Review - Monsters University

End of June. School's out, but many newly-freed students (and their parents) will be quick to reenter the academic world this summer at the movies via Disney/Pixar's Monsters University, a college-based prequel to their beloved 2001 feature Monsters, Inc.

Those familiar with the original won't need much of a refresher course to recall the clever premise behind Pixar's Monsters universe. The monsters rely on the screams of children as their primary energy source, and where do monsters go to learn how to scare the tots? Why, Monsters University of course – or possibly rival school M Tech, but that's a moot point.

Seth Macfarlane set to host Oscars

So I got in from work this afternoon to discover that the Oscar-web was abuzz with some news. The creator of hit animated television series Family Guy and American Dad, Seth MacFarlane, has been confirmed as the host of next year's Academy Awards. Word abounds on Twitter and the like that he will be very involved in the writing process, and that, befitting a man of his musical gifts, there will of course be a musical number.

Normally, I look skeptically upon "TV" personalities hosting the biggest movie event of the year. The hosting gigs by Ellen Degeneres and John Stewart never impressed me, but then again, movie-star hosts can fall flat too. I say it's got potential. MacFarlane's talents as a comedian and singer are considerable, but it all depends on how producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (of the musical series Smash) intend to tap those talents. If they aim for a level of showbiz cheese that's somewhere between Billy Crystal's one-man shtick and Hugh Jackman's all-out razzle dazzle (with only subtle hints of MacFarlan'es new-age smarm), I daresay they may have a winner on their hands. If they try to replicate the sort of raunch and cynicism that's made MacFarlane such a huge success on the small screen (and so help me, one single Family Guy reference is an automatic deal-breaker), then I smell possible disaster. Call me conditionally hopeful.

Oscar Post-mortem

Where to begin on last Sunday's Academy Awards?

Obviously The Artist was the big winner, taking five trophies including Best Picture, Director, Actor. Hugo matched that tally with five craft wins, while the dreadful Iron Lady won two (gak!), and the list of one-win wonders includes The Help, Beginners, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and The Muppets (becoming the first Muppet movie to win an Oscar! YAY!)

Surprises were few and far between, and those that we did get were decidedly unpleasant ones if you ask me. The biggest of said unpleasant surprises was no doubt Meryl Streep's victory in Best Actress, but don't let me give you the impression that I'm vindictive. I'm as big a fan of the lady as the next man. Year after year, Streep continues to solidify her claim as the greatest actress of her generation with consistently excellent performances, unfortunately often in films less-than-worthy of her gifts. If there's any living thespian deserving of three Academy Awards, it's her...

...but why did it have to come at the expense of Viola Davis? This was clearly her year, and hers was clearly the best performance of the five. Not to pontificate too hard on the Academy's (and Hollywood's) demographic tendencies, but when is she going to have an opportunity like this again? I wonder if this might be Oscar's most severe mistake in years.

Bracing for a Faceplant: Final Predictions for 84th Academy Awards

I'm checking out for the weekend, folks. My work here is done. At this point, there's nothing left to do but wait for the inevitable. With the nomination dominance of Hugo and The Artist, you'd think it would be easier to guess things this year. If anything, it's made it harder. Many categories (particularly the crafts) feel like coin tosses. I'm prepared to eat it this year. I think could get as many as fourteen wrong! At least I can hope for a decent show. Billy Crystal is so pro at this thing.

My official predictions are as follows:

Best Picture: The Artist
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best Actor: Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Best Actress: Viola Davis, The Help
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help
Best Original Screenplay: Midnight in Paris
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Descendants
Best Cinematography: Hugo
Best Film Editing: The Artist
Best Art Direction: Hugo
Best Costume Design: Anonymous
Best Original Score: The Artist
Best Original Song: The Muppets ("Man or Muppet")
Best Sound Mixing: War Horse
Best Sound Editing: War Horse
Best Visual Effects: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Best Makeup: The Iron Lady
Best Animated Feature: Rango
Best Foreign Language Film: In Darkness
Best Documentary: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Best Animated Short: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Best Live-Action Short: Tuba Atlantic
Best Documentary Short: Saving Face

*Notes:
-I feel like upsets are coming, I just can't pinpoint where. Rather than try to predict them, I'm just gonna tow the party line and hope for the best. But the two categories where I sense them the most are Supporting Actor and (believe it or not) Visual Effects.
-One race where I am actively predicting the upset is in Foreign Film. This doesn't so much reflect my honest guess, but I just couldn't stand to predict A Separation and end up being wrong! I learned my lesson last year, when Roger Deakins' disappointing loss left a sour taste in my mouth that resided the entire show.
-Don't know what to do about Costumes, Cinematography, or Documentary. Those could go any which way.
-Score and Art Direction are the only two locked craft categories. I could indeed get the other eight wrong! Granted, that's a worst-case scenario.

Golden Globes preview

The Golden Globe Awards take to the air tonight, and it should hopefully be a less cluttered outing than last Thursday's Critics Choice Awards. I'll have plenty of opportunities to replenish my beverage whenever they announce those boring TV categories (tee hee), or whenever Ricky Gervais opens his gob. I know some people have dug his boldly abusive humour the last two years running, but don't count me among them. There are ways to make fun of celebrities without sounding so spiteful, as Billy Crystal will likely demonstrate at the Oscars in six weeks time, so my television will be happily muted when Mr. Gervais takes the stage.

As for the awards, my predictions are outlined below. Should be an easy win for The Artist in Musical/Comedy, but the Drama category promises to actually be exciting this year. I'll be back here tonight to comment on the proceedings as they happen.

Best Picture, Drama
The Descendants
alt: The Help

Best Picture, Comedy or Musical
The Artist
alt: Bridesmaids

Back to basics: Crystal in as Oscar host

AMPAS wasted little time in finding replacements for producer Brett Ratner and host Eddie Murphy in the wakeof their sudden exodus from next February's Oscar telecast. Brian Grazer stepped in yesterday in place of Ratner, and today it has been confirmed that Billy Crystal, the best Oscar host I've ever had the pleasure of seeing MC the show, is swooping into the gap left by Murphy. It's a role Crystal knows well. He has an easy charm with his audience that can only come from years of doing the gig.

Personally, I'm delighted. I've been waiting patiently since 2004 (the last time Crystal hosted) for his return to the stage. His surprise appearance at last year's show only whetted my appetite further, but now it seems my wait is over. There were those lobbying online for an Oscar ceremony hosted by the Muppets, for which I would have been 100% on board, but a seasoned pro as classy and witty as Crystal is a more-than-adequate alternative.