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Movie Quote of the Day – Up In The Air, 2009 (dir. Jason Reitman)

San Francisco Manager: So, what happened?
Natalie Keener: How exactly do you mean?
San Francisco Manager: You graduated top of your class. You could have had your pick of employment, including right here. Instead, you went to Omaha to. . .fire people for a living?
Natalie Keener: Challenging work.
San Francisco Manager: I’ll say. I couldn’t imagine doing that day in and day out. Not in this climate.
Natalie Keener: I. . .followed a boy.
San Francisco Manager: I guess we’ve all done that at some point in our lives.

Posted in Movie Quote of the Day

3 Comments

Tags: 2009, Anna Kendrick, Jason Reitman, Jerry Vogel, Sheldon Turner, Up In The Air, Walter Kirn

Auteur of the Week – Jason Reitman

Sep 21

Posted by Marya E. Gates

I went to a screening of Thank You For Smoking in February of 2006 because I was a big fan of his father, Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters, Kindergarten Cop, etc.) and wasn’t sure what to expect. I ended up really loving the film and actually got to meet Reitman afterwards and told I thought it was an amazing debut feature film and I looked forward to seeing more from him in the future. Jump to over four years later and he’s now a four-time Oscar nominee, twice for directing. Suffice to say, he has not let me down.

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Posted in Auteur of the Week

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Tags: Autuer of the Week, Jason Reitman, Juno, Thank You For Smoking, Up In The Air

2009 Academy Awards – Final Predictions

Mar 6

Posted by Marya E. Gates

Alright you guys, I’m sorry I haven’t updated in awhile, life’s gotten a bit stressful. That being said THE OSCARS are tomorrow. This has been one of the most stressful awards seasons since I started following the Oscars all those years ago. These are my final predictions and, as always, I’ll be live-blogging the show on my tumblr. So here goes nothing.

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Posted in the Academy Awards

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Tags: Avatar, Berry Ackroyd, Christoph Waltz, Crazy Heart, Inglourious Basterds, Jason Reitman, Jeff Bridges, Julie & Julia, Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Meryl Streep, Michael Giacchino, Mo'Nique, Precious, Ryan Bingham, Sheldon Turner, Star Trek, T-Bone Burnett, the Academy Awards, The Cove, the hurt locker, The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant, The New Tenants, The Oscars, The White Ribbon, The Young Victoria, Up, Up In The Air, Wallace and Gromit in A Matter of Loaf and Death

Jeremy Renner and the Best Actor Race

Feb 3

Posted by Marya E. Gates

I’ve yet to see A Single Man or Crazy Heart, mostly due to living in the middle of nowhere, and thus can only comment on the three performances I have seen. I enjoyed George Clooney in Up In The Air, but he was better in Michael Clayton. My opinion on Morgan Freeman in Invictus will come up later on in this post. That leaves Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker. And of the three I’ve seen, he has my vote. It’ll be a difficult race for him, but I think he has a chance of pulling it off. He had perhaps my favorite reaction to his nomination when interviewed on Good Morning America yesterday. When asked about his competition, he replied, “I’ve gotta break some serious legs.”

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Posted in Nominations, the Academy Awards

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Tags: A Serious Man, A Single Man, Alfred Molina, An Education, Anthony Mackie, Avatar, Best Actor, Crazy Heart, George Clooney, Good Morning America, Good Will Hunting, Invictus, Jeremy Renner, Matt Damon, Michael Clayton, Michael Stuhlbarg, Morgan Freeman, Steve Buscemi, Syriana, the Academy Awards, the Coen brothers, the hurt locker, The Informant!, The Messenger, The Oscars, Up In The Air

My Oscar Nominations Predictions

Feb 1

Posted by Marya E. Gates

The Academy Award nominations will be announced at 5:30AM PST tomorrow, February 2nd. I’ve got predictions for 10 of the 24 categories. I’m also going to supply some alternates. I love being able to predict what the nominations will be, but at the same time, it would be nice for some surprises to sneak in there too!

Best Picture:

(500) Days of Summer
An Education
Avatar
District 9
The Hangover
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
Star Trek
Up In The Air

(Alternates: Up, Invictus, A Serious Man)

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Posted in Nominations, the Academy Awards

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Tags: (500) Days of Summer, A Serious Man, A Single Man, An Education, Anna Kendrick, Avatar, Carey Mulligan, Christoph Waltz, Christopher Plummer, Clint Eastwood, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, Colin Firth, Coraline, Crazy Heart, Diane Kruger, District 9, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Gabby Sidibe, George Clooney, Helen Mirren, Inglourious Basterds, Invictus, James Cameron, Jason Reitman, Jeff Bridges, Jeremy Renner, Julianne Moore, Julie & Julia, Kathryn Bigelow, Lee Daniels, Matt Damon, Meryl Streep, Micahel Haneke, Mo'Nique, Morgan Freeman, Nine, Precious, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Downey Jr., Sandra Bullock, Sherlock Holmes, Stanley Tucci, Star Trek, the Academy Awards, The Blind Side, The Hangover, the hurt locker, The Last Station, The Lovely Bones, The Messenger, The Oscars, The Princess and the Frog, The Road, The White Ribbon, Up, Up In The Air, Vera Farmiga, Viggo Mortensen, Where The Wild Things Are, Woody Harrelson

15 Breakthrough Performers of 2009

Jan 31

Posted by Marya E. Gates

2009 was a good year for cinema. So good I had to have a Top 15 instead of a Top Ten (and now, after I’ve seen a lot of the End of the Year fare, I feel like I’d need a Top Twenty). There were some newcomers who blew us away and some actors/actresses who have been kicking around Hollywood for years waiting for That Movie that makes them a household name, and for them 2009 was that year. I’m going to do this list in alphabetical order by last name.

