TFC Journal at TheFilmChair.com

Do it with others.

• Justin D. Hilliard wants you… to help him make Swallow. And you should. (IndieGoGo)
• The Butler brothers, my favorite Canadian indie brewers, just posted the second episode of their web series Larry & Burt’s Gut Rot. (YouTube)
• David Spaltro writes about making his spectacular indie …Around for The Wrap. (The Wrap)

Fin.

With all the talk of preferential voting in the Best Picture category, you think this would be the year that I would roll the dice on picking something off the wall for Oscar’s big prize. Not the case. While I’ve been MIA from the blog for a few weeks, I’ve been keeping track of The Hurt Locker’s march toward Oscar. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more celebrated film in all my time watching Oscar. The Hurt Locker has won every guild award for which it was nominated with the exception of SAG, MPSE, and the yet-to-be-announced ASC (American Society of Cinematographers). The Hurt Locker won over the Anglos, winning 6 BAFTA Film Awards including Best Film. It even won the critics trifecta. with LAFCA, NYFCC, and NSFC all picking it as their top picture. Sure, preferential voting means redistributing votes until one movie gets 50 percent + 1, but I find a scenario where The Hurt Locker isn’t high enough on most ballots to win to be pretty far fetched. An upset is not impossible, but the improbability is very, very high.

So yes, I’m predicting that The Hurt Locker will win Best Picture. And Best Director. And Best Screenplay. I see the film racking up 6 wins on Sunday. Sure, it will be the lowest grossing Best Picture winner ever, but it’s also the film Robert Duvall said “might be the best film I’ve seen in a decade.” That’s an endorsement from an Academy old timer that you can take to the bank.

Who else is going to win? Well, here are my predictions for the 82nd Academy Awards.

Yes, I’m alive. And I have some news to prove it.

• Best. First Lady. Ever. Michelle Obama has invited the cast of Glee to perform at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. (EW)
• Taylor Launter’s Twihard fanbase just landed the teen star a role in Abduction. Lionsgate spent mucho dinero ($1 m) on the screenplay. (The Wrap)
• Kevin James, the only man in entertainment less funny than Jay Leno, will star opposite Vince Vaughn in an untitled Ron Howard comedy. (DHD)
• Love was in the air in 2008. Brian White will star opposite Mallika Sherawat in Politics of Love, which follows a romance that blossoms in the lead up to Obama’s election. Wonder if the sequel will be about divorce? (THR)

Fin.

While I don’t live in the UK, I can still celebrate the release of British singer-songwriter and pop wonder Marina and the Diamonds’ album The Family Jewels (out to today in UK). She’s been popping up in my Last.fm playlist for while now, but I didn’t ever hear “Hollywood” till I visited her website tonight. Give it a listen and enjoy. Meanwhile, I’ll be rocking back and fourth in a corner until The Family Jewels is released in the States.

The 2010 Brit Awards where held on Feb. 16, and our Gaga was there. Lady Gaga took home all three awards she was nominated for in the international categories. Most importantly though, she performed. Oh did she perform.

Where does he get all those wonderful toys?!

• I get Candy Land. I get Battleship. I even get View-Master. But Erector Set: The Movie? (EW)
• Hugh Jackman’s Avon Man finds Enchanted director. (Variety)
• Wuthering Heights is set to be Twilight-ified. No joke. (Deadline)
• NBC, desperate to find hour-longs for the 10 p.m. time slot, settles on some guy named Spielberg. (THR)

Fin.

A few glimpses at the Madonna episode. Singing. Danging. Oh, April cannot come soon enough.

And yes, I’m ignoring the appearance by Schue’s wife. I didn’t happen.

(via The Wrap)

Good Morning!

• Kristen Wiig will have a couple of freaks and geeks behind her when she makes her debut as a leading lady. (THR)
• Doug Liman is ready to scream, “Attica! Attica!” Don’t worry. It’s not a remake. (Screen Daily)
• Amanda Bynes will join Owen Wilson, Jenna Fischer and Jason Sudeikis in the Farrelly brothers’ Hall Pass. (Variety)
• The Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl, 90210, America’s Next Top Model and Supernatural will all be back on the CW next season. (AICN)

Fin.

Martin Scorsese doesn’t seem like a guy who would work the media. We’ve seen him give acceptance speeches. He rambles. Oh so adorably, he rambles.

Still, with Shutter Island hitting theaters on Friday, you can take what I’m about to post here with a grain of salt.

1.) At the Shutter Island’s Berlinale press conference on Saturday, Scorsese let it slip that he and Robert De Niro were talking about revisiting the gangster genre. THR caught Scorese’s quote, which states that he and his former go-to leading man were discussing “something that has to do with that world. No doubt about it. But it’s from the vantage point of older men looking back.” Whoa, right? Wait for No. 2.

2.) Today, BlackBook posted a story that says that Scorsese and Lars von Trier are mulling a Taxi Driver remake… starring Robert De Niro. Say what you will about classics and cultural artifacts, but I’m very interested to see what could happen here, even moreso than I am about Martin and Bob reuniting for one last job. Whether this is, as BlackBook points out, a Five Obstructions scenario or if it’s just plain bullshit, it’s certainly fun to think about. Could we be in for a Dogme 95 Taxi Driver? Scorsese’s probably to technical (and violent) for that, but hey, I’d pay still pay to see it.

Even if the rumors turn out to be completely false, I’m happy to use them as a way to once again mention Scorsese’s latest picture, Shutter Island, opens nationwide on Friday. You’re welcome, Marty.

Considering I sat in a bar rolling my eyes at the Vancouver Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony, I didn’t think I’d ever want to watch any part of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Well, damn you, Sundance Channel. Damn you to hell.

The Sundance original series Be Good Johnny Weir has me so hooked right now I’ve added the men’s figure skating programs to my iGoogle calendar. Yes, it’s that serious.

After catching the pilot/documentary feature Johnny Weir: Pop Star on Ice, I have no choice but to watch Weir compete. The doc feels kind of light weight, for sure. It’s even a tad reserved. But the reality series adds a layer of entertaining pseudo-drama that a show following superstar Johnny Weir needs. (Finally calling Evan Lysacek Weir’s archrival, with a growl to boot, was a nice touch.)

When it comes down to it, this series, like any other reality show on television, is about personality. Weir has it in excess. So why aren’t you watching yet?

Be Good Johnny Weir airs Mondays at 10:30 p.m. on the Sundance Channel or any time on Sundance On Demand.