Reel People: Dakota Fanning is Effie Gray

The film is Effie. The film is directed by Richard Laxton, the screenplay is written by Emma Thompson.

Effie Gray

Euphemia "Effie" Gray was born in Perth, Scotland in 1828. As a young girl she became closely acquainted with John Ruskin, a family friend and also a very famous art critic and philanthropist of the Victoria era.

Almost 10 years older than Effie, John wrote the fantasy novel The King of Golden River for her when she was only twelve. The book written in 1841 would be formally published in 1851 and would go through a number of printings.

John Ruskin and Effie Gray would get married in 1848. Though married, they did not consummate their marriage. John had a tendency in marriage to be more reserved, while Effie was more flirtatious. It said that John gave a number of reasons for not consummating the marriage including not wanting children, to preserve Effie's beauty, and religious motives. When they were divorced five year's later the annulment proceedings indicated that John had found some "circumstances in her person" that prevented him from consummating the marriage.

Prior to the annulment in 1854, she met the painter John Everett Millais, for whom she modeled for during her marriage to Ruskin. She fell in love with Millais, and this helped motivate her desire to file for the annulment. After a public scandal, she would go on to marry Millais in 1855.

John and Effie Malias would have eight children between 1856 to 1868.

Effie was also publicly not allowed to attend certain functions due to the scandal, including not allowed in the presence of Queen Victoria.

In August of 1896 John Millais died. Effie would die just over a year later on December 23, 1897.

Effie

The film Effie explores the love triangle between Effie, John Ruskin, and John Millais. In addition to Dakota Fanning playing the part of Effie, the role of Ruskin is performed by Gary Wise and Millais by Tom Sturridge.

In addition to Emma Tompson having written the script, she will also co-star as author and critic Lady Eastlake, with James Fox and Sir Charles Eastlake. The film also feature Julie Walters, Robbie Coltran, Claudia Cardinale, and Derek Jacobi.

Only 19 herself, Dakota Fanning has had a great career. Will see receive awards attention, maybe even an Oscar nomination for portraying this Reel (Real) Person?

Reel People: Felicity Jones is Nelly Ternan

The film is The Invisible Woman, about Charles Dickens and his mistress. It is directed by Ralph Fiennes with a screenplay by Abi Morgan. The screenplay is based on the book The Invisible Woman: The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens by Claire Tomalin.

Nelly Ternan

She was born Ellen Lawless Ternan on March 3, 1839 in Rochester, Kent to Thomas Lawless Ternan and Frances Elanor Ternan. Ellen ("Nelly") was one of four children, although her brother died in infancy. Her other siblings were female, and the three of them quickly took to acting on stage.In 1842, at the age of three, she had her stage debut in the German melodrama Menschenhass und Reue by August von Kotzebue.

The children's involvement in the theater was considered essential for the family's survival and Nelly's acting skills were regarded to be lesser than her sisters.

During the week of Christmas in 1844 Nelly's father was involved in a fight which seemed to lead to a period of depression which lead him to be placed in an asylum. In 1846 Nelly's father died of suspected suicide.

Nelly's sisters and mother continued to act, and in 1857, after just turning 18, Nelly met Charles Dickens when he spotter her performing in London's Haymarket Theatre. Charles Dickens cast Nelly along with her mother and one of her sisters in Wilkie Collins' The Frozen Deep.

Charles Dickens was forty-five at the time that they met, and it is believed that shortly after there first encounter Nelly became Charles Dickens' mistress. In 1858 this secret affair was exposed when Charles Dickens' wife Catherine "Kate" discovered a gold bracelet mailed to Charles that was intended for Nelly.

This incident ended Charles and Kate's 22 year marriage.

The relationships between Nelly and Charles remained a secret, although Nelly left the stage in 1860 and traveled with Charles, often giving a fake name. It is believed that Nelly inspired many of Charles Dicken's characters in stories he wrote during this period of his life. Even in Dicken's death in 1868 he left enough money to Nelly to support her the rest of her life.

Nelly would marry six years after Charles Dickens died. Her husband, George Wharton Robinson, was fourteen years younger than Nelly, although she misrepresented her own age to him, pretending to be 23 when she was actually 37. They would have two children, Geoffery and Gladys. Together they ran a boys school in East Kent.

