Why Avatar and Inglourious Basterds Lost
by Jaden
photo credit: Philippe Put
It is always so frustrating to see the most creative and advanced filmmakers throughout time get snubbed at the Oscars. Why does it happen?
Is it because the voters of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are old fart knockers? That’s what the folks over at Time and CNN are saying on which I will expand from the inside.
Sure, we love our grandparents, and there are no other people I love to have conversations with more than people who are over the age of 50 who have some sense in them, but when it comes to enjoying cutting edge innovative films, older people generally don’t much care for them, they just want a good story. If statistically Academy voters’ ages skew high, then, yeah, the awards will not represent what the masses like.
In addition to age, another point brought up is watching the movie at home versus in the theater. Let me explain what happens in Hollywood.
In Hollywood, entertainment related people, the kind of people who would be voting or any person who works in the film industry at all, usually they do not pay to go to the movies, unless they really want to financially support some small film or because the movie has a big buzz of greatness. Hollywoodians either go to the premier screening, or go to a free screening at the union halls (Writers Guild, Directors Guild, or Actors Guild), or they wait to get a free copy of the nominated movies delivered to their home.
Watching the nominated film DVD mailers at home, which not too long ago were still going out as VHS tapes, Academy voters do not see the way the film was intended to be watched and heard in the cinema.
Avatar is not the kind of film to watch at home. It is a monstrous cinematic 3D giant whose story is good, but a little corny. Watching Avatar at home, you might feel underwhelmed because the way the film envelopes you in the theater aurally and visually, would be lacking.
As for Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino is unquestionably one of the top three most ingenuitive, talented, and breakout writer/directors out of the past two decades. It is common for geniuses in the arts and sciences to go without the recognition they deserve in their lifetime because most people are not ready for them. Tarantino always includes a lot of violence and gore that may turn off a number of more conservative folks as well.
Box Office intake speaks for the public as to what they thought was the Best Picture of 2009: Avatar! Avatar, as of today, has reaped 2.6 BILLION dollars in less than two months! Inglourious Basterds has pulled $313 million in four months. The Hurt Locker has made 21 Million in a half year. Money talks.
To be fair, let’s not ignore that there are other factors that go into why a movie does well at the box office, like marketing being the main reason whether people know about a movie or not, which costs a lot of money, and how widely distributed in theaters as to whether people have access to see the film. Even excellent small films get word-of-mouth, though, that helps them propel to amazing box office heights.
All that said…. F*%K IT! Who cares?
For the first time in 82 years of Oscar giving history, a woman has finally won Best Director and Best Picture, Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker. Hallelujah for that! And you never seen a foxier 58-year-old! Shoot.
Since I wrote the post Sexist America, Racist Hollywood over a year ago, much has changed. We have our first Black president and our first female to win Best Director at the Oscars and that in itself is something to celebrate.
As to whether or not they were the most deserved or best qualified for their wins, time will be the revealer of that.
What are your feelings about the Oscar winners and losers?
You can read my picks here:
Jaden’s Picks for the 82nd Academy Awards
The Dialogue Series
Interviews with Top Hollywood Screenwriters
by Jaden
Who better to learn about the craft of screenwriting than from those who are succeeding at it?
Host Mike De Luca (an entertainment executive who has reigned over at New Line Cinema, Dreamworks, and Columbia Pictures) asks all the right questions, reading your curious mind, as if you were the one sitting there.
During the interviews with screenwriters, topics covered are: story ideas, story structure, studio politics, pitching, breaking into the business, and lots of personal screenwriters’ Hollywood tales working with actors, directors, and studio execs.
Your favorite screenwriters that are offered on DVD are:
My favorite interviews are the ones with Jim Uhls (writer of Fight Club) and Callie Khouri (writer of Thelma & Louise).
Made just for the education of you screenwriters, I recommend supporting and checking out The Dialogue Series, a DVD series that shines the light on writers, writers who are the beating heart of cinema.
The Reflecting Skin Movie Review
by Dirtbag
Tonight’s film, The Reflecting Skin (1990) starring Viggo Mortensen, Lindsay Duncan, and Jeremy Cooper, written and directed by Philip Ridley, comes from the Goodwill second-hand store in Los Angeles where Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards split. They had a surprisingly good selection of forgotten VHS tapes, all at $.99 each. Reflecting Skin had a 1956 Cadillac Fleetwood on the back of the box, so I had to buy it.
