Sadly underused in cinema, the New Year is an opportunity for reflection on the last year, and a chance to make a few changes in preparation for the year ahead. Because of this, the New Year’s Eve scene will generally happen towards the end of the film, so, spoilers ahead.

When Harry Met Sally

Yes, we’re talking about that scene: the desperate race across the city to find Sally before the twelfth chime and for Harry to tell her how he really feels. By now it’s a cliché, and that one episode of The O.C. hammered the last nail in its coffin (unless the forthcoming New Year’s Eve digs it up, in which case: Filmbuff called it), but who cares?

We’re talking about When Harry Met Sally because it’s the greatest use of the New Year as a romantic device: it’s the shaking-off of the old status quo and introducing a new one. More importantly, it’s the final ‘real’ scene in the film. What happens to Harry and Sally afterwards might as well be a mystery. We know they’re married by the time they’re interviewed, but nothing between the two points. It’s in the future; they don’t really know what happens, and neither does the audience.

The Hudsucker Proxy

The Coen Brothers’ screwball comedy (co-written with Sam Raimi) tracks Tim Robbins as he is installed as the president of Hudsucker Industries, where he scuppers Paul Newman’s complicated plan to buy the controlling interest.

Again, the New Year is the setting for the climax of the film, in which Robbins is told he will be fired in the new year. It all takes a surreal, magical turn as Tim Robbins meets an angel who halts the flow of time to provide a deus ex machina resolution: the majority of the company’s shares. It allows Tim Robbins to make a fresh start at the company on his own terms, going on to invent the frisbee.

The Apartment

When Jack Lemmon’s boss demands the use of his apartment for a—ahem—liaison with his mistress on New Year’s Eve, Lemmon simply quits and moves out. While he’s packing, he meets Shirley McLain, and we, the audience, hear one of the great closing lines in cinematic history. Controversial for its time due to all the infidelity, this “dirty fairytale” is a classic comedy-drama.

In The Apartment, the New Year setting is used to close the film and open up a multitude of possibilities for its resolution. In true Billy Wilder style, the film’s conclusion is left completely open, perfect for a New Year’s Eve screening.

FilmBuff’s New Year’s Resolution is to try not to spoil great movies for you any more. Emphasis on the “try.” Did we miss any great New Year-based movies? Recommend some in the comments!

The new year always brings with it new gadgets, and here at FilmBuff we love gettin’ our geek on. Here are a few products we’re stoked to get our hands on, and what you should put on your next wish list.

Libratone Live AirPlay speaker: $699; now available

These compact speakers may seem pricey at first, but take another gander before you write them off. The speakers take surround sound to a whole new level. Not only can you place them wherever you want in a room, but they emit sound at 360 degrees! Your whole room becomes the inside of a boombox! And you can wirelessly play music from your iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, or any computer with iTunes; all it takes is a Libratone app download. You can also hook up the TV to the speakers for the ultimate sound. You’ll never experience the Super Bowl or 300 the same way again. Oh, and the speakers are covered in cashmere, so they look AND feel great. Mmmmm, fuzzy speakers…

iPad 3: estimated $499-$699; likely available by May

We don’t need to convince you that the iPad 3 will be the hottest tablet on the market in 2012. We’re only going off of hearsay and rumors at this point, but like each subsequent Apple product outdoing the one before it, you can expect a bigger screen, higher resolution, and maybe an even smaller tablet. Pardon us while we wipe the drool off our faces…

Bionic contacts: unknown cost; unknown availability

THE FUTURE IS HERE! And soon we won’t even have to open our eyes to see it. The University of Washington has been working on bionic contacts that project images on your retina, and they’ve already had a “pixel” worth of success in rabbits. The scientists hope to eventually make contacts that receive data and display them directly in the vision of the wearer, making them aware of “physiological anomalies” or important events. They’re even working on contacts that help you see in the dark! Goodbye, night vision goggles, hello, creepy cat vision! Pretty soon, we’ll probably have EYESiri on our hands (er, eyeballs). A downside, however, is that since these screens are directly on your eye, “you can’t un-see anything they decide to project.” Uh, that means we have to actually sit through Saw I-VI? Thanks, but no thanks.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus: cost unknown; available December 2011

iPhone who? This is the phone of tomorrow. Loaded with the new operating system, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the Galaxy Nexus is all about multi-tasking, Google, and zero lag. It’s sleek and ready to play with 32 GB, 2 mics and 2 cameras. Forget passwords and voice recognition; you unlock the phone WITH YOUR SMILE! (Make sure to get your braces off before you get one.) Not only that, but movie rentals are even easier with Android Market. Starting at $1.99, the movies are instantly available in HD, and you’re not limited to WiFi only or using all your data watching Iron Man 2.

Microsoft Surface 2.0 by Samsung: $8,900; available January 2012

Welcome to the new dining room table. The SUR40 has been available for pre-order since November, and it’s ready to revamp your ideas of a typical tabletop. Geared with PixelSense, it’s the ultimate touchscreen, as “every pixel acts as a camera” and has over 50 points of touch interaction; touchy, much? The 40-inch screen is aimed more for use in businesses, hospitals, and casinos (digital Blackjack anyone?) than for the average household, but hey, if you got the money for it, why not?

Are you ‘Buffs excited for this technologically titillating new year we’ve got upon us? Any other gadgets that you’re pumped for that don’t begin with ‘i’? Let us know in the comments!

It’s no surprise that film buffs also like to watch the tube at home. While we always prefer the silver screen, sometimes television can get our minds thinking about certain themes in movies. Take, for example, Showtime’s reality series, I Can’t Believe I’m Still Single, which features Eric Schaeffer, an actor, writer and director.

On the surface, the man seems like he’s prime boyfriend bait—he’s decent looking, successful and has a sense of humor. So why is the man still single? Well, he’s on a quest to find the right woman, and he’s willing to do anything to do it. While this may sound ill-advised, there’s something very touching and New Year’s resolution-esque about the message—that love can possibly be found, if you just stop being uptight. In the spirit of New Year’s, we decided to highlight some films that undertake this same kind of mantra—a willingness to open your mind up to brand-new relationships in interesting and unconventional sort of ways.

