A subject that's addressed when it comes to the awards season and when it comes to movie-goers in general is likability. Not necessarily of the actors, but certainly of the characters. A fond and frustrating memory serves as example: when watching Battlestar Galactica with my mother, she couldn't stand nearly any of the characters because she didn't find them likable. Likability is something that changes from person to person; I, on the other hand, can only say I honestly strongly dislike one major Battlestar character, though I hardly love them all.
The reason this is coming to mind is my very recent (as in just finished about thirty seconds ago) viewing of The Kids Are All Right. Obviously, a lot of good things have been said about it considering its high tomatometer rating on rottentomatoes and its critical support and awards circuit support. However, I went in to watch this without expecting anything too brilliant, though hoping for it. I was honestly still pretty disappointed. It took the entire movie for me to understand why Anette Bening is getting so much attention and, honestly, she deserves it for making a character that could be so easily disliked into probably one of my favorites in the movie (besides the kids because, as the title says, the kids are all right, even though the adults are pretty ridiculous). Jules, on the other hand, while given a valiant effort by Julianne Moore, I simply could not stand. While I didn't appreciate Nic's trashing of composting (living in the rural area of upstate New York, I have composted my entire life as composting means opening the back door and chucking apple cores into the woods or, alternatively, walking about a hundred feet to our designated compost pile). I, however, could not stomach Jules accusations of her gardener being a druggie (and firing him!) and later her knowingly wrongful assertion to Nic that he did blow.
The thing is, obviously, if a character is bad or annoying or frustrating that doesn't make them unlikable. Just look at Daniel Plainview, The Joker, Mark Zuckerberg, hell, even the entire Gossip Girl cast (well, save Jenny and Vanessa in my opinion as they are both incredibly unlikable in my opinion). Bad people make fascinating characters, but it takes a good writer and a good actor to make them worth watching. I'm not a huge fan of either Mark Ruffalo or Julianne Moore, but I'd liked them in films past (i.e. Zodiac and A Single Man, respectively). However, here, whether it's their fault or just plain old bad, melodramatic writing, I couldn't enjoy Jules and Paul. I get it, dysfunctional family, unconventional family, and family values all wrapped into one. Interesting setting, which I enjoyed. However, the actual story and the use of those two characters made me cringe and groan and pull my laptop up to take a break from the movie and browse some websites.
I'm a bit surprised The Kids Are All Right hasn't entered the conversation in this way as I've heard plenty about the likability surrounding the characters of The Social Network and The King's Speech, but that's probably because TSN and TKS are front of the pack for Best Picture while The Kids Are All Right is looking at a nod only. Personally, I'm not sure I'd even give it that. The story just turned me off so much and those two characters, sometimes three, were so unbearable, I couldn't take it.
It's worth noting, however, that there's a difference between bad characters we love and bad characters that are just bad and it's usually because the latter category tries to argue that they are good people. That's not really the case with The Kids Are All Right or with any actually quality story-telling - good character studies try to prove the humanity of their characters rather than defining them as good or bad.
However, somewhere along the way, I just think this study failed. I could see that Jules and Paul were human, flawed but good-intentioned, and yet I couldn't get behind them at all. I didn't want to see anymore of them. I could not have lasted another hour with them.
This is what interests me when I've heard criticisms about The Social Network's characters and how unlikable they are because my very first response after I saw The Social Network was that I could have watched those actors play those characters for hours more. Mark Zuckerberg and Sean Parker were pretty jerky, the Winklevoss twins were hardly nice guys, and Eduardo Saverin was hardly perfect, but I was so fascinated by them and the way they interacted with one another. Mostly, it was thanks to a great (albeit partially fictional, but who really cares about that besides the people whose names were borrowed?) story and great writing.
I'm having a hard time really pinpointing what makes me think The Kids Are All Right failed to entertain or interest me, but I think I'm going to go with the story. The set-up, the concept, the ambiance, the general filmmaking, and the acting (for the most part) was all well-done and enjoyable. But something about the ways in which the characters are portrayed through the story leaves them unflattering in a painful and cringe-worthy way. Simply put, I didn't like it.
But, like I said earlier, likability is all about opinion. While I dislike the characters of The Kids Are All Right but love the characters of The Social Network (and The King's Speech for that matter), not everyone agrees. It's much easier, after all, on paper to adore the middle-aging married couple (because or even if they are lesbians) than a twentysomething billionaire or a British prince. However, that's not how stories work. Stories convince you that even if Mark Zuckerberg is a selfish prick or even if Prince Albert is stuffy and royal these characters are people too and they're human and interesting.
Likability will always play a part. I usually haven't had a real problem with it, since I am first in line to defend unlikable characters as real, but something about these characters, something about this story left me dissatisfied and frustrated.
On a slight ending note tangent, I saw Love and Other Drugs a couple weeks ago now and I was actually originally planning to write a blog post on that, particularly on the likability of Anne Hathaway's character versus Jake Gylenhaal's and how I found the latter to be more likable because how he was written as opposed to the former (and I'd half-jokingly blame that on the male writers - it is hard to write a strong female character, isn't it? and, back on topic, The Kids Are All Right had to write two! AND they had a woman at the other end of the pen, so phooey).
Showing posts with label best picture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label best picture. Show all posts
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Monday, July 19, 2010
A Twitter Trend I Can Get Behind.
Inception, Inception, Inception. It's the talk of the town, isn't it? I know I, for one, have been fangirling all over that thing for months. But, to be quite honest, I've quieted down a lot about it in recent weeks as it really approached. I've been excited for it, yes, but I was avoiding learning too much, theorizing too much, because I really like the experience of seeing a movie without truly knowing what you are going to get out of it. I had seen the basic trailers, but I avoided the spoilers, the plot details, pretty much all of it beyond the very basics everyone knew.
It paid off for me. I didn't even see the movie on opening day; I'd been thinking about a midnight screening, but had made plans to see it today and thought I might as well wait a couple extra days. I took my time, heard bits and pieces of the critiques, and just went into the movie without knowing precisely what I was getting.
