Yes, my icon is in honor of our new Best Supporting Actress

[cleolinda]

Tomorrow looks like it may be a busy day, so let's go ahead and deal with the linkspam pileup before it gets even worse:

Linkspam that somehow includes what I was doing at three in the morning:

Your 2008 Oscars in 120 Seconds [Putting Things To Bed]; Viggo Mortensen is Nominated, World Fails to Notice; Cotillard Fed Up With Talking About Herself; Do Not Disturb Diablo [The Morning After]; Biggest Oscar Travesty? (David Carr's answer: the musical categories); Oscar Nation Shrinks; Joan and Melissa Rivers Relegated To Podcasting Their Red Carpet Barbs; MTV Intern: My Night At The Oscars.

Also: Discuss: Help Pick a New Oscars Category. You know, I actually like the suggestion of Best Comedy, because comedy is so under-represented. Possibly Best Musical? Ten years ago a category like that wouldn't have been able to support itself, but nowadays we could probably drum up at least three nominees every year or so, as with Best Animated Feature. The one I was thinking about last night, although it verges a bit into MTV Movie Awards territory, is best action sequence. Or maybe Best Physical Action Sequence--I'm thinking here of choreographed fights, as opposed to car chases or CG sequences. I mean, you'd automatically have Eastern Promises and The Bourne Ultimatum in that category. There's a lot of work that actually goes into a good fight, a lot of choreography and design, a lot of training for the actors and often a lot of stunt work, not to mention the editing of the actual film, and you could even consider the sound effects that go into making fake punches sound painful.

Also? Best Computer-Generated Character (Performance?). I think this one will actually happen eventually, now that people are calming down from the hysteria of a few years ago and realizing that computerized characters aren't going to replace physical actors (although Robert Zemeckis seems hellbent on proving this wrong), but rather offer new opportunities to do new things and have fantastic interactions we couldn't have done ten years ago. I mean--Gollum, Dobby, Davy Jones, Aslan, Iorek and the daemons (have you heard my new band, Iorek and the Daemons?)--all kinds of fantasy creatures are available to us now (and I still feel like Andy Serkis and Bill Nighy in particular deserve awards of some kind). Anyhoo. Think about it, guys.

Writers overwhelmingly OK contract; Did writers show networks that networks don't really need them?

Ala. wind leaves 1 dead, 40,000 without power. Yeah, we had a scary-ass storm last night. I was kind of half-awake, tossing a bit, and all of a sudden there's this UNEARTHLY BLAST OF THUNDER and the house shakes and the power blinks on and off and my overhead light turns on and my computer turns off and my printer starts rumbling. It was, for about thirty seconds, like something out of Poltergeist. And then it stormed like hell for about an hour. It's funny--I'm not actually scared of storms themselves. I know a lot of people dig the rain, like listening to it and all, and I'm down with that. What spooks me is the idea that any of the electronics might get fried (which has happened before) or that one of the 500 skyscraping half-decrepit pine trees is going to come thudding down on the house (which has happened to a lot of people around here). So when we have a bad storm like that, we are literally in electronic and mortal peril. So I tend to get a little nervous.

Rove says he didn't interfere with Siegelman investigation; Who Cut Off '60 Minutes' in Alabama?

4.7-magnitude quake rattles England.

Pakistan causes worldwide YouTube outage.

Kremlin closes the European University at St. Petersburg.

Archeologists find 5,500-year-old plaza in Peru.

A "Reset Button" for the Brain Could Cure Alzheimers.

'Doomsday' seed vault opens in Norway.

Teens losing touch with historical references.

39-year-old man fails in attempt to pass as high school girl. Wait, what?

Anne Rice reviving Lestat. "Yes, I am contemplating one last novel involving the Vampire Lestat, and the Talamasca, the fictional organization I created years ago in the Vampire novels. The novel, if ever written, would be entirely Christian in framework and would involve Redemption. It would affirm my dedication to Christ and my belief in Him and my commitment to write only for Him." This is going to end well, I'm sure.

The Ebb and Flow of Box Office Receipts. This looks like a totally awesome graph. I mean, I think, because I can't make heads or tails of it.

