The Godfather of All Podcasts

On the third episode of Big Mike's Movie Podcast, my friend Andrea and I talk about arguably the greatest film of all time, The Godfather. What more is there to say about the movie or the podcast, except listen to it now!

My Oscar Mission Statement

Last night, while watching The Hurt Locker win Best Picture for the 82^nd Academy Awards, my excitement was subdued my the reminder that it’s not the destination, but the journey. And it was a long winding road last night to get The Hurt Locker into the winner’s circle. Lots of people have lobbed criticisms at the Academy for the show and the nominees, the voting/selection/viewing process and the eventual winners. While the Academy does have a host of concerns (pun intended), I am here to help with my guidelines for producing a better Oscar show.

We start at the top, with the host. If you’ve listened to my podcast (and you should), then you already know that my choice for host is Robert Downey Jr. Except for Baldwin, can you think of a host whose career and public image has been as low and as high as his? All the obligatory jokes at the audience members would work better because people have a genuine affinity for the man. Everyone in the town loves Downey and people at home love Iron Man.

On that note, he and Tina Fey were the best presenters of the night. Not just because I harbor crushes on both of them, but they engaged in the kind of witty banter that presenters can get away with. More importantly, they represent two types of stars that should present, A-list movie stars and respected industry stars.

No more Disney channels stars (no matter how long Disney owns ABC), no more children or siblings of celebrities, no reality stars and nobody who hasn’t worked in an Academy Award nominated film. Period. It is not that hard to find recognizable actors to give away the biggest prize in the world not named after Alfred Nobel. Presenters for next year will include, but not be limited to – Nicole Kidman, James Caan, Cate Blanchett, James Gandolfini, Anne Hathaway and Bruce Willis.

Furthermore, in continue to embrace the tradition of Oscar, the lifetime achievement awards will be brought back. If you can include a five-minute montage to horror films that inexplicably includes Twilight and excludes Shaun of the Dead, then you can good and goddamn well give five minutes to Lauren Bacall. Oh, and the In Memoriam montage should not exclude ANYBODY! Sure, Farrah Fawcett and Bea Arthur might have been TV stars, but they were in movies as well and when are they going to get another chance to be seen on that stage again?

Speaking of montage, and visual presentation in general, the YouTube mash ups for the best supporting nominations are ridiculous. I remember when you used to watch a movie and there was one scene that made you sit back and say, “There’s the Oscar clip.” It’s cliché for a reason and it needs to return. One clip per nomination. While I quite like the actor-to-actor testimonials for the leading nominations, you must make room somewhere and cutting clips for cinematography is not the place to do it. Removing the song performances could work, but not when you give the Jabbawockees (not even sure I’m using that reference correctly) some cardboard and let them dance through five score nominees. That is counterproductive.

Along with that, some awards can and should be awarded in tandem. Documentaries, long and short, animated, long and short, sound editing/mixing, costume and make-up, even screenplays or effects and art direction can be lumped together for the sake of the average viewer. Picture, director, acting, cinematography and editing should stand alone. Again, this will make more time for other things, including acceptance speeches and the same three commercials I saw all night long.

I know I will take some heat for this, but I must say it anyways. Though I have my own issues with the films of John Hughes, he is without a doubt an important American filmmaker. That being said, he probably does not warrant a fifteen-minute tribute in the middle of the show. Because unless I missed the same tribute last year for Ingmar Bergman, these types of tributes should be consistent or non-existent. The Gene Siskel tribute a few years ago was very effective. But, if Kevin Smith dropped dead tomorrow, I would still not round up Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Shannon Doherty and Liv Tyler to talk about how he changed the way we looked at the world through his unique vision. I believe it is safe to say that even without last night’s presentation, we won’t forget about John Hughes.

There should be more surprises. Sure, all of us in the blogosphere were surprised at the upsets in the screenplay categories, but that was about it. The lead up to Oscar season takes away from the suspense of Oscar night and though we may be part of the problem by handicapping the races and picking upsets, it is on the Academy to continue to shake things up in both the nominating and selection processes.

The ten Best Picture nominations was a good idea and it did work. As long as we continue to have five director nominations, there will always be five frontrunners for BP, so including five other nominees will only help will mainstream audiences, to highlight movies they haven’t seen and include those they have. You can show love for An Education, while showing love for The Blind Side, but we all know that neither of them is going to win. Picking The Hurt Locker was the right choice. People who think Avatar should have won because it made a lot of money and looked awesome are wrong. Oscar occasionally gets things right and they got it right this year. Which means…

The Academy Awards are awarded to recognize excellence in filmmaking. Not in making popular movies or pretty movies. It’s not about making movies with a message or movies that make stars out of unknowns. Embrace the traditions of Oscar and forget about ratings. It’s on TV anyways, who watches that? More actors, less stars, more films, less movies and more awards winners, less box office winners. Let us get back to what the Oscars really represent and if certain people cannot get on board with that, then leave them at the fucking station.

