The Screengrab : thursday poll

Thurs... er, Friday Poll for April 24, 2009

Paul Clark — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:00:00 GMT

Because of the shutting down of Buzzdash, the site we normally used to host our Thursday Polls, we were unable to post the results of the poll that ran in this space two weeks ago. But if we had, we could have told you that our most recent poll commemorated the start of the Major League Baseball season, and depending on who you root for, you’re either feeling the excitement of a potentially awesome year or a certain degree of disappointment in seeing your favorite team consistently losing once the games actually count (of course, the Indians usually start slow, right? RIGHT???). But no matter how your real-life baseball team is faring right now, you can always count on a good baseball movie. And based on last week’s poll, the top-ranked baseball movie of Screengrab readers was the ever-popular Bull Durham. Bringing in a strong 55% of the vote, Ron Shelton’s celebration of the minor league circuit was also named the greatest baseball movie of all time by Baseball America. However, our runner-up, John Sayles’ Eight Men Out (36%), only placed fourth on the Baseball America list, whereas their second-place selection, Field of Dreams, was #3 among our readers with 9%. As for the rest of their top five, neither Bang the Drum Slowly nor Pride of the Yankees garnered a single vote in our poll. Perhaps if we could’ve included such favorites as The Bad News Bears (#6 on Baseball America’s list), it might’ve been more of a ballgame.

Earlier this week, the Screengrab powers that be posted their lists of summer’s most promising hits and most disastrous-looking flops. Now, it’s your turn. First, which of the following will rule the summer?

Get This - Survey Results - GlowDay.com

And on the flip side of the coin, what will be the floppiest flop?

Get This - Survey Results - GlowDay.com

As always, the comments section is open. See you next week!

Thursday Poll for April 2, 2009

Paul Clark — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Due to some unforeseen computer issues last week, I was unable to post the results of the recent Paul Rudd-themed poll. However, it looks like mine weren’t the only computer troubles to strike of late, considering that when I went to check out the results of that poll, it had been replaced by one that asks the question, “Is it possible to view a situation with 100% objectivity?”- a question that remains relevant in the greater scheme but is hardly the sort of issue Screengrab normally address. Personally, I fall on the “no” side of the issue- after all, barring a Freaky Friday-style switcheroo it’s nigh impossible to see anything through eyes that aren’t your own, and even in a situation where you truly don’t give a shit, even your apathy is a kind of bias, if only in a “yeahsureokaywhatever” sort of way. Of course, maybe I’m just annoyed that I didn’t get a confirmation that Paul Rudd’s work in the films of David Wain is superior (or at least funnier) than his Judd Apatow collaborations, but oh well, what the hell.

With this week's poll, we address the recent, apparently-not-a-joke announcement that the Farelly Brothers' long-gestating Three Stooges project is finally coming to fruition, with the comedy firm of Howard, Fine and Howard to be played by Sean Penn, Jim Carrey, and Benicio Del Toro. The combination of Carrey with these two Oscar-winning actors sounds intriguing on paper, but if you take into account the roles they'll be playing, it becomes almost surreal. So, we ask you- which pairing of actor and Stooge is most fascinating to you?

Which performer/Stooge pairing intrigues you most? | BuzzDash polls

Also, here's a bonus poll in conjunction with today's list of our favorite onscreen cut-ups. In short, the age-old argument: Chaplin vs. Keaton. Plenty of people like 'em both, but it's hard to find someone who doesn't like ones more than the other. We're going to settle this once and for all, at least as far as Screengrab's readers are concerned. So, everything considered (onscreen persona, directing skill, offscreen life, etc.), which do you prefer?

Who do you prefer? | BuzzDash polls

As always, the comments section is open. See you next week, when I hope I’ll actually be able to report the results of this poll.

Thursday Poll for March 19, 2009

Paul Clark — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:00:00 GMT

Charlie Kaufman is one of the most gifted and distinctive screenwriters in the movie business, and with the recent release of his directorial debut Synecdoche, New York on DVD, I decided to take a look back at his career to date, particularly his original screenplays. Each original Kaufman film has its share of ardent admirers, but according to the Screengrab readership, none is better than his mindbending relationship story, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Sunshine brought Kaufman his only Oscar to date, and clearly the voters agreed with the movie’s awesomeness, having given it a full 50% of the vote against some pretty heavy competition. That competition, of course, includes a number of critical and cult favorites, including Being John Malkovich (his first produced screenplay) and Adaptation., which garnered 17% of the vote apiece. Synecdoche, being rather more downbeat and divisive than its predecessors, hasn’t generated as much as enthusiasm as those other films, but 11% of voters (myself included) were passionate enough about it to choose it first in this company. And even the “flop” of the bunch, 2002’s Human Nature nonetheless was the favorite of 6% of you (as mentioned last week, I excluded Confessions of a Dangerous Mind for the reason that the film’s strangeness has at least as much to do with its subject and source material as it does with Kaufman).

