Richard J Moir's Blog

Oscars Oscars Oscars!

2009-02-24T03:22:00.000-08:00

So yesterday us Brits woke up while the Hollywood A-Listers partied hard into the night following another great night at the Oscars. We find out that it is a Brit's night, with Slumdog Millionaire winning 8 times and Kate Winslet finally rewarded for her great acting, with best actress for The Reader. Shock of the night came when Mickey Rourke was snubbed for Sean Penn, who won best actor for his role as Harvey Milk in Milk. But there were bigger snubs all round. How about the films that didn't get mentioned for the main prizes...

The Dark Knight was one of the most commercially succesful films of 2008, and bar the best supporting actor, was only nominated for production categories such as Best Achievement in Makeup and Art Direction. Heath Ledger's nomination was a case of 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' but he was a worthy winner.

Other films that didn't get enough recognition were Wall-E, which was mind blowing and deserved much more, and Gomorrah, Christopher Nolan (for the Dark Knight), James Franco and Benicio Del Toro for his role as Che Guevara. But that's also what makes the Oscars great. The talk afterwards about this and that, who didn't get nominated and who should've won what.

But one thing that bugged me recently was to do with the best picture award. With Slumdog Millionaire winning over The Reader, Milk, Frost/Nixon and Benjamin Button, something struck me which I will now demonstrate below.

Slumdog Millionaire - Released 23rd Jan 2009 (Limited from 12 Nov 08)

The Reader - Released 10th Dec 2008

Milk - Released 26th November 2008

Frost / Nixon - Released 23rd January 2009

Benjamin Button - Released 25th December 2008

(Based on USA openings)

Notice that? Not one film was released before November of last year, and all these films were released in the UK in January. Every single one. Meaning films brought out around this time for next years award and going to struggle. Does the Academy only watch the recent films to decide what to award?

That will be the classic Hollywood Wants Money scam going on. As many of these films are still in the cinema, the Oscars drive more people to see them by advertising through Oscar noms. I'm not saying that none of these films deserve recognition, but it's getting more and more unfair on people working on films earlier in the year to not get nominated due to Hollywood risking not making money from it. Slumdog Millionaire was a deserved winner, but where was The Dark Knight, Son of Rambow, Let the Right One In, 4 Months 3 Days and 2 Nights, The Visitor, Wall-E, and The Happening? Ok, not the last one. But I'll tell you where they were. Back in the early part of 2008, that's where.

Comic Book Adaptations

2009-02-04T13:34:00.000-08:00

Did you know that currently in Hollywood there are 70 movies being made that just lay in the comic book genre! That's a big seven-zero. People might not see any 70 films in the space of about 5 years.

So what's so engaging about the comic book film? The many popular adaptations are the Batman series, Spiderman (of which they are making an unnecessary fourth), Superman, Blade, Hulk, Iron Man, Fantastic Four, the list goes on and on. Other films that people might not have realised where comic book adaptations include V For Vendetta, Road To Perdition and even Stardust.

I'm not a big comic book fan, but after seeing this stat I have become intriguied to what brings people in to see them. Some will be big successes and some will fail, but they all are getting attention through comic book fans and lifelong devoters. With Hollywood releasing around 600 films in both 2006 and 07, it looks to stay around the same for 2009 / 10, which means a hefty amount coming from adaptations, not to mention Hollywood churning out the weekly remake, the monthy Seth Rogen "comedy" and the films about Dogs, which leaves a very small percentage of films that deserve recognition (in my eyes)

That's not to say that these films won't be a success. One film that has caught my attention over and over again is Watchmen, a film who people say that the comic book equivalent "changes the way they view other comic books." Now that's a pretty bold statement. Could Watchmen the film bring in a mass audience and make us change the way we view other superhero films? Directed by the man who brought us the green-screened, half-decent 300, we do not know. But from early pictures, reviews and some sneak peeks, he could be on to something this time around. We'll just have to wait till March to find out.

I like comic books. I read them all the time when I was a child. From the Beano to the... well, Beano was all that was needed to entertain me for a week, but you get the idea. Many people who are going to see these films will be much older than I was in my Beano-reading days though, and maybe it's something about having that connection with your childhood that drives people back into the cinemas to see these sorts of films. Films that are in production such as X-Men Origins, Justice League, Green Lantern, Iron Man 2 and Spiderman 4, are all fantastically well received children's cartoons and retro comic books, which just shows why they are getting good press and praise. The new generation of comic book readers are intriguied, children love a superhero and the older generation can't help but be clawed back by the images of when they first read comic books.

Other notable films to look our for: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (Edgar Wright), Green Arrow, The Avengers and Ness (David Fincher)

Also, check the new Poll at the bottom of the page which asks Who Deserves The Best Picture Oscar This Year?

2009 So Far

2009-01-19T09:29:00.000-08:00

I haven't written here for a while, but I've decided to make an effort to write at least once a week from now on, starting with what I'm up to at the moment, and what will be happening with my blog in the coming weeks.

One film that I am more interested than most is one that I helped write, Michael's Resignation. It has had a lot of coverage over the Internet, and some people (Neil Baker) have been working like trojans to get this noticed and get others to support us. Join these groups on Facebook to support the film and get it noticed. It can be your good deed for the day :)

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=2243759115a9df969ebbec068cc3184e&gid=70474121280

But as well as Baker working hard, as well as everyone else behind the scenes of Michael's Resignation, I have also been working hard having finished Uni till Feb 2nd, it's all I can do now!

