Mouse Mogul Musings...

Dream...







Deadline Hollywood has an interview with Walt Disney Pictures' Head Suit...

Rich Ross has a very interesting interview that has equal parts of agreement/disagreement about the state of film in general and the Mouse in specific.

An interesting read...

Honor Roll: The Oscars...

And the Oscar goes/should go to...


Well, since the Oscars came out with their nominations today I thought I'd put in my picks...

Red will be who I think will win and Blue will be who I think should win.


BEST ACTOR

Jeff Bridges, CRAZY HEART

George Clooney, UP IN THE AIR

Colin Firth, A SINGLE MAN

Morgan Freeman, INVICTUS

Jeremy Renner, THE HURT LOCKER


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Matt Damon, INVICTUS

Woody Harrelson, THE MESSENGER

Christopher Plummer, THE LAST STATION

Stanley Tucci, THE LOVELY BONES

Christoph Waltz, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS


BEST ACTRESS

Sandra Bullock, THE BLIND SIDE

Helen Mirren, THE LAST STATION

Carey Mulligan, AN EDUCATION

Gabourey Sidibe, PRECIOUS

Meryl Streep, JULIE & JULIA


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Penelope Cruz, NINE

Vera Farmiga, UP IN THE AIR

Maggie Gyllenhaal, CRAZY HEART

Anna Kendrick, UP IN THE AIR

Mo'Nique, PRECIOUS


BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

CORALINE

FANTASTIC MR FOX

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG

THE SECRET OF KELLS

UP


BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

FRENCH ROAST, Fabrice O Joubert

GRANNY O'GRIMM'S SLEEPING BEAUTY, Nicky Phelan & Darragh O'Connell

THE LADY AND THE REAPER, Javier Recio Gracia

LOGORAMA, Nicolas Schmerkin

A MATTER OF LOAF AND DEATH, Nick Park


BEST WRITING (Adapted Screenplay)

DISTRICT 9, Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell

AN EDUCATION, Nick Hornby

IN THE LOOP, Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche

PRECIOUS, Geoffrey Fletcher

UP IN THE AIR, Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turne


BEST WRITING (Original Screenplay)

THE HURT LOCKER, Mark Boal

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, Quentin Tarantino

THE MESSENGER, Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman

A SERIOUS MAN, Joel & Ethan Coen

UP, Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter. Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy


BEST DIRECTOR

AVATAR, James Cameron

THE HURT LOCKER, Kathryn Bigelow

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, Quentin Tarantino

PRECIOUS, Lee Daniels

UP IN THE AIR, Jason Reitman


BEST PICTURE

AVATAR

THE BLIND SIDE

DISTRICT 9

AN EDUCATION

THE HURT LOCKER

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

PRECIOUS

A SERIOUS MAN

UP

UP IN THE AIR

When Carl Met Oscar...

Like we know it won't happen...

The question is will Oscar meet a Princess or not.

That's the question...

Doubling Down...

The AMPAS has decided that Five (5) nominees for Best Picture is not enough...

So from now on there will be ten (10) nominees for Best Picture. Many think this is being done to boost ratings and they're probably right, but I whole heartedly support this move. There are many films that are worthy of being nominated that never get to be because of the limited number of slots the Academy gives for a Best Pictures nomination.

Now we can look forward to seeing films get respect that never would have even gotten the attention they deserve. Thanks Hollywood. Now how 'bout that nomination for Pixar's "Up" for best picture being one of them? That way Carl can meet Oscar since they're about the same age.

Time will tell...

The Morning After...

Was there something that happened last night?

I'm not sure, I've been very busy the whole weekend and haven't been around a tv much... Ok, well not totally true. I did turn on the Oscars for a bit, just to see if Heath won for "The Dark Knight" and then it was off again. I did happen to see that "Wall-E" won as well(it was on in the background), I've expected that, but wondered if they're would be an upset. There wasn't. Most of my picks were on the target... I think I missed two(the bubbly numbs the mind, you know). All in all, not a bad take for Andrew Stanton... it'll only help his prestige when he finally submits a final budget for "John Carter" and the executives have heart attacks when they see the size and scope of the film. I hope the Disney Suits don't ask him to take another pass at the script like the Warner Suits did with Brad Bird's new film...

It was interesting to see a small film with the best animated short. I rooted for "Presto" to take home the golden statue, but it's nice to see that sometimes David beats Goliath. I got to see more of the ceremony after it was over. Didn't really care for the "five" actors and actresses coming out. A bit too presumptuous for me. It just screamed: "Look at me, I'm an actor! Don't you understand? I'm an actor! I can feel things better than you, because... I'm an actor!) I would've preferred scenes from the films showing us why they were nominated. Imagine that? Now I have to go and wake up the rest of the party and find my keys. I know I left them somewhere over here...

Oscar Likes Animals & Robots...

It appears that a Robot, A Dog and a Panda will compete for the Best Animated Picture Award at the Oscars this year...

Good odds for the Mouse.

