Ann and I have begun the efforts to put this year's party together. Yesterday we finalized the menu and the witty names that accompany each item. Today we did some serious ingredient shopping. Ann has baked four separate cakes and has begun planning the dessert we'll all enjoy next Sunday. Tomorrow we'll add a few decorating touches and run some errands.
Ann will continue to work throughout the week with the cakes and to get some other items ready. Friday we'll have the first guests arrive and we'll spend ALL day on Saturday and Sunday cooking and prepping.
This year we plan to have a few mini-games to play during the night in addition to the Oscar Ballot. The games will cost $1 to play and we'll donate the money to charity.
Well, we've got some additional planning to take care of tonight. So, we're off!
See you all next week....
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Into the Final Stretch!
Hey Fantasy Film Studio League participants, we're almost there!
With the Writer's Guild and BAFTA awards announced this weekend, things are almost wrapped up for the Academy Awards. We only have the Independent Spirit Awards and the Razzies before the Oscars. We are two weeks and counting from tonight, so start reviewing these blog posts to see how you'll complete your Academy Awards ballots. Incidentally, we'll have the Academy Awards ballot website up and running soon to allow you to make your picks.
The Hurt Locker was a big winner this weekend, edging out Avatar in the Director, Picture, and Adapted Screenplay awards for which they were both nominated. The Best Actor and Best Actress fields at the BAFTAs were somewhat surprising in that Colin Firth and Carey Mulligan both took home wins. Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock, and Meryl Streep all got to sit one out for a change. Based on these two sets of awards the scoreboard has been updated below:
Name / Nominations / Wins / Points
Danny Sarnowski / 47 / 19 / 151
Defending Champion Scott Engroff / 25 / 9 / 77
Paul Hogseth / 25 / 3 / 59
The Dekkers / 26 / 1 / 55
Ann Sarnowski / 20 / 2 / 46
Jake & Rachel / 16 / 1 / 35
Dan Pavlovich / 14 / 1 / 31
Erin & Steve / 14 / 0 / 28
Jimmy Gordon / 9 / 1 / 21
For those of you who played last year, here is how the scoreboard looked after the Writer's Guild and BAFTA award winners were announced:
Name / Nominations / Wins / Points
Danny Sarnowski / 40 / 9 / 107
Mike Palovcsik / 43 / 6 / 104
Scott Engroff / 32 / 13 / 103
The Dekkers / 23 / 3 / 55
Ann Sarnowski / 19 / 1 / 41
Jake Sarnowski / 10 / 2 / 26
Ann and I will make a point of updating the blog over the next two weeks to document the preparations for the party this year. I hope that all of you will join us for the event and that the Film Studio League has been helpful for you to keep track of who has won awards this year.
Cheers,
Danny.
With the Writer's Guild and BAFTA awards announced this weekend, things are almost wrapped up for the Academy Awards. We only have the Independent Spirit Awards and the Razzies before the Oscars. We are two weeks and counting from tonight, so start reviewing these blog posts to see how you'll complete your Academy Awards ballots. Incidentally, we'll have the Academy Awards ballot website up and running soon to allow you to make your picks.
The Hurt Locker was a big winner this weekend, edging out Avatar in the Director, Picture, and Adapted Screenplay awards for which they were both nominated. The Best Actor and Best Actress fields at the BAFTAs were somewhat surprising in that Colin Firth and Carey Mulligan both took home wins. Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock, and Meryl Streep all got to sit one out for a change. Based on these two sets of awards the scoreboard has been updated below:
Name / Nominations / Wins / Points
Danny Sarnowski / 47 / 19 / 151
Defending Champion Scott Engroff / 25 / 9 / 77
Paul Hogseth / 25 / 3 / 59
The Dekkers / 26 / 1 / 55
Ann Sarnowski / 20 / 2 / 46
Jake & Rachel / 16 / 1 / 35
Dan Pavlovich / 14 / 1 / 31
Erin & Steve / 14 / 0 / 28
Jimmy Gordon / 9 / 1 / 21
For those of you who played last year, here is how the scoreboard looked after the Writer's Guild and BAFTA award winners were announced:
Name / Nominations / Wins / Points
Danny Sarnowski / 40 / 9 / 107
Mike Palovcsik / 43 / 6 / 104
Scott Engroff / 32 / 13 / 103
The Dekkers / 23 / 3 / 55
Ann Sarnowski / 19 / 1 / 41
Jake Sarnowski / 10 / 2 / 26
Ann and I will make a point of updating the blog over the next two weeks to document the preparations for the party this year. I hope that all of you will join us for the event and that the Film Studio League has been helpful for you to keep track of who has won awards this year.
