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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 13 February 2011

    

A quick plug to the Windows On Europe Film Festival which kicks off at the Dendy Portside this Saturday (Feb 19) and runs for a week.  There are films from 14 countries and they cover a wide variety of genres.  You can find out more by clicking here.  Tickets are just $12.50 and I might see you at a film or two.

 

We’re now two weeks out from the Academy Awards and in next week’s blog, I’ll be launching my annual Oscars competition.  In the meantime, I thought I might test you out with some Oscars trivia.  There are 10 questions – some easy, some a little more difficult.  Enjoy!

 

1.  Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech) has been nominated for an Academy Award this year.  Only two people in history have won an Oscar for best leading actor and then later gone on to win the Oscar for best supporting actor.  Jack Nicholson was one of them.  Who was the other?

(a)  Kevin Spacey

(b)  Gene Hackman

(c)  Denzel Washington

(d)  Jack Lemmon

 

2.  She’s amazing in the film but it’s hard to believe Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) is just 14 years of age.  She’s been nominated for best supporting actress at this year’s Oscars but she won’t be setting any records if she wins.  Two actresses have taken home the statuette in this category despite being even younger!  Anna Paquin (The Piano) was just 11 when she won in 1993.  Who was the other?

(a)  Tatum O’Neal

(b)  Mary Badham

(c)  Shirley Temple

(d)  Jodie Foster

 

3.  1994 is considered by many as one of cinema’s great years.  So many fantastic movies were made.  All of these films were nominated for at least 7 Academy Awards but which one lost in every category?

(a)  Forrest Gump

(b)  Pulp Fiction

(c)  Bullets Over Broadway

(d)  The Shawshank Redemption

 

4.  It doesn’t happen very often (given there are so many voting members) but there have been a handful of ties in Academy Awards history.  The last was back in 1994.  In which of the following categories has a tie never occurred?

(a)  Best documentary feature

(b)  Best documentary short subject

(c)  Best actress

(d)  Best cinematography

 

5.  It’s a landmark year for Australians at the Oscars.  For only the second time in history, we have three Aussies up for acting awards – Geoffrey Rush, Nicole Kidman and Jackie Weaver.  That’s not bad when you consider there are only 20 acting slots to fill.  On that note, which Australian actor has received the most nominations?

(a)  Cate Blanchett

(b)  Nicole Kidman

(c)  Judy Davis

(d)  Geoffrey Rush

 

6.  The “big five” awards at the Oscars are considered to be best picture, best director, best screenplay, best actor and best actress.  Only three films have managed to win them all.  That total won’t change this year either as no film is nominated in all five categories.  Which one of the following did not win the “big five”?

(a)  One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

(b)  It Happened One Night

(c)  Gone With The Wind

(d)  The Silence Of The Lambs

 

7.  In terms of predicting the Oscars, there is one lead up event that stands out – the Director’s Guild Award for “Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures”.  Since it was first handed out in 1949, only 6 winners have not gone on to claim the Academy Award for best director.  That’s a better than 90% strike rate!  Despite that amazing correlation, there have been two directors who won the Director’s Guild Award but weren’t even nominated at the Oscars.  Ron Howard (Apollo 13) was one.  Who was the other?

(a)  Bruce Beresford

(b)  Anthony Harvey

(c)  Steven Spielberg

(d)  Woody Allen

 

8.  There is a separate category at the Academy Awards for best foreign language film.  Each country can only nominate one film however.  Which country has received the most number of wins in this category?

(a)  France

(b)  Spain

(c)  Germany

(d)  Italy

 

9.  In 2001, one of the Academy Award winners was not at the ceremony to accept the award.  In fact, he was in Australia at the time and accepted the award via satellite.  Who was it?

(a)  Bob Dylan

(b)  Russell Crowe

(c)  Benecio Del Toro

(d)  Stephen Soderbergh

 

10.  Two of my favourite categories at the Oscars are best original screenplay and best adapted screenplay.  If you ask me, the script is the most important element of any movie.  Who is the only person to have won an acting Oscar and a screenplay Oscar?

