A bit late to this since we’re almost mid February but hey what’s January but a dumping ground for the studios’ worst and the overflow from the previous year? After the jump my quick countdown of the most squeal inducingly exciting prospects of the coming year…

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Been awhile since we had one of these…

• RUBY SPARKS: From the makers of Little Miss Sunshine and writer/leading lady Zoe Kazan comes one of the most disarmingly sweet, creative and unexpectedly heart rending films in recent memory. There’s hope for the rom-com yet. B+
• RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION: This franchise just keeps chugging along and while its hardly high art it has at least been entertaining up until now. This installment however gives new meaning to “pedestrian” and “pointless”. D-
  
• LOLA VERSUS: Have watched this 4 times now. Don’t know what it is, but I just find the whole affair incredibly charming and just a bit wonderful. PERFECT break-up movie. Warm and fuzzy without being vomit inducing. B+
• ONE PIECE TREASURE CHEST ONE: Unfair to judge this one as viewing is currently in progress but one of the most famous anime so far lives up to its reputation. Funny, involving and (like all the best anime) a little bit nutty. TBA
• HOLY MOTORS: Simply put this film is strange. I don’t say that lightly as I consider myself to have a high threshold for the weird but this is just W-E-I-R-D. Pretty damn fascinating though and the furthest thing from unoriginal. B
• DAMSELS IN DISTRESS: This one sneaks up on you. When it started I didn’t know what to think. I found its humor put me at an immediate unease but after ten minutes I was laughing my ass off. Give yourself over to it and it pays off magnificently. A

WORSHIPEE: Paul Thomas Anderson - Born: 1970.

Interesting that the worship for PTA would follow on from the last entry for Robert Altman considering that in his early career Anderson was being tapped as the natural successor to Altman. This is however a limiting comparison despite both auteur’s preference for large ensembles in sprawling interlocking narratives in some of their most iconic work.  Anderson’s films have their own unique, almost operatic style at odds with Altman’s mostly naturalistic approach. His films are wholly original, always thought provoking and infused with an ambition and level of art and craftsmanship sorely missing in much of today’s output. Long story short, if a director can attract stars such as Julianne Moore, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and William H Macy to multiple projects he must be doing something right.

TOP 5 FILMS:

1. Boogie Nights (1997) [Trailer]
2. There Will Be Blood (2007) [Trailer]
3. The Master (2012) [Trailer]
4. Magnolia (1999) [Trailer]
5. Punch Drunk Love (2002) [Trailer]

So it looks like Ben Affleck’s Argo will probably be the first film since Driving Miss Daisy (1989) to win Best Picture without a corresponding Director nomination. While it’s hardly a done deal (Affleck’s snub is still a factor), who can argue with the SAG, PGA, DGA trifecta? Maybe another actor/director Ron Howard could. Howard saw his Apollo 13 (1995) take out the same trio and then fall at the final hurdle (that hurdle being a Best Director snub). So it boils down to one question: Is Argo a Driving Miss Daisy or an Apollo 13? Only Oscar night will answer that one. After the jump are my full predictions for the 85th Academy Awards…

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……We’re back! It’s been a loooooong break but I’m ready and raring for more cinemasanctuarying (yes that is a word).

So faithful readers, long time no write/read. I’ve had a very busy couple of weeks so sadly the Sanctuary’s been on the back burner. It is my solemn promise that this will change in the next few weeks as my workload steadily drops away and I can dedicate more time to my precious cinematic musings. Coming up on the docket is my much promised Edith Head gallery, national studies on France and Japan, the usual Actress obsessions and Director worship, the 1956 Oz Awards and of course plenty of quotes, countdowns and other quality junk. 80-odd posts in and it’s time to step back and reflect on the blog so far. Plenty of details after the jump.

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Once again, I’ve been guilty of letting the blog turn overly girlie (A series on costume design? Romantic comedy? What was I thinking?) so here’s a genre countdown I’m sure the boys can relate to - albeit the nerdy ones. One of my biggest shames is that I’m a massive closeted sci-fi nerd - it feels good to admit that. If a movie’s set in space or in a dystopian future or features close encounters of the green and tentacled kind, I’m there. It’s not all about the stars: wars and trek respectively though; science fiction is so much more. Here’s a countdown of the greatest gifts the genre has to offer.

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The penultimate post on great costume designers features 10-time Oscar nominee and 3-time winner Sandy Powell. Before the post on Edith Head in a few days, I thought I’d mention some other designers that deserve to be cited. These artists aren’t less worthy of coverage than the four I chose to cover, but at the end of the day this isn’t a costume design blog and covering all the greats would take an age. The work of Adrian, Jean Louis, Dorothy Jeakins, Irene Sharaff, Orry-Kelly, Walter Plunkett, Helen Rose, Piero Gherardi, Milena Canonero, Anthony Powell, Albert Wolsky, James Acheson, Ann Roth and more are worthy of note. Sandy Powell has worked with the likes of Scorsese, Todd Haynes and Neil Jordan and her designs are highly functional, but always visually arresting. She may be best known for her work in lavish period dramas, but her best work will always be the glam-rock threads of Velvet Goldmine. Gallery of top designs after the jump.

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WORSHIPEE: Robert Altman - Born: 1925, Died: 2006.

Robert Altman was the king of his domain. His freewheeling, multi-stranded ensemble epics are pure Americana and so masterfully precise in their chaos. Never one for your conventional narrative driven affair, Altman found inspiration in the divine disorder of everyday life. His works are like rich tapestries depicting a world of heightened reality where everyone has a story and everyone’s story is as important as the next person’s. There are no stars in a Robert Altman film, everyone gets their chance to shine, but no one is there to steal the show. This isn’t to say that the acting isn’t generally superb, but everybody involved is there to serve the greater vision rather than themselves. Dialogue often gets lost in the general din of many people talking at the same time, but it’s meant to be life not artifice and it all fits with Altman’s motto that life isn’t focused or ordered but many things at once. Altman was lost much to soon, but he left an incredible legacy and an indelible mark on the history of film.

TOP 5 FILMS:

1. Nashville (1975) [Trailer]
2. MASH (1970) [Trailer]
3. McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971) [Trailer]
4. Short Cuts (1993) [Trailer]
5. A Prairie Home Companion (2006) [Trailer]

So after much speculation, we finally have the line-up for the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. There aren’t any films that inspire the immediate anticipation that The Tree of Life  and Melancholia did last year, but the festival always brings in some great works that come out left field to inspire and astound. As expected, Wong Kar Wai’s long awaited The Grandmaster and Terrence Malick’s as-yet-untitled new film will not be featured, but there are plenty of other intriguing prospects to be found on Cannes’ press release. I was sad to see that Park Chan-Wook’s Stoker was not going to premiere, but what can you do? Read on for a list of in competition films and expected highlights or see the entire press pack here.

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