Matt vs. the Academy

This week, I saw a preview screening of Source Code starring Jake Gyllenhaal. I enjoyed it - I love all movies, remember  - but I feel compelled to comment on one aspect of the film that left me wanting. First, let me say that I'm all for suspension of disbelief. Part of what makes the movie-going experience so wondrous is the fantastical element. It's an escape. I get that. Not every movie needs to be a thinker. And Source Code certainly centres itself around a highly implausible concept. Which is perfectly fine. It is what it is and I accept that. But here's a tip, Hollywood. The attempts to justify implausible concepts with nonsensical science talk is probably unnecessary. You're really just adding to the implausibility. As a self-confessed science nerd, I find it less convincing when you try to cement the crazy idea in reality. The whole point is that it's not  reality, so there's really no need for a scientific explanation. Charlie Kaufman didn't bot...

There is a contingent of Oscar pundits who consider the result of the 2005 Best Picture race as the Academy's worst decision in its storied history. Indeed, there are plenty who rank Crash as the worst film to have claimed the prestigious title. Of course, there will always be contrarians, for the Academy will never please all of the people all of the time. Besides, there is no real evidence to suggest that their 2005 decision was any more unpopular with the general public than any other year. Yet that myth persists. Comparing the public opinion of Crash with its main competitor, Brokeback Mountain, yields fairly even results. Brokeback Mountain clearly won the battle for the box office , yet Crash boasts a slightly higher score on IMDb's user ratings. (In fact, it just squeezes into IMDb's Top 250 .) Over at Rotten Tomatoes, Brokeback Mountain scores higher with the critics, but Crash remains the victor with the audience. So, perhaps this particular contest garnered more...

This week, I managed to squeeze in a couple of preview film screenings. First,  The Adjustment Bureau is right up my alley - a mind-bending thriller with dollops of humour. Matt Damon is plenty charming and Emily Blunt is simply captivating. Second, Win Win  is an example of another of my favourite genres, the quirky independent feature. The dry script is occasionally simple, but the situational comedy scores. Plus, the cast, led by Paul Giamatti, is spot on. Two worthy pictures on which to spend your money. Earlier today, I rounded out the 2005 Best Picture nominees with a viewing of... Crash Director : Paul Haggis Screenplay : Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco Starring : Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, William Fichtner, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, Thandie Newton, Michael Peña, Ryan Phillippe, Larenz Tate, Shaun Toub Academy Awards : 6 nominations 3 wins, including Best Picture Things can get rough in ...

Another awards season over. No major upsets at the Oscars this year and a relatively uneventful ceremony, save for Melissa Leo's expletive. I was glad to see The King's Speech as successful as it was, plus I managed to correctly predict 16 of the 24 categories, a fairly average result for me. If you would like a chuckle, here is the menu for the Oscars party I held this year. I am back in New York City now after my month-long stint in Las Vegas, where I had an absolute blast performing with the Aussie Improv Comedy Explosion . On Saturday, my darling wife Kat celebrated her 30th birthday. Her parents surprised her by flying in from Australia unannounced ... well, unannounced to her . After a delicious brunch, the four of us then trotted off to Broadway to judge just how well young Harry Potter can sing and dance. Daniel Radcliffe stars in the revival of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying and, I'm pleased to say, he is a very impressive presence. His danc...

Another Oscar day has arrived. Since I'm writing this late Saturday night, most of you will be reading this on (or after) Oscar day. Here in Las Vegas, I will be hosting a small party for the cast and crew of Aussie Improv Comedy Explosion . I may not have had time recently to discuss this year's awards race as I had hoped, but for those interested, here are my 2010 Oscar predictions . As we wait to hear the announcement for the latest Best Picture winner, we look at another nominee from 2005... Brokeback Mountain Director : Ang Lee Screenplay : Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana (based on the short story by Annie Proulx) Starring : Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway, Randy Quaid, Linda Cardellini, Anna Faris Academy Awards : 8 nominations 3 wins, including Best Director Ennis Del Mar (Ledger) and Jack Twist (Gyllenhaal) get hired to tend some sheep in the Wyoming mountains over the summer of 1963. Through the lonely months, th...

