With the winners of the 2010 Oscar announced, I have to say I’m very pleased. As deserved, Avatar didn’t win any major category: Dora the Explorer has better plot lines, and I’ve seen better acting in the drama class I took in school when I was seven. I knew The Hurt Locker was a good movie as soon as the movie ended, when I noticed that after biting my nails for two hours, I had reached the flesh and was left without fingernails. I was also very happy that Sandra Bullock won for her role in the Blind Side, and that Precious won best adapted screenplay. Kathryn Bigelow made history by becoming the first woman to win Best Director, but you have to admit that her movies are as manly as Tarantino’s.

While the Academy in some sense made an unconventional choice with the lowest grossing movie ever to win Big Picture, they followed the buzz and also chose a realistic drama, as we cited in our Oscar predictions. Still, our blog readers would have chosen Avatar, with Inglourious Basterds a close second, according to our Oscars poll.

Personally, I’m so happy with the results that I’ve decided to make my own little award ceremony, The Movie Genome Oscars, focusing on movies that really nailed one gene (mood or theme):

10. And the Best Parents and Children Oscar goes to: Sixty Six

This scene will make every child stop being embarrassed by his parents and start being proud of them, because in comparison to this particular parent, even the children of Mel Gibson, Britney Spears or Tiger Woods can feel proud.

9. And the Best Cooking and Food Oscar goes to: Cool Hand Luke

Is there a god? What’s the meaning of life? Why does evil exist? Is there life after death? All important questions that pale in comparison to life’s ultimate question, which was answered in 1967 by the movie Cool Hand Luke: Can one man eat 50 eggs?
Beside the Oscar the movie earned, it was also nominated for best supporting egg in the Leipzig Jumping Silver Rooster Film Festival.

8. And the Best Visual Gag Oscar goes to: Kabluey

To say that a movie is based on one visual gag usually means it’s not very good. In this case, one blue costume is more than enough. In the clip, Salman, the movie’s lovable loser protagonist, is stuck in his petty job as a mascot for some bankrupt company, and stuck in his blue suit with difficulty doing basic things like drinking and peeing.

7. And the Best Slacker Oscar goes to: Very Happy Alexandre

In the first half hour of the movie, Alexandre is constantly ordered to do certain tasks by his controlling wife. When Alexandre’s wife dies in an accident, he needs a rest from three years of marriage/hard labor, and rest by Alexandre’s standards means not getting out of bed… at all. I couldn’t find this clip with English subtitles, but the pictures speak for themselves. The movie’s universal and very important message is: Don’t waste your life doing things, take advantage of the limited time you have on this earth and do absolutely nothing!

6. And the Best Tense Scene Oscar goes to: Bad Day at Black Rock

In this western/thriller the tension just keeps growing and growing, and when you can’t take it anymore and feel like you have to get that releasing moment of action – it arrives. Spencer Tracy vs. Ernest Borgnine: It doesn’t get any better than this.

5. And the Best Switching Roles Oscar goes to: The Phantom of Liberty

Luis Bunuel is one of the greatest directors who ever lived and is known for his original and surreal ideas. In this clip, from what I think is his best movie – The Phantom of Liberty – some kind of a strange reversal has happened and now going to the toilet is eating, and eating is going to the toilet. Confused? Watch the clip and see for yourself.

4. And the Best Martial Arts Scene Oscar goes to: Yip Man

Hands down, this semi-biographical account of Yip Man (the first martial arts master to teach the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun) is the best martial arts film I’ve ever seen. In the movie’s final scene, Yip Man (the Chinese protagonist, wearing black) is fighting Miura (The Japanese villain, wearing white). Yip Man was threatened that if he didn’t lose the fight on purpose he would be shot to death. How did he respond to the threat? Watch the clip and find out…

3. And the Best Mind Game Scene Oscar goes to: The Princess Bride

I think this is the most well known clip on the list. It’s safe to say that there wasn’t one person who shed a tear at the conclusion of it: Vizzini (inconceivable!) is probably one of the most annoying characters in cinema’s history.

2. And the Best Human Nature Scene Oscar goes to: La Strada

Zampano (Anthony Quinn), the movie’s main character has alienated the people who tried to get close to him. He thought he didn’t need anybody in this world but himself. In the movie’s final scene, in which he breaks down and cries, the big and strong Zampano finally realizes that he, like the rest of us, can’t do it all on his own, he also needs love and warmth (WATCH OUT: following is the final scene of the movie).

1. And the Best Emotional Scene Oscar goes to: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

A liberal white couple (Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, in Tracy’s last appearance) put their platitudes to the test. They always taught their daughter that all people are created equal, regardless of race or religion… until she unexpectedly brings home a black doctor (Sidney Poitier) and announces that they’re engaged. In the clip that concludes the movie (and Tracy’s career) you’ll find one of the best monologues ever seen on the silver screen – it might be a bit long by today’s standards, but its worth every second – they don’t make them like this anymore… (WATCH OUT: following is the final scene of the movie).

Technorati Tags: Oscars, Academy Awards, Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow

Popularity: 4% [?]

The Oscars are just around the corner, and as excitement (or disgust, depending on your perspective) mounts, we want to share a few interesting insights from Jinni users and our Movie Genome.

Which movie should win Best Picture according to Jinni users?

Based on ratings by Jinni users, here are the 10 best pictures of 2009
There’s a 50% overlap with the Academy’s nominees…

1. Inglourious Basterds
2. Up
3. Avatar
4. Star Trek
5. Moon
6. Zombieland
7. District 9
8. The Hangover
9. 500 Days of Summer
10. Up in the Air

Notable genes of the Best Picture nominees

Before we get to predictions, it’s interesting to note that, due to the diversity created by having 10 nominees instead of 5 for the first time,  some of the most common genes among this year’s nominees are not nearly as prominent, if at all, among winners from the past. (Our control group is winners from 1950 to 2009.) Can we call them contemporary obsessions…?

