Mostrando las entradas con la etiqueta film. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando las entradas con la etiqueta film. Mostrar todas las entradas

jueves, 13 de octubre de 2016

Movie legend

   The cameras were rolling and everyone was silent on the set. No one dared to speak or even breathe loudly. They all knew how difficult and expensive that scene was, so they wanted to make sure that everything went perfect on the first and, hopefully, only take. Heavy rain was falling, as predicted, and everyone seemed ready to go. The scream of “Action” had to be repeated into walkie-talkie because no one could really hear anything. The first ones to move were the cars, then the extras running from one place to the other. And then, the leading man appeared.

 He walked into the center of the square and waited there, in silence, with a red rose in his hand. Everyone was counting, without making any noise, until ten. Ten seconds was the magic number fro the leading actress to appear on the far end of the square. She would then run into the arms of her lover and they would kiss. That was how the scene should have gone but not how it actually went. They waited ten, fifteen seconds and then a whole minute but no one appeared on the far side of the square. Soddenly someone did appear but it wasn’t her.

 The person was her assistant. She was escorted by the nurse they had on set, as she was bleeding a little from the head. She had a very nasty purple circle and a cut. Production was halted. The woman got nearer and they heard her scream “She’s out, she’s out!”. What she actually meant was that the star of the movie had run away from her trailer by knocking her assistant unconscious. Apparently she had caught her off guard and struck her with some sort of glass bottle she had around. The director couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

 Of course, production was halted for the day. The “money shot” would have to wait as the actress was essential to the success of that scene and of the whole movie. Every single person that worked in the movie had to look for her: around the set and in every single cornet of the city they could think of. What made things harder was the fact that they didn’t really talk the local language so it was very difficult to speak to anyone or make themselves be understood. So they had to cut her face from magazine or other places to make sure they knew who they were looking for.

 But no matter how many people got involved, finding the woman they were looking for proved exceedingly difficult. They had to halt the production for another day and the company that was financing the film was not happy at all. Each day they did not work was a day thrown to the garbage, along with thousands or even millions of dollars. The permit to film on that square had been very hard to get and now they would have to get another one, if they found the actress and if that government allowed to close the square off a second time.

 For the producers the money aspect was a disaster. But it got worse when the magazines and the entertainment industry learned of the disappearance of their leading actress, Valerie Ríos. She had been the face of so many amazing movies, she had even been nominated for several awards as, one of her first ever performances, had captured the hearts and minds of every single person in he world. She was one of those girls whom everyone knew was going somewhere. She had a lot of potential and a charisma that few other girls had.

 In every single magazine article, they wondered about why and how exactly she had escaped. That was a major thing because the production insisted that she hadn’t fled or anything but rather “stepped out” of the set. The media however preferred to say she had run way and they had a very nice way of explaining that by running interviews with her assistant once and again and again. Of course, the woman was fired because she wasn’t supposed to be telling gossip about people on the film, but once she had talked it was much too late.

 After the third day, the production company decided that it was for the best to shut down production and put the movie away for an indeterminate amount of time. As the movie was almost finished, they couldn’t just replace her. And the scenes had to be shot in such a way that people would noticed right away if they used some kind of visual effects aid. They had to shut it down, which was a very hard decision because of all the problems that brought, especially relating to payments and so on.

 Valerie went from being one the promises of the industry to be universally hated all over the globe. Every single person thought it was at least disrespectful to have done what she did, leaving her job out of the blue and hurting someone in the process. There were even some that advocated for her to be sent to jail once she was captured. Yes, they were already considering her a felon, a criminal and there were many voices putting pressure on the police for them to actually look for her as someone who had done something wrong.

 But the thing was that, once the assistant was checked by professional in the police department, they determined that the way she had been struck in the face didn’t really coincide with someone with the strength of Valerie striking her with a glass bottle. Many experts considered all the options but it was the assistant that, after considerable pressure from all sides, decided to confess Valerie hadn’t done any of that. It was her who had done that to herself to make the scene more violent and to ride onto Valerie’s fame and mistakes.

 People’s love for Valerie returned briefly after the assistant’s confession but it didn’t lasted long because there was no one to actually receive all that love. Many people wanted her back. Not only the companies she had something to do with but also many of her peers in the industry. None of them could understand why she had disappeared like that and it was even more of a mystery to imagine where she could be hiding. No one seemed to know anything at all.

 Her family was also harassed for many weeks. Many were sure they knew everything about their daughter’s plan and thought they knew where she had gone. But the truth was her family was devastated. Every time cameras arrived to their home, the mother would start crying because of how hard it was for her to confront her daughter’s disappearance. As far as she knew, her daughter could be dead. They really had no idea and it was a great thing for them when the media stopped dropping by and the hype around the news went down.