Big Mike's Movie Podcast Episode 2 -Oscar Wrap-Up

Thanks to all of you for listening to the first episode of Big Mike's Movie Podcast and for all of your positive feedback. It's been a lot of fun working on the first two and I will be recording the third episode this weekend and am planning future episodes as well. I'm really interested in getting as many different guests as I can, so if you are interested in coming on the show, feel free to contact me and we can talk topics and schedules.

In this follow up episode, Graham and I finish up the Oscar predictions, joke around about a bunch of stupid Oscar-y things and I drop the bomb on him with my awesome pick for next year's Oscar host. I'm calling it right now, so look alive people. Who did I name? You'll just have to listen!

Up In The Air

This review is part of the ongoing feature The LAMB Devours the Oscars. Read all of the articles on every Oscar category and all ten Best Picture nominations.

Rarely can a film be both timely and timeless, contemporary and classic, heart warming and

heart wrenching, heavy, humorous, that combines comedy and drama, scope and introspection, romantic, yet real.

Up In The Air is such a film.

George Clooney turns in what may be the best performance of his career as Ryan Bingham, career transition counselor. His job title is pure euphemism as Bingham is a hired gun brought in from the outside by companies forced to do mass layoffs. Bingham's matter of fact attitude about his work belies his entire outlook on life. He forsakes his sparsely furnished apartment in the Midwest to spend most of his life on the road, on the job and, of course, up in the air. He moonlights as a motivational speaker, sharing his philosophies with like minded business types, truly believing in every word of his speeches, imploring them to leave unnecessary attachments by the wayside. He streamlines his personal life as effectively as his daily routine, cutting back on baggage, personal or otherwise, and finds comfort in airport lounges, business suites and the exclusivity of frequent flier miles. But, his comfort zone is threatened when a young ingenue, Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), is hired on by his company to take the business into the future. Her plan to cut costs and fire people face to face over a computer monitor will ground Bingham permanently and he finds himself taking her on the road with him as they attempt to learn about each other's methods and prove themselves more effective. They learn from each other, share their personal ambitions, like Ryan's goal of ten million frequent flier miles and form a bond that is the emotional core of the movie. Along the way, Bingham finds a like spirit in the form of Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga) who shares his lifestyle, life experiences and through their similarities, Bingham begins to look more at himself. He solicits her counsel when Natalie is heartbroken, he takes Alex to his sister's wedding and when he gets the call that he doesn't need to travel anymore, he wants her to be part of his new life.

Based on the novel of the same name by Walter Kirn, writer/director Jason Reitman pushed through the flashes of brilliance he displayed in Thank You For Smoking and Juno, by crafting a story that is much more subdued and serious, but without sacrificing the warmth and humor that is his family hallmark. He skillfully moves the action around the main force of Clooney while constantly keeping the story heading forward to it's ambiguous conclusion. The performances from the three leads are impressive enough to garner them all Oscar nominations, as feat accomplished by such films as The Philadelphia Story, The Graduate and Raging Bull. The supporting cast is peppered with familiar face Jason Bateman, J.K. Simmons, Zach Galifinakis and Danny McBride as well as using real people recently laid off from their jobs at the time of filming. That human touch, that sense of connection the audience feels to the characters, the world they live in and how closely it resembles our own, guided by Reitman and embodied by Clooney is what helps make Up In The Air the best picture of the year.

It's Here, Big Mike's Movie Podcast!

Yes, I have taken the plunge and recorded a podcast! I am still working out kinks, figuring out scheduling, content and guests, so please give it a listen and I am soliciting as much feedback as possible, so tell me what you think!

In the first episode, my best friend, Graham Greenlee and I discuss the everything Oscar this year. We talked for so long that we actually had to break it up into two episodes, then because I'm dumb, I lost the second part and forced us to re-record. It's been a labor of love for me so far, but I'm really pleased with what we have. But, we really analyze the Oscars and dissect the nominees as well as we can, giving you our picks for the awards show on March 7. You can download your official Oscar ballot to make your picks and check out the sites we mention which include Awards Daily and The Film Experience, both excellent sites.

You can find my podcast at on podOmatic at Big Mike's Movie Podcast and it will be available on iTunes soon as well. Of course, if you're on Facebook, you can follow Big Mike's Movie Blog on Networked Blogs and there are plenty of ways on the sidebar to the right for you to subscribe and share my blog.

So, to sum up, looking for feedback, content and guests and above all else, enjoy!