Since I am a giant dork with lots of free time on my hands, I go see a bazillion movies. One may be thinking, though, where I see such a variety of films. So this post is all about the theaters I frequent. Hey, it's 1:25 am right now. This is as exciting when it comes to news.
The Harris Theatre is located on Liberty Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh. Along with the Regent Square Theatre in Edgewood and the Melwood Screening Room in Shadyside, The Harris helps comprise Pittsburgh Filmmakers, an organization dedicated to the preservation and education of film. The Harris and Regent Square only have one screen, but they showcase some great foreign films as well as some interesting documentaries. I most recently saw Meg Ryan's new comedy Serious Moonlight and the Japanese vampire flick Thirst as part of the Three Rivers Film Festival at the Regent Square Theatre. The Harris has an awesome balcony to sit in as well.
The Southside Works Theatre is located, well, in the Southside Works. I like how the theatre is located right alongside other stores and restaurants such as Urban Outfitters and the Cheesecake Factory. The lobby is really small and you have to take the stairs or escalators to get up into the actual theaters. Escalators always make things a lot more fun. They used to have a fun circular couch in the center of the downstairs lobby, but I guess they took it out because people like yours truly jumped on it too much...this picture may, or may not, be used as evidence!!!
The Squirrel Hill Theatre and the Manor Theatre are probably my favorite theatres in the city because they are located in my favorite neighborhood, Squirrel Hill. The Manor is a four-screen theatre on Murray Avenue (i.e. the top of the hill), whereas The Squirrel Hill is a six-screen theatre located on Forward Avenue (i.e. the bottom of the hill). Both showcase their fair share of independent films, but the Squirrel Hill tends to play more mainstream flicks. Since both are owned by the same company (Cinemagic), they also share movies (it is quite routine for a movie to get passed from the Manor to the Squirrel Hill after a few weeks of release). It is definitely worth a trip to experience a charming area of the city.
Finally, we have AMC Loews Waterfront Theatre located in Homestead. AMC has a whopping 22 screens (I have probably seen movies in all of them, let's be honest), and a concession stand roughly the size of my house. If you have seen pictures of me on Facebook, more than likely I am sitting at the Waterfront. I LOVE this theatre because it is gigantic and they have a full restaurant and bar upstairs known as the Loews Club Restaurant and Lounge (drunken Mamma Mia! sing-a-long anyone?). In addition to playing a huge variety of movies on an innumerable amount of screens, they can play 3D movies and recently installed an IMAX screen. I think my favorite part about this theater is that they play a lot of midnight shows as well as host a ton of events. Every time I see a Harry Potter movie at midnight, I see it here. The annual Best Picture Showcase (they show all 5 Best Picture nominees back to back the day before the Academy Awards) may not happen this year because there will be ten movies instead of the usual five.
I hope that was illuminating!!!
Since I am a giant dork with lots of free time on my hands, I go see a bazillion movies. One may be thinking, though, where I see such a variety of films. So this post is all about the theaters I frequent. Hey, it's 1:25 am right now. This is as exciting when it comes to news.
The Harris Theatre is located on Liberty Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh. Along with the Regent Square Theatre in Edgewood and the Melwood Screening Room in Shadyside, The Harris helps comprise Pittsburgh Filmmakers, an organization dedicated to the preservation and education of film. The Harris and Regent Square only have one screen, but they showcase some great foreign films as well as some interesting documentaries. I most recently saw Meg Ryan's new comedy Serious Moonlight and the Japanese vampire flick Thirst as part of the Three Rivers Film Festival at the Regent Square Theatre. The Harris has an awesome balcony to sit in as well.
The Southside Works Theatre is located, well, in the Southside Works. I like how the theatre is located right alongside other stores and restaurants such as Urban Outfitters and the Cheesecake Factory. The lobby is really small and you have to take the stairs or escalators to get up into the actual theaters. Escalators always make things a lot more fun. They used to have a fun circular couch in the center of the downstairs lobby, but I guess they took it out because people like yours truly jumped on it too much...this picture may, or may not, be used as evidence!!!
The Squirrel Hill Theatre and the Manor Theatre are probably my favorite theatres in the city because they are located in my favorite neighborhood, Squirrel Hill. The Manor is a four-screen theatre on Murray Avenue (i.e. the top of the hill), whereas The Squirrel Hill is a six-screen theatre located on Forward Avenue (i.e. the bottom of the hill). Both showcase their fair share of independent films, but the Squirrel Hill tends to play more mainstream flicks. Since both are owned by the same company (Cinemagic), they also share movies (it is quite routine for a movie to get passed from the Manor to the Squirrel Hill after a few weeks of release). It is definitely worth a trip to experience a charming area of the city.