This week, in conjunction with this weekend’s release of I Love You, Man, we take a look at the film’s leading man, Paul Rudd. Over the last decade, Rudd has morphed into one of the most dependable comic actors in the business, in addition to his other actorly gifts. True, he might have made some questionable career choices (what could have convinced him that co-starring with Eva Longoria Parker in Over Her Dead Body was a good career move?), but in my opinion Rudd, when he’s on his game, is one of the funniest guys in movies. After all, both Judd Apatow and the boys from The State have made Rudd a regular collaborator. So which is your favorite Paul Rudd comic performance? Forced to boil my list down to only a handful of Rudd’s films, I’ve chosen two Apatow productions and two from the State guys, but since there were plenty of other options to choose from, I’ve included an “other” pick for all you fans of Knocked Up or The Chateau.

Which contains Paul Rudd's best comic performance? | BuzzDash polls

As always, the comments section is open, especially for those of you who choose “Other.” See you next week!

Thursday Poll for March 12, 2009

Paul Clark — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:00:00 GMT

Despite what some box office analysts may tell you, a $55 million opening weekend in early March for an R-rated comic book adaptation is nothing to sneeze at. And while it appears that there was plenty of curiosity by the moviegoing public about the Watchmen movie, it seems that many of Screengrab’s readers didn’t share this enthusiasm. Consider that nearly half the voters in last week’s poll- 43%, to be precise- responded that they “couldn’t care less” about Watchmen. Of the other possible responses, the next highest-ranking choice was “more than a bit anxious,” which probably encompasses most of those who read (and loved) the comic. 14% of voters declared themselves “guardedly optimistic”, while the other 7% of you were downright angry about the movie- which, despite bad early buzz, wasn’t all that bad. And no voters were actually excited for Watchmen, which probably explains why it ended up at $55 million rather than a higher haul. Those who are inclined to watch box-office numbers will have their eye on Watchmen over the next few weeks to see whether it sustains its popularity with audiences.

This week, in conjunction with the DVD release of Charlie Kaufman’s directorial debut Synecdoche, New York, we take a look back at his career so far. Acclaimed by many as one of the most original creative minds in Hollywood, Kaufman has made his name with his visionary screenplays, which sometimes manage to upstage the films themselves. So, we ask you- what is your favorite film based on one of Kaufman’s “original” screenplay? I’ve eliminated Confessions of a Dangerous Mind from the running since, no matter your feelings about the film, I think most people would agree that the strange stuff comes largely from its subject. On the other hand, Adaptation., despite what the Academy’s writing branch would have you believe, is all Kaufman. Anyway… which is your favorite?

Which is your favorite? | BuzzDash polls

Remember, the comments section is open. See you next week!

Thursday Poll for March 5, 2009

Paul Clark — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:00:00 GMT

I realize you’re probably Oscar-ed out by now, and believe me, I understand completely. Yet some of you had enough residual Oscar-season love to bestow on the more obvious changes to this year’s telecast. Of all the new wrinkles to the ages-old format, your favorite this year was the family-unfriendly but undeniably hilarious montage of comedies featuring James Franco and Seth Rogen. This bit was chosen by 54% of you, and I’ve got to say that I was a fan of it as well, giggling about certain gags days afterwards. I mean, what’s not to love about Franco staple-gunning a dollar bill to Rogen’s face Necrobutcher-style, the pair cutting up at The Reader, or the random inclusion of Janusz Kaminski in the action? As a friend of mine said, if Werner Herzog ever gets a late-night talk show- and he really should- Janusz Kaminski needs to be his right-hand guy. Amen, bud.

Oh, the rest of the results. Hugh Jackman’s hosting and the abbreviated running time for the show (done by midnight, folks!) each brought in 8% of the vote, while the new format for acting awards got no votes at all. The runner-up in the voting was our old favorite “Other”, with 31%, although only one of you had the courtesy to say what his “other” vote was actually for. But since that person chose the lovely and talented Anne Hathaway being pulled into the opening number- and more than holding her own in the singing department- it’s hard to stay annoyed.

This week, you may have noticed that we’ve been on a bit of a Watchmen kick (it’s not over either, with my not-exactly-dissenting review scheduled to post later today). But on the brink of the film’s opening weekend, we ask you about your thoughts on the movie. How do you feel about the movie that’s been hyped as the year’s first blockbuster?