Sarah Silverman was fucking Matt Damon; Jimmy Kimmel is fucking Ben Affleck (a clip that includes appearances from Brad Pitt, Harrison Ford, Don Cheadle, Joan Jett, Robin Williams, and Lance Bass. Yes, Harrison Ford); Now Elizabeth Banks is Fucking Seth Rogen (which one of these is not like the others?); Five Rules For Getting Ten Million Views With A Parody.

WonderCon: Complete Wrap-Up and Thoughts.

WonderCon: First X-Files 2 Footage Plus Duchovny and Anderson; X-Files Reunion Emotional; Carter Offers X-Files Hints.

Robert Pattinson Talks Cedric Diggory, Twilight Movie and More.

Yeah... they have kind of changed the plot of The Other Boleyn Girl. I mean, I guess it shakes out the same either way, and Peter Morgan's a good screenwriter, but it's kind of odd to me that he positions Anne as the sister who goes after the king first. I mean, to me, the point was that Anne gets or takes away everything that Mary wants (until Mary realizes that maybe it's all bullshit and she doesn't want any of it after all. That's pretty much the story in a nutshell); if you start it out with Mary taking something that Anne wants, it up-ends that a bit. The review is positive, though, singling out Natalie Portman for praise, and I'll watch pretty much anything if it's got fab costumes, so I'm not really vexed about it.

New hi-res Caspian pics! Yes, I actually deem this worthy of an exclamation point!

‘Bond’ Screenwriter Paul Haggis Has ‘No Idea’ What ‘Quantum Of Solace’ Means.

'Indy 4' To Debut at Cannes?

4th ‘Terminator’ film slated for May 2009. Yes, starring Christian Bale.

Related: Wall-E-nator Mashup Proves Cuteness May Destroy the Future. Also: 'WALL-E' Plays With Rubik's Cubes; New Wall-E Concept Art and Photos.

Damon and Greengrass to Return for 'Bourne 4.'

Johnny Depp doing 'Crooked Tree' next? "The book has been described as Jaws meets The Exorcist. And that's accurate, if you also throw in Poltergeist. Yes, it's a dreamy, terrifying blend. Bears attack. A woman is possessed. Native American folklore is key."

Jonathan Rhys Meyers Gets 'Shelter' from Julianne Moore.

A Bright Young Thing, Emperor Ming, and Rorschach Head to 'Shutter Island.'

Images from Scorsese's Stones Doc, 'Shine a Light.'

Smart's 99 [Anne Hathaway] Honors Feldon.

Could Smallville's Lex Luthor Be the New Freddy Krueger?

California 'Signal' Screening Interrupted By Multiple Stabbings.

Gondry Preps ‘Be Kind, Rewind’ Sequel, Starts Race War, Kills Dog.

What The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen Movie Could Have Been ['The Fall'] ("The Fall unites an unlikely band of steampunk-era heroes -- The Indian, The Ex-Slave, The Explosives Expert, The Masked Bandit, and Charles Darwin -- to fight a common enemy, Governor Odious").

McLovin Fights Back: "I'm completely different than the Vote for Pedro guy."

Comments

[pride4u2.livejournal.com]

Not another Bourne movie...no...I love these movies, but come on, there were only three books. I know they say there are five, but those last two just don't count for me. Because Ludlum didn't write them.

[eleigh.livejournal.com]

The way I look at it, the other 3 movies aren't all that similar to the books as it is so I see a 4th Bourne movie as another chance for me to ogle Matt Damon while he's running around kicking ass.

[angevin2.livejournal.com]

I've thought for a while that there should be an Oscar category for "best performance by an ensemble" or something along those lines.

Which I see someone in that thread has suggested, but it's a sound enough idea. I recall that there's one awards ceremony that has that, mostly because Lord of the Rings won it at said ceremony (I don't remember which part of LotR, but I used to be much more invested in this sort of thing).

[library-of-sex.livejournal.com]

I'm not really interested in the Terminator series, not even the new TV program, but I may just watch for CB!

[girlalmighty]

Wow, that was fast. Fox has already yanked the footage from that X-Files article. Still, it's pretty awesome getting a look at what's ahead.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

What I heard was that it was kind of crappy--not that the movie will be, but that they may not have had anything really worth showing yet. So I don't know that you're missing anything (I didn't watch it on purpose after I heard that).

