10
February
Entertainment
Hollywood looks to rebuild prestige with Oscars
m C hristopher E rbin
S taff Reporter
H ollywood m ay not seem
to be the epitom e of high d ass
entertainm ent these days,
w hat w ith Owen W ilson's
suidde attem pt, psychotic
Britany's m eltdowns and
the Branjolina controversies
in the M ideast, but it is still
the center of film making
genius. "The Daily Show's"
John Stew art will host the
80th Annual Academ y
Awards at the Kodak Theatre,
Hollyw ood, Calif, on Feb. 24
as those in the entertainm ent
industry gather to celebrate
their achievem ents.
Although the w riter's strike
w as feared to put the telecast
in jeopardy, it looks like
m egastars Johnny Depp, Julia
Roberts and even Brad Pitt
and Angelina Jolie will still
walk the red carpet.
Despite fear of w riters
picketing the cerem ony and
actors boycotting the show,
recent actions, including the
resuming of negotiations
between the W riters Guild
of Am erica and Academ y
of M otion Picture A rts and
Sciences and the tentative
deal between the AMPTP
and the D irectors Guild of
A m erica, have fueled hope
that the strike m ay not affect
the ceremony. Even if w riters
and producers still cannot get
along, those O scars have to be
given out one w ay or another.
The WGA denied a w aiver »
requested by the Academ y
of M otion Picture A rts and
Sciences granting excerpts
of films and previous aw ard
cerem onies to be shown. The
m aterial could still be used,
however, as the denial only
affected the conditions under
which the clips are shown,
and not the clips them selves.
The aw ards show will
be televised worldw ide by
ABC beginning at 6 p.m . "No
Country For Old Men" and
"There Will Be Blood" received
the m ost bids, each earning
eight nom inations. Big box
office hits like "Am erican
Gangster" and "Pirates of the
Caribbean: A t W orld's End"
received only tw o bids each,
while the popular anim ated
film "Ratatouille" surprised
critics w ith five nominations.
Nominees by category
include:
• "Juno" - This year's
"Little Miss Sunshine" holds
the sentim ental touch that
m ay push it ahead of the rest
of file pack. *
.
• "No C ountry For Old
M en"-Violence and m ayhem ,
throw in som|ig§ead bodies^
a stash of herom ahd m ore
than $2 m ilH onincash near
the Rio G ra s ffl^ j^ S o u ^ ^ ^
got yo|Jrself an O scar-w orthy
thriller.
§§|
Best Actress:
• Ellen Page, "Juno"- She
m ade us laugh, she m ade
us cry, she left a smile on
everyone's face...how can she
| h ^ t win?
f ^ ■ fc d ie Christie, "Away
^ r o m lB ^ S h e 's the only
k cS lig id e r indhe category
; over file age;qij|orty, and
the Academ y h ^ a lw a y s
appreciated K vlfeK veteran.
Supporting Actress:
p H er role as an agiijkw om an
• Cate Blanchett, "I'm N ot
*
suffering
form
hearfikeak
and
BestjAcfors
There"
- A chick playing' a
Alzheim er’s could shjjw that
• Viggo M ortertsen,
dude? N ot only does she sell
age
and
experience
alw
ays
Eastern Prom ises § His "Lord
is fiat out
counts for som ething, if not
of the Ringswa&J^5m ay be
O scar deserving.
an
Oscar.
over, b | fti^ i^ h isT )ig ^ st
P^P^Julia E iip rts , "Charlie
1 1 • Amy A dam s,
role since then, and m aybe
' m iso irifl^ B -It's hard to find
H
Enchanted'^
Laugh
the b ig g S i of hiiscireer,
a person I B isn't a fan igQ Q *
yOta will, but she is a q w
in his first O scar-w orthy
Julia R o b H I and shepalw ays
/horM
and
alsoSt
c
f
f
o
f
e
performance^ - j§ gppg|
a fav orijB b take hom&Oscar
• J ohrm yueppy'Sw eeny « * cOntenilJj. H er actaa^ jnay
gold, i n '
have
been®
%
rst^dow
ed
by
Todd" - N om inafed y ear
• Saoirsie R p ijy J *
heranim ated surroundings,
after year, this is^ ^ th ird
" A t o n f l n A l l people
b
u
Q
m
in
g
irt
a
p
sn
e
y
nomination for Best A5wte«
are talMfig about is Kiera
anim ated filg ^ ra n 't hurt
Even though a serial killing
K m ghtlyQ gPprise. But
jiflr™
d
rm
^
now
did
it?
barber m ay be a stretch for
Ronan could have them
the judges, the depth of his
Supporting Actor:
buzzing if she pulls off a well-
• Phillip Seymour
perform ance is far beyond his
deserved O scar win.
days as Jack Sparrow.
Hoffman, "Charlie W ilson's
• Am y Rydn, "Gone Baby
• Daniel Day Lew is,
W ar" - W hat's left to be said? •
Best Picture
Gone"-Intense, charism atic
^ 4
The m an's a genius.
