And the Oscar Goes to…

The hype over everyone’s favorite gold man, Oscar, finally came to a close last night at the 84^th Academy Awards. My prediction for best picture was correct, keeping my streak alive.

“The Artist” walked away with Best Picture, putting it among the likes of “Forest Gump,” “The Silence of the Lambs,” “The Godfather” and “Gone with the Wind.” The black and white throwback to old Hollywood was so different from anything else that came out this year, or this decade for that matter, that it makes sense to win such an honor.

According to Thelma Adams of Yahoo! Movies, this is the first time a black and white silent movie has won Best Picture since “Wings” got the Oscar in 1929, the first year of the Academy Awards.

I’m glad Billy Crystal was back to command the stage as host. Anything is better than the train wreck last year put on by Anne Hathaway and James Franco.

Everyone always talks surprises and snubs after it’s all said and done. One would think people wouldn’t let the Oscars surprise them anymore.

Meryl Streep won for Actress in a Leading Role for "The Iron Lady," which created an upset. I’ve got to hand it to Streep, the opening line of her acceptance speech was classic. In her elegant gold dress she said, “When they called my name, I had this feeling I could hear half of America going, 'Oh no ... her again.’” After 17 Oscar nominations and two previous wins, I think it’s appropriate for the Academy to throw her another bone.

I wish George Clooney had won for Actor in a Leading Role, but those who saw “The Descendants” know how great he was and we don’t need an Oscar to prove it. I also wish Martin Scorsese could get another win. But, that’s the Oscars – full of upsets, underdogs, disappointments and surprises.

Full list of Oscar winners

'RoboCop' Reboot

"RoboCop" has had its fair share of sequels, animated shows, video games, and comic book series.’ Now, the cyborg man of law, Officer Alex Murphy, is returning to the big screen in a reboot of the franchise. Originally played by Peter Weller, the role of RoboCop has been offered to Swedish actor Joel Kinnaman. Best known for playing detective Stephen Holder on AMC’s "The Killing," Kinnaman had better be up for the task of filling Weller’s shoes.
 

Photo courtesy of screenrant.com

The new "RoboCop" is being directed by director José Padilha and scripted by "Gran Torino" writer Nick Schenk.

According to Screen Rant, Padilha wants to avoid simply updating the old. Padilha summed up the premise short and sweet on BleedingCool.com. “[It involves] a man being turned into a product by a corporation.” He plans to tackle some of the philosophical, existential issues that the original 1987 "RoboCop" didn’t face.

This is a great time for this movie to make a comeback because, as Kofi Outlaw from Screen Rant points out, the original "RoboCop" was "a scathing social satire touching on everything from government and corporate corruption, economic inequality in America, commercialism and more."

All of these themes are as relevant as ever which leaves a lot of room for the new director to confront them in new ways through this classic, action sci-fi thriller.

'21 Jump Street'

When I first heard “21 Jump Street” was being turned into a movie starring Channing Tatum, I was less than thrilled. “21 Jump Street” was one of the cop shows I watched when I was a kid, along with “Nash Bridges” and reruns of “Hill Street Blues” and “Dragnet.” However, the more I learn about the movie, the more I approve. It seems different enough from the 80s show, but still similar enough to make it worthy of the “21 Jump Street” title. These are some of the facts I learned from Collider.com which make me excited to see the 2012 version:

Photo courtesy of openfilm.com

Photo courtesy of hollywoodreporter.com

• Johnny Depp is rumored to appear as his character from the original series, Tom Hanson. If it gets Depp’s approval, it gets my approval.

• The creator of the show, Stephen J. Cannell, was very involved with development on the film adaptation until he passed away in 2010. The movie is taking the material in a comedy direction while the show did not. The filmmakers hope the end result is a worthy spin on Cannell’s original concept.

• The original theme song will make an appearance in some form. Once you hear that song once you’ll never get it out of your head.

• The directors watched all 103 episodes of “21 Jump Street” before production.

• There’s a reference to Johnny Depp’s crew along the lines of, “We’re re-commissioning an old program from the 80s that was shut down.”

• The directors cite “48 Hrs.,” “Lethal Weapon,” and “Running Scared” as influences in the buddy-cop genre. So, it has to be good.

• One of the directors wanted Ice Cube to play the Jump Street captain because he thought “it would be great having the guy who wrote ‘F*** the Police’ play a police captain.” NWA fans are scratching their heads right now. First Ice Cube was in a PG-rated family flick, now he’s a cop.

New Generation of Grads Ditching Tradition

The annual Spring Grad Fair sponsored by the Colorado State University Bookstore held Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012 provides a comprehensive guide to the traditions of graduating, but increasingly, graduates choose to avoid these collegiate traditions all together.