One of the things I look forward to most about watching movies on VHS are the old previews that often lead me to other movies I would have never otherwise found or wanted to see. The film previews on Reflecting Skin were for The Miracle and Tatie Danielle, which I am going to track down for a later review.
Of the three VHS movies I purchased, Reflecting is the darkest. It is a story of a young boy in the 50’s growing up too fast in a small Idaho town, all the while his friends are being murdered.
The opening scene is a little dark and it only continues to get darker throughout the movie. Rodger Ebert compared it to a David Lynch film but I really saw no relation.
The story follows a few months with a nearly nine-year-old boy named Seth. His home life seems fairly normal but it’s his daily life that has him keeping a cross under his pillow at night. When you are a young child the smallest things can seem like the biggest to you and adults never relate to what you are experiencing.
With a Black Cadillac full of hooligans roaming the town and his older brother dating a vampire, young Seth has quite a bit on his plate. Seems waterboarding was taking place in rural Idaho long before Guantanamo, and that was just for keeping the oil lamp on too late!
After an exploding frog incident involving his friends and the girl next door, he is sent to Dolphin’s house to apologise where he discovers she’s a vampire. The boys discuss how to handle this vampire next door they know they need the help of an angel, but what’s an angel? One boy believes an angel is a baby with wings, the other believes it is a person who doesn’t blink, and Seth has no idea. They all agree when you make your mom cry, an angel dies.
With Seth’s friends being murdered one by one and eye witnessing a suicide via drinking and bathing in gasoline, he must still find a way to save his brother before the girl next door sucks the last bit of life from him. With his best friend reincarnated as an angel fetus at his side, he manages a way to avoid the Cadillac of Death and devises a plan to keep his brother’s youth, but can he keep it all together at only eight years old?
Reflecting Skin doesn’t have much nudity in it; you see Viggo’s hairy chest and his man butt. The only female nudity is a picture of a nude pin-up girl Cameron keeps in his wallet. It did have that Black Cadillac in a few scenes so that was worth the $.99 alone.
I love traveling and finding new film treasures in thrift stores throughout the States. Only the older films are on VHS so you can never go too wrong, even if only the previews are what’s good about it.
Till next time,
The VHS Vagabond,
DIRTBAG
Jaden’s Picks for the 82nd Academy Awards
Here are the Nominees for the 82nd Academy Awards!
For whom would you vote?
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
JADEN’S PICK: “Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
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
JADEN’S PICK: “Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
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
JADEN’S PICK: “District 9″ Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
(Precious is a close runner up though.)
One of the nominated movies, I won’t say which one, I thought was the worst movie I have seen in ages and can’t believe all the accolades it is getting. Strong concept, but nothing interesting happens in the whole dang movie. All the main characters are snobby, empty, boring, nauseating, no redeeming qualities, and so full of themselves, which seems to reflect upon the writer/director; material winners, soul losers. Talk about uninspiring! Uhg.
Point is, always forge ahead because there is a market for you somewhere at the top, whatever your topic or style is, even if certain people think you suck sulfur vapors, other people will think you are the greatest thing ever. Never be derailed by someone who doesn’t like your work. We all have different tastes.
JADEN’S ACTOR PICKS:
Let me also add some knockout performances this year by…
Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”
Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
2010 Screenplay Contests Deadlines & New Links
The following are the deadlines and links to the best 2010 screenwriting competitions.
Nantucket Film Festival Showtime’s Tony Cox Awards Screenplay Competitions
March 1, 2010
Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Competition
May 1, 2010
Austin Film Festival Screenplay And Teleplay Competitions
May 15, 2010
Samuel Goldwin Writing Awards Competition for Theater, Film and Television
June 1, 2010 — University of California Students only!
Zoetrope Screenplay Contest
September 7, 2010
For more information about each of these contests, please read last year’s post that includes writers’ discussion in comments section:
Top 8 Screenplay Contests of 2009 and the Scams
Good luck!
Best Movie Scripts of 2009
What Movies to Watch or Give as a Gift over Your Winter Holiday
by Jaden
There are some years that have so many great movies it is tough to choose which one to see when you are at the theatre; this was not one of those years. For this reason, I have to admit that I have not watched too many new movies this year. Although no film rocked my world this year, the movie storylines that intrigued me enough to fork over ten bucks (and that I enjoyed) are these:
# 1 – Inglourious Basterds
Anything with the word “terds” in it pleases me.
