Would a studio rather have an Oscar winning movie or a big blockbuster?  That seems to be a big question out of Hollywood studio execs and although it may seem that studios would want the best quality movie possible, the answer is they don’t care.  Cause like anything else, it’s all about money, and big blockbusters are big money.  Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen just won the 2009 Razzie award for Worst Movie of the Year.  Well it also was one of the top money making movies of the year, so as bad as it was, it made a ton of money, and already a 3D third movie is in talks.

But recently a ton of big blockbusters have been very bad.  Sure they have crazy CGI technology and may be entertaining, but they are terrible.  It seems the new trend over the past few years is there is always a few movies each year that goes under the radar, then suddenly blows up around Oscar time and beats out some big time movies.  Crash (2005), Slumdog Millionaire (2009), and now The Hurt Locker (2010) are three small budget movies that have won the Oscar for Best Picture recently.  Event No Country For Old Men (2008) could even be considered a smaller budget movie as well.

In a time when the economy is in a recession, paying millions for big name actors and big names stunts may not be the best way for a studio to get the biggest ROI out of their product.  It may be better for studios to produce smaller budget films but those of better quality and push those.  It won’t require the big money to make, clearly it doesn’t need the big names to draw fans in, and when the positive press gains, the studio will clearly have a great money making movie, and a quality movie on top of it.  They will increase DVD/online sales, TV rights, and additional positive press for the studios.  I hope studios can learn from these smaller movies like The Hurt Locker and can produce better movies for movie fans in the future.

Would you like to see studios produce more small budget but quality movies?

The Oscars have come and gone and I can’t believe I spent about 4 hours (including the red carpet preview) watching the Oscars last night.  Wow…do I really need to find something to do on Sunday nights.  I was very happy with the winners announced and was glad to see The Hurt Locker come out on top with 6 awards.

Here are some brief observations of the Oscars.

-How the hell did they come to the decision to have Kathy Ireland do the red carpet interviews?  I feel like the guy in charge must have had a crush on her back in her Necessary Roughness model days and now this gave him the chance to meet her in person.  She is more irrelevant than pogs and was so incredibly fake and that necklace was just not necessary it was laughable.

-The hosts were very good.  You can’t go wrong with pairing Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.  They worked off of each other very well, kept it simple and the jokes were basic.  Some fell short on me since I’m not an LA person, but like the job they did and too bad as the show went on we saw less and less of them.

-Neil Patrick Harris did a good job with the preopening opening to the Oscars and it seemed like that was an audition to see if he could host the awards next year.  I’m putting my money down now that he will be looked at and possibly get it next year, I was very impressed with him.

-Star Jones had the most awkward red carpet interview with George Clooney.  She basically hit on him and acted like a 13 yr old girl whose locker was filled with Clooney pictures, right in front of his girlfriend/wife person.  If she would have punched her, it would have been youtube gold.

-Was it me or was George Clooney pissed off the entire night?  He’s usually a huge fun goofball and was on the red carpet, but during the show just seemed real pissed off.  Maybe that’s just his face, or maybe he hates the camera on him.  Maybe I missed a joke that was at his expense but it really seemed like every time the camera was on him he was so pissed off.

-Why did they waste time with dancers as they nominated the Best Score category?  I give the dancers credit, they were amazingly talented and it broke my back just looking at them, but what was the point.  The show was running long enough as it was and it was just a pointless waste of time.

-They didn’t show movie clips when presenting Best Cinematography.  Isn’t the whole point of that category to visually show how good the cinematography was?  I consider that a more important category than some others and it got no credit.  Just weird.

-What happened to Farrah Fawcet and Bea Arthur on the memorandum video montage?  Somebody messed up big time on that one.

-Tyler Perry’s little speech as he gave the Best Editing category made no sense.  He kept talking about the camera angles and how different shots could look and different angles would help make the scene look differently, except that doesn’t have to deal with editing, that has to deal with directing.  It just didn’t make any sense and he wasn’t funny like his movies.

These are just a few observations I had, what were some of yours?

Jersey Shore Mocks The Hurt Locker

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We are finally here. This Sunday night, March 7th, is the big night: Oscar Night. I for one am extremely excited for the Oscars.  I think it’s the best of the entertainment award shows probably due to the magnitude of what is on the line.  The past couple years might have been a little dull in terms of the show itself, but I am extremely excited nonetheless. I guess the media does a good job at promoting the show.

