Good morning folks! Just a little update for you all today: here in Australia, it’s a public holiday, so there will be no review up – instead, our warts-and-all look at Caligula will be online tomorrow. Stay tuned for that.

Some of you have noticed a significant slowdown in the load time for the fernbyfilms.com site over the last six to twelve months, and rest assured, we’re working on it behind the scenes to nullify any problems we are having. We believe it’s got to do with our cache system, and we’re investigating possible solutions as you read this. For this reason, you may see some slight aesthetic changes to the site. Some might alternatively label it as “streamlining”. Do not be alarmed. We’re working to make fernbyfilms.com as fast as possible in the online world.

We’d like to remind you all that our second Top 10 Greatest Of The Modern Age list comes online on Monday week (the 6th of February), and if it’s as popular as the previous one was, then we’re in for some great comments. We will be publishing out Top 10 GOTMA lists on the first Monday of each month, right up to December. Lock that in your diary!

Finally, as we’re expanding our readership across the Blogoverse, with fellow film lovers reading and commenting on our stuff, we want to throw something out to the casual reader right now – if you happen to stumble upon a great site (like this one! LOL!) then leave a comment somewhere! It doesn’t take much to throw a couple of kind words (or, not so kind, if you disagree with something you’ve read) the way of the author, and as bloggers, we all appreciate anybody spending even a few seconds to acknowledge our work – good or bad. If you look to the right you’ll notice a list of recent comments over in our sidebar, as well as a leaderboard of regular commentors; it’s called building a community, and since we all love films, it’s pretty obvious what that community likes to talk about, and we want your opinion. So for the lurkers and casual visitors, those landing here to capture some images or those who’ve followed a link in from iMDB or something, please leave a comment somewhere to let us know you’ve seen our stuff. You might never come back; that’s okay, you know, but we’d at least like to know you’ve been here! Of course, if you want to really show how much you’ve enjoyed our stuff, you can always click the “like” button on our facebook widget. That way you’re always up to date with our reviews!! Go on…. press it!

And of course, a big thanks to our regulars for always coming back to see what’s what! You guys are gems.

Rodney T – EIC, fernbyfilms.com

Frankly, the Academy has no idea. Drive, a film I consider to be easily the best film of 2011, missed out on virtually any Oscar nominations at all, save a filler spot for Best Sound Editing (I mean, c’mon, when you’re up against a Transformers movie, what hope to you have?) – not even Albert Brooks’ nasty turn as a gangster in that film was given so much as a nod. Instead, Melissa McCarthy now becomes an Oscar nominee for her work in the female slanted comedy Bridesmaids. Really?

And so the frustrating spectacle of seeing truly great films miss out on the Oscar glow comes around again.

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THE OFFICIAL NOMINATIONS LIST OF THE 84TH ACADEMY AWARDS

Well folks, here’s the official list (thanks to Wikipedia) of all the nominees for the 84th Academy Awards, taking place on February 26th (US time). Over the next few weeks, we’ll have our predictions on who will, should, and may win, but for now – comments flame away!!!

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I’m the first to admit that my disdain for Hollywood’s penchant for remaking classic (and not-so-classic) films from history has become something of a joke amongst the film community – everything from classic horror, drama and even drama films are being lined up for the dreaded “modernization” (or, alternatively, “updating”) for younger audiences. Typically, remakes are technically proficient yet lacking the thing that made the original truly great – that lightning in a bottle which allowed said film to transcend the dust of history to remain a true classic. Remakes have a long, sad history in Hollywood, and yet people still think it’s a good idea. Personally, I’d rather filmmakers spend time developing new ideas and stories to bring us, instead of simply recycling older films with usually less-than-impressive credentials. Having said that, I find myself in the unusual position of watching a remake of a genuine Hollywood classic, and actually finding myself thinking it’s the better film. How the hell did that happen?

Click here to get gritty!

Due to our blackout in protest against the US Congress potentially allowing censorship of the internet, our BAFTA nominations list has arrived a little later than we’d have liked – but here it is anyway! The BAFTA’s will take place on February 12th (UK time), and we’ll announce the winners here….