Finally, we have AMC Loews Waterfront Theatre located in Homestead. AMC has a whopping 22 screens (I have probably seen movies in all of them, let's be honest), and a concession stand roughly the size of my house. If you have seen pictures of me on Facebook, more than likely I am sitting at the Waterfront. I LOVE this theatre because it is gigantic and they have a full restaurant and bar upstairs known as the Loews Club Restaurant and Lounge (drunken Mamma Mia! sing-a-long anyone?). In addition to playing a huge variety of movies on an innumerable amount of screens, they can play 3D movies and recently installed an IMAX screen. I think my favorite part about this theater is that they play a lot of midnight shows as well as host a ton of events. Every time I see a Harry Potter movie at midnight, I see it here. The annual Best Picture Showcase (they show all 5 Best Picture nominees back to back the day before the Academy Awards) may not happen this year because there will be ten movies instead of the usual five.
I hope that was illuminating!!!
My goal this year was too see more movies in the theater than I did last year. Last year, I saw 181 movies. I didn't think it was possible, but I am steadily on my way to beating my own goal.
I currently stand at 174 movies for the year 2009. I have yet to see everything that came out in wide release last week (The Blind Side, Planet 51--I know, I know), and I am going to see The Road the moment I finish Cormac McCarthy's book. I think I should be able to surpass my personal best before December even starts...
My goal this year was too see more movies in the theater than I did last year. Last year, I saw 181 movies. I didn't think it was possible, but I am steadily on my way to beating my own goal.
I currently stand at 174 movies for the year 2009. I have yet to see everything that came out in wide release last week (The Blind Side, Planet 51--I know, I know), and I am going to see The Road the moment I finish Cormac McCarthy's book. I think I should be able to surpass my personal best before December even starts...
I have been wary to review The Twilight Saga: New Moon on here for a few days simply because it will only end in a bitter diatribe. I am going to give it a go...
I will say that I gave the first Stephanie Meyer book, Twilight, a go last year, but Meyer's unintentionally funny dialogue made it harder than treading through a fresh snow drift. I feel the first book lacks any sort of tension or depth. It is just a badly written romance for teenage girls who are looking for something to occupy their short attention spans.
After only a year, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is developing an aging complex. When you are dating the west coast's hottest vampire, you are natually going to start reaching for anti-wrinkle cream. Edward (Robert Pattinson providing supporting work next to his massive hair) reassures he will love her no matter what she looks like but, being Bella Swan, literature's newest self-proclaimed "complex heroine, she has her doubts.
Bella cuts her finger at her birthday party, sending Edward's brother Jasper into a frenzy for her blood. Soon after, Edward tells her that he cannot be with her anymore because, despite his incessant promises of protection, Bella will eventually get hurt somehow, someway. This sends Bella on the most ridiculous recovery process ever committed to film. She screams and writhes in bed because she NEEDS him...she rides motorcycles with strange men because she NEEDS him...she constantly sees his face everywhere she goes because THEY ARE THE DESTINED TO BE TOGETHER!!! They ARE Romeo and Juliet!!!
Bella begins bonding with Jacob Black (the perpetually shirtless Taylor Lautner), a neighborhood boy who has secrets of his own. She is afraid of getting too close to him because she is supposed to be with Edward (even though he basically broke his promise and abandoned her--you Twilighters are aware of this, right?) and because she would be giving in to statutory rape.
In case you have been living under a rock, I will break the news that Jacob is a wolf. Not even something cool like a legimate werewolf who lives the tortured existence of turning into a monster at a full moon. Just a guy who grows large and hairy when he gets really, really angry. No offense Mr. Lautner, but I have seen more deeply rooted anger at my family reunions. But hey! I am glad to see you beat the odds and beefed up bigger than pickup truck! And may I just say, that when I attended the packed midnight show, that the audience only reacted to the impressively built Lautner, not Pattinson. Your 15 minutes of fame is currently clocking in at 14:45, Mr. Pattinson, just an FYI.
I am going to close with this. You girls are smarter than the shit you are reading. Go home and breed your potential!!!
I have been anxiously awaiting the poster for Nine and they are finally here!
The Three Rivers Film Festival opens next Friday, and I shall be going for the first time this year. The festival opens with Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire and Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, and I think I shall be going to Gilliam's movie. Precious is bound to expand to Pittsburgh sometime soon after it opens. I also am going to try and see The Messenger, Bronson, Serious Moonlight and Thirst.
Everyone should check it out!
