Memosaic

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Four Oscar Wishes

As a confirmed movie addict, I can hardly wait to watch the 86th Annual Academy Awards Ceremony, which will be televised by ABC on Sunday, March 2. However, instead of making any predictions this year, I decided to focus my cyberspace energy on the four Oscar-nominated films that also ended up on my Top Ten List of 2013. Below are my wishes for these wonderful movies.   

FIRST WISH: I wish Gravity would win Oscars in all of the ten categories it's nominated for! That includes BEST PICTURE, BEST DIRECTOR (Alfonso Cuarόn), BEST ACTRESS (Sandra Bullock), BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, BEST VISUAL EFFECTS, BEST EDITING, BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN, BEST ORIGINAL SCORE, BEST SOUND MIXING, BEST SOUND EFFECTS EDITING. Why? Because this thrilling space adventure bowled me over with its stunning combination of technical magic and strong emotional pull. In fact, while viewing the film, I felt like I was actually floating in space and suffering through the terrible mishaps faced by the two astronauts played by Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. And I wasn’t even watching it in 3-D! Gravity is truly a groundbreaking movie, one that deserves Academy Award acclaim.
   
SECOND WISH: I wish The Broken Circle Breakdown would take home the Oscar for BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM. Bluegrass music never sounded as good to me as it does in this heartbreaking romantic melodrama from Belgium. Performances by Johan Heldenbergh and Veerle Baetens as the lovers who share a passion for each other as well as for American music are first rate, and it’s one of the few films I’ve seen where switching back and forth in time seems to make perfect sense.      

THIRD WISH: I wish Frozen would receive the Oscar for BEST ANIMATED FILM. As the world’s most avid movie musical fan, I always like to include a current musical on my “Best Films” of the year list and feel very excited when one receives an Oscar nomination. Although the pickins’ were lean during 2013, Frozen came along during December and made me a happy camper indeed. Disney released this delightful adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s “Snow Queen,” and it’s a gem. The screen absolutely comes alive because of the film’s splendid animation, great music and outstanding voice talent, especially by Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel.     

FOURTH WISH: I wish The Lone Ranger would win the golden statuette for BEST MAKE-UP AND HAIR STYLING. Yes, I know this hilarious Western flopped at the box office, but it’s the most fun I had at the movies in years!  Although the horse Silver captivated me every time he came on camera, Johnny Depp bizarrely decked out and made up as a new version of Tonto (whose facial expressions when watching his sidekick do stupid things) -- was nothing short of priceless here. Plus, just thinking about Armie Hammer’s amusing portrayal of the Lone Ranger as Tonto’s sidekick instead of vice-versa still starts me laughing.


I’m keeping my fingers crossed! But no matter who wins in all 24 categories, it’s always fun to watch the glamour and glitz of Hollywood’s Big Night. With Ellen DeGeneres as host, I think we’re in for an entertaining show. Check your local TV schedule on Sunday, March 2, for the correct time. Then, on Tuesday, March 4, come over to Movie Addict Headquarters for our OSCAR RESULTS ROUNDTABLE where film critics Diana Saenger, Mack Bates and A.J. Hakari will be ranting and raving about this year’s Academy Awards show. The live episode airs on BlogTalkRadio at 4 p.m. Eastern Time, and an archived segment will also be available. Click on the link below for more information.



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Friday, February 21, 2014

Shirley Temple Remembered


She sang and danced
her way to fame.
Oh how we loved
her curly mane!

She smiled and cried
so true and cute.
Her films gave hope
and made a loot.


May Shirley Temple rest in peace.

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Thursday, February 06, 2014

Jamee Natella Interview

Thanks to Francine Silverman for the following interview with Jamee Natella. Francine is the editor of Book Promotion Newsletter, an on-line publicist, a compiler of 16 ebooks about talk radio shows, and host of a weekly radio show titled "Fraternizing with Fran" – where interesting people come to chat. Find out more about Francine at http://www.talkradioadvocate.com and http://talkradioadvocate.blogpot.com.

Jamee Natella is founder and executive producer of Blueyed Pictures, an award-winning commercial and corporate media production company, founded in Tokyo in 1998 with offices in London and Los Angeles. Blueyed offers commercial content production of TV commercials, corporate videos, production of live events and feature films to advertising agencies and corporations worldwide. Clients include Toyota, Sony, Under Armour, HP, Dove and P&G.
FRANCINE: How did you get the idea for Blueyed?
JAMEE: I was living in Japan and I felt there was a need to help cater to foreign crews who wanted to pursue commercial production In Japan. In the 90’s the Japanese market didn’t have many bilingual crews in Tokyo to help foreigners in Japan.  So the timing was right to create a Bilingual service production company in Japan.  Blueyed pictures was founded in 1988 and since its inception has produced commercials for Virgin Enterprises, NTT DoCoMo, Mitsubishi, Pioneer and Toyota to name a few.
FRANCINE: For 9 years, you partnered with BBDO- west to produce commercials for national brands, both domestically and abroad. You once said that this partnership put Blueyed on the map. Could you expand on ways this advertising agency benefited your company?
JAMEE:  I was fortunate enough to form a partnership with BBDO when I was just moving back to the United States after living abroad for 11 years. So by Blueyed aligning itself with an Omnicom company I was able to develop strong connections with their clients. It was a hugely beneficial relationship that would not only give us work but also save BBDO- west money by acting as an in house production company for the ad agency. Although we didn’t produce all their commercials in the pacific region we were involved with a great deal of them. So yes, that helped build the Blueyed brand and ultimately put us on the map.
FRANCINE: As to feature films, your biggest success thus far was for “Beyond” with Jon Voight, Terri Polo and Dermot Mulroney. When I first wrote you about an interview, you responded that you were at the Sundance Film Festival.  I know that you plan to produce one or two independent films per year, which ideally would premiere at Sundance, Toronto or another international festival. Were you premiering a feature film? Are you at liberty to discuss it?  
JAMEE: Our long form projects are still in development. But, who is to say next year we won’t surprise you. Blueyed is launching a feature film division this year so we as a team are always looking to further develop our acquisition and development relationships
FRANCINE: I know that your immediate goal is to expand your roster to include upcoming film directors. What is your long-term goal?
JAMEE: Ideally, we want to expand upon our existing success as a soup-to-nuts integrated content production company.  Both Co-Executive Producer Lorraine Schreyer and myself are ramping up to accommodate the growth we see in the marketplace for diversified directorial talent. By incorporating talented feature film directors into our portfolio we will expand our presence and scope of work in that arena.  Blueyed currently is in talks of signing a first look deal with a major film studio and we’re excited about a slew of  projects  that have great potential. Keep your eye on Blueyed pictures and visit our website at www.blueyedpictures.com OR follow Blueyed  on Instagram and Twitter.

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