to be good first!”
On the strength of this press conference, I think we’re going to see some memorable performances from a cast that is bound to become highly popular.
[R - fresh thoughts after watching the entire TH press conference:
--Prior to yesterday RA was the only actor of the 14 that I was familiar(swoon haha;) with. Today, I've a much firmer handle on their identities as Hobbit cast members.
--James Nesbitt seemed to respond to reporter's queries with the greatest enthusiasm. An Irishman with a gift for gab---who would've ever expected it? *winks* You should meet Mr Ricrar - he who has kissed the blarney stone twice - when it wasn't at all necessary even once. lol Between his natural affinity for conversation, and both our interests in travel, history, family, world events in general - happily there's always an abundance of lively chatter between us.
--Made a mental note of the obvious physical fitness of all 3 dwarves to Martin Freeman's (Bilbo) left--proof positive that Peter Jackson wants to retain the 60% female audience he attracted for LOTR series of films. Assisting in reaching that goal will be his wise choice of an actor to play Thorin, whose "real gravitas" extends to his acting skills as well. That fact should go a long way to help make THE HOBBIT another blockbuster for it's director.
--Best of all, after observing the rest of the cast in action, my enthusiasm level for the film has doubled. Have not yet finished Tolkien's book, but definitely expect that will be accomplished in short order - now that each characters' profile has been more vividly implanted on my mind via yesterday's appearance.
--I was disappointed that Sir Peter was unable to attend the news conference, but was very much impressed with how easily the cast collectively filled the role of spokesperson for him, while he continues to recuperate. That's a good omen of how well they'll collaborate during filming, in order to make the director's creative vision transform to the screen. As the photo op portion finally came to an end, one of the actors could be heard saying to the reporters off camera - "see you in 18 months." Yes, we'll all excitedly await that day---although a few sneak peeks now and then (of Thorin in particular;) would certainly be appreciated.
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Proving yet again that in one way or another dreams can come true--received following email:
Lucas North (@Lucas_North) is now following your tweets (@armitageblogger) on Twitter
of course the fact there are currently about 5 different Lucas Norths on twitter does rather soften the impact ;)