The row of booths in the corner of the lower level of the bookstore provide information about cap and gown, class rings, announcements, and Alumni Association and Career Center services to guide graduates in their post-college job search.

Representatives from Herff Jones and Jostens wait patiently at their tables for questions from graduating seniors

While all of this information in one place is helpful to those graduates who want to follow the traditions of graduating, many students have no interest in a “traditional” departure from their college career.

Students are bypassing sitting with their peers waiting for their moment to walk across the stage in a cap and gown to receive their diploma. 

Kate Merkin looks at the cap and gown display

"Instead of sitting in a room full of other people at the traditional type of graduation, I‘d much rather have a more personal celebration with the people I care about that know how hard I have had to work to get to where I am at, and where I’m going," Leah Rosen, graduating history major, said.

The Grad Fair doesn’t cost the Bookstore anything according to Alyssa Montoya, employee of Bookstore Marketing. About 1,000 students attended the fair this semester.

Senior history major, Thomas Mahoney, was one of the thousand in attendance and plans to walk in his graduation. "I will walk, mostly because my parents need pictures for some photo album," Mahoney said. "But this is only going to happen once and graduating means a new part of my life, one filled with new opportunities and maybe a job."

Michael Shimek at the CB Graduation Announcement table

Kate Merkin, a senior journalism and technical communications major, holds the same sentiment, only wanting to go thorough the motions of graduation for her parents. With plans to go to law school, Merkin doesn’t see her graduation from CSU as significant, just expensive.

One of the goals of the grad fair is to inform students about how to make their commencement a special memory for their families and themselves.

Sales representative for CB Graduation Announcements, Michael Shimek, said graduates might not realize the tradition of it. "There are those who as a grad student they regret not walking as an undergrad," Shimek said. "They see it more as an inconvenience than commemorating their accomplishment."

Dan Moffitt hands out cap and gown information

The Master of Suspense Gets Another Modern Twist

Alfred Hitchcock movies are no stranger to remakes. From Gus Van Sant's attempt at "Psycho," starring Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates, to “Rear Window” which got a modern jolt in the 2007 movie “Disturbia,” starring Shia LaBeouf.

Photo Courtesy of nola.com

According to Screen Rant, Dreamworks and Working Title plan to remake Hitchcock’s film “Rebecca,” originally penned by Daphne du Maurier in 1938 and adapted by Hitchcock in 1940. The story revolves around a young woman who marries a wealthy widower, only to be haunted by her husband’s deceased ex-wife, Rebecca.

The master of suspense left some pretty big shoes to fill seeing that this was his first Hollywood film and it won him Best Picture. This was Hitchcock's only Oscar victory.

Photo courtesy of goodmovieslist.com

Photo courtesy of whatculture.com

According to FirstShowing.net, Paramount is hopping on the Hitchcock train, remaking the 1941 film, “Suspicion.” The series writer of AMC’s “The Killing,” Veena Sud, offered to write the big-screen adaptation, which is based on Frances Iles' 1932 novel “Before the Fact.”

The original movie starred Joan Fontaine and Cary Grant. The story was about a young woman who suspects her new husband is trying to kill her in order to gain money from her affluent family. Fontaine won Best Actress, making it the only Hitchcock film that featured an Academy Award-winning performance.

If the 1998 version of "Psycho" taught us anything about Hitchcock remakes, it’s that directors shouldn’t try to imitate the master scene by scene. The remake needs to have its own angle, twists and turns because you can't compete with a legend.

Who You Gonna Call? Maybe Ghostbusters?

Dan Aykroyd opens up about “Ghostbusters 3,” revealing the movie is moving full speed ahead with or without Bill Murray. The threequel is about to get out of development and finally start production in spring of 2012. 

Photo courtesy of screenrant.com

However it doesn’t look like Bill Murray will be a part of it, leaving the role of Peter Venkman up for grabs. Are the Ghostbusters really the Ghostbusters without the original crew?

In an interview with Empire magazine, Aykroyd denies rumors that Murray shredded a potential script and included the note, “No one wants to pay money to see fat, old men chasing ghosts.”

According to Screen Rant, Aykroyd told Dennis Miller that, "Although Billy was absolutely the lead and was contributive to it in a massive way – as was the director [Ivan Reitman] and [Harold Ramis], myself, and all of us, Sigourney – the concept is bigger than an individual role. The promise of 'Ghostbusters 3′ is that we get to hand the equipment and the franchise down to new blood."

Photo courtesy of screenrant.com

More times than not, a sequel carries no weight if the original cast doesn’t make an appearance. Just look at “Teen Wolf Too,” “Terminator Salvation,” “RoboCop 3,” “The Next Karate Kid,” and every “American Pie” sequel that was released straight to DVD after “American Wedding.”

