The Oscar telecast is almost like a holiday at my home. We turn on the early coverage or watch one of the nominees that are already out on DVD, this year it's "The Help," or we attend the Oscar Night America event at the MJR theatre. This year will be a little bit different though, see we just had our first kid, Malcolm Alexander, on Tuesday. Does this mean I have to give up on the Oscars? I certainly hope not, in fact as the years go on I mean to involve my child in my love for the movies every chance I get, and if you love movies I suggest you do the same.
Our obstacle this year will be having an infant child while trying to watch the telecast, no easy feat I'm sure. However in today's technological world there are plenty of ways to watch, I have a TiVo, it may take me a little longer than usual but I'll be able to get through the Oscars, I've gotta have something to keep me awake during those late night feedings after all.
As the years go on though, I'm sure I will use the help of Grandma and Grandpa to watch my little boy while me and the misses go and check out the latest nominees. Soon Malcolm will want to know why I get excited at the end of every February for a show that only has people talking on stage. So the challenge will be to get him involved. There are several ways to approach this. The first is to get him involved in at least one of the races. The Oscar for best animated movie features three great kids film, "Rango", "Puss in Boots" and "Kung Fu Panda 2" all of which are available on DVD so you could spend time watching each of these and letting him pick a favorite. Not only does it get him interested but you can teach them about the award process and a possible lesson in winning and losing.
There are other categories as well that you can get your kid involved in, for example the animated shorts, they are all available on itunes, but I would research them before letting them watch them as just because it is a cartoon doesn't mean it's safe for kids. Then there is the best song category, this category is usually pretty safe and often feature songs from kid friendly movies, with a couple of exceptions. This year features only two songs, "Real in Rio" from "Rio" and "Man or Muppet" from "The Muppet Movie." An easy race to get your kid involved in. In fact, this year the Muppet's are presenting.
Okay you've got the kid interested, what's the next step. I would suggest taking them to the "Oscar Night in America" party at MJR, in fact they can even dress up. It's like a mini Halloween for them and can be a fun night out for you if you have a well behaved child. Trust me they will get lots of attention when dressed up and there will plenty of other people dressed up like he is.
Unfortunately, most of the big awards come from movies that are not child appropriate. I don't think I would let my watch anything except what is listed above. How do we keep him excited? Look to the past. Several musicals have won Academy Awards, just use this blog or wikipedia to look up which ones are kid safe. There have also been 10 years of a best animated category, go beyond just the winners, watch all of the nominees for the year and then talk with your child about their opinion on what they liked and what they didn't like. The you can go even further back, the person who has won the most Oscars of all time is Walt Disney, mostly for animated shorts and documentaries, find these winning movies and watch them with your kid and explain why they won and what they did different than those that came before. It may take a little research on your end, but you will end up with a little person that loves movies almost as much as you.
My challenge of bringing up a tiny movie watcher begins now. It will be slow going for a while but it should be one doozy of a ride.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Star Trek: The Original Series
I was recently able to catch the latest “Star Trek” film on FX this past week. I have seen the film before, I own the DVD and I saw it twice in the theatre, but thanks to my watching of the original series the movie was greatly improved. Considering that I loved the movie to begin with, it made the watching of the original series well worth it. Seeing all of the original characters eccentricities interpreted by a new generation of actors was terrific. It also made me very excited for the next film to come out in 2013.
But that isn’t what this is about. I managed to finish watching all of the episodes of the original Star Trek series. So the missing badge from my geek uniform can be properly affixed and displayed proudly. In the third season the focus of the show definitely started to shift more and more towards Spock. By the end I feel like Spock was able to get more ladies than Kirk was, throwing my whole perspective of the original series off of its hinges. The third season definitely was the weakest of the three, in my mind it was the end of the first and the beginning of the second where the show was at its strongest.
Really this season didn’t have too many good episodes and ended without any sense of closure. Blame it on not having enough money for guest stars or special effects, but I think that good writing can overcome those hindrances any day. By the end it felt like everyone was tired and was just waiting for the series to be cancelled. I mean there was an episode featuring a battle royal were the Enterprise teamed up with Abraham Lincoln. It just got silly.