(a)  Matt Damon

(b)  Billy Bob Thornton

(c)  Emma Thompson

(d)  Woody Allen

 

Answers down below…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers…

 

1. (b)  Gene Hackman won best leading actor in 1972 for The French Connection and then won best supporting actor in 1993 for Unforgiven.

 

2. (a)  Tatum O’Neal won in 1974 for her performance in Paper Moon.  She was just 10 years old.

 

3. (d)  Many now regard it as one of the best movies of all time but The Shawshank Redemption didn’t win a single Oscar.

 

4. (d)  We’ve never seen a tie in the best cinematography category.

 

5. (a)  Cate Blanchett has 5 nominations – Elizabeth, The Aviator, Notes On A Scandal, I’m Not There and Elizabeth: The Golden Age.  Geoffrey Rush has 4, Nicole Kidman has 3 and Judy Davis has 2.

 

6. (c)  Gone With The Wind could only manage 4 of the big 5.  Clark Gable lost the best actor award to Robert Donat in Goodbye, Mr. Chips.

 

7. (c)  Steven Spielberg won the Director’s Guild Award in 1985 for The Colour Purple.  The film went on to score 11 Academy Award nominations but amazingly, Spielberg wasn’t amongst them.

 

8. (d)  It’s a tight race but Italy has notched up 13 wins in this category.  France has had more nominations but only has a total of 12 wins.  Spain and Japan are next best with just 4 wins.  Germany has only won 3 times.

 

9. (a)  Bob Dylan won the Academy Award in 2001 for his song “Things Have Changed” from the great film Wonder Boys.  He was on tour in Australia at the time and actually performed the song for the ceremony via satellite.

 

10. (c)  All four of the names listed have won an Oscar for best screenplay but only Emma Thompson picked up both (adapted screenplay for Sense & Sensibility and best actress for Howard’s End).

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 06 February 2011

 

It feels like I’ve been blogging about nothing but film awards so far this year and so while we await the Academy Awards (Feb 27), I thought it an opportune time to change the subject matter.

 

One of the more popular parts of my www.thefilmpie.com website is the Brisbane Cinema Guide.  Given that I see a lot of movies, I have the chance to get to many of Brisbane’s cinemas on a regular basis.  I first published the Guide back in 2005 and it was fortunate that I did.  A producer stumbled across it from 612ABC and I’ve had a gig reviewing movies live on radio ever since.

 

I’ve tried to keep the Guide up to date but my last major review was in April 2008.  Over the Christmas holidays, I spent a couple of days visiting Brisbane’s cinemas to get some new photos and the latest price information.

 

You can check it out by clicking on the following link – Brisbane Cinema Guide.

 

The front page is a handy link if you’re ever looking for a single page that links to all of the cinema’s websites.  If you click on my review, you can see my own critique of each cinema.  I’ll let you read what’s of interest to you but thought I’d go through my favourites in terms of the three major review criteria I have used…

 

Best Price – Cineplex Chain (Balmoral, Hawthorne and Southbank)

 

You just can’t beat these cinemas in terms of price.  There’s nothing even in the same ballpark.  If I think back to my university days and Marketing 101, this is a cinema chain that has differentiated themselves via the easiest way possible – by charging the lowest price.

 

This of course can sometimes be a negative.  I’ve had many friends turn up to a screening and learn that it’s sold out.  I realise you can book online but not everyone likes to do that.  Also (and without sounding snooty), the Southbank cinemas can attract a large number of annoying kids/students.  They tend to take advantage of the low prices and then feel it necessary to annoy others during the movie (by talking to others and using mobile phones).

 

Let’s be honest though.  If you’re going with a group of friends to the movies and you want to save a few dollars, you simply must go to a Cineplex theatre.  The most you’ll pay for a ticket is $8.50 (to a 2D movie) and the candy bar prices are outrageously low.  A small coke and popcorn will set you back a total of $4.10.  Compare that with what you’ll pay at an Event or Hoyts cinema.

 

Best Cinema Quality & Service – Blue Room Cinebar (Rosalie)

 

I’ve always been a fan of the Blue Room Cinebar.  They’ve taken the Event Cinema’s concept of “gold class” and made it much more affordable to the average person.

