In other news

[sigma7]

...bought The Social Network and finally watched it. Yes, loved it. Particularly the scene where Zuckerberg builds Facemash -- easily my favorite of the movie, and I was following every step of the way. Apache indexes, Emacs, wget...very yes.

Did not like the opening scene. I know the speech tempo was dialed up way past 11 for a reason, but wow, for a Sorkin script, that's too much. (I like rapid-fire dialogue, and I like Sorkin speech, but not necessarily together.) Thankfully, it got better.

Saddened -- but no surprise -- that Oscar will not nod Garfield's or Timberlake's direction, but Eisenberg might just pull this one off. Probably not Fincher and probably not the movie -- not in a year with The King's Speech on tap to pull down the big prizes, I think. (If only TKS were playing nearby....)

Stunned Daft Punk didn't pick up a nod for Best Original Score. But this just means the days between now and "Oscar-winner Trent Reznor" are so slightly numbered.

Comments

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

My Facebook status today: "What? Daft Punk wasn't nominated for an Oscar? "Outstanding Achievement in Original Film Scoring That Made An Otherwise Mediocre Movie Totally Watchable" is a category, isn't it?"

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

There will those who will criticize the Academy as being a bunch of pretentious "oh look I really did see the British historical films and yes they're oh so good are they not" types and today I gotta agree with them. Jesus. Imagine the horror of knowing that the pinnacle of your career is necessarily gaining the admiration of that bunch of ponces. (127 Hours? How to Train Your Dragon? Ffffwha? Over Tron: Legacy? Did someone's hearing aid batteries run out in December?)

And, uhm, Nolan? Chris Nolan? You know him. Directed Inception? Oh, I see, the Coen brothers made a movie again, so they're obliged to get in. What'd they make? True Grit? Again? Ah, that's original. Nowhere near as derivative as Inception, oh, I wholeheartedly concur. Idiots.

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Right there with you. Not that I hadn't already figured that the Oscars were a bunch of politicking popularity contests, but this year sort of clinched it. Oh well.

[daethkow.livejournal.com]

I refuse to watch the Oscars anymore. Seeing that many people that pleased with themselves in one place gives me hives. If, for whatever reason, I was ever there, by the time I left the red carpet to go inside I'd ensure that Joan Rivers would need therapy and that they'd be calling in the black ops team to take me out before I had the chance to take Jack Nicholson's seat.

[patchsassy.livejournal.com]

The King's Speech is EXCELLENT. Colin Firth absolutely NAILS the role, completely. I don't know if he has a history of stuttering as a child, but his facial expressions and the way that you can tell his character struggles with it is absolutely brilliant. I also think that it is a very interesting story. Ebert blasted the MPAA for giving it an R-rating. It's basically based on one scene where there is a LOT of cussing. Five minutes of saying fuck, damn, shit and you get an R-rating.

Geoffrey Rush was also fantastic. (It's also funny, but Colin's dad is Dumbledore in the HP movies and his wife is Bellatrix. You can't watch any British films without seeing at least one Potter actor in them anymore.)

I have yet to see The Social Network, but I want to. (It and the book had their own little kiosk at the front of B&N last week.) True Grit was pretty good as well. The girl really held her own with Bridges and Damon. And of course, Toy Story 3 will murder the other two animated movies in the voting. If they don't vote for Toy Story, they should have their vote revoked. Best movie I saw this year, and I say that as a certifiable Pixar fanatic.

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Ebert was onto something -- I'm not in favor of censorship, but seriously, if a throwaway line causes an uptick to an R rating that prevents an important swath of your audience -- who would benefit greatly from seeing it -- from being able to watch the film, then it's in everyone's best interest to excise it and move forward.

Thankfully, The King's Speech is coming to Manhappiness tomorrow, and yeah, totally goin'. Thank you, Oscar bump. (At least I didn't have to beg and whine about it in the newspaper for weeks like I did with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.)

I'm a little surprised that Eisenberg gets a nom (OM NOM NOM) and not either Garfield or Timberlake, who had the much more nuanced and demanding roles, I thought. Playing the near-sociopathic but preternaturally focused asshole isn't hard. After a few decades, it gets pretty easy. Maybe it was for that first scene. Ahdunno. It's not a particularly feminist film and it's certainly not a documentary, but I all but guarantee that you'll like it. Worth a rent or, if you're into Sorkin/Fincher/Reznor as much as I am, a buy.