The series as a whole is full of great true sci fi. If you are at all interested in jumping into the Star Trek universe, find a best of list and give those episodes a try. There isn’t a real reason to watch all the episodes as there wasn’t any type of story arc that you need to follow. Overall the original series gets 3 ½ out of 5 stars.
But that isn’t what this is about. I managed to finish watching all of the episodes of the original Star Trek series. So the missing badge from my geek uniform can be properly affixed and displayed proudly. In the third season the focus of the show definitely started to shift more and more towards Spock. By the end I feel like Spock was able to get more ladies than Kirk was, throwing my whole perspective of the original series off of its hinges. The third season definitely was the weakest of the three, in my mind it was the end of the first and the beginning of the second where the show was at its strongest.
Really this season didn’t have too many good episodes and ended without any sense of closure. Blame it on not having enough money for guest stars or special effects, but I think that good writing can overcome those hindrances any day. By the end it felt like everyone was tired and was just waiting for the series to be cancelled. I mean there was an episode featuring a battle royal were the Enterprise teamed up with Abraham Lincoln. It just got silly.
The series as a whole is full of great true sci fi. If you are at all interested in jumping into the Star Trek universe, find a best of list and give those episodes a try. There isn’t a real reason to watch all the episodes as there wasn’t any type of story arc that you need to follow. Overall the original series gets 3 ½ out of 5 stars.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
100th Blog Post Spectacular
This is the 100th post for the “The Oscar Project” and I have been able to cover 37 different Oscar movies. It has been tough to get through some of these. A lot of these were made during the early years of Hollywood when the movie business was still trying figure out the best way to make a buck and the Academy was still trying to figure out what exactly they were rewarding. It has been interesting watching these in the order that they won as patterns are definitely starting to emerge for me. I’m sure to go over them once I get to the end of the line. That still leaves 62 other posts that didn’t cover Oscar winning movies, well unless the movie won that year. My frequent readers no doubt realize that my love of pop culture extends far beyond just movies. I’ve covered music, television, comics, books and video games. Coming up this year will be more than just that though as I am starting a new project as my first child is due next week.
Besides figuring out a name, how to decorate the room and how we handle the added pressure of trying to take care of a baby, the wife and I have also discussed how to introduce him to our favorite segments of pop culture. We have had what I consider deep discussions on what order to show him the Star Wars movies, pro-Kirk or pro-Picard, Marvel or DC, force him to play the old school Zelda games or let him jump in with whatever is new and how can I prevent him from ever seeing “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”? The possibilities are mind-boggling. Besides these basic questions we also have to figure out what is the appropriate age to introduce him to all the stuff that we love and how do we keep him away from the mind numbing cartoons of today like Bubble Guppies and Dora the Explorer. I want my kid raised on Pixar cartoons, not Open Season 4. It will be a challenge to guide him on the right path so that together, we can rule the galaxy as Father and son.
With this new project starting I still plan on finding a way to get through my movie list, after all I have to do something during late night feedings, but I also plan on blogging about how I am raising my little geek and hopefully someday this will be looked at as a way to raise (or if things go wrong, how not to raise) a little geek that any geek Father would be proud of. Thanks for reading and here’s to another 100 posts.
Besides figuring out a name, how to decorate the room and how we handle the added pressure of trying to take care of a baby, the wife and I have also discussed how to introduce him to our favorite segments of pop culture. We have had what I consider deep discussions on what order to show him the Star Wars movies, pro-Kirk or pro-Picard, Marvel or DC, force him to play the old school Zelda games or let him jump in with whatever is new and how can I prevent him from ever seeing “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”? The possibilities are mind-boggling. Besides these basic questions we also have to figure out what is the appropriate age to introduce him to all the stuff that we love and how do we keep him away from the mind numbing cartoons of today like Bubble Guppies and Dora the Explorer. I want my kid raised on Pixar cartoons, not Open Season 4. It will be a challenge to guide him on the right path so that together, we can rule the galaxy as Father and son.
