Not Oscars-related, but Constantine is opening here on Friday. Not really a good sign that it's opening overseas so quickly after the US opening. Also, the ads for it are dubbed (most US movies here are sub-titled) so they clearly had planned for a fast overseas rollout. Who knows? Maybe it's the kind of movie that will do decent box in non-US markets, because shiny! And no one knows the source material.

Also, I just watched Master and Commander again. I really liked it when I saw it in the theater, but this time I was very "meh" about it. It seemed really slow, and the writing was not good. Honestly it seemed like the script kept wanting to be about Lord Blateney (the young blond midshipman) and not about Aubrey/Maturin. (And I mean that "/" in every sense of the punctuation).

This was probably already linked to somewhere in the 700 posts I skipped in Natter, but Salon has a few of the Oscar-nominated shorts online, here.

I was thrilled that Ryan won for Best Animated Short -- content-wise, it never really gelled the way it should have, but its use of animation as an art form was light-years ahead of the other nominees.

[eta: Damnit, nevermind. Turns out they were only available last Friday -- all the links are dead now. Sorry!]

but Salon has a few of the Oscar-nominated shorts online, here.

Nuh-uh. They were made available for a limited time and can no longer be downloaded.

Ooh, but you can see Ryan on the National Film Board of Canada site.

He can't be Bond! He's not British!

Nip/Tuck actor Julian McMahon is competing against one other unnamed actor to become the next James Bond. The Australian-born star of the TV cosmetic surgery drama will find out in the next few months if he has been chosen to follow in Pierce Brosnan's footsteps as the next 007 in the hugely successful spy-series. The other contender is believed to be British actor Clive Owen - who was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Julia Roberts' husband in Closer. The 36-year-old says, "I'm a big James Bond fan. I met the producers for a final audition. They told me to expect a decision in a couple of months and they said it was between me and one other person. It's going to a very nervous wait."

Do you think it's part of someone's job description to leak these things?

He's not British!

George Lazenby is Australian.

1) I thought Clive already gave an unequivocal "nuh uh" to Bond.

2) I think there needs to be a bylaw that men with tanned buttcheeks may not be Bond; and that goes double when aforementioned tanned buttcheeks are on my television screen unasked-for.

George Lazenby is Australian.

I know.

I was snarking on a purity of Bond discussion that happened upthread. Somewhere around here: evil jimi "Buffista Movies 3: Panned and Scanned" Dec 3, 2004 8:51:25 am PST

So, assume Chris Rock is right and there are only four stars: Who are they? (I'm going to allow four of each gender because I'm nice that way.) Who make movies into must-sees, no matter how awful the movie?

Tom Cruise
Sean Connery

Julia (ugh) Roberts

Betsy, I'd add Renee Zellwegger as box office bait. And has Harrison Ford's day passed?