Annual Look at Oscar

One person's opinions, on movies in general and Oscar in particular.

Pittsburgh Film Office's Oscar Party "Lights Glamour Action!"

Most years, I watch the Oscars at home, but every few years, I like to go to an Oscar party.  I went to one about 20 years ago in Worcester, Massachusetts when Billy Crystal did his famous Hannibal Lector imitation as host.    I was rooting for The Silence of the Lambs, which did well at the Oscars that year.

In 2004, I came as close to actually going to the Oscars themselves as I'll ever go.  I went to Hollywood for The Return of the One Party, the Oscar party for The Return of the King.  Billy Crystal again hosted.  I was rooting for The Return of the King, but never in my wildest dreams did we think it was going to sweep the awards.  That was the best place to have been on Oscar night in 2004.  That was also the first time I saw a lot of newly-minted Oscar winners, not to mention those bright, shiny Oscars, in real life.  Quite a night.

So what does it sound like when nearly 1,000 Lord of the Rings fan hear that The Return of the King won the Best Picture Oscar? Watch this clip from New Zealand TV The Return of the One Party.

While I've been staying home and watching the awards the last few years, it was time to finally go to the annual party thrown by the Pittsburgh Film Office: "Lights, Glamour, Action."  After all, Billy Crystal is hosting again this year.  ;->  While I saw most of the major movies, I'm not strongly rooting for anything, though I'd particularly like to see Glenn Close and Janet McTeer win for the woefully underseen Albert Nobbs.

If you'd like to go to an Oscar party and you live in the Pittsburgh area, there are still tickets left if you'd like to go.

Kate Winslet Probably Not in Frank or Francis

While this was reported in several places, she hasn't been added to IMDB and there's been no news on this front.

However, both Elizabeth Banks and Peewee Herman have been added to the cast.

Great Frank or Francis News!

Cool!  Two of my favorite actresses, Kate Winslet and Catherine Keener,  are in talks for Frank or Francis, Charlie Kaufman's next flick, due to be shot here in Pittsburgh soon! 

Pennsylvania Film Industry Association Event

The PFIAA is running an evening event.  On Thursday, January 19, Jake Meyers, the executive producer of the locally-shot One Shot, will come and talk about moviemaking at the Westin Convention Center.

Dark Knight Rises Trailer II

The Dark Knight Rises has been in production for a very long time all over the world. When the first teaser trailer was out last summer, the movie had already been shot on two continents and was shooting in Pittsburgh.  So there were no local shots in the first trailer for obvious reasons.

It was fun to see Pittsburgh show up prominently in the new The Dark Knight Rises trailer that has just started playing (12/11). The portions of the trailer shot in Pittsburgh include:

• The long stadium shots were all from Heinz Field, and those shots open the trailer, with the kid singing the National Anthem
• The field explosion, dramatically enhanced by CGI
• The fighting in front of gray-columned Mellon Institute (though a lot more of the fighting was also shot in New York City recently)
• One street scene with a low-flowing aircraft filmed in downtown on Smithfield St. 

The second trailer is now available online.  I don't seem to be in it, though I was only about 10 rows away from the kid who was singing.

     

Screen Actors Guild Nomination for Nick Nolte for Warrior

Every once in a while, a movie shot in the Pittsburgh area is nominated for an award. Granted, it doesn't seem to happen that often. So, it was nice to see Nick Nolte, who played the father in Warrior, be nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor. Good luck to Nick! Full SAG Nominee List

One Shot (in Production)

One Shot continues to shoot around Pittsburgh. They've been shooting in two units all over - the first unit (actors' scenes) and the second unit (driving scenes). Nancy Mosser Casting is still doing periodic extra calls, so, if you think you'd like to be an extra, it never hurts to sign up.

Steeltown Event Wednesday Night

For the last two years, Steeltown has sponsored a short script contest.  The kickoff event for the upcoming competition is Wednesday, November 9 at Regent Sq. Theater.

I thought this was a great idea, and attended three script competition events in early 2010.  My favorite script was a small bit of magical realism called Lightweight.  While Lightweight was not one of the two winners, it basically placed third, and the filmmakers made their film, which will be shown Wednesday night.  In addition, the 2011 winner will be shown (due to a very busy volunteer project, I didn't attend any of the 2011 events, so I'm not sure what the winner is like).

There are still tickets available - go to Steeltown Film Factory Website for more event inforation and to buy tickets.

2011 - Busy Moviemaking Year and More to Come!

I haven't posted here much this year, due more to having a very busy volunteer project.  Did a little extra work on Steel Town (later renamed Still I Rise), and was one of about 10,000 free extras who sat in Heinz Field for a Saturday for stadium crowd scenes for The Dark Knight Rises.  It looked like Anne Hathaway and Joseph Gordon-Levitt briefly visited the set, but Tom Hardy was there long enough for a general introduction.  Sadly, I was out of my seat and looking for some water at that point, so I missed Hardy completely.

The next Tom Cruise movie, One Shot, will be filmed here this fall.  Rosamund Pike (An Education) and David Oyelowo (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) will co-star.

Last year, I complained a little that while I'm glad more movies are being shot in the Pittsburgh area, I wished a better quality of movie was filmed here.  That just might have happened.  While Warrior, shot here in 2009, has been a slow-starter at the box office, it's a very good movie, a darker version of last year's The Fighter.  Excellent performances by Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy and Nick Nolte.  If you haven't seen Warrior, go see it even if you don't care for fight movies.

And, Abduction, shot here in the summer of 2010 with some reshoots in May 2011, has been getting lots of TV commercials and trailers.  The trailer makes it look quite compelling.