I finished filming a short advert which encourages people to turn their phones off before a movie, wrote a short filmed called The Game which I am in talks with Esbi Films to make, and made many contacts through MySpace and just yesterday was offered to direct a short film in Liverpool.

So things are going well at the moment. Outside of film, they couldn't be worse, with Middlesbrough FC slowly slipping into the relegation battle, and working at a local supermarket slowly killing me inside, but that's why I have film. Film puts me were I belong. I love to write, I love to watch other people's short films, I love to watch films, I love hearing other people's ideas and just love thinking about how films work.

The most recent film I saw in the cinema was four time Golden Globe winner Slumdog Millionaire. This is my review which I wrote on Facebook:

I saw this a day after it won 4 Golden Globes, with my main focus on the award for best director (Danny Boyle). And I can see why he won it. This is one of the most stunningly visual films I have seen in a long long time. And I haven't seen many in my time, with this being as beautiful as Amelie. The acting is superb throughout, and they are given a great storyline, as Jamal (Patel) tries to find his true love Latika (Pinto) by going on Who Wants to be A Millionaire. Their stories are sad and sometimes cliched, but it's a fantastically worked story altogether. Emotions run high between Jamal and his brother Salim, and this makes the story work, leading to their respective endings in the film. No other director could've made this work like it did, so hats off to Boyle

Keeping Active

2008-12-03T13:12:00.000-08:00

As well as writing this blog, I am hard at work at University and also writing my own scripts. This blog is going to be about the latter. Who wants to know about my University work?

Saying that... I am currently filming a proper short film with my University friends. We decided today that it is a "genreless, avant-garde and experimental" short film that takes into account the two sense we take for granted, vision and hearing. I wrote the screenplay for the film, helped with some of the directing and also acting as the main man in the film alongside my talented director friend Pierre Landriau. We worked hard on this, and it should be on the internet next week.

I have also decided to use this blog to write down my current projects if anyone out there is interested. (Having seen fellow blogger Neil do the same. More about him in a bit)

Four Months
This is the film I am currently writing, about a London couple who are slowly falling out of love. It's controversial, brutal, and points out flaws in London society.

H.H.Holmes
This is a script that I have completed the first draft of for some time. It is in need of a re-write or three. It is set in the 19th century, and is a real-life story of a multi-murderer who built his own castle in wake of Chicago's first World's Fair.

Kupet: Everyday Life in a Supermarket
This is a mockumentary film which I have been meaning to write for about three years, since I started work in Tesco. I have a few friends who want me to carry on writing this one, which is nice.

Dreaming in Somnolence
Story of Ethan Kaufman, who decides to make something of his life for a good cause, and undertakes an experiment that two scientists have set up. Their aim is to make something that can read dreams. It's romance. It's mystery. It's comedy. It's plain weird.

Michael's Resignation / Salvation For April / Aidan's Darkest Sermon
These three films are three of the seven in Alex Cameron's many stories which I have had the pleasure of taking part of. They are brutal, cleverly written and hold back no punches. This brings me on to two other bloggers who I have to mention.

Alex Cameron is a talented story maker and script writer. His stories are as intruiging as the last one he throws up and I am grateful to be apart of his team of many writers.

One of his writers is previously mentioned Neil Baker. He has also set up a blog using this website and it's a great read. He is a very talented writer which similar dreams to mine so I hope to work with him a lot in the many years to come.

Their blogs can be found at these two sites.
www.azcameron.co.uk
www.writewithhonour.blogspot.com/

Ciao xx

The Death of Originality

2008-12-02T16:47:00.000-08:00

Psycho. The Postman Always Rings Twice. The Omen. Sunset Boulevard. The Birds. The War of the Worlds. The Italian Job. [Rec]

As Bart Simpson once quoted, "Woah, woah, woah, let's not tamper with the classics."

If only Hollywood had took note of this and thought about what they were doing to the art of cinema. Recently I had seen a trailer for Quarantine, a film remake of Spanish horror film [Rec], which recieved praise and a couple of awards. Then Hollywood gets involved. Not only do they remake the film (and I have heard sources that it is shot for shot remake), but they have the guts and patheticness, for lack of a better word, to bring it out just a year later. Is that the sort of films we are meant to witness now? Shot for shot remakes made solely on the basis that nobody has any original ideas anymore, and all Hollywood want is money?

I plan never to get myself involved in a remake, even if it is of a poor film that could've done better, as I like to think film is art. Would you see someone try to remake a famous painting? No, because it does not need to be done. People want originality. And that is what is lacking in Hollywood right now.

It is sad to think people will more likely see remakes such as upcoming The Day The Earth Stood Still rather than films that are actually intellectual and stunning such as Baz Luhrmann's Australia. Next time you are going to see a remake of a film, think again, watch the original, then see a decent film that hasn't been made purely to make money.

Welcome...

2008-11-12T11:41:00.000-08:00

After a careers interview yesterday, I was advised to start writing a blog to also use to sample my work. A fellow writer, Neil Baker, had also started writing a blog which brought me here. My first blog.

A little about me.. Yes, my name is Richard J Moir. I am 19, and I am currently studying Film in London at University. I am in my second year, and things are going great.

But I'm here to talk about my work. Having written two of my own feature length films, and numerous shorts, on my own, I started last month working with other people. I helped in two collaboration projects called Michael's Resignation and Salvation For April, both great ideas from Alex Cameron. Neil Baker also worked on these two projects, and I have to say both are talented writers, who I hope to work with more in the future.

Well, that's all for now as I am a hungry boy.

xx