Matt vs. the Academy

Last year, I was approached by Take2 Publishing  for permission to use several of my blog posts in their Guide to Steven Spielberg . The e-book is now on the e-shelves and four of my Spielberg reviews made their way into the guide. If I'm calculating my royalty percentage correctly, I believe I will receive the enormous sum of 1.4 cents for every copy sold. Who said blogging doesn't pay? They also made a fun video  with some of the contributors wearing iconic hats of Spielberg characters. I think I'm Indiana Jones? We now continue reviewing the behemoth that is the 1934 Best Picture competition with... Flirtation Walk Director : Frank Borzage Screenplay : Delmer Daves & Lou Edelman Starring : Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, Pat O'Brien, Ross Alexander, John Arledge, John Eldredge, Henry O'Neill, Guinn Williams Academy Awards : 2 nominations 0 wins Stationed in Hawaii, enlisted army man Dick Dorcy (Powell) is assigned to chauffeur the general's da...

I recently ventured into the realm of viral videos (sort of) by creating a montage of movie characters screaming, "I'm walking here!" in homage to Dustin Hoffman's famous delivery in Midnight Cowboy. I don't really know why I took the time to make this, but if you're a film buff and you want a brief smile, check out the video here  and then share away. The next film up for discussion is 1934's eventual Best Picture winner... It Happened One Night Director : Frank Capra Screenplay : Robert Riskin (based on the short story by Samuel Hopkins Adams) Starring : Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns Academy Awards : 5 nominations 5 wins, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Gable) and Best Actress (Colbert) Ellie Andrews (Colbert) is the spoiled daughter of a wealthy businessman (Connolly), held against her will on a boat off the coast of Miami while her father attempts to annul her recent elopeme...

Not content to demand constant attention at home, my six-week-old son, Charlie, has now taken it upon himself to upstage my acting career. Well, technically, his mother and I took it upon him, since his decision-making capabilities are still rather limited. Nonetheless, Charlie has now trumped my two-decade career by sharing the screen with Julianne Moore and Alec Baldwin in a scene for the upcoming Still Alice . He plays (if you can call it that) their grandson, coincidentally also named Charlie. While you may not actually see his face through all the blankets, you can be guaranteed that the baby in Kate Bosworth's arms is indeed our little man. Moving on now to another 1934 Best Picture contender... The Barretts of Wimpole Street Director : Sidney Franklin Screenplay : Ernest Vajda, Claudine West, Donald Ogden Stewart (based on the play by Rudolf Besier) Starring : Norma Shearer, Fredric March, Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Sullivan, Katharine Alexander Academy A...

It turns out that being up all night to look after a newborn baby creates the perfect opportunity for some movie-watching. I don't want to speak too soon, but there's a good chance I'll storm through the rest of this review year. Which is a good thing, considering I almost took a step backwards this past 12 months. Between last year's Oscars ceremony and the one just gone, I only reviewed a total of 11 films for this project, while the Academy added another 9 to my list. So, unless I plan on living another 150 years or so, I better get a wriggle on. So, here's a look at another contender from the Best Picture race of 1934... Cleopatra Director : Cecil B. DeMille Screenplay : Waldemar Young and Vincent Lawrence (based on an adaptation of historical material by Bartlett Cormack) Starring : Claudette Colbert, Warren William, Henry Wilcoxon, Joseph Schildkraut, Ian Keith, Gertrude Michael, C. Aubrey Smith Academy Awards : 5 nominations 1 win, for Best C...

So, parenthood. Who would have thought it would be so exhausting? But after you've spent an infuriating hour trying to get the little man to sleep, he flashes a smile and it all seems worth it. Of course, the smile is undoubtedly not actually a smile, and probably just an involuntary facial reaction to a satisfying bowel movement, but hey. Evolution sure knew what it was doing making babies cute. Anyway, the Oscars are well and truly over now, but it would be remiss of me not to mention them briefly. I predicted 20 correct winners, my greatest result ever. Which is not actually that impressive considering this year's awards ceremony provided no real surprises. Just about every favourite won. A couple of quick (Down Under-themed) statistics: With her Best Actress win for Blue Jasmine, Cate Blanchett became the first Australian to win a second acting award after her Supporting Actress victory in 2004's The Aviator. And designer Catherine Martin is now the most decorated A...

In order to get my predictions in ahead of the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday night, I'm adding another non-review post since I haven't watched another film yet. And considering I am now a new father, I suppose that was to be expected. Yep, on February 14th at 9:32 a.m., Charlie Albert Foster was born. Kat and I are over-the-moon and very much in love with the little man. And if that wasn't enough, Valentine's Day also saw the release of the second season of House of Cards, in which I appear in a small role. If you have Netflix (or whatever you need to view it outside of the US), you can find me in episode 5 (titled "Chapter 18") at around the 41:30 mark, and again a little later on. Now, to the task at hand. Another interesting year for Oscar, particularly for the Best Picture and Best Director categories. 12 Years a Slave is the current favourite for top honours, but Gravity's Alfonso Cuaron is leading the pack for Best Director. While it's no...

The Oscar nominations are in, and my predictions achieved a success rate just above my average but far better than the previous couple of years, so I'll take it. No huge out-of-the-blue surprises in the major categories. Perhaps Jonah Hill's Supporting Actor nod for The Wolf of Wall Street took some off guard, although it wasn't entirely unexpected. It's also interesting to see Hong Kong's The Grandmaster receive two artistic nominations (Cinematography and Costume Design) yet miss out on a citation for Best Foreign Language Film, despite being shortlisted in that category. And some interesting choices in the Makeup & Hairstyling category. Who would have thought we would ever hear the phrase, "the Oscar-nominated Bad Grandpa"? Another fascinating statistic is that this marks the second year in a row that a David O. Russell film has received four acting nominations, one for each category. Last year, Silver Linings Playbook supplied nominations for lea...