 

When they opened in 2005, they had two screens which could only hold about 30 people.  Whilst it was nice to be able to enjoy a meal and an alcoholic beverage during the film, it was a little squashy.  That changed a few years ago when they opened a new third screen with luxurious seats and a lot more room (it seats 60 people). 

 

The chairs don’t recline (like in Event Gold Class) but apart from that, there’s really no difference in terms of quality.  The great news is that the Blue Room’s maximum ticket price is $21.50 (on Friday and Saturday nights).  At Event Gold Class, you’ll pay almost double - $39.00.  When you look at those numbers, it’s not hard to see why I like recommending this cinema to others.  You get a licensed, luxury theatre at an affordable price with very good service.  What more could you want?

 

Best Movie Quality & Range – Palace Centro (New Farm)

 

When it comes down to it, there’s been one cinema in Brisbane which has always been my favourite – the Palace Centro at New Farm.  I spoke with the owner of the Palace chain, Antonio Zeccola, at the Italian Film Festival last year and we chatted about the Centro cinema.  It may have been open for more than 10 years but it looks as new as ever.  The design of the 4 cinemas is fantastic and I love the lobby and waiting area.  The staff are also very friendly and have a nice knowledge of the films being screened.

 

First and foremost, the Palace Centro shows great movies.  The Barracks tends to show more commercial fare which leaves the Centro with some of the smaller, independent releases.  Films currently showing at the Centro include Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Catfish, The Fighter, The King’s Speech and True Grit.  That is a great list.

 

I’ve always thought it’d be cool to own a cinema one day and if I’m lucky enough to get that chance, I’d mould it in an image of the Palace Centro.

 

 

You can use the link above to go through all the other cinemas but a few quick notable comments…

 

The Event / Birch Carroll & Coyle chain continue to be the most expensive.  A full priced ticket will set you back $16.50 and a popcorn & coke combo will lighten your wallet by a further $10.

 

The Hoyts chain have remerged in Brisbane by taking over the AMC group of cinemas.  With that, we’ve seen an increase in prices as well.  The ticket prices are slightly less than Event but are still high relative to others.  It’ll be interesting to see how these cinemas perform over the next few years now that they’ve been acquired by Hoyts.

 

A big thumbs up goes to the Regal Twin which has greatly improved its move quality and range.  It only has two screens but is now marketed as a “boutique arthouse cinema”.  It’s handy for those on the southside who can’t get across town to the Palace Centro or Dendy Portside.  Currently showing at the Regal Twin are Tamara Drewe, Another Year, Black Swan and The King’s Speech.

 

Two cinemas which closed and then came back to life over the past two years have been the Tribal Theatre (the old Dendy on George Street) and the Schonell Theatre at the University of Queensland.  Both are showing a mix of classic and second-release films.

 

People often ask for my opinion on the Dendy Portside.  My answer is that I like it but it’s not as good as the Palace Centro or Barracks.  I dislike the 3D glasses they use at Portside and I often feel that the sound quality isn’t as good as it should be (particularly in the small cinema 5 – which no one is a fan of).

 

That’s it from me for another week.  Hopefully I’ll see you at some point in time at the Palace Centro!

 

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 31 January 2011

 

I love a good awards season and yes, this year has produced a very good one.  The Social Network looked on track for an incredible sweep.  It was awarded the best film prize by the critics in Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Florida, Washington DC and Toronto.  It then won the Golden Globe and the Critics Choice Award.

 

I admit to being puzzled.  I really enjoyed The Social Network but why wasn’t more love going to other highly regarded films from 2010?  I speak of The King’s Speech, Inception, Toy Story 3, Winter’s Bone, True Grit, The Fighter, Black Swan and The Kids Are All Right.  These critics organisations seemed to be like “lemmings”.  Could they all possibly have the same tastes?

 

The race started to change last week.  The King’s Speech caused a big upset when it took home the Producer’s Guild Award.  This is an important prize as since it started in 1989, 14 of the 21 winners went on to take the Oscar for best picture.  It’s also significant because it uses the same preferential voting system that the Academy use when deciding best picture.  Just because a film gets the most number 1 votes, doesn’t make it a guaranteed winner.