The Oscar’s is where history is made and trivia questions are created. My friends and I often try to list backwards the past 10 best actors, 10 best pictures etc. You guys know what I mean.  We all have those great trivia questions to see who knows the most useless movie knowledge. For example, can you name the 5 best picture films since 1985 that start with the word “The.” No cheating.

Anyways, this year we have some interesting battles. The first, the battle of the ex’s. Kathryn vs Cameron – former husband and wife go head-to-head for best director. Cameron got the Globe but the Bigelow got the DGA. What will the Academy have to say?

The other big matchup involves the same movies. The Hurt Locker takes on Avatar as a real-life war movie takes on a fantasy war movie. Again, both movies have received awards during the season, so it is still a toss up. I think the Academy will lean towards the Hurt Locker here, but we shall see.

Then we have plenty of locks. Waltz is a lock for Best Supporting Actor for Inglorious, Bridges is a lock for Best Actor for Crazy Heart, Mo’Nique seems to be  a heavy favorite for Best Supporting Actress, and Bullock is a lock for Best Actress. Also, UP is a complete lock for Best Animated Feature.

The media build up is all for this Sunday night. The big show is upon us. It should be one hell of a night.

Will you be watching this Sunday?

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The Oscars of the UK, aka The BAFTA’s, happened a couple days ago.  The Hurt Locker took home the top prize.  Unlike the Golden Globes which gave the Best Picture award to Avatar, the BAFTA’s gave the award to the true best film of  2009. However, one thing I wanted to quickly discuss is actually something unique to the BAFTA’s.

Like the Grammy Awards, the BAFTA’s give out a rising star award. This is a category that is not included in the Oscar show. I actually think it’s a pretty cool award, and the Academy might want to think about adding some additional categories to spice up the show. Adding this category is something to consider.  The show currently is too straight forward. For lack of a better phrase is pretty ‘by-the-book.’  However, bashing the Academy is not why I want to quickly discuss the award.

The BAFTA’s gave the rising star award to Kristen Stewart. The young actress has dominated the big screen recently with the Twilight series and Adventureland.  She is also starring as Joan Jett in the 2010 anticipated film “The Runaways.”  Stewart beat out Jesse Eisenberg, Carey Mulligan, Nicholas Hoult, and Tahar Rahim. This a big moment in the young career of Kristen Stewart.  Clearly, the success of Twilight has catapulted her fame to stardom. Smile Kristen!

The award was first given out at the BAFTA’s in 2006. Past winners include Noel Clarke, Shia LaBeouf, Eva Green, and James McAvoy.  Just looking at the short group says a lot.  Green, McAvoy and LaBeouf are all huge names now. Will Stewart be as big as them? Is she as big even now? I think you have a big argument to say she is definitely as big as Green and maybe even bigger than McAvoy. I’m not sure she is at the Shia LaBeouf level yet.

What are your thoughts on Kristen Stewart?

The month of February is commonly considered a dark period for movies. Nick mentioned that it is the graveyard for film. New releases are basically overshadowed by the award season.  In fact, Oscar nominated films get a distribution boost in February in order to milk the buzz they get from the nomination.

So, we know that you are not going to hit up the theaters for new releases. Instead, we know that you all are going to try to catch up on the Oscar movies that you didn’t get to see the first time around.  Get this, “An Education” went from 100 theaters before being nominated for the award, to over 700 after receiving the nod for Best Picture. However, Summit’s “The Hurt Locker” was sent to DVD, which went from being in theaters to being completely removed. Theaters will not show movies that get sent to DVD FYI. So, Summitt messed up.

As we are in the Oscar season, there is trophy talk everywhere. We have a year where 10 films got nominated and lots of movie hooplah to go through.  Since we know you all are trying to play Oscar catch up, we wanted to help you out.   Here are the 10 films nominated for Best Picture and our review for each one.

1. The Hurt Locker

2. Avatar

3. Up in the Air

4. Precious

5. Inglorious Basterds

6. The Blind Side

7. District 9

8. An Education

9. UP

10. A Serious Man

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This past Saturday night, while I was stuck on Martha’s Vineyard (“MV”) with no ferry going back to Cape Cod, I caught the end of the SAG’s at the steamship authority. I crowded around the only TV there along with all the authority attendants, and we all watched Inglorious Basterds take home the top prize for Best Ensemble.  If you don’t know by now I am a huge Hurt Locker fan, and being loyal to my fanhood, I was pulling for Kathryn Bigelow’s masterpiece to take this trophy.  One of the attendants was screaming for Nine and another was clearly pulling for Precious but wasn’t so overly emotional about it.

