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…appears as Charles Muntz in this scene remake from Pixar’s “Up.”
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Mark made the short alongside aspiring high school filmmakers for Milwaukee Film’s Filmmakers Workshop. Learn more about Milwaukee Film here, and the Filmmakers Workshop here.
I hope they recreate a scene from “Black Swan” this year… yeah, that scene,
…right here:
NOTE: There are NO spoilers here. I loved this movie and don’t want to ruin one bit of it for anyone.
1. A brilliant short titled “Day & Night” from director Teddy Newton. Sure, Pixar continues to amaze audiences with their animation prowess, but this dialogue-less short is innovative even by Pixar standards. It’s both a conceptual and technological masterpiece.
2. I have to admit I was a bit leery going into “Toy Story 3” for a few reasons. First, because Pixar has hit towering home runs on their past two outings (“Wall-E” and “Up”) and I honestly didn’t know if they could keep it up year after year. Second, because it’s hard to pull off even one sequel that pushes the boundaries of originality, let alone a third film in a franchise. But with that being said, and I truly can’t believe I’m going to say this, but “Toy Story 3” just may be the best movie out of the “Toy Story” trilogy.
3. Three words: Mr. Tortilla Head.
4. “Toy Story 2” came out in 1999. That’s eleven years ago, folks. And while the animation and technology used back then is still impressive today, it’s nowhere near what Pixar is accomplishing in the third film. This is the best you’ve ever seen Woody and Buzz; not only is it darn impressive, but it shows that Pixar is in a perpetual state of evolution. I can’t wait to see what they release in 2021. It just might make my head explode.
5. Michael Keaton brings life to Barbie’s soul mate Ken. The addition of this character to the franchise (and Keaton to the cast) is fantastic. I never thought I’d say this but… I love Ken.
6. I said it about their last two films and I’ll say it again: Pixar likes making audiences cry! Their storytelling and character development is so on point here that by the end of the movie I was hearing sniffling and watching grown adults wipe their eyes! They’re crying over a computer-generated plastic toy voiced by Tom Hanks! You win, Pixar! Okay? Next time can you make a movie that doesn’t make me feel like a middle-aged woman watching “Fried Green Tomatoes”?
7. Spanish. (You’ll know it when you see it… I mean, hear it.)
8. The dialogue is both smart and, at times, a bit adult. For example, at one point Barbie goes on a short little rant about democracy that’s simply brilliant. Just further proof that kids don’t need to drag their parents to see Pixar movies; parents want to see these movies.
9. By far the creepiest character (and toy) of the franchise yet is introduced: Big Baby. And I mean creepy in a disconcerting, David Lynchian kind of way. And no, it’s not an action figure of Robert Blake… though that would be awesome.
10. What “Monsters, Inc.” accomplished with fur and hair, and “Finding Nemo” accomplished with water, “Toy Story 3” accomplishes with trash. I know you probably think that “Wall-E” holds the title for believable garbage, but you’d be wrong. The trash in “Toy Story 3” is damn impressive… as odd as that sounds.
One short of a dozen,
…and if you know me you know that I typically could care less. Most of this is due to the fact that I used to not see a lot of movies; some of it is due to the fact that I loathed those movies that would get nominated.
But this year, two things are different. First, since moving to Los Angeles we get to see a lot of free movies (especially Academy Award contenders). And second, 2009 was the first year in a long time that produced a good number of films that I consider to be Oscar-worthy.
So since this is the first year since 1995 (I was rooting for “Pulp Fiction” back then) that I’ve actually given a shit about the Oscars, I’ve decided to add my two cents to the insanity.
The full nominee list is below.
The people/films I want to win are in red.
The people/films I expect to win are in green.
And if I both want and expect them to win, those people/films are in black.
Also, I’ve only listed the categories I can comment on or care about. If I haven’t seen any of the films from a certain list, or if it’s a category I’m not interested in (sorry, Best Original Song) the list was omitted.