1. Profanity (appears in 6 of the 10 nominees’ genes)
2. Parents and Children (a plot element shared by 5 of the 10 nominees)
3. Stylized (5/10)
4. Misfit (5/10)
5. Action (4/10; this genre characterizes only 5 of the last 59 winners)
6. Voice Over (4/10)
7. Racism (4/10)
8. Life Is a Bitch (4/10)

(If you’re wondering whether a certain Oscar nominee has a given gene, take a look at the Movie Genome on the right side of the movie overview page.)

Which movie will win according to the Movie Genome?

Looking at the genes of all Best Picture winners from 1950 to the present, as well as the genes of this year’s 10 nominees, we’ve come up with some Best Picture predictions…

Can a movie win if it’s not realistic?
Unlikely. 58 of the last 59 Best Picture winners get the gene “realistic” as opposed to “fantastic.” Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) is the one exception. Does this spell disappointment for Avatar, District 9, and Up?

Can a movie win if it’s not a drama?
Rarely. 49 of the last 59 Best Picture winners were dramas. Surprisingly, 5 nominees this year are not dramas: Avatar, District 9, A Serious Man, Up, and Inglourious Basterds.

Can sci-fi win?
It hasn’t happened since 1950. Can Avatar or District 9 change that? Note that animation (Up) has never won either…

Can non-blockbusters win?
It looks like the Academy tends to go with public opinion here. Only 15 (or 25%) of the Best Picture winners since 1950 weren’t blockbusters, indicating some disadvantage for this year’s Precious, The Hurt Locker, An Education and A Serious Man.

Can controversy win?
Probably not. The Academy seems to steer clear of this. Only 2 movies tagged “controversial” have ever won Best Picture since 1950. Bad sign for Inglourious Basterds?

By these measures, we’d have to put our money on The Blind Side or Up in the Air. That would be unexpected due to the buzz around Avatar and The Hurt Locker. Then again, choosing sci-fi or a non-blockbuster would be unconventional too. Looks like either way, the Academy is set to surprise us…

Technorati Tags: Oscars, Academy Awards, predictions, Best Picture

Popularity: 2% [?]

The Berlinale is celebrating its 60th birthday - mazal tov!

Berlinale, or the Berlin Film Festival, is celebrating its 60th birthday this week. In the last decade, it’s steadily grown to be the second most important film festival and film market in the world, right after Cannes.

My Berlinale
The 2001 Berlinale was my first (working) visit to a major film festival. It began with a moving opening screening of Enemy at the Gates. Berlin has seen better opening films in its 60 years, but for me, as a Jew, it was a special experience to see this movie in the huge Berlinale Palast – although it’s not your “typical” Holocaust movie, or maybe because of that.

I tried to watch as much as possible, both festival and market films. And I watched a lot! If I didn’t like the first 10-15 minutes, I continued to the next screening (sorry filmmakers…). I tried to attend as many events as possible too and even do some sightseeing.

For me, the festival reached its grand finale in my hotel bed, where I lay with a high fever and other not-so-pleasant side effects of long nights, numerous parties, and consuming too many types of alcohol in a short period. (I’ve learned to hold my liquor better since…)

In sum, Berlin is an amazing city, and especially worth visiting during the festival.

Special Events This Year

As part of the special events for the festival’s 60th birthday, attendees will get the chance to see for the first time a reconstructed original cut of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis at the impressive and charged Brandenburg Gate, after the accidental recent finding of the full length 210min negative in the Museo Del Cine in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Another special event is the 4th Culinary Cinema event, this year with the motto of “In the Food for Love.” Eleven films revolving around the relationship between food and love, nature, and the environment will be presented, followed by large dinners inspired by the films and prepared by popular German chefs. And don’t worry, they will not screen a Saw-like movie before the meal… Guten appétit!

Top 5 Films to Watch

Unintentionally, it turns out that 3 out of the following 5 titles are fresh arrivals from last month’s Sundance. Do you also feel Sundance’s influence over Berlin in recent years?

Please Give
Screened out of competition, this is the fourth feature from the talented Nicole Holofcener. This indie director already created several urban relationship comedies (Friends with Money, Lovely & Amazing) and also directed several episodes in great TV series like Six Feet Under and Gilmore Girls.
Hopefully Please Give will display the same characteristics: The scene featured here proves Holofcener’s quirky sense of humor is present.

The Ghost Writer
This is Roman Polanski’s first feature since his 2005 adaptation of Oliver Twist, and already the center of a scandalous affair. Visiting the Zurich Film Festival last September, Polanski was arrested and work on the film had to be stopped. However, Polanski was eventually able to resume work from his house arrest in Switzerland (?!) and the film was finished in time to premiere at the Berlinale.

The trailer teases an atmospheric thriller with one of the most stellar casts at the Berlinale: Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Williams, James Belushi and many more. Scandals or not, this is still a Polanski film and therefore probably a strong candidate in this year’s competition.

Na Putu (On The Path)
Bosnia-Herzegovinia has one of the most rapidly developing cinema industries in the world. In this film, one of the country’s most celebrated directors, Jasmila Zbanic (Grbavica), deals with one of the most painful subjects Europe faces these days: religious fundamentalism.

This bittersweet dramedy portrays the relationship of Luna and Amar, as Amar begins to be drawn to the Muslim religion. Their relationship crumbles as Amar becomes more and more conservative. This could be the 2nd Golden Bear for Zbanic, who already received the award for her 2006 Grbavica.

