RIP: James Horner

Academy Award-winning composer James Horner has died, according to multiple news outlets. James Horner was piloting his small plane when it was being reported as having crashed in California. Sad news for film today.

James Horner is probably best known to film audiences as the composer for the film Titanic; for which he won an Oscar. Along with composing the score, James Horner also wrote the song "My Heart Will Go On", which also won an Oscar for Best Song. Surprisingly, Titanic is the only film in James Horner's entire catalog of film scores and songs that ever won him an Oscar.

My personal favorite scores from James Horner, though were early in his career. I grew up watching the film Commando and love the instrumental score that James Horner brought to the film. It's unique and distinctive. Though sounding similar to Commando, the score for 48 Hrs. is another instrumental score that I really enjoy. The scores for these 2 films really invoke a character shot into what could have been just run-of-the-mill action films.

Though not even garnering an Oscar nomination, James Horner's work on the 1989 film Glory is a personal favorite of mine. The score uses some of James Horner's most familiar tropes, but comes together into a very classy score with some added bravura for good measure. Especially outstanding is the track "Charging Fort Wagner" wherein the heroes make their last charge. The track evokes so much all the emotion that has been building throughout the film and really provides the listener with something to remember the film by.

Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn't mention, what could possibly be, James Horner's most iconic work: Aliens. Composed with the urgency that James Cameron shot Aliens with, the score to Aliens is frantic, yet never really feels cluttered. James Horner was interviewed for Aliens about his score and he mentioned that he did not want to work with James Cameron again as he was put under extreme pressure to complete the score in a short period of time. James Horner may not have enjoyed the conditions to making the score of Aliens, but he delivered one of the most iconic film scores of all time; including the track "Bishop's Countdown" which is a staple for many film trailers.

1953-2015

RIP: Bob Hoskins

Never known as my favorite actor, but always an actor I would enjoy, Bob Hoskins passed away recently after suffering pneumonia.

My first experience with Bob Hoskins' performance came from his supporting turn in the Terry Gilliam's "Brazil" as Spoor, a Central Services Worker. Not a starring role, but certainly a memorable one which would lead to many more in a long career.

His most well-known role would come not much later as the role of Eddie Valliant in Robert Zemeckis' "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" in 1988. Me being young an impressionable when first watching "Roger Rabbit" initially thought Bob Hoskins was always just a gruff-sounding American based off his portrayal of Eddie, even after I had seen "Brazil". It's an amazing performance of comedic timing and the ability to work seamlessly during a time when special effects were much more difficult to bring to life on film. It really is a sham that Bob Hoskins was not nominated for Best Actor for this performance.

Moving through the 1990's, Bob Hoskins made many memorable, if somewhat forgettable, appearances in major Hollywood films including: Hook, Nixon, Michael and Super Mario Bros. I wont dwell too much on Super Mario Bros. as Bob Hoskins has stated in interviews that the film was the worst experience he had and that he considered the film a "piece of shit". That may be the case, but his performance as Mario is not the worst thing in that movie.

Recently, Bob Hoskins announced that he was suffering from Parkinson's Disease and would be retiring from making films. His last film given to us was the 2012 fantasy film "Snow White and the Huntsman".

Bob Hoskins gave us many years of interesting Hollywood and small films to choose from including his role as a London gangster in "The Long Good Friday" his role as Nikita Khrushchev in "Enemy at the Gates" and his Oscar-nominated performance as a driver in "Mona Lisa". Gone, but not forgotten, Bob Hoskins left behind a legacy that will continue onward for many years.

The 85th Annual Academy Awards: Nominations & Thoughts

So the nominations for the 85th Annual Academy Awards have been released, and like usual with me, there are more snubs than joyous feelings. Even with the solid slate of really good Hollywood films, judging by the nominations, this feels like it might be another film where the Academy goes for smaller films.

Yes, Lincoln did get the most nominations out of every film, but other films that should have scored some nominations didn't. Ben Affleck lost out on what seemed to be a sure thing directing nomination for Argo along with John Goodman for supporting actor. Alan Arkin was fun in Argo, but John Goodman, out of all the supporting actors, felt like he should have secured a nomination.

Not surprisingly, The Master was only nominated for acting categories. As a film that polarizes every viewer, I am at least glad the Academy still offered nominations to Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams.

