03/04/10

As soon as this year’s Oscar telecast ended I put in my copy of the first Alien film, directed by Ridley Scott. I did this because Sigourney Weaver (who stars in both Avatar and Alien) referenced the legendary set design of Alien before announcing Avatar as the winner of this year’s Art Direction Oscar. And while I will agree that Avatar is visually impressive as hell at times, Alien, a film shot 32 years ago for 1/30th the cost of Avatar, looks – to these eyes – better than Avatar. Call me crazy, but I love the gritty, imaginative and authentic design far more than the overly-CGI’d (and, let’s face it, very video game-y) design of Avatar. Also, how awful is the acting and writing in Avatar!? Yikes! Alien, for those of you not in the know, features a standout director and cast, including one of ScreenTime’s all-time favorite actors, Harry Dean Stanton.  

So, yes, it goes without saying that ScreenTime was thrilled to see Kathryn Bigelow and The Hurt Locker, two very deserving nominees, beat out James Cameron and Avatar for the night’s two biggest awards – Best Director and Best Picture. Locker ended up taking home six of the nine awards it was nominated for, including Best Editing and Best Original Screenplay. Awesome. Most every other award given was predictable, save for The White Ribbon’s loss. Only two more notes from me on this year’s ceremony: 1) I nearly vomited when the mediocre Up beat out The Fantastic Mr. Fox for Best Animated Feature, even though I saw it coming; 2) I maintain that Goodbye, Solo star Souleymane Sy Savane (not nominated) put up the year’s best male performance.

Box Office Babble: Not much to report, save for Tim Burton’s big weekend. I figured his Alice in Wonderland remake would do well, but I had no idea the far-out-looking film would bring in over $116 freaking million over its first three days in the U.S.! (That’s over $211 million worldwide!) Congrats to you, Mr. Burton, on what is your by-far biggest opening weekend ever. Looks like your pal Johnny can still fill the seats. We’ve not yet seen the film (hard for us to get too excited about that make-up, some of the production choices and, frankly, the source material), but will soon, surely. Alice’s debut weekend is the biggest ever for a film released in March, proving once again that, while the economy is still way down in the dumps, people are loving going to the Cineplex as much as ever. Pretty cool. Brooklyn’s Finest and Shutter Island came in at No. 2 and No. 3, both bringing in right around $13.5 million over the weekend, pushing the great Shutter up to the $96 million mark.

Out this Friday: There are a few notable releases hitting theaters this Friday, March 12. First we have the new Paul Greengrass film, Green Zone, starring Matt Damon. Damon and Greengrass, who worked on the last two Bourne films together, aren’t leaving their comfort zone here, Zone looking almost exactly like those two Bourne flicks. That said, I’m sure it’s stellar entertainment and surely features otherworldly editing. Next we have romantic drama Remember Me, staring Twilight’s Robert Pattinson and “Lost” star Emilie de Ravin. So far the film, which has been heavily promoted for months now, is getting some of the year’s worst reviews. Take that, Edward! Next on the list of major releases for the week is She’s Out of My League, staring new could-be it-boy Jay Baruchel (Knocked Up, “Undeclared”). Looks like the kind of comedy that is bound to find a modest audience. Baruchel comes off as a younger Owen Wilson, though not nearly as naturally funny and accidentally charming. And finally we have Our Family Wedding, which many critics are predicting to be a minor break-out hit. The film, which stars America Ferrera, Carlos Mencia, Taye Diggs, Regina King and Ghost Dog, is about a family and a wedding. (Awesome work on that title, guys.)

Home Video: There’s been a flood of new films hitting the shelves this spring, many of which you need not bother with. Here are some of the new DVD and Blu-ray releases we recommend checking out: Cold Souls, starring Paul Giamatti; The September Issue, a documentary about fashion mogul Anna Wintour; director Jane Champion’s Bright Star, a well made period piece about the three-year relationship between John Keats and Fanny Brawne; the incredibly dark (but ultimately incredible) Precious; the overrated but still worthwhile Up in the Air; the often overlooked Where the Wild Things Are; Ponyo; the well-made French biopic Coco Before Chanel; Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story; “The Wire” byproduct The Avon Barksdale Story; and, most importantly, season one of “The Commish.” (Kidding about that last one.) Mostly, if you haven’t yet seen them, we highly recommend Goodbye, Solo and … uhh … what’s it called … oh yeah, The Hurt Locker. Cue the choir.

Written by G. William Locke