Oscar-winner Norbit? I couldn't make this up

Now I didn't bother to see "Norbit," a k a Eddie Murphy's ultra-classy career move directly after getting his first acting Oscar nomination, but believe it or not - if you look deep enough - you'll indeed find it buried in Tuesday's Oscar nominations.

Facing off with the folks behind the maquillage in "La Vie en Rose" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" in the Achievement in Makeup category, Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji have a solid chance of walking away with one of those little statues primarily for, well, putting Eddie Murphy in a fat suit. Sheesh.

In much better news about a much more worthy nominee, cinematographer Roger Deakins has pulled off an impressive double dip that we haven't seen since 1971.

The cinematographer's nominations for "No Country for Old Men" and "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" are the first double in the category since Robert Surtees was nominated for "The Last Picture Show" and "Summer of '42."

Nominated five times previous to this year, Deakins is best known as the primary cinematographer for the Coens, having filmed nine of their movies thus far (and how in the world did he not win an Oscar for the wild look of "O Brother Where Art Thou?"), but among his other various credits you'll also find great flicks like John Sayles' "Passion Fish," Frank Darabont's "Shawshank Redemption" and Martin Scorsese's "Kundun."

This year, his competition comes from (besides himself): Seamus McGarvey for "Atonement," Janusz Kaminski for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" and Robert Elswit for "There Will Be Blood."

Of those, I haven't seen "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" or "The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford," and "There Will Be Blood" certainly had a singular look to it, but no movie left a stronger or longer-lasting visual impression on me in 2007 than "No Country for Old Men," so here's hoping this artist finally gets the recognition he clearly deserves.

New hope for an end to the strike?

"Ironic" is a term I've tried to stop using too often because I'm fairly certain I use it incorrectly, but it would certainly seem to fit the latest development in the WGA strike.

As the scribes have stood strong in the picket line, the leeches who produce reality TV have jumped into the void with zeal, filling my TV set with simply unwatchable crap. Now, in what can only be called fair play in my book, it seems that in informal talks Tuesday that will hopefully lead to solid negotiations, the writers have dropped a demand to unionize the folks who create reality fare (the fine folks in the animated division apparently got cut loose too, unfortunately.)

And in another hopefully promising development, both sides have agreed to a "news blackout" until some deal can be reached. Now, people, can't we all just get along?

Why is this advertised at my multiplex?

For at least three months now there has been a poster at one of my local multiplexes, the AmStar 16 (or The Grand, or whatever it's called now), for "The Hunting Party," a flick which I've wanted to see for a long time.

So, imagine my surprise when, surveying this week's DVD releases, I found the Richard Shepard flick starring Terrence Howard, Richard Gere and Jesse Eisenberg (of "The Squid and the Whale.") In the serio-comedy, the trio embarks on an unauthorized mission to find the No. 1 war criminal in Bosnia and gets mistaken for a CIA hit squad.

Now, I'm very happy I'll finally get to see this flick, which has just been moved to the top of my (fully stocked, thanks to the readers of this site) Netflix queue, but is it too much to ask that the poster promising its mythic big-screen appearance in Macon be taken down? Peace out.

Oscar predictions: Just how wrong can I be?

On the odd chance that I somehow do get these mostly right, be assured that I did indeed type this in early Tuesday morning, well before the actual nominations were announced on the TV. And though I have no idea which celebrity will help with the announcing, here's hoping it's someone with even a tenth the charm of last year's Salma Hayek (and please, God forbid, not John Travolta in a fat suit and drag.)

So, without further ado, here are my predictions for seven of the top categories, along with, in some cases, which names you would be hearing if I ruled the world.

Best Picture
"There Will Be Blood"
"No Country for Old Men"
"Atonement"
"Sweeney Todd"
"Juno"

If I ruled the world: My picks for the top five movies of 2007, whittled down from the top 10, are: "Into the Wild," "No Country for Old Men," "Once," "Ratatouille" and "The Savages," and as I've stated in this space many times, my imaginary vote would be loudly for "Ratatouille" as the big winner.

Note: Unlike the academy, I always think the directors of all the Best Picture nominees should be automatically nominated for Best Director, so I would predict the nominees will be Paul Thomas Anderson, Joel & Ethan Coen, Joe Wright, Tim Burton and Jason Reitman.

Best Actress:
Keira Knightley, "Atonement"
Helena Bonham Carter, "Sweeney Todd"
Ellen Page, "Juno"
Julie Christie, "Away from Her"
Laura Linney, "The Savages"

If I ruled the world: Marketa Irglova's sublime performance as "The Girl" in "Once" would definitely be on the above list.

Best Actor:
Daniel Day Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"
Johnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd"
James McAvoy, "Atonement"
Denzel Washington, "American Gangster"
George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"

If I ruled the world: It's hard to argue with Lewis, who I'd have to call the prohibitive favorite in this category, but I'd also love to see Emile Hirsch in "Into the Wild," Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men"(supporting actor my ass!), Chris Cooper for "Breach" and, yes, why not Micheal Cera for "Superbad" on this list too. Comedies need love too, after all.

Supporting Actress:
Saoirse Ronan, "Atonement"
Kelly Macdonald, "No Country for Old Men"
Ruby Dee, "American Gangster"
Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"
Allison Janney, "Juno"

If I ruled the world: I think this is easily the strongest category this year, and can't quibble with any of these if they are indeed the nominees. My money would be on Ruby Dee to win, but if there could be more than five nominees I'd love to see Catherine Keener for "Into the Wild" and Jennifer Jason Leigh for "Margot at the Wedding" each get some props.