Robert De Niro and his return to being an Oscar contender in Silver Linings Playbook. It is always a welcome sight when a veteran actor comes out of the doldrums of awful films and returns with a solid performance.

Samuel L. Jackson's turn as a house slave in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained missed a nomination, which I feel might be the biggest snub of the year. His role and performance were damn good and a shame that it was overlooked. Also overlooked was a directing nomination for Quentin Tarantino. This is not as surprising, but still a snub.

Also missing was Kathryn Bigelow's directing nomination for Zero Dark Thirty. For a film that has been in the press a lot and getting a lot of critical love, this feels more like a political move than providing the correct nominee. Politics at the Oscars? Who knew!

And Tom Hooper didn't get nominated for Les Miserables. He must only get nominated when David Fincher does, so he can steal away David Fincher's Oscar. (Sorry, sore spot for me.)

So anyway, below are all the nominations for the 85th Annual Academy Awards. From what was nominated, I now think that Lincoln is the obvious front runner. The Academy hasn't shown Steven Spielberg love in a while, and this might be his year again. Beyond that, it seems small movies again run wild throughout the nominees, which can be a good thing. It just feels like some films that could have had a chance to compete with Lincoln (Zero Dark Thirty and Argo come specifically to mind) have lost a lot of steam with the nominations that were announced.

We will find out, though, on February 24th, when Seth MacFarlane hosts the Oscar ceremony.


Performance by an actor in a leading role
*   Bradley Cooper in "Silver Linings Playbook"
*   Daniel Day-Lewis in "Lincoln"
*   Hugh Jackman in "Les Miserables"
*   Joaquin Phoenix in "The Master"
*   Denzel Washington in "Flight"


Performance by an actor in a supporting role
*   Alan Arkin in "Argo"
*   Robert De Niro in "Silver Linings Playbook"
*   Philip Seymour Hoffman in "The Master"
*   Tommy Lee Jones in "Lincoln"
*   Christoph Waltz in "Django Unchained"


Performance by an actress in a leading role
*   Jessica Chastain in "Zero Dark Thirty"
*   Jennifer Lawrence in "Silver Linings Playbook"
*   Emmanuelle Riva in "Amour"
*   Quvenzhané Wallis in "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
*   Naomi Watts in "The Impossible"


Performance by an actress in a supporting role
*   Amy Adams in "The Master"
*   Sally Field in "Lincoln"
*   Anne Hathaway in "Les Miserables"
*   Helen Hunt in "The Sessions"
*   Jacki Weaver in "Silver Linings Playbook"


Best animated feature film of the year
*   "Brave" Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
*   "Frankenweenie" Tim Burton
*   "ParaNorman" Sam Fell and Chris Butler
*   "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" Peter Lord
*   "Wreck-It Ralph" Rich Moore


Achievement in cinematography
*   "Anna Karenina" Seamus McGarvey
*   "Django Unchained" Robert Richardson
*   "Life of Pi" Claudio Miranda
*   "Lincoln" Janusz Kaminski
*   "Skyfall" Roger Deakins


Achievement in costume design
*   "Anna Karenina" Jacqueline Durran
*   "Les Miserables" Paco Delgado
*   "Lincoln" Joanna Johnston
*   "Mirror Mirror" Eiko Ishioka
*   "Snow White and the Huntsman" Colleen Atwood


Achievement in directing
*   "Amour" Michael Haneke
*   "Beasts of the Southern Wild" Benh Zeitlin
*   "Life of Pi" Ang Lee
*   "Lincoln" Steven Spielberg
*   "Silver Linings Playbook" David O. Russell


Best documentary feature
*   "5 Broken Cameras"
Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi
*   "The Gatekeepers"
Nominees to be determined
*   "How to Survive a Plague"
Nominees to be determined
*   "The Invisible War"
Nominees to be determined
*   "Searching for Sugar Man"
Nominees to be determined


Best documentary short subject
*   "Inocente"
Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
*   "Kings Point"
Sari Gilman and Jedd Wider
*   "Mondays at Racine"
Cynthia Wade and Robin Honan
*   "Open Heart"
Kief Davidson and Cori Shepherd Stern
*   "Redemption"
Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill


Achievement in film editing
*   "Argo" William Goldenberg
*   "Life of Pi" Tim Squyres
*   "Lincoln" Michael Kahn
*   "Silver Linings Playbook" Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers
*   "Zero Dark Thirty" Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg


Best foreign language film of the year
*   "Amour" Austria
*   "Kon-Tiki" Norway
*   "No" Chile
*   "A Royal Affair" Denmark
*   "War Witch" Canada


Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
*   "Hitchcock"
Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Martin Samuel
*   "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane
*   "Les Miserables"
Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell


Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
*   "Anna Karenina" Dario Marianelli
*   "Argo" Alexandre Desplat
*   "Life of Pi" Mychael Danna
*   "Lincoln" John Williams
*   "Skyfall" Thomas Newman


Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
*   "Before My Time" from "Chasing Ice"
Music and Lyric by J. Ralph
*   "Everybody Needs A Best Friend" from "Ted"
Music by Walter Murphy; Lyric by Seth MacFarlane
*   "Pi's Lullaby" from "Life of Pi"
Music by Mychael Danna; Lyric by Bombay Jayashri
*   "Skyfall" from "Skyfall"
Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
*   "Suddenly" from "Les Miserables"
Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; Lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil


Best motion picture of the year
*   "Amour" Nominees to be determined
*   "Argo" Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers
*   "Beasts of the Southern Wild" Dan Janvey, Josh Penn and Michael Gottwald, Producers
*   "Django Unchained" Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone, Producers
*   "Les Miserables" Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward and Cameron Mackintosh, Producers
*   "Life of Pi" Gil Netter, Ang Lee and David Womark, Producers
*   "Lincoln" Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers
*   "Silver Linings Playbook" Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen and Jonathan Gordon, Producers
*   "Zero Dark Thirty" Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow and Megan Ellison, Producers


Achievement in production design
*   "Anna Karenina"
Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
*   "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
Production Design: Dan Hennah; Set Decoration: Ra Vincent and Simon Bright
*   "Les Miserables"
Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Anna Lynch-Robinson
*   "Life of Pi"
Production Design: David Gropman; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
*   "Lincoln"
Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson


Best animated short film
*   "Adam and Dog" Minkyu Lee
*   "Fresh Guacamole" PES
*   "Head over Heels" Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly
*   "Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare"" David Silverman
*   "Paperman" John Kahrs


Best live action short film
*   "Asad" Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura
*   "Buzkashi Boys" Sam French and Ariel Nasr
*   "Curfew" Shawn Christensen
*   "Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)" Tom Van Avermaet and Ellen De Waele
*   "Henry" Yan England


Achievement in sound editing
*   "Argo" Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn
*   "Django Unchained" Wylie Stateman
*   "Life of Pi" Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton
*   "Skyfall" Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers
*   "Zero Dark Thirty" Paul N.J. Ottosson


Achievement in sound mixing
*   "Argo"
John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Jose Antonio Garcia
*   "Les Miserables"
Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes
*   "Life of Pi"
Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill and Drew Kunin
*   "Lincoln"
Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Ronald Judkins
*   "Skyfall"
Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell and Stuart Wilson


Achievement in visual effects
*   "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White
*   "Life of Pi"
Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott
*   "Marvel's The Avengers"
Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick
*   "Prometheus"
Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill
*   "Snow White and the Huntsman"
Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson


Adapted screenplay
*   "Argo" Screenplay by Chris Terrio
*   "Beasts of the Southern Wild" Screenplay by Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin
*   "Life of Pi" Screenplay by David Magee
*   "Lincoln" Screenplay by Tony Kushner
*   "Silver Linings Playbook" Screenplay by David O. Russell


Original screenplay
*   "Amour" Written by Michael Haneke
*   "Django Unchained" Written by Quentin Tarantino
*   "Flight" Written by John Gatins
*   "Moonrise Kingdom" Written by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
*   "Zero Dark Thirty" Written by Mark Boal

31 In 31: Misery

Rob Reiner brings one of the best adaptations of Stephen King's work.

Paul Sheldon (James Caan) is a successful novelist who specializes in a series of boks featuring a character named Misery Chastain. After completing his latest novel, which does not include Misery, Paul sets out to Los Angeles during a blizzard. He loses control of his 1965 Mustang and crashes. Local resident Annie Wilkes "happens" to be near, drags Paul from his car and takes him to her house.

Annie is a nurse who bandages Paul up and provides medicine. She reveals herself to be Paul's number one fan; even naming her pet pig Misery. Annie lets Paul know that the phone lines are down and that all roads into town are blocked. Though, thankfully for Paul, Annie states that she will take care of Paul in the meantime.