NOMINEES FOR THE 82ND ACADEMY AWARDS:
Actor in a Leading Role
- Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
- George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
- Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
- Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
- Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”
Actor in a Supporting Role
- Matt Damon in “Invictus”
- Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
- Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
- Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
- Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”
Actress in a Leading Role
- Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
- Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
- Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
- Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
- Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”
Actress in a Supporting Role
- Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
- Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
- Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
- Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
- Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Animated Feature Film
- “Coraline” Henry Selick
- “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
- “The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
- “The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
- “Up” Pete Docter
Cinematography
- “Avatar” Mauro Fiore
- “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
- “The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
- “Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson
- “The White Ribbon” Christian Berger
Directing
- “Avatar” James Cameron
- “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
- “Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
- “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
- “Up in the Air” Jason Reitman
Film Editing
- “Avatar” Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
- “District 9” Julian Clarke
- “The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
- “Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke
- “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Joe Klotz
Foreign Language Film
- “Ajami” Israel
- “El Secreto de Sus Ojos” Argentina
- “The Milk of Sorrow” Peru
- “Un Prophète” France
- “The White Ribbon” Germany
Music (Original Score)
- “Avatar” James Horner
- “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
- “The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
- “Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
- “Up” Michael Giacchino
Best Picture
- “Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
- “The Blind Side” Nominees to be determined
- “District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
- “An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
- “The Hurt Locker” Nominees to be determined
- “Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
- “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
- “A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
- “Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
- “Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers
Sound Editing
- “Avatar” Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
- “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
- “Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman
- “Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
- “Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers
Sound Mixing
- “Avatar” Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
- “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
- “Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
- “Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
- “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson
Visual Effects
- “Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
- “District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
- “Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
- “District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
- “An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
- “In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
- “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
- “Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner
Writing (Original Screenplay)
- “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
- “Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
- “The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
- “A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
- “Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy
ctor in a Leading Role
- Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
- George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
- Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
- Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
- Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”
Actor in a Supporting Role
- Matt Damon in “Invictus”
- Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
- Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
- Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
- Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”
Actress in a Leading Role
- Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
- Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
- Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
- Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
- Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”
Actress in a Supporting Role
- Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
- Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
- Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
- Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
- Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Animated Feature Film
- “Coraline” Henry Selick
- “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
- “The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
- “The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
- “Up” Pete Docter
Art Direction
- “Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
- “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
- “Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
- “Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
- “The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray
Cinematography
- “Avatar” Mauro Fiore
- “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
- “The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
- “Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson
- “The White Ribbon” Christian Berger
Costume Design
- “Bright Star” Janet Patterson
- “Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier
- “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
- “Nine” Colleen Atwood
- “The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell
Directing
- “Avatar” James Cameron
- “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
- “Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
- “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
- “Up in the Air” Jason Reitman
Documentary (Feature)
- “Burma VJ” Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
- “The Cove” Nominees to be determined
- “Food, Inc.” Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
- “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
- “Which Way Home” Rebecca Cammisa
Documentary (Short Subject)
- “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province” Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
- “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner” Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
- “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
- “Music by Prudence” Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
- “Rabbit à la Berlin” Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra
Film Editing
- “Avatar” Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
- “District 9” Julian Clarke
- “The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
- “Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke
- “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Joe Klotz
Foreign Language Film
- “Ajami” Israel
- “El Secreto de Sus Ojos” Argentina
- “The Milk of Sorrow” Peru
- “Un Prophète” France
- “The White Ribbon” Germany
Makeup
- “Il Divo” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
- “Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
- “The Young Victoria” Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore
Music (Original Score)
- “Avatar” James Horner
- “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
- “The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
- “Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
- “Up” Michael Giacchino
Music (Original Song)
- “Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
- “Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
- “Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
- “Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
- “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett
Best Picture
- “Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
- “The Blind Side” Nominees to be determined
- “District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
- “An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
- “The Hurt Locker” Nominees to be determined
- “Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
- “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
- “A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
- “Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
- “Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers
Short Film (Animated)
- “French Roast” Fabrice O. Joubert
- “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
- “The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” Javier Recio Gracia
- “Logorama” Nicolas Schmerkin
- “A Matter of Loaf and Death” Nick Park
Short Film (Live Action)
- “The Door” Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
- “Instead of Abracadabra” Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
- “Kavi” Gregg Helvey
- “Miracle Fish” Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
- “The New Tenants” Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson
Sound Editing
- “Avatar” Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
- “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
- “Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman
- “Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
- “Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers
Sound Mixing
- “Avatar” Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
- “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
- “Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
- “Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
- “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson
Visual Effects
- “Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
- “District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
- “Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
- “District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
- “An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
- “In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
- “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
- “Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner
Writing (Original Screenplay)
- “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
- “Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
- “The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
- “A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
- “Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy
Calling my bookie,
I wrote four short pieces for today’s issue of “Variety.” The articles are for their “Nomination Wrap” section, and focus on the most powerful cinematic scenes of 2009.
