Academy Award
Best Achievement in Cinematography
Avatar: Mauro Fiore
- WTF -
Before I slam Mauro Fiore for winning an award for what visual efx artists created, let me say something about Avatar first. I really liked the movie. That's right... I went hoping and expecting to hate Avatar for the spectacle of crap I thought it might be. Yet I didn't, all in all for the flaws there are, it's a fun film well worth the zero dollars I risked going.
That being said...
Winning an Academy Award for Cinematography is possibly the greatest award you can win as a cinematographer in "Hollywood". This award
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February 13th, 2010
A target audience means better box office
by NoName
An interesting trend has developed over the last few months where EVERY #1 film not named Avatar has been a so-called chick-flick. This is unheard of in the history of Hollywood Box-Office. You can find the full details and a very interesting read in the original article at The Wrap. I could repeat all the stats about films from Twilight New Moon to The Blind Side, to the most recent example Dear John. But you can find them all at The Wrap. I want to focus on an observation made in the article: And it's not that there is some big new ...
February 8th, 2010
James Horner rips himself off… Again.
by NoName
How do composers justify re-using the same music over and over again? How is the Avatar score up for an Oscar? I know each composer has their own thing and little snippets MIGHT get reused once... But this is just pathetic. James Horner has reused the same piece in Willow, Troy, Enemy at the Gates and now Avatar. And what does he get? An Oscar nomination. I want to know how he even has a job. He clearly doesn't have a conscience. This is just another sing of how lazy and uncreative Hollywood has become. Avatar has gotten flack for ripping off the plot from ...
February 5th, 2010
Sundance Experiments with the Future of Film Festivals
by NoName
A while back, I posted some thoughts on ways to expand the reach of film festivals. One of the examples I pointed to was an announcement that Sundance would be screening films in cities across the country as their festival was happening as something they call Sundance Film Festival USA. On January 11, Brian Newman writes about his experience attending the IFFS Summit in Las Vegas on his blog SpringBoardMedia. Apparently he had great ideas about what the festivals should be doing for the future, but the audience seemed hesitant to embrace change. Not incredibly surprising. Most people, most companies ...
February 5th, 2010
Mandalay Creates Specialty Film Division
by NoName
Mandalay Entertainment has announced a new specialty division, headed by Celine Rattray formerly of Plum Pictures. This news is a couple weeks old but still worth pointing out. It has been rare to find good news in the world of specialty film this last year or two. Original report in this article at Variety. The focus will reportedly be on financing pics up to $16 million.
February 2nd, 2010
Sony laying off 450 is GOOD news for the Indie Filmmaker
by NoName
While the news of yet another major studio cutting hundreds of jobs is news, it is the side stories around it that make all these studio cuts, bankruptcies and failures interesting. I could probably point to any number of sources for those who need proof. Take this article at deadline.com. It reports the news and you get a look at come internal announcements. Or here at Variety. The facts are the same: 450 laid off, 6 1/2% of Sony Pictures workforce. But for those who don't read comments, take another look at deadline.com. There are some great discussions about ...
January 27th, 2010
Spider-Man going the way of Twilight?
by NoName
I was all for the idea of re-booting Spider-Man. After the debacle of #3, it was time to switch it up. Sorry Raimi, but you screwed up. Move on. However... This latest description of where they are headed is scary to say the least. "The plan for the movie is to be in the $80 million range and feature a cast of relative unknowns (so you can quash those Rob Pattinson or Gordon-Levitt rumors at this point). And the story will be pared down to center on a high school kid who is dealing with the knowledge that his uncle died even ...
January 26th, 2010
YouTube Enters the Video Rental World
by NoName
I first heard about this from /Film, in this post. YouTube will be jumpimng into the online video rental world, with five Sundance films: The Cove, One Too Many Mornings, Homewrecker, Children of Invention, and Bass Ackwards. This is just the latest step towards making distribution a reality for lower budget films. With YouTubeXL, YouTube is becoming more and more available straight to home systems, similar to Netflix. But this announcement makes them a real competiitor and a viable option for the future of indie film. Filmmakers have already benefited from just the ability to promote a short and have it hosted ...
January 26th, 2010
Big Box Office Eqauls Oscar for Best Picture?
by NoName
I was disturbed to see the follwoing headline from /Film: The Hurt Locker Wins Best Picture from PGA; Is Avatar No Longer An Oscar Sure Thing? Avatar has made lots of money is breaking Box Office records left and right. But I have not read one glowing review of it anywhere. The effects are amazing, mind-blowing, even game-changing, revolutionary. Say what you want. But please, someone point out a review anywhere that thinks this was a great story, a great script (WGA win notwithstanding , ugh). Great acting? Great dialogue? Anything? Anyone? This is a direct quote from the article: ...while the Avatar ...
January 25th, 2010
Incredible peek at 3d Immersion technology
by NoName
Not sure when movies will incorporate this but I can see video games going here in the very near future: Amazing 3D immersion technology from IDEO Labs on Vimeo.