Slowly, though, Paul realizes that Annie is an obsessed fan who is unhinged. Annie continues to make excuses as to why she hasn't taken him to the doctors and has random moments of outbursts at Paul, especially regarding Misery. After picking up the last book in the Misery saga, Misery's Child, Annie cannot take the idea that Paul killed off the Misery character to focus on book non-Misery-related. Annie decides to keep Paul at her house while Paul writes a new novel to bring Misery Chastain back to life.

As Paul is trapped within Annie' house, his publisher Marcia Sindell (Lauren Bacall) contacts local sheriff Buster (Richard Farnsworth) inquiring about him being missing. Buster begins looking into Paul's disappearance and he sets off on a path that will cross with both Paul Sheldon and Annie Wilkes.

Rob Reiner directs Misery like a play. Most of the main story takes place in Annie's house; mainly in Paul's bedroom. Reiner directs these scenes initially very loose, almost bordering on some light-hearted humor, but then surprises us when Annie's psychotic side comes out. When we follow Buster and his b-story, he interacts mainly with his on-screen partner and wife Virginia (Frances Sternhagen). The interactions between these two characters is jovial and cute as they flirt with each other while trying to solve the Paul Sheldon mystery.

As most Stephen King adaptations are horribly executed, it is always nice to enjoy a film that isn't (as someone close to me would say) complete balls. Anchored by two strong performances, including Kathy Bates and her Academy Award winning role and sure-handed direction, this is a very good horror film.

RIP: Michael Clarke Duncan

Sad news reported out of Hollywood today. News has reported that Oscar nominated actor Michael Clarke Duncan passed away today, September 3, 2012 at the age of 54.

Before breaking out in Hollywood with his Oscar-nominated role in 1999's The Green Mile, Michael Clarke Duncan had bit parts in films including Friday, A Night at the Roxbury and Armageddon. I will admit, both Armageddon and A Night at the Roxbury is where I first noticed Michael Clarke Duncan. He was a big man, but also seemed like a gentle giant in his small roles.

And speaking of gentle giant, his turn as prisoner John Coffey in The Green Mile broke open the doors. Michael Clarke Duncan portrayed John Coffey with the gentlest of touches. Even as his character was a convicted rapist and murderer, he also possessed a gift to "take back" certain things from people including: bringing a mouse to life and removing a brain tumor from the warden's wife.

As he should have, Michael Clarke Duncan, received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his performance. Ultimately, he lost the award to Michael Caine for The Cider House Rules.

Not letting a loss deter him, Michael Clarke Duncan continued to make films throughout the 2000's including: Planet of the Apes, Daredevil, Sin City and Kung Fu Panda. Though he never was able to return to an Oscar caliber role like The Green Mile, his mark was definitely left in cinema history.

Thank you Michael Clarke Duncan for some great acting and for providing us with over a decade's worth of film memories.

The List: 5 Films The Academy Got Wrong (1990-Present)

As with all my lists, this is just my opinion. I understand that what I think may not be what you agree with. If you have suggestions, feel free to post them.

This is a list of what I feel the Academy got wrong between 1990 and the present. This is to cut down on the number of inconsistencies over the years that the Academy has graced us with. This can be argued back to the first awards show where Wings won Best Picture, even though most argue the film should not have won.

5. Gladiator, 2000

Directed by Ridley Scott, this mega-budgeted historical epic stars Russell Crowe as Maximus, a general who is betrayed by an emporer's son, Commodus and eventually becomes a slave. He must learn to fight in a gladiator arena and survive the harshness of slavery in ancient Rome while plotting revenge against Commodus.

This film has exactly all the elements that the Academy loves. An international star and director with a big budget that takes the audience into a historical world. If a film has swords and sandals, odds are it also has at least one Oscar. Unfortunately, the screenplay for this film is average at best.  It's a story as old as Maximus and Commodus. All the flair in this film belongs to the visual eye of Ridley Scott, who ironically did not win the Best Director Oscar.

The Best Director Oscar went to Stephen Soderbergh for his film, Traffic. Along with winning the Best Director Oscar, the film also won the Best Supporting Actor Award for Benicio Del Toro, the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar and the Best Film Editing Oscar. And even more ironic, Traffic won every award it was nominated for besides Picture.

