Last Pre-Oscars Post for 2008...

I picked up Changeling on a whim. To be honest I have some money set aside to buy movies every once in a while, and it's been a while, and this film showed up on my radar. I wasn't that interested in the film upon it's initial theatrical release, but something about it caught my attention over the last few weeks. It's partially because I love the period, look, and location of the film and partially because I've been wanting to examine more of Eastwood's films. The film is very stirring. I don't want to get into to many details because the story should be experienced as fresh as possible. It is very challenging at times though, just to forewarn the faint of heart. Though it can be difficult at times I didn't feel it was without merit. The film certainly gives it's audience something to think about and digest upon ending. Overall I felt it was an amazing picture. In fact, I liked it more than 4 of the films nominated for best picture this year. (With only Slumdog Millionaire besting it in my book) I'm happy it was nominated for Best Actress (for Jolie), Art Direction (deserves to win this), and Cinematography. To say that Eastwood and his team of artists faithfully recreated the look of the period is an understatement. The visual effects in the film are seamless and understated as well. I was happy to hear that the film won two VES Awards today, one for Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Feature Motion Picture and Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Motion Picture.


Today we took our annual pilgrimage to FIDM's Art of Motion Picture Costume Design exhibit. Though it can be browsed in less than a half hour I always find it very worthwhile to attend. It's great, and very inspiring, to see this work up close and in person. They had four of the five films nominated films for Best Costume Design represented this year and of them I was most impressed with the costumes from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. There is a lot of talk of The Dutchess winning this year but frankly I'm tired of seeing these period films win based seemingly on the pedigree of the period depicted more than anything else. Interestingly we felt the best costumes in the exhibit were The Dark Knight and Changeling, neither of which were nominated in that category. If you are interested, the exhibition is free and runs through March 29th. You can find out more details HERE.


The Animated Short Film La Maison en Petits Cubes that I lovingly spoke about in earlier posts was available on iTunes. (In the process of writing this and searching for a link I found that Apple seems to have taken the short down for some reason?!) It's such a wonderful and charming film and I strongly encourage you to pay the two bucks to enjoy the film and support it's artists, after they post it again that is. I'll keep an eye out for it and if it gets re-posted soon I'll try to link to it here.

Lastly... Here is the image I created for our Oscar Party Invitation this year:

I'm looking forward to our party tomorrow! I'll be watching and rooting for Slumdog, KFP, La Maison en Petits Cubes, The Dark Knight, and Changeling. At the party we usually play Oscar Bingo and we all cast ballots and keep track to see who can guess the most right. It'll be interesting to see how the changes to the show they have been hyping affect the feel of the program. I'll try to post my thoughts either tomorrow evening or on Monday.