With this new project starting I still plan on finding a way to get through my movie list, after all I have to do something during late night feedings, but I also plan on blogging about how I am raising my little geek and hopefully someday this will be looked at as a way to raise (or if things go wrong, how not to raise) a little geek that any geek Father would be proud of. Thanks for reading and here’s to another 100 posts.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Grammy Awards 2012
In the award show circuit music award shows are more about putting on a show than giving away any actual awards. The Grammy’s are no exception to this rule. Every year the Grammy’s give out multiple awards, close to 50 I believe. Yet, this year’s broadcast featured less than 10 awards actually dispersed. The night was instead full of musical performances from the nominees.
For a long time I never really watched the Grammy’s because I was never that into music. Only recently have I started to listen more and more to what is considered popular music. Knowing that the Grammy’s are mostly about performances I was excited. I thought the American Music Awards late last year did a great job with the performances and it had everyone performing some of the songs that they had been nominated for. Apparently the Grammy’s don’t really care about what was actually nominated in most cases instead having the performers do (with a few exceptions) their newest song or a song that they plan on releasing in a few months.
Performances that stood out were Adele’s performance of “Rolling in the Deep,” Bruno Mars’ opening number, the Foo Fighters performing “Walk”, Taylor Swift performing “Mean” the jam session at the end with Paul McCartney and of course the Jennifer Hudson performance for Whitney. While the more disappointing performances came from Nikki Minaj who apparently wanted to perform an exorcism on stage, David Guetta and Dead Mau55 performing something that resembled music and Chris Brown playing Q-Bert.
The few awards handed out were not to surprising. The awards committee has always loved the Foo Fighters, which is why they had Dave Grohl perform 3 times, and Adele was just to awesome to defeat. Kanye was bound to win for something to placate his ego and of course the new artist award has to go to the indie guy Bon Iver because otherwise they would not have given out any awards to people no one has heard of.
Overall the Grammy’s concert gets 3 out of 5 awards, which is almost as many awards as handed out during the actual telecast.
For a long time I never really watched the Grammy’s because I was never that into music. Only recently have I started to listen more and more to what is considered popular music. Knowing that the Grammy’s are mostly about performances I was excited. I thought the American Music Awards late last year did a great job with the performances and it had everyone performing some of the songs that they had been nominated for. Apparently the Grammy’s don’t really care about what was actually nominated in most cases instead having the performers do (with a few exceptions) their newest song or a song that they plan on releasing in a few months.
Performances that stood out were Adele’s performance of “Rolling in the Deep,” Bruno Mars’ opening number, the Foo Fighters performing “Walk”, Taylor Swift performing “Mean” the jam session at the end with Paul McCartney and of course the Jennifer Hudson performance for Whitney. While the more disappointing performances came from Nikki Minaj who apparently wanted to perform an exorcism on stage, David Guetta and Dead Mau55 performing something that resembled music and Chris Brown playing Q-Bert.
The few awards handed out were not to surprising. The awards committee has always loved the Foo Fighters, which is why they had Dave Grohl perform 3 times, and Adele was just to awesome to defeat. Kanye was bound to win for something to placate his ego and of course the new artist award has to go to the indie guy Bon Iver because otherwise they would not have given out any awards to people no one has heard of.
Overall the Grammy’s concert gets 3 out of 5 awards, which is almost as many awards as handed out during the actual telecast.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
My Fair Lady - The Oscar Project Part XXXVII
A few weeks ago I got to watch and review the movie “Gigi.” While watching it I just kept thinking to myself I wish that I was watching “My Fair Lady” instead since it felt like the same movie, but with less memorable music and set in Paris instead of London. Well now that I have reached 1964, I have also reached “My Fair Lady.” This the second of four musicals from the decade and is one where I have seen the stage musical and read the original “Pygmalion.” The only thing I haven’t seen was the movie.
