Declan Cashin

Writing: the art of applying the ass to the seat

Courtesy of freestyleinteractive

*Viola Davis: Brought the house to its feet when her name was announced, and subsequently brought the house down with her speech. “Dream big, dream fierce”. 10 years after Halle Berry won the Best Actress Oscar, Viola will repeat the triumph next month. Sorry Meryl, I love you, but this race is over.

*Jean Dujardin: Who saw that one coming? The Best Actor race suddenly got competitive.

*The Help won Best Ensemble. While not technically a Best Film nod, it indicates wide support amongst the acting voting block. Maybe The Artist isn’t such a lock.

*The Supporting races are done and dusted. Christopher Plummer and Octavia Spencer will rule.

…Inspired by ‘The Artist’, another silent homage to the movies…The Kiss

My Reel Life column from ‘Day & Night’ in today’s Irish Independent

*Anyone who watched the brilliant, just-departed TV series Friday Night Lights will be well aware of the wouldn’t-kick-him-out-of-bed-for-eating-crisps piece of prime American beef known as Taylor Kitsch.

Although the lank-haired actor has made some moves into cinema already – mainly in the dud X-Men prequel Wolverine – this looks set to be the Kitsch’s year, with three major movies on the way.

First up is John Carter, which, to Reel Life’s disappointment, isn’t a big screen spinoff from the medical TV drama ER revolving around the doctor character of the same name played by Noah Wyle, but rather a sci-fi action adventure based on a famous series of novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

And, as the movie’s director Andrew Stanton (Wall-E) pointed out to Reel Life when we met a little while back, Kitsch is actually the perfect age to take on this role. Note: this will be of interest to the male reader with a complex about hitting a certain third-decade milestone birthday.

“I caught Taylor in Friday Night Lights, and was initially afraid that he might be too young, but it turns out he was just playing young,” Stanton explained.

“Harrison Ford was 32 in Star Wars, Sean Connery was 29 in Dr No, and Christopher Lambert was 27 on Highlander. It turns out being either side of 30 really is a prime spot for these iconic heroes. I was psyched because Taylor (who is 30) was just there.” Phew, there’s still time guys!

*The latest movie project from Kathryn Bigelow, a thriller about the capture and killing of Osama Bin Laden, is already provoking controversy almost a year before its release.

The nature of the material has prompted an inquiry by the US Pentagon that will investigate if the Oscar winning director or her team received any classified information in the writing of the movie.

Such is the level of concern that the CIA now says that it will create new guidelines for dealing with movie and TV productions.

*Reel Life brings you news of two movie-related exhibits in London over the coming weeks and months to mark in your diaries, should you be planning a visit. Yul Brynner, the Oscar winning star of the classic musical The King and I, was also an avid amateur photographer, and a collection of his on-set and behind-the-scenes snaps of his famous co-stars and pals are on show in The Little Black Gallery, until February 11^th.

Meanwhile, the Victoria & Albert Museum is planning a major exhibit of famous Hollywood costumes to open in October, and will feature such items as Dorothy’s gingham pinafore dress from The Wizard of Oz, Darth Vadar’s cape, and even Rocky Balboa’s boxing shorts.

*Finally, last Friday, Reel Life opened an email containing possibly the best opening line in the history of the internet, if not the entire world. It read: “Declan, are you free to interview Kermit and Miss Piggy next week?”

Yes, the two felt-featured, on-off lovers are coming to London to promote the new The Muppets Movie (out on February 10^th). As you read this, I should be sitting opposite the pair of them, doing my utmost, in particular, to get a karate chop to the neck from Her Nibs. Check back next week to see how I fared.

A hearty LOL all round. View more here.

Some initial thoughts on today’s Oscar nominations:

*I’m extremely surprised that the clearly incredibly lucky Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close made it onto the Best Picture roster. Happy for Max Von Sydow’s Supporting Actor nod, however. He and Christopher Plummer will battle it out for the award.

*I say yay to the two nominations – writing and Supporting Actress for Melissa McCarthy – that came to Bridesmaids.

*Gutted for Michael Fassbender that he missed out for his extraordinary performance in Shame. Still, there were two surprises in the Bast Actor category: Demian Bichir, for A Better Life, and Gary Oldman, scoring his first career nomination for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

*I guess the Academy liked the divisive The Tree of Life after all, giving it two major nods for Best Picture and Best Director for Terence Malick. Why am I getting a sneaking feeling that Malick could pull off an upset in this category?

*Hugo: shamefully, I never saw it first time round, but am rectifying that tonight. 11 nominations: must have something going for it? So far I’ve only met/spoken to one person who actually liked it.

*Pleased for Rooney Mara and her Best Actress nom, but what a pity there was no room – or certainly no buzz – this year for other newbie Elizabeth Olsen and her remarkable work in Martha Marcy May Marlene. Ditto for Olivia Coleman’s devastating performance in Tyrannosaur.

*Screenplay surprises: JC Chandor for his tight, sharp script for Margin Call, Clooney’s writing nod for The Ides of March, and the Original Screenplay nod for A Separation.

*Only one nominated song from The Muppets Movie. But it’s sure to win it for Bret McKenzie – and not just because there are only two songs competing.

Me hanging with Daniel Radcliffe while talking about his new movie The Woman in Black, out February 10th. Interview will run in ‘Day & Night’ in the Irish Independent in a few weeks.