THE INTERVIEW From A Woman's Perspective

Last night I watched the infamous movie, "The Interview". You know, the one that allegedly sparked North Korea to hack Sony Pictures. Frankly, this movie is juvenile to the max. To any educated adults over 21,it will probably be totally disgusting. The character's vocabulary mainly consists of any word that starts with F. If a word doesn't, they put it there anyway. The movie was directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, their second directorial work, and their inexperience shows. All the characters are stereotypes and campy, especially Rogan and Franco's journalism characters. Rogan's is so charged with misguided testosterone, he is on the verge of suffering a penis explosion, Franco's is in love with a puppy. Randall Park portrays Kim Jong-un as an idiot psychopath. Ho hum, we've seen that before many times from movie dictators.. Of course, it is shamelessly targeting the 17 - 24 male audience, and will probably gross a gillion dollars. Hopefully, the real Kim Jong-un may be narcissistic enough to relish the fact that he has been portrayed in a Hollywood movie. All this said, there are a few funny moments, but nothing side-splitting. My recommendation? Spend your Christmas at the movies, but watch one of the 10, or so, quality ones.

NINE FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILMS ADVANCE IN OSCAR® RACE - - SHORT LIST

 Nine features will advance to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 87th Academy Awards®.  Eighty-three films had originally been considered in the category.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:

Argentina, "Wild Tales," Damián Szifrón, director;

Estonia, "Tangerines," Zaza Urushadze, director;

Georgia, "Corn Island," George Ovashvili, director;

Mauritania, "Timbuktu," Abderrahmane Sissako, director;

Netherlands, "Accused," Paula van der Oest, director;

Poland, "Ida," Paweł Pawlikowski, director;

Russia, "Leviathan," Andrey Zvyagintsev, director;

Sweden, "Force Majeure," Ruben Östlund, director;

Venezuela, "The Liberator," Alberto Arvelo, director.

Foreign Language Film nominations for 2014 are being determined in two phases.

The Phase I committee, consisting of several hundred Los Angeles-based Academy members, screened the original submissions in the category between mid-October and December 15.  The group’s top six choices, augmented by three additional selections voted by the Academy’s Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee, constitute the shortlist.

The shortlist will be winnowed down to the category’s five nominees by specially invited committees in New York, Los Angeles and, for the first time, London.  They will spend Friday, January 9, through Sunday, January 11, viewing three films each day and then casting their ballots.

The 87th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 15, 2015, at 5:30 a.m. PT, in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

The Oscars® will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

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323 FEATURE FILMS IN CONTENTION FOR 2014 BEST PICTURE OSCAR®

323 FEATURE FILMS IN CONTENTION FOR 2014 BEST PICTURE OSCAR®

LOS ANGELES, CA – Three hundred twenty-three feature films are eligible for the 2014 Academy Awards®, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced earlier this week.

To be eligible for 87th Academy Awards consideration, feature films must open in a commercial motion picture theater in Los Angeles County by midnight, December 31, and begin a minimum run of seven consecutive days.

Under Academy rules, a feature-length motion picture must have a running time of more than 40 minutes and must have been exhibited theatrically on 35mm or 70mm film, or in a qualifying digital format.

Feature films that receive their first public exhibition or distribution in any manner other than as a theatrical motion picture release are not eligible for Academy Awards in any category. The “Reminder List of Productions Eligible for the 87th Academy Awards” is available at http://www.oscars.org/oscars/rules-eligibility.

The 87th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 15, 2015, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

The Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

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10 CONTENDERS REMAIN IN VFX (Visual Effects) OSCAR® RACE - Short List

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that 10 films remain in the running in the Visual Effects category for the 87th Oscars®.

The films are listed below in alphabetical order:

    “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”
    “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”
    “Godzilla”
    “Guardians of the Galaxy”
    “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies”
    “Interstellar”
    “Maleficent”
    “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb”
    “Transformers: Age of Extinction”
    “X-Men: Days of Future Past”

The Academy’s Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee determined the short list.  All members of the Visual Effects Branch will now be invited to view 10-minute excerpts from each of the short-listed films on Saturday, January 10, 2015.  Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.

The 87th Academy Awards® nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 15, 2015, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

The Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

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DOCUMENTARY FEATURES ADVANCE IN 2014 OSCAR® RACE - The Short List

15 films in the Documentary Feature category advance in the voting process.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that 15 films in the Documentary Feature category will advance in the voting process for the 87th Oscars®.  One hundred thirty-four films were originally submitted in the category.

The 15 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies:

"Art and Craft," Purple Parrot Films
"The Case against 8," Day in Court
"Citizen Koch," Elsewhere Films
"CitizenFour," Praxis Films
"Finding Vivian Maier," Ravine Pictures
"The Internet’s Own Boy," Luminant Media
"Jodorowsky’s Dune," City Film
"Keep On Keepin’ On," Absolute Clay Productions
"The Kill Team," f/8 filmworks
"Last Days in Vietnam," Moxie Firecracker Films
"Life Itself," Kartemquin Films and Film Rites
"The Overnighters," Mile End Films West
"The Salt of the Earth," Decia Films
"Tales of the Grim Sleeper," Lafayette Film
"Virunga," Grain Media

The Academy’s Documentary Branch determined the shortlist in a preliminary round of voting.  Documentary Branch members will now select the five nominees from among the 15 titles.

     The 87th Academy Awards® nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 15, 2015, at 5:30 a.m. PT, in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

      The Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

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