83rd Annual Academy Awards

Yes, it’s that time of year once more… Oscar has been spotted. It's time for the battle to be joined anew - Oscar Vs. Chicken!

But first...

Harry Knowles is one of my all-time favorite bloggers. He has been writing about movies even before there were things called, “bloggers”. On his site (aintitcoolnews.com) he is known as, “Head Geek” and that about sums it up. His site is one of the must stop places where both the unwashed and the true believers go to get their finger on the pulse of All Things Geek. Anyway, I tell you this, Gentle Reader, to give you somewhere to go if you desire a full and thorough rundown of all the films that have been nominated this year. You can find that here: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/48221.

Here at Chicken Scratch I’m gonna give you my spin on the down and dirty of the Academy Awards. Now some years are better than others, when speaking of the Academy voters. What should win and what does win are two entirely different animals. When picking winners in the Academy Awards one must think like the Academy thinks… It is in that vein that I humbly submit the following picks.

Best Actor: Jeff Bridges. The Dude will walk away with Oscar for a second consecutive time. Colin Firth or James Franco would be sweet too but with Bridges walks in two worlds; old Hollywood and modern American cinema.

Best Supporting Actor: Geoffrey Rush. He’s simply an amazing actor. Christian Bale is up there on the possibility scale too but 2010 remembers him better for blowing up at lighting guys than acting. I hear “The Fighter” is an amazing film but what’s going to stick out in the Academy’s mind are his tirades and not his talents.

Best Actress: Natalie Portman. Yup, the Academy will recognize her name from other outings although I hear her performance in “Black Swan” is pretty good – Oscar worthy good.

Best Supporting Actress: Helena Bonham Carter. Hailee Steinfeld did a pretty amazing job in “True Grit” but this year is Ms. Carter’s year.

Animated Film: “Toy Story 3”. I loved this film. It’s one of my favorite films released this past year. It pulls you in and just when you think you’ve got away unscathed it will undo your heartstrings all together. Pixar has yet to make a bad film and this is brilliant.

Best Visual Effects: “Iron Man 2”. “Inception” was amazing but watching Tony Stark in action on the big screen as Iron Man is pure, unadulterated eye candy.

Best Adapted Screenplay: Those Coen brothers again. “True Grit” is going to take it.

Best Original Screenplay: “The King’s Speech” will take this.

Art Direction: “Inception”. Christopher Nolan took a break from Gotham City to play in our dreams. Unbelievable that he didn’t get an Oscar nod for Best Director. “Inception” will take the Sound Editing too.

Documentary Feature: “Exit Through the Gift Shop”. The Academy wants to be ‘edgy’ and the act of embracing the artist Banky will let them believe they are.

Best Editing: “127 Hours” will walk away with the Oscar. “Inception”, a film that was not nominated for this category, should have at least been in the running. Oh well.

Best Makeup: Rick Baker will take this posthumously for “The Wolfman”. I really did not like this film for reasons that I have already expressed here at Chicken Scratch in the “Blu-Ray Dossier”; that being said the makeup effects are worth the nomination. Baker was a genius. Bottom line.

Best Original Musical Score: “The Social Network”. Trent Reznor will take it but what is practically highway robbery is the fact that Daft Punk’s soundtrack for “TRON Legacy” was not nominated. This is some of the most original music from the movies that has been heard in a long time. It’s a real shame the Academy was not given their score as a choice. This would have won. It should have won.

Best Cinematography: “True Grit”.

Best Director: The Coen brothers, Joel & Ethan for “True Grit”.

Best Picture: “True Grit”. The Academy has TEN nominations this year for the ‘Best Picture’ category. It’s gonna be “True Grit” although “Inception” (which has been ignored in most other categories) and “Toy Story 3” (which is animated and has no hope of EVER garnishing a ‘Best Picture’ win) is one of the best stories of the year. I’ve heard great things about “The King’s Speech” as well. “True Grit” is going home with the statue.

So there they are, my picks for the 83rd Academy Awards.

So who do you think will win?

We’ll find out together on 2/27/11.

See you then.

TRON Legacy

I am of the geek generation that remembers and keeps the original “TRON” close to their heart. Yes it was the eighties. Yes the original is not an “A list” film. But who cares?