“My Fair Lady” tells the tale of Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins. Eliza is a poor beggar who speaks with just an awful sounding accent. Honestly after 15 minutes of her howling I wanted her to learn to speak well for myself and not for the character. She attempts to take lessons from Henry Higgins who has just met what appears to be the love of his life in Colonel Pickering. Higgins refuses to give Eliza lessons until Pickering makes a bet with him that he cannot pass her off at a royal party. Higgins accepts and the movie proceeds. The teaching of Eliza is both slow and quick. For a while it feels like no progress is being made, but being that this is a musical, a song is sung and suddenly she can speak better than almost anyone. Needless to say Higgins wins the bet and after a quick separation between the two they end up together at the end. Though it is implied to be romantic it is more of a friendly relationship than anything else. Probably because Higgins has already married Pickering.
From an acting perspective the movie thrives off of the interaction between Rex Harrison as Henry Higgins and Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle. Both put in great performances, particularly Hepburn who has to play her character at several different levels. However, she does lose a few points for not signing the songs herself. Harrison plays Harrison, fortunately that fits the Higgins character. Interestingly even though Hepburn does not sing, Harrison refused to dub his singing making this the first use of a wireless microphone and requiring the conductor to conduct the music to his singing. The rest of the cast is filled out nicely but no one really stands out. From the production side the movie could use a bit more movie making. The smaller scenes with only a few characters were well shot however, the larger production numbers made it feel like I was watching the musical on stage and not as a movie. Musicals should try to focus on being a film and not a musical play, that is what separates the good films from the bad.
Overall “My Fair Lady” remains a classic. In fact a remake is currently in production for release sometime within the next year or two. It will be interesting to see how they approach it. I imagine an increase in the relationship between Eliza and Henry as well as better filming of the larger chorus numbers. The movie won’t be a great success but will probably do just as well as it did back when this film was released. I give this film 3.5 out of 5 stars.
“My Fair Lady” tells the tale of Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins. Eliza is a poor beggar who speaks with just an awful sounding accent. Honestly after 15 minutes of her howling I wanted her to learn to speak well for myself and not for the character. She attempts to take lessons from Henry Higgins who has just met what appears to be the love of his life in Colonel Pickering. Higgins refuses to give Eliza lessons until Pickering makes a bet with him that he cannot pass her off at a royal party. Higgins accepts and the movie proceeds. The teaching of Eliza is both slow and quick. For a while it feels like no progress is being made, but being that this is a musical, a song is sung and suddenly she can speak better than almost anyone. Needless to say Higgins wins the bet and after a quick separation between the two they end up together at the end. Though it is implied to be romantic it is more of a friendly relationship than anything else. Probably because Higgins has already married Pickering.
From an acting perspective the movie thrives off of the interaction between Rex Harrison as Henry Higgins and Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle. Both put in great performances, particularly Hepburn who has to play her character at several different levels. However, she does lose a few points for not signing the songs herself. Harrison plays Harrison, fortunately that fits the Higgins character. Interestingly even though Hepburn does not sing, Harrison refused to dub his singing making this the first use of a wireless microphone and requiring the conductor to conduct the music to his singing. The rest of the cast is filled out nicely but no one really stands out. From the production side the movie could use a bit more movie making. The smaller scenes with only a few characters were well shot however, the larger production numbers made it feel like I was watching the musical on stage and not as a movie. Musicals should try to focus on being a film and not a musical play, that is what separates the good films from the bad.
Overall “My Fair Lady” remains a classic. In fact a remake is currently in production for release sometime within the next year or two. It will be interesting to see how they approach it. I imagine an increase in the relationship between Eliza and Henry as well as better filming of the larger chorus numbers. The movie won’t be a great success but will probably do just as well as it did back when this film was released. I give this film 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Smash - Pilot Review
I heard about “Smash” for the first time about a year ago now. A musical show based on actual musical theater? I was already sold. I am a fan of “Glee” but it’s more for the musical numbers than any actual plot. They do some interesting numbers but they gave up on trying to have regular character development and natural story progression a long time ago. I was hoping that with an adult cast and the ability to not have to worry about the restrictions that a high school setting places on the show would allow for “Smash” to be good.