I personally quite loved Inception. It was smart without being pretentious or much over my head, its cast was amazing, its technical side was stunning (that score! that cinematography! that EDITING!), and it was just an engrossing tale. Of course I applaud Christopher Nolan for his originality, but also for his dedication and his skill in bringing this fascinating tale to life. I thought the pace was tremendous as well, and like my favorite "long" movies, it didn't feel long in the least. I was thrilled to see more and more and more.
If I am to make a small comparison to The Dark Knight, however, I would say that the pace is better in Inception. I know there is some criticism about the ever-high tension of The Dark Knight, which I personally loved, and is still very much apparent in Inception. However, as Inception works in the layers that it does of the dream world, rather than through a straight time-line of different conflicts in The Dark Knight, the ever-heightened tension works better for Inception. That is really the only comparison I want to make between the two, because their handling is not so different despite their much different stories and tones in regards to the pacing of the films.
I want to watch Inception again, of course, before I really decide how much I liked it. I do know that I want the Academy to recognize it because it is brilliant and it is well-crafted and it is original. I know that many will argue that Christopher Nolan deserves his due because of the snub for The Dark Knight, but that's not why I want him to get recognized. I want him to get recognized because he has done consistently great work and this may not be his most critically-acclaimed film, but it is clearly one he poured himself into and is so very much his.
No matter if the Academy ends up acknowledging Nolan despite their snub of The Dark Knight and his work on it, they still snubbed a great modern film two years ago. Call me a fangirl all you want, but The Dark Knight is a freakin' fantastic movie and of all the Academy snubs in recent years, that is one of the most egregious, in my opinion.
But back to Inception. I really don't have a whole lot to say about it because though certain things stand out, every moment was as well-crafted as the last and the next. I did not see and points that made it weak. In its own concept, in its own world, it was done just right. Are there better movies, better tales both original and adapted? Sure, probably. But that does not take away from Inception's perfection in and of itself. I, personally, wouldn't change a thing about it. I wouldn't dare touch it.
It paid off for me. I didn't even see the movie on opening day; I'd been thinking about a midnight screening, but had made plans to see it today and thought I might as well wait a couple extra days. I took my time, heard bits and pieces of the critiques, and just went into the movie without knowing precisely what I was getting.
I personally quite loved Inception. It was smart without being pretentious or much over my head, its cast was amazing, its technical side was stunning (that score! that cinematography! that EDITING!), and it was just an engrossing tale. Of course I applaud Christopher Nolan for his originality, but also for his dedication and his skill in bringing this fascinating tale to life. I thought the pace was tremendous as well, and like my favorite "long" movies, it didn't feel long in the least. I was thrilled to see more and more and more.
If I am to make a small comparison to The Dark Knight, however, I would say that the pace is better in Inception. I know there is some criticism about the ever-high tension of The Dark Knight, which I personally loved, and is still very much apparent in Inception. However, as Inception works in the layers that it does of the dream world, rather than through a straight time-line of different conflicts in The Dark Knight, the ever-heightened tension works better for Inception. That is really the only comparison I want to make between the two, because their handling is not so different despite their much different stories and tones in regards to the pacing of the films.
I want to watch Inception again, of course, before I really decide how much I liked it. I do know that I want the Academy to recognize it because it is brilliant and it is well-crafted and it is original. I know that many will argue that Christopher Nolan deserves his due because of the snub for The Dark Knight, but that's not why I want him to get recognized. I want him to get recognized because he has done consistently great work and this may not be his most critically-acclaimed film, but it is clearly one he poured himself into and is so very much his.
No matter if the Academy ends up acknowledging Nolan despite their snub of The Dark Knight and his work on it, they still snubbed a great modern film two years ago. Call me a fangirl all you want, but The Dark Knight is a freakin' fantastic movie and of all the Academy snubs in recent years, that is one of the most egregious, in my opinion.
But back to Inception. I really don't have a whole lot to say about it because though certain things stand out, every moment was as well-crafted as the last and the next. I did not see and points that made it weak. In its own concept, in its own world, it was done just right. Are there better movies, better tales both original and adapted? Sure, probably. But that does not take away from Inception's perfection in and of itself. I, personally, wouldn't change a thing about it. I wouldn't dare touch it.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Toy Story 3
This is a comment I posted on awardsdaily.com on this newspost.
"I need to see this again. I was too emotionally crazed to really be able to tolerate anyone saying it was less than perfection. But I was in tears from the beginning, when we saw how many toys had disappeared over the years (not unlike my own storage units in the family garage, which are missing most of my old childhood toys), and barely held it together in the end when Andy played with his toys one last time with Bonnie. I was afraid I was going to audibly sob I couldn't stop crying.
Toy Story 3 may not be the best storytelling of some of the other films, but it is also clearly an installment in a franchise, which makes it different from most of the films. It is, indeed, its most emotional though. I have never been more touched by a movie in my life, but that's something my generation, who were kids when Toy Story first came out, and Toy Story 2, and now are coming back for thirds having been in Andy's exact place, is bound to experience. But I think it's something all adults can relate to and all kids will dread relating to (if I were young enough to still have toys in my room, you know I'd have gone home to instantly play with them for hours). Watching Woody, Buzz, and the gang go through all their trials is like watching what happens to your childhood, hoping that it doesn't get destroyed, but knowing it will never be the same as it was before, which is just as heart-breaking.
I don't know if I'll ever be able to rationally discuss Toy Story 3 because it just touched a place in me I'd forgotten I had. The first two feel so quaint and sweet these days, but this movie just feels too real, almost too personal, though I was never as cool a kid as Andy was, and I didn't love my toys quite the same way he did. But I think that just proves all the more what a fantastic movie it is, that it strikes a cord so strong that everything else beyond the tears and laughter is creates, doesn't really matter. It reminds me of Ego's review in Ratatouille, like all brilliant things do, and how technicalities and hard-hearts and reality aside, beauty is beauty and there are some things that are simply beyond proper criticism."
It'll be a long time before I can sum up my feelings on Toy Story 3 (I only left the theater about two hours ago), but I think the first reaction matters almost as much as the last. And, boy oh boy, have I got a first reaction. I know it's still soon after, but this was just one of those movie-going experiences where I feel like I'm a different person on the other side and I have no idea how I've changed, but I just feel it, but it could also be the emotional overload from the past few hours... it's too confusing.
