silversolitaire

First we have Mr. Lee who is "shocked" by BBM not winning Best Picture.

Lee Shocked by 'Brokeback' Loss

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon director Ang Lee was devastated Brokeback Mountain lost out on the Best Picture Oscar to Crash, but insists he is still proud of the movie The director was disappointed that his film didn't take home the top honor and is baffled as to why it didn't win. He explains, "I would do exactly the same. I'm so proud of the movie. They (the Academy) didn't vote for it, I don't know (why)...I'm just glad the audience embraced it. It was a surprise (not winning), quite frankly." In addition to Lee's Oscar, the film also won awards for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Score.

[source]

As much as I enjoyed BBM and would have loved for it to take home every single award it had been nominated for, I think Ang Lee is being rather ungrateful here. He won Best Direction, for crying out loud. That's a valuable and prestigious award. Directing geniuses such as Martin Scorcese haven't even gotten one, so be grateful! This is a nod directed at you specifically. Why can't you be happy about that?

Talk about screwing up a good experience. Here is BBM, taking home three awards (which might be the best score, next to King Kong who also won three if I haven't lost count? How many did Geisha get? At any rate, it's one of the more successful movies at the Oscars) and instead of celebrating it and being damn relieved that the movie didn't turn into one of those that are being praised and heralded as the best picture evar and then leave the show with not a single golden guy in their hands, he goes around and says how devastated he is that he didn't won Best Picture. That's sad, Ang.

Clooney Inspired Real Life Character To Lose Weight

Actor/director George Clooney's role as "pudgy" CIA agent Bob Baer in Syriana inspired the real-life character to get in shape. Ocean's Eleven star Clooney, who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Baer, packed on the weight for his performance in the film. He explains, "The gentleman that I was playing in the movie, Bob Baer, was sort of pudgy and out of shape. I thought that was a pretty good thing. Then he found out a Hollywood guy was playing him, and he got in shape. It sort of screwed everything up for me."

[source]

Clooney was absolutely darling in the award show. He was so yummy and handsome, sitting there in the front row, smiling his mysterious smile. How can you not adore a man who's coveted by so many people, men and women, who acts out a skit where he's lying in bed with another man? And he was so sexy about that, too! *purrs* I also loved that one acceptance speech where the chick thanked the Academy for seating her next to Clooney in the luncheon! XD; But I digress. Ehem. Anyway, that's a bummer for him! Hehehe... amused me when I read that. But at least he recovered well!

Oscar Guests May Be Hit with Taxes

Guests who took home gift-packed bags from Sunday's 78th Annual Academy Awards ceremony may have to pay $30,000 in taxes on their new acquisitions. The bags, which included a $7,000 Victoria's Secret underwear set and a coupon for Lasik surgery, are worth approximately $100,000 each. And unfortunately for the celebrities present, the Unites States Inland Revenue Service has declared that the bags given to Oscar attendees count as taxable income. IRS commissioner Mark Everson quips, "We want to make sure the stars 'walk the line' when it comes to these goody bags."

[source]

That one makes me gloat as hell. I've never seen the point of these goodie bags in the first place. Why do you need to shower Oscar nominees with these kinds of gifts anyway, especially when they are totally unrelated to their nomination. It's just really opportunistic of them to rush at it like flies. Especially since these people earn a lot of money already to begin with. So it really pleases me that they might end up having to pay 30k in taxed for crap stuff they don't really want or need but just had to grab because it was freeeeeeeeee! *nyatch*

And now for something completely different, only remotely Oscar-related:

Lucas: "The Blockbuster Is Dead"

Movie mogul George Lucas predicts Hollywood will soon start shifting away from mega-budget blockbusters in favor of making more independent films for less money. Alongside Steven Spielberg, Star Wars creator Lucas is cited as being chiefly responsible for the blockbuster phenomenon that has gripped the movie industry for the last three decades. But he now believes big-budget films can no longer be profitable and are going out of fashion, as evidenced by this year's Academy Award nominees, including independent movies Crash and Good Night, And Good Luck. Lucas tells the New York Daily News, "The market forces that exist today make it unrealistic to spend $200 million on a movie. Those movies can't make their money back anymore. Look at what happened with King Kong. I think it's great that the major Oscar nominations have gone to independent films. Is that good for the business? No - it's bad for the business. But movie-making isn't about business. It's about art. In the future, almost everything that gets shown in theaters will be indie movies. I predict that by 2025 the average movie will cost only $15 million."

[source]

And here we have good old Mr. George Lucas singing the swan song of the blockbuster and whining about the movie genre being dead that he practically created. Okay okay, technically it was Stephen Spielberg but he certainly had a part in it. We can thank him for the invention of excessive merchandising, too. So now Mr. Lucas fears that filmmakers no longer can make obscenely expensive movies and earn a shitload of money with it. I wouldn't be surprised if this was yet another jab at movie piracy and the blossoming DVD market.

