The MacGuffin

Though it shares a similar title to the recent American Paul Giamatti film, Win/Win, from the Netherlands and screening as a part of the Seattle International Film Festival, tells a very different story. Ivan, played by Oscar Van Rompay, works for a large financial services firm in Amsterdam. He begins by toiling away in obscurity on the lower floors of the office. However, he seems to have a natural ability to notice patterns in numbers, pricing, and market fluctuations. He gains notice by providing anonymous tips to the stock traders on the upper floors via Post-It note. One day, Stef, one of the top traders at the firm, recognizes Ivan’s abilities and takes him under his wing. Stef categorizes everyone he meets by how much they make and what kind of car they drive. Under his tutelage, Ivan becomes the brightest up-and-coming star on the trading floor. He quickly makes the company millions, and his new-found notoriety also catches the notice of the office receptionist, the lovely Deniz (Halina Reijn).

It seems that being a Futbol fan in Chile is akin to be a long-suffering Cubs fan in Chicago. The new documentary Red Eyes, directed by Juan Pablo Sallato, Juan Ignacio Sabatini, and Ismael Larrain MacClure and playing as a part of the 2011 Seattle International Film Festival, profiles the struggle of the Chilean national soccer team to qualify for the World Cup.

The film begins by showing Chile’s defeat in 2006, by not even getting to go to the World Cup competition in Korea. This is where some backstory comes up, profiling how they have not garnered a World Cup win since 1962. Then the rest of the story follows their two year battle to make it into the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Amongst cineastes, be they as famous as Roger Ebert, or we mere mortals on this website, it has become de rigueur to trash the new trend of 3D film. The industry is pushing everyone toward putting on sometimes unwieldy glasses while staring at a potentially headache-inducing flicker in the desperate hope of getting audiences back into the theaters. Meanwhile, the TV manufacturers are touting more and more 3D-enabled flat screens, trying to drive sales.

Production companies love this new model for a couple of reasons. They tack on exorbitant fees to tickets prices, making an evening at the movies cost a family of four up to $100. Blu-ray 3D DVDs with current technology are extremely difficult to copy, which cuts down on the rampant Internet piracy of video. Also, let’s face it, Hollywood will always be about business. Getting us to pay more money for anything is simply attractive to them.

Many vocal critics have pointed out the downsides of the medium itself. The 3D projection process produces a dimmer picture, making everything underlit and gloomy. Improper refresh rates on TVs create images that cause considerable eye strain. And multiple 3D standards (Digital 3D, IMAX 3D, Real 3D) cause consumer confusion.

The Seattle International Film Festival theater is currently hosting a series of Charlie Chaplin classics in new 35mm prints. Amongst them is one of Chaplin’s most iconic of all films, The Gold Rush. And this screening is a great excuse to revisit this classic.

Often you find people don’t remember which movie this is just by the title. But even if you have never seen this whole movie before, you have seen it. This is the one with the famous bread roll dance that has been used in countless clips on awards shows and documentaries. While this sequence has been duplicated famously Johnny Depp in Benny and Joon or by Robert Downey Jr. in the biography Chaplin, the original has never been surpassed. This movie IS film history.

While in the last few weeks I haven’t had much opportunity to get to the theaters, just like everyone else at the MacGuffin, that hasn’t stopped me from watching stuff.

I just got done watching Unstoppable on Blu-ray. This is the Tony Scott runaway train movie starring Chris Pine and Denzel Washington. People often describe this as Speed on a train. While that’s a nice tweet sized summary of the plot, it’s still pretty amazing how much tension Scott was able to ring out of what essentially is an industrial accident involving a freight train. One of the main differences from Speed is that there is no nefarious purpose behind this plot. Quite simply, a railyard worker (played by Ethan Suplee of My Name Is Earl fame) jumps out of the cab of a slow-moving train to throw a rail switch, but is too slow to get back in the engine. The throttle gets stuck and then the race is on.