Love and Other Drugs

This 2010 romantic comedy by Edward Zwick is an interesting take on love. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Jamie Randall, the womanizing pharmaceutical sales representative who is taken by surprise by Anne Hathaway’s bohemian and free-natured Maggie Murdoch. They both decide to embark on a “sex only” type of relationship. Of course, before long, they both realize they have real feelings for each other. Love and Other Drugs seems like a straightforward rom com, but in truth, it’s about two people who decide to take a big emotional risk. They pursue a relationship with someone they never would have imagined themselves with. Jamie never believed he’d ever have more than just sex with a woman while Maggie, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, doesn’t want any emotional attachments. What begins as a casual affair challenges two individuals who step outside their comfort zone to find love.

Knocked-Up

When Seth Rogen’s Ben Stone, a stoner working on a porn website, meets Katherine Heigl’s ambitious Alison Scott, they thought all they would have is a one night stand. Instead, they end up procreating. When this film came out, many people thought, Can a pregnancy movie be a good romantic comedy? Turns out that the answer is a resounding yes. The movie is about two vastly different people forced together by a baby that they weren’t ready to have. Everything about Ben and Alison’s relationship is about trying new things. Ben has to stop smoking and start reading baby books. Alison has to learn how to become independent from her controlling sister. They seem all wrong for each other, but the movie finds a way to get to the heart of their love story without piling on the cliches.  Not that we’re saying that people should necessarily go out and make babies with strangers to find love, but Knocked Up reveals how the most stressful and trying situations can actually become the best accidents of our lives.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Have you ever met someone with that all too familiar feeling of deja vu? Well, Charlie Kaufman’s masterful screenplay Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind says that there’s a reason for that. What if you could erase your most heartbreaking love affair? Would you be a better person for it? This 2004 romantic comedy with Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey examines what happens when two spurned lovers decide to erase their memories of each other. Despite their rash decision and the lack of memories to bind them together, the couple is somehow still drawn to each other. Winslet’s wild and impulsive Clementine couldn’t be more different from Carrey’s safe, quiet Joel. But when they come across each other on the Long Island Rail Road to Montauk, they can’t stop thinking about each other. This movie is more than just a simple romantic comedy. It’s about how we can’t necessarily choose who we fall in love with because even if we choose to forget someone, fate might just bring you back to that same person.

Each of these films inspires all of us, romantics or not, to step outside our comfort zone, to try something new, and to be open to the various people we meet along the way. Not a bad New Year’s resolution to have.

Have we missed any of your favorite inspirational relationship films? Let us know in the comments below.

Sure the holidays have been great so far. And it’s almost time for them to end (five more days until New Year’s Eve). But besides weight gain, party hangovers and awkward family photos, you can also be left with some not-so-great gifts. Yeah smelly soaps and candles may seem less than ideal, but what about the relatives that have actually listened to you drone on about your favorite movies, and now they have stuck you with a memento they think you’ll love? You can’t throw it out. Taking it back to one of those Tchotchke stores can be a hassle. Perhaps your best bet is to bookmark this article and send it to your aunt next year.  Just sayin’…

Item 1: T-Shirt with Quote from Classic Comedy (i.e. Caddyshack)

 

Item 4: Star Wars or Star Trek Shirts
Before the hate mail starts, we are not implying that these franchises are anything alike. They just suffer from the same problem, which is that people have negative associations with the die hard fans, even if they have never seen any of the shows/movies/video games. This is just a case of picking your battles. It’s good to feel passionate and make a statement about something, but maybe this one is a fight that you should sit out, especially if you are hoping to have a positive interaction with the opposite sex in the near future.

Got any other movie memorabilia you received as gifts this year? Any items on our list you think are worthy?  Shout it below!

Yes ‘Buffs, we are being that obvious. We think ‘cloud’, and its intangible, ghostly presence conjures up confused stoners and their perennial questions. Typically, we hear (in Keanu’s voice) ‘Totally man, it’s like, out there or something’ as well as ‘Dude, if it’s got all the knowledge, then what are we left with? Whoa, man’. Accordingly, it is our duty to clear the confusing smoke and well, replace it, with a much more explanatory cloud. We know this sounds odd, and frankly some of us are sympathetic to the grass guzzlers, but the cloud is relatively simple. 

If it wasn’t clear thus far, we are dissecting server/cloud service, more specifically Apple’s titular iCloud. The subscription provides a user with access to distant servers which, once uploaded with a user’s media, can be accessed by an Apple iOS device (iPhone, iPod, iPad) with an internet connection. We have certainly covered cloud service before, and will soon be highlighting holiday season gifts and services, but we thought we missed something. We know, we know, FilmBuff is thorough, but a little nugget slipped between our fingers. So, rather excitedly we’d like to report the following: The iCloud service will be providing access to your movie collection…soon. Yay! We think.

Streaming of this size is bound to cause issues. Remember, with this great power, comes great responsibility. And though Uncle Ben wasn’t referencing IT infrastructure, his aphorism still rests true. Will uploading take hours? Movies, especially in HD, are huge files. How will they handle that? Will streaming from the server/cloud decimate battery life? If it’s wifi only, is it useful, or plainly gimmicky? Unnecessary? Just cool?

These unanswered questions are constantly solicited by any burgeoning technology, but with iCloud and other ‘clouds’ pervading 2011/2012 these concerns are only more valid. We stand cautiously optimistic, hoping that the service will remain useful as it grows, incorporating speed and engendering new compression technology for faster downloads. We are unsure how this increase in needed bandwith will be handled, but we know the niche is beckoning solution. More 4G? Faster wifi? We shall see. In the meantime ‘Buffs, we leave you with the aforementioned and most beloved philosopher of all. Maybe he will answer our cloudy concern?

Is Keanu onto something? How has your cloud service been? Do you use it? Concerned about speed? No, not the movie. Tell us in the comments below!

So you COULD watch It’s a Wonderful Life for the umpteenth time until you’re hearing bells ring, OR you could try something new. At FilmBuff, we’re all about experimenting…with movies. We scoured the great plains of VOD-world to bring you the most alternative films to give you some holiday cheer. Skip the theater and save some cash, throw a yule log on the fire, and cuddle up with your fellow FilmBuff after you’ve narrowed down your next holiday movie tradition.

