Posts from — January 2008

The buzz for Juno continues to grow everyday it seems. The screenwriter, Diablo Cody, appeared on Letterman to plug the film and discuss her Oscar nomination. I wonder if Cody’s husband had a HDV camcorder (c’mon she certainly can afford one!) on hand to film her instant response to the nomination. It’s really a once-in-a-lifetime event. Stripper turned writer, turned screen writer, and next possibly Oscar winner? We’ll see, I suppose.

People also love the soundtrack seeing how music plays a pivotal role in the characterization of Juno. And could you believe it when The Moldy Peaches were on “The View” playing their song from the soundtrack? See video proof below:

I would have never expected to see that band featured on a show created by Barbara Walters. But the love for Juno seems hard to contain. I wonder if Cody thought this movie would become so popular. Regardless of her forethought, this movie is creeping into all forms of media, no doubt with a little help from the movie’s pr department.

The Oscar nominations came out yesterday, and for once I actually agree with most of their picks.

There Will Be Blood had a ton of nominations, which doesn’t bother me one bit since I absolutely loved it. Daniel Day Lewis gives a phenomenal performance as Daniel Plainview. He is a ruthless oil man, through and through. The cinematography was perfect, each frame meticulously captured. There are no shaky digital camcorders on Paul Thomas Anderson’s set. This movie proves that film can still create artful images.

Johnny Greenwood’s score helps pull you further into the film’s world. Suffice it to say I liked this film so much that I’ve even gone so far as to pester my parents to go see it. And that’s usually a lost cause since they rarely go to the movie theater.

No Country for Old Men had an equal amount of Oscar love with a best picture nomination as well. And then there was the surprise best picture nomination for Juno. It was a great film, and Ellen Page was perfect as the title character, but I would be shocked to see it win for best picture of the year.

Find a complete list of the nominations here.

Heath Ledger, Oscar-nominated actor, was found dead in a Manhattan apartment today.

He was only 28 years old, way too young to leave this world. This is really sad, a young person’s death always seems so unbelievable. When I heard the news via IM at work, I thought this was a horrible internet hoax. But sadly, after reading his obit on CNN, I had to accept that it was true. He is survived by his two year old daughter, Matilda.

No official word on the cause of death, but it seems drugs may have been a factor. Gothamist has man-on-the-street images of the scene on Broome street where Ledger died. Tons of news outlets and gossip sites armed with mini dv camcorders all vying to get a shot of the corpse. It’s seriously depressing that there is footage on TMZ of the police carrying out the body. I’m all about freedom of speech, but some things don’t need to be filmed in my opinion out of respect for the family.

The democratic and republican primaries are in full swing. I’ve been way behind on the issues until I discovered that you can get great online coverage from Current TV’s website. Everything they air on their channel can be accessed easily using the internet.

Current employs a citizen journalism approach to each primary, which basically means almost anyone armed with a video camera can have a say. Then, Current edits all the footage from these citizen journalists together with other segments to give you various aspects of whatever primary they are covering. Some of the episodes even include professional documentary segments. I remember enjoying a segment from the New Hampshire primary that focused on how America is viewed by people in other countries. The opinions were gathered by random representatives who simply walked around a city with a Sony camcorder interviewing whoever they wanted.

The channel also includes feedback from the viewer, which they call viewpoints. A viewer can send in a video response to a topic or episode using something as simple as a web cam. Anyone with a computer and web cam can tape a response, attach it to an email and send it into Current within minutes! Sometimes it’s a lot more interesting to listen to random people’s opinions then see the candidates’s endless debates.