Archive for January, 2010
2009 Movies: The Deviant Knowledge “Notable” Film Awards: Best, Worst, and Weirdest of the Year in Cinema
Another year if film has come and gone and we are no right on top of the Oscar announcements. I don’t make definitive statements about the “best movies” of the year or anything. Don’t get me wrong. I see a lot of movies, and as the expression goes, opinions are like rectums, everyone has one. I, personally only have one rectum but have many opinions. But my opinions are no or less valid than yours, so we will again refrain from making definitive judgments this year and again offer The Deviant Knowledge Notable Film Awards for 2009. This will be my short list of films that in my meager view deserve some sort of recognition good or bad.
Interestingly enough, 2009 turned out to be a pretty good year for Science Fiction films. As a long term geek of the genre I can honestly say it’s a rare treat to see quality hardcore sci-fi. However, it wasn’t all good and we must first visit that genre to see the seedy underbelly of 2009 cinema:
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Best Picture Jumps From 5 to 10 Nominees in 2010: My Oscar Grouch and a James Cameron Rant
We’re a short time away from the Oscar announcements the first week of February and it’s time to take stock of the sideshow that is the Academy Awards. Like last year, we’ll be posting a 2009 wrap up of notable films (I don’t do “10 Best Lists” or anything, see our 2008 Notable Film Awards). Expect my “notable” list in the next few days–I have one 2009 release that’s waiting for a viewing that I would be remiss to not consider before posting my rather irrelevant thoughts.
In any case, most of you that care are already probably aware of the surprising decision from the Academy to expand the list of nominees in the Best Picture category from five to ten in the Oscar race. Is this really a good thing?
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Doctor Who: The End of Time Marks the End of an Era In Front and Behind the Cameras.
I am admittedly a multi decade Doctor Who fanboy, but I’m not an irrational one. I do believe that the health of the show since its return in 2005 is generally top-notch. We’ve had the pleasure over the past 5 years of seeing some of the best moments in the nearly half a century since the show’s inception . However, there’s a marked difference between Doctor Who in the 21st century vs. Doctor Who from the first 30 years. The End of Time, is a fitting example of some of the new show’s most enduring strengths and most nagging weaknesses. More importantly, it brings the new show to it’s most critical moment in it’s quest for long term survival, certainly a more critical juncture than the perplexingly sudden departure of Christopher Eccleston after one year in the title role leaking to the press immediately after the series premier.
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Sherlock Holmes: Did We Really Need Another? One Word Answer: Downey, Jr! Or is That 2 Words?
Let me make one thing perfectly clear: from 1984 to 1994 the definitive versions of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes literature was adapted by Grenada Television. The greatness of these adaptations was partly due to the faithfulness of the screenplays to the source material, but mostly due to the spellbinding performance of Jeremy Brett as Holmes [clip at review's end along with the trailer for the current film]. Ever since I spent my formative years balancing my Sherlock Holmes appreciation in the midst of dirty magazines, Star Trek and Friday Night Videos I have immediately turned my nose up at any attempt at a new adaptation of the work that would surface. It really took throwing one of our generation’s greatest living actors into the role to even nudge me over the line of considering it, even if it was opposite the astoundingly dull Jude Law in the role of Watson.
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