But I was wrong because I actually thought it was great. The show is about a new musical that is being based off of the life of Marilyn Monroe. It starts from concept to auditions in the pilot and the season will run through their out of town try out. During the episode we get glimpses from several different aspects of the production end. We see the story evolve through the eyes of the writers, the producer, the director and the two young girls that are trying out for the part of Marilyn.
The biggest difference between “Smash” and “Glee”, at least in the pilot, is that “Smash” doesn’t rely on random signing of popular music. There are a couple of covers performed during auditions but the rest of the songs are all original. And they are pretty good. Nothing that is really stuck in my head but still good. Then they add choreography. There is a baseball number in the middle that is some of the best choreography I have seen. The show knows what it is doing, the numbers feel like a Broadway production and I love watching them.
The acting in the show has a lot of potential. They have veteran actors chewing up the scenery and putting in some great performances, but the pilot relies on Katherine McPhee to carry the show. A lot for someone who hasn’t acted on screen and she does a great job. I liked her back on Idol and I am absolutely adoring her on this show. I don’t recall the name of her co-star but she does a great job playing her opposite.
“Smash” looks like it could be something that I really get into and I can’t wait to see how they handle the show over the next 3 months. Overall the pilot for “Smash” gets 5 out of 5 stars.
But I was wrong because I actually thought it was great. The show is about a new musical that is being based off of the life of Marilyn Monroe. It starts from concept to auditions in the pilot and the season will run through their out of town try out. During the episode we get glimpses from several different aspects of the production end. We see the story evolve through the eyes of the writers, the producer, the director and the two young girls that are trying out for the part of Marilyn.
The biggest difference between “Smash” and “Glee”, at least in the pilot, is that “Smash” doesn’t rely on random signing of popular music. There are a couple of covers performed during auditions but the rest of the songs are all original. And they are pretty good. Nothing that is really stuck in my head but still good. Then they add choreography. There is a baseball number in the middle that is some of the best choreography I have seen. The show knows what it is doing, the numbers feel like a Broadway production and I love watching them.
The acting in the show has a lot of potential. They have veteran actors chewing up the scenery and putting in some great performances, but the pilot relies on Katherine McPhee to carry the show. A lot for someone who hasn’t acted on screen and she does a great job. I liked her back on Idol and I am absolutely adoring her on this show. I don’t recall the name of her co-star but she does a great job playing her opposite.
“Smash” looks like it could be something that I really get into and I can’t wait to see how they handle the show over the next 3 months. Overall the pilot for “Smash” gets 5 out of 5 stars.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Super Bowl Movie Trailer Preview
Even if you’re not a fan of football, there is little doubt that you have not heard about the Super Bowl. The event is so big that the commercials end up drawing as much attention as the game itself. And for movie fans there is plenty to look forward too as there will be several movie trailers premiering during the game. Several of these are available online now but I prefer to wait and check them out on my big screen TV. This is what you can look forward to.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation – When the first trailer for this came out I was pleasantly surprised, but I wasn’t ready to completely forgive the first movie. I’m hoping that this second look fully sells me on the movie.
The Dictator – This is the new Sasha Baron Cohen pretending to be someone else movie. I have yet to see one of these and it would take something huge to make me want to see this one. I don’t have high hopes that a simple trailer will do it.
The Hunger Games – I am eagerly anticipating this as I have hopes that this movie will do the book justice. After seeing Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone” I have believed that she will make a fantastic Katniss. I love devouring every bit of information about this movie so I will watch this trailer many times.
The Avengers – It’s still hard to believe that this movie is even being made. I’ve stayed in the dark for what this movie will be so I am excited to see some new footage from it. Hopefully Joss doesn’t let the faithful down with this one.