After the Basterds was announced as top dog, I immediately felt a sigh of defeat. At this point, I’m pretty emotionally invested in the Hurt Locker.  However, being stranded on MV allowed me to really think about this. Hey, I had nothing better to do. Hurt Locker really had 3 people in it, Precious had only a handful, An Education was dominated by Carey Mulligan, and Nine wasn’t going to win. Let’s just be honest, that attendant was going nuts for basically nothing. The Basterds had lets say between 12-15 people that all had fairly important roles in the movie. The star of the movie wasn’t Waltz, as much as it was Tarantino.   The Basterds was a true ensemble movie.

Christoph Waltz, who will win Best Supporting Actor, was still supporting. He’s as much a lock as Brett Favre’s dramatic tussle with whether to return or not next season.  Sure, he had the best performance of the movie but his screen time did not dominate the film. Only those scenes where he actually was in, did his presence really dominate.  Each personality in this film played an important role and added to the dynamic and wit that made the Basterds great.   I think that handling such a large cast and producing such a great result was what put this movie over the top from the SAG voters.  Clearly actors know good acting, and I think they got it right here.

Judging from results alone, it is apparent that actors clearly think that managing a cast of 15 people is a lot harder than managing a 3-5 person cast.  I’m not taking anything away from The Hurt Locker or Precious but managing a large cast has got to be straight tough. While I think The Hurt Locker is a better movie than the Basterds, the top prize at the SAG is best Ensemble performance, not Best Movie. The ensemble performance for Basterds was second to none and deserved the trophy. SAG got it right.

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Stranger Than Fiction ipod The 2009 Summer movie lineup has come and gone; a Summer loaded with big budget action sequels, wizards, robots, gay fashionistas, comic book spin-offs, and book-to-film adaptations.  With all the money and hype poured into many of these movies, we at TheMovieBanter realized that the best movies of the Summer were just the opposite.  Well, not completely the opposite. But in comparison to Transformers, Harry Potter, Terminator, Wolverine, and Angels & Demons, the best 2009 Summer movies took less money to make and were far better films.  These films succeeded on clever scripts, fresh plot lines, new faces, originality, and witty humor.  We might even see one of them be around come Oscar season, something rarely seen in Summer film world as most Academy Award contenders surface during the Christmas movie season.  Well, with Labor Day approaching and the end of Summer near, lets go through the top 5 movies of Summer 2009.

Honorable Mention – 500 Days of Summer, Inglorious Bastards, Funny People

5.  UP

UP was the best Pixar movie in a while and I would include it in the category of the best CGI films ever made along with Shrek, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, and Wall-E; not in any specific order.  CGI film creators rush to throw new films out month after month as emphasis gets put on luring kids to theaters instead of putting out intelligent products.  UP was not only intelligent, not only humorous, but lured adults as well as kids to theaters.  The pairing of a grumpy old man seeking adventure and an overweight, nerdy boyscout out to prove something to himself and his father, left many in tears and many in smiles.  UP took in well over $200 million at the box office (well-deserving) and makes our list at the 5th best movie of the Summer.

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4. District 9

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Neill Blomkamp’s participation on the Halo project got screwed up, so Peter Jackson handed him $25 million and said make me a movie.  Sometime later Blomkamp spit up a little film called District 9.   This film had some of the most original storytelling we have seen from the science-fiction genre in quite some time.  This film completely flipped the alien vs human plot as the story was told from the perspective of aliens.  What if humans were really the “bad guys” in an alien vs human story?  This film showed that.  I also loved the choice of the setting the film in Johannesburg, South Africa as opposed to cliche cities like NY, LA or Tokyo.  The setting added a fresh tone to the movie.  Additionally, the documentary style shooting made it as though we were watching a CNN special.  Blomkamp was really onto something in District 9, and a sequel is more than likely in his future.  We put it as the 4th best of the Summer.