Quite a jam-packed week it's been here in Las Vegas. With Valentine's Day, my birthday and a weekend visit from my darling wife, I've been just a little busy. I also managed to squeeze in two more shows - front row seats to probably my favourite magic act, Penn & Teller , who did not disappoint, and then a fun and raucous night at the medieval jousting show Tournament of Kings . And there's still a gazillion other shows on my wish list... In the midst of all that activity, I took a look at the next nominee from the Best Picture race of 2005... Capote Director : Bennett Miller Screenplay : Dan Futterman (based on the book by Gerald Clarke) Starring : Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Clifton Collins, Jr., Bruce Greenwood, Bob Balaban, Mark Pellegrino, Chris Cooper, Amy Ryan Academy Awards : 5 nominations 1 win, for Best Actor (Hoffman) Fresh off the success of his novel Breakfast at Tiffany's, author Truman Capote (Hoffman) comes across a...

Another week of shows has passed here in Las Vegas - both as performed and as seen. While I've been treading the boards of the V Theater at Planet Hollywood in Aussie Improv Comedy Explosion , I've also managed to see some other shows on the Strip. Fellow Aussies Human Nature have an incredibly slick and entertaining Motown show at the Imperial Palace. And I also was blown away by two Cirque du Soleil shows - the creative and moving Love at the Mirage, which features the music of the Beatles, and the spectacular and awe-inspiring Ka at the MGM Grand, which features theatrical stunts that boggle the mind, including indoor fireworks ... Indoor fireworks, I tell you! As we launch into another year of nominees, the poll for the next year of review has now been posted. Let me know which 1970s shortlist you would like to see next by voting in the poll on the right. Last night, I began my review of 2005's Best Picture contenders by having a look at... Good Night, and Goo...

There have been numerous verdicts during the course of Matt vs. the Academy that have been maddeningly difficult due to an abundance of quality cinema. Choosing my favourite nominee from 1930/31 is likewise difficult, but for the opposite reason. The shortlist is perhaps the weakest that I have covered to date, with no film jumping out as a clear winner. The nominees for Best Picture of 1930/31 are: Cimarron East Lynne The Front Page Skippy Trader Horn Clearly, with the advent of sound, motion picture production took some time to adjust and the kinks were still being ironed out a few years later. Without dialogue, silent films essentially relied on melodrama to communicate their stories. Once sound arrived, melodrama was no longer required but it stuck around anyway. The five films above are not entirely without merit, however. While each picture fails to size up to later classics, they each excel in at least one aspect. Adventure story Trader Horn is perhaps the most melodrama...

The first few shows of Aussie Improv Comedy Explosion are under our collective belt and word is spreading of our improvised insanity. On stage this week, I have drowned on a water-slide, sung about gum-scrapers and confessed to stealing a cat with Lindsay Lohan. What happens in Vegas... We've reached the end of the current crop of nominees so make sure to get your vote in for the next year of review. The poll is over there on the right hand side of the screen. Last night, I caught the final nominee from the 1930/31 Best Picture race... Trader Horn Director : W.S. Van Dyke Screenplay : Dale Van Every, John Thomas Neville, Richard Schayer, Cyril Hume (based on the book by Ethelreda Lewis and Alfred Aloysius Horn) Starring : Harry Carey, Edwina Booth, Duncan Renaldo, Mutia Omoolu, Olive Golden Academy Awards : 1 nomination 0 wins In Africa, we meet a man who calls himself Trader Horn (Carey), presumably because he is in the business of trading elephant ivory. He an...

I am writing this post from Las Vegas, the third city I have visited in as many posts. The last few days have been spent preparing for the opening of Aussie Improv Comedy Explosion , the comedy show in which I'll be performing for the next month. You may not think there would be any need for rehearsals for an improvised show, but believe it or not, we have found plenty of things to work on, not the least of which is promoting the show to our potential audiences. While the show opened earlier tonight, we have a small rotating cast, so I participated only as an audience member this evening. My first performance on stage will be tomorrow night. Last night, I made the most of some down time by watching another in the Academy's race for Best Picture of 1930/31... The Front Page Director : Lewis Milestone Screenplay : Bartlett Cormack and Charles Lederer (based on the play by Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur) Starring : Adolphe Menjou, Pat O'Brien, Mary Brian, Edward...

After almost a month away, I am finally back in New York City... but not for long. This week, I head back to the other side of the country to perform in an improv show in Las Vegas! Yep, I'll be a bona fide Vegas performer, right there on the Strip. A rotating cast of Australian improvisers will perform in  Aussie Improv Comedy Explosion  at the V Theater in the Planet Hollywood Resort beginning on January 31. So, if you're planning on being near Sin City during February, come check it out. Tomorrow morning, bright and early, the Oscar nominations will be announced. As always, I have made my predictions as to which films will be recognised - and just in time, too. For anyone out there who might be interested in this sort of thing, here are my guesses . While we wait for the Academy's picks for 2010, here's a look at their Best Picture winner of 1930/31... Cimarron Director : Wesley Ruggles Screenplay : Howard Estabrook Starring : Richard Dix, Irene Dunne, E...