 

Then came the Academy Award nominations (which I wrote about in last week’s blog).  The King’s Speech was out in front with 12 nominations.  True Grit was next with 10 and The Social Network picked up 8.  I’m not reading too much into the nominations but it does highlight a lot of support for The King’s Speech.  This isn’t a film that’s slipping past people.

 

The most shocking twist in this year’s race came last night when Tom Hooper won the Director’s Guild Award for The King’s Speech.  Not many saw this coming because (1) he’s a relatively new director on the block and (2) The Social Network’s David Fincher has won almost every award so far.  This is the award I look at most closely because 1948, more than 90% have gone on to win the best director Oscar.  The correlation between these two honours is remarkable.  The last time it didn’t happen was in 2002 when Rob Marshall (Chicago) won the Guild and Roman Polanski (The Pianist) won the Oscar.

 

To take it a step further, the film which wins best director at the Oscars often wins best picture.  Since 1957, the film which won best director also won best picture 85% of the time.  Again, that’s a strong correlation.

 

The last piece of the puzzle fitted into place earlier today.  The King’s Speech took out the Screen Actor’s Guild Award for best ensemble.  The awards went as scripted with the 4 favourite actors all getting up – Colin Firth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale and Melissa Leo.

 

There are often surprises at the Academy Awards but right now, the momentum is with The King’s Speech.  The fact that it’s won the Producer’s Guild Award, the Director’s Guild Award, the Screen Actor’s Guild Award and has received the most nominations is a very strong indicator of its popularity.  I’m not saying I agree with the voters (I thought The Social Network was slightly better) but the numbers don’t lie.  People love The King’s Speech.  We all knew that back in September 2010 when it took the lucrative audience award at the Toronto Film Festival.

 

Can The Social Network still win?  The answer is yes.  Would I bet on it?  The answer is no.

 

The shift towards The King’s Speech has certainly caught raised some eyebrows (to say it politely).  There were many negative comments posted on the Awards Daily forum.  I can best sum up the negativity with this comment from columnist Jeffrey Wells – “Early tomorrow morning the henchmen of Soviet Colonel Dimitri Ilyavich Karger will kick my door in and put me on a train to a Siberian gulag, and I'll go willingly because I know when the jig is up. My spirit is spent. I'm feeling so downhearted I'm wondering if I can even sleep tonight.”

 

I realise that people tend to get a bit sensitive when it comes to big film awards.  I was none too pleased when Crash upset Brokeback Mountain in 2005.  Nothing can be done though.  The King’s Speech isn’t the best film of 2010 in my eyes (that honour belongs to Inception) but I won’t be unhappy if it wins… because I now have money on it!

 

Following the win by The King’s Speech at the Director’s Guild Awards, I have pounced and invested some big cash.  One particular sports betting agency in Australia failed to update their odds following Hooper’s win yesterday and so I took the opportunity to pounce.  My bets are for 2011 are:

 

$400 on Hailee Steinfeld to win the Oscar for best supporting actress at odds of $4.

$500 on The King’s Speech to win the Oscar for best picture at odds of $2.

$200 on Tom Hooper to win the Oscar for best director at odds of $3.50.

$50 on the Oscar winner for best actress to be wearing a black dress at odds of $6.

$250 on Tom Hooper to win the BAFTA for best director at odds of $3.

 

Before you ask, I had $50 left in my account which is why I had the bet on Natalie Portman’s (the likely best actress winner) dress.  She’s heavily pregnant and I think a black dress will suit.  We’ll see.

 

As you can see above, the odds for The King’s Speech and Tom Hooper are very juicy indeed.  Centrebet has wound the film into $1.50 for best picture and Tom Hooper into $2.00 for best director.

 

I wagered my bet on Steinfeld a week ago and I think she’s still good value (now out to $7 following Melissa Leo’s win today) in a hard to predict category – best supporting actress.  Melissa Leo is the deserved frontrunner but I’m still worried that her co-star in The Fighter, Amy Adams, might take votes from her.  Given that Steinfeld is the best thing in True Grit and it seems to be well-liked by the Academy (with 10 noms), she’s a decent chance.