George died in 1910. She would spend the years following with her sister Frances in the seaside town of Southsea, until Frances died in 1913.

Nelly died in London on April 25, 1914 of a reoccurring case of breast cancer.

The Invisible Woman

The Invisible Woman tells the story Nelly and Charles relationship together. In addition to being directed by Ralph Fiennes, Fiennes stars in the role of Charles Dickens.

In addition to Jones and Fiennes, the cast also includes Tom Hollander as novelist/playwright Wilkie Collins and his girlfriend Caroline Graves is played by Michelle Fairley. The film also feature Kristin Scott Thomas.

Will Felicity Jones receive awards attention, maybe even an Oscar nomination for portraying this Reel (Real) Person?

Reel People: Chris Hemsworth is James Hunt

The film is Rush, directed by Ron Howard. The screenplay to the film is written by two time Oscar nominee Peter Morgan.

James Hunt

James Hunt was born in Surrey, England on August 29, 1947. Born to Sue and Wallis Hunt, he was the second of six children. He attended prestigious schools and engaged in a number of sports as a child such as cricket, soccer, skiing and tennis. He is said to had an angry temper as a child, and had frequent run ins with his parents.

When he was eighteen his tennis doubles partner Chris Ridge took him to a car race and he was hooked. He would go onto race British Motor Corporation Minis until being picked up to race Formula Ford in 1968, and then onto Formula 3 in 1969. Hunt had some success in Formula 3 as well as controversy after a crash with Dave Morgan that resulted in Morgan receiving a 12 month suspension.

Hunt during his time with Formula 3 was developing a reputation for being reckless and causing cars to be totaled, adding cost to to the team and investors.

Hunt was also known for a reckless behavior off the course as well such as doing drugs and having sex with women before races.

In 1972 Hunt was dropped form his team, and would eventually be picked up by the eccentric Lord Alexander Hasketh who was starting a team, and decided to take a risk at starting a Formula 1 team in 1973 on account that the cost for Formula 1 was not significantly higher than Formula 2 and the Formula 3 cars had been ruined.

The Hesketh Racing team began Formula 1 in 1973 with a party-boy style of fancy cars, celebration, and and fine accommodations. Hasketh's team image matched Hunt's lifestyle. The team would go on to place 2nd in the 1973 Grand Prix in Watkins Glen, New York. James Hunt had the fastest lap of that race.

In 1974 Hunt would meet Suzy Miller in Spain, after few weeks after meeting Hunt would propose. Suzy Miller would become Hunt's first wife whom he would marry that same year. Suzy Miller would leave James Hunt a year later for Richard Burton. Burton would pay the $1 million dollar divoce settlement

In 1975, Hunt had a huge win in the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix in which he would beat Niki Lauda, a good friend of his off the track.

In 1976, Hunt would leave Hesketh Racing when he became the lead driver for McLaren, particularly as Hesketh's team was low on funding. Hunt's contract was lower than many other lead drivers and he created a stir when he didn't want to sign a clause requiring him to wear his racing suit to sponsored functions, preferring to arrive to functions often in jeans and barefooted.

1976 was Hunt's best year having six grand prix wins racing for McLaren. In addition to those wins, he also came in first in the 1976 British Grand Prix but his win was disqualified. In the first turn of the first lap, Hunt had an accident with Niki Lauda and Hunt would go onto win with a space car. Yet Ferrari (Luada's sponsor) contested the win and two month's later the win was given to Niki Lauda instead, creating much frustration for British race fans.

In race which followed the British Grand Prix, was the 1976 German Grand Prix in which Niki Lauda had a near fatal crash and Hunt was won the Grand Prix. Lauda would be out of subsequent races for which helped remove his biggest competitor for some future races. In the last race of the 1976 season James Hunt would came in third place in the Japanese Grand Prix which gave Hunt just enough points to win the World Championship in Formula 1 Racing for 1976.

The next two years Hunt would race for McLaren again and finished those seasons in 5th and 13th place overall. Part of his decline was due to technological advances that his team did not have, as well as a fetal accident of fellow race driver Ronnie Peterson in 1978.

In 1979 he switched to Wolf Racing team but after a number of technical difficulties and accidents, he made a statement retiring at the 1979 Monaco Grand Prix.

