The best speeches of the night

Just in case being called a "Commie homo lovin' son of a gun" twice isn't enough already, here it is again:



This one wasn't too bad either . . .

Commie Homo loving sons of guns UNITE!

This week, At the Movies was a rerun of the Bens giving their Oscar predictions. You can read my original review here.

As for the Oscars, the winners were fairly predictable--I think that Ben and Ben guessed every one of the major categories successfully. Which only leaves the question--why did the fake Oscar leak turn out to be so wrong? I don't know, but it shows what can happen when random people set up blogs with timely information and/or criticism that gets more media publicity than it deserves. Except this blog, of course.

As for the show itself, I don't have much to say about it overall other than it came in WELL under the predicted 4 hour time that Ben Lyons was predicting--looks like just under 3 and a half to me. But two things seem worth pointing out--

The Good: Speeches by Dustin Lance Black and Sean Penn were both overtly in support of gay rights, at times loud, sensitive, and even somewhat defiantly. Granted, they were talking to a pretty sympathetic crowd--there was no chance that these two were going to be booed like Michael Moore was a few years ago. But considering past years have seen the Academy deny the Oscar to Brokeback Mountain and even show some embarrassment--remember Jon Stewart's opening?--about how out of touch they were with the rest of the country, I consider this a step forward.

The Bad: Long, gushy speeches given to each of the nominees for lead and supporting actor and actresses, although they couldn't be bothered to do the same for writers or even directors. But that's four awards with five noms each resulting in twenty speeches! Not that they all sucked--some of the personal ones were more heartfelt or funny, like De Niro's speech to Penn and Anne Hathaway's teary-eyed appreciation--with a generous off the cuff nod by Shirley MacLaine to her singing abilities. But the speech for Angelina Jolie only showed that nobody was really sure why she was being nominated in the first place. All in all, this is exactly what A. O. Scott was talking about when he said that the Oscars are less about what is the "best" and more about putting on a show about what Hollywood thinks of itself.

The huh?: What happened to Heath Ledger being appreciated in the recently deceased montage? I didn't see him in there--did I just miss it?

A meeting of the minds between Lyons and Hasselbeck

Originally posted at Defamer:

Today on The View, Ebert usurper Ben Lyons took his place next to Elisabeth Hasselbeck in what could only have felt more like a Defamer-targeted Last Supper if Joaquin Phoenix had crashed it, rapping.

Lyons was joined by his At the Movies co-conspirator, Ben Mankiewicz, to walk the ladies through their Oscar prognostications. Here is the short version: Ben M. loves Marisa Tomei, on account of her breasts, and Ben L. loves Christopher Nolan and Slumdog Millionaire hottie Freida Pinto, neither of which are nominated. Also, Joy Behar hates The Reader. HATES it. If The Reader were, say, a perky blond co-host, she would scream at it, "I will burn you down," because of the hatred.

Also enjoyable: when the Bens are asked whether there's ever been a tie between actors at the Oscars (there has, famously), and they both sit there awkwardly drawing a blank until Whoopi Goldberg saves them. Guess they haven't added that trivia to the Scene It? Box Office Smash DLC yet.

At the Movies, 2/8/09

Ben Lyons starring in Taken: If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I make way more money than I have a right to. But what I don't have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have not acquired over a very short career. A lack of skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you don't let me host At the Movies, that'll be the end of it. But if you do, my reviews will find you, and they will kill you.

Lyons and Mankiewicz gave their picks for the Oscars on this week's episode of At the Movies. As usual, Lyons' picks are much better than his commentary. First, they gave their choices for Best Actor and Actress (including in a Supporting Role) and they all seem respectable. But then they get to their choice for Best Picture, for which Mank chooses Frost/Nixon, a pretty good movie but certainly not a better one than Milk or Slumdog Millionaire--which he continues to believe is overrated.

But all is forgiven for Mank when Lyons gives his choice--The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. This should be no surprise for regular viewers, he reminds us. Mank, once again, however else you may fault him, comes in as the voice of reason:

Mank: Regarding Benjamin Button, I'm finding myself liking it less and less the further I get away from it. I'm starting to see it more as technically astounding, no question, as you mention, but I see it as a gimmick. Well executed but not much more than a gimmick.

Lyons: You just brushed off technically astounding. I think that needs to be appreciated. And I think it was a premise, not a gimmick, and I kind of fell in love with the characters.