Cheers,
Danny.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Shutter Island
Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island is a spectre. A ghostly vapor of a great film adapted from the page-turning novel of the same name.
For those who haven't seen the trailer here's the story: a pair of U.S. Marshals are called to Shutter Island to investigate a missing inmate from a high-security asylum for the criminally insane. The patient apparently walked right through the stone walls of her locked cell and is loose somewhere on the forbidding island. What starts as a detective story quickly becomes a locked-room witch hunt spanning Nazi-inspired human experimentation to government-funded conspiracies designed to topple the Communists.
As a disclaimer, I should note that I read the novel this week. I really enjoyed it and was eager to see the film. The novel is a fast, spooky, funny, mind-bending trip filled to overflowing with colorful characters, memorable dialogue, and unsettling nightmarish visuals. The filmmakers, either in an effort to condense the novel or keep to a studio-mandated running time, have trimmed much of these elements to craft their final product.
Not that film is without its merits. Leonardo DiCaprio, for instance, delivers a very solid and mature performance. His nuanced portrayal of the wounded hero Teddy Daniels gives the film its center. He's surrounded by a veritable who's who of character actors including Max Von Sydow, Elias Koteas, Jackie Earl Haley, Patricia Clarkson, Michelle Williams, and Ted Levine. Mark Ruffalo and Ben Kingsley do admirably well with the under-written parts they were handed.
It just doesn't feel like a "Scorsese picture." The soundtrack is a moody classical score - no anachronistic rock n' roll to be found here. No fast zooms or intricate tracking shots. No highly charismatic villains who we're all secretly rooting for. Even Thelma Schoonmaker, the three-time-Oscar-winning Editor who has worked on all of Scorsese's films, paints the pacing all wrong. At times her overlapping of the dialogue and action create a cacophony of inputs that add to the intensity of the storyline. At other times things seem sloppy after thoughts.
The visual hallucinations in the book feel immediate, urgent, and scary. They focus on the Teddy's unraveling and move the story and the characters to their ultimate crescendo. The film spends too much time focusing on Teddy's flashbacks to the atrocities he witnessed in World War II and on the infanticide that resides at the heart of the story. These sequences felt more ghoulish in the movie than the novel. They are essential to the story, but Scorsese seems to be pushing the wrong buttons - hard.
In the end, this feels like what it is - a studio picture with a high pedigree. Scorsese, who's singular style and vision has crafted some of the most memorable movie moments in the last three decades is handed the unenviable task of committing someone else's solidly realized vision to the screen. Dennis Lehane's novel was like reading a movie, a movie made by a master filmmaker. This picture feels like someone efforting to channel a master filmmaker.
Some will compare this picture to Kubrick's The Shining, the picture in which Stanley channeled Stephen King's work. That movie, while also not hewing extremely close to the source material, is still unsettling to watch. The pace, the sparse music, the utter emptiness of the hotel are haunting and memorable. Shutter Island, on the other hand, fades as you walk from the theater.
I would recommend you read the book of Shutter Island. Then curl up and watch a classic Scorsese movie to get over your fears and get some sleep. Try Goodfellas.
For those who haven't seen the trailer here's the story: a pair of U.S. Marshals are called to Shutter Island to investigate a missing inmate from a high-security asylum for the criminally insane. The patient apparently walked right through the stone walls of her locked cell and is loose somewhere on the forbidding island. What starts as a detective story quickly becomes a locked-room witch hunt spanning Nazi-inspired human experimentation to government-funded conspiracies designed to topple the Communists.