The Killer Inside Me
This neo-noir adaptation of a pulp classic from the 50s has been in production hell since the mid-80s. Many directors undertook the project, including Quentin Tarantino and Andrew Dominik (The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford), and mega-stars like Tom Cruise, Uma Thurman and Brad Pitt were supposed to star. But year after year the project was delayed until Michael Winterbottom took over.

Without revealing any spoilers, let’s just say the character of the patient, calm sheriff might change in the course of the movie…

WARNING: The following trailer contains R-rated scenes and spoilers!

Howl

Howl is a fascinating portrayal of counterculture creation, and an interesting exercise in filmmaking: it is in part a biopic of the famous poet Allen Ginsberg, in part a surreal animation adaptation of the poem itself and in part a courtroom drama following the controversy created around the poem, and the poet…, and all of this from directors who used to be documentarians till now.
Top all of the above with a strong cast: Jeff Daniels, Mary-Louise Parker, Jon Hamm and James Franco, and it promises to be one of the most intriguing indie films of the year.

Which screenings will you or would you book tickets to? Do you have any thoughts on the smaller films in the Panorama and Forum programs? Comment and let us know!

And are you about to see the long delayed and long anticipated Shutter Island? Watch for our upcoming post about it!

Technorati Tags: Berlinale, Berlin Film Festival

Popularity: 4% [?]

And the Oscar Goes To… (Find Out Here First)

The Oscar nominations have been announced! But here at Jinni, we got our hands on the list of winners!! It wasn’t that difficult, we just told the guy with the envelope to look over there. While he was busy looking for something extraordinary, we opened the envelope, took out the list, copied it with our cell phone (smart and slick, we know) and put it back in the envelope. He never noticed.

So there you have it. More than a month before everyone else, we give you the list of winners:

Best Movie: Avatar

The Academy went with the people and chose Avatar as Best Picture. Saying that Avatar is not a good movie these days is like saying that Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts aren’t tasty. Avatar is about to receive, or maybe already received, the status of sacred cow. Nevertheless, I dare to say The Hurt Locker is a way better movie and so are Inglourious Basterds, Up in the Air and The Blind Side. I think that Avatar is a genocide movie in 3D, visually amazing but with too-obvious political criticism and a general lack of plot and acting.

Best Actor: Morgan Freeman

I disagree with this pick too. Freeman is a great actor, one of the best ever, but he wasn’t at his best in his portrayal of Nelson Mandela in Invictus. It’s like he did us a favor and made a really slight effort to make a decent South African accent. It could be his most unconvincing acting to date. I guess it’s a Scorsese-type Oscar: He deserved one for many of his previous works (The Shawshank Redemption, Driving Miss Daisy), so the Academy is giving it to him this time as a compensation prize. The winner should have been George Clooney for his excellent role in Up in the Air.

Best Actress: Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep was brilliant in Julie and Julia. Some say she resembled Julia Childs even more than Julia Childs, but I think it’s a real shame that the Oscar didn’t go to Sandra Bullock, who might have to content herself with a Razzie . Bullock gave the performance of her life in The Blind Side. I fell in love with the character she played. And while Streep will probably receive more nominations and prestigious awards in future, this was kind of a one-time opportunity for Sandra Bullock. Meryl Streep is becoming the Michael Jordan of the best actress category: She is nominated almost every other year. So I guess that makes Sandra the Karl Malone of this year: Truly great, but Streep (Jordan) is the greatest.

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker

The Academy members didn’t miss the chance to make history, and Kathryn Bigelow is the first female director to receive the Oscar for best achievement in directing! She managed to create a truly tense, realistic and captivating movie with The Hurt Locker. Of the many movies that dealt with the Gulf war (Jarhead and The Messenger, to name just a few), The Hurt Locker is indeed the best.

Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds

For many, Inglourious Basterds marks the return to form for Quentin Tarantino. Who can alter history in such a way and get away with it? Only Quentin the mad-genius / movie-geek / child-trapped-in-an-adult-body Tarantino. You can be offended by Inglourious Basterds, you can say it’s cruel and too violent, but there is one thing you can’t do: You can’t take your eyes off the screen. Also worth mentioning: The Coen Brothers’ A Serious Man. The dialogue is really clever, and I enjoyed their dark, mean humor.

Best Adapted Screenplay: Geoffrey Fletcher for Precious

This is a good choice. Precious is a brave movie that talks about “the other,” the social misfit. Precious deserves the win – and it’s quite a surprise, with Up in the Air the obvious favorite in this category.

Best Animated Feature: Up

We all knew Up was going to win. The announcement that it actually won is just for protocol, like election results in Iran. Fantastic Mr. Fox was well-received critically, but financially it pretty much failed. With no Oscar in hand, Wes Anderson’s movie can be considered something of a flop.

Best Foreign Film: The White Ribbon

I started watching this movie and stopped after three minutes and seven seconds. It’s in black-and-white and just too German and slow for me (at least the first three minutes and seven seconds). Ajami, my favorite in this category, is a captivating, rough movie about a poor urban neighborhood in Israel called Ajami. It’s up there with City of God, Amores Perros and Tsotsi.

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz

Bingo! No competition here. A brilliant performance by Waltz as the most charming Nazi villain (saying “Nazi villain” is kind of like saying “fat overweight guy”) of all time. You know you have to hate him – he’s a Nazi – but you just can’t.

Best Supporting Actress: Vera Farmiga

At the age of thirty-six and after superb roles in Running Scared, The Departed and Up In the Air, it’s now safe to say that Vera Farmiga is a big Hollywood star. She has quality written all over her.

P.S. Note that in the competition between the ex-couple Cameron and Bigelow, (each had 9 nominations), Bigelow wins, but not with a knockout (More wins to Bigelow, but Avatar did get the best pic prize).

Think the Academy was wrong? Think we’re bluffing and don’t really possess the list of winners? Comment and let us know.