 A year passed and the executives in the studio decided they sue Valerie, even if she wasn’t there to pay. It was the only real way they had to try to make up for the huge losses they had because of her disappearance. It wasn’t and exaggeration to say that because of her, the company was having some serious financial problems. Many saw them as too permissive and as the real reason why she had left filming. Some even thought they had mistreated her somehow and that’s why she had decided to leave in such a strange way.

 Suing her, of course, didn’t amount to nothing. The production company decided to actively pursue other projects and the year following Valerie’s mysterious disappearance, they released a movie that was universally loved by the audience and the critics. The movie was so good that it won every major award that season and the studio soon forgot everything that had to do with their past production. They were able to make huge amounts of money, enough to pay the many debts they had acquired with insurance companies and so on.


 Valerie never resurfaced. From time to time, people would say she was alive. Some said they had seen her in a remote beach in Thailand and others claimed she was working as a waitress in a café in Florence. Some men even confessed to have been her lovers but they were soon uncovered as liars. Nobody was ever found and no real account of where or how she managed to escape without being noticed was ever found to be 100% accurate and possible. She became one of those movie legends but for all the wrong reasons.

sábado, 27 de febrero de 2016

OSCARS 2016: Winners Predictions


Well, here we are again. Let's break it down:

Best Picture



Will win: The Revenant
Could win: Spotlight
Should win: Mad Max: Fury Road
Nominee prediction results: 7/8

I rarely agree with the Academy and this year is no exception. It is clear that The Revenant is the current favorite, with former frontrunner Spotlight very close behind. There could be a surprise but I doubt it. The sad thing is that the real masterpiece of the year has very little chance of winning.

Best Director


Will win: Alejandro G. Iñárritu (The Revenant)
Could win / Should win: George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Nominee prediction results: 4/5

Iñárritu did a fine job but not better than last year's Birdman. I'm not a fan of that movie but he did a great work there and awarding him twice would be just too much. Besides, Miller is the one to reward for the best action movie in a very long time.

Best Actor in a Leading Role


Will win / Should win: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
Could win: Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
Nominee prediction results: 4/5

It's time. That simple. He's performance is very good and he just deserves it after so long. Yet, many people still thing he shouldn't win. We will see if they have strong voices.

Best Actress in a Leading Role


Will win / Should win: Brie Larson (Room)
Could win: No one else really...
Nominee prediction results: 5/5

I was surprised to be right about Lawrence being nominated again. But whatever, no one has any chance of winning except Larson. Ronan was a frontrunner early on but the awards started flying towards Larson. She certainly deserves it.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role


Will win: Sylvester Stallone (Creed)
Could win: Tom Hardy (The Revenant)
Should win: Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)
Nominee prediction results: 3/5

Now this is hard to predict. This category is frequently predictable but not this year. I'm predicting Stallone winning because he's very well liked and the performance is really touching, he gives the movie a father figure that just works. Rylance performance though is very subtle but just right, not flashy, very paced. And Tom Hardy could win if The Revenant just sweeps.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role


Will win / Should win:: Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)
Could win: Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)
Nominee prediction results: 4/5

Vikander is the heart of the movie and we all know she should be on the leading category and not in this one. However, category fraud will give her her first Academy Awards. Only Winslet could spoil but she has only won awards when Vikander wasn't there. Besides, Vikander has Ex Machina and Testament of Youth in her favor.

Best Adapted Screenplay


Will win / Should win: The Big Short
Could win: Room
Nominee prediction results: 4/5

The movie is just too good to leave empty handed. However, there are many fans of Room that may want to give another accolade to the movie.

Best Original Screenplay


Will win: Spotlight
Could win: Straight Outta Compton
Should win: Ex Machina or Inside Out
Nominee prediction results: 4/5

Sorry, I just couldn't decide for only one option as I loved Ex Machina and Inside Out. They were true beautiful stories, very well told and with fantastic scenes, all thanks to the screenplays. However this prize is probably Spotlight's. If it loses the top prize, this is the consolation prize. Yet, Straight Outta Compton could spoil in a year of controversy in the industry.

Best Animated Feature Film


Will win / Should win: Inside Out
Could win: ø
Nominee prediction results: 3/5

Inside Out is this year animation masterpiece although the list of nominees was just perfect this year.

Best Foreign Language Film


Will win: Son of Saul (Hungary)
Could win: Mustang (France)
Should win: You know...
Nominee prediction results: 4/5

I was happy to see my country nominated for the first time. That's always great. However, the Hungarian entry has won almost every prize this season (they do love WWII) and if someone spoils their party it will be the Turkish movie that represents France.