Hunt was going to re-enter the 1980 season at the US Grand Prix, but after a skiing industry did not re-enter Formula One racing. He instead relaunched his career as a commentator for BBC sports, commentating alongside Murray Walker on BBC2 Formula One racing program Grand Prix.

In 1982 Hunt would meet his second wife Sarah Lomax in Spain with friends. James and Sarah would be married December 17, 1983. They had two kids Tom and Freddie. They would seperate in 1988 but continue to live together for the interest of their children, and were diveroced in 1989 on the grounds of adultery committed by Hunt.

In 1989 he would meet Helen Dyson a younger waitress whom was credited for helping James clean up his life. He would propose to her on June 14, 1993. The following day (June 15, 1993) he died of a heart attack at the age of 45 at his home in Wimbledon.

Rush

The film Rush focuses on the 1976 Formula One Racing season, particularly the rivalry between Niki Lauda and James Hunt and the final race of the season in Japan.

In addition to Chris Hemsworth playing the part of James Hunt, the film also features Daniel Bruhl as Niki Lauda, Olivia Wilde as Suzy Miller, and Christian McKay as Lord Hasketh.

Will Chris Hemsworth receive awards attention, maybe even an Oscar nomination for portraying this Reel (Real) Person?

Real (Reel) People Win Oscars: 2013 Edition

When it comes to win an Academy Award, recent years have shown that not any bio-pic performance means a guaranteed nomination, but if you get nominated for your performance playing a real person, then there is a good chance you will win.

Of the past 10 years (20 Lead Actor/Actress winners), 12 of these winners have won for playing real life people. That's 60% of winners since the 2003 ceremony.

• In 2012 Daniel Day-Lewis played Abraham Lincoln and won the Best Actor award (his third Oscar win)
• In 2011 Meryl Streep played the well known British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and won the Best Actress prize (her third Oscar)
• In 2010 Colin Firth played King George VI, stuttering British royalty at the dawn of the radio era and won for Best Actor.
• In 2009 Sandra Bullock played a surprise hero as the Southern mother Leigh Ann Tuohy and won for Best Actress.
• In 2008 Sean Penn played controversial politician Harvey Milk and won the Oscar for Best Actor.
• In 2007 Marion Cotillard played French singer Ediath Piaf and won the Oscar for Best Actress.
• In 2006 Helen Mirren played Queen Elizabeth II and won the Oscar for Best Actress.
• In 2006 Forrest Whitaker played Ugandan dictator Idi Amin and won the Oscar for Best Actor
• In 2005 Reese Witherspoon played country music celeb June Carter and won the Oscar for Best Actress.
• In 2005 Philip Seymour Hoffman played author Truman Capote and won the Oscar for Best Actor.
• In 2004 Jamie Foxx played musician Ray Charles and won the Oscar for Best Actor.
• In 2003 Charlize Theron played prostitute/serial killer Aileen Wuornos and won the Best Actress Oscar.

The non-biopic winners from the past 10 years: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Lining Playbook), Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Natalie Portman (Black Swan), Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), Kate Winslet (The Reader), Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood), Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby), Sean Penn (Mystic River).

I wouldn't expect 2013 to be different. As a result we can almost plan on either Best Actor Oscar winner or Best Actress winner going to a performer who played in a biographical film as a "Real (Reel) Person."

2013 Real (Reel) People Performances:

• Reel People: Chadwick Boseman is Jackie Robinson
• Reel People: Steve Carrell is John du Pont
• Reel People: George Clooney is George Stout
• Reel People: Benedict Cumberbatch is Julian Assange
• Reel People: Matt Damon is James Rorimer
• Reel People: Judi Dench is Philomena Lee
• Reel People: Leonardo DiCaprio is Jordan Belfort
• Reel People: Chiwetel Ejiofor is Solomon Northup
• Reel People: Idris Elba is Nelson Mandela
• Reel People: Dakota Fanning is Effie Gray
• Reel People: Tom Hanks is Captain Phillips
• Reel People: Tom Hanks is Walt Disney
• Reel People: Chris Hemsworth is James Hunt
• Reel People: Felicity Jones is Nelly Ternan
• Reel People: Michael B. Jordan is Oscar Grant III
• Reel People: Ashton Kutcher is Steve Jobs
• Reel People: Matthew McConaughey is Ron Woodroof
• Reel People: Sean Penn is Mickey Cohen
• Reel People: Daniel Radcliffe is Allen Ginsberg
• Reel People: Channing Tatum is Mark Schultz
• Reel People: Emma Thompson is P.L. Travers

Click the following links to see the previous Real (Reel) People projects from 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and 2007. Or check the reel people archive.