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Posted in BAFTAs, Golden Globes, SAGs, the Academy Awards, Top List

9 Comments

Tags: 2009, A Single Man, Adventureland, An Education, Anna Kendrick, Avatar, Ben Affleck, Bored to Death, Brideshead Revisited, Carey Mulligan, Center Stage, Chasing Liberty, Chris Pine, Christoph Waltz, Clash of the Titans, Colin Firth, Dahmer, David Fincher, Emile Hirsch, G-Force, Gabby Sidibe, George Clooney, Gigantic, HBO, Heroes, Inglourious Basterds, J J. Abrams, James Cameron, Jeff Daniels, Jeremy Renner, Jesse Eisenberg, Kathryn Bigelow, Kevin Kline, Kristen Stewart, Mandy Moore, Mark Zuckerberg, Match Point, Matthew Goode, Max Records, Michael Douglas, NBC, Oliver Stone, Peter Travers, Precious, Pride & Prejudice, Quentin Tarantino, Shakespeare in Love, Shia LeBeouf, SNL, Spike Jonze, Star Trek, Taylor Lautner, Terminator Salvation, The Brothers Bloom, The Emperor's Club, The English Patient, The Hangover, the hurt locker, The Social Network, The Squid and the Whale, The Town, Tom Ford, Twilight, Twilight Saga: New Moon, Up In The Air, Wall Street, Watchmen, Where The Wild Things Are, Woody Allen, Zach Galifianakis, Zach Synder, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Zombieland

Avatar – Visually Stunning, But Ultimately Boring and Predictable

Jan 29

Posted by Marya E. Gates

I really did go into this film with an open mind. After about 30 minutes I was pretty sure I knew how I’d feel about the rest of the film. Why? Because I could see exactly how it was going to play out and all I really wanted was for it to end.

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Posted in Golden Globes, Review, the Academy Awards

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Tags: Avatar, Golden Globes, James Cameron, Kathryn Bigelow, Quentin Tarantino, Roger Ebert, Terrence Malick, the hurt locker, The New World, The Thin Red lIne, Up In The Air

The Hurt Locker – Can A Good Old-Fashioned War Movie Win Best Picture?

Jan 20

Posted by Marya E. Gates

I finally got to see The Hurt Locker today. I absolutely loved it. I am a big fan of War films and I’d put this one up there with my favorites, namely The Thin Red Line and The Longest Day.

Although I’ve yet to see Avatar, I do not want it to win Best Picture. I know I should reserve judgement until I’ve seen it. But I do not see how it can be as good as either The Hurt Locker or Up In The Air. To quote Quentin Tarantino “This CGI bullshit is the death knell of cinema. If I’d wanted all that computer game bullshit, I’d have stuck my dick in a Nintendo.”

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Posted in Review, the Academy Awards

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Tags: Avatar, Jarhead, Jeremy Renner, Kathryn Bigelow, Platoon, Quentin Tarantino, Schindler's List, the Academy Awards, The Deer Hunter, The English Patient, the hurt locker, The Longest Day, The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, The Thin Red lIne, Three Kings, Up In The Air

Reflections on the Golden Globes

Jan 18

Posted by Marya E. Gates

As shocking (and for many, upsetting) as Avatar‘s win over The Hurt Locker and Inglourious Basterds is, it doesn’t mean it’ll take the top prize at the Oscars in March. It’ll be nom’d for sure, but that really is all that’s certain at this point.

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Posted in Golden Globes, Precursors

2 Comments

Tags: (500) Days of Summer, Anna Kendrick, Avatar, Christoph Waltz, Colin Firth, Crazy Heart, Fantastic Mr. Fox, George Clooney, Golden Globes, Inglourious Basterds, James Cameron, Jason Reitman, Jeff Bridges, Jim Carey, Julie & Julia, Man in the Moon, Meryl Streep, Michael Giacchino, Mo'Nique, Nine, Oscars, Precious, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Downey Jr., SAGs, Sandra Bullock, Sean Penn, Sheldon Turner, Sherlock Holmes, Sweet and Lowdown, the Academy Awards, The Blind Side, The Hangover, the hurt locker, The White Ribbon, Tropic Thunder, Up, Up In The Air, Wes Anderson

Why I’m “Up In The Air”

Jan 11

Posted by Marya E. Gates

Yesterday I finally saw Up In The Air, and as much I love (500) Days of Summer, Star Trek, Adventureland and Inglourious Basterds, I want it to win Best Picture.