Living in Pittsburgh does have its advantages, but getting smaller independant feature films isn't one of them! Here are a sampling of the movies that I am DYING to see but aren't here yet.
Coco Before Chanel, New York, I Love You, An Education, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, and A Serious Man.
These all need to come to Pittsburgh, pronto. Saw VI (this horse isn't dead yet?) and Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant seem to be the only wide releases coming out tomorrow. No word if Amelia is coming though.
I mentioned earlier that I wasn't a fan of AMPAS's decision to expand the Best Picture category from five nominees to ten. That doesn't mean that I won't have fun trying to predict who will be up for the top prize.
If there was a frontrunner going into the race at this time of year, Up in the Air is it. Everything George Clooney touches turns into gold, and it helps that he already has a Best Supporting Actor trophy to go with it. Every review to come out of the Toronto Film Festival was full of raves, praising Clooney (generating talk of a second Best Actor nomination) as well as costars Vera Farmiga and relative unknown Anna Kendrick.
Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker may not have been a box office blockbuster this summer, but it has been receiving plenty of talk. It is by far the only Iraq war film to generate any positive reaction since the war began. Bigelow is also poised to get a Best Director nomination for her film, a feat that, sadly, few women directors can brag about. I think The Hurt Locker might receive a lot more nominations that one might think. Jeremy Renner might nab a spot in the Best Actor race, and it could really clean up in the technical categories such as Best Sound Mixing and Editing as well as Cinematography and Film Editing.
Up, Pixar's lovely animated feature, may become the only second animated feature to be nominated for the big prize. The film's mixture of radiant energy and genuine, heartfelt emotion could land the film in the top ten. But what I ask is this: would Up receive a Best Picture nomination if the category was relegated to five participants? I think not. And if the film snags a Best Picture nod, will that mean it will get passed over in the Animated Feature category? Talk has been circulating that this may be the year that the Academy nominates five movies in the Animated Feature category instead of its usual three. Will Pixar finally get the shaft?
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire (I think I am the only one who thinks this title is waaaaay too long) might be the underdog of the season. Snatching the coveted Audience Award at the Toronto Film Festival as well as the audience and jury award this past year at Sundance, Precious is a surefire crowdpleaser and Best Picture contender. One wouldn't think that an independent feature chronicling the turbulent inner-city life of an abused teenage mom would garner such prestigious attention, but star-making turns from Mo'Nique and Gabby Sidibe are attracting major notice. It also doesn't hurt that Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry have gotten behind the project.
The Road has been losing buzz in the past few weeks, but things might turn around after its November release. When John Hillcoat's film got bumped in October of 2008 to this year, there was talk that someone really messed up the adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's apocalyptic thriller. The reviews that have come out have been rather mixed so the film might miss out on a Best Picture nomination but since the category has been expanded to ten movies, anything can happen.
Let me get this gay: Rob Marshall is directing a film adaptation of the Maury Yeston musical Nine? And who did you say was in the cast? Oh that's right! Daniel Day-Lewis (OSCAR!), Marion Cotillard (OSCAR!), Nicole Kidman (OSCAR!), Judi Dench (OSCAR!), Penelope Cruz (OSCAR!), Sophia Loren (OSCAR and frickin' Italian royalty!) and Kate Hudson (NO OSCAR! And may I say, thank God Marica Gay Harden stole your thunder in 2000 Katie, because, let's face it, My Best Friend's Girl wasn't the awards bait your publicist promised. Don't worry, someone out there loves you). Oscar nominated director who knows his musicals + quite frankly, one of the most beautiful and talented casts ever = Best Picture nomination. And the gays rejoice!
Let's talk about Clint Eastwood's Nelson Mandela biopic Invictus. I heart Clint Eastwood. I heart Morgan Freeman. Hell, I heart the idea of a movie where Morgan Freeman plays Farrah Fawcett. Sadly, I am over this. Maybe it's because I haven't heard/seen that much about it. I am sure that come Oscar time I will be raving how amazing and spectacular it is, but I am kind of sick at how Eastwood swoops down and takes everything at the end of the year. Love ya, Uncle Eastwood. Your movies are thought-provoking and moving and blah blah blah. I am sure that he will receive yet another Best Director nomination and Freeman will get another deserved acting nom (remember, hearts all around!), but I don't care at this point of the game. Matt Damon is in this movie (and might be nominated for this and The Informant! but that's a different story for a different day) and I still don't care. Does that put it into perspective?
