All posts by Dan Quitério

Movie lover who rarely posts. Check out my Film Log for a list of every movie I've seen in a theatre.
Actors, Awards, Coming Soon, Drama, Independent Film, Narrative, Oscars, Preview

Meryl Streep Is Made of Iron

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The most nominated actress in Oscar history is working hard for her 17th nomination next year. Meryl Streep has been consistently nominated at least every few years since her first Academy recognition in 1978’s The Deer Hunter. Despite her two wins, you can call Streep the new Susan Lucci. Her last win came nearly 30 years ago for Sophie’s Choice (1982). Thirty years! For some reason, the Academy can’t bear to honor who is arguably the greatest actress of all time just once more. Perhaps it feels “she’s won twice, so let’s honor someone new—all the while, we can’t not recognize her talent, so a nomination will be enough for her.” Enough for her? Maybe. Enough for her fans? Hardly. All these years later, Streep still turns out some truly inspired performances. (I still get goosebumps thinking about what she did for her character in 2008’s Doubt.)

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The Greatest Thing I’ve Ever Seen

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I wish I made this.

IMDb

IMDb’s Amazingness: Watchlist

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People are always telling me, “Oh, you have to see this movie!” So I would add the film’s title to a running alphabetical list I kept on my phone. And then I discovered the Watchlist.

In the second part of my “IMDb’s Amazingness” series, I’m focusing on the site’s Watchlist. Here, you can gather a list of all of the movies you’d like to watch. Each film’s page includes an option to add the film to your Watchlist, where it will join your running list of movies. Had this existed eight years ago when I started my 170 list, I would have used this to organize my films. I love my list. I just unchecked a couple of films I’ve since watched. 🙂

Classic Film, Narrative

The Homestretch: 10 More to Go!

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This past weekend, I watched Patton, the 1970 Best Picture winner that took home a total seven Academy Awards. That’s one more film checked off my 170 list, leaving me with 10 more to go and 127 days left to watch them. Here we go—the final 10:

The Crowd (1928)

Doctor Zhivago (1965)

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Coming Soon, Film Festival, Independent Film, Narrative, Preview

THE GUARD Unveils Official Poster

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Sony Pictures Classics has released the official poster for The Guard, starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle in a buddy-cop comedy from John Michael McDonagh in his feature directorial debut. The poster has a sort-of classic film vibe to it, which is cool to see for more contemporary fare.

The Guard screened at this year’s Sundance, Berlin, Los Angeles, and Tribeca film festivals and is set to bow in New York and LA on July 29. (Check out the trailer after the jump.)

Synopsis: Two officers from different worlds (and countries) have to team up to take on an international drug-smuggling ring.

Official site: sonyclassics.com/theguard

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IMDb, Independent Film, Short Film

IMDb’s Amazingness: Independent Films and Shorts

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IMDb is my homepage. It’s my home on the Web—where I hang my hat and spend most of my time. I research films, check the news, rate movies, build my Watchlist, and vote in the daily poll. It’s great. IMDb is like a brain—a clearinghouse for knowledge and creativity. But I have to confess—I haven’t recognized the site’s full potential. Much like the human brain, I only use about 10% of it. So imagine my surprise when I discovered you could actually watch independent full-length movies and short films on the site. Almost 7,000 of them. Maybe I’m late joining this party. Perhaps many of you already knew this. So humor me. Check out IMDb’s list of Independent Films and Shorts. There’s no reason to ever be bored again.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be highlighting some of IMDb’s features, proving the site’s amazingness. (Yes, amazingness.)

Note: IMDb is not paying me to endorse its site, but I would gladly accept a few bucks. Movies are getting expensive, you know. 

Documentary, Independent Film, New Release, Preview

I’m Cuckoo for Coco

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I’ll try to make this my last post about Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop, the new documentary that follows Conan as he embarks on his Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour after his unceremonious departure from NBC and The Tonight Show. I tried getting tickets to this show almost immediately after it was announced, but it sold out quicker than I could say “Coco.” I’m anxiously awaiting this film’s release, as those who know me know I bleed Conan orange.

