Category Archives: oscars

BlogTalkRadio Recent Show Highlights

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The Movie Geeks present their annual series of interviews with this year’s crop of Oscar nominees. In this episode, Best Original Score nominee Ludovic Bource discusses his stellar award-winning work in the audience and critical favorite The Artist.  Tune in here.

 

Grammy award nominee for Best New Artist,  J. Cole stops by the Bottom Line Sports Show and chats about his appearance in the NBA All Star Celebrity game, the NBA season, his album, and his upcoming tour.  J. Cole was the first rapper to be signed to the Jay Z record label, Roc Nation.  Tune in here.

The Matty P Radio Happy Hour kicked off its new season by welcoming the talented actress Olivia d’Abo, who spoke about her time portraying Karen Arnold in the hit show The Wonder Years. Tune in here.

 

SportsManRadio welcomes Seattle Seahawks Wide-Receiver Doug Baldwin to discuss both his collegiate career as a member of the Stanford Cardinal, and his pro career in Seattle.  The undrafted rookie led all Seattle Seahawks in both in receiving yards and receptions during the 2011 NFL season.  Tune in here.

The Fantastic Flying Books Of Mr. Morris Lessmore

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The opening moments could be mistaken for a piece of work from Tim Burton circa 1982, his short film Vincent and the depressing rejection of his projects that he faced from Disney during the time. But this is not a film premised on darkness, it is a short film that tells the tale of Mr. Morris Lessmore, a literary minded young man who in a spell of doubt concerning his editorial ability embarks on a truly heartwarming and visually striking expedition of metaphysical means.

Written by William Joyce, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore depicts a quirky and comedic plot that is a beautiful and peculiar combination of The Wizard Of Oz and Alice in Wonderland where Mr. Lessmore is a word-centric Dorothy character who falls down a rabbit-hole of didactic despair and winds up in Oz, a wonderland of literary comfort, rejuvenation and relief.

The moral of the story? Have faith in the power of the written word, for it is the words on the page, the covers that bind those words and the sleeves that protect a story which possess the power to color the imagination, offer fascinating insight to stories not yet told and inspire those who choose to read the pages and restore a text to its former glory.

Intriguingly inspired simultaneously by Hurricane Katrina, The Wizard of Oz, Buster Keaton and an unabashed love of books, typography, and literature, Branden Oldenburg‘s (of Moonbot Studios) The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is immaculately constructed, cunningly conveyed without dialog and displays exceptional use of animation and CGI that is imaginatively juxtaposed against a simply charming plot.

There is a reason why The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore won the Oscar for Best Animated Short this year, beating Pixar’s hyped La Luna. It will become abundantly apparent upon watching this enchanting animated tale.

Behind The Artist: Michel Hazanavicius

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We’ve written about the world’s movie-of-the-moment/ cinematic darling The Artist before, but it’s so damn charming we’re talking about it again, this time with the help of its acclaimed French director, Michel Hazanavicius. His name may be a mouthful but the way in which Hazanavicius describes and explains the artistry behind the artist is simple and inspiring: he says, “It’s a movie for movie lovers and reminds you why you first loved movies.”

Hazanavicius’ accent punctuates this interview as he describes the use of the famous Kuleshov effect in The Artist and subsequently the role of Uggie the dog as (ironically) one of George Valentin’s most likeable ‘traits’. I’m still pinching myself that a director today was game enough to go back to where film began, and to succeed so triumphantly; to create an undisputed masterpiece of cinema. Seeing the passionate, fiery eyes of Hazanavicius light up as he talks about The Artist—his most beloved creation—is humbling and even more inspirational than the film itself. Watch for some behind the scenes snippets (which are surprising; I often forget that Jean Dujardin isn’t actually a black and white human being), beginner’s film education and more of film’s most beloved pooch and regular talk show guest, Uggie.

Before The Artist: Portable’s Guide To Silent Film

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Yesterday, that spellbinding, immaculate, too good to be real film The Artist rightly swept up its fair share of awards at The Oscars. Hooray for real film stunning critics and audiences alike; hooray for French actors, a French director (Michel Hazanavicius), John Goodman, Missi Pyle, and for being entirely shot in L.A. It’s magnificent, and if I don’t stop waxing lyrical about it and Uggie the dog soon I’ll become a mess. Let’s get on with it.

The Artist was so successful because it was—at once—innovative and new, while also paying tribute to the backbone of cinema, where it all began: silent films. I hate to go all Midnight in Paris on you, but can you imagine living in the roaring twenties–that impeccable golden age—and going out to the cinema, watching a film accompanied by live music? Let’s take a look at some of the best silent films that treated the wealthy and glamorous all those years ago, and ignited those things we call movies.

Before The Artist: Portable’s Guide To Silent Film

Posted on by

Yesterday, that spellbinding, immaculate, too good to be real film The Artist rightly swept up its fair share of awards at The Oscars. Hooray for real film stunning critics and audiences alike; hooray for French actors, a French director (Michel Hazanavicius), John Goodman, Missi Pyle, and for being entirely shot in L.A. It’s magnificent, and if I don’t stop waxing lyrical about it and Uggie the dog soon I’ll become a mess. Let’s get on with it.

The Artist was so successful because it was—at once—innovative and new, while also paying tribute to the backbone of cinema, where it all began: silent films. I hate to go all Midnight in Paris on you, but can you imagine living in the roaring twenties–that impeccable golden age—and going out to the cinema, watching a film accompanied by live music? Let’s take a look at some of the best silent films that treated the wealthy and glamorous all those years ago, and ignited those things we call movies.

GIF Guide to Female Oscar Snubs

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When Eric from Listverse posted his list of the Top 15 Female Oscar Snubs of the Past 15 Years earlier this week, our ideas about prediction pools and Bridesmaids-inspired drinking games went out the window and were replaced with outrage at the acceptance speeches that could have been.

In the same way as the 14th Academy Awards back in 1942 shocked viewers/Orsen Welles fans by naming How Green Was My Valley the best picture over Citizen Kane, we’re agog at Academy voters for overlooking some of the seminal performances from female actors over the last decade.

Portable’s resident GIF creator Emma Ableson, inspired by Eric’s list, has paired his thoughts with visuals from the films’ and ladies’ finest on-screen moments.