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

Annie Popplewell has become fabulously beautiful. Meanwhile, I want me a Caspian.

[delle.livejournal.com]

I caught a bit of someone promoting The Other Bolyn Girl - and I was like ??BWAH???? Anne is now the older sister? She goes after the King first? Mary then takes the King? Wasn't the entire point of the novel that Mary is the Good Daughter, the one without ambition, who does what she is told and is both ignored and scorned by her siblings, who do what THEY want - and then Mary is the only one alive at the end?

I mean, I know we don't know that much about Mary, but if the movie is supposed to be based on the book, shouldn't the basic facts of the book be in the movie?

That said, I ADORE costume dramas, and all historical fiction movies and will happily watch the whole thing and will probably buy it when it comes out...

[lylassandra.livejournal.com]

Not that the book concerned itself much with facts, at least from what I've heard... but again, yay costumes!

[celticangel76.livejournal.com]

I would love to see a distinction in certain catagories we have already. Like costume. It should be like screenwriting is. There's a catagory for a screenplay based on a previous work and one for original screenplay. There should be Original Costume (like those in LOTR, POTC, etc) and one for costumes based on historical references - like Elizabeth. Sorry but if you can look in a book and recreate the costume from that it's not nearly as impressive as coming up with something totally on your own.

Bale in T4? Oooooo

Rosenbaum as Freddy? Okay I would rather see Englund but if I HAVE to have someone else.... I think he could pull it off. Or come close at least.

[pscopathictiger.livejournal.com]

The first 30 minutes of Be Kind Rewind were disappointing.

[pakela.livejournal.com]

I thought the whole of Be Kind Rewind was disappointing.

[tabbyclaw.livejournal.com]

Am I reading the WGA contract info correctly that there's been no change to the DVD residuals?

[foresthouse.livejournal.com]

Your light turned on? That really is kind of Poltergeist-y. I haven't heard of that happening before.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the fan turned off and the light turned on. Happens any time we have a power surge/outage.

[callmesyd.livejournal.com]

We caught the end of that storm here in Atlanta at OhChristO'clock in the morning. The storm sirens woke me up.

I looked outside and everything was quiet, so I turned to local weatherman Flip Spiceland (no, really. FLIP SPICELAND.) for info. MY WHAT A PRETTY RED LINE ABOUT THE LAND ON MY HEAD AAAAAH OH GOD OH GOD

The creepy thing, though, is how brief it was. Sure, we had the ZOMGRAIN and the FLOODLAMP-y lightning... but all of the thunder, even when it was instantaneous, was quiet and rolling, not the krackaKOOMs that steal years off of my life. And there was no wind. At ALL. Which was great, because we have tons of big tall wobbly trees in our neighborhood, too, and it isn't rare to hear the occasional muffled thumpBOOM of one landing on a house elsewhere in the neighborhood.

It was all over within five minutes. It was really, really bizarre.

[bookwoman84.livejournal.com]

I turned to local weatherman Flip Spiceland (no, really. FLIP SPICELAND.) for info.

Thank you for validating the fact that I'm not crazy, and Flip Spiceland actually does exist. I used to see him all the time on CNN International when I was a kid, but I was usually half-asleep or not really listening, so I was never sure if his name really was Flip Spiceland, or it was all a product of my overactive imagination.

[kismeteve.livejournal.com]

Skandar! Georgie!

[msilverstar]

I'm with you on Comedy, they always shortchange the genre. Also, Ensemble Cast and you know why, but it's not just LOTR where that fits. Gosford Park would have got it, and a bunch of others.

ETA: WTF with The Other Boleyn Girl? I mean, why take a historical story and screw with it like that???

[unheardpublic.livejournal.com]

1. Skandar Keynes *drooooooooooooooool*
2. The Fall *equally drool-able*
3. Thank God I'm smarter than a 17 year old.
4. Jimmy Kimmel's video beats them all. That was f*cking hilarious.
5. As always, Cleo, love what you do, so keep doing. ^_^

[jwaneeta.livejournal.com]

"Yes, I am contemplating one last novel involving the Vampire Lestat, and the Talamasca, the fictional organization I created years ago in the Vampire novels. The novel, if ever written, would be entirely Christian in framework and would involve Redemption. It would affirm my dedication to Christ and my belief in Him and my commitment to write only for Him."

