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Monday, March 22, 2010

What's Coming Next

I read an article online today from Virgin Media (http://www.virginmedia.com/movies/awards/oscars2010/oscar-winners-whats-next.php?ssid=1) that details the next projects for this year's big Oscar winners. I find a lot of what Virgin says disagreeable, starting with the fact that the cast of The Hurt Locker and James Cameron (both went home empty-handed, so how are they winners?) and Pixar being the winner of Best Animated Feature (though the 1906 earthquake picture does sound interesting) when I would rather know what actual winners Pete Docter and Bob Peterson are doing. The acting winners, though, were the most intriguing. Since I don't have much else to write about right now, I'll share my thoughts on these.
JEFF BRIDGES: Now that he's won an Oscar for Crazy Heart, Bridges has two projects lined up. The first is Tron: Legacy, the long-awaited sequel to the 1982 original. This I'm not terribly excited about, though I will probably end up seeing it anyway. What does excite me is that he's following the footsteps of John Wayne and playing Rooster Cogburn in the Coen Brothers' remake of True Grit. That should be fantastic, and the role is perfect for him. It could end up being his best role since The Dude in The Big Lebowski (which, interestingly enough, was also directed by the Coen Brothers).
SANDRA BULLOCK: This is really killing me, the media love for "Sandy." She's at a place where she can do no wrong, and yes, it is terrible that her husband cheated on her, but that plus her decent-at-best performance in The Blind Side does not make all of her previous work and subsequent work instantly better. To me, I just see the continued media fawning as evidence that that attention is what won her an Oscar, not the merit of her performance (if it were the latter, Gabourey Sidibe would have won hands-down). Still, more rom-coms are on the way, so if that's you're taste, then her winning streak will continue.
P.S. I have nothing against Bullock the woman: I think she is very sweet and charming, and I wish her only the best. I just don't think she's that great of an actress.
CHRISTOPH WALTZ: I want to start by saying that I hate how Virgin describes his previous work as "toiling in European cinema," as if being in a European movie is some sort of hell. American cinema is the only quality one, apparently. Anyway, I hate that a man of his talent is going to be typecast as the villain from now on, as evidenced by his roles in The Green Hornet (hopefully he'll be sublimely silly) and Water for Elephants (he's a schizophrenic). Personally, I'd like to see some of the films he did back in Europe, and I hope that he'll be offered diverse roles in the future. As an aside, can we please stop calling Robert Pattinson "R-Patz?" It's perfectly acceptable if you're a 13-year-old girl, but otherwise, stop it.
MO'NIQUE: Apparently, she's the next Oprah. More power to her. She doesn't have any film projects in the works, just her books/talk show. Which is fine, because I hope she finds success.
KATHRYN BIGELOW: She's departing from her usual action-thrillers to work on a TV series The Miraculous Year, about a family seen from the point of view of a composer. I'd watch it. But maybe turn out another movie soon?
GEOFFREY FLETCHER: Hot off the success of Precious, he's working on a film about the Attica prison riots. I'm personally looking forward to it, since I certainly think Fletcher has the makings of a legendary writer.

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