But I do know that I dug my stuffed animals out of a trash bag in my brother's room, gave them a talking to about how much I love them, and set several of them around my room, including my poor, mistreated American Girl dolls.
"I need to see this again. I was too emotionally crazed to really be able to tolerate anyone saying it was less than perfection. But I was in tears from the beginning, when we saw how many toys had disappeared over the years (not unlike my own storage units in the family garage, which are missing most of my old childhood toys), and barely held it together in the end when Andy played with his toys one last time with Bonnie. I was afraid I was going to audibly sob I couldn't stop crying.
Toy Story 3 may not be the best storytelling of some of the other films, but it is also clearly an installment in a franchise, which makes it different from most of the films. It is, indeed, its most emotional though. I have never been more touched by a movie in my life, but that's something my generation, who were kids when Toy Story first came out, and Toy Story 2, and now are coming back for thirds having been in Andy's exact place, is bound to experience. But I think it's something all adults can relate to and all kids will dread relating to (if I were young enough to still have toys in my room, you know I'd have gone home to instantly play with them for hours). Watching Woody, Buzz, and the gang go through all their trials is like watching what happens to your childhood, hoping that it doesn't get destroyed, but knowing it will never be the same as it was before, which is just as heart-breaking.
I don't know if I'll ever be able to rationally discuss Toy Story 3 because it just touched a place in me I'd forgotten I had. The first two feel so quaint and sweet these days, but this movie just feels too real, almost too personal, though I was never as cool a kid as Andy was, and I didn't love my toys quite the same way he did. But I think that just proves all the more what a fantastic movie it is, that it strikes a cord so strong that everything else beyond the tears and laughter is creates, doesn't really matter. It reminds me of Ego's review in Ratatouille, like all brilliant things do, and how technicalities and hard-hearts and reality aside, beauty is beauty and there are some things that are simply beyond proper criticism."
It'll be a long time before I can sum up my feelings on Toy Story 3 (I only left the theater about two hours ago), but I think the first reaction matters almost as much as the last. And, boy oh boy, have I got a first reaction. I know it's still soon after, but this was just one of those movie-going experiences where I feel like I'm a different person on the other side and I have no idea how I've changed, but I just feel it, but it could also be the emotional overload from the past few hours... it's too confusing.
But I do know that I dug my stuffed animals out of a trash bag in my brother's room, gave them a talking to about how much I love them, and set several of them around my room, including my poor, mistreated American Girl dolls.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Theatre, Life, Movies, and Bloggin'
Hello movie world!
You may have noticed my dismal absence from this blog (if you're one of the zero people who reads this, anyway) and there are a few excuses. First and foremost, computer problems are the main cause, I suppose. I was without internet for over a week as my computer was having some serious issues. All is fixed now, though. Goody!
Suspect number two is THEATRE. No, worry not, I'm still planning on living out a life of movies and movie related shizz (I am moderating into Film and Electronic Arts this semester... hopefully...), but I am taking a theatre class entitled Directing Seminar this semester that is joyfully eating my life. I'm quite pleased to say that this is probably my favourite class this semester. Currently, I am directing a scene from A Doll's House with two lovely actors as Nils Krogstad and Christina Linden. We have six hours of rehearsal a week. I'm also directing/co-directing/performing in a Disney Musical Revue, so that's going to tack on an additional eight hours of rehearsal a week, at minimum, starting this week (directing meant that I had to be involved in auditions and casting and blah blah blah). But the directing seminar is great fun. The book is incredibly useful (for film directing in many respects as well, in my opinion) and rehearsals have been productive. I love making lists and organizing, and planning for rehearsals like that is fab. I've got stuff to prepare for my rehearsals this weekend for the Disney thing too.
But even though I may not have been blogging, I have been seeing movies and doing plenty of reading about the awards season. I finally saw Crazy Heart this past weekend. I also made my first video project (which kinda blew) and the second one is due next Tuesday. Personal life just keeps creeping up in here doesn't it? Well, that does make sense, since I hope my personal life eventually equates the lives I love discussing in this blog.
In the television realm, I finally managed to catch up on Caprica when I was home this past weekend. Good, good show. Very smart. Great characters. I'm really looking forward to more. I'm not as into it as I am, say, into Chuck or even True Blood, but I do watch it with a great interest for the moment, until it furthers my attention (I'm sure at some point it will truly captivate me, but for now, I'm enjoying the ride nonetheless). Chuck has been continuing to be fantastic this season. Chuck is my new favourite show to recommend to everyone. Unlike the other NBC show I used to watch, Chuck has a trustworthy team of writers and showrunners behind it and they haven't let me down for two and a half seasons. For the moment, they have my complete trust. Josh Schwartz knows what he's doing.
In the Oscar race, you can't believe how pumped I am with all that The Hurt Locker's accomplished. The night the DGAs happened, I had two dreams, one in which Kathryn Bigelow won and the other in which James Cameron won and I was so relieved when I woke up to find out that Bigelow was the winner. She deserves it. The Hurt Locker is the best of those movies nominated for Best Picture (even though I put Up above it in my favourite movies list, that doesn't reflect what I think is the best movie of the year, just my personal taste).
There have been several other revelations to me. Like how much The Blind Side annoys me as I think about it more. Not that it's a bad movie, but it's so simplistic and complacent. Maybe Invictus would've been better as a nominee. But The Blind Side is more popular, which is really the only reason I give it a leg up in my mind. Also, how much I want Star Trek to grab the sound award, how I feel it was robbed for a Best Pic nod, and how its subtle-yet-stunning special effects are better utilized than Avatar's mind-blowing-but-everywhere CGI. Best Visual Effects? Avatar, I suppose. But Best Use of Visual Effects? Star Trek. The District 9 snub for make-up hurts more everyday. As for Sharlto Copley's snub. I saw it coming a mile away, but he SO deserved a spot on that list. He'd have been my winner, even after watching Jeff Bridges go all loose-belted in Crazy Heart.
I know Sandra Bullock is popular with the industry and she's not likely to be nominated again with her usual line of work, but I still would rather see any of her competitors win (I haven't seen The Last Station yet, so I'll count Helen Mirren out for the moment, but I'm sure she earned her place). But Meryl, Gabby, and Carey were all fantastic. My personal favourite is Meryl although I'd also definitely give Gabby my major props. She's been overshadowed by Mo'Nique this awards season to an extent, when it comes to winning that is, but her performance was really great. Overall, I've come to appreciate Precious more and more as time goes on. I think I left it off my top 16 list and I sort of regret that now. Well, if I did. I might not have and I might just be forgetful right now.
