Posts Tagged ‘Oscars’
Oscar Week Movie of the Day | The Apartment and Talk to Her
With the 83rd Annual Academy Awards quickly approaching, I will be offering Filmdog’s Oscar countdown by recommending a film every day of the week up until the awards this Sunday. All of the film recommendations will be Academy Award winning movies from various categories. So, watch some great films and enjoy the Academy Awards this Sunday.
To catch us up, having missed Monday, I have picked two very different (but outstanding) films that I hold close to my heart. Monday’s film is Billy Wilder’s The Apartment and Tuesday’s is Pedro Almodóvar’s Talk to Her. Read the rest of this entry »
Filmdogs Interview | Oscar Nominated Writer/Director Luke Matheny talks about his short “God of Love”
Writer/Director Luke Matheny has had a pretty good year. Not only did he graduate from NYU’s prestigious film program, but his thesis film God of Love won the Student Academy Award last May. The good tidings don’t stop there however, as winning that award led his film receiving an Academy Award nomination this year in the live action short category. Word on the street is that he has a pretty good shot at taking home that statue as well…A few days ago I had the opportunity to talk to Luke the movie, which concerns the romantic misadventures of a lounge singer turned cupid, and discuss what it’s like to be an Oscar Nominee.
The Filmdogs Podcast: Episode 36 – Exit Through the Podcast Shop
Episode 36 of the Filmdogs Podcast is here and just in time for awards season! This week in the News we discuss the recent casting/character announcements for The Dark Knight Rises with Anne Hathaway as Catwoman, and Tom Hardy as Bane. We also try to decipher if Kevin Smith has truly gone off the deep end with his recent controversy at Sundance. In both our In Defense of and One Liner of the Week segments we chat up the underrated?, sequel Back to the Future: Part III. Plus, in our Featured Topic we weed through the recent Oscar Nominations and issue verdicts as to what the Academy got right and what they got terribly wrong. To not listen in could have grave effects on the space time continuum. Heavy.
Email us with you podcast feedback or segment suggestions at filmdogspodcast@gmail.com. Subscribe to the podcast here, or listen in you browser. Also, you may download an enhanced AAC feed with chapter markers and artwork from iTunes on your computer or straight to your iPhone/iPod touches now! If you like what you hear be sure to write a quick review on iTunes as well. It helps us out. Thanks!
Filmdogs Interview | The creators behind Kazakhstan’s Official Oscar selection “Strayed”
Last week it was with some surprise that Filmdogs was contacted by a rep for Kazakhastan’s Official Oscar selection this year, the thriller Strayed. Mr. Matt had done a quick write up about a rebuttal of Borat that was being made in the country (read that story here) thus, I believe spurring the interest in our site. Either way I was interested in seeing the film, which concerns a man who while driving across country with his wife and child has a breakdown, leaving them stranded in the middle of nowhere. After waking the next morning the man discovers that his family have gone missing, thus beginning a frantic search that takes him to some dark places. It’s a effective thriller that reminded me quite a bit of the early work of Roman Polanski. Watch the trailer here.
So, it was a great pleasure to be able to conduct a phone interview (with the help of a translator) with the director Akan Satayev, the writer Timur Zhaksylykov, and the lead actor Andrey Merzlikin. Enjoy.
Read the rest of this entry »
Trailer Exam | The King’s Speech
Colin Firth as King George VI.
When I first heard that the period piece The King’s Speech had won the top prize at the Toronto Film Festival and was now a top Oscar contender I rolled my eyes. Haven’t we seen enough of these types of films take home awards? Well, after I watched this amazing trailer I quickly regretted those feelings. First read the synopsis from Imdb: Read the rest of this entry »
Either You Got Heat or You Don’t | Review of “The Town”
Ben Affleck’s The Town may be the most visceral and emotionally charged film I have seen so far this year. As Affleck slides behind the camera for a second time, he crafts a film that proudly wears it’s Boston identity. From the streets littered with stories, to the aerial shots of buildings concealing secrets, Ben Affleck treats Charlestown as both a breeding ground for crime and a town with rich history. But most importantly, he creates characters so conflicted and engaging you will not want to leave your seat when it ends. Read the rest of this entry »
Zoned Out | Review of “Green Zone”
All “Bourne 4″ jokes aside director Paul Greengrass and actor Matt Damon’s newest team up stands on it’s own. The material however, doesn’t. If a political thriller like Green Zone, profiling the reasons we were involved in the Iraq war had come out several years ago I would have been more intrigued. The fact of the matter is that any Iraq film with an overt message winds up only being mildly successful. Just ask the producers of Jarhead, In the Valley of Elah, and The Kingdom. Read the rest of this entry »
The Filmdogs Podcast: Episode 6 – Podcast Balboa
The sixth episode of The Filmdogs Podcast is here and it’s our zaniest yet. We give our final thoughts on this years slightly underwhelming Oscars, and talk about the possibility of Bill and Ted 3 in the news. It’s a Grindhouse double feature in Vs. as we pit Planet Terror and Death Proof against one another. Our featured topic of the week…A@%hole directors and actors. Then we have an absolute classic one liner of the week from an old Bogart film. No animals were harmed in the making of this podcast, however we did tend to swear a little more than usual. It’s Michael Bay and Brett Ratner’s fault.
Email us with you podcast feedback or segment suggestions at filmdogspodcast@gmail.com. Subscribe to the podcast here, or listen in you browser. Also, you may download an enhanced AAC feed with chapter markers and artwork from iTunes on your computer or straight to your iPhone/iPod touches now!
Oscar Winners
Overall, this years awards went down as expected and were kind of bland. I kept hoping for an upset, but the biggest one I got was Geoffrey Fletcher winning Best Adapated Screeplay for Precious over Jason Reitman’s script for Up in the Air. It was cool seeing Kathryn Bigelow become the first woman to win in the directing category. Dito, as for seeing “The Dude” himself, Jeff Bridges, win for Crazy Heart. The Hurt Locker had a big night sweeping all the major awards including Best Picture. For me though the best part of the entire show was the cutting of the Best Original Song performances from the telecast. Here’s hoping that change is here to stay. See all the winners below in bold.
Read the rest of this entry »
The Pack’s Oscar Picks
Here are some of the Pack’s Oscar picks. Each individual writer’s choices for who they think will win are indicated by their name in Bold to the right of a nominee. See how our staff’s picks stand up against our own and leave your thoughts below in the comments. Also follow the sites official twitter for live updates during the show. Read the rest of this entry »