Which best describes how you feel about the WATCHMEN movie? | BuzzDash polls

As always, the comments section is open. See you next week!

Thursday Poll for February 26, 2009

Paul Clark — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:00:00 GMT

So how about those Oscars, folks? If you’re like me- and if you are indeed like me, then sorry about the pale complexion and crippling inferiority complex- you were let down by the massive amounts of love thrown at Slumdog Millionaire by the Academy rank-and-file. I mean, Best Sound- really? Over the likes of WALL*E, which was largely dependent on its sound to tell the story? In the Academy’s defense, I too might be inclined to love A.R. Rahman’s Slumdog score if I’d never seen a Bollywood movie. But anyway… while Slumdog’s dominance of Oscar night may have been a disappointment for some, it certainly wasn’t a surprise to most people. Consider that 73% of you folks predicted the film to take home the big award, compared to 18% for Milk, 9% for Benjamin Button, and no votes for anything else. Even more of a foregone conclusion in your eyes was Danny Boyle’s direction of Slumdog, which brought in a whopping 91% of the vote, with the only other voter being Gus Van Sant, who despite being nominated for the wrong movie (Paranoid Park is miles better than Milk, I’d say), was nonetheless more deserving of the Oscar this year. But to misquote last year’s Oscar winner, we simply couldn’t stop what was coming.

As for the rest of the show, I know many of you are let down about Mickey Rourke not taking home best actor, to say nothing of the missed opportunity to behold a Werner Herzog Oscar speech. But hey, it wasn’t all bad, right? Jackman had a few good moments as host, even if he generally stayed out of the way of the proceedings. And while most of the winners seemed pre-ordained, there were some interesting changes to this year’s ceremony to keep us diverted. Some were more into the new method for awarding the acting Oscars than others- while some enjoyed seeing the nominees’ reactions to being praised by their esteemed peers, others saw the awards-show equivalent of the Elders’ Tribunal from Superman. Below, I’ve listed three of the more obvious changes to the Oscar telecast, along with an audience-pleasing montage that offered some reprieve from the usual self-importance of the form. So, which was your favorite Oscars moment?

Which was your favorite Oscar-night moment? | BuzzDash polls

Feel free to use the comments section below, especially if you should vote for “other.” See you next week for what promises to be the first in a long line of non-Oscar-related Thursday polls.

Thursday Poll for February 19, 2009

Paul Clark — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:00:00 GMT

In the second week of our three-week run-up to the Academy Awards- only three more days!- we surveyed you on your predictions in the lead acting categories. In the hotly-contested Best Actor race, most have predicted a close call between old friends Sean Penn (Milk) and Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler). And you folks predicted them as the front-runners as well, with Rourke finally outpacing Penn, 50% to 30%. Of the other three nominees, Screengrab favorite Richard Jenkins and Frank Langella’s Tony-winning embodiment of Richard Nixon were seen as possible upsets in this category, taking home 10% apiece. And judging by your predictions, Brad Pitt might as well start polishing his “it’s an honor to be nominated” patter, since he didn’t get a single vote.

And speaking Pitt, how are his main squeeze Angelina Jolie’s chances to win Best Actress? Not very good, judging by last week’s poll. Jolie took home a mere 13% of the vote, tying for third place with Academy BFF Meryl Streep. Faring better was Rachel Getting Married’s Anne Hathaway with 20%, but not even she could stop the by-all-accounts-overdue Kate Winslet, who brought in an impressive 53% of the vote. Better luck next time, Melissa Leo.

This week, we bring it home with the poll for Best Picture. Does Slumdog have this sewn up yet, or do the other movies still have a shot?

What will win Best Picture? | BuzzDash polls

And just for kicks and grins, let’s predict the Best Director race too. Will this award fall in line with Best Picture as it normally does, or will the voters reward someone else?

Who will win Best Director? | BuzzDash polls

Because of the show airing on Sunday, I’ll be closing the poll on Saturday night. As always, the comments section is open. Enjoy this year’s Oscars!

Thursday Poll for February 12, 2009

Paul Clark — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:30:00 GMT

Last week, we began the run-up to the Oscar telecast (less than two weeks away now!) with the first of three Thursday Poll columns, this one asking for your predictions for Best Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress. And in what I do believe would qualify as a shocker of gargantuan proportions, the Screengrab readers defied conventional wisdom and predicted Michael Shannon as the most likely winner of the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, narrowly beating out the odds-on favorite, Heath Ledger.