I think The Lovely Bones will be saved a slot this year. Peter "Thank God You Left the Shire" Jackson is at the helm and young Saoirse Ronan is starring in the much-anticipated adaptation. Ronan is in good company with former nominee Mark Wahlberg and past winner Rachel Weisz as her parents as well as Susan (please give her another Oscar) Sarandon as her grandmother. Stanley Tucci (Stanley FREAKING Tucci, people!!!) also lends supporting work as Ronan's possible killer. So let's recap: Oscar-winning and very much beloved director directs a cast so stellar, I get sunburned just staring at the poster. Yeah, I'm on board.
If Up can beat the odds as an animated feature, why can't Michael Moore's latest documentary grab the gold? Well probably because this isn't Moore's best. Before the film was released, there was talk that Moore might move up as far as Oscar nomination stature, but that idea has simply died. Sorry Mr. Moore. Too bad Fahrenheit 9/11 didn't come out this year.
Mira Nair's Amelia might snag some attention when it comes out later this month. After all, Hilary Swank is 2 for 2 for Best Actress I'm sure she will be up again for her portrayal of Amelia Earhart. The cinematography looks gorgeous, but, like Invictus, I feel over it until I actually see it. And while we are on the subject, I'd like to say something that I am sure I will repeat over and over this entire season. If Hilary Swank wins a third Academy Award before Meryl Streep wins a third Academy Award, I will seriously flip out. Swank is an accomplished actress and I am enthralled by her work time and time again. If Streep and Swank go head to head this year, I fully expect Carey Mulligan to swoop in and take the honor. Swank has already stolen 2 Oscars from Annette Bening. She definitely doesn't need to start on Meryl!
Speaking of Carey Mulligan! An Education is one of the most talked about movies of this year's award season. Mulligan's highly praised, subtle performance is making her the frontrunner of the Best Actress race, and it is my belief that Mulligan alone will be responsible for catapulting the movie into the top ten. My question is this. If my prediction is correct, does that mean that director Lone Sherfig will nab a nomination? The women might actually outweigh the men this year. Sherfig, Bigelow, and Jane Campion might all be honored. That would definitely be the start of an education the AMPAS needs.
Jane Campion's Bright Star has all the right ingredients for a Best Picture nomination. Great director, young promising cast, beautiful production values. Campion's star, however, seems to be fading. It not fully fading, it is definitely flickering. If it had a later release date, it might survive the crunch, but depite all the positive reviews, the film could fall completely. The breathtaking cinematography and art direction might push it through but I doubt it. Might suffer from Atonement syndrome--and that was a far superior and more ambitious film.
Tom Ford's A Single Man might get a boost later in the year because of Colin Firth's much talked about performance as a gay man who loses his lover after 16 years. It might be too small of a movie and it is, after all, fashion designer Tom Ford's first feature. We will have to see how this one does in the long run, but I am giving it the benefit of the doubt for now.
How awesome would this be?! Quentin Tatantino hasn't had some quality buzz for a long time, and the overall box office and surprise critical acclaim has at least kept the picture afloat. Some technical award nomination talk definitely hasn't hurt it at all, either.
A Serious Man's recent release has generated some talk mainly because of its strong reviews. I think it has a shot mainly because it is directed by the Coen Brothers, something that a lot of the new younger voters might be attracted to. The plot (story of a Jewish man's life unraveling all around him) might attract the older, more traditional voters so it could be a movie that unites the entire Academy! The Coens took Picture and Director two years ago, but their comedy isn't always well received. Burn After Reading failed to grab any nominations last year.
I would love to see District 9 at least be considered. It is by far one of the best received sci-fi pics in the last few years, but that might also be the picture's downfall. Science fiction is NEVER taken seriously, no matter how ambitious the thematic elements are. Keep your fingers crossed!
Everyone loves a British import! And everyone especially loves a movie about fighting the man, so audiences will surely walk the plank to see Pirate Radio (formerly known as The Boat that Rocked, which is such a better title). Philip Seymour Hoffman leads the ensemble cast as a DJ who takes on the jazz-loving establighment by playing rock music (along with serveral other DJs) on a remote boat in the 1960s. The Academy loves Hoffman, but this might fare a lot better at the Golden Globes than at the Oscars.
My last entry is more of a plea. 500 Days of Summer is one of the most original movies in recent memory, and sadly, will probably be ignored come Oscar time simply because it is a romance that stars a younger cast. The screenplay will hopefully be nominated for its nonlinear structure, but the heartfelt story should not be underestimated nor skipped over.
So what do I think will be nominated?
Amelia
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Invictus
The Lovely Bones
Nine
Precious: Based in the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire
A Single Man
Up
Up in the Air
We shall see.
