Little Miss Sunshine

There are a few reasons why I love Little Miss Sunshine. No. 1: Steve Carell. No. 2: The Script. No. 3: The scene where little Olive (played by Abigail Breslin) unleashes a scream more intense than a stampede of hundreds of people getting their hands on a Wii when she finds out she was accepted to the "Little Miss Sunshine" beauty and talent competition. Olive: "I won, I won, I won, I won, I won!"

Not only is Breslin the new Dakota Fanning in my book, but her answering machine gets my pick for being an Oscar-worthy gadget by osmosis. Who uses old school answering machines anymore? The cutest 11-year-old ever, that's who. Want to see more Little Miss Sunshine gadgets? read more

From now until the 2007 Oscars air this Sunday night, I'll be breaking down each Best Picture nominee and giving you the scoop on why certain movies might win and why others probably don't have a chance. Yesterday, we looked at Letters from Iwo Jima, and today's featured movie is Little Miss Sunshine.

This film is a classic case of an indie darling that became a surprise mainstream hit. The movie's heartwarming charm tinged with grim reality makes it hard to resist, and the widespread appeal was most likely a factor in its Best Picture nomination. For a look at Little Miss Sunshine's chances in the Best Picture race, read more

Since we're in full-blown Oscars mode right now, I thought it would be fun to highlight a few different movies, both nominees and past winners, and see what dishes I could come up with for TV Dinners. Today I decided to start things off with something from one of my favorite movies of last year, Little Miss Sunshine.
Remember the scene near the beginning where the entire family gets together for a lovely dinner? You know the one where mom Sheryl brings home an enormous bucket of takeout chicken, which causes Grandpa to burst, "Every night it's the f**king chicken!" (if you don't remember, then checkout the clip after the jump). Well, if you're a keen viewer, you might have noted that the "f'ing chicken" came from a place called "Dinah's." Now for the interesting part, although the scene takes place in Albuquerque, Dinah's is actually a small chain with locations in Southern California only. Now I've never been there, but from what I understand they have some fantastic fried chicken. Unfortunately, their secret recipe (which according to their box is "traditionally southern and so free from cooking oil) is kept under lock and key, so we won't be able to have the real thing, but I do have a really tasty one you could make instead.

For a great fried-chicken recipe and a video clip of Grandpa's colorful feelings toward the chicken, read more

As a writer, I feel particularly passionate about Hollywood writing awards, and yesterday's 2007 Writers Guild Awards ceremony suggests that one of my favorite scripts this year, Little Miss Sunshine, might really be the little movie that could when it comes to screenwriting nods at the Oscars. Held in Los Angeles and attend by Tina Fey, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Mo Rocca, the awards honored achievements for movies, TV, and radio. Here's a look at the TV and movie winners.

SCREEN WINNERS

Original Screenplay:
Little Miss Sunshine, Michael Arndt

Adapted Screenplay:
The Departed, screenplay by William Monahan; based on the movie Infernal Affairs, written by Alan Mak and Felix Chong

Documentary Screenplay:
Deliver Us from Evil, written by Amy Berg

TELEVISION WINNERS

Dramatic Series:
"The Sopranos," written by Mitchell Burgess, David Chase, Diane Frolov, Robin Green, Andrew Schneider, Matthew Weiner, Terence Winter; HBO

Comedy Series:
"The Office," written by Steve Carell, Jennifer Celotta, Greg Daniels, Lee Eisenberg, Brent Forrester, Ricky Gervais, Mindy Kaling, Paul Lieberstein, Stephen Merchant, B.J. Novak, Michael Schur, Gene Stupnitsky; NBC

To see the rest, read more

The Screen Actors Guild Awards were held Sunday night in Los Angeles, giving us more leading indicators for the Oscars plus the fun "best performance by a cast" nominees. Though most of the wins weren't surprising, I was glad to see so many of my favorite shows honored, and I think the win for Little Miss Sushine is perfectly apt. Here's a list of who snagged SAG honors.

THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Helen Mirren, The Queen

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls

To see the rest, read more

I recently came across this list of the top 10 opening title sequences in movies, compiled by laboratory101.com. Granted, many of them are truly awesome: I have a particular fondness for the opening scenes of Snatch. Yet, I couldn't help noticing that they are basically all crime, horror, or gangster movies: Casino, Dawn of the Dead, Fight Club, Seven, etc. It got me thinking: Aren't there good opening sequences to movies that aren't violent?

Here are some of my picks for really well-done or entertaining opening sequences. What others can you think of?

Love Actually
I know I’ve said this before, but the footage of real people greeting each other at the airport is as heartwarming as a Kodak commercial, and even more so because it’s real.

Drop Dead Gorgeous
One of my all-time favorite films, Drop Dead Gorgeous opens with the promotional video for the Sarah Rose Cosmetics American Teen Princess Pageant, featuring "last year's host," Adam West. I particularly enjoy the programmed robot voice inserting "beautiful Mount Rose, Minnesota" to personalize the video.

To see the next three, read more

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I'll sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue.

Little Miss Sunshine
If you missed one of the year's best films, now's your chance to rent it (or buy it!). Skillfully mixing pathos with absurd comedy, Little Miss Sunshine tells the story of one family's quest to get bespectacled Olive to the Little Miss Sunshine competition on time. In an astounding cast (Alan Arkin, Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear), Steve Carell is perhaps the most impressive as a suicidal Proust scholar forced to live with his sister's bizarre family. As a special bonus, the DVD features four alternate endings to the movie.

Two more so read more

• The Grammy nominations range from the deserving (Gnarls Barkley) to the dreadful (seriously, we really want to immortalize "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter?) — Associated Press
• On a related note, this round-up of the 89 biggest cliches in rock is pretty damn funny (#19: dating Winona Ryder) — AOL Music
• The brilliant pair behind Little Miss Sunshine are in talks to make another feature film — Variety
• The Seminole Indian tribe buys the Hard Rock hotel and casino chain for a whopping $965 million — Associated Press
• Rebecca Romijin will join the cast of "Ugly Betty" just in time for sweeps week — Variety
• Hip-hop darling Lily Allen admits to a drug-dealing past—but don't worry, she wasn't very good at it — NME
• Talk about an all-star team: Andre 3000 will star in a basketball drama with Will Ferrell — Zap2It
• Wednesday's season finale of "America's Next Top Model" propels the CW past ABC and Fox in the ratings — TV Week
• The Flaming Lips get a street named after them in Oklahoma City; look out for guys in bunny costumes — NME