Just kidding, folks! But that sure got your attention, didn’t it? Seriously though, Ledger dominated the supporting actor poll with a mighty 72% of the vote. Doubt possible pedophile priest Philip Seymour Hoffman came in second with 11%, and the other nominees evenly split the remaining votes, with 6% apiece. I suppose that means if Ledger does indeed get overlooked for the Oscar, it’s gonna be a pretty big upset- which we pretty much already knew.

In the somewhat more competitive category of Best Supporting Actress, the favorite according to the Screengrab readership was Doubt’s Viola Davis, besting Vicky Cristina Barcelona scene-stealer Penelope Cruz by a margin of 50% to 36%. Of the remaining votes, 6% each went to Amy Adams and Marisa Tomei, with Benjamin Button’s Taraji P. Henson not receiving a single vote.

This week, we move on to the lead acting categories. In the Best Actor race, most Oscar pundits are predicting either Milk star Sean Penn or Wrestler leading man Mickey Rourke for the win. But will voters fall harder for Penn, an Academy favorite whose spirited and sunny performance in a true-life role is miles from his usual intense roles, or Rourke, who’s got the year’s highest-profile comeback-kid story in his corner? Or will there be an upset by Screengrab fan favorite Richard Jenkins, the CGI-assisted Brad Pitt, or Frank Langella, who’s my kind of fella? The choice is yours:

Who will win the Best Actor Oscar? | BuzzDash polls

Likewise, in Best Actress, most of the people “in the know” are calling this a race between Meryl Streep, who’s hungering for that third Oscar (it’s been 26 years, after all), and Kate Winslet, whose much-overdue first Oscar win would only be problematic in the sense that it would be for frickin’ The Reader. But as William Goldman famously put it, nobody knows anything, and for all we know the voters might have converged behind Melissa Leo, Angelina Jolie, and (should good taste rule the day) Anne Hathaway instead. So who do you think will take home the golden boy?

Who will win Best Actress? | BuzzDash polls

As always, the comments section is open. See you next week!

Thursday Poll for February 5, 2009

Paul Clark — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:30:00 GMT

Last week, in response to the fairly bland and uninspired crop of Best Picture nominees this year, we asked our readers how many of them they actually enjoyed. And much like me, you folks were mostly negative on the movies that the Academy deemed the cream of this year’s crop. 76% of you said that you only liked two or fewer of the five nominees, with half those people liking one or even zero. 19% liked three of them, 6% enjoyed four out of five, and none of you were actually positive on all five. Of course, this negative skewing of results may be partially attributable to the results of last week’s bonus poll, which determined that only 25% of voters had actually seen all five movies. Another 25% had seen three of the nominees, while 8% capped their nominee viewing at two. And a whopping 42% of you had seen either one or none of them. And they wonder why Nielsen ratings for the ceremony are plummeting…

This week, in keeping with our Oscar theme, we’re presenting the first of three lists devoted to your Oscar predictions. First off, the supporting nominees. Most of us are fairly sure of who we think will take Best Supporting Actor, but what if Academy voters decide to throw the ultimate Oscar curveball by awarding someone whose name doesn’t rhyme with Teeth Dredger? Likely? No. But not impossible.

Who will win Best Supporting Actor? | BuzzDash polls

Somewhat more competitive is the Supporting Actress race. With consensus “overdue” nominee Kate Winslet honored in Best Actress rather than here, the race gets more interesting. Will Academy members mark their ballots for Viola Davis’ much-ballyhooed one-extended scene work in Doubt, or go for her younger and more fresh-faced costar Amy Adams? Will they invite Benjamin Button’s adoptive mama Taraji P. Henson back to the Oscar stage she appeared on three years back opposite Three Six Mafia? Can one-time winner Marisa Tomei make it two? Or will they, by awarding Penelope Cruz, remember a time when Woody Allen movies were the safest bet around in this category? You make the call:

Who will win Best Supporting Actress | BuzzDash polls

As always, the comments section is open. See you next week!

