Stealing From My Livejournal Part XI

As I use my livejournal for little else except for movie rants and decided to switch over here, I thought I'd recruit some older posts so as to show a history. I'll bother with new ones as they come to me.




From September 16, 2008:

"How much of a nerd does it make me when I look back on the 2004 Oscars as beautiful? Probably a huge nerd, but I was just browsing through the wikipedia articles on the recent Oscar ceremonies, trying to spot an instance other than the Lord of the Rings sweep in which unconventionality reigned in Hollywood.

Why was I doing this? Because The Dark Knight is being rereleased, at least in IMAX, maybe in traditional theaters, in January, to throw it into prominence for the Oscars. At this point, there aren't that many excellent films of 2008, so I can see the appeal, but there are a lot of movies coming out that I am highly anticipating and that Hollywood surely is looking towards as potential Oscar material. I was trying to convince Julie as to why the "strange" happening that Heath Ledger might get an Oscar is possible. I love unconventionality. And it is unconventional for a dead man to win an Academy Award. But if any performance deserved it, it's that one.

But anyways, this leads me into another movie rant.

Buzz is already surrounding Keira Knightley, unfortunately, for The Dutchess. What I am more excited for, however, is the buzz surrounding Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married. Maybe this is because Anne Hathaway does not play all the same roles and is a good actress with a promising career ahead of her, whereas Keira Knightley does play all the same roles and is getting kind of annoying. I get it, you made a good Elizabeth Bennet, can you try something new now? Angelina Jolie is getting some buzz too for Changeling. I haven't been paying that movie much attention at all, however, so I can't really voice my opinion there. I'm reserving judgment, because I've never really seen Angelina Jolie act since Girl, Interrupted and that was like a decade ago.

I am really excited for Australia. REALLY excited. I missed Baz Luhrmann. I am just really excited for this movie and I hope it does well. I think Revolutionary Road is also certainly garnering some attention, starring Leo and Kate and with Mendes as director. Other movies I predict might be contenders in some form, whether acting or feature, include Doubt and Frost/Nixon. Of course, I've been hearing buzz about Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button since I first saw a preview for it months ago. We'll see how that works out. And Seven Pounds might get Will Smith some more attention (not that he really needs it). Milk is a movie I'm a bit excited about and looking forward to. James Franco is in it!!! This excites me. And I still really want to see August, which stars Josh Hartnett and is apparently a very good movie.

On a lighter note, Fanboys is FINALLY coming out. The official release date, announced on the production website, is November 26th. It better finally come out. I mean, dammit, I've been waiting for this movie for like two years. And, obviously, I'm still excited for The Brothers Bloom. In my wildest dreams, it becomes somehow famous and garners so much attention and becomes the underdog of the year. But realistically speaking, I'm hoping the honour of underdog goes more in the direction of The Visitor, which better not get neglected or else I'll be very sad.

But as for The Dark Knight, if all these other movies don't live up to the expectations, which I'd be surprised by, who knows? Maybe it could get a Best Picture nod. I really don't think it will, but if the coming season doesn't live up to expectations, it could happen. For now, I'll settle for a Best Supporting Actor nod (at minimum), and some awards in the sound, effects, and design department. But the popularity and general acclaim the movie has, it has me wondering... would it count as Adapted Screenplay or Original Screenplay? I mean, does it have to be directly adapted to be adapted? I would think it'd be an adapted screenplay, considering it's not original material, but it's something worth wondering over.

I don't know... Hollywood's been pretty boring the past couple years. Maybe it's about time for another unconventional sweep. Unlikely... but it's nice to dream isn't it? (Because in my dream, Rian Johnson gets a Best Director nod. Hahahaha, my dreams are crazy).

At least one thing's for certain. If Wall-E doesn't win Best Animated Feature, something's wrong with this world."

Stealing From My Livejournal Part II

As I use my livejournal for little else except for movie rants and decided to switch over here, I thought I'd recruit some older posts so as to show a history. I'll bother with new ones as they come to me.



From January 29, 2008:

"Atonement - Man I hated Keira Knightley in that. I really did. I liked every actor in it except for her. She just bugged me and not only because she resembled some of those anorexic pictures you see on middle schooler's projects about eating disorders. The movie overall was good, but nothing that really made me think "man, this movie is awesome." It was, imo, a fairly typical class-issue love story with this gigantic obstacle that never gets solved. Oh boo hoo, yeah, it's depressing as fuckall, but that doesn't make a movie great.

No Country for Old Men - I definitely enjoyed this one. Though the plot is pretty much nothing like The Departed, I just kept thinking about it when I was watching it. Javier Bardem pretty much made my life with that role. He was incredibly amazing and deserves every award he's won for it. Yeah. I was expecting an ending like The Departed, ya know, with Mark Wahlberg just standing there in the plastic shoes and BAM. But because of my expectancy for a bam!ending, I zoned out on the real ending, where Tommy Lee Jones just talks about some dreams he's having. And when I heard Kelly Macdonald speak in that texan accent, I was like "WHOA, but you're all Scottish!" >.> I remember her more from Trainspotting and Gosford Park where she is all Scottish because, well, she is all Scottish. Shush.

There Will Be Blood - Oh Daniel Day-Lewis, you are awesome. And Paul Dano gets muchos kudos for believably portraying one of the most psychotic-acting characters I've seen in a while. I mean, it takes something to scream like a little girl on fire for a good half of your performance and not have it become 2D or over-the-top. So yeah, Paul Dano's character, Eli Sunday, omgcanipleasestabyou? Paul Dano, you are pretty damn awesome. Implied for Daniel Day-Lewis because I think it's pretty common knowledge that he's awesome. Overall the movie was quite good, though, I dunno, I felt the ending dragging just a little. Not so significantly that it suffered, but I was like "so... is this the last scene?" Either way, hehehe, the last scene is pretty amazing. xD

The only best picture contender (and best actor contender) I've yet to see now is Michael Clayton. At this moment in time, all I'm REALLY hoping for is Atonement losing, because of the four best picture nominees I've seen, it is the worst. It's not a bad movie, it just was not my favourite."