TV Withdrawal

I don't know about you and your TV schedule, but at our house we've been in a little TV withdrawal.

There's certain shows we watch, often on DVD, and look forward to a new season when it comes out. Most of our shows we watch have ended their TV run with a series finale (example: House MD), and then there are other shows we watch live, namely NBC's Parenthood and Downton Abbey. Both of those shows we watch live have ended their season as well.

In January we watched season 1 of Showtime's Homeland, and season 2 has not yet been released on DVD, before that we had watched the most recent season of Fox's Fringe, and are waiting for the final season. We also watched all the seasons of BBC's Sherlock, but that's not coming back forever, it seems.

So, we truly have nothing we are interested in watching on TV (as far as television, not movies) are concerned, and not even something we're dying to start.

I wish one of the mid-season replacements had caught our eye, but alas, none did. And so, we are experiencing TV withdrawals.

If only there were TV show personal ads: "Man seeks TV Show with fun and engaging personality."

Drives Me Crazy - Stealing Fountain Drinks

If I'm at any sort of "fast food" restaruant - or a place I stand in line or walk through a line to get my food, one thing has started to drive me crazy and that is the fountain drink stealer.

Scenario: Today at McDonald's
1. Teen walks to counter says "I'd like a water cup" (he doesn't order anything)
2. McDonald's Employee provides Cup
3. Teen fills up cup with Soda

As soon as the "water cup" was requested, I knew where it was going - stolen fountain drink. Forfeiting your own integrity for a little savings on some carbonated water, high-fructose corn syrup and some flavor.

At McDonald's they provided a small cup that had no unique distinguishing factors from their small fountain drink cup.

Yet, even at places like Panera (with their rinky-dink-bathroom-spit-cup-sized water cups) I see people who have filled them up soda.

I'm not one to generalize, but I will admit, these are usually teenage boys.

Boys...pay the dollar to get the Coke if you want it.

(Side note: Panera, I sometimes do want water, and wish your water cups were a little bigger, those little one's are obnoxious)

Quick 85th Academy Award Thoughts

Charlize Theron & Channing Tatum Dancing in the Academy Awards Opening

Here's some quick thoughts on tonight's Academy Awards ceremony.

• Seth MacFarlane - I don't know, sometimes I thought he did a good job and other times...well, he made the night awkward to me. Such as when he introduced Selma Hayek talking about how Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem and Selma Hayek were beautiful but hard to understand. I felt like Hayek was self conscious during her whole presentation.
• "Music Theme" - Do the Oscar's really need a theme? And they usually do music, but was a music theme really required? I especially thought the inclusion of the song from Chicago and Dreamgirls was unnecessary
• Stars Getting a Star Bump -It always seems like certain people get a little star power bump, and it seemed to me that one of those biggest bumps was Charlize Theron who got good red carpet coverage, a dance in an opening scene, and presented an award. It seemed like she was reminding us of who she was. Other stars in this category seemed like Sally Field who seems to have really helped reintroduce herself well through Lincoln.  
• Surprises - Christoph Waltz (although I imagine voting in supporting acting was very interesting, would love to know how those votes stacked up), and I thought we would see Steven Spielberg not Lee for director.
• Argo - Here's some post I've done previously that are now relevant to the conversation:
• Ben Affleck: Golden Globe Winning Director, Not Even Oscar Nominated...Is He The First?
• Argo is now the 22nd One Word Title Oscar winner: One Word Title Oscar Best Picture Winners 
• I was annoyed a little bit of Ben Affleck talking about his rough life, yes, you may have not been nominated, but you still took home an Oscar. Congrats and be happy.
• My Favorite Moments - Shirley Bassey singing "Goldfinger" and Jennifer Lawrence's acceptance speech (much better than her Globe Speech)

Shirley Bassey singing "Gold Finger" (from Goldfinger, 1964), which incipiently was not nominated for an Oscar for the 1965 ceremony. List of previous James Bond Oscar History can be found here.