As I go on in my life as an avid movie lover, I never question why I love it, and I think that's how I know how much I care about everything. From watching the awards season to the bloggers to the Yahoo! posts about random shizz to the need to check off all the movies I see on icheckmovies.com to watching video art in my Video class to looking at directing from the theatre perspective, everything I do just reminds me how much I love it.
Well, maybe aside from Philosophy and Film. We watch good movies, we have interesting discussions, but boy oh boy does that class assign way too much reading. And weekly prompts like asked for don't come as easily as, say, my documentary class' prompts last year. Blargh. I like film. But philosophy... not quite as much. Not always. Sometimes. This is my trouble class this semester. I just can't get into it.
But anyway, the point of this post is the ramble as usual to help prove that I'm still alive and kicking, that I am not here for lack of caring about the movies, but for a distinct love that keeps me distracted from being here and instead relegated to making short tweets about movie stuff. I've got most of my Oscar predictions set, although I'm still debating about original screenplay and, of course, the shorts. I'll be sure to share once I feel fully set. 'slaters.
PS: I do not approve of many of the things they are planning to do with the Oscars. I sincerely hope I am proven wrong when I watch the telecast... but we'll see. *shiver*
You may have noticed my dismal absence from this blog (if you're one of the zero people who reads this, anyway) and there are a few excuses. First and foremost, computer problems are the main cause, I suppose. I was without internet for over a week as my computer was having some serious issues. All is fixed now, though. Goody!
Suspect number two is THEATRE. No, worry not, I'm still planning on living out a life of movies and movie related shizz (I am moderating into Film and Electronic Arts this semester... hopefully...), but I am taking a theatre class entitled Directing Seminar this semester that is joyfully eating my life. I'm quite pleased to say that this is probably my favourite class this semester. Currently, I am directing a scene from A Doll's House with two lovely actors as Nils Krogstad and Christina Linden. We have six hours of rehearsal a week. I'm also directing/co-directing/performing in a Disney Musical Revue, so that's going to tack on an additional eight hours of rehearsal a week, at minimum, starting this week (directing meant that I had to be involved in auditions and casting and blah blah blah). But the directing seminar is great fun. The book is incredibly useful (for film directing in many respects as well, in my opinion) and rehearsals have been productive. I love making lists and organizing, and planning for rehearsals like that is fab. I've got stuff to prepare for my rehearsals this weekend for the Disney thing too.
But even though I may not have been blogging, I have been seeing movies and doing plenty of reading about the awards season. I finally saw Crazy Heart this past weekend. I also made my first video project (which kinda blew) and the second one is due next Tuesday. Personal life just keeps creeping up in here doesn't it? Well, that does make sense, since I hope my personal life eventually equates the lives I love discussing in this blog.
In the television realm, I finally managed to catch up on Caprica when I was home this past weekend. Good, good show. Very smart. Great characters. I'm really looking forward to more. I'm not as into it as I am, say, into Chuck or even True Blood, but I do watch it with a great interest for the moment, until it furthers my attention (I'm sure at some point it will truly captivate me, but for now, I'm enjoying the ride nonetheless). Chuck has been continuing to be fantastic this season. Chuck is my new favourite show to recommend to everyone. Unlike the other NBC show I used to watch, Chuck has a trustworthy team of writers and showrunners behind it and they haven't let me down for two and a half seasons. For the moment, they have my complete trust. Josh Schwartz knows what he's doing.
In the Oscar race, you can't believe how pumped I am with all that The Hurt Locker's accomplished. The night the DGAs happened, I had two dreams, one in which Kathryn Bigelow won and the other in which James Cameron won and I was so relieved when I woke up to find out that Bigelow was the winner. She deserves it. The Hurt Locker is the best of those movies nominated for Best Picture (even though I put Up above it in my favourite movies list, that doesn't reflect what I think is the best movie of the year, just my personal taste).
There have been several other revelations to me. Like how much The Blind Side annoys me as I think about it more. Not that it's a bad movie, but it's so simplistic and complacent. Maybe Invictus would've been better as a nominee. But The Blind Side is more popular, which is really the only reason I give it a leg up in my mind. Also, how much I want Star Trek to grab the sound award, how I feel it was robbed for a Best Pic nod, and how its subtle-yet-stunning special effects are better utilized than Avatar's mind-blowing-but-everywhere CGI. Best Visual Effects? Avatar, I suppose. But Best Use of Visual Effects? Star Trek. The District 9 snub for make-up hurts more everyday. As for Sharlto Copley's snub. I saw it coming a mile away, but he SO deserved a spot on that list. He'd have been my winner, even after watching Jeff Bridges go all loose-belted in Crazy Heart.
I know Sandra Bullock is popular with the industry and she's not likely to be nominated again with her usual line of work, but I still would rather see any of her competitors win (I haven't seen The Last Station yet, so I'll count Helen Mirren out for the moment, but I'm sure she earned her place). But Meryl, Gabby, and Carey were all fantastic. My personal favourite is Meryl although I'd also definitely give Gabby my major props. She's been overshadowed by Mo'Nique this awards season to an extent, when it comes to winning that is, but her performance was really great. Overall, I've come to appreciate Precious more and more as time goes on. I think I left it off my top 16 list and I sort of regret that now. Well, if I did. I might not have and I might just be forgetful right now.
As I go on in my life as an avid movie lover, I never question why I love it, and I think that's how I know how much I care about everything. From watching the awards season to the bloggers to the Yahoo! posts about random shizz to the need to check off all the movies I see on icheckmovies.com to watching video art in my Video class to looking at directing from the theatre perspective, everything I do just reminds me how much I love it.
Well, maybe aside from Philosophy and Film. We watch good movies, we have interesting discussions, but boy oh boy does that class assign way too much reading. And weekly prompts like asked for don't come as easily as, say, my documentary class' prompts last year. Blargh. I like film. But philosophy... not quite as much. Not always. Sometimes. This is my trouble class this semester. I just can't get into it.