And naturally, a Bat was shut out because it was just too popular, I guess. If you missed the rundown on what was nominated for what, here are the main nominations:

Best Picture:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Frost/Nixon

Milk

The Reader

Slumdog Millionaire *


Best Director:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - David Fincher

Frost/Nixon - Ron Howard

Milk - Gus Van Sant

The Reader - Stephen Daldry

Slumdog Millionaire - Danny Boyle *


Best Animated Picture:

Bolt

Kung Fu Panda

Wall-E *


Best Animated Short Film

La Maison de Petits Cubes - Kunio Kato

Lavatory - Lovestory - Konstantin Bronzit

Oktapodi - Emud Mokhberi, Thierry Marchand

Presto - Doug Sweetland *

This Way Up - Alan Smith, Adam Foulkes


Best Original Screenplay:

Frozen River - Courtney Hunt

Happy-Go-Lucky - Mike Leigh

In Bruges - Martin McDonagh

Milk - Dustin Lance Black

Wall-E - Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Pete Docter *


Best Adapted Screenplay:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Eric Roth, Robin Swicord

Doubt - John Patrick Shanley

Frost/Nixon - Peter Morgan

The Reader - David Hare

Slumdog Millionaire - Simon Beaufoy *


Best Actor:

Richard Jenkins - The Visitor

Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon

Sean Penn - Milk

Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler *


Best Supporting Actor:

Josh Brolin - Milk

Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder

Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt

Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight *

Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road


Best Actress:

Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married

Angelina Jolie - Changeling

Melissa Leo - Frozen River

Meryl Streep - Doubt

Kate Winslet - The Reader *


Best Supporting Actress:

Amy Adams - Doubt

Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Viola Davis - Doubt

Taraji P Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler *


* Honor's pick for what will/should win the Academy Award.

A Battle Between Chance And Fate...

Variety has an interesting article up about the chances of Disney-Pixar's "Wall-E" actually having a shot at the best picture Oscar.

Give Anne Thompson's take on the subject a looksie...

Blustery Oscar...

On this day...

Thirty-nine years ago today the the 41st Academy Awards were held and Walt Disney Productions featurette "Winnie the Pooh
and the Blustery Day" wins the Short Subjects, Cartoon Oscar.

It's my favorite part of "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh"... pure innocence. It absolutely deserved the award. Disney Magic could be described no better.

Snow White And The Seven Oscars...

On this day...

Seventy years ago, Walt Disney received a special Academy Award in innovation for the creation of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". Many more awards obviously followed...

Animated Short Nominations Are Goofy...

I was aiming to write about this the other day...

But I got busy... Hey, I do have a life ya know!

The Oscar Nominations have been announced and I like most of what was announced, except...

The nominations for Best Animated Short. Or to be more specific, the "lack" of a nomination is what has me a bit upset.

2007 Best Animated Short Film Nominations:

• I Met the Walrus - Josh Raskin
• Madame Tutli-Putli - Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski
• Même Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go To Heaven) - Samuel Tourneux and Simon Vanesse
• My Love (Moya Lyubov) - Alexander Petrov
• Peter and the Wolf - Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman

I don't want to take away from any of the shorts that have been nominated. This post is not about them. It's more about the Academy and its decision making process. I find it hard to believe the Academy let "How To Hook Up Your Home Theater" go without a nomination. Was this some form of slight against the short, or perhaps a sign that they've given up on Disney hand drawn animation? It could also be that the short plays so well as a bridge to the Disney shorts of the past that Academy members thought they were looking at an old cartoon. But then they wouldn't have or couldn't have watched the whole thing would be my guess. This wouldn't be the first time, Oscar winners are filled with films that even the voters didn't see, but felt should win. Even when it's just entertainment, it's political, sadly.

I'm not saying that Goofy's new short should win... although I wouldn't mind it. But the short should have been nominated. It deserves it for not only being a great animated short, but for showing that a group of talented animators can create something so wonderfully funny and memorable after having their skills neglected and tossed aside for half a decade.

Maybe they should expand the number? Maybe they should have to actually take a test to prove they watched what they vote for. Either way, the lack of a nomination for Disney's first new short in years is just plain goofy.

Best Picture Or Best Animated Picture?

The New York Times has an article about the problem the Mouse has regarding "Ratatouille":

"As the awards season heats up, the Walt Disney Company and its Pixar Animation Studios unit have been wrestling with a conundrum posed by their warmly received, computer-animated fable about a rat who aspires to become a Parisian chef: Any move to promote it as the year’s best picture might lead to ballot-splitting that would diminish its chances of getting the less prestigious but more easily won Oscar for best animated film."

This is another case of the Academy diminishing the art of animated films and how they shouldn't be considered for best picture since they are, after all... animated. Thus, they need to be subcategorized in an inferior award. This all came about years ago because "Beauty and the Beast" got nominated for a Best Picture and some in the AMPAS didn't feel a cartoon film deserved it, so they created the special category of "Best Animated Film"...

I've heard Brad Bird talk about this, it's a real shame when Oscar thinks that animation is a second class citizen in the world of film. Just as comedy never really makes it onto the Best Picture nomination list, animation gets to sit in the back of the bus because of a bunch of high-brow Hollywood types that think they know how to define what culture and class is.

This isn't something new, Walt Disney was never really treated like an equal when he was doing his shorts. He was laughed at when he decided to create the first feature length animated film, "Snow White" and many were skeptical about his entry into live-action because he "made cartoons". While times have changed, there is still enough resistance to the idea that the medium doesn't define art... the art is defined by the results. It shouldn't matter if it's live-action, animated, comedy or drama... tell that to an out of touch Hollywood. Tell that to the producers and moguls that run these companies. Tell that to a public that seems to be at odds with a entertainment industry that doesn't seem to know where its bread is buttered.

Another interesting paragraph:

"The studios’ reluctance to advance their animated wares as candidates for best picture is enforced by a perception that actors, the academy’s largest branch, with about 20 percent of the membership, are reluctant to honor movies without live performances. Additionally, the academy has a definite allergy to family fare, like the G-rated “Ratatouille”: 28 R-rated films have been nominated for best picture in the last 10 years, while only two PG-rated movies — “Finding Neverland” and “Good Night, and Good Luck” — have. And none with a G rating have made the cut."

It seems if a movie makes money, is made for the entire family and also happens to be animated, well... that's three strikes for that film. Very sad.