 

Like anything, none of the above bets are sure things.  You win some and you lose some.  But if you can keep getting good value (which I think I have based on the above odds), then you should be ahead in the long run.  My total profit on awards betting since 1996 is $3,733 and hopefully that shows I know what I’m talking about.

 

All we can do now is sit and wait.  The Oscars are held on February 27.

 

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 26 January 2011

 

The Academy Award nominations were unveiled at 11:38pm last night (Brisbane time).  I’d have usually posted this blog a lot earlier but I was caught up in an epic poker tournament at a friend’s place and didn’t get home until around 4am.  I then backed up at 8:30am to go through the nominations with Spencer Howson on Brisbane’s number 1 breakfast radio show on 612ABC.

 

You can download a podcast of my spot on 612ABC by clicking here.

 

It seems appropriate that today is Australia Day.  We have three Aussies nominated for acting awards at this year’s Academy Awards.  It’s only the second time in history that this has happened (Geoffrey Rush, Cate Blanchett and Rachel Griffiths were nominated back in 1998).

 

Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech) and Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole) were expected to pick up a nomination but Jackie Weaver’s (Animal Kingdom) inclusion does come as a surprise.  When you consider that the list of nominees is dominated by big name stars in big name films, it’s even more impressive when you consider that Jackie Weaver made the cut. 

 

I couldn’t be happier the 63-year-old Weaver.  She’s been in the industry a long time (winning her first AFI Award way back in 1972) and it’ll be great to see her at the pre-Oscars get-togethers and then during the ceremony itself.  I love an underdog and Weaver is just that.

 

If you’d asked me a week ago which film would win best picture at the Oscars, I’d have said The Social Network with bold confidence.  It had won every major award so far.  That’s not the case anymore.  Last weekend, The King’s Speech nabbed the all important best picture prize as issued by the Producers Guild Of America.  This award has only been around since 1989 but it has a strong correlation with the Oscars – the winning film has claimed the Oscar for best picture 67% of the time.

 

Considering that The King’s Speech also leads the list of Academy Award nominations with 12 and The Social Network only managed to pick up 8, it seems the tide has turned.  If I were a betting man (and I am), I’d say The King’s Speech is now the horse to beat.  A lot more can happen between now and the Oscars but at this point, I’m just happy to see the race “spiced up”.  It was somewhat boring with The Social Network taking home all the gongs.  The critics associations looked like lemmings.

 

The Australian public is also getting behind The King’s Speech.  I realise there’s an Aussie connection in the film but it’s made $15m in this country so far and is still going strong.  The Social Network could only manage $12m during its theatrical run.

 

Let’s get to the nominees in each of the major categories…

 

Best Picture

127 Hours

Black Swan

The Fighter

Inception

The Kids Are All Right

The King's Speech

The Social Network

Toy Story 3

True Grit

Winter's Bone

 

You may remember that the Academy expanded its list of best picture nominees last year from 5 to 10.  There were no major exclusions but films which hoped to sneak in included The Town and Blue Valentine.

 

As I mentioned above, I see this as a race between The Social Network and The King’s Speech with the later slightly ahead.  There’s an outside chance that one of the other films could spoil (possibly True Grit or The Fighter) under the Academy’s preferential voting system (only used for best picture) so we’ll see.

 

Best Actor In A Leading Role

Javier Bardem for Biutiful

Jeff Bridges for True Grit

Jesse Eisenberg for The Social Network

Colin Firth for The King's Speech

James Franco for 127 Hours

 

Colin Firth should win this in a landslide.  He gave a great performance in A Single Man last year (which also earned him a nomination) and his performance in The King’s Speech has won many awards already.

 

Javier Bardem is the surprise inclusion in the list.  The Academy rarely honours performances in non-English speaking films but he edged out the likes of Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine) and Mark Whalberg (The Fighter) to do so.