But anyway, the point of this post is the ramble as usual to help prove that I'm still alive and kicking, that I am not here for lack of caring about the movies, but for a distinct love that keeps me distracted from being here and instead relegated to making short tweets about movie stuff. I've got most of my Oscar predictions set, although I'm still debating about original screenplay and, of course, the shorts. I'll be sure to share once I feel fully set. 'slaters.
PS: I do not approve of many of the things they are planning to do with the Oscars. I sincerely hope I am proven wrong when I watch the telecast... but we'll see. *shiver*
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Immediate Post-Oscar Thoughts...
I guess the main surprise to me, and I know that other people saw this coming, was that The Blind Side snuck into the Best Picture race, eliminating Invictus in its wake. That's not really a move up or down to me, but rather sideways, as I liked both films, but wasn't particularly passionate about either of them. I'm a little disappointed that, even with the lackluster Best Picture love for Invictus, Matt Damon still stole a Supporting Actor nod. I love Matt Damon and he's a wicked talented actor and I suppose this is the Academy's way of making up for not nominating him for Best Actor for The Informant!, but I'd have liked to see The Hurt Locker love showered onto Anthony Mackie, perhaps, or maybe a deserved nod for Alfred Molina, who was snubbed. I haven't seen The Last Station, so I can't judge Helen Mirren or Christopher Plummer's nods, although, of course, I am a bit sad to see newer faces like Emily Blunt and Abbie Cornish forgotten. Although, of course, Helen Mirren probably deserves the nod.
I was especially placed by the inclusions of A Serious Man and District 9 both in the screenplay races and in the Best Picture line-up. People have been predicting District 9 as a likely one for both and A Serious Man as a likely possibility for screenplay, but I was psyched to see A Serious Man included in the Best Picture line-up. I was slightly baffled, but not entirely, to see Penelope Cruz nominated for Best Supporting Actress. I haven't seen Nine, but I suppose Penelope Cruz's talent and charm make up for the bad press and supposedly-eh movie.
I haven't seen In the Loop, but I will, and I am pleased to see it get a spot. I'm even more pleased to see Avatar shut out of the screenplay race. Not that Avatar had a bad script, as many would argue, but simply that there are far stronger scripts in the running this year.
I think I'm out of things to say for this moment, but I do have to run anyhow off to class. These nominees weren't full of too many surprises, but if the inclusion of The Blind Side for Best Picture says anything, it says that Sandra Bullock is definitely the frontrunner, which makes me sad, because, to be frank, Meryl Streep's performance was infinitely better. She's won before, sure, but jeezum, she still deserves it now.
I am sad that pretty much none of my longshots, at least of the announced categories, came through, but that was to be expected.
I was especially placed by the inclusions of A Serious Man and District 9 both in the screenplay races and in the Best Picture line-up. People have been predicting District 9 as a likely one for both and A Serious Man as a likely possibility for screenplay, but I was psyched to see A Serious Man included in the Best Picture line-up. I was slightly baffled, but not entirely, to see Penelope Cruz nominated for Best Supporting Actress. I haven't seen Nine, but I suppose Penelope Cruz's talent and charm make up for the bad press and supposedly-eh movie.
I haven't seen In the Loop, but I will, and I am pleased to see it get a spot. I'm even more pleased to see Avatar shut out of the screenplay race. Not that Avatar had a bad script, as many would argue, but simply that there are far stronger scripts in the running this year.
I think I'm out of things to say for this moment, but I do have to run anyhow off to class. These nominees weren't full of too many surprises, but if the inclusion of The Blind Side for Best Picture says anything, it says that Sandra Bullock is definitely the frontrunner, which makes me sad, because, to be frank, Meryl Streep's performance was infinitely better. She's won before, sure, but jeezum, she still deserves it now.
I am sad that pretty much none of my longshots, at least of the announced categories, came through, but that was to be expected.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Top 16(!?) of 2009... well, in my opinion...
16 is a weird number.
This list is really more for myself than for anyone else because, well, to be frank, I doubt anyone but me reads this blog. But I have compiled the list of my favourite 16 movies from this year. It was a nice 15, but then I saw The Hurt Locker today and changed it... but anyway, this list is seriously lacking because, obviously, I haven't seen every movie released this past year. I have, at the end of this post, a list of movies I haven't seen but want to just to make clear that, yes, the reason this movie or that movie might not be included is because I just haven't seen it. But, without further ado, here is my ridiculously long list, because I just HAD to write this and that about each of the movies. The comprehensible full list, in proper order, can be found at the end.
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#16 Duplicity
I love a good caper and this one was legitimately very enjoyable. It had fun twists and turns, it had Clive Owen charming and sly and wonderful again (no wonder I wanted him for Bond during the Brosnan/Craig transition), Julia Roberts was similarly enjoyable, and simply overall it was a fun, time-twisting, delightful heist movie. Not the most memorable film of the year, but right up my alley.
#15 I Love You, Man
An unfortunately forgotten and incredibly enjoyable comedy from early on in the year, this is one of the funniest films I’ve seen this year (and yes, I saw The Hangover. Twice, actually; no Zombieland yet though). It didn’t set me off quite like Role Models did last year, but it was clever and fun and featured one of my favourite things: a well-done bromance.
#14 An Education
I’m not sure if I’m pleased with the direction the movie took, although that’s due to its source material I am sure, but I do know that the movie itself felt like a great journey that Carey Mulligan’s Jenny brought us along for. Seeing the new world, albeit a bit skeptically, as the fun and delightful and shady place she entered, growing up, getting her brand of education, learning and eventually, at the end, returning to where she belonged, but with a better sense of her life. Carey Mulligan is stunning, as is the supporting cast, from Alfred Molina as her gullible father to Rosamund Pike as her ditzy new-life friend to Olivia Williams as Jenny’s intelligent, guiding teacher who makes it all better.
#13 Adventureland
I saw this movie as part of a weekend home to celebrate my nineteenth birthday back in April, and it was such an honest film that I fell into it with ease. It wasn’t really trying for gimmicks and it wasn’t regurgitating anything I could recognize other than the nostalgia of something quite like an amusement park and the reality that they’re all pains in the ass (I went to two this past week while I was in southern California and I can’t see a single thing enjoyable about working there). But then, in the stupidest parts of life are some of the most fun and memorable bits, and a strange and great romance within. Adventureland has a great big heart and is so easy to access and enjoy. I still don’t understand why I was the only one so in love with it as we left the theatre.