3. The Hangover Scenes of a Sexual Nature

Can a film about a bachelor party in Vegas gone wrong, really make the Summer’s top movie list?  Well, you bet your ass it can.  Todd Phillips put together quite a group of guys to produce the Summer’s funniest movie by far.  The shenangans that went down in this movie had me non-stop laughing for 2 hours, and made me envious that these guys were simply in Vegas.  How many people left theaters dying to get to Vegas? And, how many people had new aspirations to make a legendary trip once they got there?  I’m sitting on my rooftop right now, on August 30th, and this film just recently left the box office 10, 12 weeks after it debuted on June 5th. As of right this moment The Hangover has made about $270 million in the US alone, only costing $35 million to make.  For you finance junkies, that’s a 770% return.  Brad Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, and Justin Bartha could not be casted more perfectly for their respective roles; especially Cooper and Galifianakis.  The lines from this movie will be uttered for years,

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and the wolfpack speech will be the next big fraternity pledge reenactment skit.  The Hangover is a must on the DVD purchase list and ranks as our 3rd best movie of the Summer.  Also, a sequel has already been been greenlit.

2.  Star Trek

A new Starship Enterprise and a fresh new crew brought back Star Trek to the theaters in May.  Chris Pine portrayed the character of Captain James T Kirk with a new bad-ass swagger that targeted a new generation of Trek fans.  This movie was not made for Trekkies, it was made for you and me.   With a cast also including Eric Bana, Zack Quinto and Karl Urban, Star Trek was interesting, original, funny, suspenseful, and just plain cool.  I also might add that the music was excellent.  The biggest addition to the franchise is no doubt JJ Abrams, creator of Lost.  Studio Execs made a brilliant decision in hiring him to get the franchise back on its feet.  Abrams just gets it, and there’s not much more to say than that.  Star Trek trumped all other big budget sequels this Summer.  It also seemed to me that Pine is being groomed to become the next big action star.  He carried the cocky swagger of Brad Pitt in Fight Club and likeable brainless heroism of Bruce Willis in Die Hard.  For the first time I could remember, my anti-science fiction friends were sprinting to theaters, and only had great things to say when it was over.  ‘Awesome’ is really the only word that comes to mind when describing this movie. While the world waits in anticipation for the sequel, Star Trek sits on our list as the 2nd best movie of the Summer.

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Drum roll please……

1. The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker is the most intelligent, raw, suspenseful and gritty war film ever made about the war in Iraq.  Starring small time actor Jeremy Renner, up-and-coming actor Anthony Mackie (we know him as Poppa Doc from 8 Mile),  and  Brian Geraghty, the Hurt Locker shows life inside Iraq from the perspective of a three person bomb-squad division.  More than just a war film about bloody battles, The Hurt Locker shows a more personal side to war.  We as viewers become more concerned about the well-being of the characters, than anticipating the next gun fight.   The film focuses on the psychological impact of war and each individual’s reasons for fighting.  We see some are there because they have no choice and eagerly await their release while some are there because the thrill of war gets them high.  Mackie’s performance is also Oscar worthy.

Much like Saving Private Ryan, The Hurt Locker makes you feel like you are right on the front line.  However, this time you don’t know who is good and who is bad.  In fighting an enemy you cannot physically see, this film shows frustrated soldiers, chaotic battle plans, lack of order, and overall uncertainty to who is trustworthy; a movie that truly keeps you at the edge of your seat.  This film clearly depicts Iraq as hell on Earth, and sends a message that there really is little or no successful game plan to winning.  The Hurt Locker is not only the best movie of the Summer but the best movie of the year so far.  With the recent increase to 10 Best Picture nominations, The Hurt Locker will unquestionably be nominated for movie of the year.  I will not say it should win, as we have 4 months of movies left to see this year, but The Hurt Locker will be a contender come Oscar time.

There you have it. The Top 5 Movies of the Summer.  What are your thoughts? We want to hear them.

Also, stay tuned for tomorrow for the top 5 worst movies of the Summer

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download Play Dead dvd More than any other war film I have seen in recent memory, “The Hurt Locker” made me feel like I was in the middle of battle. It made me feel the sweltering heat of the desert, the emotional trauma that war forces on its victims, and the brutality of combat.  Especially a war, that your heart is just not into.  Also, it really makes you angry to see such hellish atmosphere.  Sadly, Iraq is hell on Earth; nobody is safe (kids or adults), you can’t walk the streets, and your living in fear. Well, that’s what this movie made you feel.

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The film stars Jeremy Renner

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(Swat), Anthony Mackie  ( Knife Edge film

8 Mile) and Brian Geraghty

and is directed by Kathryn Bigelow. I really can’t say enough about this movie.  I was at the edge of my seat the entire time and was blown away by how good it was.  This film is slowly making its way to more theaters as word of mouth spreads and encourages people to go check it out. This film was intense and powerful.  An overall well made movie that really should be there come award time.

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Check out my video review below.

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