We’re all about cross-culturalism at FilmBuff, and totally dig when the rest of the film world gets that way, too. A few foreign rumors have especially caught our interest, and if the post’s title gives any sort of indication, you’re in for a treat.

Nothing piques both a human rights activist and moviegoer’s interest more than child exploitation in the form of film entertainment. Desert Riders is sure to do the trick next year. The documentary by Canadian director Vic Sarin and producer Noemi Weis exposes the underworld of camel racing in the Middle East, a sport for the rich to enjoy and the trafficked little boys to suffer through. Though the sport was officially banned in 2004, Sarin explores how the young camel jockeys, child smugglers, sheiks and all parties involved are dealing with the aftermath of the ban. The doc premiered at Amsterdam’s International Documentary Film Festival in late November and is looking for U.S. distribution rights for next year.

Of course, everybody loves a good love story, and it’s about time there was one made centered around a lesbian affair.With Every Heartbeat is a Swedish film from Alexandra Therese-Keining about two women who fall for each other at their parents’ engagement party. Cue family drama. The film has garnered many positive reviews about the complicated relationship between the stepsisters-to-be, and LGBT Specialists Wolfe Releasing will distribute the movie stateside next year. No word on if the title comes from the catchy Robyn song, but seeing as it’s Swedish and pro-LGBT (and the trailer includes the song…), we have no reason to believe otherwise. Win on every aspect for Team FilmBuff!

Finally, Bollywood is set to remake the South Korean box office hit My Girlfriend is an Agent. The film resonates much of Mr. and Mrs. Smith‘s storyline, as it revolves around two spies in a love-hate relationship that fight Russian baddies in hopes of saving the world. UTV Motion Pictures, one of Bollywood’s biggest production companies, loved the rom-com potential of the original film and seek to recreate it for a Hindi audience. No word on U.S. distribution yet, but if the fight scenes are anything like those between Brangelina, we fully support this movie.

Enjoy these international tidbits? Sound off below!

Fellow ‘Buff Gearheads, boy do we have a present for you. An EXCLUSIVE with the director of Racing Dreams. And for those impartial to the automobile, this guest post, written by Marshall Curry, truly translates nerdy car talk into an accessible and warming tale of culture. Like little league baseball and pee-wee football, cart racing has grown into the feeder series for all big-time, racing leagues. And it is this analogue to tee-ball that provides the very revealing look at life in motorsport. Enjoy! And Thanks to Marshall Curry!

Racing Revelations

NASCAR is the second biggest spectator sport in the country after football.  It’s more popular than basketball or even baseball. And yet, here in New York, no one seems to know anything about it.  Quick: can you name three NASCAR drivers?

A few years ago I began to wonder how it was possible that in a city this diverse, where we’re exposed to such an amazing variety of cultures, so many of us could be so ignorant about America’s second-favorite past time?

It seemed like something I should learn about if I wanted to understand the red-state/blue-state divide (or, more accurately, the “New York/rest of the country” divide) and so I wrote down “NASCAR” and dropped it into the file I keep of documentary ideas.

Soon after, I read an article about extreme go-kart racing—a nationally competitive sport in which 11 and 12 year olds drive karts that go 70 mph (!).  It’s widely considered the Little League for NASCAR, and a lot of the top professional drivers started out in the series.  I went to a few races to see for myself, and it was unbelievable.  The racing was noisy and dangerous, and the kids were smart, funny and dazzlingly charismatic.

I put aside the project I had been working on and dove in.  I found two boys and a girl – Josh, Brandon, and Annabeth — who were great racers with magnetic personalities.  They were at that perfect age where they were old enough to be interesting and insightful, but young enough to be open and unrehearsed.  They began to teach me about their passion for racing.

According to Richard Petty, who is the greatest NASCAR driver of all time (think Wayne Gretzky/Michael Jordan/Pele rolled into one) there’s something universal about racing.  He was once asked in an interview, “When do you think the very first race occurred?” and he answered, “As soon as they built the second car.”

When I told the kids in the film that most New Yorkers don’t have cars, and a lot of us don’t even have driver’s licenses, they couldn’t believe it.  To them, racing is a just a part of the larger story of growing up.  The three-day race events are where you fall in love for the first time.   Races are where you test your inner strength and figure out who you are.  And races are where you bond with – and declare independence from — your parents.

Annabeth told me, “When you are 11 or 12, everyone is always telling you what to do.  But when you are racing, you can’t hear anyone else. Should I pass this guy?  Should I wait a lap?  It’s all up to you.”

For the parents, racing is just an addiction, and as Annabeths’ mom says, “We’ve got it bad.”  She explained to me early on:  “A lot of people don’t understand racing.  They think it’s just cars going around in circles.  But we don’t understand, say, baseball.  To us, that’s just guys standing around in a field, hoping someone will hit ‘em a ball– and they might not even hit it to him—so we think that’s crazy…”

It was such a great comment because it reminded me that everything seems absurd when it’s viewed from the outside– whether it’s racing or baseball or jazz or documentary film.  But once you get inside a little bit and start to understand, for instance, what makes a good pass in a race, it suddenly comes into focus and life becomes a little bit richer.  It’s a nice lesson about stretching yourself and paying attention to the world.

Check out Racing Dreams now!

You’re reading this page for one of two reasons; you’re thinking about watching Becoming Santa or you’ve watched Becoming Santa and you have some questions.

If you’re thinking about watching Becoming Santa, the fact that you’re thinking about it is reason enough.  Go watch it!  Director Jeff Myers and I had a number of people say to us, and critics report, that they didn’t think they would like Becoming Santa because they were not fans of Christmas.  Or they thought the film would be sticky sweet and cloying.  It’s not.  Just go watch it.  Then come back here and I’ll answer the top five questions Jeff Myers and I got while on the festival circuit.  Which leads me to the second reason you’re reading this page; you have more questions.

The number one question people ask me after seeing “Becoming Santa” is: Are you still doing it? SPOILER ALERT!  If you haven’t watched the movie yet, go watch it and come back.  I did a few Santa jobs the year after we shot the film, and this year I am working for the month of December in Hong Kong as Santa. Am I still doing it?  Okay, yes.  But I will not be doing this forever and I am certainly not a 24/7 Santa like many of the gentlemen in Becoming Santa.