Technorati Tags: Oscars 2010, Oscar winners, Academy Awards

Popularity: 9% [?]

With Christian Bale celebrating his 36th birthday on the 30th, and with Mel Gibson’s new movie Edge of Darkness coming out on the 29th, it’s time to name Hollywood’s biggest a-holes. A list made entirely of douchebags. 10 people we could all do without. Try to imagine the cinematic scenery without these real life villains, wouldn’t it be much nicer?

10. Emile Hirsch

Almost the most annoying person alive. During the entire movie Into the Wild, I was hoping he would just stay there, live in the desert and stop acting. Sadly for me, the opposite happened and the movie’s success earned him bigger movie roles. His next movie due in 2011 is Hamlet. When the phrase “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” is heard, they will be speaking about Emile Hirsch.

9. Sarah Jessica Parker

Sex and the City, Sex and the City the movie, Sex and the City the second movie… Someone needs to stop her before she makes Sex and the City 3! It’s as important to the world as stopping the Iranian nuclear program.

8. Matthew McConaughey

He can take his romantic comedies and shove them up his dimples. When my sister developed a crush on him, she was banned from the family until she sobered up and understood that he is the male equivalent of Sarah Jessica Parker.

7. Dane Cook

He loves himself so much he might do a remake of The Notebook, taking the role of Ryan Gosling. Rachel McAdams’s role will remain vacant.

6. Tori Spelling

Nepotism is “favoritism granted to relatives or friends, without regard to their merit.” Is there one person in the world who thinks Tori Spelling got her acting roles because of her talent and not her last name? She also released an autobiography. If you’re Winston Churchill, that’s okay; if you’re Tori Spelling, it’s not.

5. Nicholas Cage

On this list because the movies he’s picked in recent years suggest he is no longer a rational being. Ghost Rider? The Wicker Man?? Next??? Bangkok Dangerous???! Knowing????!!

4. Richard Gere

So his hair went grey at a very young age. It’s no reason to keep giving him movie roles just out of pity. Also, as someone who cares about animal rights, I don’t particularly approve of his fondness for gerbils.

3. Kelsey Grammer

He never made me laugh. Not once. In Frasier he might have came remotely close, but in Back To You and Hank he just made me sad. Looks like an accountant, and it’s a shame he isn’t one.

2. Christian Bale

In 1987’s Empire of the Sun, when he was only 12, we could already see that he was a spoiled, annoying little diva. And in recent years we read about him getting arrested after attacking his own mother! And that he screamed, shouted and just freaked out on the set of Terminator 4. A real American Psycho. I think it’s the extreme changes in his outward appearance (in the Machinist he was skinny as Andy Dick, than he gained weight for Batman and lost it again for Rescue Dawn) that cause that kind of behavior.

1.Mel Gibson

With each passing year we grow to like Mel Gisbson less and less. First we learned he was “just” an alcoholic, then an anti-Semitic alcoholic, and then a homophobic, anti-Semitic alcoholic. What are we going to find out about him next? Maybe that he also hates babies…

This Family Guy clip sums it up nicely:

Family Guy - The List

andrew | MySpace Video

Popularity: 3% [?]

Have you heard of the Sundance Toxic Buzz Syndrome? Maybe not, since I made it up – but in my experience, it’s a real phenomenon.

There’s no arguing that Sundance has contributed a lot to independent cinema. Still, the festival tends to overhype its line-up and winners. Winners at every festival sometimes fail to deliver on their promise. Yet Sundance seems to have perfected the art of the misleading buzz. This serves producers who cut dreamy distribution deals for low-cost titles. But viewers, and mostly buyers, should beware.

The after-Sundance-reality is that only a few buzzed titles, and even festival winners, nab a domestic distribution. Some live up to their buzz until the subsequent Berlin Film Festival, where they might sell internationally. After a long festival run, it can take a year or more for their domestic and international releases. Only a handful will ever top a few million at the box office.

By way of example, here is the harvest of just 8 titles from 2004, when I was a buyer.

Click to enlarge:

The big winner of 2004, Primer was a great deal for the producer. However, the box office (B/O) figure is very small; buyers and viewers expected more.
Another aspect of the Syndrome: the movie was a one-time success. Its director, Shane Carruth, hasn’t made any films since.

The documentary Tarnation cost a ridiculous $213K to edit (although its images and videos are the result of 20 years work). Its director completed another documentary in 2009, which didn’t gain a commercial distribution.

Napoleon Dynamite’s hyper-buzz was followed by a fierce bidding war between Fox Searchlight and WB Independent. Fox won, paying almost 8 times the movie’s budget for domestic rights. The movie succeeded mainly in the U.S. Considered crazy by many industry professionals, Fox’ deal eventually proved worthwhile.

In a rare cooperation, Garden State was sold to Fox Searchlight and Miramax for double its budget. Unlike Napoleon, the wisdom of this deal is arguable. Garden State was better received in the US than internationally, probably enjoying the star-power of its director, Scrubs’ lead Zach Braff – who hasn’t yet directed another feature.

First presented at the Hamptons International Film Festival, Open Water was bought for 20 times its budget only after screening at Sundance. Interesting, distribution rights were bought by a non-studio, Lionsgate. (A buyer at the time, I acquired rights for my territory.) Its international performance wasn’t bad for a horror flick, but probably didn’t justify the prices paid for rights. And the director was a one-time success.

