Oh Good Lord

The People's Choice awards are, of course, a joke. Its the only award Vin Diesel may ever be nominated for, let alone win. But I wonder if its a joke because the nominees are so ridiculously stupid, not the people who are voting.

Prompted by a web ad, I went to the People's Choice voting page and was not particularly surprised by the nominees or the categories. Harry Potter and Twilight dominated for the most part but as I clicked to the next category, I saw this:

Its a little difficult to see the titles I know but according to the organizers of the People's Choice Awards, the following films are "independent movies:"

1.(500) Days of Summer - Estimated Budget: 7.5 Million
2. District 9 - Estimated Budget: 30 Million
3. Inglourious Basterds - Estimated Budget: 40 Million
4. Paranormal Activity - Estimated Budget: $15,000
5. Madea Goes to Jail - Estimated Budget: 41 Million

Aside for Paranormal Activity and arguably, 500 Days of Summer, this category is ridiculous. What they hell do they mean buy independent, that it wasn't seen by a bajillion people over the summer? Movies, that didn't feature Michael Bay size explosions?

Fail

Doctor Who

Since us poor Yanks are always being forced to lag behind when it comes to actually seeing UK produced television, the latest (and second of the last four specials with David Tennant as The Doctor) episode of Doctor Who has already aired across the pond. While technically viewable over the internet, (Here maybe? And its good) "The Waters of Mars" isn't set to hit the air until December 19th.

Having already done my level best to thwart the BBC, I can tell you that the latest special is especially good at reminding us all just how frighting The Doctor can be sometimes. Sure, he's a good guy, likes to have a laugh, knows how to rock a pair of Chuck Taylors, but deep down, there is a lot of rage, anger and guilt building up in there. The fact that David Tennant is so great at surprising us with both levels of this crazy 'man' makes me know that watching a Doctor Who without him is probably gonna suck just a little.

Still, the new special does give me a reason to post this little number, a kind of behind the scenes gobbet of goodness taken from a two-part episode called "Human Nature/The Family of Blood." Watch them if you want to really get the context, but its pretty damn hilarious either way:

In the past week, I've watched the film adaptation of Alan Bennett's "The History Boys" four times and I still haven't satiated my obsession. Mostly because I'm haunted by the voice of Samuel Barnett who plays Posner in the film. Here he is at his most affecting singing Bye Bye Blackbird.

An Education: A Review

The saddest thing about "An Education" is that no one's heard of it. To be honest, if I wasn't such an obsessive reader of cinema blogs I wouldn't have known about it either given its "official" release date in the States was on October 16 and even then it was only on maybe 10 screens. Shit, it didn't really hit the DC Metro area until a last week so they weren't kidding about a limited release.

Which is a damn shame because this is a beautiful, simplistic, heartbreaking, lyrical movie about what its like to be a young girl, balancing that awkward precipice between youth and womanhood.

Carey Mulligan stars as Jenny, a too-clever-for-Twickenham 16 year old who finds herself swept off her feet by David (played by Peter Sarsgaard), a 30-something charmer of a man who rescues her cello from a rainstorm and opens the door to a world of cool sophistication. Suddenly doubting her father's chosen path of an Oxford education, Jenny questions what it means to get such an education in the early 1960s when you're a woman with few options. The idea of trips to Paris and evenings spent listening to jazz seem wonderful despite the dark edges that keep reappearing when she's with this new group of older friends.

Mulligan, a literal unknown in America has before now been a bit of a BBC day player in their costume drama shop. Her first film, Joe Wright's "Pride and Prejudice," let her do little else than giggle but thanks to a particular great episode from its 4th season entitled "Blink," she has since been on a lot of radars. And rightly so.

The story is kind of timeless, and honestly, we've seen it before. But the difference with "An Education" is the luminosity of its young female star. Mulligan is so heart-breakingly realistic in her portrayal that you might almost believe she were living Jenny's life for real on screen. Her enthusiasm is radiant and her heartbreak is just as wrenching. In the end, what should be a devastating conclusion becomes something of a triumph for a girl who has been educated by some of the harsher realities of the big bad world, but actually finds herself just a little bit wiser, if not a little disappointed in the end.

What so easily could have been a creepy Lolita re-hash is a beautiful story about what it means to live the life that you think you want. If Carey Mulligan isn't Oscar bound this year, then at the very least, it is clear that we should be seeming much more of her in the coming years.

An Education: Trailer

An Education, a film starring Carey Mulligan and Peter Sarsgaard has finally arrived in Maryland and I am determined to see it this weekend. Reviews to be posted shortly but to familiarize yourselves (because its gotten tons of entertainment press, but nothing wide spread), take a gander at the trailer:

Review: Pirate Radio (aka The Boat [that at one time] Rocked)

Here in Silver Spring, MD the American Film Institute (AFI) has place a beautiful movie theatre that plays new, independent-ish movies and various retrospectives throughout the year. As part of their annual European Union Film Festival, I got to see Pirate Radio a week before the official North American release date (and only 7 months after the UK release!).

Telling the story of 1960s Britain, Pirate Radio is the story of just that, a pirate radio station broadcasting from a boat anchored off the coast of England, providing the masses their daily dose of rock music when rock was at its best. The movie is a fun romp of a thing, only floundering toward the end when its becomes like Titanic 2.0 only instead of the beautiful aristocracy and unwashed masses finding themselves adrift in the frigid North Sea, we have a bunch of hippie DJs.

But no matter. This movie was just plain fun. There is very little plot to speak of but honestly, its not really missed or needed throughout. As a viewer, you simply are participating in the fun and screwball misdeeds of these rock and roll gods who dispense opinions about music as reverently as if the songs of The Kinks were sung of Christ himself.

The highlight of this film is the awesome hilarity and gravitas of the entire cast. Phillip Seymour Hoffman especially, as the lone American on Radio Rock whose on air moniker as "The Count," acts as the regal backbone of the ship, the one who is most willing to disobey the "limey laws" of sanctimonious MPs (Kenneth Branagh) in order to rock. American trailers for the film overemphasized Hoffman's role as the heroic rebel American which is simply not the case. This is a true ensemble piece in which Bill Nighy and Nick Frost are particular highlights.

Go for the cast, go for the music, and go for the fun of it because if nothing else, this movie will give you two hours worth of entertainment.