Best Documentary Feature Film


Will win / Should win: Amy
Could win: The Look of Silence
Nominee prediction results: 2/5

I loved Amy. So contemporary and, sadly, timeless. Yet, the choices are so varied a surprise could happen.

Best Documentary Short Subject


Will win: Body Team 12
Could win: Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah
Should win: A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
Nominee prediction results: 3/5

Random guess. Didn't watch any of these. Sorry.

Best Live Action Short Film


Will win: Shok
Could win: Stutterer
Should win: No idea...
Nominee prediction results: 3/5

Didn't see them...

Best Animated Short Film


Will win: Prologue
Could win: Sanjay's Super Team
Should win: Bear Story
Nominee prediction results: 3/5

Another random guess based on images from all the short films.

Best Original Score


Will win / Should win: The Hateful Eight
Could win: Carol
Nominee prediction results: 4/5

Ennio Morricone is a legend and he deserves a prize for his work, even if he already has an honorary one.

Best Original Song


Will win: "Til it Happens to You" from The Hunting Ground
Could win: "Earned it" from Fifty Shades of Grey
Should win: "Manta Ray" from Racing Extinction
Nominee prediction results: 2/5

This is the crazy category, when anything can happen and it did. Three music stars nominated. I think it's Warren's time to finally win and Gaga fans can go insane.

Best Sound Editing


Will win / Should win: Mad Max: Fury Road
Could win: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Nominee prediction results: 4/5

That damn race! Just perfect.

Best Sound Mixing



Will win / Should win: Mad Max: Fury Road
Could win: The Revenant
Nominee prediction results: 4/5

So much action cannot go unnoticed.

Best Production Design


Will win / Should win: Mad Max: Fury Road
Could win: The Danish Girl
Nominee prediction results: 3/5

Those cars are insane. So much work and it was all worth it.

Best Cinematography


Will win / Should win: The Revenant
Could win: Mad Max: Fury Road
Nominee prediction results: 4/5

Lubezki has won twice so maybe one would think it is too much. But it isn't. The guy is just brilliant. Although I wouldn't mind Seale or that poor Deakins winning.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling


Will win / Should win: Mad Max: Fury Road
Could win: The Revenant
Nominee prediction results: 2/3

Every character is an example of why Mad Max deserves this award.

Best Costume Design


Will win: Mad Max: Fury Road
Could win: The Revenant
Should win: Mad Max: Fury Road or The Danish Girl
Nominee prediction results: 4/5

My runner up is The Revenant because many would vote for them for any category. Not me. I like all nominees but that dystopian future is just too good, on men and women.

Best Film Editing


Will win / Should win: Mad Max: Fury Road
Could win: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Nominee prediction results: 3/5

The fact that Spolight is here is he only reason why the movie could still win Best Picture. Yet, it's a year of action movies so it would be shameful not to award this prize to any of the two action packed picture in the roster.

Best Visual Effects


Will win: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Could win: Mad Max: Fury Road
Should win: Ex Machina
Nominee prediction results: 4/5

The Revenant here means the Academy REALLY loved that movie because I have seen better FX in films not nominated. It's just nonsense. I take a leap of fate here, even if it may not be a very likely choice.

TOTALS

Mad Max: Fury Road > 6
The Revenant > 4
Amy, Body Team 12, Creed, The Big Short, The Danish Girl, The Hateful Eight, The Hunting Ground, Inside Out, Prologue, Room, Son of Saul, Spotlight, Star Wars: The Force Awakens > 1 each

This is it people. Let's hear it tomorrow night!

miércoles, 13 de enero de 2016

PREDICTIONS: Academy Awards


Here are my predictions. I have seen many of these movies. The only real shots in the dark are in the short subject categories, which I haven't seen at all. I'll try to see the ones that get nominated.

After my predicted five, I've decided to put an alternative nominee, just for fun.

Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts!


Best Picture

* The Big Short
* Bridge of Spies
* Carol
* Mad Max: Fury Road
* The Martian
* The Revenant
* Room
* Spotlight

If 9 or 10 I'd add the following two movies:


* Inside Out
* Straight Outta Compton

Best Director

* The Big Short -- Adam McKay
* Mad Max: Fury Road -- George Miller
* The Martian -- Ridley Scott
* The Revenant -- Alejandro G. Iñárritu
* Spotlight -- Tom McCarthy

Alt: Carol -- Todd Haynes

Best Actor in a Leading Role

* Steve Carrell -- The Big Short
* Matt Damon -- The Martian
* Leonardo DiCaprio -- The Revenant
* Michael Fassbender -- Steve Jobs
* Eddie Redmayne -- The Danish Girl

Alt: Bryan Cranston -- Trumbo

Best Actress in a Leading Role

* Cate Blanchett -- Carol
* Brie Larson -- Room
* Jennifer Lawrence -- Joy
* Charlotte Rampling -- 45 Years
* Saiorse Ronan -- Brooklyn