Additional trailers include “Act of Valor,” the action comedy “21 Jump Street” and the next Bourne movie that will replace Matt Damon with Jeremy Rhener. Beyond this there will be plenty of homage’s to older movies including Star Wars, Ferris Bueller and Twilight. So if you love movies and are looking forward to the year in film the Super Bowl is must see TV for you.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation – When the first trailer for this came out I was pleasantly surprised, but I wasn’t ready to completely forgive the first movie. I’m hoping that this second look fully sells me on the movie.
The Dictator – This is the new Sasha Baron Cohen pretending to be someone else movie. I have yet to see one of these and it would take something huge to make me want to see this one. I don’t have high hopes that a simple trailer will do it.
The Hunger Games – I am eagerly anticipating this as I have hopes that this movie will do the book justice. After seeing Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone” I have believed that she will make a fantastic Katniss. I love devouring every bit of information about this movie so I will watch this trailer many times.
The Avengers – It’s still hard to believe that this movie is even being made. I’ve stayed in the dark for what this movie will be so I am excited to see some new footage from it. Hopefully Joss doesn’t let the faithful down with this one.
Additional trailers include “Act of Valor,” the action comedy “21 Jump Street” and the next Bourne movie that will replace Matt Damon with Jeremy Rhener. Beyond this there will be plenty of homage’s to older movies including Star Wars, Ferris Bueller and Twilight. So if you love movies and are looking forward to the year in film the Super Bowl is must see TV for you.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Tom Jones - The Oscar Project Part XXXVI
When I saw the title for the 1963 Oscar winner was “Tom Jones,” I’ll admit I was a little confused. My only exposure to Tom Jones is the singer and I thought that this movie would be too early to be about his career. With the previous winner having been “Lawrence of Arabia” I was hyped to watch this movie, I expected this movie to match that one. Unfortunately, I was wrong to get excited.
“Tom Jones” tells the tale of an Englishman named Tom Jones. He is born a bastard and lives his life being a sex object to other women but pining after the one woman he wants and cannot have. Soon villains enter the picture and force him to leave his home. After a series of adventures he eventually ends up being hanged but before he can die it is revealed that he is actually the son of a squire. He ends up being pardoned and getting the girl that he wants. In reality this plot is almost like a bad romantic comedy.
From an acting standpoint there wasn’t anything that I found to noteworthy. The acting wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t great either. I found none of the performances to really stand out. It is from the directing standpoint that the film has made its name and is most likely the reason it was able to walk away with an Oscar. Several techniques of breaking the fourth wall were peppered in throughout the movie, in addition to an interesting scene featuring two of the characters eating dinner where the audience can almost see the conversation that is happening without words. In addition the movie opens as if it were a silent movie. However, as back then this may have seemed original, today all of these together feel like just a bunch of gimmicks strung together with a weak plot.
I don’t think this movie would do well today. At best it could hope to be buried in January releases were the studios put their films they don’t think would do well. It definitely doesn’t live up to high Oscar standards that I am accustomed to. It gets 1 out of 5 stars.
“Tom Jones” tells the tale of an Englishman named Tom Jones. He is born a bastard and lives his life being a sex object to other women but pining after the one woman he wants and cannot have. Soon villains enter the picture and force him to leave his home. After a series of adventures he eventually ends up being hanged but before he can die it is revealed that he is actually the son of a squire. He ends up being pardoned and getting the girl that he wants. In reality this plot is almost like a bad romantic comedy.
From an acting standpoint there wasn’t anything that I found to noteworthy. The acting wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t great either. I found none of the performances to really stand out. It is from the directing standpoint that the film has made its name and is most likely the reason it was able to walk away with an Oscar. Several techniques of breaking the fourth wall were peppered in throughout the movie, in addition to an interesting scene featuring two of the characters eating dinner where the audience can almost see the conversation that is happening without words. In addition the movie opens as if it were a silent movie. However, as back then this may have seemed original, today all of these together feel like just a bunch of gimmicks strung together with a weak plot.
I don’t think this movie would do well today. At best it could hope to be buried in January releases were the studios put their films they don’t think would do well. It definitely doesn’t live up to high Oscar standards that I am accustomed to. It gets 1 out of 5 stars.
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