Movie Marketing

The other day I was at Wal Mart browsing DVDs. There was the new release of P2, and on the cover it has a quote by Ebert, along with a 3 star rating.

3 stars. On the DVD cover. Did the marketing team not get the memo that movie ratings go up to 4 stars? Or, was there not a single 4 star rating of the film? Am I the only one who thinks someone messed up?

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This really is turning in to a 'movie blog,' as much as I don't want that to be the main content. . . .

I watched The Prestige yesterday, and thought it was fantastic. Christopher Nolan is a very competent director, and I'm becoming sort of a 'fan' for his flicks. Plus, Batman and Wolverine in the same movie?! Holy crap. Also, Michael Caine is one of the most talented actors. As Woody Allen said back in the day, Michael Caine is one of those few people who can do both comedy and drama, and do them well. A rare breed--he can do no wrong.

Tonight I saw The Ex for free in the theater, and it was mildly entertaining. Zach Braff plays, well, himself. I like Amanda Peet. This movie was, as expected, extremely formulaic. No curve balls, some lethargic scenes that could've easily been cut. This could've been a sweet forty minute episode of Scrubs, but instead it's ~90 minutes of frustration with the occasional quirky joke.

If you ever need a good laugh, read some of Ebert's reviews of terrible movies. His Zero Star reviews. Here's a couple hilarious ones: Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, Jaws the Revenge, and Freddy Got Fingered.

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Ebert and I disagree.

Ebert's Oscar picks are now up. I must say, I generally respect his opinion on movies. He definitely knows what he's talking about (obviously more-so than me, which is why he is famous and I'm only slightly less famous), but his Oscar predictions, other than predicting a few random upsets (i.e. 'Crash') are usually off.

The short version, here is what he says:

Best Actor - Prediction: Forest Whitaker, Preference: Peter O'Toole
Supporting Actor - Prediction: Eddie Murphy, Preference: Eddie Murphy
Best Actress - Prediction: Helen Mirren, Preference: Helen Mirren
Supporting Actress - Prediction: Jennifer Hudson, Preference: Jennifer Hudson

Foreign Film - Prediction: "Pan's Labyrinth", Preference: "Pan's Labyrinth"
Animated Film - Prediction: "Cars", Preference: "Monster House"
Original Screenplay - Prediction: "Babel", Preference: "Babel"
Adapted Screenplay - left out...
Best Director - Prediction: Martin Scorsese, Preference: "For reasons of tact, I prefer not to reveal my preference."
Best Picture - Prediction: "Babel", Preference: "Babel"

Babel? BABEL?! The only way I see this happening is if it wins the WGA tonight, which is pretty unlikely since its competition is Little Miss Sunshine and The Queen. If the former wins, it has a good shot at Picture, if the latter wins, it'll for sure win screenplay, and has a better shot at Picture as well (and pretty much knocks LMS out). Can Babel even win screenplay? If Babel doesn't win Screenplay, the only potential wins at the Oscars are Editing (which I don't think it will win either), and then Picture. And I honestly don't see it taking home the big prize with only two awards. Actually, I can imagine it, and it makes me pretty mad, and since the Academy likes to throw a few curve balls I almost expect this kind of joke. Why do I get so into this?

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