Thursday Poll for January 29, 2009

Paul Clark — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:00:00 GMT

With Oscar nominations, there of course comes the second-guessing. While many of our favorites made the cut this year, it seems like just as many got the shaft. But which was most egregiously snubbed? In a shocking turn of events, the Best Picture omission of fanboy favorite The Dark Knight was narrowly edged out by Academy voters’ lack of love for Happy-Go-Lucky’s persistently positive Poppy, Sally Hawkins. Hawkins’ non-nomination brought in 37% of the vote (compared to Dark Knight’s 32%), and prompted Steve C. to ask how the Academy could honor the screenplay for Mike Leigh’s film but not Hawkins herself. Astute question, Steve, and I’d add that it’s doubly odd considering that, this being a Mike Leigh film, Hawkins would no doubt have had a good amount of input on the screenplay, given his methods. Coming in third and fourth place, respectively, were Clint Eastwood’s growly star turn in Gran Torino and The Boss' title track from The Wrestler. Finally, only 5% of the voters found Woody Allen’s inability to procure a fifteenth Best Original Screenplay nomination for Vicky Cristina Barcelona to be the Academy’s biggest oversight this year. I guess that makes sense, since after all, it’s not like he’ll show up for the ceremony anyway…

Moving on to the movies that were nominated, I find myself surprisingly unmoved by this year’s crop of Best Picture nominees. Maybe it’s just that we’re coming off a year in which not only did I actually like all five nominated movies, but I thought that two of them- including the eventual winner- were out-and-out masterpieces. This year, on the other hand… yeesh. Of the five nominees, I can only claim to have liked two of them, and I wasn’t even all that keen on those. How about you? How many of this year’s Best Picture nominees did you like?

(In case you’ve forgotten, and I wouldn’t blame you if you have, the Best Picture nominees are: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader, and Slumdog Millionaire)

How many of this year's Best Picture nominations did you LIKE? | BuzzDash polls

Bonus poll: much has been made of how this year’s Best Picture nominees are the least box-office-friendly in years, with only one having played in more than 1,000 prior to nomination day. So, just for curiosity’s sake, how many of this year’s Best Picture nominees have you seen?

How many of this year's Best Picture nominations have you SEEN? | BuzzDash polls

As always, the comments section is open. Please keep death threats addressed to non-Dark Knight nominating Academy members to a minimum. See you next week!

Thursday Poll for January 22, 2009

Paul Clark — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 22:49:00 GMT

Long an industry favorite, Clint Eastwood’s films has been nominated for Best Picture four times to date. But which of his nominated films has held up the best? In the eyes of our readers, his first Best Picture nominee (and winner), Unforgiven, still reigns. Bringing in a decisive 72% of the vote, Unforgiven trounced the competition. In fact, our readers preferred Eastwood’s orangutan comedies to any of his other nominated films by a margin of 17% to 11% (all brought in by 2004’s Million Dollar Baby). As for Mystic River and Letters From Iwo Jima, they got no love whatsoever from our voters. And while some would maintain these movies didn’t deserve to be ignored altogether, I believe it was Clint himself who once said, “deserve’s got nothin’ to do with it.”

Speaking of deserve having nothing to do with it, you may have noticed that Oscar nominations were announced this morning. And with the nominations come the inevitable surprises. Few people saw the The Reader (which has been met so far mostly with indifference from critics and audiences) being the force it was this morning, although if history teaches us anything it’s that tastefully-made adaptations of respectable Holocaust-related novels should never be counted out. Then again, some surprises were happier- for example, I didn’t see Michael Shannon’s nomination coming, but I was happy to hear his name called. And how awesome does “Werner Herzog, Oscar nominee” sound? On the other hand, there are the snubs. Some of them were obvious from the beginning- much as I loved Synecdoche, New York, I didn’t think it had much of a shot at anything. Others were more shocking, to say the least. In this week’s poll, I’ve listed five of the more notable snubs this year, four of which were considered legitimate front-runners, the fifth a longtime Oscar favorite who many thought might be invited back to the party again. So which of this year’s snubs was most egregious?

Which was the most egregious snub? | BuzzDash polls

As always, the comments section is open, in case you’d like to complain or praise the nominations. See you next week!

Thursday Poll for January 15, 2009

Paul Clark — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

With the Oscar ceremony little more than a month away and nominations being announced next week, I used last week’s Thursday Poll to ask you about your tastes in Oscar hosts. And you responded rather decisively that when it comes to recent Oscar emcees, your preference was for Jon Stewart, erstwhile host of The Daily Show and star of such cinematic gems as Death to Smoochy, Big Daddy and Playing By Heart, who brought in 57% of the votes. By some not-all-that-odd coincidence, Stewart also shared the screen with your second-favorite recent host, Steve Martin (24%), in Stewart’s big-screen debut, 1994’s Mixed Nuts (yeah, we’ve expelled it from our memory banks too). In third place was one-timer Ellen DeGeneres, with former Oscar mainstay Billy Crystal and the hugely divisive Chris Rock in a dead heat for last. How will Hugh Jackman compare? Well, he couldn’t be any worse than Rock, could he?

