10 years ago today in Movie History – January 23 – Ashton Kutcher headlined the sci-fi thriller The Butterfly Effect to surprisingly robust box office results. Claiming the top spot in its opening weekend, Effect took in $17 million on its way to a $57 million domestic run. Kutcher would go onto other successful pictures including Guess Who, What Happens in Vegas, and No Strings Attached before settling back to TV replacing Charlie Sheen on “Two and a Half Men”. The pic would spawn two direct to DVD sequels without Mr. Kutcher’s participation.
As for birthdays, martial arts legend Sonny Chiba is 75 today. His big breakthrough came in 1974 with The Street Fighter and he would star in many genre pics. He came out of retirement in 2003 via Quentin Tarantino costarring as sword maker Hanzo Hattori in Kill Bill: Volume 1.
Rutger Hauer is 70 today. He’s been perhaps best known as the villain from Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. Hauer has many high-profile films to his credit including Nighthawks, The Hitcher, Ladyhawke, Sin City, and Batman Begins.
The two birthday performers have an interesting distinction in common: they are both mentioned in Quentin Tarantino screenplays. Chiba is talked about extensively by Christian Slater’s character in True Romance while Samuel L. Jackson name checks Hauer in Jackie Brown.
As for Six Degrees of Separation between Mr. Chiba and Mr. Hauer:
Sonny Chiba was in Kill Bill: Volume 1 with Uma Thurman
18 years ago Today in Movie History – January 19 – From Dusk til Dawn opened to #1 at the box office. With a script from Quentin Tarantino, the Robert Rodgriguez helmed picture starred George Clooney, Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, and Salma Hayek. Mixing the crime and horror movie genres, Dawn was a modest commercial success which has since achieved cult status and spawned two direct to DVD sequels. It also has one of my favorite openings scenes of all time:
As for birthdays, Dolly Parton is 68 today. Known most for her huge country music career, Parton made a highly successful transition to film with 1980’s 9 to 5, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination. She would have another hit in 1982 alongside Burt Reynolds in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, but critics and audiences would reject Rhinestone with Sylvester Stallone in 1984. Parton would become a part of an impressive female ensemble in 1989’s Steel Magnolias.
Going a little outside my typical box for birthday entries, Justin Clarke has been my lifelong friend and he turns 36 today. How many movies has he been in? None – but his brother-in-law Brad Wise directed A Strange Brand of Happy, which recently became available on DVD. You can read my blog post about the film from July here:
The cast includes Oscar winner Shirley Jones and I found a way to connect my good buddy and Dolly Parton in Six Degrees of Separation so let’s get to it!
Dolly Parton was in Steel Magnolias with Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts was in The Mexican with Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt was in Moneyball with Jonah Hill
Jonah Hill was in Grandma’s Boy with Shirley Jones
Shirley Jones was directed by Brad Wise in A Strange Brand of Happy
Brad Wise is Justin Clarke’s brother-in-law
And there you have it – January 19th in Movie History. And happy birthday Justin!
In 1976, Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver was seen as a strong possibility to win Best Picture at the Oscars until a boxing movie unexpectedly captured audiences attention and took the prize. That would, of course, be Rocky. Fast forward to 2004 where Scorsese’s Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator seemed to be the odds-on favorite for Best Pic until, yet again, a pugilistic tale surprised moviegoers late in the awards season.
Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby wasn’t even talked about much as an awards contender during 2004’s calendar year. It was released very late in the year, but it turned out to be great timing.
Baby would win the top award over The Aviator, as well as Marc Forster’s Finding Neverland, Taylor Hackford’s Ray, and Alexander Payne’s Sideways.
As for other contenders not recognized, the Academy would ignore Quentin Tarantino’s fantastic Kill Bill and its Volume II after snubbing the first installment the year prior. It’s also worth noting that the greatest Harry Potter flick in the franchise (in my view) Prisoner of Azkaban could have been honored too. And there’s Michel Gondry’s highly original critical favorite Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. And a favorite of audiences – Mel Gibson’s mega-blockbuster Passion of the Christ. Any of one of these pics should have at least replaced Finding Neverland, which was decent but doesn’t belong in the category.
The Baby boom would extend to Eastwood, who won Best Director exactly a dozen years after winning the same award for Unforgiven. This prevented Scorsese from winning his first Oscar. Other nominees included Hackford, Payne, and Mike Leigh for Vera Drake.
Once again – Gondry, Tarantino, and Gibson are names worth mentioning that didn’t get in the mix.
Jamie Foxx would take Best Actor for his dead-on portrayal of the legendary singer Ray Charles in Ray, winning out over Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator, Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda, Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby, and Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland.
One major snub was Paul Giamatti for his fine work in Sideways. The Academy yet again snubbed Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine.