The last thing I wanted to see was another Nazi movie, but since it was written by director Quentin Tarantino, I figured it would be an unusual must-see film and indeed it was. Tarantino’s version of the exhausted topic was a Jewish fantasy pushed out to absurd extremities as an unorthodox United States military team go on a secret terrorist mission during World War II.
With old movie references and a stoic meticulous unfolding, Inglourious Basterds is a visually stunning movie made for and by the love of a film geek. The intertwining complex story and clever interconnected subplots feed the hunger of an appreciating screenwriter.
Tarantino is blessed with an ability to pull out unconventional performances from actors, making them behave unlike any other character they have ever played. Christoph Waltz who plays Nazi Col. Hans Landa gives one of the best ‘bad guy’ performances I have ever seen; he just has you on the edge of your seat wondering what he is going to do next because he is so observant and wickedly intelligent. Tarantino takes his time to build tension. The female performances by Mélanie Laurent and Diane Kruger feel like real women with complex psyches, which is refreshing. Brad Pitt gives a fun anti-hero crazy-guy performance.
#2 – The Men Who Stare at Goats
The Men Who Stare at Goats makes my Best Movie Scripts list for two reasons: title originality and because no one else has it topping their list of best movies this year. The three people with whom I saw this movie were mildly entertained by it. Personally, the story concept and its overall awkward delivery amused me plenty.
A reporter’s woman leaves him. To be a tough guy and impress this woman (who could not care any less about him), he sets off to find a juicy story in the danger zone of the Middle East. Through a series of uncanny coincidences, he stumbles upon a mysterious man on a secret mission from a United States special forces paranormal military unit.
Supposedly based on a true story, I love the goofiness of the performances by George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, and Kevin Spacey — all great actors of our time — as they pitch a light and funny movie.
# 3 — Public Enemies
A classic Hollywood film beauty, Public Enemies was directed by Michael Mann, the screenplay was written by Ronan Bennett, Michael Mann, and Ann Biderman, adapted from the book by Bryan Burrough (“Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34″).
Public Enemies is very much a “Bonnie & Clyde” type bank-robber film. The storyline does a good job of letting you get to know real people of notoriety and understand their personal motivations. For its costumes, cars, props, sets, and handsome actors (starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, and Marion Cotillardor), this movie is riveting to watch.
What others have to say about the best movies of 2009:
UK’s TimesOnline 50 Biggest Movies of 2009
This list is nice and long, unfortunately, it is broken up over 11 pages full of advertisements that are slow to upload. I have done the dirty work for you and clicked through them all to find the number one movie and give you that link here.
Best Movies Of 2009 So Far, According To Josh
Josh’s list on CinemaBlend.com is simple and straight to the point, breaks down with a star system a lot of movies in rapid fire order for you without reviews.
The Ten Best Movies of 2009 – That’s Right, 2009
What I like about CoolerKing’s list on movieretriever.com is at the end of each movie selection and review, he has written “Why it Might Suck,” just in case you were wondering; no movie is without its faults, even the good ones.
Best Movies of 2009 (so far)
From discussions and forums, I find this list by Ryan Costantino on Amazon.com to most accurately reflect how most people feel about what are the best movies of 2009, except I have not heard of anyone who agrees that District 9 is the number one movie of the year as Ryan lists it – District 9 does have a solid classic Hollywood script and is a movie worth watching.
What are your top 3 favorite movies of 2009 and why?
AVATAR: Believe the Hype
by Jaden
In my family, it is tradition that on December 25th, my mom takes us all out to the movies and therefore gets to choose which one we see. Without fail, part of that tradition is that she picks the worst movie showing.
“I do not,” she argued during our last movie negotiations. “What about Independence Day? That was good. Or how about that one with Robin Williams in the museum? That was funny.” Agreed. Ok, so not all of them were terrible.
To play it safe, I went to see Avatar last night, as a preventative method, like taking vitamin C to prevent getting sick.
Not having any expectations of Avatar, other than to maybe see some interesting graphics, I and everyone else in the theatre were transported to magical place. In the audience, you could hear the gasps of people as we watched the blue natives walk through a glowing rain forest in the night — and we walked with them in their 3-dimensional world. It was like being on a ride in Disneyland, but way better!