As a disclaimer, I should note that I read the novel this week. I really enjoyed it and was eager to see the film. The novel is a fast, spooky, funny, mind-bending trip filled to overflowing with colorful characters, memorable dialogue, and unsettling nightmarish visuals. The filmmakers, either in an effort to condense the novel or keep to a studio-mandated running time, have trimmed much of these elements to craft their final product.
Not that film is without its merits. Leonardo DiCaprio, for instance, delivers a very solid and mature performance. His nuanced portrayal of the wounded hero Teddy Daniels gives the film its center. He's surrounded by a veritable who's who of character actors including Max Von Sydow, Elias Koteas, Jackie Earl Haley, Patricia Clarkson, Michelle Williams, and Ted Levine. Mark Ruffalo and Ben Kingsley do admirably well with the under-written parts they were handed.
It just doesn't feel like a "Scorsese picture." The soundtrack is a moody classical score - no anachronistic rock n' roll to be found here. No fast zooms or intricate tracking shots. No highly charismatic villains who we're all secretly rooting for. Even Thelma Schoonmaker, the three-time-Oscar-winning Editor who has worked on all of Scorsese's films, paints the pacing all wrong. At times her overlapping of the dialogue and action create a cacophony of inputs that add to the intensity of the storyline. At other times things seem sloppy after thoughts.
The visual hallucinations in the book feel immediate, urgent, and scary. They focus on the Teddy's unraveling and move the story and the characters to their ultimate crescendo. The film spends too much time focusing on Teddy's flashbacks to the atrocities he witnessed in World War II and on the infanticide that resides at the heart of the story. These sequences felt more ghoulish in the movie than the novel. They are essential to the story, but Scorsese seems to be pushing the wrong buttons - hard.
In the end, this feels like what it is - a studio picture with a high pedigree. Scorsese, who's singular style and vision has crafted some of the most memorable movie moments in the last three decades is handed the unenviable task of committing someone else's solidly realized vision to the screen. Dennis Lehane's novel was like reading a movie, a movie made by a master filmmaker. This picture feels like someone efforting to channel a master filmmaker.
Some will compare this picture to Kubrick's The Shining, the picture in which Stanley channeled Stephen King's work. That movie, while also not hewing extremely close to the source material, is still unsettling to watch. The pace, the sparse music, the utter emptiness of the hotel are haunting and memorable. Shutter Island, on the other hand, fades as you walk from the theater.
I would recommend you read the book of Shutter Island. Then curl up and watch a classic Scorsese movie to get over your fears and get some sleep. Try Goodfellas.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Have You Forgotten?
Before I write this post, a total off-topic thought: "Have You Forgotten?" by the band Red House Painters is an incredibly good song. It was featured on the Vanilla Sky soundtrack a few years back. If you have the means, I suggest finding it. Moody and melodic.
ANYWAY.....Have you forgotten that you are a member of the Fantasy Film Studio League? I have not! Things are gearing up for the Academy Awards in a few weeks (two weeks from Sunday already!), and there are a few awards this weekend. We'll see the Writer's Guild Awards and the BAFTAs announced this weekend. That should shake up the scoreboard a bit and we'll have some updates on Monday to help launch us into the final stretch.
Incidentally, this weekend also features the premiere of Shutter Island, the new picture from Martin Scorsese. It's adapted from a Dennis Lehane novel which I read earlier this week. Good, intense, pulpy stuff. If you're looking for a fast read, this is it. I'm looking forward to seeing how the Best Picture-directing, Best Director Award-Winning Scorsese returns to non-documentary features. This movie has been postponed a few times which rarely spells good news. Look for a review posted to the blog soon.
In Academy news - The live musical numbers have been axed from this year's telecast. Instead, pre-recorded segments of the nominated songs will be played. The producers have done this in an attempt to reduce the length of the show. Also meant to reduce the time is the placement of the nominees in the theatre. Apparently, a lot of screen time is wasted waiting for people to walk to the podium to accept the biggest honor of their lives. So, instead, let's rush them on and rush them off!