Writing: Re-Brainstorming

Re-Brainstorming

I've been writing recently, and have been really pleased with my in progress work.

One of the things that I've enjoyed about the writing process this time around is that when I put together my story I had a definite plan and story mapped out from the very start.

Part of that was certain "scenes" or "moments" that I wanted to happen in the book. And as I got going and the characters came to life, certain scenes just didn't seem right, or perhaps more than not seeming right they existed in an alternative universe for these characters.

I could see that scene happening, I think to myself, but based on the order of events it just doesn't fit anymore.

Yesterday, at about 40,000 words typed, I took the time to remap out the rest of the story. There were certain event timeline conflicts that needed to be re-reviewed, and while the shell of the story stayed the same, I found and identified certain gaps or even moments I needed to reconsider.

This sensation of re-brainstorming was something I don't think I've typically read about or heard people talk about in the writing process, but I found it very fulfilling. Instead of being dedicated to push through with the original shell of my story, it gave it a chance to breathe.

So often, whether it's in books or movies that last half of the book has a less exciting feel. The goal of the first half of the book seems to be often characters, setting up the problem, and setting up the conclusion.

You say to yourself I want the protagonist to kill the man at the end with the gun, so let's have her at a shooting range at the beginning of the story to establish her gun skills (note: there is no gun shooting in my story).

I started by identifying the remaining major scenes in my story and made sure they all connected in a way that could be clear, reasonable, and logical. I identified some questions I had about my characters, decisions I've made about them that I feel I have not yet appropriately revealed to the reader. I've revisited the reasonableness of their motivates and intentions in these major scenes based on what I had been able to present so far. This was very helpful.

For me the process of re-brainstorming mid-stream was refreshing - it reminded me it wasn't just a race to end conclusion but an opportunity to still create some compelling moments, to continue to build the characters and create an opportunity for the story to remain cohesive and organized.

Car Crashes In Film - Uninspiring & Convinient

Outside of action films were car crashes might be a small part of the action, it seems to me that when films or books have car accidents in them it's an uninspiring and convenient choice.

For the sake of convenience  I say "Car crash" but this could be another type of accident such as the recent bus accident in the film Margaret or the hitting of a young boy in the movie Rabbit Hole, or even the incidents of car accidents and carjackings in Crash.

The Car Crash Intrigue:
A car crash has a unique film intrigue because it puts two people (or group of people) together who normally wouldn't come in contact with one another, and very quickly.

Even recently I was in a minor fender bender and instantly your life intersects with a stranger. Who is this person? What do they do? How does this fifteen second event impact our next hour, next day, and beyond.

Story Catalyst:
In addition to putting two people together who might not normally encounter one another, it quickly accelerates or creates the plot. Particularly if the the accident causes a death, this becomes a plot power keg. It seems like a good story start in that regards, but I find that to be kind of a boring path for a story to take on.

If not death, even in movies like Mulholland Drive where the character survives a car accident it kicks of a story or in 50 First Dates when a car accident creates a case of amnesia setting up the primary plot points (surprisingly similar to last year's The Vow, just not funny)

Generally the accident on the front end of the film get's the plot moving forward, even if working out the ramifications of the accident the entire film.

Emotional Moments & Final Words:
I think of the movie Signs, a film that is colored by a death and a car accident. A character's death not only creates an emotional moment but the characters final words (in the case of signs: "Tell Merill to swing away," creates an important plot point. Final words have power, but as a magical/mystical plot point, it can sometimes be a little bit of a convenient fix (or over sentimentalized moments) to chunky plot points.

An Awful Ending
It's almost as bad as a movie ending and it all being a dream. The sudden car accident at the end that kills a main character (spoiler: One Day). It seems lazy, dramatic, and a bad ending.

Not Marketable or Remarkable
Looking at 2013 films with car accidents I find myself finding these films in categories of one's I'm not interested. Here some of the films that fit this bill, any intrigue you? I've included their IMDB.com summary.

