Token Oscar Discussion Here

I haven't seen enough movies in the past year to justify sounding off on the Oscar nominees (a first in about four years), but the weeks since the nominations have been less "Which movies will win?" and more "Will there even be an Oscar telecast?"

The writer's strike has pretty much put the entertainment industry on hold for the past three months, so every mention of the Oscars has been in conjunction with the question of whether or not we'll even get to see them.

Fortunately, it seems the end is near. The writers got a chance to look at a tentative deal with studios this weekend, which could get them back to work as early as Monday. If that's the case, then the Oscars will go on, and every critic in America will get back to placing odds on who will be the Best Picture winner.

Random Movie News Musing

Well, they've finally decided on a title and a plot for the new Bond movie. To be honest, I don't care too much about what the plot is. I can sum it up for you pretty quick: Bond does some really cool spy stuff, saves the world, and gets with a hot chick or two, one of which will probably betray him.

I just have two questions: 1) How many times can they believeably have Daniel Craig wearing a swimsuit or even less? 2) What in the name of heaven does Quantum of Solace even mean? Does this sound like the name of a '50s science fiction movie to anybody else?

(Yes, I realize it came from a collection of short stories that Ian Fleming wrote. My question is what it means. According to the dictionary definitions of the words, that's a pretty interesting title for a Bond movie.)

Also, Guillermo del Toro, he of Hellboy, Blade II, and Pan's Labyrinth fame, will be directing The Hobbit in lieu of Peter Jackson.

Am I sad that Jackson won't be in the director's seat again? Well, of course, but I understand his schedule is currently somewhere between "busy" and "insane," and Jackson himself has said that he wouldn't mind seeing another director take a crack at Middle-earth. With del Toro, I think they've made an excellent choice. It'll be interesting to see another's take on Tolkien's fantasy world, and I can't wait to see what they come up with.

Why I Really, Really Can't Wait till May

Iron Man

You learn three things from watching this trailer.

1) Robert Downey, Jr. looks like he was the perfect choice for Tony Stark.
2) Iron Man himself looks very, very cool.
3) They play Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" in the trailer. I have said since this film was announced that as long as they played that song at least once in the movie, I would be happy. I am now happy.

Good Night, Funnyman

A friend of mine called me January 22 around 4 p.m. to ask me if I was watching TV. Being as that I'm a gainfully employed member of society, that answer was a pretty obvious "no." As I briefly reflected on the differences between people still in graduate school and people who have been out of college and working for nearly two years, my friend said, "They're saying Heath Ledger is dead on Fox News."

Well, that brought my previous train of thought to a screeching halt.

It took me all of thirty seconds to confirm it with the online new sites I had access to. Sure enough, one of the most promising young actors working today was dead.

It still gives me a jolt every time I open a news site and see some other story about it. I enjoyed him in just about every movie I saw him in, and I've been very much looking forward to seeing him as the Joker in The Dark Knight.

It's a little scary to know he was only a few years older than me. And it's sad to think of all the great performances that we'll never see. And it's shocking because, unlike stars like Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan, Ledger seemed to fly under the radar. If he made headlines, it was because some lucky fan caught a snapshot of him in full Joker makeup, not because he was out all night partying with kids at home.

My deepest sympathies go out to his family and friends.

Michelle Pierce is the assistant editorial director for Xeal Precision Marketing. It seems every week she is reminded that 40 hours is a lot longer and a lot more draining than it sounded in college. It means her movie-watching and superhero duties have been suffering. You can send any feedback, good, bad, or ugly, to her at michellerpierce@gmail.com.