Click here for the complete nomination listing…

Earlier today the Hollywood Foreign press Association awarded its highest honors to the Hollywood elite – and we’re here with the results!

Best Film – Drama: The Descendants

Best Film – Musical or Comedy: The Artist

Best Actor (Drama) : George Clooney (The Descendents)

Best Actress (Drama): Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)

Best Actor (Comedy): Jean Dujardin (The Artist)

Best Actress (Comedy): Michelle Williams (My Week With Marylin)

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer (Beginners)

Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer (The Help)

Best Director: Martin Scorsese (Hugo)

Best Screenplay: Woody Allen (Midnight In Paris)

Best Original Score: Ludovic Bource (The Artist)

Best Original Song: “Masterpiece” (W.E.) – Music and Lyrics by Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry

Best Animated Feature – The Adventures of Tintin

Best Foreign Language Film – A Separation

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Rio is perhaps best described in a single word. Generic. If you strip back the flashy visuals, the dynamic animation style (designed mainly to look cool in 3D, mind you) and the not-quite-A-list-casting, Rio is a join-the-dots example of Hollywood film-making. That’s not to say it’s a bad film, in terms of it’s execution and entertainment value, it’s just that Rio has so many layers of familiarity that it’s hard to see where has-been ends and originality begins. If it begins at all. I’m sure, somewhere, the story by director Carlos Saldanha, Earl Richey Jones and Todd R Jones might have sounded good in theory, but weaving a decent story out of a fairly fanciful idea needs more than flashy visuals and catchy music. The end result of what would have been several years of work ends up feeling for all the world like a dumbed-down version of a better film, a film we have yet to see, because Rio, for all it’s flashy visuals and catchy music, isn’t that much chop. I know, I’m probably not the target audience for this film, but I argue the point that Rio seems too smart for the really young viewers and too dumb for the older ones, flailing about somewhere in the middle and ending up just being ordinary.

Click here to go to Rio!!!

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Drive Angry is a terrible film. Beyond the pale for awfulness, it is hopefully another nail in the derelict career of one Nicolas Cage, a man for whom it seems no role is too stupid, nor any script too dreadfully inept. What on Earth can Hollywood hope to gain by promoting the man’s sheer lack of cinematic credibility? Yes, Cage once won an Oscar for Best Actor, but then, so did Robert DeNiro, and all he’s done since then is terribly stupid Parenting comedies, dull Cop Dramas and less-than-stellar “horror” films. Drive Angry is one of those films that probably seemed like a good idea at the time, if you think “the time” was that crazy night in Vegas when you were high on acid and the hookers were doing a threesome in the second bedroom while you bathed in a recently slaughtered ox’s blood. I was so tempted to do this film as one of our Mini Reviews, but I feel so violated by the imagery and concepts I’ve just witnessed, I need to purge myself of this… trash – I refuse to continue to call this turd a film – so I can continue my exploration of the fine medium of cinema unburdened. Therefore, prepare for a long form review of one of the worst films I’ve seen in the last week or so: Drive Angry.

Drive through this review and get very, very angry….

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If there’s one thing I hate more than romantic comedies starring Jennifer Lopez/Jennifer Anniston/Kate Hudson/Diane Keaton, it’s overly manipulative “animal movies”, where the star animal in the film is inevitably the one which is killed/maimed/mistreated/funnier than the humans. Films where you can feel the director reaching into your chest or tear ducts to try giving the bits inside you that work the awwww and tug them gently, prodding an unsustainable emotional bond with you that, while occurring feels real and genuine, but after the credits roll feels a little like you’ve been manhandled. Water For Elephants, to a large degree, feels like manhandling to me. Based on the book by Sara Gruen, Water For Elephants is story set in the Great Depression, trying desperately to evoke the Great Depression, while managing to also feel the need to rise above the Great Depression in its emotional core. It’s a mismatch of a film, a film trying to find its center, yet not quite being able to deliver the genuine heart it so desperately aches for. It’s almost good, if that’s quantification enough for you.

Click here to bring the elephant in!