• Assumed Memories (dir. Bernard Salzmann): Award winning news reporter Daria Valdez Morrow was investigating a series of murders caused by a local serial killer when she gets into a car accident and suffers from Retrograde Amnesia. When she comes to, she begins to suspect that her husband, Sam Morrow is the serial killer she had been reporting about and embarks on a journey to discover the truth.
• Intersections (dir. David Marconi): A couple on their honeymoon in Morocco survive a deadly car accident in the middle of the desert. 
• Milwood (dir. Evan Goldman, Jimmy Scanlon): After an unexpected fatal car accident, Nathan Perry is assigned to the Milwood facility for young adults. During his time at Milwood, Nathan becomes a victim of unforeseen terror and unusual behavior.
• Nerve (dir. Sebastien Guy):  Nerve follows a man, Jakob Evans, who has just suffered an emotional breakdown from the recent death of his wife in a car accident. But Jakob's loss and pain runs deep as he also claims to have found her in bed with another man just before her death.
• No Good Deeds (dir. Sam Miller): A former district attorney and her kids are kidnapped by a man who has escaped from prison and poses as the victim of a car accident.
• The Remembrance (dir. Brandon Taylor): After a life changing car accident, Nate is haunted by what he's done.
• Shhh (dir. Ruben Rodriguez): AAngela Tucker was involved in a horrific car accident that killed her mother and younger sister. The accident left her mute, a side effect from post-traumatic stress.

Feel free to list in the comments a car accident in film you liked or didn't like in a film.

RC is Writing

If you're a regular follower of this blog (maybe you read it in a feed, have this blog saved as a favorite and check it regularly, receive update e-mails, or link over from other sites) you will have noticed a slight decrease in my posting recently.

As this blog is primarily a movie blog some people are talking about the Oscar award contenders, the festivals, guild awards, and other related topics. The people who do that do I better job than I do, so it's not uncommon for me to lie low this time of year.

Instead, when I talk about film, I often talk about future releases and look at the field of possible award contenders well in advance of film releases. Obviously, I discuss all sorts of other things as well, but my mind is slightly preoccupied these days.

My preoccupation has come from buckling down and writing a novel, again...I've drafted a few and my experience has been that I'm slightly dissatisfied with my work product either mid-stream or upon completion.

Yet, I feel different about what I'm writing now.

I have a time and opportunity to focus on my book and with the availability of self-publishing options, I'm excited about the opportunity of presenting a finished product.

I've considered using this space (my blog) to share some of the experiences of writing, self-publishing, and other things along the journey. But I am also afraid of pushing you, my reader, away if you interpret my actions as a departure from regular blogging or shameless self-promotion.

This is not my intention.

If you are interested in reading some more posts about this experience, let me know. Leave a comment here on this post, ask a question, send me an e-mail, or shoot me a tweet @strangeculture.

Thanks for reading, StrangeCultureBlog.com.

The Taylor Code

 

"So he calls me up and he's like, 'I still love you,' and I'm like, 'I'm sorry, I'm busy opening up the Grammys,'"
-- Taylor Swift during a spoken word portion of the song "We Are Never Getting Back Together" during the opening of the Grammys, this line, spoken in a British Accent made it subject to...The Taylor Code

 

 

Does it drive anyone else crazy that Taylor Swift dates famous men, breaks up with them and writes songs about them?

 

During the opening of the 55th Grammy Award ceremony Taylor Swift does a spoken word portion in a British accent and the buzz builds up that this accent was in reference to her recent break up with Harry Styles (British singer in boy band One Direction).

 

It seems like everything she does is under the microscope of speculation of which songs relate to which male celebrity and past boyfriends. You read things like, "Did you see the scarf in that music video how it matches with the scarf in that picture that was taken when they were walking around the city?"

 

This is bonkers!

 

Joe Jonas, Taylor Lautner, John Mayer, Jake Gyllenhaal, Conor Kennedy, Harry Styles...why do these guys date her?

 

Do they say "I'll be different?"

 

Here's Some Lessons/Thoughts:

 

1. Guys, look for the pattern - you will not be different.

2. Swift will never break of graciousless

3. If She Does Settle Down with someone, it would be weird her stardom comes from singing about guys that came before you.

 

Final Thought:

 

Tracking Taylor Swift's boyfriends, song references, and random illusions to breakups is a waste of time. She might be a celebrity, but becoming a celebrity who's song repretoire is a collection of break up songs seems not only like a lousy legacy, but kind of sad. No, really sad.