The second most popular question at each Q&A: Where did you get the idea for Becoming Santa?  Years and years ago, I was trying to get work in television commercials.  Around July, the Christmas commercials would start casting and I noticed that every time there was a commercial with Santa, all the best Santas had their own suit, a real beard and their wives came with them to the audition.  And they all knew each other.  I realized there was a big subculture of Santa that most people were unaware of and wouldn’t that be an interesting doc? Jeff and I searched for an actor we could follow through Santa School and out into the world, but we couldn’t find anyone willing to do it.  My father died a few weeks before Christmas and the following June, I called Jeff and told him I was already dreading Christmas and I was going to bleach my beard and we could follow me through Santa School. I thought total immersion into Santa would help me get through the season.

How do you write a documentary?  Isn’t it all in the editing?  Great question. After I had the idea for “Becoming Santa” I started doing research.  I looked into the Coca Cola Santa. I learned about Black Peter, Sidewalk Santas, Saint Nicholas and his followers.  I researched Santa Schools and started talking to people.  Each person I spoke with told me of another person we should interview.  When we were done shooting, we had almost 250 hours of footage.  I did an outline of what I thought the film should be, and our awesome editor Todd Zelin put together a 3 hour cut.  Then Jeff and I pared it down to 2 hours, and then the final 93 minutes. We also got great advice from the Academy Award winning producer of Errol Morris docs, Julie Alberg.  Julie told me we needed to transcribe all our interviews and then go through them and highlight the parts we felt we useful, and to use those as the basis for an outline, or to fill in the outline.  In retrospect it seems an obvious exercise, but Julie’s advice was spot on.

What was the hardest part about making Becoming Santa?  Mostly because of the press that followed Borat and Bruno, we encountered many people who thought Jeff and I were going to make fun of them or ruin their events.  Because Becoming Santa is our first documentary, we didn’t have work to show people to prove we could be trusted.  We had to pave the way by sharing footage we had already shot and answering a myriad of questions before people started to believe we were not out to skewer anyone.

Will there be a sequel?  Jeff has suggested to me that we should make Staying Santa, but I think he is just trying to annoy me.  We had a great time making Becoming Santa, but as soon as we find funding we want make more films on other topics—and I’d like to trim my beard.

Got more questions?  Go ‘like’ the “Becoming Santa:the Movie” Facebook page, post your queries and we will try to answer them.

We’re really advanced here, but you can bet your prized movie stub collection that A-list actresses are already thinking about their wardrobe selection for the big “O” night. And well, some of us here are already thinking about what the fashion police will be looking at post-ceremony. In anticipation of that, we’re going to break down why we care. And if you don’t care, Reel Sex talked about hottie indie girls this week. Just sayin’…

Okay so the arrival interviews are boring and with a four hour ceremony ahead, it’s not like there’s a lot of motivation to build the anticipation (or the time in front of your TV). But for some of us, why we watch the Oscar pre-show is the same reason it’s the only time you would ever be more excited to see David Arquette walk the carpet than George Clooney. It’s all about the fashion, of course.

We get caught up in playing fashion police. Who wore it best? Who looked ridiculous? Is Bjork coming (oh, please wear the swan dress again!)? And then, after the show, comes the obsession with “getting the look.” If you’ve ever read a spring issue of a women’s magazine, you know what we’re talking about—those spreads that show a designer dress and then something the allegedly looks like it (they’re generally only similar in color and length) for less so you can snag the stars’ look at home. Kind of like this:

If you’re thinking, “but I don’t have a prom or formal wedding to attend any time soon” (or, “but I’m a man”), then sadly, the Oscar red carpet may not directly impact your wardrobe. We could give you a speech a la Meryl Streep to Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada, but we’re not scary or fashion-minded enough to pull it off, so we’ll just show you the clip about how high fashion trickles down to your life.

So why does the Oscar fashion matter then to anyone but teenage girls, bridezillas and Joan Rivers? Well, it can give us mere peons a glimpse at what’s “hot” (like that shade of purple Natalie Portman is wearing in the picture above, for instance). Mostly, though, we all know the Oscars (fashion included) are really about the people attending. The Oscars’ biggest fashion influence seems to be on the guests and nominees. Sound weird? The idea of an awards show influencing fashion? Does it sound weird if we clarify that we literally mean the Oscar ceremony, not the stylists or commentators who flock to it?

There are two big ways to go if you’re a celeb, but not quite up for making a bold color statement like Natalie and Jennifer up there. The first is camouflage.

Red is always such a popular color at awards shows. Usually the color to wear when you want to stand out, however, in these situations you have to wonder if the women in red are hiding. Like, “Please don’t notice me when I don’t win.” It’s a strange choice, since you end up looking like a set of floating shoulder blades from some angles. But, to each her own.

If red dresses almost making someone look as though they’re hoping to be lost in the carpet, the second Oscar-inspired option screams confidence. Almost overconfidence.

Gold (or any metallic shade) is another ever-popular option at the Oscars. While red is a great color for the up and coming starlet, gold is a shade for the seasoned actress, out to prove she’s “classy”…and thinking ahead to make sure she matches her statue in all of the post-show pictures, of course.

But then, maybe we’re just not taking fashion seriously enough. Maybe we should take a lesson from Anna-erm, Meryl, and appreciate the fashion decisions that are being made for us by important people, like Katherine Heigl.

Beginners

Shame

Drive

Tabloid

Which films have we missed, FilmBuffs? Any you think we should include in our list?

In recent years, the Academy has gotten more indie-friendly when it comes to the “big” categories—Best Picture, Best Director, the major acting categories—but there’s one area where big budget and name recognition don’t carry as much weight, and the indies often dominate: writing.

In the Best Screenplay categories (original and adapted), indies historically have a real shot at the gold. This year will likely continue that trend as several heavyweight indie screenwriters have material up for nomination. Past winners known for their prowess with the pen who are up for nominations this year include Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris), Diablo Cody (Young Adult), Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life) and Alexander Payne (The Descendants).