As an ex-nun I feel I should do the charitable thing and avert my eyes, but I'm so going to buy this.

Oddly, I don't feel my Catholic-Ex-Catholic-Resurgent-Catholic Paroxysms of Faith are something I want to commit to page and share with a breathlessly waiting world, but then I'm not a genius like Anne Rice.

[tonks07.livejournal.com]

Ooo,some fun links here.I'll make list like comments:

I haven't gotten around to reading The Other Bolyen Girl but I liked Wideacre. Would you recommend the book? I'll definately be seeing the movie though.

The Twilight books always seems to sound like some wierd fan fiction of a cross between Anne Rice and Dracula books. In other new Anne Rice's new Lestat/Jesus book has me both excited and scared for what might happen.

Yea! Caspian pictures! I don't remember Susan meeting Caspian like that but I'm still so excited for this movie.

And that The Fall movie looks like it could be interesting...so why can't I find it online? More links about it plz?

[mysticowl.livejournal.com]

How about Best Choreography rather than Best Physical Action Sequence? It would probably mostly be action movies with fight sequences plus costume dramas with mass dancing sequences.

[sapphires13.livejournal.com]

Dammit Anne Rice, just stop it. You've alienated your fans enough already.


Also, I'm Fucking Matt Damon/I'm Fucking Ben Affleck are both awesome and hilarious.... but everything else, no matter how inventive, is just going to come across as a poor imitation.

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

Did you notice that the tune to the first one -- the one with Sarah Silverman -- was Pachelbel's Canon? (And if you haven't heard the Pachelbel Rant (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM) video, now's the time.)

[enid-keaner.livejournal.com]

As much as I like pretty costumes, I'm not seeing "The Other Boleyn Girl." I read the book on the recommendation of a friend and dear God, did I absolutely HATE it. I have never wanted to rip the pages out of a book and burn them before. But I totally wanted to with that one. It sits on my bookshelf back in VA and when I'm down there, it mocks the hell out of me. I'd never harm a book though, so I'm not sure what to do with it.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I don't know why I love it, but I do. I always admit up front that it's like a trashy novel for history buffs. I think my real weakness is that I love reading about the way people lived, so I got sucked in.

[mercat.livejournal.com]

ohmygod the jimmy kimmel videos. Thank you for linking them! They kind of made my life.

now I must find good downloadable versions...

[kosher-jenny.livejournal.com]

As far as the Oscar thing goes, stuntmen/women (stunt people?) have been trying to get their own category for a while now, to no avail. So that would be my first choice, either Best Stuntman, or something like Best Choreography. Although they do have their awards show, the Taurus World Stunt Awards, which was on last summer and was sooo much better than the Oscars. If the Academy Awards had included Parkour experts, sword fights, and models on fire I would have tuned in this year, is all I'm sayin'.

I am unsure about the announcement of a new Bourne movie. I mean, the other three movies are all amazingly great movies, so I wonder if they could keep that level of quality going for a forth one. But on the other hand, Greengrass is returning, so it's hard to keep myself from being excited.

[nimlotbradamant.livejournal.com]

I didn't honestly think much of the Jimmy Kimmel retaliation clip.

Oh, but THEN I saw Harrison Ford...

Woe. My brain nearly fried when it saw the first one with my favourite good-boy in it...

[melayka.livejournal.com]

That guy in the Fall, the one that's telling the story to the girl - is that Ned the Pie Maker? I really think so, but I can't totally tell.

[syneblue.livejournal.com]

YES! IMDB confirmed my inclination for much bouncing and squealing about the Pie making masked bandit. As if I didn't already have enough reasons to want to see this movie.

[ter369.livejournal.com]

Yaye! More Anne Rice wank due!!

[wirrrn.livejournal.com]

Biggest Oscar no-no: Snubbing Brad Renfro in the Remembrance Montage...

Michael Rosenbaum as Freddy Krueger? Meh, he's good, but he's not worthy of wearing Rovert Englund's Xmas Sweater. Plus Warner Bros actors and Remakes of Classic Creepies almost always tend to equal the dreaded PG-Horror phenomenon....