Jane Eyre is one of the most often filmed books in English literature. This Gothic tale of a girl’s upbringing and inner strength is a classic. While most famously filmed before by Robert Stevenson with stars Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine, there is a new version just being released.

(PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS ARTICLE IS RIDDLED WITH SPOILERS ABOUT MOVIE ENDINGS. IF YOU WANT TO SAVE YOURSELF SOME SURPRISES, AVOID READING SECTIONS ON MOVIES YOU HAVEN’T SEEN YET.)

I have often thought throughout the years that one of the chief differences between a good movie and a great movie is the ending. The note, the shot, the emotion, or the twist that a great film ends on can really create a cohesive movie experience that everyone remembers.

All Points Bulletin:
Be on the lookout for a small, bald, gold man. He is 13 and 1/2 inches tall, weighs 8.5 lbs, sexual organs seem to be absent, tends to stand very still, constantly wielding a crusader’s sword, and is made of gold plated britannium on a black metal base. He is wanted for a list of crimes against the art of film that spans over 83 years. Consider him to be armed and dangerous.

Reform:

Over the past several weeks, I’ve done nothing but whine about Oscar’s many mistakes. But the point of dealing with criminals in the modern age is reform. I believe in Oscar’s ability to do good. And in the spirit of the old bromide that says “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all,” I will try to make up for some of my complaining now.

What I have done is looked for something positive in each year of the Academy’s history. I have decided to list from each year an award where they got it completely right. To its credit, it usually happens that the Academy rewards excellent work in the right way.

And please, before the talkbacks or emails start, this is my no means meant to be a comprehensive list. There are plenty of years where there was more than one Oscar given to the right recipient. And don’t think that if I don’t name the Best Picture for that particular year that I am implying that it didn’t deserve it that year. But for the sake of variety and brevity I’m keeping with just one Oscar per year to call out as hitting just the right note.

With all that said, here you go, Oscar. Ya done good, kid:

1927-28 – Best Cinematography for Sunrise
1928-29 – Best Actress to Mary Pickford for Coquette
1929-30 – Best Picture for All Quiet On The Western Front
1930-31 – Best Cinematography for Tabu
1931-32 – Special Award to Walt Disney for the creation of Mickey Mouse
1932-33 – Best Short Subject (Cartoon) for The Three Little Pigs
1934 – Best Actress to Claudette Colbert for It Happened One Night
1935 – Best Picture for Mutiny On The Bounty
1936 – Best Song for Swing Time (The Way You Look Tonight)
1937 – Best Short Subject (Animated) for The Old Mill
1938 – Best Interior Decoration for The Adventures Of Robin Hood
1939 – Best Actress to Vivien Leigh for Gone With The Wind
1940 – Best Song for Pinocchio (When You Wish Upon A Star)
1941 – Best Original Screenplay for Citizen Kane
1942 – Best Song for Holiday Inn (White Christmas)
1943 – Best Picture for Casablanca

1944 – Best Actress to Ingrid Bergman for Gaslight
1945 – Best Actress to Joan Crawford for Mildred Pierce
1946 – Best Supporting Actor to Harold Russell for The Best Years Of Our Lives
1947 – Best Art Direction-Set Direction (Color) for Black Narcissus
1948 – Best Supporting Actor to Walter Huston for Treasure Of The Sierra Madre
1949 – Best Song for Neptune’s Daughter (Baby It’s Cold Outside)
1950 – Best Cinematography for The Third Man
1951 – Best Supporting Actress to Kim Hunter for A Streetcar Named Desire
1952 – Best Actor to Gary Cooper for High Noon
1953 – Best Actress to Audrey Hepburn for Roman Holiday
1954 – Best Picture for On The Waterfront
1955 – Best Supporting Actor to Jack Lemmon for Mister Roberts
1956 – Best Actor to Yul Brynner for The King and I
1957 – Best Picture for The Bridge On The River Kwai
1958 – Best Short Subject (Cartoon) for Knighty Knight Bugs
1959 – Best Cinematography (Color) for Ben-Hur
1960 – Best Special Effects for The Time Machine
1961 – Best Picture for West Side Story
1962 – Best Picture for Lawrence Of Arabia