#12 (500) Days of Summer
Many movies try to do things out of order to build suspension or to hint at future events or whatever, but most of the time I find these attempts to be useless and dull or sometimes too much (I’m looking at you, The Blind Side, for your weird flashforward to a confusing and utterly useless scene that does not build anything at all for your viewers). But with (500) Days of Summer, the out of order setting might not be necessary, but it doesn’t hurt the ride in the least, making it interesting rather than confusing, tantalizing rather than frustrating. The dance through time and between Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Tom and Zooey Deschanel’s Summer is well-done and incredibly enjoyable and, well, the movie features one of the most satisfying endings of a film that is not necessarily happy I’ve seen recently. But in the interim between the beginning of summer and the beginning of autumn, the ride is fun and real and understandable. I give the movie a bit of shit for its similarities to How I Met Your Mother, but it’s not as if the television show’s premise isn’t any good. (500) Days of Summer was essentially a well-told story wrapped in a package wrapped with delightful scenes and a very cool dance routine.
#11 The Brothers Bloom
I said before that I like a good caper, and The Brothers Bloom is at the very minimum a clever caper of a film. Featuring a broody Adrien Brody and a charming Mark Ruffalo, not to mention an enjoyable eccentric Rachel Weisz and a scene-stealing, albeit silent, turn by Rinko Kikuchi, The Brothers Bloom is simply a brilliant sophomore work by Rian Johnson, who directed one of my favourite films of all time, Brick. But while his newest work focuses on something different, the stylistic flair of a confident director remains, allowing The Brothers Bloom to be something aside from your generic Ocean’s movies, featuring the typical leads (although, don’t get me wrong, I quite enjoy the Ocean’s franchise). Its plot is fun and twisty and quite fitting as it is, but it is mostly its flair that really gets me going, much like Rachel Weisz’s Penelope with that weird drunken montage with the train and the moans. Like Brick, The Brothers Bloom oozes with style and an air that the characters are not your everyday kind of people, but clearly something beyond the norm, people who will do these fantastic crazy things provided for them. I can’t wait for Rian Johnson’s third film.
#10 Bright Star
I have a mixed record with period romance types of films. I can be a sucker for them without really liking them, but there are some genuinely great ones, such as Sense and Sensibility, and, in this case, Bright Star. Featuring a romance that is sweet, real, and yet very untouchable, Bright Star isn’t obsessed either with chastity or bodice-ripping, something period romances tend to fall into traps with, but rather providing us with an intimate and sweet story. Jane Campion’s directing of Bright Star is among some of the most underappreciated of the year to me, and Bright Star also features stunning cinematography as well as art direction, costuming, and etc. It is one of the most visually beautiful films I saw this past year, watching with my eyes round as saucers as Fanny sat on her bed and the curtain blew in at her, sunlight streaking through, giving the movie an other-worldly feel, but not removing any connection I could feel. The acting was brilliant and it’s sad to have seen Abbie Cornish’s praise diminished nearly as soon as it had begun, but the work by Ben Whishaw and Paul Schneider especially was also very good, very moving, but nothing that felt forced or wrong. I expected to be a bit bored by the movie, not really involved, as when I went in, all I had heard was that Abbie Cornish was great in it. But I was surprisingly pleased when the whole movie fell so well with me. One of my favourite romances of the year, Bright Star is much more than that, showcasing a beautiful relationship much more than simply the romantic parts of it.
#9 Up in the Air
Up in the Air was a great ride to me, but, like An Education, some of the twists and turns I didn’t want to go down, particularly concerning the resolution of Ryan and Alex’s relationship. But all three leading actors were magnificent, getting the chance to see Clooney as more than just the self-assured man he was, but also as someone genuinely lost, Farmiga taking a character I normally wouldn’t be able to like but managing to, and Anna Kendrick pleasing me beyond all measure as, if not for Mo’Nique in Precious, the best supporting actress I’d seen all year. The story’s background, which Jason Reitman brought to great attention, was best described by some short silent moments, like Natalie in the empty room full of chairs, she and Ryan arriving in a cleared out building with a few terrified employees left for them to dispose of in Detroit, and, of course, the memorable scene of Natalie firing a man by video who is only in the next room. The movie is torn between the characters and the overarching theme, which don’t necessarily match up so easily, but finds a good balance and managed to strike a strong emotional chord with me.
#8 A Serious Man
I had some weird unknown beef with this film about the lack of ending that is so like the Coen brothers and so unpleasant for me about a movie supposedly based roughly off of The Book of Job which I had read earlier in the year for a class entitled Narratives of Suffering, which was a wonderful class that made me strongly appreciate different facets of storytelling that I hadn’t grasped previously. And if A Serious Man was not supposed to be based off of The Book of Job, I wouldn’t have any complaints… but The Book of Job is extremely important for its bizarrely happy ending, in which Job goes back to life with tenfold what he had before, not potentially dying or with his children facing an ominous and symbolic tornado. Ending aside, the movie itself is a great work by the Coen brothers, featuring a great turn by Michael Stuhlbarg and a good supporting cast (Stuhlbarg is on my ideal Oscar ballot for Best Actor and that ballot was one of the hardest for me), and the rest of the story struck me so strongly, as I spent the whole semester looking through fifteen different texts, trying to find the meaning of suffering, just as Larry does in A Serious Man, so I could sympathize with his journey, and I understood when he was forced to simply go back to life and ignore the questions (so like Job, until the extra couple minutes at the very end). I think my frustration simply comes from a place of great investment in the film, where Larry too feels such frustration and can understand it as easily as I do.