Well, what is a gimmick but a catchy premise without depth? A screenwriter comes up with a gimmick, but they describe it to the producer they are selling their screenplay to as a premise. Of course, what would really make Button more than just a gimmick movie is if Lyons could explain how the movie uses this "premise" to express something, which he has never done.

But I don't want to get too caught up on Button, especially since last week turned into anti-Button week (and I suspect there may be more of those to come through the Oscar pre-season). So here are a few other unfortunate Lyons-isms:

On Robert Downey Jr.'s nomination for Tropic Thunder, Lyons says: "I appreciate when the Academy honors comedic performances because it doesn't happen too often." This was right after they finished talking about the noms for Penelope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny.

On predicting the Oscars: "Lately, when actors win the SAG awards for playing real life people, they usually go on to win the Oscars". Take two obvious Oscar insights--early awards tend to predict the Oscars, and the Academy likes biopics--and turn into a "new" one. Brilliant!

Finally, there is Mank's poor attempt at pun, much less successful than his previous efforts. Referring to the way that all great baseball players are immediately compared against Babe Ruth, Manks says "There's a new Babe in town, and her name is Kate Winslet!" Thanks Mank, maybe you'll be a bit more successful next time.

At the Movies, 1/25/09

This week's episode of At the Movies was a rerun, so I have little commentary to add from my previous discussion of this episode--where the Bens discuss their top ten lists for 2008--which you can view here.

But where Ben did appear last week was on the E! coverage of the Oscar nominations. Unfortunately, I missed it and I have not been able to come up with any video to either post or review, so I'll have to settle for a few quotes from others.

Gawker: Ben Lyons called Benjamin Button "a benchmark of cinema" because he is as big of a goddamned idiot as his father. He also said that Button will win Best Picture because it made lots of money. "You gotta make some coin." Why is this person on television? I wish Julianna Ranci-whatever would hit him with a sack of doorknobs. Was E! ever credible as an actual decent reporter on the entertainment industry? Did they ever try to be?

Dave McCoy, MSN Movies: Nobody should have to see "film critic" Ben Lyons break down ANYTHING at 5:30 in the morning. Or anytime. I shouldn't have watched the nominations on E!. "I've been at Sundance... it's great to be here." ... "It's gonna be a 'Slumdog' morning!"... "Marisa Tomei... naked at 40! Whoo!"... This guy is brutal and an offense to his profession.

I promised myself that I would not waste my life away watching Ben Lyons on E!, but between this and the recent Kristen Stewart review, I am afraid I am going to have to keep a closer eye on the channel. But I still hope to avoid the Nickelodeon game show.

Ben has clearly tried hard--although not entirely successfully--to look something like a serious film critic on At the Movies, but still seems to think he can act like a fool on E! We should not let him.

Oscar! Oscar! Oscar!

Not unlike Oakland: There's no hair there
It is certainly fun watching and predicting who will win an Academy Award. Unfortunately, some "film critics" see this as merely an opportunity to get a big fat blurb on a movie poster. Something like, "the Academy is going to eat this one up", or that this is an "incredible film that will surely be talked a lot about during Oscar season." Of course, I didn't make these up--I didn't have to. Ben Lyons went to the little trouble of throwing up these blurbs and Erik Childress form Criticwatch went to the even greater trouble of keeping track of them. And not only from Lyons but from MANY other critics as well. Erik read through hundreds of reviews so that you don't have to. The conclusion:

Criticwatch has been tracking these quotes since 2003 and in that time, 61 of the 79 films exposed to this sort of pre-Oscar hype have either failed to get a single nomination or get the nod specific to its Lyons-esque boasts. Studios and their advertisers are never going to ignore such buzz when selling their films, but maybe its time they start backing up that praise. Less than half of the above films we’re sent out to critic’s groups for consideration at the end of the year; a sign of no faith in their ability to garner awards attention. Even though its becoming increasingly more clear that critic organizations are steering the ship towards Oscar and not just the bloggers and prognosticators that Patrick Goldstein recently demeaned. But more on that later. As one of those prognosticators myself, a word of advice beyond calling out Ben Lyons as no more of an expert than Stephanie Meyer – remember – just because Larry King says you’ve already won, doesn’t make it so.

Oh, one more that I would add to the list:

Look for a Brangelina Oscar night. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are going to get Oscar nominations. Brad for his work in “Burn After Reading” and Angelina for “Changeling.”

Stunning insight and sounding cool at the same time--or at least trying really hard to. I bet you can't guess who said this one. I'll give you a hint: it wasn't Roger Ebert.