This week, on the tail of Clint Eastwood’s latest directing effort Gran Torino, we look at the iconic actor/director’s most celebrated films. A perennial Oscar favorite, Eastwood’s films have been nominated for Best Picture four times to date, winning twice. Which Eastwood-directed Best Picture nominee is your favorite?

Which is your favorite? | BuzzDash polls

As always, the comments section is open. See you next week!

Thursday Poll for January 8, 2009

Paul Clark — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:30:00 GMT

Last week, the Screengrab writing staff published their choices for the best movies of 2008. In conjunction, we asked you folks to vote for your favorite from our five consensus choices. And winner is…

(fiddles with envelope for an absurdly drawn-out length of time)…

It’s a tie! That’s right, ladies and germs- the final tally showed a dead heat between two very different films, the animated blockbuster WALL*E and the mindbending directorial debut of Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, New York (my personal favorite). Each film brought in 30% of the vote, followed by an impressive 20% showing for The Dark Knight, 15% for Milk, and bringing up the rear, a mere 5% for Rachel Getting Married. Really though, you couldn’t go wrong with any of those (even Milk, which I didn’t love but which I certainly don’t hate)- only varying degrees of right.

This week, in anticipation of the upcoming Academy Awards nominations, we look back on Oscar ceremonies past. Years ago, attendees of the Oscar ceremony and viewers watching from home could pretty much count on Bob Hope to host the show nearly every year. However, since Hope stepped down, the job has seen an endless string of emcees to preside over the action. This year’s host, Hugh Jackman, is viewed by many as a bold departure from the usual comedians who host the show, but some people still like their hosts funny. Which of the last five Oscar hosts has been your favorite?

<a href="http://www.buzzdash.com/polls/whos-your-favorite-recent-oscar-host-142217/">Who's your favorite recent Oscar host?</a> | <a href="http://www.buzzdash.com">BuzzDash polls</a>

As always, feel free to sound off in the comments (especially you, Letterman fans). See you next week!

Thursday Poll for New Year's Day 2009

Paul Clark — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 23:00:00 GMT

The celebration of some obscure holiday caught me completely off guard a week ago, and so shocked was I by its sudden emergence that I completely forgot to run a Thursday poll. Because of this, I neglected to report that fully half of our readers, when given the choice between Kate Winslet’s Oscar-nominated performances, preferred her turn as the mood-haired Clementine in Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Somewhat less expected was the 25% showing for the second-place finisher, 2006’s Little Children, followed by her performances in Sense and Sensibility and Iris. Bringing up the rear was her starmaking role in a little sleeper hit called Titanic, which brought in no votes whatsoever. So that only leaves us with the question of whether she’ll finally take home an Oscar this year, either as Revolutionary Road’s disenchanted housewife or the “illiterate Nazi cougar” (thanks, Uncle Crizzle!) of The Reader.

Over the past week, the writers of The Screengrab have posted their lists of the best movies of 2008. Now it’s your turn. Which of the Screengrab’s top five favorites from the past year do you prefer?

Which is your favorite? | BuzzDash polls

Feel free to post your lists of the best of 2008 in the comments section if you wish. See you next week!

Thursday Poll for December 18, 2008

Paul Clark — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Last week, to coincide with the release of Ron Howard’s big-screen take on Frost/Nixon, we asked you to choose your favorite big-screen version of our 37th President. According to you, the Trickiest Dick of all was the future Lt. Bookman and Jimmy Gator himself, Philip Baker Hall, in Robert Altman’s Secret Honor. Hall brought in 45% of the vote, all the more impressive when you consider that his competition was somewhat stiffer than Nixon’s was in 1972. Coming in second place was Anthony Hopkins in Oliver Stone’s Nixon, followed by the ever-popular “Other” (although readers neglected to specify precisely which Other they meant) and Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon, whose poor showing might be attributable to the fact that his film hasn’t yet been widely released. Sadly, Dan Hedaya’s comedic take on the disgraced Commander in Chief couldn’t manage a single vote, although for my part I would’ve ranked him second behind Hall.

This week, we look at the career of perennial Oscar favorite (and eternal Screengrab crush) Kate Winslet. With two new films on the verge of release, Winslet once again finds herself in the awards hunt for one or possibly even both of these performances. But before she can add yet another nomination to her already impressive five (at the age of 33, no less), let’s compare the relative merits of her already-nominated performances. Which is your favorite?

Which of Kate Winslet's nominated performances is your favorite? | BuzzDash polls

I predict this will be a landslide, although lord knows I’ve been wrong before. As always, the comments section is open. See you next week!