I was assigned a pretty wide range of films; from a black-and-white German period piece, to an animated cartoon about an old man and his flying house.
Each article is short, around 100 words or so, but I think they turned out alright. Check ’em out below.
Someday a freelancer will write about my movie,
The folks over at Pixar just released a new short from “Up” titled “George & A.J.” The cartoon follows the two Shady Oaks Retirement Community employees after Carl Fredricksen’s house takes off.
The cartoon isn’t done in the slick CG animation you’re used to seeing from Pixar, but it’s still a fun little short to sidetrack you from all of that boring work you should be doing.
It was written and directed by Pixar’s Josh Cooley.
Here you go:
Justin Shady Oaks,
hF5KWMX3u4Y
…and the first thought that came to mind after the lights came up was this: “I wish Pixar would stop making movies that make me cry.”
I mean, I’m a 32-year-old man! I have a shaved head (approximately 70% of which is by choice)! I have piercings! Tattoos! And yet there I sat, teary-eyed like a school boy with a skinned knee, all because of a cartoon about an old man and his floating house!
Man… you’re ruining my street cred, Pixar!
The screening was at El Capitan… wait a minute. Let me back up a second.
Last night, Kathy and I watched the series premiere of the new show “Glee.” I thought it was alright, but Kathy absolutely loved it. She especially loved the character of Sue, a hardass cheerleading coach as played by the always brilliant Jane Lynch.
For those of you who don’t know, Jane Lynch is a character actress who has been in “Best In Show,” “A Mighty Wind” and “Talladega Nights,” to name a few.
Here she is in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” with Steve Carell:
Anyway, on our way to the theater, Kathy was talking to our friend Lille about “Glee” and how much she loves Jane Lynch. Fast-forward ten minutes to us taking our seats in the balcony directly next to… Jane Lynch.
Once again, Los Angeles doesn’t fail at being both insanely bizarre and incredibly ironic.
But let’s get back on track here and talk about “Up.”
First, I should point out that I had fairly high, yet limited expectations for this movie. I had high expectations because in Pixar’s previous nine attempts I’ve only been disappointed once (“Cars”); I had limited expectations because it was the follow-up film to “Wall-E,” a movie I not only think is their best, but also my favorite movie of 2008.
So I walked into the theater both excited and realistic. I assumed we would be seeing a movie that was somewhere in the realm of pretty good, but far from the world of perfection.
I was wrong.
Pixar has somehow managed to take a story about an old man, a young boy, a talking dog and an exotic bird and turn it into a movie that has more heart than 99% of the live-action films being made today.
I found myself actually caring about this old fart! I cared about his past, his well-being… even his house! And he’s played by Ed Asner! What’s wrong with me?!?
But the truth is that there’s nothing wrong with me. The folks at Pixar have just become as masterful in their storytelling as they are in their animation. Because of this, we’re given movies that are as brilliant as they are beautiful.
I said this in the car on the way home, and the more I think about it the more I think it’s true: Pixar makes great movies because their audience isn’t necessarily a deciding factor. They make great movies for themselves; each film seems to be an extremely personal creation to everyone on the team. You can sense it.
That’s why their films aren’t littered with catchy radio-hit jingles, or princes and princesses waiting to fall in love after 90 minutes. They make movies they like to watch. And because of that, most of us like to watch them, too.
I’ve said this in the past about Pixar and I hope it never ceases to be true: What they produce not only impresses me, but it also makes me insanely jealous. It makes me think, “Why couldn’t I have thought of that?” or, “How can I create at least one thing this brilliant before I’m placed in a pine box?”
“Up” is proof of the fact that Pixar’s products consistently go well beyond the boundaries of good filmmaking and enter the realm of cinematic excellence.
I could bore you with story plots and sound design and character outlines, but none of that is as important as me saying this to you: Go see “Up” as soon as you possibly can. You won’t be disappointed.
And bring Kleenex.
Jane Lynch loved it, too,
The Blarg 