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I need to make one thing very clear to you immediately before starting this one–if you have seen the Danny Boyle title Sunshine, not so long ago covered right here by yours everfreakintruly, then you absolutely need to run out and see the Weebl and Bob parody on Newgrounds dubbed Gooshine

If you wondered what Sunshine might have been like if it were run by incompetent Cadbury creme eggs, then Gooshine is the answer to your prayers.

This is apparently the most recent in a long string of such titles, and if Gooshine is any indication then they’re all pretty funny.  The parody is patently spot-on, and if you took my advice and watched this one after seeing Sunshine then the collection of inside jokes will be even more pointed and laugh-inducing than before.  Even if you haven’t seen Sunshine, you’ll still get your share of laughs out of watching the unbridled stupidity and lousy voice work parade in front of you, but, like a Flaming Homer, seeing Sunshine makes it better.

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MTV News reports that Danny Boyle has denied reports that he will direct a remake of Chan-wook Park’s Lady Vengeance.

"No I was never going to do that,” said Boyle. “I don’t know where that story came from.”

It was also added that Boyle won’t helm the next Bond film. Latest rumors suggest Boyle to be attached to helm the remake of My Fair Lady.

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Danny Boyle’s had a pretty interesting career so far–he’s been literally all over the board, having brought us Trainspotting, The Beach, A Life Less Ordinary…plenty of solid titles.  Then he segued into horror with 28 Days Later, and things sort of changed.  He’d been just about everywhere he could go in terms of genres, with only one thing left, really: science fiction.

So leave it to Danny Boyle to not refuse a challenge.  He came along with Sunshine, a solid science fiction title.  A last-ditch multinational force is dispatched to no less a target than the sun itself, which is currently running out of juice.  That’s right—our gigantic nuclear furnace is steadily burning out, and Earth is in the grips of a solar winter.  Thus the force sent to the sun containing a giant nuclear bomb comprised of all of Earth’s fissile materials, which will then be dropped into the sun and detonated in the hope of kickstarting it back into providing Earth with life-giving light.  But on their way, they discover that they weren’t the FIRST such mission, and they find the previous vessel sent to do the new ship’s job.

This find is handy, because following an accident that claims the life of the ship’s captain and does plenty of damage besides, they’re in desperate need of salvaged parts.  But it’s not just parts waiting for them on board their predecessor, and what else is waiting for them puts both the new ship’s crew—and their mission to save humanity—at risk.

Start by overlooking the fact that it’s impossible to mine all of Earth’s fissile materials into one giant thermonuclear bomb twice (they’ll actually mention that the second bomb took all of Earth’s fissile materials), and even if they’d only just scraped the tank dry to make the second bomb, they still shouldn’t know that they’d used exactly half the material on the first bomb.  Letting that hitch in the plotline’s getalong go by unchallenged will leave you feeling a lot better about the movie itself.

Because Sunshine is a pretty solid science fiction title, come right down to it.  In fact, it’s actually pretty entertaining.  The visuals are great—what they do with simulated holography is downright fascinating and their suppositions of future technology seem supremely feasible.  The performances are solid and boost the overall feel of the movie.  It’s just a solid and rousing science fiction epic, and that’s the basic definition of good as far as sci-fi goes.

In fact, the only real problem with Sunshine is the holes that show up from time to time in the plot.  You’d think they would’ve caught most of this in editing, but nobody’s perfect.

I’d recommend Sunshine for any sci-fi buff and anyone who appreciates solid movie tech.  Not to mention anyone who likes a good limited-release movie title—this one didn’t exactly get the royal treatment.  I don’t even remember it being anywhere near my hometown and that’s the surest sign of a wide release.  But it’s still good, especially if you fit into one of my earlier categories.

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The Oscars proved last night that Hugh Jackman can sing, dance and handle spontaneity like a true professional of Broadway Theater.  He kept pace with the award show moving rapidly and smoothly with a few technical glitches, which were not his fault.

My favorite parts of the telecast were the actor awards presentations where former recipients introduced the nominees and presented the awards.  I thought, Shirley Maclaine’s presentation to Anne Hathaway stood out among the other almost equally worthwhile presenters.

Best moments of the telecast:

My favorite winner and most deserving was Kate Winslet for Best Actress in The Reader. Penelope Cruz is a talented and inspiring woman who lovingly accepted the award for Best Supporting Actress for Vicky Cristina Barcelona. And I loved Danny Boyle’s impersonation of Tigger as he accepted his Oscar for Best Director for Slumdog Millionaire.

It can’t go without mention of Ben Stiller’s parody on Joaquin Phoenix recent escapades in the media and talk shows.

Variety shares some of the back stage moments here, which is worth a quick visit to get a feel for the overall celebration of film at the Oscars.

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With the 81st Academy Award Ceremony on tonight, it’s time to put our movie knowledge to the test, and guess who will win what this year.

But the one prediction that everyone agrees on is not who will win, but that the ceremony will lose. Despite the organisers attempting to liven up the ceremony by getting Hugh Jackman, a song-and-dance man, to host, the choice of films up for Best Picture only highlight the growing chasm between the choices of the Academy and the choices of the public. Out of the Best Picture nominees, only The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has broken 100mil domestic. Slumdog Millionaire is on its way there, but lagging behind are the remaining three nominees, none of which even made it beyond 30 mil in the US.

And if that isn’t reason enough, there’s the even curiouser case of the absence of The Dark Knight. It’s rare to see a film that is so popular (it just broke a billion dollars worldwide) and so critically acclaimed that isn’t acknowledged by an award ceremony (besides technical awards and Heath Ledger’s nomination for Best Supporting Actor, which can be argued is only there due to the actor’s tragic death). Even Titanic swept the Oscars and won Best Picture. While many dismiss comic book films as fluff, The Dark Knight displayed the capability of a blockbuster dealing with serious issues (indeed, it shares many themes with No Country for Old Men). And this lack of understanding of the masses will result in only further public disillusionment towards the ceremony.

On to the awards themselves… Read the rest of this entry »

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The Directors Guild of America picked their five leading awards contenders by nominating Danny Boyle (”Slumdog Millionaire”), David Fincher (”The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”), Ron Howard (”Frost/Nixon”), Christopher Nolan (”The Dark Knight”) and Gus Van Sant (”Milk”).

According to Variety, Boyle is the lone DGA newbie of the group, with the remainder having been nominated for features or, in the case of Fincher, commercials.

Howard has won twice, for “A Beautiful Mind” (2001) and “Apollo 13″ (1995), and was also nominated for “Cocoon” (1985). Nolan and Van Sant each previously scored a single mention, for “Memento” (2001) and “Good Will Hunting” (1997), respectively.

Taylor Hackford announced the winners at guild headquarters Thursday morning, filling in for DGA topper Michael Apted, who was on set. Hackford saluted the diverse films in the group, noting it was a “nice mix of small films and big films.”

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Rolling on the success of Slumdog Millionaire, director Danny Boyle has apparently been asked to remake Lady Vengeance, a classic Asian film by Chan-wook Park. This was revealed in a chat on Empire where he was asked about his various projects.

Other details reaped from the chat transcript include the falling apart of Terry Pratchets Bromeliad Trilogy films and any possibility of Judge Dredd movies. Boyle also talks about a possible second sequel to 28 Days Later, noting that they have got a good idea for the third one, though he wouldnt offer any details.

Read the full chat transcript for more.

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