Thursday Poll for December 11, 2008

Paul Clark — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Last week, the Thursday Poll took a look back at the recent films of Gus Van Sant to commemorate with the release of his latest film, Milk. In the process we made one unmistakable discovery- you folks like your Van Sant movie arty. To wit: of Van Sant’s last five movies, your favorite (and mine too) was 2002’s minimalist slackers-in-the-desert saga Gerry, which simultaneously won the week and conquered Thebes with a 44% showing. In our closest showing in a while, Van Sant’s Cannes prizewinner Elephant finished with a strong 38%, followed by Last Days with 13% and the sadly underrated Paranoid Park with 6%. And while awards-giving bodies will no doubt show plenty of love for Milk, its more mainstream style didn’t make much of an impact with our readers, garnering not a single vote. But hey, it’s better than Finding Forrester, right?

This week, in conjunction with the upcoming release of Frost/Nixon, the latest bit of middlebrow Oscar-bait from the guy who narrated Arrested Development (the best thing he ever did, by the way), we take a look at the varied cinematic portrayals of the Trickiest Dick to ever inhabit the White House. So, who’s your favorite big-screen Nixon?

Who's your favorite big-screen Nixon? | BuzzDash polls

As always, the comments section is open. We'll see you next week, provided nobody Gerries the rendezvous. Don't forget your shirt-basket!

Thursday Poll for November 27, 2008

Paul Clark — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Last week, we continued our Bond-fest with the eternal question, “who was the best 007?” But much like the Vesper martinis that Daniel Craig’s Bond enjoys so much, this quiz came with a twist- Sean Connery wasn’t one of the candidates, a choice we made with the goal of keeping the poll competitive. However, you had other plans, with Craig (if nothing else, the first Bond since Connery who could convincingly kick some serious villain ass) bringing home a cool 56% of the vote. Trailing him by a wide margin was the #2 choice, Roger Moore, with 19%, followed by Pierce Brosnan with 13%. As usual, the unloved Messrs. Lazenby and Dalton brought up the rear with a mere 6% apiece. And while we received a number of write-in votes for unofficial Bonds ranging from Corey Burton to Operation Kid Brother’s Neil Connery, I was a little disappointed that nobody chose my favorite fake Bond, the diminutive Weng Weng in For Your Height Only.

This week, we move from high-octane action to high-caffeine spectacle by spotlighting the one and only Baz Luhrmann, whose latest film, Australia, was released yesterday. Whether his films leave you dumb with wonderment or simply dumbfounded, it’s hard to find a movie lover who doesn’t have an opinion on the guy. So, what’s your favorite Luhrmann film?

What is your favorite Baz Luhrmann film? | BuzzDash polls

As always, the comments section is opening. Have a spectacular spectacular Thanksgiving, and we’ll see you next week!

Thursday Poll for November 20, 2008

Paul Clark — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:00:00 GMT

With the U.S. release of Quantum of Solace last weekend, Bond-mania was in full swing, and for last week’s poll we couldn’t help but play along. We asked you to select your favorite from the Screengrab list of the Top 5 Bond Movies, and the favorite of our readers was the third 007 adventure, 1964’s Goldfinger. Taking in 38% of the vote, the Connery classic outpaced the competition, followed by my two personal favorites From Russia With Love and the ever-underloved On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (I go back and forth as to which I prefer), with 31% and 15% respectively. Bringing up the rear were Connery’s first and last official Bond movies, Dr. No and Diamonds Are Forever.

We’re still reeling from Warner Bros.’ move of the latest Harry Potter movie to next summer, which left us without an excuse to run a Potter-themed poll this week. So in a pinch, we found ourselves turning once again to Bond. By now, it’s become so widely-accepted that Sean Connery is the quintessential Bond that it’s gotten downright unfair to the other actors who’ve donned the tux. But without Connery in the mix, things get much more interesting, and more competitive. So, we ask you- who’s your favorite Bond actor not named Sean Connery?

Which of these guys made the best 007? | BuzzDash polls

As always, the comments section is open for you to make a case for your favorite, or just in case you want to write in “Woody Allen as Jimmy Bond” or Barry Nelson for all you smartass classic TV fans. See you next week!