The last few days in Los Angeles have been both relaxing and energetic. While I've managed to get in a fair amount of lounging around, I've also taken in a couple of racquetball games as well as a hike in Temescal Canyon . Add a poker night and a games night to the mix and you've got yourself quite an eventful vacation. To cap it all off before I head back to New York and the cold weather, the Golden Globe Awards, which are occurring just a few miles away in Beverly Hills, are just about to begin as I write this. Earlier this week, while at the UCLA Film & TV Archive, I got the chance to watch a hard-to-find nominee from the 1930/31 Best Picture race... East Lynne Director : Frank Lloyd Screenplay : Tom Barry and Bradley King (based on the novel by Mrs. Henry Wood) Starring : Ann Harding, Clive Brook, Conrad Nagel, Cecilia Loftus, Beryl Mercer Academy Awards : 1 nomination 0 wins Pretty young social butterfly Isabella (Harding) is initially excited to m...

Yesterday morning, I diligently researched how to get to UCLA before embarking on my journey. The bus schedule informed me that the No. 2 bus leaving at noon would take me from Sunset & Gower (which is near the Hollywood apartment in which I am staying thanks to Aussie friends Steve & Josh) all the way to the UCLA campus in Westwood. Like clockwork, the No. 2 bus arrived precisely on time and I happily hopped on board. About fifteen minutes later, with UCLA still about five miles away, the bus driver notified the remaining passengers that the current stop was the last that this bus would make. Apparently, I had hopped on the wrong No. 2 bus. This No. 2 bus, the driver explained, only went as far as West Hollywood. To get to UCLA, I needed to catch the No. 2 bus that terminates at Pacific Palisades ... Wait. So, there are two different bus routes that call themselves the No. 2? ... Well, that's perfectly reasonable. Nobody will ever be confused by that... I did eventually ...

For the first time since this project began, I am writing from Los Angeles, California, home to the Academy of this blog's title. This morning, I giggled like a schoolgirl as I drove past their idyllic-looking  Fairbanks Center , a building that houses the Margaret Herrick Library . As the awards season heats up, my presence in this town for the next few days will hopefully bring more fodder for the upcoming blog posts. In the meantime, it is verdict time again. The nominees for Best Picture of 1951 are: An American in Paris Decision Before Dawn A Place in the Sun Quo Vadis A Streetcar Named Desire Similar to most Best Picture races, these films are all highly engaging, if for different reasons. The eventual winner, An American in Paris, perhaps stands apart since it is the only one to engage its audience with the use of singing and dancing. But, as always, my predilection for drama leads me to the contenders with more personal stories. Both Quo Vadis and Decision Befo...

It's almost hard to believe that my visit to Australia is very nearly over. Tomorrow, Kat and I fly back to the United States after a whirlwind tour of Sydney. The last couple of weeks have been all hustle and bustle as we caught up with friends and family, every meeting seeming to involve food. And for some reason, we met an inordinate number of babies for the first time, many around the eight to ten month age range. If my calculations are correct, it appears that these couples may have specifically waited for us to leave the country to conceive their children. Hmmm... So busy was I during this trip that I am only now posting this review despite having watched this film almost a week ago. My first film of 2011 was the final nominee from 1951's Best Picture contenders... Quo Vadis Director : Mervyn LeRoy Screenplay : John Lee Mahin, S.N. Berhman, Sonya Levien (based on the novel by Henryk Sienkiewicz) Starring : Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr, Leo Genn, Peter Ustinov, ...

Happy New Year! I write this from sunny and warm Sydney, Australia. Despite the sweat glistening on my forehead, I am more than pleased to experience these hot climes because it means I have avoided the recent blizzardy conditions of New York. To ring in the new year, last night Kat and I first caught up with some friends to enjoy the early evening fireworks over beautiful Sydney Harbour with our view from a park in Lavender Bay (pictured - just imagine fireworks). We then made our way back to my parents' place to watch the midnight fireworks from an equally stunning viewpoint on their balcony. Earlier in the week, I watched my last film of 2010, another film classic from 1951's list of Best Picture nominees... A Streetcar Named Desire Director : Elia Kazan Screenplay : Tennesse Williams and Oscar Saul (based on Williams' play) Starring : Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden Academy Awards : 12 nominations 4 wins, including Best Actress (Leigh...