If there were movie sales-and-marketing schools, The Woodsman (starring real-life couple Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick) would be a great study case. Following a bidding war among six companies, the producers closed a deal with Newmarket, a hot distribution outfit back then after the successful release of Monster, another indie with a tough subject (as well as Memento, Donnie Darko, Whale Rider, and others). While domestic rights were acquired for less than the movie’s budget, it still seemed astonishing to pay such a sum for a movie about a pedophile. At the Berlin Film Festival, the buzz continued with packed screenings and an international bidding war. As a buyer, I found myself competing rights with almost all my competitors. How did it all end?  The movie failed everywhere. Moreover, director Nicole Kassell only now, nearly 7 years later, starts shooting her next feature, Earthbound.

With Maria Full of Grace, domestic distribution wasn’t negotiable. The buzz affected international sales – and considering the box office results, didn’t justify the mayhem. The director, Joshua Marston, has since directed a few TV episodes and a chapter in N.Y. I Love You.

Showing that foreign titles can suffer the same syndrome, The Motorcycle Diaries was directed by the acclaimed Brazilian director Walter Salles (Central do Brasil) and starred Gael Garcia Bernal hot off Y Tu Mama Tambien and Amores Perros (and soon to be seen in the upcoming Earthbound). Still, the price paid for distributing a subtitled movie in the U.S. looks inflated – and perhaps not justified, given the results.

Why is Sundance home to Toxic Buzz? Festivals like Cannes and Berlin showcase more titles, so perhaps the flops are less prominent. As well, moviegoers and critics are mostly uninvolved in the big markets that are held alongside those festivals. And unlike Cannes or Venice, which usually feature titles from established directors and actors, at Sundance the buzzed titles are the works of little-known directors. So if a film fails, it flops completely; no star power to minimize the damage. Then there are the interests involved: For indie filmmakers, domestic and international sales represent profit regardless of box office performance. And for festivals and studios, discovering the next hot indie – successful or not – brings prestige.

Having said all that, the search for the next promising work will never cease to excite and thrill. Adding to the anticipation, the festival has an intriguing new initiative this year, Sundance Film Festival USA: On January 28, the festival is sending eight filmmakers to eight cities across the U.S. to screen and discuss direct-from-festival films with audiences.

Technorati Tags: sundance film festival

Popularity: 3% [?]

Just a few days away from the ceremony, the nominees are finally published so we can make our bets. Here’s who we think should win vs. who will probably win, since the judges aren’t as wise as we are. In light of the many differences, we can only ask the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA): Please surprise us!

Best Motion Picture, Drama

Should Win: Inglourious Basterds
Will Win: Avatar
The one movie that really “got to me” this year was Inglourious Basterds. It’s captivating, intellectual, funny and horrifying all at once. However, the HFPA tends to go with current hype, which in this case is Avatar. Its incredible commercial success, along with constant discussion among critics and viewers alike, makes it likely to be the big winner at the 2010 Golden Globes.

Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical

Should Win: (500) Days of Summer
Will Win: Nine
A couple months ago I would have chosen Nine as the definite winner in this category. It’s a stylish musical full of big names and lavish costumes - a kind of movie the HFPA really loves. But then the movie was released to very mediocre reviews and a disappointing box office, and the race reopened.

I still believe Nine will win as it has no real competition: (500) Days of Summer is cute but too indie, The Hangover is very funny but ultimately just a silly comedy, and Julie and Julia did not get much praise aside from Meryl Streep’s acting.

Best Director - Motion Picture

Should Win: Quentin Tarantino
Will Win: Kathryn Bigelow
The real fight here is between ex-husband-and-wife James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow. On one side the huge-budget, high-grossing, eye-popping IMAX visuals of Avatar. On the other side the indie Hurt Locker, which was released over a year ago at the 2008 Venice Film Festival and has gained critical recognition ever since. I believe in this case the smaller film will win, though personally I would choose Quentin Tarantino over any of them.

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama

Should Win: Jeff Bridges
Will Win: Jeff Bridges
This would be the 4th Golden Globe nomination for Jeff Bridges, who everyone agrees is a fine actor. At age 61, it’s time for him to get some recognition from the HFPA, and maybe from the Oscar judges too. The movie, Crazy Heart, is about an aging, self-destructive country singer. The movie got generally good reviews, all highlighting Bridges’ performance: “may be the best of his career“, “the show belongs to Bridges“, “some actors are blessed. Bridges is one of them“. So I would be very surprised if Bridges loses to an old voters’ favorite like Morgan Freeman.

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama

Should Win: Carey Mulligan
Will Win: Carey Mulligan
Once again there’s a consensus. I feel like Carey Mulligan fell out of the sky (had you heard of her a year ago?). She now appears everywhere: In Jim Sheridan’s Brothers; alongside Keira Knightley and Charlotte Rampling in Never Let Me Go; and in Oliver Stone’s upcoming sequel to Wall Street.

Her performance in An Education gained her attention many actresses do not achieve in years. Critics have wondered whether she is the new Audrey Hepburn or the new Kate Winslet. Now she has the chance to prove she’s not just another star that will fade as fast as it appeared.

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy

Should Win: Robert Downey Jr.
Will Win: Daniel Day-Lewis
It’s true: Sherlock Holmes wasn’t the really great movie it could have been. But it was still fun and entertaining, and the character of Sherlock himself, portrayed by Robert Downey Jr., was hilarious, proving once again that Downey Jr. is one of the most talented actors in Hollywood. Will it help him get the Golden Globe (especially after no awarding recognition for his previous hilarious comic effort in Tropic Thunder)? I believe not. The HFPA would probably announce the more popular vote of Daniel Day-Lewis as the winner.

