I predict The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus will see a second life in the theatres now that it has been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.
Adrienne ________________________________ From: Rick Moen <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Mon, February 8, 2010 2:17:18 PM Subject: Re: [Basfa] Prospective Hugo movie nominations Quoting Adrienne Foster ([email protected]): > We always seem to have a hard time recalling theatrical releases come > Hugo nominating time, so at lunchtime today I went through the first > 220 titles IMDB listed for the 2009 releases and jotted down what > looked eligible for nominating. Following is that list. I have neither > seen all of these nor will I vouch for their quality, but thought I'd > pass them on to help jog your memory in case there are any you might > find worthy of nomination. Excellent list. Deirdre has her own list (but not including all eligibles) here: http://dsmoen.livejournal.com/279401.html She writes: 2009 Hugo Long Form Shortlist Jan. 18th, 2010 at 3:21 AM This is part of my noodling about the Hugo eligible long form candidates I've seen, in order to narrow down what I'll be nominating. Rick and I talk about our nominations, frequently nominating some, but not all, of the same films. You can nominate if you were registered for last year's Worldcon or sign up for this year's before January 31. You'll need a supporting membership unless you plan to attend Melbourne (but if you do, you can upgrade later). 2009 was a particularly strong year for animation. I normally loathe it, for much the reasons I found "Monsters vs. Aliens" unwatchable: too vulgar and garish, and particularly bad faces on the people. "Avatar", for the faults it has, definitely figured out how to do this well. That said, only one of the animated films was strong enough to bubble up to the top of the list: "Up". In a different year with less crowding at the top, it might have made it onto my short list. My taste runs to the quirky, so I'm going to give a short blurb about my short list of six works, listed in alphabetical order. I can only nominate five, so one of them's got to go. I'm going to re-watch them all before I jettison one. 1. THE BOX, written and directed by Richard Kelly based on a Richard Matheson story, feels like old "Twilight Zone" -- because it is. I figured out exactly where the TZ ep ended and what Kelly added onto it, and I think it works. Because "Donnie Darko", Kelly's previous film, was so overlooked (and deserved at least a nomination, damnit), I made the point to get out to see this one. 2. DISTRICT 9: While I felt this film told a story that wasn't otherwise being told in SF film, and it's thus an important film (and impressive in many ways), I didn't actually _enjoy_ it that much. I'm aware of the race issues that many people see in the film; my own personal take is closer to that of Tananarive Due's (http://www.thedefendersonline.com/2009/08/31/allegorical-landmines-aliens-race-in-district-9/). I have a real soft spot for unintended consequences tales (as this one is), and I found some of the alien stuff quite imaginative. 3. FANBOYS, a film that was so clearly a labor of love, shot for money that could be raised, and they didn't even know if they could do the Skywalker Ranch scenes until they'd gotten the okay from Lucas. This film doesn't have the polish of "Galaxy Quest" (which did win a Hugo, but it also had five times the budget to get that polish), and it does have raunchy humor that I'm not normally a fan of. That said, I nearly fell out of my seat in the theatre before the film actually started. It reminded me of the illegal Star Wars miniatures I had once upon a time, the bf having smuggled them back from a con. I think they were from Ral Partha. Did I ever mention that my first date as an adult was to see "Star Wars" for the 13th time? 4. THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS, Heath Ledger's final film, a Terry Gilliam film (typically beset by tragedy, see "Lost in La Mancha"), and with Tom Waites as the Devil. I was expecting less and I got more. I may try to see it again before it disappears, and sadly it is already disappearing. This is an innovative "deal with the devil" sort of tale, told around the quirky life of Dr. Parnassus and his traveling road show. 5. MOON, which had some truly brilliant acting (especially if you watch some of the extra DVD clips and see how it was done). Essentially, Sam Rockwell was on set alone, having to do it with only a stunt double to bounce off of. This is about the most film that can be made for under five million, and it's a tour de force because of the constraints. This was my favorite SF film of the year. 6. TORCHWOOD: CHILDREN OF EARTH, a 5-hour miniseries that was one long story and thus long form. "We. We are. We are coming." Frightening as hell, it went places even American cable shows wouldn't. I need a fourth series of "Torchwood", stat. The "beneath the fold" sf/f movies I saw last year: Enjoyed but not enough to nominate: Angels & Demons (worth seeing just for LHC & CERN footage) Alice (Syfy movie) Avatar Coraline Fantastic Mr. Fox Ghosts of Girlfriends Past Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince Knowing The Twilight Saga: New Moon Push S. Darko -- this one's on the border with the bottom category; it's an interesting failure Star Trek Terminator Salvation Up Didn't like enough to nominate even in a thin year, or actively disliked: 17 Again Gamer Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Inkheart Monsters vs. Aliens Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian Watchmen _______________________________________________ Basfa mailing list [email protected] http://lists.basfa.org/listinfo.cgi/basfa-basfa.org
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