"There Will Be Blood" -This
• "Atonement" -T he
acting and a bubbly
•
Javier
Bardem
,
"No
frontrunner
rem
inds
us
sweeping epic of love and
personality makes for an
Country For Old Men"-
w ar dram a has survived some that the greatest screen
aw ard winning combo.
perform
ances
don't
settle
A
serial
killer
who
flips
a
harsh criticism , but it has
• Tilda Swinton, "Michael
for capturing one trait, a
coin to decide his victim 's
the versatility and pedigree
Clayton"- Finally, the once
dom
inant
em
otion
or
an
easy
fate.
Bardem's
dram
atic
w hich pushes it to the center
young and prom ising actress,
w ay in.
of the O scar stage.
perform ance leave the
m ay have finally made the
break through critics have
been expecting from her for
so long. Reserve her a seat at _
com puter skills to create an
personal.
Kodak, assum ing the show
Of course, Untraceable
W hen I say the m ovie
untraceable w ebsite.
actually happens!
has its flaw s. There w ere
The m urders show n on
is forgettable, I d on 't
som e obvious thriller cliches
Director:
the site w ere obviously
m ean it's terrible. In fact,
throughout it, like characters
• Mike N ichols, "Charlie
violent and revolting, but
I enjoyed w atching it. The
w ho lack any form of
W ilson's W ar"-He's the only
w ere m ore realistic than
selection of actors w as
com m on sense. I suppose
nominee to win Best D irector
cam py. There w as one th at
p retty good. Lane gave a
they needed dum b characters (W ho's Afraid of Virginia
included the m ixture of
genuine perform ance, w hich
to m ake the plot w ork, but
W oolf?-1967) but this w ould
w ater and sulfuric acid
m ade the character seem
som e of their actions just
top anything else Nichols has
w eren 't believable, especially achieved in his lengthy and
w hen th ey're supposed to be
aw ard filled career.
FBI agents w ho should know
• Jason Reitm an, "Juno"- It
a bit about necessary safety
never hurts to be the crow d
m easures to take into one's
favorite, but Juno probably
daily life.
w asn't big enough to win.
The ending of the film w as
• Ethan and Joel Coen,
a bit disappointing, ending
"No County For Old Men"-
abruptly and in a very
Dram atic thriller could make
cheesy way. To give it credit,
Coen's first brother-duo
though, it could have been a
winners.
w hole lot cheesier.
• Tim Burton, "Sweeny
Though a p retty decent
Todd"-The m an has
film overall, it d id n 't do as
contributed so m uch to the
w ell as its studio expected.
industry and this m ay be his
It cost $60 m illion to m ake,
best w ork yet. Jt is his tim e,
Jennifer Marsh (Diane Lane) and her coworkers àt the FBI watch and on opening w eekend it
and he is due. There is no
the latest murder video from a cyber killer's website in Untraceable.
only brought in $11.2 m illion. reason that Burton shouldn't
The movie was filmed in Portland and released on Jan. 25. Opening
(W hen I w ent to see it on Jan. finally be taking home some
weekend brought in only $11.2 million, a fraction of the $60 million it
O scar hardw are.
took to make.
-
Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures 26, the day after it opened,
the theater w asn 't nearly as
• Ridley Scott, "Am erican
crow ded as it should have
creating an appetizing skin-
believable. Joseph C ross,
Gangster"-W ell, the Academ y
been for a new release.)
w ho p ortrayed the cyber-
shedding effect. The effects
w ent for this kind of film last
m urderer, w as a perfect
of these m urders w ere p retty Though it m ay not earn w hat year when "The D eparted"
w as spent on it, it should at
choice; he looked creepy
gruesom e, so I w ou ld n 't
won. M aybe Scott will find
least be praised for being an
enough to be a convincing
recom m end the m ovie
som e of the luck th at won
above average th riller in a .
m urderer, but nerdy enough
to anyone w ho is easily
M artin Scorsese Best D irector
tim e filled w ith aw ful ones.
to convince you he had the
grossed out.
last year.
Portland's "Untraceable" doesn't meet expectations
m M ary W ood __________ •
S taff R eporter
If you 're looking for a
m ovie th at finds you saying
.toyou rself, "H ey, I've
been th ere!" Untraceable,
a m urder thriller film ed in
the Portland area, is a great
choice. H ow ever, ap art from
th at, and the disturbing
im ages of a dying cat (from
W est Linn, according to the
m ovie) and three dying m en,
it's a fairly forgettable film.
The basis of the m ovie
is the w ork of an FBI agent
nam ed Jennifer M arsh (D iane
Lane) w ho fights cyber
crim es w ith her team m ates
Griffin D owd (Colin H anks)
and Eric Box (Billy Burke).
One evening w hile fighting
internet crim inals, they
com e across a w ebsite called
killw ithm e.com , th at allow s
anyone w ho visits to w itness
a m urder. The m ore hits the
site gets, the faster the victim
dies. Furtherm ore, the FBI
is unable to trace w here the
site originates. It begins w ith
the previously m entioned
cat, but becom es m ore
serious as the site becom es
m ore popular, and m ore
dangerous to Jennifer w hen
the killer's intentions becom e
Academ y starring in O scar
winning awe.
• Casey Affleck,
"Assassination of Jesse James"
- Ben's younger brother steps
into his first O scar nominated
perform ance.
• Tom Wilkinson, "Michael
Claytori'-A nother actor who
m ay not get the attention he
deserves because the film did
not go big. Hmm ...pity.