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy

Should win: Sandra Bullock
Will Win: Meryl Streep
Okay, okay, I know I’m in the minority here. And I don’t really think Sandra Bullock is a better actress than Meryl Streep. But come on - Bullock has pulled off an amazing comeback. She starred in two of the most successful films of the year: the surprisingly successful rom-com The Proposal and the tearjerkerker The Blind Side. Besides, Meryl Streep already has enough Golden Globes (six, to be exact) and I’m sure she would gladly give this one up in favor of finally grabbing the Oscar after twenty-eight years…

Best Animated Feature Film

Should Win: Coraline
Will Win: Up
Pixar, Pixar, Pixar, bla bla bla. It’s pointless to even talk about this award. In the few years this award has existed (from 2006) Pixar has always won - even with mediocre films like Cars. So there’s no reason to think Up will be any different - it’s highly acclaimed and loved worldwide.

For a while there was talk of The Princess and the Frog winning, in some sort of tribute to good-old 2D animation, but so far the reviews aren’t glowing enough and the box office is slightly disappointing.

Of course the real winner in my opinion should have been Coraline - amazing animation combined with a compelling story that is more suitable for adults than for small children.

Best Foreign Language Film

Should Win: The White Ribbon
Will Win: The White Ribbon
This film won the big prize at the last Cannes Film Festival, and it will probably win both the Golden Globe and the Oscar. Its controversial director, Michael Haneke, returns with a stylish black-and-white film depicting the strange events in a small German village before WWI. Haneke’s famous penchant for violence is somewhat restrained here, but the atmosphere is intense, chilling and eerie just the same.

Best Television Series - Drama

Should Win: House M.D.
Will Win: True Blood
The last three picks for best drama series makes me want to confiscate the Golden Globes - Mad Men two years in a row, and Grey’s Anatomy the year before that! It’s nothing less than shameful that House M.D. - a true masterpiece - has never won an Emmy or a Golden Globe for best drama series. Now, already in its sixth season, it’s time for the voters to redeem themselves from their past sins (and follow Jinni’s People’s Choice Awards results) and give the award for best drama series to House.
P.S. If not House, then Dexter.
P.S.S. If not Dexter, then True Blood.
P.S.S.S. But it really should be House.

Best Television Series, Comedy Or Musical

Should Win: The Office
Will Win: 30 Rock
The last two picks for best comedy series gave me hope for this year. In 2009, 30 Rock won, and in 2008 the excellent Extras. If the positive direction continues, it should be The Office this year. The British original won in 2003, and it’s time to honor the equally great American version. What scares me is that Ugly Betty won in 2007, and Desperate Housewives won in both 2005 and 2006, so the HFPA don’t always make the best decisions on this score. Modern Family is a good series, but describing it as one of the best of the decade (as many did) is over-praise. Glee is great for teen girls, but it’s not on the caliber of 30 Rock and The Office.

Do you think our predictions are completely off? Do you think (or wish…?) for Avatar to be the biggest loser in this ceremony? Comment and let us know!

Technorati Tags: golden globes, hfpa, hollywood foreign press association

Popularity: 5% [?]

It’s not easy to sum up a decade. Ten years of record-breaking blockbusters, colossal failures, rising and falling stars, new technologies that affected cinema and TV - and a whole lot more. We’ve decided to focus on the best trends of the decade - here’s Part I. (You can read Part II here.)

And before you read our opinions, add yours: Click here to vote in the Jinni People’s Choice Awards! We’ll publish results on the best (and worst) movies, TV shows, directors and actors of the decade in the coming weeks.

The 00s were a great decade for…

1. Heroes:

Two types of heroes in particular:

Superheroes: Batman’s revival, the Spider-Man franchise, X-Men franchise, Iron Man, The Hulk and The Incredible Hulk, Hancock, Hellboy 1 and 2, and even Superman Returns. Christian Bale, Robert Downey Jr., Tobey Maguire, Hugh Jackman, Edward Norton, Will Smith – There is no chance in the world you’re going to get an Oscar for a superhero movie, but I guess the big salaries make up nicely for the lost honor.

Aging Heroes: Rocky Balboa, Rambo, Die Hard 4, Gran Torino, Harry Brown, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Terminator 3. Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Clint Eastwood, Michael Caine, Harrison Ford, Arnie – Aren’t there younger guys out there that can take your place in the action movies? Actually, some of you made good movies this decade, so we wouldn’t mind one more… (not you Harrison, your movie sucked).

Looking at the success of these two groups, I think I have the formula for the top-grossing movie in history: a really aging superhero (Christopher Reeve dug from the grave to play Superman one last time?) fights vampires (riding on Twilight’s success). People will sleep near the ticket offices for this upcoming (?) movie.

2. Crime:

It was a great decade for Crime, in three main categories:

Humorous: The fastest and one of the funniest movies ever made – Shoot ’Em Up. The dark humored In Bruges, Guy Ritchie’s Snatch and the less superior RocknRolla, and Soderbergh’s all-star Ocean movies.

Twists and Turns: Inside Man – The clue in the title didn’t spoil the twist. Lucky Number Slevin – Suspect the person you would never suspect. Running Scared – great underrated movie. Training Day – The first movie Ethan Hawk was any good in. A History of Violence – Not the last we hear of Cronenberg under Crime.

Captivating (or: everybody want to be Coppola/Scorsese): American Gangster (Ridley Scott is the new Coppola/Scorsese?), Eastern Promises (Cronenberg is the new Coppola/Scorsese?), Road To Perdition, The Departed (Scorsese is the new Coppola/Scorsese?), Infernal Affairs and the TV series The Sopranos – You can’t take your eyes off the screen when you watch these. Your dog miraculously wants to talk to you, your wife wants a divorce and you hear someone shouting for help – all these will have to wait.

3. Animation:

The 00s were an astounding decade for animation. At the start of the decade, few animation features were produced each year. The genre developed into one of the most popular, with blockbuster franchises like Shrek, Madagascar and Ice Age. More than fifty features are released each year, and the number of animation studios has grown significantly. The techniques are constantly evolving and improving, and films in stop motion, motion capture and puppets are more common than ever. The major trends are -

The Pixar Conquest and CGI Domination: After modern classics like Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and Wall-E, even the Disney Studios realized, “If you can’t beat them – buy them.” The success encouraged other studios, and today a summer without a least one animated blockbuster seems impossible.