Supporting Actor:
Hal Holbrook, "Into the Wild"
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, "Charlie Wilson's War"
Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"
Tom Wilkinson, "Michael Clayton"
Paul Dano, "There Will Be Blood"

If I ruled the world: I'd have to predict Bardem will win this one fairly easily, but I'd still say no one defined the role of supporting actor better in 2007 than Holbrook, who just took over "Into the Wild" for the short time he was on screen. I would also nominate Robert Downey Jr. for "Zodiac" and, heartily, Peter O'Toole for the voice of Anton Ego in "Ratatouille."

Adapted Screenplay:
"There Will Be Blood," Paul Thomas Anderson (novel by Upton Sinclair)
"No Country for Old Men," Joel & Ethan Coen (novel by Cormac McCarthy)
"Atonement," Christopher Hampton (novel by Ian McEwan)
"Into the Wild," Sean Penn (novel by Jon Krakauer)
"Kite Runner," David Benoiff (novel by Khaled Hosseini)

If I ruled the world: Though it won't happen, I'd love to see some love for Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud for adapting Satrapi's graphic novels into the fine flick "Persepolis."

Original Screenplay:
"Juno," Diablo Cody
"The Savages," Tamara Jenkins
"Michael Clayton," Tony Gilroy
"American Gangster," Steven Zaillian*
"Waitress," Adrienne Shelly
* This was actually adapted from a newspaper article by Mark Jacobson, so may not qualify in this category.

If I ruled the world: A final plea, sure to fall on deaf ears, for some recognition for "Ratatouille," here for the often-magical script by Brad Bird.

And there you have it. I'll update this today if I have time, but if not, please feel free to add your two cents in the comments, and believe me, no amount of venom for the Academy is forbidden today. Peace out.

There will be blood - on an epic scale

Paul Thomas Anderson is a truly maddening filmmaker to me.

He's managed to make two of my favorite flicks in "Boogie Nights" and "Hard Eight," but also two other that just drive me crazy. I still have no idea what he was going for with "Magnolia," even though I forced myself to watch it a second time to see if there was somehow something I missed (there wasn't.) And "Punch Drunk Love," despite the best efforts of Adam Sandler and Emily Watson, was only intermittenly charming at best.

But what all his movies have, whether you like them or not, is passion. He clearly throws himself into his projects completely, which means it can often take a short lifetime for him to make a movie (it's been five years since his last, "Punch Drunk Love.") Now, however, he finally seems to have found a subject epic enough to fit his talents and an actor who similarly gives everything he has to each performance.

Due early in 2008, "There Will Be Blood" is based on the Upton Sinclair novel "Oil," which I will be reading before this comes out. Set in the booming West coast oil fields at the turn of the 20th century, it will star Daniel Day Lewis as rugged prospector Daniel Plainview, who becomes an independent oilman after hitting it rich with the strike of a lifetime. I hope this plays wide enough for me to see it, or is playing in some kind of limited run when I hit NYC for my family's annual trip at year's end, because this just looks like the perfect melding of subject, director/writer and actor. Here's the poster and a glimpse of what's to come with the trailer (I concede that this may be months old to some of you, but it's new to me, so here goes):



More "Jackass"? Yes, please

Surely there have been greater crimes of omission than teasing us with Don DeVito getting his tooth pulled by a truck in the trailer for "Jackass Number Two" and then not including it anywhere in the movie or DVD, but that was one that really grated my cheese. Now, however, it seems that lovers of that and all other kinds of jackassery will soon get more.

According to the great /film blog, Johnny Knoxville and the boys are filming new scenes to add to the 40 minutes or so of leftover footage from "Number Two" to make a "Jackass 2.5" in time for a straight-to-DVD Christmas release. And yes, they promise the infamous tooth pull will indeed be included.

Wiest joins the 'Jezebel'

I can't think of a midseason replacement show I've tuned in to since, well, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," but "The Return of Jezebel James" is one I'll definitely give more than one chance.

After all, it's the new series from "Gilmore Girls" creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and hubby Daniel Palladino. This time they've cooked up a half-hour sitcom for Fox about two estranged sisters (Parker Posey and Lauren Ambrose), one of whom (I'm not sure which) just happens to be carrying the other's baby. Now comes word that the always very likable Dianne Wiest will be joining the cast in a recurring role as their mother. Extremely girly, yes, but it will hopefully also be thoroughly entertaining.

A golden opportunity from the Film Guild

The Macon Film Guild has been bringing arthouse flicks to the big screen here in Macon for years now, but they've really hit a high point with their next two screenings.

It starts this weekend with "The Lives of Others," which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. I was all set to rent this on DVD to see how it could have possibly beat out my favorite movie of 2006, "Pan's Labyrinth," when I got the guild postcard and decided to hold out.

The movie, as far as I can tell, is about a Stasi agent (the late Ulrich Muhe) who is charged with spying on the private lives of German citizens until he finds out some unseemly truths about the people he's spying for and has second thoughts. I'm surely not doing it justice, so come out and see for yourself at the Douglass Theatre. Screenings will be at 2 and 4:30 p.m. Saturday and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Hopefully I'll see you there at the first show.

Coming next month will be "The Wind that Shakes the Barley," Ken Loach's IRA movie starring Cillian Murphy (not Ciaran Hinds, as I posted earler before being corrected by always-welcome reader Carrie Lofty.) It won the Palme D'Or at Cannes, and like all of Loach's movies, will certainly be a very entertaining piece of agitprop. Mark your calendar for screenings on the second Sunday of October. Peace out.