Trailers and bloggers have been hyping the heck out of Avatar, and folks, you better believe it, Avatar is a whirlwind of modern technology that will have you in awe.
3D has never been this good.
You don’t get a headache and the entire movie is full of beauty and extensive use of the 3D medium with flying shots and rapid runs through the forest. It is a movie you absolutely must see in the theatre. No home viewing will do it justice.
The definition of the word “avatar” gives insight to the movie.
avatar |ˈavəˌtär|noun chiefly Hinduism
a manifestation of a deity or released soul in bodily form on earth; an incarnate divine teacher.• an incarnation, embodiment, or manifestation of a person or idea • Computing a movable icon representing a person in cyberspace or virtual reality graphics.
Writer-director James Cameron brings together the ultra violence and high tech worlds of his other movies Terminator and Aliens to the romance of Titanic, seamlessly sewing them together to create Avatar. Cameron is the grand puppet master of pulling your heart strings with his classic romances and hero journey storytelling style, making you feel love and life again.
After the movie I was sitting on a bench waiting for my friend in the bathroom. “That was the best movie I have seen all year!” I said to the man sitting next to me. Looking at everyone’s face who exited the theatre, we were all in a state of shock.
He said, “That is the best movie I have seen this decade.”
I don’t want to tell you too much about Avatar and spoil it, so just GO SEE THIS MOVIE!
WARNING:
Movie is too violent for small children.
MOVIE QUOTE:
Jake Sully: Everything is backwards now, like out there is the true world and in here is the dream.
On IMDB.com, out of 52,704 votes, Avatar received 8.9/10 stars, which is exceptional.
Screenwriting for Hollywood is 2 Years Old!
by Jaden
photo by dirtbag
Screenwriting for Hollywood is two years old; it’s hard to believe. 144 posts have been written, averaging 6 posts per month, about which 1,230 visitor comments were made.
“Most Famous PG Underwear Scenes in Cinema” is hands down the most popular post I have written with 21,930 page views as of today. Thank you to Melissa and Brett for their post theme idea.
March 30, 2008 was my busiest day with 1,033 page views in one day. The majority of those visitors went to this post: “Sunday Picture Post 4 / Tip: Focus.”
“Sexist America, Racist Hollywood” sparked the most discussion in the comments section.
From around the world, 68,613 absolutely unique visitors have come to Screenwriting for Hollywood looking for some information that I hopefully provided for them. 30% of those visitors come back regularly.
Today at SfH are visitors from Manila, Taipei, India, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Istanbul, Romania, Algeria, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, Europe, Canada, Australia, and of course all over the USA. Imagine the stories these screenwriters have to tell!
The majority of my traffic comes from other referring sites, while search engines provide the bulk of the remainder. By the 728 individuals who came to SfH in search of “sigourney weaver underwear,” for example, we can see what are important world issues. I have the comfort in knowing that I satisfied their curiosity.
The best parts about launching Screenwriting for Hollywood are the friends I have made and the joys from reading their websites: Writing Forward, FreelanceSwitch, The Deep Friar, Understanding in a Car Crash, Ingenious Title, Indoob, Words for Hire, The Reel Ninja, The Movie Fanatic, and DailyActor, to name a few (for more, see my linkydinks).
Above all, it has been a profound pleasure working with screenwriters to help them take their unique stories and prepare sellable scripts for Hollywood. Live the dream!
Thank you all for your inspiration.
Happy New Year 2010!
May we reach our goals and have happy surprises.
For ways to help Haiti’s earthquake victims in Port-au-Prince, please click here.
Oscar’s Best Screenplay Awards
Guest Post By Molly Duke
On Sunday, March 10, 2010, The 82nd Academy Awards will broadcast live from Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre, hosted by Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. The nominations will be announced on February 2, 2010, so we don’t yet officially know which talented screenwriters are in the running for this year’s most prestigious awards in writing for the silver screen. We also don’t know who will emerge as this year’s Oscar losers. What we do know are which wordsmiths have won the coveted golden statue for the past 81 years.
Many awesomely talented screenwriters have walked away with an Oscar, leaving behind lessons that the rest of us movie lovers and fledgling screenwriters can learn by asking the question, What does it take to write the best screenplay?