The Death and Rebirth of Traditional Animation: In 2004, Disney decided to surrender to the success of CGI animation and close their traditional animation department. Surprisingly, the 2006 Pixar deal reversed that decision – so far validated by the rather successful The Princess and the Frog.

Anime: This decade marked the western acknowledgement of anime. Creators like Hayao Miyazaki and Satoshi Kon became known to the general audience and won important awards, including an Oscar for Spirited Away.

Animation for Grown-ups: Considered a children’s genre for decades, animation is finally being seen in a new light. High profile animation movies depicted war and coming-of-age (Waltz With Bashir and Persepolis), tender friendship and love (Mary & Max, The Triplets of Belleville) and creepy post-apocalyptic allegory (9). On TV, The Simpsons, Family Guy and South Park ruled.

4. Sci-Fi:

The 2000s were good for sci-fi: developments in special effects and CGI techniques enabled filmmakers to achieve their visual visions. Still, there wasn’t a single sci-fi film that matched the influence and popularity of the end-of-the-90s’ The Matrix. Sci-fi in the 2000s was characterized by three trends:

The fall of old series and rise of new ones: Anticipation of The Matrix sequels was great - and so was the disappointment. Neither was groundbreaking or even good. Same with the prequels of Star Wars: fans were enthusiastic and George Lucas disappointed, with three soulless, boring movies offering nothing more than not-so-impressive special effects. The Terminator Franchise also disappointed, with a less impressive third installment and an embarrassing fourth one. However, successful new franchises took their place: Spider-man, X-Men, Transformers, Iron Man (all expecting additional installments), and hopefully the reboot of Star Trek too.

Based on Comics: Comics continued to be a great source of inspiration for sci-fi films. Besides the well-known characters mentioned above, it was a good decade for smaller, lesser-known characters and stories like V for Vendetta, The Chronicles of Riddick and Watchmen.

Post Apocalyptic Themes: After nothing happened in the new millennium, we had to find new reasons and prophecies for destruction – and post-apocalypse was a common theme in sci-fi. We got: The Day After Tomorrow, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Children of Men, The Road, A. I: Artificial Intelligence, Knowing, 2012 and many more. Is there any type of mass destruction we haven’t thought of yet…?

5. TV:

We can divide the greatest TV shows of the decade into five groups:

Mindbenders: Lost (WTF is going on over there?) and Life on Mars - the British version (we already know WTF went over there).

Death-Related: Breaking Bad – he’s got cancer, Six Feet Under – they run a funeral home, House – he saves people from dying, Generation Kill and Band of Brothers – they are always in great danger, death is always lurking;

Showbiz/Workplace Comedies: 30 Rock (Alec Baldwin rocks!), Curb Your Enthusiasm (Larry David is a genius), The Office and Extras (Ricky Gervais is second only to the Queen in England).

State Affairs and Leaders: Rome – although I knew what was going to happen to Julius Caesar, I was upset when he was murdered in the final episode of season one. Conclusion: The fact that you know that death is coming doesn’t necessarily prepare you for it. The West Wing – Jed Bartlet (Martin Sheen) is the greatest American president who ever lived alongside 24’s David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert);

The protagonist you don’t want your kid to mimic: Dexter – check your kid’s bag for sharp tools, The Shield – don’t let your kid shave his head, The Sopranos – When your kid says he’s going to a friend’s to study, what he really means is that he’s going to the Bada Bing!

Watch out for Part II - coming next week!

Technorati Tags: best movies of the 2000s, best movies of the decade

Popularity: 34% [?]

It’s hard to miss that TV is changing – increasingly online, on-demand, and personalized. Business models, like consumers habits, are in flux, and the landscape of companies keeps evolving. Mashable recently published an intriguing list of companies that are reinventing online TV. As a response and complement to those selections, here are 5 more companies that, as we see it, take a key role in reinventing online TV.

1. Netflix

Netflix’s popular Instant Watch streaming service has become for many a complement if not a supplement to broadcast and cable TV. With delivery via Roku, Xbox, PS3 and others, Instant Watch provides a comfortable living room experience. Now planning to expand internationally, Netflix is no longer just a DVD rental company, but an important player in online TV.

2. Comcast

Innovation by small startups might make a better story, but there’s no denying that the big players have a big influence on the future of TV. Perhaps none more so than Comcast, who with their recent acquisition of NBCU now have first access to some of the best premium content around, not to mention influence over the popular online service Hulu. With the launch of Fancast Xfinity TV, Comcast is moving at “light speed in cable TV terms” (as Videonuze put it) to provide an online TV experience that enhances - but does not replace - cable service.

3. Blip.tv

What is the place of indie content in the evolving world of online TV? The question has two sides: how many people will watch indie content, and how indie creators will monetize their content so they can continue their work. With even YouTube shifting focus toward more profitable premium content, Blip.tv, the self-described “next generation television network,” provides a model for both sides of the question, extensively syndicating content to viewers around the Web and offering profits to successful creators via a 50/50 ad revenue share. It’s not the only model for how quality indie content can continue to enrich online TV, but it’s one that seems to have staying power.

4. LG

As LG has identified, the next big thing in the world of HDTV is internet capabilities. LG’s NetCast Access Entertainment integrates Yahoo Widget Engine, Netflix, YouTube and Vudu content in selected HDTV models via Ethernet connectivity directly to the television. This looks like the right direction for consumers who demand a simple, seamless experience without set-up, set top boxes, and accessories.