Hilary Swank won her second Best Actress award in five years for Baby (in 1999, she was victorious in Boys Don’t Cry). Other nominees: Annette Bening in Being Julia, Catalina Sandino Moreno in Maria Full of Grace, Imelda Staunton in Vera Drake, and Kate Winslet for Eternal Sunshine.
Once again, it was Uma Thurman left out for her work in the Kill Bill franchise.
Morgan Freeman would win his first Oscar in the Supporting Actor race for Million Dollar Baby over Alan Alda in The Aviator, Thomas Haden Church for Sideways, Jamie Foxx in Collateral, and Clive Owen in Closer.
Not to keep bringing up Kill Bill, but the late David Carradine should have been nominated.
The Aviator would finally receive some Academy recognition with Cate Blanchett winning Supporting Actress with her portrayal as Katherine Hepburn. Other nominees: Laura Linney in Kinsey, Virginia Madsen for Sideways, Sophie Okonedo in Hotel Rwanda, and Natalie Portman for Closer.
After all my mentions for Kill Bill and Eternal Sunshine receiving snubs, there’s one other 2004 pic that demonstrates the Academy’s constant ability to ignore comedies. So I give you the following snubs –
Best Actor – Will Ferrell, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Best Supporting Actor – Steve Carell, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Best Supporting Actor – Paul Rudd, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Best Supporting Actor – David Koechner, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Best Scene Involving a Cannonball – Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Best Scene With a Dog Being Punted – Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Best Rendition of “Afternoon Delight” In a Movie: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
I’ll be back with Oscar History: 2005 soon, my friends!
It was a Thursday autumn evening one year ago when I was sitting at my computer and on a snap decision, I said to myself, “Screw it – I’m starting a movie blog. Right now.”
I had thought about it before, but obviously never acted on the notion. I knew two things: I seriously love movies. And I seriously love writing about them. That’s all I knew. I had no clue – none – on that Thursday night what the blog would be… other than it would be about movies. I wrote my inaugural post quickly and titled it My Love of Movies. This is what I wrote moments after that snap decision entered my head:
That same night, I wrote my second post, which was my first entry in my Movie Perfection series. This one is about 1995’s Seven. I have said before that the Movie Perfection posts are my very favorite to write:
Since then my examples of Movie Perfection has expanded to a Raquel Welch poster leading Tim Robbins to glorious freedom in The Shawshank Redemption. The brilliantly edited sequence in Moneyball where we hear the crack of a baseball bat that signals validation for Brad Pitt’s character. Christian Bale hilariously turning into a music critic as he extols the virtues of Genesis, Huey Lewis, and Whitney Houston in American Psycho. A vehicle full of rockers and groupies coming together to the sound of Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” in Almost Famous. The birth of Melissa McCarthy’s movie stardom as she tells Kristin Wiig to stop blaming the world for her problems in Bridesmaids. A letter written by Bradley Cooper to Jennifer Lawrence expressing his love for her in Silver Linings Playbook. An absolutely stunningly beautiful and emotional animated montage that chronicles a couple’s life together in Pixar’s Up.
One year ago, it’s hard to describe how terrific that evening was as I began the blog. Those who know me know my passion for film and writing. The fact that it took so long to bring that passion to a blog confounds me now. What took so damn long? Oh well – the point is, it exists now. And truth be told – I cannot imagine it not existing now.
I know it may sound cheesy, but it really does mean a lot to me that this blog has people reading it. Honestly, I can love doing it (and I do), but what’s the point if no one reads the damn thing?
A year ago in that first My Love of Movies post, I described the sense of wonder I experienced when viewing Pulp Fiction on the big screen for the first time. It’s what you hope for every time you go to the theater. Pulp Fiction is filled with moments that reiterate to me why I love movies. One scene is the famous John Travolta/Uma Thurman dance scene set to a rockin Chuck Berry tune. It is yet another example of Movie Perfection, as is nearly everything Quentin Tarantino does. I began this blog discussing the unforgettable title credit sequence set to Dick Dale’s “Misirlou” in Pulp Fiction. A year later, it comes full circle with that fantastic dance scene and Chucky Berry.
As I sit here on another Thursday autumn evening a year later, I am thankful for snap decisions. Mostly, I’m thankful to you for rewarding my snap decision. I started this little blog on a whim and truly wasn’t sure if I would love doing it or not. That is no longer a question in my head. It goes to show you never can tell. There’s a great lyric in that Chucky Berry song where Vincent Vega and Mia Wallace dance and that serves as the title of this anniversary post. “You Could See That Pierre Did Truly Love The Mademoiselle.” In this instance, I’m Pierre. This blog is The Mademoiselle. The readers of this blog are The Mademoiselle, too. Thank you.
All My Life... I Wanted To Be A Blogster 