...That It Be Totally Believeable

If things have been slow here, it's because the May Ozy scripts are being written now, or at least they should be. One of the things I really like about our process is the way our scripts are seen as a rough draft. From the night we share them until show night (and sometimes the next show night,) we constantly move things around, add jokes, take out lines that aren't working. It's all about collaboration and feeding off of each other.

Looking at someone else's process is always interesting to me- seeing where we're the same, what we can steal, what we excel at- but this may be, if you'll excuse the reference you don't know I'm making for another five seconds, the Holy Grail of seeing someone else's process.

Some kind, brilliant soul recorded the 1978 planning sessions between Kasdan, Lucas, and Spielberg for Raiders of the Lost Ark, and a transcript is available online. It'll take me a while to get through- it's 90 pages- but it's a great read.

Lucas — There's also the thing you can do which is your famous "Jaws", or what I call the hand on the shoulder trick, which is not only skeletons, but we can have skeletons that aren't that old, they just have drawn skin all over them, that are lurking in the shadows.

 

Spielberg — Falling into their arms. A skeleton comes out of the cobwebs, and just embraces the guy. The guy eases him to the ground.

 

Lucas — At the more tense moments in that whole thing. We'll work on that more specifically. Anyway, he goes through a series of really spooky scary things.

 

Spielberg — What we're just doing here, really, is designing a ride at Disneyland. 

Casting the Justice League

As successful as the Avengers was, DC Comics (and parent Warner Bros) are desperate to get a Justice League movie off the ground. Unfortunately, for every step forward they make (The Dark Knight) they take a step back (Green Lantern). High, high hopes have been put on this summer's Man of Steel, and Henry Cavill (Superman) is signed on for a JL movie. Warner Bros is including Christopher Nolan in the planning, though that has been seen as an attempt to get Christian Bale to come back as Batman.

Frankly, I think they should hold out there and do a World's Finest movie before continuing on, but that's not how Marvel did it, so neither will DC. The next problem, then, is what to do about Green Lantern. On the positive side, there are a couple different Earth-based Green Lanterns, and a JL movie could use any of them. Hitfix has a gallery of suggestions, the best of which is Idris Elba as John Stewart, though his part in the next Thor movie may exclude him from consideration. Maybe Jason Clarke as Guy Gardner?

I may spend too much brainpower on these things.

Knotting Hill 2??

This video has also been making it's way around the Facebooks and Twitters. 

It is fantastically awkward and perfect interview between a very green reporter and Mila Kunis as she suffers through the press tour for her upcoming movie Oz The Great and Powerful.

Hmmm..it's almost too perfect....I'm starting to think this was a set-up - but either way it's great!

Undisputable Oscar Picks Of Glory!

Hello friends.  It is my favorite time of year - The Oscars!!

For movie buffs like myself, this is our Superbowl.  It is a night of rambling acceptance speeches by winners, fake smiles by the losers, and really awkward post-show interview.

Every year I sit down I sit down and consult the leaders in the movie industry as well as a Native American Shaman to come up with my picks.  I have never been wrong.  Ever.  Here are my picks for Sunday's show:



BEST ACTOR -

Daniel Day Lewis  -  This is a sure bet.  Lewis transformed into Lincoln so much that if I were him I would be afraid that the ghost of John Wilkes Booth would come back to finish what he started.    100 % sure this award goes to Daniel Day Lewis.

BEST ACTRESS -

Jessica Chastain - Not quite as sure of a bet here, but she was really really good in Zero Dark Thirty.  There is a possibility that Jennifer Lawrence could steal this one away, although I see support for her being split between herself and Naomi Watts.  75 % sure this award goes to Chastain.

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE -

Robert De Niro - Yuck.  While I don't think he should win I guess he probably will.  I think he did fine as Bradly Cooper's OCD pops in Silver Linings Playbook it did not seem to be a role that stretched him enough to give him this award.  I would much rather see Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained) or Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln) snag this one...but the writing on the wall indicates a win for Deniro.  Sigh.  80 %  confident in this pick.

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Anne Hathaway - This is no contest.  Yes, Helen Hunt and Sally Field did fine jobs in their movies and in a normal year should be given their due.  This, however, is not a normal year.  Hathaway absoltly killed it in Les Miserable and will and should win. This pick is made with 400 % confidence...suck it math geeks!

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Wreck-It Ralph. As a father of three boys I have seen all the nominees for this catagory and I'm pretty torn for what I think is going to happen here.  I did not think it was a great year for animated films.  Brave, Wreck-It, and Paranorman were all just ok for me.  I was really surprised not to see Rise Of The Guardians on this list...it was far better than a couple of the nominees.  The only animated movie that really caught my attention was Frankenweenie.  Tim Burton did a wonderful job paying tribute to classic horror movies while painting a really nice story with a touch of old school animation.  Frankenweenie should win, but it won't.  Wreck-It Ralph will because it is a "cooler" film that has a catchy soundtrack, although my confidence in this is only at 60 %.

BEST DIRECTOR

Ang Lee.  This is really just a two-horse race between Lee and Speilberg that will have a fairly slim margin of difference between them.  I haven't see Life Of Pi, so I cannot speak to how Lee brought that amazing story to life, but I did see Lincoln and can speak to how epic of a movie it is.  Speilberg did a great job of taking a very "talky" movie that has an outcome we already know about and make it compelling.  That said anytime a director can make a movie about a tiger in a boat with a giant whale flopping around I think they are going to get the edge.  Close race, but I'm 55.7 % confident that Lee pulls it out.

BEST MOVIE

Les Miserable.  I'm going out on a limb on this one because this is going to be considered a huge upset as all the buzz has been going for Argo.  The truth is Argo is a good movie, but it isn't a great one.  Les Mis is a great movie that captures the emotion of the iconic story while not sacrificing the music or the beauty of the set design.  It is a movie that leaves the audience sitting in their seats afterwards effected.  Sure, it was not beloved by the critics and perhaps it's divisiveness will be it's undoing but I feel that the people who are going to vote for it are more enthusiastic towards this film than the other supporters will be toward their choice.  It should and it will win...although I'm only 40 % sure it will squeak past Argo.

                      Am I Hugh Jackman or the lead singer to the Folk-Rock band Iron and Wine?