Before the 2010 Oscar buzz begins, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at eight decades of Oscar’s best screenplays. That’s a lot of film titles to get through in one post, so I’ll highlight one best screenplay from each decade, and I’ll choose screenplays that not only won the Oscar, but also led to timeless and legendary films.
…and the Award for Best Screenplay Went To…
The 1920s – 1930s
In 1939, Gone with the Wind screenwriter Sidney Howard was posthumously (he was killed by a tractor – no joke) awarded the Oscar for best screenplay. The script for Gone with the Wind was based on the novel by the same name, and while the film deviates heavily from the book, both were huge successes. In other words, lots of people made lots of money. Sidney Howard was also a Pulitzer Prize winner and a playwright by trade.
The 1940s
Citizen Kane is one of the earliest and best-known films to engage movie-goers’ curiosity by employing the brain twister. As the rich and famous Charles Foster Kane dies, he utters one last word: “Rosebud.” This film tells the story of a reporter who embarks on a quest to find out what “Rosebud” meant to Kane. The ending is unforgettable (watch it for yourself and find out why). It’s no wonder this film won best screenplay in 1941. Welles co-wrote the script with Herman J. Mankiewicz.
The 1950s
There’s a famous scene right on the cover of the DVD. If you ever see a clip showing a man and woman rolling around in a suggestive way on the shore, being lapped by the waves (and each other), you’re either seeing a scene, a parody or a rip-off from the movie From Here to Eternity. Even if you’ve never heard of this movie, you’ll probably recognize that one snippet of the film. Daniel Taradash took home the Oscar for best screenplay in 1953.
The 1960s
Most young people will be amazed that just over forty years ago, a movie depicting an interracial marriage caused such a stir. But interracial marriage actually used to be illegal in the United States. In fact, it was still illegal in 17 (southern) states until the same year this film came out, just as the civil rights movement was drawing to a close in those parts. Screenwriter William Rose won the golden statue for Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? in 1967.
The 1970s
Usually, when a screenplay is adapted from a novel, the filmmakers destroy the integrity of the original story but Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman didn’t do that to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Then again, how can you go wrong when you’ve got Jack Nicholson in the leading role? This one took home the Academy Award for best screenplay adapted from other material in 1975. Read the book, watch the movie, and question your sanity!
The 1980s
Being an 80s movies buff, you’ll have to excuse me for getting a little carried away in this decade.
Some excellent 80s movies that were awarded the statuette for best screenplay are Witness, Rain Man, and Dead Poets Society.
Noteworthy screenplays that were nominated for best screenplay in the 80s but didn’t take home the gold are Fame, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, WarGames, Back to the Future, and When Harry Met Sally.
The cream of the crop for the 1980s is Moonstruck. It’s refreshing to see the Academy award a screenplay that’s somewhat lighthearted. Historically, comedies and science fiction or fantasy films don’t get a whole lot of love from Oscar, but in 1987, John Patrick Shanley proved it could be done with his quirky love story Moonstruck.
The 1990s
Don’t tell the 80s I said this, but I think the 90s produced even better films than the 80s. Actually, let me qualify that statement: The Academy made even better choices for best screenplay in the 90s. They did such a good job, in fact, that we have a tie for best of the best screenplays.
Pulp Fiction was immediately heralded as a cult classic, both for its screenplay by Quentin Tarantino and for the innovative way that it was directed and produced. This movie boasted a killer cast and some original stories woven together in a way that was both entertaining and at the time, somewhat shocking. Tarantino took home the golden statue in 1994.
Another killer film from the 90s that simply must be mentioned is The Usual Suspects, a film that takes you on a wild ride that makes you question, think, guess, and then guess again. Christopher McQuarrie deservedly got the gold for best screenplay in 1995.
The 2000s
The only thing you need to know about best screenplays of the past decade is that Diablo Cody won for Juno. And hopefully you all know how Diablo Cody got discovered? No, she didn’t get discovered as a stripper (although she did a stint as a stripper for a year – for fun!). Diablo Cody started out as a blogger. That’s right, she was once just like us. Her story of a quirky, knocked-up teen building a relationship with adoptive parents will pull your heartstrings, but not in that cheesy, fake way that after-school specials do. Cody won best screenplay in 2007.
Molly Duke is a throwback to legwarmers and boom boxes. She blogs about the 80s and spends a lot of time ogling totally vintage goodies on eBay while waxing nostalgic about pop culture and the days when MTV Music Television actually played music.
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