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NarniaFans Mailbag #37: Academy Awards, Publicity and Casting

Paul Martin — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:26:55 +0000

This week’s mailbag is a little bit late, and I apologize for that. I had some stuff to get done this week, and I’ve started doing a new project. Not to mention that I have been a little sick, so I’ve gotten a lot of extra sleep lately. Not that it has anything to do with this. Anyway, let’s get to it, some interesting letters came in this week.

Q: When the list of eligible songs for the “Best Original Song” Academy Award was released, “The Call” was there but “This is Home” and the others weren’t. Can you explain this?

-Skulblaka_Shur’tugal

Paul: Good question. I’m not sure the rules on this, and even the official site for the Oscars doesn’t have the rules for eligibility posted in this category. There must have been a reason, but I just can’t find it. Can anyone else?

Q: I want to say something about the most recent mailbag; Skulbaka had a question about Fox’s handling of Narnia, and mentioned that Eragon was a poor film compared to the book. While I haven’t read Eragon and haven’t seen the film, so I don’t know anything about it, I do know that Fox has handled STar Wars quite well (which I believe you mentioned). HOWEVER, Fox will not be responsible for what’s in the script, am I right? Michael Apted and the screenwriter(s) are responsible for what goes into the script; the studios (Walden and Fox) will handle the distribution, marketing and publicity.

I also wanted to ask a question: since Disney has bailed on the films, do you think there will be better publicity for Voyage of the Dawn treader, like there was for Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe?

-Aravis Kenobi

Paul: Good additional points about the Dawn Treader script, and you are correct about that. I think that there’s a good chance for better publicity than Prince Caspian had. 20th Century Fox wants to make this a franchise and they don’t want to do one Narnia only to see it fail. Expect to see a lot in the way of publicity, this time around.

Q: Am I the only one who noticed the Narnia flag (rampant lion) on the opening shot of the Disney castle in the movie theater version of Prince Caspian? I was rather disappointed when it didn’t make the DVD.

Kelley

Paul: Now that you mention it, I sort of remember seeing it. Anyone have verification on this? I’m not sure I can find it. It is interesting if it really isn’t on the DVD. If I wasn’t watching the Ocean’s trilogy at the moment, I’d check the Blu-ray.

Q: Any idea on when we’ll hear casting announcements?
Do you think/know if TCF/Walden will market VDT to faith groups?

Mike

Paul: Casting announcements, if filming indeed starts in late July, some time this month. Keep your eyes on NarniaFans.com for these! I think that that Walden will market VDT to faith groups again, and hopefully with as much stress as they did LWW. The biggest problem is that the rest of the Narnia films don’t have as public a symbolic reference to Christ. Nor the name recognition. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe could have been released under that name alone. Calling it The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was pure marketing so that when future films in the series were released, people could see the name Narnia and remember the last film on the weight of that name alone.

And that’s it for this week’s mailbag. Keep sending us e-mails, and we’ll keep answering. If you have any answers, feel free to comment below, or send us an e-mail and we’ll post it in future mailbags.

Academy Award Update

Mike — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:28:25 +0000

The Los Angeles Times reports that “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” has been eliminated from consideration for two Academy Awards: Best Visual Effects and Best Makeup. The visual effects finalists have been announced while as of this writing the best makeup nominees are not official.

No word yet on Best Song.

Could Prince Caspian win Academy Award for Visual Effects?

Paul Martin — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 17:04:46 +0000

In the Hollywood Reporter’s Oscar Preview series, they list The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian among the potential contenders for Best Visual Effects in a Motion Picture. This is an area that it has the potential to win, or at least get a nomination. The visual effects are seamless, and in many cases better than in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Other potential leaders in the category include The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which could be a leading contender with a CG face of Brad Pitt aging in reverse. There are also Iron Man and The Dark Knight, which combined visual effects designed for realism with compelling stories.

Oscar Nominations in January.

Oscar winner Tami Lane comes home

Paul Martin — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 00:12:00 +0000

Tami Lane walked through the door of her parents’ Dunlap townhouse Friday, lugging a backpack weighed down by clothes, magazines and an eight-and-a-half pound, gold-plated statue.

Minutes later, the Oscar was glinting under the living room lights, in the hands of her father, Roger Lane. He passed it gently to her mother, Linda, and her sister, Tracy, 34, all of them smiling and, like so many Oscar winners, marveling at how heavy it was.

Lane, 31, a Woodruff High School and Bradley University grad, took a seat on the couch and obliged her curious public with the details of last Sunday, the day she won best makeup for “The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” at the Academy Awards.

It began at 10 a.m. Lane and her friend Penny Mackie, part of Narnia’s costume team, arrived at co-nominee Howard Berger’s house, where a team of makeup and hair specialists awaited them.

They arrived at the Kodak theater just before 3 p.m. “It was kind of a bummer” to get to the theater before the swarm of celebrities and popping flashbulbs, she said, but there was plenty of that to come.