READY FOR A BLAST FROM THE PAST?
Some of you have commented on the state of the scoreboard this year. How the game is not as fun with a runaway first place (me). For the record, it's still pretty fun if you're in the lead. But I get your point. Last year we saw a lot more movement back and forth on the scoreboard each week or after each nomination and award show.
For those of you who participated last year, I thought I would give you a reminder of what the scoreboard looked like at this time last year. This is what the scoreboard looked like last year just before the Writer's Guild, BAFTAs, and Academy Awards. Enjoy the trip down memory lane!
Name / Nominations / Wins / Points
Danny Sarnowski / 40 / 7 / 101
Mike Palovcsik / 43 / 3 / 95
Scott Engroff / 32 / 9 / 91
The Dekkers / 23 / 2 / 52
Ann Sarnowski / 19 / 0 / 38
Jake Sarnowski / 10 / 2 / 26
Things were a little closer last year, but we still saw a lot of movement after this weekend. Look forward to a post on Monday night to recap the Writer's Guild and BAFTA Awards and to refresh your memories of how things played out last year!
Enjoy the weekend!
Danny.
ANYWAY.....Have you forgotten that you are a member of the Fantasy Film Studio League? I have not! Things are gearing up for the Academy Awards in a few weeks (two weeks from Sunday already!), and there are a few awards this weekend. We'll see the Writer's Guild Awards and the BAFTAs announced this weekend. That should shake up the scoreboard a bit and we'll have some updates on Monday to help launch us into the final stretch.
Incidentally, this weekend also features the premiere of Shutter Island, the new picture from Martin Scorsese. It's adapted from a Dennis Lehane novel which I read earlier this week. Good, intense, pulpy stuff. If you're looking for a fast read, this is it. I'm looking forward to seeing how the Best Picture-directing, Best Director Award-Winning Scorsese returns to non-documentary features. This movie has been postponed a few times which rarely spells good news. Look for a review posted to the blog soon.
In Academy news - The live musical numbers have been axed from this year's telecast. Instead, pre-recorded segments of the nominated songs will be played. The producers have done this in an attempt to reduce the length of the show. Also meant to reduce the time is the placement of the nominees in the theatre. Apparently, a lot of screen time is wasted waiting for people to walk to the podium to accept the biggest honor of their lives. So, instead, let's rush them on and rush them off!
READY FOR A BLAST FROM THE PAST?
Some of you have commented on the state of the scoreboard this year. How the game is not as fun with a runaway first place (me). For the record, it's still pretty fun if you're in the lead. But I get your point. Last year we saw a lot more movement back and forth on the scoreboard each week or after each nomination and award show.
For those of you who participated last year, I thought I would give you a reminder of what the scoreboard looked like at this time last year. This is what the scoreboard looked like last year just before the Writer's Guild, BAFTAs, and Academy Awards. Enjoy the trip down memory lane!
Name / Nominations / Wins / Points
Danny Sarnowski / 40 / 7 / 101
Mike Palovcsik / 43 / 3 / 95
Scott Engroff / 32 / 9 / 91
The Dekkers / 23 / 2 / 52
Ann Sarnowski / 19 / 0 / 38
Jake Sarnowski / 10 / 2 / 26
Things were a little closer last year, but we still saw a lot of movement after this weekend. Look forward to a post on Monday night to recap the Writer's Guild and BAFTA Awards and to refresh your memories of how things played out last year!
Enjoy the weekend!
Danny.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Academy Award Nominations Announced
For those of you waking up from a coma today or those "sitting in a cave...on Mars...with your figers in your ears" this week, you should know that the Academy Award nominations were announced yesterday. Either due to the incredible amount of press coverage that certain films have received this year (you know who you are) or from the increase in awareness from playing the Fantasy Film Studio League, I really wasn't surprised by too many of the awards.