1963 – Best Supporting Actor to Melvyn Douglas for Hud
1964 – Best Actress to Julie Andrews for Mary Poppins
1965 – Best Director to Robert Wise for The Sound Of Music
1966 – Best Actress to Elizabeth Taylor for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
1967 – Best Supporting Actor to George Kennedy for Cool Hand Luke
1968 – Best Supporting Actress to Ruth Gordon for Rosemary’s Baby
1969 – Best Picture for Midnight Cowboy
1970 – Best Actor to George C. Scott for Patton
1971 – Best Actress to Jane Fonda for Klute
1972 – Best Picture for The Godfather
1973 – Best Sound for The Exorcist
1974 – Best Supporting Actor to Robert De Niro for The Godfather Part II
1975 – Best Actor to Jack Nicholson for One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
1976 – Best Writing (Directly For The Screen) for Network
1977 – Best Writing (Directly For The Screen) for Annie Hall
1978 – Best Supporting Actor to Christopher Walken for The Deer Hunter
1979 – Best Cinematography for Apocalypse Now
1980 – Best Actor to Robert De Niro for Raging Bull
1981 – Best Art Direction for Raiders Of The Lost Ark
1982 – Best Original Score for E.T.-The Extra Terrestrial
1983 – Best Original Score for The Right Stuff
1984 – Best Picture for Amadeus

1985 – Best Costume Design for Ran
1986 – Best Director to Oliver Stone for Platoon
1987 – Best Original Song for Dirty Dancing (I’ve Had The Time Of My Life)
1988 – Best Supporting Actor to Kevin Kline for A Fish Called Wanda
1989 – Best Art Direction for Batman
1990 – Best Supporting Actor to Joe Pesci for Goodfellas
1991 – Best Actor to Anthony Hopkins for The Silence Of The Lambs
1992 – Best Picture for Unforgiven
1993 – Best Picture for Schindler’s List
1994 – Best Actor to Tom Hanks for Forrest Gump
1995 – Best Film Editing for Apollo 13
1996 – Best Actress to Frances McDormand for Fargo
1997 – Best Animated Short Film for Geri’s Game
1998 – Best Director to Steven Spielberg for Saving Private Ryan
1999 – Best Original Score for The Red Violin
2000 – Best Foreign Film for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
2001 – Best Actor to Denzel Washington for Training Day
2002 – Best Animated Feature Film for Spirited Away
2003 – Best Original Song for The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (Into The West)
2004 – Best Animated Feature Film for The Incredibles
2005 – Best Editing for Crash
2006 – Best Cinematography for Pan’s Labyrinth
2007 – Best Supporting Actor to Javier Bardem for No Country For Old Men
2008 – Best Supporting Actor to Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight
2009 – Best Supporting Actor to Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds

Again, there are many more examples, but at least we have these. Please let us know what some of yours are as well.

All Points Bulletin:
Be on the lookout for a small, bald, gold man. He is 13 and 1/2 inches tall, weighs 8.5 lbs, sexual organs seem to be absent, tends to stand very still, constantly wielding a crusader’s sword, and is made of gold plated britannium on a black metal base. He is wanted for a list of crimes against the art of film that spans over 83 years. Consider him to be armed and dangerous.

All Points Bulletin:
Be on the lookout for a small, bald, gold man. He is 13 and 1/2 inches tall, weighs 8.5 lbs, sexual organs seem to be absent, tends to stand very still, constantly wielding a crusader’s sword, and is made of gold plated britannium on a black metal base. He is wanted for a list of crimes against the art of film that spans over 83 years. Consider him to be armed and dangerous.