Hollywood’s Cyrstal Ball

Before I get back to the all-important most date-able TV characters list (soon, I promise!), I’d like to briefly dissect this ridiculous piece by Mike LaSalle.

He poses a question: Did the Hollywood films of 2008 predict the economic collapse of 2008? Instead of just answering “No” and moving on to something — anything — else, LaSalle wrote this:

It would be too neat to say that 2008’s movies explicitly anticipated the financial crisis, but a recurring theme of civic catastrophe haunted the year, repeatedly telling us that something wasn’t right, that things had spun out of control and that our institutions were on the brink of systemic failure.

How on earth is this theme unique to the films of 2008? Has LaSalle seen any other movie released, well, in any other year? His evidence:

This theme crossed genres and fueled movies of varying quality. “Eagle Eye” was a likable but silly action ride, in which an all-knowing computer creates havoc and comes within one second of wiping out the entire U.S. government. “Blindness” showed how helpless our society might be in the face of a sudden epidemic. “City of Ember,” a futuristic fantasy, depicted a postapocalyptic underground society, days away from collapse, run by greedy, shortsighted government officials. “WALL-E,” an animated postapocalyptic fantasy, depicted an Earth wiped out by pollution, in which survivors lived on a spaceship.

I can play this game too.  Live Free or Die Hard (2007) was a likeable but silly action ride, in which a human hacker creates havoc and comes within one second of wiping out the entire U.S. government. Children of Men (2006) showed how helpless our society might be in the face of a sudden epidemic.  V for Vendetta (2006), a futuristic fantasy, depicted a dystopian society run by greedy, shortsighted government officials.  Apocalypto (2006) depicted an entire civilization wiped out by pollution.

Why Christopher Nolan Is the Best Contemporary Film Director

Besides of course being 6-for-6 in feature films (if you haven’t seen his debut film, Following, watch it immediately).

From USA Today (emphasis mine):

Many consider Heath Ledger, who died of a prescription overdose on Jan. 22, a shoo-in for a supporting-actor nomination. But fans won’t find much more of Ledger’s Joker in DVD extras. There are features on the staging of the film’s elaborate stunts, alternate angles and a segment on the technology behind Batman’s gadgets, but not a single deleted scene or outtake from Ledger’s performance.

Nolan says he wasn’t keeping deleted scenes from fans. “For my past three films, I really haven’t had scenes that didn’t make it in the movie,” he says. “If it’s in the final script, I tend put it on screen.”

Few things anger me more than a surplus of deleted scenes — and especially, alternate endings — on a DVD.  There’s typically a reason they were cut in the first place.  The only exceptions I can think of are Christopher Guest or Judd Apatow movies, where deleted scenes might still be funny in their own right but perhaps don’t serve the film’s narrative.

Though he isn’t signed for a third film Batman flick, Nolan says he has started outlining possible story ideas:

“It was obvious when the box office was so big ($530 million domestically) that we had underestimated how ready fans were to reboot the franchise,” he says. “The worst thing you could do now that you’ve gotten the plane back in the air is mess up the landing.“

I’m obviously not alone in hoping Nolan makes a third film.  What’s important is that he gets it right, and he seems determined to do just that.

Hat tip: BOF

For Your Consideration

Despite the awful winners, stupid rules, and boring telecasts, I’m a sucker for the Oscars.  And so I always get excited this time of year when awards buzz picks up, even though I’m typically unable to see most of the movies nominated.

Most interesting to me: the “For Your Consideration” sites the studios put online to promote their films to Academy voters.  Typically, these sites at minimum list showtimes for special screenings so voters can get another chance to see the films on the big screen.

Of course, those screenings are only for the some 6000 Academy members who get to vote.  So what do these sites offer the rest of us?

Besides the immense pleasure we get from learning that Disney is actively campaigning to get High School Musical 3 a Best Picture nomination (check for yourself if you don’t believe me), we get access to free, legit PDFs of many great screenplays.  Many of the sites also sample potential contenders for Best Original Score.

Since there doesn’t appear to be a single list for available scripts, I thought I’d compile what I found here (Note: this list may be incomplete, and I may update it as more screenplays become available).  Broken down by studio:

Walt Disney Studios is campaigning on behalf of Bolt, Miracle at St. Anna, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Wall-E, and the aforementioned HSM:3.  The only available screenplay is Wall-E, which has a pretty good shot at getting a nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

Miramax Films highlights Doubt and Happy-Go-Lucky, but neither have scripts uploaded.

Universal Pictures has scripts up for Changeling (original) and Frost/Nixon (adapted).  The studo is also promoting Mamma Mia! and The Tale of Despereaux.

Focus Features is pushing Burn After Reading (an original script by Oscar faves the Coen brothers) and Milk (original).

Warner Bros., no surprise here, is working hard to make sure The Dark Knight gets the recognition it deserves.  The only other film WB is promoting is Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino, but the script is not yet available online.

Paramount Pictures (with Dreamworks and Dreamworks Animation) has a fairly bare site, with just screening information for Indiana Jones IV, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar 2, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Tropic Thunder.  No scripts are currently available, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they eventually put up Benjamin Button.  If it isn’t available here, Warner Bros. (which is handling international distribution) is promising to upload it onto its BAFTA site.

Paramount Vantage has scripts up for The Duchess and Defiance (both adapted).  The adapted screenplay for Revolutionary Road will likely appear eventually as well.

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UPDATE 11/25/08