5. Jinni

(Of course!) Unlike typical TV, over-the-top (OTT) models where content is completely on-demand create a challenge for anyone in couch potato mood. “Channel zap” as the simple - and only - way to choose what to watch is a thing of the past. We see Jinni as the next generation TV guide, with a unique focus on the user. Based on our semantic Movie Genome, Jinni creates a one-of-a-kind model for each person’s taste, to enable selection by mood and personal preferences.

Technorati Tags: online TV, Xfinity, Netflix, Comcast, LG NetCast

Popularity: 6% [?]

The end of the year marks the beginning of awards season: nearly three breathless months that end in February with the Oscars – and that began last Saturday with The European Film Awards. Launched in 1988, and relaunched with a higher profile in 1997, the ceremony takes place each year in a different European country. This year it was Germany.

The big winner on Saturday night was Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon, which won best film, best director and best screenwriter. A few weeks ago I asked why Americans get to see foreign films so late, long after their original release date if at all. I gave The White Ribbon as an example. Now I can point a finger at the European Academy, and say that if they want their ceremony to be up-to-date, relevant and influential as the awards season opener, they better nominate works that haven’t already received their share of praise long ago (like The White Ribbon with its triple win, including best film, at Cannes), or worse yet, been forgotten in the mists of time (like 2008’s Slumdog Millionaire, The Reader and even Let the Right One In). With nominations like those, this event could be the closing ceremony for the previous awards season.

True, this is the Oscars of Europe (though one could question the European essence, with nominations like Slumdog and The Reader). But the Oscars sum up a year that just ended; many nominees premiere only a few months earlier. What’s the logic of going back to these same movies, a year or even more after they opened, alongside fresh nominees like Fish Tank that premiered much later in 2009? Ask the European Film Academy…

If you’re looking for interesting European film to watch, here are some highlights (and a few to avoid) among this year’s nominees:

5. Fish Tank & A Prophet

Among the nominees for best movie, these two are the least known and most intriguing. And as such, they haven’t yet hit U.S. theaters. Fish Tank doesn’t even have a date.

Fish Tank is a highly acclaimed realist piece from the U.K. It won the Jury Prize in Cannes, as well as major prizes in several other festivals, including Chicago. It’s a captivating, gloomy, coming-of-age story about a rebellious teen whose life turns up-side-down when her mother brings home a new boyfriend.

With 2 prizes and 4 additional nominations, A Prophet is a powerfully rough, Oz-like prison drama, chronicling the rise-to-the-top of a clever new inmate, an Arab teen sentenced to six years in a French prison. The movie won the Grand Prize of the Jury in Cannes, as well as Best Film at the London Film Festival.

4. Honorary Award for Ken Loach

Ken Loach is practically synonymous with modern realism in filmmaking. For good or bad (depends on your taste), he is one of the last truly radical political filmmakers. He’s been making movies since the late 60s, whose essence is perhaps best captured by the Jinni gene “life’s a bitch.” They are usually heartfelt, always thought-provoking, and gloomy on the verge of bleak. So it was a bit of a surprise that his latest movie, Looking for Eric (nominated for best European actor), is a rather humorous, uplifting, semi-fantastic piece of… realism (a man going through a midlife crisis makes legendary soccer player Eric Cantona his imaginary friend, after smoking several joints). Loach claimed it’s not unusual, as he has “always done films that had a little bit of comedy in them.” Sure…

3. Ajami

The European Discovery section, which highlights first works, contains several gems. This multiple award-winning Israeli-Arab joint production is set in an urban ghetto neighborhood in Jaffa, an old city populated by Jews and Muslims, on the border of metropolitan Tel Aviv. It unfolds multiple true stories in a tense, emotional nonlinear style, carried by non-professional actors. Thus it resembles other powerful first works like Amores Perros, Tsotsi and Salaam Bombay.

2. Antichrist

This recent effort from Dogme95 founder Lars Von Trier (who is also responsible for the contemporary wave of woman-friendly porn films) garnered nominations for best director, cinematographer and actress (a prize it already won earlier in Cannes). I’m sorry to say it, but I’m glad this radical and controversial filmmaker didn’t win. (His cinematographer did, though.) Breaking The Waves was the first film of his I watched. I ended up with a severe headache and nausea, as if I’d just stepped off a stormy cruise. And that was one of his least pretentious works.

Antichrist is an extremely sexual and gory two-actor natural horror movie, set in a haunted cabin in the woods. Top critics at Rotten Tomatoes gave it 41%!

In a statement among the productions notes, Von Trier explains that this movie is a post-depression work, done “without much enthusiasm”, and that “Scenes were added for no reason. Images were composed free of logic or dramatic thinking.” And he sums up “I can offer no excuse for Antichrist.” I think he explained better than I could why it shouldn’t win awards.

(By the way, while the work itself is unorthodox, its U.S. distribution was too: it had a limited cinematic release and a VOD release at the same time.)

5. People’s Choice Awards

Since I’m on a roll with grumpy criticism, one more thing worth noting is the nominations under the People’s Choice Award. True, festival art directors, movie critics and the crowd often don’t see eye-to-eye. Still, it’s a bit strange to find Transporter 3 and even Fly Me to the Moon among the nominees. The only justification I can find for Transporter 3 is that from one brainless, mediocre-at-best installment to the next, its box office magically grows (reminding me of the equally panned yet profitable Twilight series). Fly Me to the Moon is an even greater surprise – the story of three stowaway flies on the historic Apollo 11 flight failed with both audience and critics, earning an embarrassing 17% at Rotten Tomatoes and a very modest box office. How on earth (or moon) did it get nominated? I guess they had to put up something against the sure winner Slumdog Millionaire…

Please do comment, especially if you’re European, and let us know if you’ve heard about this ceremony, and what you think of it.

Popularity: 6% [?]