Best Art Direction of 2008

Costume design will be done right before the Oscars. And without further ado . . .

Hisaishi’s score best of 2009? Hell yes.

At the end of 2009, I bet you won’t be able to find a better score than Joe Hisaishi’s for Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea. If you do . . . . well, you won’t. I haven’t even seen the film yet, and I know that it won’t budge from the top of my list. I’ll give a more thorough review soon enough, but I’ll say this: It ranks up there along Mononoke  (if not higher).

Ten Great Shots in 2008

OK, so this is originally Kris Tapley’s idea, but like they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It’s a rather random, diverse list exemplary of the great lensing in 2008 film (albeit not as good as the brilliance of 2007). I’ll add in some commentary when I get the time. I’d also like to mention the work done by Christopher Doyle for Paranoid Park. and Eduardo Serra for Defiance  And I’ve yet to see Hunger, The Fall, etc. so they’re left out. Sorry, I’ll get to them soon!

How do I start?

If there is anything that the writing in my high school papers and essays show is that I always have trouble starting and ending things; Starting this will most likely be awkward, but stay with me here. I’m not witty like the other amazing Oscar bloggers out there (well, maybe except for Andy S. and Joe J.), but I hope I can find my own place in the awards blogosphere. On this blog, I’ll try and blog as much about the awards shows that you and I love to hate. I have a particular affinity for the technical and aesthetic achievements in film, so I’ll likely post about those as well. Look forward to getting past this Oscar season and seeing what 2009 has in store.