Just before the award for best makeup was announced, pages ushered Lane, Berger and the other nominees backstage. Keith Urban, Nicole Kidman and Judi Dench greeted them. (If you’re wondering about those shots of Lane in her seat, waiting for presenters Will Ferrell and Steve Carrell to open the envelope, those are special seats in front set up just for the cameras, she said.)

“All I heard was ‘How-’” said Lane, “and I was whipped up on stage.” She stared out into a crowd she described as “like your own 3-D People magazine,” with Jack Nicholson and George Clooney looking up at her.

Berger, as Lane’s loyal supporters have pointed out repeatedly since the Oscars, got to do all the talking. But Lane’s not bitter. “We had that worked out” in advance, she said. “I’m not upset at all by it.”

And in fact she did say a few words, after the mike cut out: “Thank you for making dreams come true.”

Then ushers marched her and Berger past Morgan Freeman – the first to congratulate them on their win – to have photos taken. They ate dinner at the Governor’s Ball and zipped past Elton John’s party (much too crowded) to the Vanity Fair party. “Madonna was there, but I didn’t see her,” said Lane, sounding a tad disappointed.

By 1:30 a.m., the party slowed down. “It went way too fast,” she said.

Lane isn’t sure yet what the effect of her win will be. “I’ve been told that my rate will go up and I’m more in demand,” she said. She’ll begin work soon on “Prince Caspian,” the sequel to Narnia.

And for the next few days she’ll be home in Peoria. “I love this town,” she said. “There’s so many people I want to see.”

She’s having a party tonight from 8 to 11 at Agatucci’s restaurant in Peoria – a chance for friends to catch up.

She might bring the Oscar, she said, even though it’s already a little worse for the wear. The sapphire rings she wore left tiny marks around the statue’s legs. “I don’t know,” she said, surveying the scratches. “I kind of like them there.”

LWW Nominated for Three Academy Awards

Paul Martin — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 18:58:00 +0000

The 78th Annual Academy Awards (the Oscars) Nominees were announced this morning, and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was nominated in three categories.

* Achievement in Makeup
Howard Berger and Tami Lane
These are the first Academy Award nominations for Howard Berger and Tami Lane.
Up against: Cinderella Man and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

* Achievement in Sound Mixing
Terry Porter, Dean A. Zupancic and Tony Johnson
This is the fourth Academy Award nomination for Terry Porter. He was previously nominated for: Aladdin (1992), Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986). These are the first Academy Award nominations for Dean A. Zupancic and Tony Johnson.
Up against: King Kong, Memoirs of a Geisha, Walk the Line and War of the Worlds.

* Achievement in Visual Effects
Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney and Scott Farrar
These are the first Academy Award nominations for Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer and Jim Berney. This is the fourth Academy Award nomination for Scott Farrar. He was previously nominated for: A.I. – Artificial Intelligence (2001), Backdraft (1991) and Cocoon (1985).
Up against: King Kong and War of the Worlds

[For a full list of nominees]
[For our LWW Awards page]

7 Films in Competition for the Makeup Oscar

Paul Martin — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 04:14:00 +0000

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced the seven films being considered for Achievement in Makeup for the 78th Academy Awards®.

The films in consideration are listed below in alphabetical order:

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
Cinderella Man
A History of Violence
The Libertine
Mrs. Henderson Presents
The New World
Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith

Ten-minute clip reels from each of the seven films will be screened for the Makeup Award Nominating Committee on Saturday, January 28. The committee may nominate three of these seven films for Oscar® consideration.

Nominated films will be announced along with nominations in 23 other categories on Tuesday, January 31, at 5:30 a.m. PST.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2005 will be presented on Sunday, March 5, 2006, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m. PST.

“Can’t Take It In” Possibility for Academy Award Nom.

Paul Martin — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 22:20:00 +0000

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 42 original songs from eligible feature-length motion pictures are being considered for the 78th Academy Awards®.

The original songs, along with the motion picture, are listed below in alphabetical order:

