Bill Scheggia

Ultimately, the Academy is an American institution, so of course they’re going to value American work above foreign offerings. That said, the idea that a year’s worth of foreign films can somehow be adequately represented/condensed down to 5 nominations is a joke.

I’m yet to see the film, but I agree with your comment about ‘grit’ being imposed on each genre to reinvent it. We haven’t seen a purely fun, comedic Western since Shanghai Noon.

A friend gave me a copy of American Gods. It’s the first of his books I’ve read, and I’m completely hooked. HBO better fast-track the TV show.

I saw the film version of Interview With The Vampire a while back, and loved it. If the book is as good as you say it is, I’ll fast track it on my reading list! It’s fascinating reading about the different subtexts people find in classic monsters – zombies representing our fear of crowds or anarchy, werewolves as our inner animal, etc.

Hey, nice article! I think romance is definitely underrated in superhero movies. At the core of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films is essentially a love triangle; you’ve got the whole Superman/Lois thing, and how Clark/Superman duality affects their chances of being together; even Christian Bale’s Batman dealt with some pretty heavy unrequited love themes.

And, without wanting to trigger an angry debate, I’d also add the current political climate as a factor. Nothing gets done, bureaucracy reigns supreme, promises are broken, etc. (at least that’s how it is here in Australia at the minute) But superheroes represent the leaders we wish we had – brave, courageous, capable.

Lost in Translation is one of my favourite films, and it’s the first Sofia Coppola film I saw. My expectations were pretty high for Somewhere, but I just didn’t connect with it. I saw the point she was making about boredom and alienating effect of fame, which was a similar theme to Lost In Translation; but LiT had such a refreshing relationship between Charlotte and Bob that kept me hooked, whereas I actually did get bored in Somewhere. Having read your article, I might give it another shot.

Thanks for reminding me about this show! Used to watch it all the time, the movie included. I bought a kazoo because of it. I’m now going through those youtube compilations of 90s shows…TV really was better back then.

Top article. For me, Jurassic Park still looks more realistic than most effects-heavy movies nowadays. The dinosaurs had weight, even the CGI ones. I’ve also got a lot of respect for Del Toro and his team – I loved the way they blended practical and computer-generated effects for Sammael and the troll in the Hellboy series.