The Hurt Locker and Avatar tied for the most nominations. Not surprising given their dominance through much of the season. Other non-events were Christoph Walz and Mo'Nique being nominated for Best Supporting categories and Meryl Streep, George Clooney, and Jeff Bridges pulling out the leading categories. In a non-shock to all involved, Sandra Bullock pulled out a nomination for The Blind Side. As disclosure, I have not seen this movie. But I get the sense that this is a career nomination for her. Worse, I fear that this could be a career win. Meaning she didn't really deserve it this year but she's done other notable work (see Russell Crowe winning for Gladiator when he deserved it for The Insider or L.A. Confidential). The issue is that Sandra Bullock, in my opinion, has not done award-worthy work before. She's a very talented comic actress, a group who does not get their fare shake in Hollywood. But that doesn't deserve an Academy Award. Depending on who you read, she's got the win all but sewn up. Too bad for Gabourey Sidibe and Carey Mulligan who are earning nominations and kudos for early work.
Of course, this year also features the first 10 nominees for Best Picture in decades. Along with several of the Producer's Guild nominees, The Blind Side actually picked up a nod for Best Picture (I may have to eventually see this picture). Up also snagged a Best Picture although everyone seems to agree that it will win the Best Animated Film category.
The scoreboard has been updated with the nominations below. I got the most nomiations with 10 this week. Defending Champion Scott Engroff came in second with 6nominations. Kudos to everyone else for picking up some nominations this week as well. We're in the countdown now. Just a few weeks until the biggest event of the season. Don't forget, all of this fanatical examination of the awards season should make all of you more dangerous in our annual Academy Awards pool!
Name / Nominations / Wins / Points
Danny Sarnowski / 47 / 14 / 136
Defending Champion Scott Engroff / 25 / 6 / 68
Paul Hogseth / 25 / 2 / 56
The Dekkers / 26 / 0 / 52
Ann Sarnowski / 20 / 2 / 46
Jake & Rachel / 16 / 0 / 32
Dan Pavlovich / 14 / 1 / 31
Erin & Steve / 14 / 0 / 28
Jimmy Gordon / 9 / 0 / 18
The Hurt Locker and Avatar tied for the most nominations. Not surprising given their dominance through much of the season. Other non-events were Christoph Walz and Mo'Nique being nominated for Best Supporting categories and Meryl Streep, George Clooney, and Jeff Bridges pulling out the leading categories. In a non-shock to all involved, Sandra Bullock pulled out a nomination for The Blind Side. As disclosure, I have not seen this movie. But I get the sense that this is a career nomination for her. Worse, I fear that this could be a career win. Meaning she didn't really deserve it this year but she's done other notable work (see Russell Crowe winning for Gladiator when he deserved it for The Insider or L.A. Confidential). The issue is that Sandra Bullock, in my opinion, has not done award-worthy work before. She's a very talented comic actress, a group who does not get their fare shake in Hollywood. But that doesn't deserve an Academy Award. Depending on who you read, she's got the win all but sewn up. Too bad for Gabourey Sidibe and Carey Mulligan who are earning nominations and kudos for early work.
Of course, this year also features the first 10 nominees for Best Picture in decades. Along with several of the Producer's Guild nominees, The Blind Side actually picked up a nod for Best Picture (I may have to eventually see this picture). Up also snagged a Best Picture although everyone seems to agree that it will win the Best Animated Film category.
The scoreboard has been updated with the nominations below. I got the most nomiations with 10 this week. Defending Champion Scott Engroff came in second with 6nominations. Kudos to everyone else for picking up some nominations this week as well. We're in the countdown now. Just a few weeks until the biggest event of the season. Don't forget, all of this fanatical examination of the awards season should make all of you more dangerous in our annual Academy Awards pool!
Name / Nominations / Wins / Points
Danny Sarnowski / 47 / 14 / 136
Defending Champion Scott Engroff / 25 / 6 / 68
Paul Hogseth / 25 / 2 / 56
The Dekkers / 26 / 0 / 52
Ann Sarnowski / 20 / 2 / 46
Jake & Rachel / 16 / 0 / 32
Dan Pavlovich / 14 / 1 / 31
Erin & Steve / 14 / 0 / 28
Jimmy Gordon / 9 / 0 / 18
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