“Huh?”

I said, “WHO CARES?” It is TRON and it did far more to explain those new contraptions called “personal computers” than IBM ever did. You see with TRON there existed a world within a world. It was a world where programs were forced to fight for their lives on the games grid in hopes of surviving for the next battle and the chance of connecting with their User – you and I, Gentle Reader, here in the “real world”. I will be the first to say that YES the original was flawed. That being said I will also tell you that I LOVED the first film. I wanted to believe that those Basic programs that we were playing with had a life of their own. I wanted to believe that there was some connection, nay, some network out there where thought and idea and passion and creativity could live in harmony. I wanted to believe that communication could be free and powerful and available to the masses. TRON wanted to believe it too.

Fast forward about 28 years... It still wants to believe and so do I.

SPOILERS: If you wish to remain pure STOP READING NOW!

Still here?

Good.

Here is what I LOVED. TRON is back. It is not a reimagining – it’s a sequel! And, dare I say, to a film that deserved one. This film owes its existence to Comic Con. Two years ago a trailer was made and it shook the pillars of geek heaven. Disney took notice and BAM “TRON Legacy” became a reality. I loved seeing the Recognizers, the Light Cycles, the Tanks, the Grid and the Jeff Bridges as Flynn once more. Technically this is a beautiful and eye candy laden film. The battles on the Grid, the nostalgic scenes in “Flynn’s Arcade” and the Light Cycle stuff are banging enough to warrant the price of a ticket. If you are a child of the late seventies and early eighties you have a place at TRON.

That being said, here is what I would have liked to have seen. TRON. He’s there. You know that he is. It’s obvious. But this is (as with the first film) less about TRON and more about Flynn. TRON is delegated to a lackey in a faceless helmet. This time around I’d expect a little more. TRON is Darth Vader in this one. He is the program that NO ONE wants to face on the Grid. Clu, Jeff Bridges / Flynn’s ageless digital doppelganger and all around bad guy has enslaved TRON into being an unbeatable bad ass / enforcer figure that only a User (Sam – Flynn’s son) can almost challenge. There is a brief moment of faceless recognition and redemption but it is BRIEF! I want TRON!

Come to think of it I’d also like to see Yori. There are female programs out there too. Also there was a cameo that I was REALLY pulling for – I wanted to see the “Tron Guy” someplace – anyplace in this film! He would have been a VERY welcome little aside. Producers: if there is to be a third (and I am pulling for one) Do Not Overlook the Tron Guy. Hey Daft Punk got their cameo (Brilliant soundtrack BTW) why not Tron guy?

What else do I want? I want TRON’s world to be hooked into the our current understanding of the world of computing. I don’t want TRON on Flynn’s personal server; no I want him on the World Wide Web, Baby! I want TRON global. When you go to Facebook I want to know that programs lives are at stake! I want to know that there are programs fighting for every transaction you make in Farmville or in Mafia Wars. I want to see it. I want to see libraries of programs working for Wikipedia or Google or Bing. I want to see epic battles of Networks VS Viruses. I want to understand their world by understanding ours. I want to see some correlation between the world of TRON and our everyday – fact searching, internet using, Facebook & Twitter incorporating world. Bring it on.

NOTE: Remember when I said “SPOILERS”? Also, I want to understand the ending. Quara is here in our world. I can see Users being digitized into the world of TRON but having programs re-digitized into our world – the real world, needs a little explanation. Something. Anything.

Come to think of it why doesn’t Sam show her a sunrise?

I do not wish to leave you with the idea that I was completely disappointed. No, that is simply not the case. I dug “TRON Legacy” and the only issues I had were that ones that I have already discussed. To the creative talent and purse holders at Disney – Please, PLEASE, PLEASE! consider TRON 3.0. All of the questions could have answers and YOU guys are off to a wonderful Act III!

“So Evil Chicken, should I buy a ticket?”

Yes, Gentle Reader, do so. You will not be disappointed with the performances of Mr. Jeff Bridges as both Flynn and Clu or with the absolutely wonderful eye candy that the Grid will provide. Support this movie. I REALLY want a part III!

So will you, Gentle Reader, so will you.

End of line…