Matt vs. the Academy

After a busy few months, Kat and I are currently on holiday in Sydney, catching up with friends and family, and enjoying the sunshine (when it appears). And since we're only here for a short time, I've been trying to cram in as many of those Aussie things (mostly food items) that are unavailable in the States. So far, I've managed to feed my nostalgia with a packet of Toobs , an Oporto meal, a KFC Zinger burger, a sausage roll from the servo, a pizza with more than one topping (NYC, your cuisine is amazing, but you really need to learn how to top your pizzas), my mum's homemade schnitzel and dumplings, my father-in-law's barbecue, a burger with the lot, and boxes and boxes of Shapes . I also got the chance to plonk myself down in front of the TV to watch some cricket and witness the Aussies dominate the Ashes , both of which haven't happened in a long time (i.e. the watching and the dominating). Suffice it to say, it has been a very pleasant trip so far. The...

Well, this current year of review is certainly taking its time. At this rate, I'll never finish this project. But as long as I review more films in 2013 than are nominated next January, I'll take that as a win... To be fair, it's been a busy few months. In July, I went to Baltimore to guest star in an episode of the second season of House of Cards. Look out for that on Netflix early next year. In September, Kat's and my theatre company produced (and she starred in and I directed) a successful run of an Aussie musical called Once We Lived Here. And I'm currently starring as Puck in a crazy production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, in which all the other actors draw their characters from a hat at the beginning of each performance. (I get to play Puck every night, though.) But the biggest news of all is that Kat and I are expecting our first child in March, so I'll be trying to get as many reviews in before then. In fact, the due date is right around the Oscar...

I'm back. Another long hiatus, I know. It's hardly worth acting surprised about it any more. I won't bother with excuses. Nor will I make empty promises that it won't happen again. Instead, let's get straight into our next review. It's the eventual Best Picture winner from the 1961 race... West Side Story Director : Robert Wise & Jerome Robbins Screenplay : Ernest Lehman (based on the musical play by Arthur Laurents & Jerome Robbins) Starring : Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris, Simon Oakland, Ned Glass, William Bramley Academy Awards : 11 nominations 10 wins, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Chakiris), Best Supporting Actress (Moreno) Inspired by Shakespeare's tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story moves the action from medieval Verona to contemporary New York City, and the Montagues and Capulets are replaced by two rival street gangs - the Jets, a bunch of ...

How is it already May? And while we're at it, how is it already 2013? I actually watched this next movie over a month ago, but once again, other things got in the way. One of those other things was a short film that I wrote and directed called Homesick. It's the story of an Australian couple who moves to New York with their six-year-old daughter, Molly. When Molly stops talking due to a serious bout of homesickness, her father takes her on a day trip around New York City, pretending they're back home in Sydney. Kat and I played the Aussie couple, and it was quite a surreal experience having auditions for our daughter. But we found a girl with enough red hair and freckles to pass as our progeny. The film is complete now, post production and all, and has already been entered into its first film festival, so I'll keep you all updated on its progress. We now begin our look at the nominees from the Academy's 1961 Best Picture contest. First off... Fanny Director ...

Choosing which Best Picture nominee I would have voted for is always challenging, but when there are ten contenders, as is the case for 1942, the difficulty obviously increases. As such, the possibility exists that my decision will be inadvertently influenced by a film's longevity and position in cinematic history. There's a good chance that subconscious phenomenon has occurred for this verdict, but so be it. The nominees for Best Picture of 1942 are: Kings Row The Invaders The Magnificent Ambersons Mrs. Miniver The Pied Piper The Pride of the Yankees Random Harvest The Talk of the Town Wake Island Yankee Doodle Dandy Since 1942 was the first full year in which the U.S. participated in World War II, there were understandably a great deal of pictures that dealt with war themes. Four of the Best Picture nominees use the war as a main focus, while Yankee Doodle Dandy's unabashedly patriotic style features the war towards the end of the film. Separat...

In all the post-Oscars excitement, I forgot to link to this in my last post, so here it is now: the menu from my annual Oscars party . The final nominee in the Best Picture contest of 1942 is... Random Harvest Director : Mervyn LeRoy Screenplay : Arthur Wimperis, George Froeschel, Claudine West (based on the novel by James Hilton) Starring : Ronald Colman, Greer Garson, Philip Dorn, Susan Peters, Henry Travers, Reginald Owen, Bramwell Fletcher Academy Awards : 7 nominations 0 wins Due to shell-shock from World War I, a British soldier (Colman) is now a patient in an asylum without any memory of his past life. Known now as John Smith, he escapes the asylum and befriends Paula (Garson), who immediately takes a liking to the amnesiac, taking him under her wing. After nursing him back to mental health and encouraging him to pursue his talent for writing, the two fall in love and get married. The fairy tale is destroyed, however, when Smithy is hit by a car in Liverpool a...

Another Oscars ceremony over and I managed to predict 18 of the 24 categories correctly, which equals my previous best, so I'll take it. No major surprises this year. In the end, it seems Argo comfortably took the Best Picture award after all. So since I love statistics, why don't I just list my favourite Oscar stats from this year's awards... Argo became only the fourth film to win the big prize without achieving a Best Director nomination (after Wings, Grand Hotel and Driving Miss Daisy). Ang Lee's directing win is notable for the fact that he now has two Best Director Oscars for films that did not win Best Picture (previously winning for Brokeback Mountain, which lost to Crash), a rare feat. Daniel Day-Lewis is now only the sixth performer to have three Oscar statuettes, all three of his wins for lead roles (second only to Katharine Hepburn with four Best Actress awards). Christoph Waltz achieved his second acting win from only his second nomination. And since ...