#7 Inglourious Basterds
I’ve been a fan of Quentin Tarantino’s work for, well, not a long time since I only really began dedicating myself so heavily to movies a couple of years ago, but about since that began. I’ve missed a few of his features (Jackie Brown and Grindhouse/Death Proof), but both Kill Bill movies and certainly Pulp Fiction would end up being some of my personal favourite movies. Inglourious Basterds has been lauded by many as perhaps his best film and, while I’m not sure I agree, I certainly do believe that it is a fantastic film unto itself. There was nothing more satisfying in cinema this past year than seeing history turned on its head with such appropriate irreverence. There was no performance as electrifying as Christoph Waltz’s all year. Not to mention the cast at large being great and Tarantino’s script being a fun masterpiece all on its own. The very cool film references to the time, which were fun (I had two classes last year where we talked at least a little bit about Goebbels, one of which was my documentary class with, of course, a section on propaganda, most famously on Triumph of the Will and other such projects of the WWII era). Regardless of my attachment to the littler parts of the film, there is such unpredictability when it comes to Tarantino’s works. Many films, you see a formula at work and you know what’s coming, who will survive, who will die, but when it comes to Tarantino, I’m not sure if he’s going to kill nobody, everybody, or some number in-between. There’s a whole different kind of suspense at work in Inglourious Basterds than can be found in other, more grim features such as The Hurt Locker, but this suspense isn’t nail-biting, it’s fun.
#6 Avatar
I know that there are a lot of people out there who are vehemently against Avatar, or who want to see it fail because of its populist image, or who simply just didn’t like it all too much or find it too reliant on the CGI and not enough on being original. And, as I tell most Avatar-haters, far too few “original” films have ever been made. But that is hardly a problem to me. Because one of the best things about Avatar is the familiar epic touch it has, unafraid to attempt a new language, a new species, a new world, all in the name of creating something truly escapist and enjoyable. Normally, I scoff a little when people say that they go to the movies to escape (which is a normal reaction, but movies are much more than that to me), but Avatar really was an escape, 160 minutes on Pandora, somewhere I want to return to and explore more and more of. Yes, the CGI is brilliant and there have been better scripts this year, but I hardly think that the script suffers because of too much emphasis on the CGI, or that the script suffers at all. There was no cheesy dialogue that made me cringe, nothing that made me roll my eyes or groan in disbelief. Everything was fitting and right and, well, it is certainly quotable (I have said “You’re not the only one with a gun, bitch” several times since I first saw it, actually, as, although hardly poetic, it is a great line). I see no reason to nitpick at Avatar, to complain about its similarities to other (mostly great) films, to make jokes about the Na’vi being smurfs or cat people, because it’s stupid to reduce such an epic to something so base (something I was responsible for doing to the Harry Potter book series before giving it a chance, reading it, and unabashedly loving it). Avatar is not the best film made this year, but it is one of the most enjoyable, stunning, and engrossing. It stole me away in a manner few other films managed to this year, and I cannot ignore the longing I feel within me to keep going back, to want more of Pandora, more of this new world. As cheesy as this sounds, far more cheesy than anything from Avatar, my heart is what assures me that I loved that movie. And, honestly, if your heart isn’t in a movie, if you can’t feel it tugging at you, then there’s no legitimate connection.
#5 Star Trek
Raised on Star Wars as opposed to Star Trek, I’d never had an interest in the franchise, and since I saw the new Star Trek movie, I tried my hand a bit at some of the older fare, two of the movies (Voyage Home and Wrath of Khan) and a few minutes of one of the original series episodes and I realized that no, the reason I like the new Star Trek movie has nothing to do with the source material and everything to do with it being, on its own, a fantastic ride. Star Trek features a fantastic cast, which is one reason it originally caught my attention. Led by the before-unknown (although I’d had a celebrity crush on him since The Princess Diaries 2) Chris Pine as the fantastically cocky and amazing Captain Kirk, and Sylar’s Zachary Quinto proving that his brilliance as Sylar (even as Heroes fell further and further into suckage) was only the tip of the acting iceberg. The supporting cast was also built up with two-time sci-fi stars this year Anton Yelchin (one of my favourite parts of Terminator Salvation) and Zoe Saldana (in that little film a lot of other people saw called Avatar), Eomer’s Karl Urban, Brit Simon Pegg, Harold and Kumar’s John Cho, and Eric Bana in a limited, but strong, villainous role. All of the supporting cast, although faced with generally limited screen time, made the most of their appearances on camera. Star Trek also featured probably my second favourite opening sequence of this year (the first being Up’s story of Carl and Ellie): the brilliant space battle where George Kirk died and James Kirk was born. Upon second viewing, this opening nearly brought me to tears it was so grand. I’d really like to give some credit to Star Trek’s great score here too. Beyond the opening, Star Trek didn’t waste any time. It told a good story, strong, but nothing spectacular, and introduced familiar characters (well, to other people) in a way that someone a Star Trek newbie like me could understand and appreciate them without thinking that too much is being thrown in at once. I’m a sucker for quality space operas, and Star Trek is, at the heart, exactly that. The film is stunning in every manner and has a humour without selling itself short, without resulting in the camp I later saw in the original version. Star Trek is one of the most delightfully and simply enjoyable movies I saw this year, not the smartest but smart, not the best but excellent, and not the wildest but incredibly entertaining.
#4 The Damned United
The Damned United is probably the best sports movie I have ever seen, and my prior knowledge of British football is that my friends all tend to be Manchester United fans and that Chelsea supposedly sucks and we Americans have David Beckham now. I went into the movie, fearing that I might be confused or lost, but that was hardly true. The Damned United was extremely accessible and highly gratifying. Not to mention that it contained one of my favourite bromances of all time, led by two talented actors, Michael Sheen and Timothy Spall. I hate that Michael Sheen will once again not be recognized for his masterful work here, and that Timothy Spall has been equally ignored, but I feel extremely privileged to have gotten the chance to watch the film and fall in love with it. It felt so good, watching Brian Clough and Peter Taylor kick ass and move up the ranks in the sport they clearly have a talent for working at. Not a moment is wasted and there is nothing in the film that bothered me in the least. Michael Sheen played Clough with impeccable talent, making a man that we root passionately for and yet don’t groan too loudly in frustration when he makes a stupid mistake, and then cheer for as he grows up and learns his place and begs for his dearest and best friend back on his knees (an amazing, amazing moment). It is such a flawless portrait of a man and his ambition and arrogance, but also his care and love and understandable determination. Not to mention that the sports part is very entertaining, something that doesn’t always catch my eye in a film (or in sports in general, as they tend to bore me).