Alt: Alicia Vikander -- The Danish Girl

Best Actor in a Supporting role

* Christian Bale -- The Big Short
* Idris Elba -- Beasts of No Nation
* Mark Ruffalo -- Spotlight
* Mark Rylance -- Bridge of Spies
* Jacob Tremblay -- Room

Alt: Sylvester Stallone -- Creed

Best Actress in a Supporting role

* Jane Fonda -- Youth
* Jennifer Jason Leigh -- The Hateful Eight
* Rooney Mara -- Carol
* Alicia Vikander -- The Danish Girl
* Kate Winslet -- Steve Jobs

Alt: Kristen Stewart -- Clouds of Sils Maria

Best Adapted Screenplay

* The Big Short -- Adam McKay and Charles Randolph
* Brooklyn -- Nick Hornby
* Carol -- Phyllis Nagy
* Room -- Emma Donoghue
* Steve Jobs -- Aaron Sorkin

Alt: The Martian

Best Original Screenplay

* Bridge of Spies -- Matt Charman, Ethan Coel and Joel Cohen
* The Hateful Eight -- Quentin Tarantino
* Inside Out -- Josh Cooley, Pete Docter and Meg LeFauve
* Spotlight -- Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer
* Straight Outta Compton -- Andrea Berloff, Jonathan Herman, S.Leigh Savidge and Alan Wenkus

Alt: Ex Machina

Best Foreign Language Film

* Embrace of the Serpent -- Colombia
* Labyrinth of Lies -- Germany
* Mustang -- France
* Son of Saul -- Hungary
* Theeb -- Jordan

Alt: The Brand New Testament -- Belgium

Best Animated Feature Film

* Anomalisa
* The Good Dinosaur
* Inside Out
* The Peanuts Movie
* Shaun the Sheep 

Alt: Minions

Best Cinematography

* Carol
* Mad Max: Fury Road
* The Martian
* The Revenant
* Sicario

Alt: The Hateful Eight

Best Costume Design

* Brooklyn
* Carol
* Cinderella
* The Danish Girl
* Mad Max: Fury Road

Alt: The Revenant

Best Film Editing

* The Big Short
* Bridge of Spies
* Mad Max: Fury Road
* The Martian
* The Revenant

Alt: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

* Mad Max: Fury Road
* Mr. Holmes
* The Revenant

Alt: Black Mass

Best Production Design

* Bridge of Spies
* Carol
* Crimson Peak
* The Danish Girl
* The Martian

Alt: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Best Original Score

* Bridge of Spies
* Carol
* The Danish Girl
* The Hateful Eight
* Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Alt: Sicario

Best Original Song

* "Feels Like Summer" from Shaun the Sheep
* "I'll See You In My Dreams" from I'll See You In My Dreams
* "See You Again" from Furious 7
* "Simple Song #3" from Youth
* "Til' It Happens to You" from The Hunting Ground

Alt: "Love Me Like You Do" from Fifty Shades of Grey

Best Sound Editing

* Jurassic World
* Mad Max: Fury Road
* The Martian
* Sicario
* Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Alt: The Revenant

Best Sound Mixing

* Mad Max: Fury Road
* The Revenant
* Sicario
* Star Wars: The Force Awakens
* Straight Outta Compton

Alt: Bridge of Spies

Best Visual Effects

* Ex Machina
* Jurassic World
* Mad Max: Fury Road
* The Martian
* Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Alt: The Revenant

Best Documentary Feature

* Amy
* He Names Me Malala
*The Hunting Ground
* Listen To Me Marlon
*The Look of Silence

Alt: Where to Invade Next

Best Documentary Short

* Body Team 12
* Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah
* Last Day of Freedom
* Minerita
* My Enemy, my Brother

Alt: Starting Point

Best Animated Short Film

* Bear Story (Historia de un oso)
* If I was God
* An Object at Rest
* Sanjay's Super Team
* We Can't Live Without Cosmos

Alt: My Home (Chez moi)

Best Live Action Short Film
* Ave Maria
* Bad Hunter
* Day One
* Shok
* Stutterer

Alt: Bis Gleich (Till Then)

TOTAL COUNT

Mad Max: Fury Road > 9
Carol & The Martian > 8
The Revenant > 7
The Big Short, Bridge of Spies & The Danish Girl > 6
Room, Spotlight & Star Wars: The Force Awakens > 4
Brooklyn, The Hateful Eight, Inside Out, Sicario, Steve Jobs & Straight Outta Compton > 3
The Hunting Ground, Jurassic World & Shaun the Sheep > 2

All other movies would get one nomination each.