(Truthfully, I was looking for a reason to use this super awesome headline, and it all seemed to come together when I received the following opening day announcement. So here she is … )

After a much–publicized departure from hosting NBC’s Tonight Show, O’Brien hit the road with a 32-city music-and-comedy show to exercise his performing chops and exorcise a few demons. Filmmaker Rodman Flender’s documentary, Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop, is an intimate portrait of an artist trained in improvisation, captured at the most improvisational time of his career. It offers a window into the private writers room and rehearsal halls as O’Brien’s Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour is almost instantly assembled and mounted to an adoring fan base. At times angry, mostly hilarious, we see a comic who does not stop—performing, singing, pushing his staff and himself. Did Conan O’Brien hit the road to give something back to his loyal fans, or did he travel across the continent, stopping at cities large and remote to fill a void within himself?

This film opens this Friday, June 24, at New York’s new Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center and Landmark Sunshine.

Drama, Foreign Film, Independent Film, Narrative, Sci-Fi, Short Film

Short Film: “Alive in Joburg” by Neill Blomkamp

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In my last post, I referenced District 9, the South African Oscar Best Picture nominee from 2008. “Alive in Joburg” is the 2006 short film on which District 9 was based, directed by Neill Blomkamp (who also helmed the feature) and produced by Sharlto Copley (who stars in the feature adaptation).

Aliens have arrived to Johannesburg …

Actors, Awards, News, Oscars

New AMPAS Shake-ups Are Hits, Misses

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This week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences made a couple of announcements that will, perhaps, shape the future of the Oscars. A couple of years ago, the Academy decided to go back to its roots and expand the Best Picture category from five nominated films to 10. The idea was that this move would help improve the telecast’s ratings by allowing films with a wider viewership and fan-base have a better shot at grabbing a nomination. (There was a bit of an Internet uproar when high-grossing films like The Dark Knight and Wall-E were snubbed from the Best Picture race in 2009.)

During the 1998 ceremony, ratings were huge because most people had seen Titanic, the one film that stood a shot at scoring big that night—and it did. The film had such a large following that those fans were glued to their TV screens to watch Titanic‘s smooth sailing towards the Best Picture prize. Since then, arguably no nominated film has achieved the same level of interest (except for, maybe, Avatar), and the Oscars’ lagging ratings have reflected this. Now, the vast majority of nominated films are indie darlings that don’t have the same type of national or international distribution as their big-budget counterparts. So what does this mean? Fewer eyeballs. Fewer people watch the films that are nominated, and if they’re not familiar with the films that are nominated, there’s no good reason to tune into the Oscars. (And fashion is not a good reason.)

Titanic anchored the 1998 Oscar ceremony, drawing huge ratings for the telecast.

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Awards, Classic Film, Drama, Narrative, On My DVR, Oscars

On My DVR: Sophie’s Choice (1982)

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Currently on my DVR is the 1982 classic Sophie’s Choice. This is the story of a Holocaust survivor and her lover as they befriend a writer who lives in their Brooklyn boarding house. This film earned Meryl Streep her fourth Oscar nomination and second win. (She had previously won three years earlier for her supporting role in Robert Benton’s Kramer vs. Kramer.) In total, the film earned a total of five Oscar nominations, with recognition also given to its cinematography, costumes, music, and writing. Sophie’s Choice is based on the William Styron novel of the same title.

This film was not on AFI’s original “100 Years … 100 Movies” list, but it did find a spot on the organization’s 10th anniversary list, creeping in at #91. No doubt, its ranking as one of the greatest 100 American films of all time is partly due to what some consider Streep’s greatest performance.

Director: Alan J. Pakula
Screenwriter: Alan J. Pakula
Producers: Keith Barish, Alan J. Pakula
Cast: Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Peter MacNicol
Genres: Drama, Romance
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Runtime: 150 min.