Javier Bardem off Cloud Nine
It's one thing to drop out of a movie project. It's another to drop out of a movie project that your girlfriend is still attached to.
Javier Bardem has done just that, though, backing out of the long-gestating and oft-postponed Rob Marshall-directed musical Nine, blaming post-awards season exhaustion and leaving better half Penélope Cruz among the international A-list beauties still signed on.
Marion Cotillard and Sophia Loren are also on board, while Nicole Kidman and Judi Dench are reportedly in talks to join the musical spin on Federico Fellini's seminal film 8½.
But there are no hard feelings between Bardem and the Weinstein Co., which is producing the film.
"Javier personally asked me if we could move production to February, but we just couldn't do it," honcho Harvey Weinstein told Variety. "He is an amazing talent and I know we'll work together in the future, very soon."
We know they will, too. What Harvey wants, Harvey gets.
The Simpsons Movie Voted One of The Best Movies of All Time?
I, like most of America, saw The Simpsons Movie last weekend. An enjoyable film, with a lot of laughs, but still may-be 10 years too late. Most of the people I spoke with agreed that it was good but not great. My major complaint was that I wanted to see more of the film set in Springfield. I wanted to see more of the signature characters that we’ve all fallen in love with over the last 18 years.So I was shocked to find that the movie was voted as one of the best films of all time. Already?
Okay, to be fair, most new films with a built in fanboy audience immediately show up on the reader-voted Internet Movie Database top 250 movies of all time list. But as more people see the film, and more votes are counted, the film usually falls off the list completely (or at least into the 200’s). The Simpsons Movie made it’s debut on the list at around #33, which is a huge feat. The movie has since fallen to an 8.3 rating to be ranked as the #139th best movie of all time. That’s a couple points higher than such classics as Die Hard, The Princess Bride, The Graduate, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2, Dog Day Afternoon, Trainspotting, Groundhogs Day, Toy Story and Stand By Me. Also it must be noted that only votes from regular imdb voters are considered in the top 250, so first time fanboy voters trying to spike the rating aren’t put into consideration.
With 36,600 user votes, Simpsons seems to be holding its spot on the list. So the question is: Is The Simpsons Movie one of the best movies of all time? Does it deserve this placement?
Clint Eastwood admits Scorsese may win first Academy Award
Clint Eastwood believes that Martin Scorsese will finally claim the Academy Award he so rightfuly deserves, and beat him to the Best Director prize.
Two years ago Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby beat Scorsese’s The Aviator.
“He [Scorsese] probably has a good chance, there is a lot of sympathy for him, but I have no control over any of that. I always feel sorry … for the others, because there are other nominees and they’ve worked very hard on their projects, too. I don’t think any two people should be singled out.”
Scorsese has seven Oscar nominations but has yet to win a Best Director Oscar. This factoid is one of the most told jokes in Hollywood. But there are more than a few great directors who have been nominated but never won a competitive Oscar for directing:
- Alfred Hitchcock (5 nominations)
- Robert Altman (5 nominations)
- Stanley Kubrick (4 nominations)
- Federico Fellini (4 nominations)
- Ingmar Bergman (3 nominations)
- David Lynch (3 nominations)
- George Lucas (2 nominations)
- Orson Welles (1 nominations)
Altman, Hitchcock, Fellini, Bergman, Welles, and Lucas have all been awarded honorary Oscars.
Scorsese’s editor Thelma Schoonmaker claims that Scorsese often says “We should feel lucky we even get to make movies anymore,” of his lack of Academy recognition.
But this year may be the year. Scorsese is 1-5 favorite to win his first Academy Award, as well as Best Motion Picture.