“Along the River” from “End of the Spear”
“Angels Talk” from “Angels with Angles”
“Butterfly” from “Because of Winn-Dixie”
“Can’t Take It In” from “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”
“Closer Every Day” from “Freezerburn: The Movie”
“Dicholo” from “The Constant Gardener”
“Do the Hippogriff” from “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”
“Dreamer” from “Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story”
“Face of Faith” from “Rumor Has It”
“Fight for the Children” from “Palindromes”
“Finding Home” from “Finding Home”
“Great Big World” from “Hoodwinked”
“Have a Little Faith” from “The Theory of Everything”
“Hustle & Flow (It Ain’t Over)” from “Hustle & Flow”
“(I’d Have It All) If I Had Drew” from “My Date with Drew”
“If I Apologize” from “Mirrormask”
“I’ll Be Near You” from “Bee Season”
“I’ll Whip Ya Head Boy” from “Get Rich or Die Tryin’”
“In the Deep” from “Crash”
“It Ain’t Over Yet” from “Racing Stripes”
“It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” from “Hustle & Flow”
“I’ve Gotta See You Smile” from “Because of Winn-Dixie”
“Mad Hot Ballroom” from “Mad Hot Ballroom”
“Move Away and Shine” from “Thumbsucker”
“My Brother, My People” from “Blues by the Beach”
“Nobody Jesus But You” from “Palindromes”
“One Blood” from “Green Street Hooligans”
“One Little Slip” from “Chicken Little”
“One Safe Place” from “The Upside of Anger”
“Reachin’ for Heaven” from “Ice Princess”
“Remains of the Day” from “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride”
“Same in Any Language” from “Elizabethtown”
“Shine” from “Robots”
“Shoulder to Shoulder” from “Pooh’s Heffalump Movie”
“So Long and Thanks for All the Fish” from “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”
“Taking the Inside Rail” from “Racing Stripes”
“Tell Me What You Already Did” from “Robots”
“There’s Nothing Like a Show on Broadway” from “The Producers”
“These Days” from “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants”
“This Is the Way” from “Palindromes”
“Travelin’ Thru” from “Transamerica”
“You’re Gonna Die Soon” from “Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic”

The Academy will screen three-minute clips of each song in random order for music branch voting members on January 17 and again on January 23. At these screenings, members will vote to nominate three to five songs for Oscar consideration.

In order to make this list of eligible submissions, a song must consist of words and music, both of which are original, and written specifically for the film.

Nominations for the 78th Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 31, 2006, at 5:30 a.m. PST, in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements for 2005 will be presented on March 5, 2006, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m. PST.

Academy Announces Visual Effects Competitors

Paul Martin — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 10:31:00 +0000

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced the seven films in consideration for Achievement in Visual Effects for the 78th Academy Awards®.

The films are listed below in alphabetical order:

“Batman Begins”
“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”
“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”
“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”
“King Kong”
“Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith”
“War of the Worlds”

Fifteen-minute clip reels from each of the seven films will be screened for the Visual Effects Award Nominating Committee on Wednesday, January 25. At this screening the members will vote to nominate three of the seven films for Oscar® consideration.

All nominations for the 78th Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 31, 2006, at 5:30 a.m. PST, in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Thanks to Katie for sending me the news

Acadamy Award Nominees to Celebrate NZ Film

Paul Martin — Thu, 24 Feb 2005 18:46:00 +0000

Nominees and industry heavyweights will mingle in a fantastical setting at this annual exclusive dinner in Los Angeles.

A mystical theme from “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” will greet guests for the fourth annual celebration of New Zealand Filmmaking and Creative Talent dinner on Friday, Feb. 25 at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

NZ is celebrating three Academy Award nominations this year, including “Two Cars, One Night” (Best Short Film), Andrew Adamson (Shrek 2, Best Animated Feature) and Joe Letteri, lately of LOTR, (I Robot, Best Visual Effects).

Productions in New Zealand in the past 12 months include “Narnia,” (which is based on teh classic CS Lewis novel and directed by Andrew Adamson); “King Kong,” (directed by Peter Jackson with Naomi Watts and Adrien Brody); “The World’s Fastest Indian” (with Anthony Hopkins,) “River Queen” (with Kiefer Sutherland and Samantha Morton, “Legend of Zorro” (with Catherine Zeta Jones and Antonio Banderas); “Without a Paddle” (with Seth Green and Matthew Lillard); “Perfect Creature” (with Dougray Scott) and “Boogeyman (with Lucy Lawless).

Andrew Adamson will be there, among others.

“New Zealand filmmakng is going from strength to strength,” notes Rob Taylor, the NZ Consul General, Los Angeles. “Oscar Weekend is the perfect opportunity for us to celebrate with our friends and colleagues in Hollywood.”

Hosted by the New Zealand Ambassador to the US, the Honorable John Wood – with support from TheNew Zealand Consulate-General and Investment New Zealand – the dinner will feature keynote speaker producer Rob Tapert (Boogeyman) and a three course indigenous menu of New Zealand salmon, beef and blueberries, complemented by Morton Estate wine.

Andrew Adamson Nom’d for Academy Award

Paul Martin — Wed, 26 Jan 2005 04:17:00 +0000

In the nominations announced in Los Angeles yesterday, Andrew Adamson was nominated for best animated feature film for his blockbuster sequel Shrek 2. Adamson’s film is up against The Incredibles and Shark Tale. He won an Oscar for the first Shrek film.

Adamson’s film Shrek, the uproarious anti-fairy tale that proved a monster hit at the box office, last year won the first ever Oscar for a full length animated feature. This year Shrek 2 surpassed Finding Nemo as the highest grossing animated film ever.

Since June, Adamson has been shooting The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in New Zealand. The project could evolve into a big franchise similar to the Lord of the Rings, since it is based on one of author CS Lewis’ seven Narnia chronicles.

Narnia Fans » Academy Awards

NarniaFans Mailbag #37: Academy Awards, Publicity and Casting

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