According to Aykroyd, the Ghostbusters team will be back with three men and one female. Who these fighters of living-impaired will be is still up in the air. Apparently Aykroyd likes Matthew Gray Gubler from 'Criminal Minds.'

If all of this news is simply blowing smoke, Ghostbusters fans are going to be more disappointed than gamers who waited 15 Years for “Duke Nukem Forever” only to be let down.

All I can say is, if the Ghostbusters are going to be ghost chasing again, the script, actors, and everything in between better fall into place or the Ghostbusters’ reputation will be tarnished and people are gonna call someone else.

Valentine's Day Movie Picks

Valentine’s Day is less than 12 hours away which means sappy movies are on every channel and chick-flick lovers everywhere are flocking to see “The Vow,” starring Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams.

“The Vow” is about a woman who wakes up from a coma with no memory of her husband after a car accident and he tries to make her fall in love with him all over again.

According to Yahoo! Movies, "The Vow" is based on the true story of Krickitt and Kim Carpenter. After Krickitt lost all memories of her new husband, a therapist recommended the couple date again, Krickitt agreed. "I figured I liked him before, so I'll get to know him again."

And a Hollywood movie was born.

If you don’t feel like venturing out to the movie theater, you can always snuggle up with some classic movies. For those in the mood for romance, there’s, “Punch-Drunk Love,” “Ghost,” “The Wedding Singer,” “When Harry Met Sally,” “Benny & Joon,” or sticking with the memory loss motif, “50 First Dates.”

Or, check out AFI’s list of the 100 greatest love stories of all time.

If you’re not into love stories, jump on the Indie-film bandwagon of indifference and watch “500 Days of Summer.” This movie states right up front that it is not a love story. 

If these ideas don’t spark your interest, you could go see “Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace” in 3-D, "Safe House," or think completely outside of the box and have a one-of-a-kind, Valentine’s Day “Lethal Weapon” marathon.

One Circuit Short of a Classic

Hollywood has run fresh out of ideas so they’re going back to the ‘80s. The nostalgia of “ShortCircuit” that most of us hold on to from childhood is being retooled into the next kid-friendly franchise according to Inside Pulse.

Photo Courtesy of avclub.com

The remake bug already ate "The Karate Kid," so I’m not sure why I thought the robot classic would be safe.

What saddens me most about remakes geared toward the younger crowd is that their generation will probably never see the original. Of course, most of today’s generation, including my own, have not seen some movies I consider classics such as, “Escape from New York,” “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” “The Shining,” The entire Chevy Chase “Vacation” series, “Thelma and Louise,” “Police Academy,” and even “E.T.”

Blogger "Caffeinated"Clint from moviehole.net does’t have high hopes for the “Short Circuit” remake saying, “Bob Weinstein likens the property to his “Spy Kids” series – and with “Alvin and the Chipmunks” director Tim Hill helming, and the “Dolittle” guy on scripting duties, it’s clear he’s only thinking of the eight-year-olds here (whereas the original film appealed to all audiences).”

The movie won’t be the same if Steve Guttenberg, Ally Sheedy or Fisher Stevens don’t make an appearance. Guttenberg didn’t even want to be in the sequel that came out two years after the original in 1988. I don’t think he’ll show his face in the remake set to come out in 2013.

Johnny Five is meant to stay in the ‘80s where CGI animation and high expectations of realism can’t take away from his simplicity and charm.

Possible 'Fear' Remake

There is a rumor floating around that teenybopper Justin Bieber wants to star in a remake of the movie “Fear.” Anyone who grew up in the 1990s is officially crying on the inside. “Fear” came out in 1996 starring Mark Wahlberg as a charming turned obsessive and violent boyfriend who flies off the handle when his innocent girlfriend, played by Reese Witherspoon, dumps him.

I don’t see how he could possibly fit into a thriller like “Fear,” or fill the shoes of muscle-bound, man's-man Mark Wahlberg.

According to examiner.com, audiences and reviewers alike weren’t impressed with Bieber’s nice-guy attempt at playing a criminal on CSI in 2010. One review said, "I’m afraid I can’t really praise his ability to portray a real person in a crime drama."

Witherspoon spilled her thoughts on the idea of a Bieber remake with MTV, saying, “Fine, great. That'd be cool. Would he be playing me, or is he playing Mark Wahlberg? Is it like a girl who harasses the family, like a stalker who can't leave him alone? That would be good, right?”

Even the sweet southern belle can’t see Bieber in the movie, unless he is the one being harassed.

This is one remake I hope never gets made because it will give a black eye to the original. The original isn't cinema gold, but it has something great about it. Some things are best left alone.