Gladiator on the other hand, besides Picture, won Best Actor, Best Visual Effects, Best Costume Design and Best Sound Mixing. By that rationale, Russell's Crowe's performance was so amazing that it made the film itself the best picture of the year. Though with rationale, I never look toward the Academy. Anytime there is an epic film from a different time period, odds are if you aren't that film, you will lose. See #2.


4. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, 2011

This one will be short and to the point. 2 Oscar nominations total: Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Max Von Sydow. A very heavy topic: Dealing with the emotions of the September 11th attacks. Rotten Tomatoes approval rating of 47%. Pretentious and preachy. Exactly what the Academy falls for, hence why it was nominated.


3. Zodiac, 2007

One of David Fincher's best films got zero nominations from the Academy. Even Norbit got a nomination. There were other factors that went into why this film was absent from the Oscars. Zodiac was released in March and overshadowed by two much larger films released within the same time frame (Wild Hogs and 300).

Zodiac tells the story of various lives that are intertwined by the hunt for the Zodiac killer in San Francisco. The screenplay by James Vanderbilt takes us through many years and is much more of a police procedural drama than a true serial killer film; ala Fincher's own Se7en. As this follows closer to procedural, this film was hard to market (check out the schizophrenic theatrical trailer) and opened weakly in theaters and fell hard down the box office totals.

As this film was forgotten even before the Summer movie season began, it was no surprise that the Academy ignored this film. Some of the blame obviously goes with the marketing department, as this should have been released in the fall and had a better marketing campaign behind it. The Academy does get some blame though as screeners were sent to Academy members as a reminder for nominations. And it is unfortunate that this film was overlooked as Mark Ruffalo gave an amazing supporting performance. Along with that, this should have been a contender for Best Picture and Best Director. As it is, the Academy does what it does best and screws over movies more deserving of Oscars than others.


2. Goodfellas, 1990

Martin Scorcese's masterpiece of mob life from the 1950's through the 1980's. Goodfellas brought all the elements from past Scorcese classics into one film. Unfortunately, Goodfellas was released the same year as the historical epic Dances With Wolves. Now this is a personal taste, but I find Dances With Wolves to be an unbelievably boring film. Obviously, I am in the minority so I must be wrong.

Goodfellas details the life of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) from childhood all the way through to his downfall. The story itself has been done before, but with Scorcese at the helm and a great script by Nicholas Pileggi with Scorcese, they turn a tried and true story into a very entertaining, violent and often funny film.

Even though it seems like the Academy has a love affair with Martin Scorcese, he never won a Best Director Oscar until 2006's The Departed. Granted, The Departed is a really good movie, but the Oscar felt more like a gimmie as he had never won before. And, with the exception of Joe Pesci for Best Supporting Actor, it is a shame that Martin Scorcese nor the picture itself didn't win the Oscar(s) it deserved.


1. The 68th Annual Academy Awards, 1996

I know the topic says 5 films that the Academy got wrong, but there were many at this Oscar ceremony that it had to be listed.

I'm not even going to say the biggest Oscar miss was letting Braveheart win over Apollo 13. My biggest gripe with the 68th Annual Academy Awards is the multitude of films that were NOT nominated for best picture, let alone any major awards.

Multiple films that year were majorly snubbed. From Terry Gilliam's time-travel mystery, 12 Monkeys to David Fincher's Se7en. Two dark films that were amazingly written and directed superbly. In 12 Monkeys, Bruce Willis played James Cole, a volunteer who time travels back to the 1990's to try and thwart a viral outbreak. In Se7en, Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman are partners on the trail of a serial killer who's motif is that each kill is inspired by one of the seven deadly sins.

Beyond those films, The Usual Suspects, a winner of Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Screenplay (already two-up on Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) was left off the Best Picture list. And possibly an even bigger snub goes to Heat. Michael Mann's good guys versus bad guys epic starring Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro in top form did not receive any nomination at all from the Academy.

Multiple films of amazing quality were again left off the list by the Academy. I know you can't be right all the time, but it seems like there are a lot more misses than hits.

As I said, this list is just mine and nothing official. I know there are other snubs like There Will Be Blood losing to No Country For Old Men in 2007 or Pulp Fiction and/or The Shawshank Redemption losing to Forrest Gump in 1994. Obviously there are plenty, but these are the ones that really jump to mind first.