And those are just the known indie darlings in the mix. Also fighting in the writing categories this year are several big names from the main side of the stream, not just as writers, but as actors and directors; Aaron Sorkin (Moneyball), George Clooney (The Ides of March) and Cameron Crowe (We Bought a Zoo) are all in position to receive nominations in the Best Adapted Screenplay category. These people dance between indie and mainstream so often that giving them an award for screenplay will feel a little like a nod to the indies, even if it’s really not at all.

Then, of course, you have the relative newcomers, those writers who, on their second or third attempt have managed to write something that really catches everyone’s eye (Ear? Brain? Whatever writing catches). These are the movies that truly feel like indies. Woody Allen and Alexander Payne make indies, sure, but the kind that really well-known actors do to increase their credibility. What about those indie films so small they introduce us to people we’ve barely heard of—including writers? Michel Hazanvicius will most definitely receive a nod for the silent The Artist, Sean Durkin is looking like a likely nominee for Martha Marcy May Marlene (it will be a nice compliment to Elizabeth Olsen’s Best Actress nod, should the Academy decide to put an Olsen on the ticket) and Jeff Nichols has generated a fair amount of buzz for his Take Shelter.

Who will win in the screenplay categories is still up in the air at this point. Frontrunners (if it’s possible to have any this early in the game) would probably be Payne for The Descendants and Allen for Midnight in Paris, but there’s too much to still be seen to make any truly educated guesses at this point. We do kind of hope a few of our indie favorites make their way into the nominations (and walk away with the gold). Maybe it’s a little elitist of us, but the writing just seems better than what you see in a blockbuster. But hey, maybe the writing team from The Smurfs will campaign hard and prove us wrong.

Cheyenne Jackson. Some names just sing.  And then sometimes the person behind the name happens to sing and well you can see where this is going.  Splashing into the mainstream’s consciousness with a regular spot on NBC’s 30 Rock, Cheyenne has been working the Broadway circuit since 2002 and just hasn’t stopped on his quick rise to fame.

After the 9/11 attacks and a death in the family, Cheyenne took a leap and moved to New York City, leaving a successful career in advertising.  He and his boyfriend (now husband) packed up their lives in hopes that Cheyenne could take his regional theater experience and become a professional actor.  Where most people have fear, Cheyenne manages to maintain confidence and belief within himself.  These admirable qualities could very well be the reason he has found success.  And possibly a bit of good karma.

With 9/11 serving as one the catalysts for his career change, it seems almost kismet that one of Cheyenne’s first major film roles was about the aforementioned tragedy.   Playing real life plane passenger Mark Bingham in Paul Greengrass’s United 93, he felt an even deeper responsibility to portray his character with integrity.  Some may call this a cosmic alignment. Cheyenne agrees.

“I don’t think there are any coincidences in life. I feel like everything is as it should be and it really blew my mind all this was happening.  I knew it was serendipitous.”

But like any actor, Cheyenne doesn’t always play roles that feel like similar replications of his life. With his first big break playing Elvis in the 2004 Broadway show “All Shook Up” it was the music that connected Cheyenne to this particular role.

Cheyenne Jackson and Jenn Gambatese in "All Shook Up"

“That was a no brainer because I knew all the songs and that whole world already.  If something is well written I know right away if I wanna do it. I’m never like ‘Ehhh, I don’t know.’”

With those kind of instincts, it’s not surprising that Cheyenne moves beyond finding personal parallels in the roles he accepts.  Cheyenne revealed that as an openly gay actor, he gets sent a lot of screenplays sent to him from the queer cinema space.  But for Cheyenne, he looks for movies that go beyond the lifestyle and speak more about the characters and their development.  Hence when Paul Marcarelli’s script for The Green came to him, Cheyenne was happy to find a role in a humanistic story about a couple that happens to be gay, not a film simply about a gay couple.  And he wasn’t the only major talent brought in by the script.

Julia Ormond, Cheyenne Jackson and Jason Butler Harner in The Green

Working with Jason Butler Harner, Julia Ormond and Illeana Douglas, Cheyenne said the very talented cast kept themselves professional yet they also kept the set lively.  At one point Jason, Ileana and Cheyenne were even making twisted public service announcements to keep the laughs coming. And with The Green‘s writer Paul (better known as the ‘Can You Hear Me Now?’ Verizon Wireless guy) on set, they continued the laughs there.

“It is impossible to meet Paul and not make a lame ‘Can You Hear Me Now’ joke.  He is so comfortable with himself and that is his bread and butter.  They [Verizon and Paul] have a great relationship .  He loves them and they love him.  He’s great about it.  We tried to rise above  it, but come on.  It’s too easy.”

And perhaps that kind of sensitivity and appreciation of humor is what launched Cheyenne from Broadway star to a TV star to the star of many people’s fantasies.  Whether you are a gay man checking out pictures of Cheyenne in Out or a straight woman jealous of the fluorescent body paint grope marks 30 Rock‘s Liz Lemon receives from him, it’s hard to not be intrigued by Cheyenne.  Mixing his rugged good looks with an indelible sense of humor and a down-to-earth spirit, he easily lands himself the title of “modern day sex symbol.”

Cheyenne Jackson, Sex Symbol

If people are giving it, it’s a label the star will take. “You gotta work with what you have.  You can fight the perception of you all you want, but believe me, people are gonna see you as they see you.  So a couple of years ago, I just thought, ‘Fuck it, own it.   If that’s what people see me as than that’s absolutely great.’  It’s my job to focus on the work so people don’t just focus on that aspect [sex symbol status] of me.”

With that kind of attitude, and his dedication to finding great characters to portray, it’s no wonder casting directors and casual TV watchers find themselves pulled to him. And while his looks are better than great, we are still putting our money on Cheyenne’s talent.  We’ll just sit back while the public notices his looks first.

What happens when a film buff attends a conference about television? We learn how much people love watching movies on their devices through their television. Well, we already knew that.  So what did we actually learn?  We got a chance to hear firsthand how all companies are adapting to what consumers want, advertiser want and being accessible to EVERYONE.

1.  Forget DVR. Ian Blaine of “thePlatform” says people want complete control over what device they view their content on. And guess what, DVR? The cloud will be even more helpful with such control. And while 40% of the US consumer population watches their content online, for now, they still want to connect this content to their TV. What can DVR do? Adapt or die. Figuring out how to work within the cloud system will be their best. They should look into how they can license and work with devices.