The 2012 Release Dates of the 9 Best Picture Nominated Films

Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

With the possibly of the Academy nominating as many as ten films, one of my hopes was that the change would encourage studios not to feel forced to place their top films in the last couple weekends of the calendar year.

2010 nominations (for 2009 films) was the first year in the current era with 10 best picture nominees. There were some surprise nominations and the award nominees spanned the year more than normal, with four of the nominees having been released August or earlier, and only 4 films from November and December).

2011 nominations (for 2010 films) also seemed to reward summer releases, again with four of the nominees coming from June and July. This time, 5 of the remaining ten were from November/December releases)

2012 nominations (for 2011 films) their were 9 nominees instead of 10, but still 3 Summer releases, and 5 from November and December.

And this year...the 2013 nominations (for 2012 films), seems to have lost some of the trending for Summer love (and distribution of Oscar worthy summer films). Instead this year with 9 nominees, it's just one summer film, and seven with November and December releases.

To me this trend is disappointing.

The 2012 film year was stronger than years past, but I hope that the 2013 film calendar can spread the quality films more throughout the year instead of relying on that last minute freshness to keep the film in the mind of Oscar voters.

Here's a list of this year's 9 nominees in order of their non-festival US release date and number of screens on that date...

Beasts of the Southern Wild (June 27, 2012 - 4 screens)
Argo (October 12, 2012 - 3232 screens)
Lincoln (November 9, 2012 - 11 Screens)
Silver Linings Playbook (November 16, 2012 - 16 screens)
Life of Pi (November 21, 2012- 2927 screens)
Amour (December 19, 2012 - 3 screens)
Zero Dark Thirty (December 19, 2012 - 5 screens)
Les Miserables (December 25, 2012 - 2814 screens
Django Unchained (December 25, 2012 - 3010 screens)

Star Power in 2012

The premise of this series I've done over the past couple years is that it's often surprising to look at the year's top films and the actors who take lead and supporting roles. The conclusion is that these days when it comes to the box office the box office leaders are often a surprising cast of characters.

I've enjoyed tracking the actors who's names appear in more than 1 top 10 grossing live-action film. This year 3 actors share this honor.

2012's Double Top 10 Grossers:

► Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Dark Knight Rises, Lincoln)

► Sally Field (The Amazing Spider Man, Lincoln)

► Tommy Lee Jones (Men In Black 3; Lincoln)

2012 Top Grossing Live-Action Films:

1. The Avengers (Robert Downey Jr. Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston)

2. The Dark Knight Rises (Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hatheway, Marion Cottilard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman)

3. The Hunger Games (Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Wes Bentley, Stanley Tucci)

4. Skyfall (Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench, Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes)

5. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving)

6. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 (Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Ashley Greene, Dakota Fanning, Maggie Grace, Michael Sheen, Nikki Reed)

7. The Amazing Spider-Man (Anderew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifan, Denis Leary, Marin Sheen, Sally Field, Irfhan Khan)

8. Ted (Mark Whalberg, Mila Kunis, Seth McFarlane, Joel McHale)

9. Men In Black 3 (Will Smith, Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, Alice Eve, Michael Stuhlberg, Jermaine Clement)

10. Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Straitharn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, Tommy Lee Jones)

Previous "Double-Top Grossers"

► 2011 saw only one double, Tyrese Gibson (Fast 5; Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon)
► 2010 saw three doubles: Jeff Bridges (Tron Legacy, True Grit). Helena Bonhem Carter (Alice In Wonderland, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part I). Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part I, Clash of the Titans)

Homeland and Naked People

I like to post pictures with my blog posts, but this one will have none.

So...my wife and have finally started watching the Showtime TV series Homeland. We have loved watching serial TV dramas (including 24 and Alias) so Homeland is right up are alley.

The only problem...so far, three episodes in...every episode seems to flaunt the cable networks ability to have naked people in the episode. Three episodes, each has naked people. And sometimes for quite long scenes.

Call it prude, wise, respectful, or whatever, but my wife and I do not sit on our couches and watch naked people. So when the moaning begins we akwardly look at eachother instead of the screen, and sometimes even giggle at the ridiculousness.

We love the show, but must know...does every episode have naked people in it...if so, our days of Homeland will unfortunatly be ending prematurely.