1. The Academy Giveth and Taketh Away.
Producer Nicolas Chartier has been sanctioned by The Academy for an email he sent out imploring voters to help out The Hurt Locker. His punishment? He can’t attend the 82nd Annual Academy Awards. Which wouldn’t be such a big deal if The Hurt Locker wasn’t the favorite to win. Ouch. Where’s the fun in winning an Academy Award if you can’t get up there and thank everyone? It’s like giving someone an Indy 500 winning car, only to shoot out their tires at the finish line, causing them to careen into the cement wall. What was Mr. Chartier’s transgression? Unauthorized lobbying. The rules are clear: (if ludicrous) you can put up billboards and “for your consideration” ads all day long. But you can’t lobby directly… ahem, unless you’re trying to get Shakespeare in Love a Best Picture win. Actually, we’ve stumbled upon the real crime, a lazy mass email, as opposed to calling voters directly. Never mind, I take it all back. If you can’t take the time to pick up the phone to lobby people up close and personal I have no sympathy for your fate.
Bonus Random Thought: They are going to have cameras at his house, will this be the first “remote” winner in history? If I were him I’d be at least a little tempted to do something silly with the live camera on me. I mean, what are they going to do? Take your Oscar away?
2. And The Book Says We May Be Through with Indiana Jones but Indy Isn’t Through With Us…
Remember Indiana Jones: The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? Before you blacked out from the pain, I mean. Well, the boys may be back in town, Spielberg and Lucas have a rough outline for a fifth Indiana Jones film. Ponder Harrison Ford’s latest comments:
“The process works like this,” Ford said. “We come to some basic agreement and then George goes away for a long time and works on it. Then Steven and I get it in some form, some embryonic form. Then if we like it we start working with George on it and at some point down the line it’s ready and we do it.”
Is that how the process works? Based upon Kingdom of the Crystal Skull I thought the process worked like this:
1) Drink copious amounts of grain alcohol
2) Order pizza
3) Script is due!!
4) Turn in napkin with some hilarious ideas about refrigerators and monkeys.
Bonus Random Thought: Wait, when exactly does Shia get involved with the process?
3. Wolverine Heads to Japan.
According to The Hollywood Reporter:
Based on a story cycle by Frank Miller and Chris Claremont, Wolverine’s adventures in martial arts will be a love story featuring a Japanese actress, I am told. “It’s a beautiful story,” says a source, “and will be very different than the first film.”
I’m cautiously interested. However, the massive mistake they’ve made with Wolverine’s character is the romantic angle. The fans, including me, want to see the animalistic Wolvie, not the romantic comedy one. Still, the writer behind X-Men wrote the screenplay, that’s a reason to be hopeful.
4. How High Will Alice in Wonderland Fly?
It’s getting some terrible reviews, though Hollywood.com’s Thomas Leupp has a point, Alice in Wonderland is a highly commercial product meant for families. But can it really break 300‘s March opening weekend record as some are suggesting? I’d bet no, especially considering the competition from Sunday’s Academy Awards. 3-D ticket prices will help, the PG rating will help, and the public adoration of Johnny Depp will help. But I still see a $60m finish in Alice in Wonderland‘s near future.
5. Zack Snyder’s next film looks sort of amazing …
Speaking of 300, the director has gone animated for his next feature, Legend of the Guardians. The trailer is available on Yahoo, you can check it out here. Oddly enough, given Disney has nothing to do with it, this looks like a return to Lion King style inspirational film making. We’ve had a string of funny animations (Kung Fu Panda) while and Pixar has cornered the market on sentimental journeys. But it’s been a long time since children left the theater wanting to be one of the characters. I could see that here, it’s a hero mythology done with extremely effective visuals. The film is based upon the popular children’s book series, Guardians of Ga’Hoole, and currently has a September 24, 2010 release date. However, this begs the obvious question: why have we had to wait so long for a great owl movie?
On that note, I hope you all have a great Oscar weekend, filled with red carpet interviews and acceptance speeches!
Checkout last week’s Movie Musings here
Laremy is the lead critic and senior producer for a website named Film.com. He’s also available on Twitter, where he’s looking forward to Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin.