2.  Consumers and producers of content are on a level playing field. So don’t think for a second that “the man” is programming what you watch like in the 80′s and 90′s. With the robust market of content, digital allows content providers faster access to what content works for their consumers. So you don’t like the AMC network on your new Kindle Fire? Just you watching it on your Amazon Fire gives you far more power than you ever thought possible. If the collective of society hates something; content providers have to react faster.

3.  In continuation of #2, please know producers of content won’t take this level playing field lying down.   In partnering with “you,” screens will now infiltrate all your moods and tastes. Say your grocery store decides to get rid of elevator music and adds a TV while you wait in line. Sounds good? Fooled you!  It doesn’t matter what it sounds like to you; now you may see cooking shows while you wait anywhere in the store. Just like all the ads at the airports folks, sponsors will continue to look for content that will inspire you to spend more money. There will be no escaping them; no matter where you go an advertiser will find you and inspire you to spend. Watch out public restrooms…

4.  Wall Street is still reluctant to invest in digital mobile media. Right now they see media conglomerates such as Viacom and Disney still having a strong foothold in television. Digital is an unknown creature that is just now beginning to understand its user. And that user keeps changing as the market changes. The data they have received so far is not complete enough to be quantified on a publicly traded company’s stock chart. Wall Street feels that the content that digital mobile media provides is just too inexact for them to confidently project financially. Until digital mobile media gains traction and provides some solid analytics and a consistent track record it will be difficult to get a true understanding of its value in the marketplace, which lends to a very catch 22 feeling.

5.  Google TV, AppleTV, YahooTV. Where’s TV,TV? We want it easy, but if the medium of consumption is shifting, which do you buy? Well ‘Buffs, it’s likely a matter of taste. Macheads will want the AppleTV. Android lovers get thee to a GoogleTV box. And perhaps everyone else will head to Yahoo, like Grandma. Looking at their respective prototypes, all feature the same major functions: Easy adoption, attractive UI and cloud storage. Moral of the story folks, there will be a leader in the market, but not a monopoly. As content expands online, you’ll just have to decide where you want to go with your TV connected device. So, don’t be bamboozled by your friends. Fanboys be warned! Go with what the proprietary function that suits you best. Whether it’s OS or search based, these nuanced distinctions will ultimately help you choose. Just note that while we would like to believe our crystal ball, it’s still too soon to tell which TV-type will satisfy the most. Though, we do know preference may rear its head based on the most seamless integration.

So do you feel more informed?  Less informed?  Sad we’re posting this on a Saturday with way too much technical talk?  Tell us!

Sometimes everyday people transcend to become icons. For a while, they seem like the rest of us, but then something happens, and they become a symbol to a community. You realize they were always special, but now you see it in perspective. Lucky for all of us, director David Sigal understood that about New York restauranteur Florent Morellet. Now immortalized in the film Florent: Queen of the Meat Market, FilmBuff decided we had to hang out with the duo in their old stomping grounds: the Meatpacking District in New York. From there, we pulled out our camera and filmed. Here’s what happened…

So, what do you think of Florent’s view on the Meatpacking District today? Let us know below!

Quick, name the top three reasons you argue with your friends and family! We don’t know about you, because we can’t actually hear you through the computer, but for FilmBuff, the list goes something like this: election time, Thanksgiving, the Oscars.

Why? Because sometimes the Academy, for all its deliberation, picks the wrong film to win an award. Also, because sometimes they put Wolverine in a song-and-dance routine. But mostly it’s the first thing: the winner is announced, and you flip a table because the wrong film won. The problem is, of course, that they failed to consider the merits of your favorite indie film that came out last year. And more often than not, so did your friends and/or family. With a few exceptions, the Oscar tends to go to the big-budget film that had the money for solicitations and a wide release.

We’ve set aside our differences long enough to suggest three films that should have won the Oscar instead of the actual winner.

Mystic River vs. Return of the King (Best Picture, 2003)

Dave is a survivor of child abuse. Dave has a daughter. Well, he had a daughter, but she’s dead now. Her boyfriend might have killed her. Clint Eastwood directs, co-produces and scores. Sean Penn and Tim Robbins win Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor respectively—the first time that happens since Ben Hur back in 1959.

Compare with the last leg of a three year, nine hour trek to, what, dump some ring in a volcano? No, this won’t do at all. Brian Helgeland’s script (from the novel by Dennis Lehane) tortures its characters wonderfully without the need for orcs and wizards, and even that summary leaves out Eastwood’s understated direction.

Pulp Fiction vs. Forrest Gump (Best Picture, 1994)

To be clear: we’re not suggesting you go and watch Tarantino’s arguable masterpiece Pulp Fiction, because you’ve probably seen it. It’s almost too obvious to include, but odds are there’s at least one reader who has seen the flagrantly Oscar bait-y Forrest Gump but not Pulp Fiction, and something needs to be rectified.

Although it’s not an independent film ($8.5m budget, Miramax distribution), Pulp Fiction practically defined the indie genre with its freewheeling, non-linear approach to narrative structure and dialogue.

Being John Malkovich vs. American Beauty (Best Director, 2000)

Now, don’t get us wrong, American Beauty is great and all, but any director who can make sense of Charlie Kaufman’s mind-bending screenplays surely deserves some sort of award, and Spike Jonze certainly does. Being John Malkovich, the story of a man who discovers and exploits a portal into the head of John Malkovich (putting in a game performance as… well, John Malkovich), was Kaufman’s attempt to write a story about a man who falls in love with a woman who is not his wife. Let’s see Sam Mendes make an emotionally powerful movie that explores the nature of fame, ego and human cognition with that.

So how about you, ‘Buffs? Are there any similar David vs. Goliath situations you feel strongly about? Go ahead and rant about it in the comments.

While we Buffs like to believe we’re immune to the advertising strategies of the infamous Oscar bait season, aren’t we sometimes a bit swayed into spending $10 for a ticket to those films?

