Is it Legal to Bet on the Oscars?

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It’s ironic — or maybe just coincidental — that I have seen far more movies as The Sun’s film editor emeritus than I did when I was film editor. Whether ironic or coincidental, it mainly means that I’ve been able to see all of this year’s best picture nominees and, considering that the Oscar ballots were sent in yesterday, I figure that now is as good a time as any to take a look at the five contenders and relay my professional opinion about their chances this Sunday.

The Jared Kraminitz Sing-Along Hour

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And we’re back. I missed you all very much and I’m excited for a whole new semester of writing last-minute columns about whatever the hell I dream up on Tuesday afternoon. As usual, I don’t know what to write about, so how about a musical autobiography (I was going to go with a new music hagiography but that seemed neither modest nor appropriate) of songs I’ve been listening to recently. Play along at home and see if you can spot all the songs mentioned. If you rearrange the letters of those songs they form get a new sentence. Get it right and you can win a prize!

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Secrets and Lies

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Class politics, epistolary confusion, girlish infatuation, a world war and a youthful misunderstanding that leads to disaster form the crux of Atonement. Robbie Turner (James McAvoy) is a young man who works on the Tallis family estate, keenly observed by the Tallis sisters. The older, Cecilia (Keira Knightley) attended college with Robbie, where she ignored him for four years, while the younger, Briony (Saoirse Ronan) is not-so-secretly in love with him. Based on the novel by Ian McEwan, the film focuses on the intertwined lives of these three characters, shifting between them seamlessly, with little warning.

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I'm Not A Businessman — I'm a Business, Man

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Given its distinctly classy provenance, it’s no surprise that American Gangster is riddled not with bullets so much as grave pronouncements. Within the first five minutes “Bumpy” Johnson, a criminal with a stranglehold on Harlem, manages to throw out more than a few as he rails against a society changing in ways he doesn’t approve of: “What right,” he asks “do they have of cutting out the suppliers, pushing out all the middle-men?

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On The Road Again

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“Where’s Bill Murray?” I found myself asking that question throughout The Darjeeling Limited. Murray makes a brief cameo in the movie as he enjoys a brief taxi cab ride. During this harrowing trip his face runs through a range of expression with such ease and unassuming panache that from that scene on I kept hoping he would pop back up and start speaking. At this point, Murray has became a de facto Anderson repertory player, and his absence in the rest of the movie is a sore lack. Murray can play sadness and ennui, so crucial for characters in Wes Anderson films, without even trying. The three (figurative) clowns who star aren’t cut out for wallowing but slapstick.

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Colbert for President: Why Not?

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Stephen Colbert, President of the United States. It has a nice ring to it. The ring of… inevitability. It rolls easily off the tongue, and it just may be a possibility. I understand that right now Mr. Colbert (coming here Friday to campaign, I mean, perform) is running only in the South Carolina primaries — on both tickets no less. Admittedly, one state does not a presidential campaign make, but with an impending Writer’s Guild strike looming, there is a real possibility that The Colbert Report could be brought to a halt, leaving Stephen Colbert with plenty of time on his hands to expand his reach to states near and far.

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Shoot 'Em Up Sucks

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C­­live Owen would have made a great James Bond, which is why Shoot ‘Em Up seemed to have so much potential — Clive Owen could shoot people and generally be a badass without having the burden of a franchise to carry on his shoulders. 

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Dragons? We Don't Need No Stinking Dragons!

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A movie titled as brazenly as Dragon Wars ought to deliver on the claims of that title and give us a movie in which dragons go to war, either with each other or against someone, or something, else. In this assumption, one would be largely mistaken. There is only one dragon in this movie, and it makes an appearance for just over five minutes (I timed it). Though I have no particular love of dragons, I do feel that a movie that promises not only multiple dragons but dragon wars ought to deliver. Though there are practically no dragons, there are giant snakes, which may be satisfying to those who aren’t particular about their giant reptilian monsters.

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Digging Deeper

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Tomorrow at 7:15 P.M., writer-director and Ithaca native Katherine Dieckmann will be screening her most recent film, Diggers, at Willard Straight Hall. Set in the late 70s, the film quietly observes the end of an era for a group of four Long Island clam-diggers and friends, in the tradition of Diner and I Vitelloni is just one accomplishment on Ms. Dieckmann’s lengthy resume. After spending time as a film critic for the Village Voice she began writing for Rolling Stone, before moving on to directing music videos for Wilco and R.E.M. The Sun had a chance to speak to Ms. Dieckmann about growing up in Ithaca and her love for making films.

The Sun: Do you think that growing up in Ithaca helped push you towards a creative lifestyle?

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Cornell Cinema: Brand Upon The Brain!

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Brand Upon The Brain!, one of Guy Maddin’s more recent offerings, is not, as expected, an exposé about the effect of advertising on the human mind. In fact, it is about as far from a traditional film as possible. Playing at Cornell Cinema from September 13 to 17, the film follows the meandering recollections of our hero, Guy on his return to his childhood home.