From Mexico we move to the Middle East
Best Live Action short? As my friend Ken says, "It's got to be one with subtitles."So true: "West Bank Story" wins.
Movies & More archive for Jan. 1, 2007
SUNDAY, FEB. 25, 2007
Comedy can't win, but Mexico can!
Will Ferrell, Jack Black and John C. Reilly do a musical number that is one of the best I’ve ever seen. It makes the point that comedy doesn’t play well at the Oscars – and it does it, unlike Snow White and Rob Lowe, in…
Funny lines for Degeneres
Best lines so far:To Peter O’Toole: “You’ve been nominated, what, eight times? You know what they say: Third time is a charm.”Celebrating diversity: “If there weren’t any blacks, Jews or gays, there would be no Oscars … Or anyone named Oscar, for that matter.”
Nice way to begin ...Oscar
I love the beginning of the actual program, which is a collection of short interviews – actually one-liners – with many of the nominees. Eddie Murphy proves that he can make you laugh by doing … nothing.And it was directed by Erroll Morris ... which…
Turn on your TV, look at Nicole - and try not to laugh
And here’s a thought: That picket thing that’s perched on the shoulder of Nicole Kidman’s dress? Think maybe it’s a spitbank so that she can chew some nicotine?
Throw the dice at the Oscars
If you’re still undecided about who to pick as an Oscar winner, here are some odds offered a Vegas oddsmaker, John Avello, director of race and sports operations for the Wynn Las Vegas Casino Resort.Helen MirrenForest WhitakerThe DepartedNote this, though: Avello picked “Brokeback Mountain” last…
Ryan Seacrest is a bigger idiot than I thought
See the post immediately below? Ryan Seacrest just asked the British actor Michael Sheen, who played Tony Blair opposite Best Actress nominee Helen Mirren, "Is there a dirty side to Helen Mirren?"
Which Jennifer do you prefer?
As I type this, Jennifer Holliday – the original “Dreamgirls” singer on Broadway – is warbling her version of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.” Wow. Terrific. Great.I like Jennifer Hudson’s version better.
What's the movie reference? Leave a comment
Here’s another thought:All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.All work and no play makes…
Insults sound meaner with a Brit accent
Did I just hear the Brit-speak fashion commentator on E! call Sienna Miller’s look at the Golden Globes “Heidi on acid”? Let’s have him do the fashion talk instead of Joan Rivers and her daughter, what’s-her-name.Of course, I heard Jimmy Kimmel say the other night…
Him is fluent in Brooklynese
Oh, the suburban street linguist referred to below? He’s Ben Lyons, “movie expert.” Turns out he's the son of one-time would-be Siskel-Ebert Jeffrey Lyons ... who no doubt is proud of his son's syntax.
E! brings us the early word on Oscar
Been up and going for a while now, doing a bit of cleaning and drinking my own putrid coffee, and flipping the TV back and forth from the Sci-Fi channel (Thomas Gibson in “The Monkey King”) to Discovery (“Land of the Giant Bats”) to NASCAR…
THURSDAY, FEB. 15, 2007
You can now listen to the poems of Emma Howell
The sound files of Nance Van Winckel and Jonathan Johnson reading from “Slim Night of Recognition,” the poetry collection by the late Emma Howell, can now be accessed. Just go here and click on the names.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 14, 2007
'Kukumi' wins the 'official' SpIFF 2007 prize
For the first time, the board of the Contemporary Arts Alliance has given out awards for the Spokane International Film Festival that it sponsors. You can access the SpIFF winners here.One caveat: I wouldn’t have rewarded “Expiration Date” with a prize. Its being accepted into…
TUESDAY, FEB. 13, 2007
Budapest riots seen in stark shades of gray
This link to photos taken during last fall’s street riots in Budapest, Hungary, was sent to me by Hungarian-born, Spokane-based artist Ildikó Kalapács, who was there at the time. “Most of these pictures were taken only a few blocks away from my apartment,” she wrote…
FRIDAY, FEB. 9, 2007
Don't misuse the term 'tragedy'
Some broadcaster used the word “tragedy” when referring yesterday to the death of Anna Nicole Smith. “Tragedy”?Look, when Oedipus – without realizing it but through overinflated pride – killed his father and married his mother, that was a tragedy. When 800,000 people were killed in…
SUNDAY, FEB. 4, 2007
SpIFF 2007 goes out in a fitting manner
And on Sunday, it was over. Nineteen film programs and the 2007 Spokane International Film Festival is done. Time to get some sleep.But first … tonight’s final film was the Iranian effort “From Afar.” Directed by Ramin Mohseni, who up until this film was a…
SpIFF 2007: Prejudice is always a target
“The Fall of ’55,” which opened the final day of the 2007 Spokane International Film Festival, involves the kind of story that – similar to several incidents that have taken place in Spokane – people get tired of hearing.In this case, the story concerns a…
SATURDAY, FEB. 3, 2007
SpIFF 2007: La guerra es un infierno
There have been some stupid wars in my lifetime, at least one of which I served in. But historical imperatives aside, among the most absurd was the Argentina-British war over the Falkland Islands – which the Argentines call Las Malvinas – in 1982.This wind-swept group…
THURSDAY, FEB. 1, 2007
SpIFF 2007: Best docs follow the characters
Tonight’s two programs at the 2007 Spokane International Film Festival included two feature-length documentaries, the Norwegian film “Loop” and the Hurricane Katrina movie “Dark Water Rising: Survival Stories of Hurricane Katrina Animal Rescues.”Of the two, I was drawn more to “Loop,” an existential exploration focusing…
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 31, 2007
Travolta film to play first Cd'A film fest
We’re just halfway through the 9th Spokane International Film Festival, yet already the area is girding its collective cinematic loins for yet another movie fest.The inaugural Coeur d’Alene Film Festival, which is sponsored by something called the Bonne Soiree Fluid Film Festivals firm, will be…
Sherman Alexie had them laughing at GU
Following is the first of two posts involving writer Sherman Alexie’s talk Tuesday night at Gonzaga University:If you’ve never listened to Sherman Alexie give a talk, you’ve missed a chance to hear a poet masquerade as a stand-up comic. Or vice versa.On Tuesday night at…
MONDAY, JAN. 29, 2007
SpIFF storytelling takes a loving turn
The saddest thing about Sunday’s late showing at the 2007 Spokane International Film Festival involved the Spokane filmmaker Irv Broughton. But I can’t choose which exact moment made me feel the worst.Was it Broughton’s inability to speak on stage following a phone conversation with his…
SUNDAY, JAN. 28, 2007
Slow SpIFF afternoon merges with night
Sunday’s afternoon program of the 2007 Spokane International Film Festival wasn’t exactly the kind of thing that you’d normally want to see following lunch. Not unless you’ve got a fair amount of caffeine coursing through your system.The film, a Thailand import titled “Stories from the…
Spokane filmmakers make good in Seattle
On Friday at the 2007 Spokane International Film Festival, the guys who directed the short “Jack the Vomiter” talked about a recent award that they won in a Seattle festival. One of the four, Mike Corrigan, explained the prize to me this way in an…
A Dan Webster joint, discussing news, notes and everything about movies.
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