Think about it. Out of all the films that we’re bombarded with at the end of the year, what makes you choose one specific movie as the movie you’ll be seeing on that Friday night? It’s okay to admit it. We’re all human. Sometimes a nicely designed Oscar bait poster does the trick. But if you look closely at the Sunday arts section in your local newspaper, you’ll notice that a lot of these posters have a similar formula going on for them. See below to see how we break down the anatomy of an Oscar Bait Poster.

Of course, not all movie posters adhere to a rigid formula of how to reel in the potential viewer because not all films have the basic components of a moneymaking Oscar film on their hands. Sometimes, if you study these advertisements, they’ll just choose to play up the movies biggest strengths.

1. Big name movie stars — Nothing reels a viewer in more than the idea that their favorite movie star may be up for the golden statuette. If a movie doesn’t have the festival awards or critics on their side, they’ll mostly play up the big names in the cast, especially if that big name is supposedly turning in the performance of their career. After all, what do these stars get paid for?  Sure, some of that multi-million dollar paycheck is for their talents, but mostly it’s for their name and their face. Look at the Titanic poster below. It’s obviously about Leo, Kate —  oh, and the boat they fall in love on.

2. Critics – What any Oscar film wants in its corner is evidence that the experts in the field—critics—actually declare that this film is the best. If a movie is huge on the critics’ love, but low on the other factors, you bet your money that they’re going to display all the best quotes they can from Roger Ebert, David Edelstein, Kenneth Turan, Peter Travers or A.O. Scott. Even if the overall review might not have been glowing, certain catch adjectives can always be pulled for a quality poster quote. Check out the image for the critically beloved The Hurt Locker below. Notice the BIG CAPS CRITIC quotes and well, not so subtle lack of star power. As awesome as Jeremy Renner was, back then, he still was unknown.

3. Based on real life events — It takes an enormous story, one that is bigger than life for studios to trust that the actual plot of the movie will sell tickets.  Notice the The Social Network movie poster below. Sure, Jesse Eisenberg’s mug takes up most of the poster, but what do you notice over Eisenberg’s face?  A movie poster advertises the mythic story of Facebook and its founder, Mark Zuckerberg.

4. Festival Award Heaven — Then there are movie posters that try to market every award that the movie has won that ISN’T an Oscar. Very closely related to the critic component in the Oscar bait equation, this method likes to show moviegoers, “Look at how many other awards this film has won. It’s a surefire Oscar winner!” Notice the Sideways movie poster below. It was the underdog of the Oscar race that year, and the biggest thing the movie had going for it was that it won nearly every award  pre-Oscar nominations.

As much as we hope that a movie’s worth will sell itself, much of the reason movies nab the Best Picture title really does have to do with how studios market the movie to the masses. And if the masses love the movie (i.e. Titanic style), the movie garners more publicity, which, whether we like it or not, helps to sway the Academy voters.

Are you swayed by these Oscar bait strategies? Are there any that we missed? Discuss in the comments below.

In theory, the Academy Awards honor the year’s greatest achievements in film. In practice, many of the category winners could be accurately predicted by someone who abstained from movies for a year, emerging into pop culture just in time for a peek at the November release schedule.

This might sound cynical, but we challenge you to find a film lover who hasn’t had a variation of the following exchange.

“Who do you think will win? Meryl Streep?”

“Are you kidding? Kate’s totally due.”

This concept of being “due” a win dictates so much of Oscar prediction talk—and, it seems, much of the Academy’s decision process. Especially when it comes to actors and directors, an Oscar-less (but deserving) nominee’s entire body of work is considered more than their performance in a given role.

Don’t believe us? Drawing from last year’s ceremony alone, the trend is obvious. There’s no doubt that Colin Firth is an incredible actor, more than deserving of the Academy’s recognition, but was The King’s Speech really his Oscar-worthy performance? Many would argue that his work in A Single Man was more deserving of the award.

It’s the same approach that leads us to generally discount a talented newcomer, for whom the phrase “it’s an honor just to be nominated” had better be true. Most years see young talent nominated in at least a couple of the acting categories, but these nominations are never taken especially serious. Sure, there are notable exceptions to this rule, but rarely does a Jennifer Lawrence or Hailee Steinfeld have much hope of actually taking home the gold. It’s not that these performances are not worthy of the nomination, merely that the actors who receive such early career nominations have yet to prove their longterm value to the Academy.

With this attitude, winning an Academy Award can be seen as a kind of lifetime achievement award. When a worthy actor is “snubbed” year after year in tough fields of competition, the perception that they are somehow “owed” their shot at the award seeps into the public consciousness. For year’s now, buzz about Leonardo DiCaprio’s being “due” has grown. And what about Meryl Streep? Twelve nominations and more than two decades without a win? Surely, she’s due another nod soon. This is probably her year.

Because that’s how Oscar speculation works, isn’t it? And when an actor knows he or she is due, you start to see certain trends in choices. Historical dramas are always a popular choice—better still if you’re playing a famous figure. Leo and Meryl both know that. And, hey, if things don’t work out this year, maybe they can team up next year for a joint run, reprising their roles as Thatcher and J. Edgar in some Avengers-style crossover, and just bombard the Academy with talent until they rue the many days they passed them over.

If you’re a gambler and a movie fanatic, then Oscar season is your jam. It’s the time of year when the film world is not all about the usual standbys of art and commerce, but about something way more elemental than that: ODDS. There are tons of blogs and columns out there devoted to navigating the chances of Oscar hopefuls. The gambling Oscar fan has a couple tricks up his or her sleeves: In the early stages of Oscar season, it’s all about speculation … maybe the gambler’s caught a couple all-star indies at Sundance or Cannes, or they watched the teaser for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo like 100 times, or they hear that Meryl Streep is merely in a movie. But as the weather gets colder, and the cinemas are filled with more movies that have been actually praised by critics, sophisticated Academy bookies must employ equations to figure out what movies will rack up the most nominations. Here at FilmBuff, we’ve come up with a relatively simple equation: Actor/Actress + Director/Writer = Oscar noms. The more great actors and actresses in the film the higher the actor/actress quotient gets.While the equation is not completely fool-proof, it’s a clear cut way to see what is worthy of Oscar buzz and what is not. Want proof? Let’s look at the past couple years…

2010

The Social Network looked like it had the equation going for it. David Fincher’s meticulous direction and the witty fast-paced screenplay by Aaron Sorkin took care of the director/writer portion of the equation. And Jesse Eisenberg’s nerdily cold performance as Mark Zuckerberg is definitely what we’re talking about when we talk about great acting. The film racked up 8 nominations and won three awards. True Grit also had the formula working well: Jeff Bridges + Matt Damon + The Coen Brothers (squared for writing and directing) = 10 nominations.