 

Best Actress In A Leading Role

Annette Bening for The Kids Are All Right

Nicole Kidman for Rabbit Hole

Jennifer Lawrence for Winter's Bone

Natalie Portman for Black Swan

Michelle Williams for Blue Valentine

 

Natalie Portman will be a red hot favourite in this category.  Annette Bening (who has three previous nominations without a win) is the only danger for her performance in The Kids Are All Right.

 

This list went fairly well as planned.  Julianne Moore (The Kids Are All Right) is the only omission which might have caught some off guard.  Well done to 20-year-old Jennifer Lawrence who has become the second youngest nominee of all time in this category.  Winter’s Bone was a great film and it’s been recognised by the Academy with 4 nominations.

 

Best Actor In A Supporting Role

Christian Bale for The Fighter

John Hawkes for Winter's Bone

Jeremy Renner for The Town

Mark Ruffalo for The Kids Are All Right

Geoffrey Rush for The King's Speech

 

This is an interesting list.  Christian Bale is the favourite but the others in this category will give him a run for his money.  The love for Winter’s Bone continued with a well-deserved nomination for John Hawkes.  The Town was overlooked for a best picture nomination by the Academy still found time to include Jeremy Renner (he was also nominated last year for The Hurt Locker).  I’m a fan of Mark Ruffalo and I enjoyed seeing him pick up his first nomination too.

 

Best Actress In A Supporting Role

Amy Adams for The Fighter

Helena Bonham Carter for The King's Speech

Melissa Leo for The Fighter

Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit

Jacki Weaver for Animal Kingdom

 

This category will be the most wide open of the night.  All the awards to date have been spread around many of the actresses listed above.  Hailee Steinfeld is just 14 years of age and I could make an argument that she’s favourite.  She’s the best thing in True Grit and the film’s 10 nominations shows great support.  Seeing a young actress nominated in this category isn’t unusual.  In fact, there have been 8 actresses younger than Steinfeld who have been nominated (two went on to win – Tatum O’Neal and Anna Paquin).

 

Melissa Leo gives the “showier” performance in The Fighter but my preference was for Amy Adams.  I worry that votes for these two actresses may be split as they appear in the same film.  I think it opens up the door for Steinfeld and yes, also for Jacki Weaver.  As Animal Kingdom is such a small film, it may hinge on whether Academy members take the time to see it.  I sure hope they do.

 

Best Director

Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan

Ethan Coen, Joel Coen for True Grit

David Fincher for The Social Network

Tom Hooper for The King's Speech

David O. Russell for The Fighter

 

This category produces the biggest surprise for many.  Christopher Nolan was overlooked for his brilliant direction in Inception (my favourite film of 2010).  This stunned me.  I’m not knocking any of the other nominees but Inception was a bold, original project that required such precision from the director.  The risks he took were rewarded by the public who took the film to an international box-office exceeding $800m.  What’s even more surprising is that it was Nolan who was shockingly overlooked two years for The Dark Knight.

 

Congratulations to Darren Aronofsky who has earned his first nomination for best director.  I wasn’t a huge fan of Black Swan but given he directed Requiem For A Dream and The Wrestler, I won’t begrudge him his honour.  David O. Russell picked up his first nomination too.  I’ll always remember him though for his rant on the set of I Heart Huckabees.  You can cheer yourself up by watching it here.

 

Best Original Screenplay

Another Year

The Fighter

Inception

The Kids Are All Right

The King's Speech

 

It’s being released in Australia today and it’s nice to see Mike Leigh earn a screenwriting nomination for another year.  Some might question whether he deserves it (given the unorthodox way in which he writes his movies) but give him credit – this is his 5^th nomination in this category (and he’s yet to win).  The other 4 films all earned a best picture nomination and I’d expect The King’s Speech to take this.

 

Best Adapted Screenplay

127 Hours

The Social Network

Toy Story 3

True Grit

Winter's Bone

 

The Social Network should have this one in the bag (the writing from Aaron Sorkin was fantastic) but we’ll see.

 

You can view the full list of nominations at the Oscars site - http://oscar.go.com/

 

The winners will be announced on Monday, February 28 at 11am (Brisbane time).  I’ll be launching my Oscars competition a week before so make sure you study the form and put in an entry!