But it's not just that, Mr. Lucas! There are so many factors influencing this, like a general poor market situation. People go to the movies less often now because it just gets more and more expensive. There's the tickets which just keep getting expensive, popcorn, soda, parking etc. Most families can't afford going to the movies with their kids anymore because they need to cough up 50 bucks a pop. And honestly, Lucas is partly to blame for that. Remember when Episode I came in the theaters and Lucas was the first to introduce a minimum profit, asking for a set amount of money for every single ticket sold, thus scaring every theater owner into ending up losing thousands of dollars, jacking up the prices in the process. Thanks for that, btw. Our local theater never lowered the prices afterwards. So don't be such a hypocrite about that.

And then of course there's the fact that people no longer want to wait months for the damn movie to be released in their country. I remember, again, when Episode I was released it hit the theaters in the US in April and came to Europe around July / August. It was one of the first movies that was filmed secretly and distributed via the internet. People just no longer want to put up with this anymore. Thankfully moviemakers have mostly learnt their lesson and hurry up with the distribution now. But some people still goof up occasionally.

Anyway, it just strikes me as extremely whiney for George Lucas to complain about independent movies taking all the Oscars this year and the blockbusters staying behind. Hasn't that always been a trend? That's basically the core definition of a blockbuster movie. It's about special effects, about profits, sensations. It was never about the art of making movies. Blockbusters traditionally take the technical awards for sound, special effects etc. but hardly ever the prestigious ones. It's not that new. And there haven't been so many blockbusters this year to begin with. I mean, no more Lord of the Rings, Narnia wasn't really that good and did take the costumes award anyway, Harry Potter never gets any awards anyway and King Kong got a bunch. So what's your problem? *rolls eyes*

Something maantje might get a kick out of! :B

'Jurassic Park 4' To Begin Shooting Next Year?

Director Steven Spielberg will reportedly begin filming the fourth installment of Jurassic Park next year. The Munich director is also currently getting ready to resurrect the Indiana Jones franchise with Harrison Ford later this year. Producer Frank Marshall confirms the script for the next version of the dinosaur epic has been finalized: "It has a good script now, so we should have that one up and running next year, for release in 2008." The character of Lexie, the granddaughter of Sir Richard Attenborough's character, is expected to be the lead role in the new film, according to Moviehole.net.

[source]

And this one's particularily tasty.

Ledger Asks Gyllenhaal To Be Godfather

Heath Ledger is so close to his Brokeback Mountain co-star Jake Gyllenhaal, he has asked him to be Godfather to his four-month-old daughter Matilda. Gyllenhaal, whose turn in the movie earned him a Best Supporting Actor BAFTA on Sunday, credits the movie with building a unique bond between them. He says, "Heath and I are best friends now, making the film was very intense for us. I'm actually Godfather to Heath's daughter Matilda, which is an amazing honor."

[source]

Did you hear that sound? It's the squeal of thousands of slashgirls collectively going bananas.

OMG I just literally choked on my chocolate when I read that! *coughs and laughs*

First a Gay Cowboy Movie; Now a Gay Cowboy Song

The breakthrough gay-romance movie Brokeback Mountain may have produced a never-to-be-expected consequence in country music, as well. According to the Associated Press, country-music icon Willie Nelson on Tuesday (Valentine's Day) released what the wire service described as probably "the first gay cowboy song by a major recording artist." The song, "Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly (Fond of Each Other)" was made available on Apple's iTunes Music Store after first being played on Howard Stern's satellite radio show. A.P. did not indicate whether the recording will have a more general release. Nelson sings "He Was a Friend of Mine" on the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack.

[source]

"Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly (Fond of Each Other)"... ahahahaha... priceless. Does anybody know where I can listen to this song? *chuckles*

Oldman Axed from Harry Potter Film?

Actor Gary Oldman looks unlikely to reprise his role as Sirius Black in the next Harry Potter offering, after reports he has been mysteriously axed from the wizard franchise. Oldman, who has appeared in the last two movies adapted from JK Rowling's popular children's books, has yet to be signed for a third term - even though filming for Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix has already begun. The actor's manager, Douglas Urbanski, tells British newspaper The Sun, "You will be shocked to learn there are no plans for Gary to appear in the film. To say we are puzzled is an understatement at the very least! We are left with no choice but to pursue other employment for him." Vanessa Davis, spokeswoman for production company Warner Brothers, confirms no deal has been reached, but insists there is still time to resolve the confusion. She says, "With any film the priority is confirming the cast who will be on the set from the outset."

[source]

EDIT:

Aaaah, thank God! Apparently the rumor has been axed already two days ago and IMDB just is being slow on the uptake again. Thanks to eiluned for pointing that out! x_x; God, that would have been HORRible! Just when it had finally been confirmed that the original cast would be reprising the lead roles. I mean, there has been so much talk about how the main cast would be way too old by the time cameras would be rolling for OotP blablabla, so there was always this slight twinge of fear that the producers would totally lose it and recast the main cast. People have been known to do a lot more retarded things than that. Wouldn't it have been terrible now to either somehow, totally inexplicably, write out Sirius or replace Oldman?!? God, I don't even want to imagine it. Of course, there's always the slight possibility that there has been a development lately, but I'm willing to bet my shinies on IMDB just being slow. It has to be! O.O