Looking at the other films nominated for multiple awards and we come up with equations like Natalie Portman + Darren Aronofsky = 5 (Black Swan), Christian Bale + Melissa Leo + David O. Russell = 7 (The Fighter)

And then there was the big winner of the night: The King’s Speech. That film had the triple threat of Colin Firth + Helena Bonham Carter + Geoffrey Rush, but the writer and director were less well known. But, combine writer David Seidler‘s personal history with the material and director Tom Hooper’s experience in television to create a powerful director/writer quotient, and BAM! The King’s Speech was nominated for 12 awards and won 4.

2009

Back in ’09, Best Picture winner The Hurt Locker was the best example of the FB-Oscar equation (look for the formula in your stats textbooks, kiddos). Strong performances by Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie + director Kathryn Bigelow brought in 9 nominations and 6 awards. One could argue that it was the stirring and thoroughly human (that is, not, Na’avi) performances that edged The Hurt Locker past the only other film nominated for nine awards that year: Avatar. While Zoe Saldana got some hype, Avatar was really about the special effects, not the acting. For Bigelow and the rest of The Hurt Locker team, the FB-Oscar equation worked in their favor.

Other notable 2009 formulas: Brad Pitt + Christoph Waltz + Quentin Tarantino = 8 nominations (Inglourious Basterds). George Clooney + Vera Farmiga + Jason Reitman = 6 nominations (Up In the Air).

‘Buffs, have you gotten a feel for the equation? Not yet? What about if we go back a couple more years and look at the films with the most nominations? 2008: Brad Pitt + Cate Blanchett + David Fincher = 13 nominations (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). 2007: Tie between Javier Bardem + Tommy Lee Jones + The Coen Brothers (No Country for Old Men) and Daniel Day Lewis + P.T. Anderson (There Will Be Blood) with 8 nominations each. These formulas could go on and on for days. Stop us before we go crazy.

Now that you’ve gotten a feel for the equation, test out a few for the movies coming out this Oscar season.

Will it be a Leonardo DiCaprio + Clint Eastwood kind of year (J. Edgar)? Or what about George Clooney + Alexander Payne (The Descendants)? Will Charlize Theron + Diablo Cody + Jason Reitman come up big for the indie comedies (Young Adult)?

Let us know your predictions in the comments.

The path from premiere night to the announcement day for Best Picture Oscar nomination is an arduous one for the average indie film—although, admittedly, the difficulty shrank by half when the Best Picture category was doubled from five to 10 in 2009. Ironically, the main reason for opening up the category to 10 nominees was so that more mainstream flicks like, ew, The Blind Side, would have a better chance, and therefore lovers of those films would be more likely to tune in to the televised ceremony. No matter—they didn’t. And those who did got this, and were scared away permanently.

But let’s face it: Oscar bait heavyweights like Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar and Steven Spielberg’s War Horse are each a shoo-in (dare we say a horseshoe-in?). Indies have to battle each other to take the remaining slots. So which indies have got a fighting chance this year for Best Picture? Or, at the very least, the “Little Miss Sunshine Award For Pretty Likable But Still Not The Best” award for congeniality and tryin’ hard.

The Descendants

Alexander Payne’s work (Election, About Schmidt, Sideways) has historically been welcomed with open arms by the Academy, and once you’re part of the Oscar family, nothing you do looks wrong in their eyes. (No, this won’t be the last time we compare the Academy to your grandma). The Descendants, a quirky family dramedy starring George Clooney as a grieving father, has all the makings of Best Screenplay and Best Director nods, which all but promise it a place in the top ten. Keep your eyes on Shailene Woodley, who plays Clooney’s daughter, for a supporting actress nod. Nasty ol’ Oscar loves a nymphet with attitude.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt. Aside from the all-star cast ratcheting up this film’s chances, there’s also the fact that it’s a Cold War spy drama. In past years, that would mean nothing, but with so many Cold War period pieces churned out this year (X-Men: First Class and The Debt, to name just two more), the Academy is going to look to the safest way to commemorate it. That film will be Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, directed by Tomas Alfredson in a year that seems all about Sweden, if for no other reason than the fact that It. Looks. Awesome.

Tree of Life

The race to win the palme d’Or at Cannes is nothing like trying to get on the Academy’s Best Picture list, except that they’re both really hard to do and often unpredictable. Still, when we re-watch the trailer for Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life, we are reminded what the film really was, in spite of all that bizarre dinosaur stuff. It’s a southern domestic drama and a period piece. In Oscar land, that’s bank. Also, here’s an example of a film that may benefit from its early summer opening. By the time ballots are mailed out, voters will have forgotten all the mysterious elements of the film and will remember the domestic turmoil, which will make their love for Tree of Life grow even higher.

Ides of March

George Clooney’s going to have a good year again. Aside from possibly getting a Best Actor nomination for The Descendants, he directed The Ides of March—an Oscar gold mine thanks to its timeliness, all-star cast and left-leaning political aura. Aside from a few reviews that cast the shadow of indifference on the film, it was generally well-received by critics and audiences alike. Acting nominations for Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, and Philip Seymour Hoffman will bolster the movie’s chances for a Best Picture nod.

We know what you’re thinking. No Drive? No Carnage?  Have you no Shame?  Allow us to explain, briefly: Drive is excellent but too hip for Academy old timers. They don’t get young people. Steve McQueen’s Shame is an incredibly good movie, but overt sexuality including full frontal male nudity tends not to sit well with Academy voters, many of whom are older than Mickey Mouse. Polanski’s Carnage could crop up, but his film’s been flying low under the radar, as Polanski himself has, and it wont to do.

Did we forget to mention something on this list? Disappointed that your favorite indie may not have a chance for an Oscar? Let us hear your thoughts below.