Thursday Poll for November 13, 2007

Paul Clark — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

With a little more than two months left until Oscar nominations are announced, who stands the best chance of being nominated from the movies that have already gotten released? If the predictions of Screengrab’s readership hold any water (and we like to think they do), then Anne Hathaway should be very happy come nomination day. Once best known as the star of the Princess Diaries franchise (and later as the girl who gets topless in the otherwise regrettable Havoc), Hathaway’s revelatory lead performance in Jonathan Demme’s near-masterpiece Rachel Getting Married has made a real impression on our readers, nearly half of whom voted for it in last week’s poll. In second place was eternal paparazzi-magnet Angelina Jolie in Clint Eastwood’s Changeling, followed by The Jenkins for his performance in this spring’s word-of-mouth hit The Visitor. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the scant 7% of the vote received by Penelope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, if only because a decade ago she would’ve been practically a shoo-in to get nominated, given Woody Allen’s awards prowess during the nineties.

This week, we presented our list of our favorite 007 movies. Now we leave it to you- which of our top five choices leaves you the most shaken… or stirred?

Which of these 007 movies is your favorite? | BuzzDash polls

As always, the comments section is open. See you next week!

Thursday Poll for November 6, 2008

Paul Clark — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:00:00 GMT

This year’s Presidential election might have resulted in a decisive win, but not all elections lately have been so clear-cut. Take last week’s poll, in which we polled you folks about your favorite of our top 5 horror movies of all time. With nearly all precincts reporting, it’s a dead heat between the top contenders, Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead. Making this deadlock all the more surprising is the fact that, just a few weeks ago, these first two installments in George A. Romero’s Dead franchise didn’t finish nearly so closely in that particular poll. At any rate, it’s looking like we’re going to have to send this one to the House of Representatives, who ought to be able to settle this thing, although the possibility of a corrupt bargain is a very real one.

This week, we look ahead to the upcoming awards season. If recent history is any indication, most of the Oscar nominees will come from films that have yet to be released in theatres. But odds are that at least the moviegoing public has already seen a few of the nominees who will wake up happy on the morning on January 22, 2009. So who stands the best chance of getting nominated from the first ten months of the year? Setting aside the most obvious choice (the late Heath Ledger, of course), I’ve listed five of the most likely contenders, taken from films that have been widely released or are currently available on DVD. Will it be Anne Hathaway’s revelatory work in Jonathan Demme’s family dramedy? Angelina Jolie in her first collaboration with perennial Oscar favorite Clint Eastwood? The scene-stealing Penelope Cruz in Woody Allen’s latest? The Jenkins, knocking one out of the park in his long-awaited leading man breakthrough? Or will the Academy decide to recognize the controversial, attention-getting comedic work by Robert Downey Jr., the big-star story of the year so far? The choice is yours:

Who's most likely to be Oscar-nominated? | BuzzDash polls

As always, feel free to sound off in the comments section. See you next week!

Thursday Poll for October 30, 2008

Paul Clark — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 23:00:00 GMT

And It’s George W. Bush by a landslide! Inspired by the recent release of W., we asked our readers to compare the onscreen presidency of Josh Brolin with his father’s performance as Ronald Reagan on the controversial miniseries The Reagans. In the end, it wasn’t even close, with every single vote going the younger Brolin’s way. Of course, there were only a handful of votes registered by our state-of-the-art polling instruments, which either means that only a few of you have seen either or both of the films, or there was some massive voter disenfranchisement going on. Of course, neither would possibly stand a chance against Terry Crews' spot-on portrayal of President Camacho, but that's a poll for another time.

This week’s poll comes just in time for Halloween. This afternoon, we ranked our all-time favorite horror movies, and now it’s your turn. I’ve listed the five most popular films among our writing staff, and now it’s your turn. Which of the Screengrab’s all-time favorite horror movies is your favorite?

Which of Screengrab's top 5 horror classics is your favorite? | BuzzDash polls

Ooooooooh, scary! Leave your comments below, and when you’re out trick-or-treating, remember to check your candy before you eat it. See you in November!

The Summer of Super-Duds

Leonard Pierce — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:45:00 GMT

With so many superhero movies set to come out this summer, one of them is bound to suck. Well, that's not true -- chances are pretty good that all of them are going to suck. But the folks over at New York magazine are ever the optimists, and they're handicapping the cape-and-cowl movies of the hot months to determine which one to avoid.

They peg Iron Man as most likely to succeed (despite the fact that ol' Shell-Head "has nowhere near the Q-meter rating of Spidey or Supes", but The Incredible Hulk is their even-money choice to bomb out: "The initial trailer made the movie seem exciting but shallow and somewhat humorless. And if a legitimately great director like Ang Lee can't make the Hulk story into a good movie, what chance does Louis Leterrier (previous credits: The Transporter, The Transporter 2) have?"

Us, we're just flattered that New York's "Vulture" bloggers are fans of our Thursday polls here at the Screengrab...