#3 District 9
It’s been a little while since I went to Johannesburg with Sharlto Copley and the aliens derogatorily called the “prawns,” but I remember how satisfied and pleased I was with the movie. One of my biggest upsets with the awards season thus far is, not only the lackluster love for the movie, but also the total neglect for its heart and soul, no matter how blackened that heart seems at time, Sharlto Copley as perhaps my favourite lead performance of the year: Wikus. Wikus is ordinary and boring and he doesn’t transform into the hero in the end, doesn’t undergo some miraculous personality shift and change his allegiance because of deep love the way Jake Sully does in Avatar. Rather, Wikus distrusts his new allies to the end, wants more than anything to be human again, although he clearly has come to understand the hardships of the imprisoned aliens in the process. The effects and technology of the movie boast of a gigantic budget the film never had and never needed, giving us proof that while some movies like Avatar can prove that their big budget was worth it, you don’t need such a budget to make a sci-fi epic. With its excellent story straight out of reality, showcasing any instance of segregation (most notably Apartheid, of course), District 9 moves to become more than a sob story of a repressed race and doesn’t come around to have the natives win at life, but gives us a real portrayal of a struggle and the slow resolution that comes with real stories. There’s nothing I dislike about District 9, and it makes me confident in the ability of unknown filmmakers to provide us with a stunning vision where the movie doesn’t need stars, big names, or lots of money to get the story out… and make a great deal of money while at it. Paranormal Activity might be the low budget film story of the year, and I haven’t seen it, but District 9 is all the more impressive for the scale it dishes out, the epic quality of it, without trying too hard or selling out.
#2 The Hurt Locker
The most recent of the films I have watched, it reminded me of something a few of my friends complained about when watching The Dark Knight, about how the movie felt like it was always at a climax, building and building and building. That was one of my favourite things about The Dark Knight and the constant intensity and anything-can-happen spirit of The Hurt Locker made it instantly shoot to the near-top of my list of my favourite movies of the past year. I skimmed the Wikipedia article just now and was pleased and impressed to see how influenced the film was by Kathryn Bigelow’s excellent vision, even when talking about something that to passer-by fans is totally useless, like the type of stock used, Bigelow amazes me; I’ve used 16mm film and it doesn’t look anything near the artistic mastery shown in her piece (granted, she used Super 16, but regardless, they’re ultimately quite similar in my humble, barely educated opinion). The cast itself is stunning and it was a nice surprise to see beyond the amazing three leads some familiar faces; I kept arguing with myself “That’s Ralph Fiennes! Is that possible? Could it be?” and he’s barely in the movie, but even characters like his that only appear for short bursts are excellently portrayed. You can see writer Mike Boal’s experiences and trust in them to show such a stunning and engrossing adaptation of the real events of the War in Iraq (though, technically, as my documentary film professor reminded me, war was never officially proclaimed, but let’s not get into technicalities like this just now). The focus on the bomb squad, specifically on that 38 day rotation we saw them through, made the movie so much better than it could have been if it had tried to be any of the other sappy, dramatic epics trying to capture the whole thing. I’ll be sad to see the supporting cast, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty, not get the attention they deserve, but awards season is always tough. I do hope that The Hurt Locker pulls out to be the winner. I know some audiences don’t like it when the little unknown wins (well, that is, if it didn’t make as much money as Slumdog Millionaire, Little Miss Sunshine, or Juno, which I’d reckon a guess The Hurt Locker hasn’t), but The Hurt Locker is definitely the more masterfully made movie over its main competitor, Avatar (although it is also on my list of favourite movies this past year). All in all, I will stop weighing its awards chances and leave it at this: I am so glad I got the chance to rush into danger along with The Hurt Locker, feeling the experience very strongly, and although not wanting to go back to Iraq like one would want to go back to Pandora, understanding the other-worldliness and relishing it nonetheless.
#1 Up
There were a lot of good films this year that I saw and that I didn’t see, but Pixar has a habit of stealing my heart, ever since I first saw Toy Story when I was only just learning to spell. I first saw Up at the drive-in with my friend, her boyfriend, and her mom, and so I put a lot of effort into not crying during the movie. Then, a couple weeks later, after being in a horrible mood all evening, I rushed out at night and went to see Up and cried several times, feeling wonderful the whole time. Up is a beautiful portrait of, excuse my sort-of lifting of The Lovely Bones’ tagline but, a beautiful marriage and everything that came after. As many have said before me and many will say after, the first ten-odd minutes of the movie are enough to prove the movie’s excellence, much like people said of WALL-E’s opening half an hour. But then, the movie goes on past Ellie’s death and proves to us, like Pixar is so skilled at doing, that although the introduction is a story onto itself, stories are vaster and more grand than even the span of seventy years in the life of Carl Fredricksen. And those seventy years, illustrated in mere minutes, seemingly insignificant to the rest of the film, were everything and represented more than any words could ever say. When I first showed my mother the film recently after acquiring it on DVD, she saw Carl, older, alone, walk past the empty “Paradise Falls” coin collector and sighed, “It’s so easy to forget your dreams.” But I glanced over at her and told her to keep watching the movie, because as the movie teaches us, Carl’s life wasn’t one into which he settled and was deprived of the adventure he wanted when he was young, nor was Ellie’s – they both lived full and wonderful lives of strong love between them, many years of affection and care that are impossible to count out. The rest of the movie, beyond Carl and Ellie’s story, is a wonderful example of the adventure that Carl had wanted, but never needed, but it did allow him to appreciate, as Russel mentions, “the little things,” like eating ice cream on a curb, playing pointless, silly games, and so on. Dug too, although I was initially wary of having talking dogs (especially talking dogs that fly fighter planes), plays a beautiful role in the education of Carl, especially when complemented by the separate, but equally heart-warming, short film “Dug’s Special Mission.” Up is visually beautiful, the score is extremely fitting and one of my favourites of the year, but its story is, unsurprisingly, its best element. I will never tire of the masterpieces Pixar manages to churn out.
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FULL LIST:
#1 Up
#2 The Hurt Locker
#3 District 9
#4 The Damned United
#5 Star Trek
#6 Avatar
#7 Inglourious Basterds
#8 A Serious Man
#9 Up in the Air
#10 Bright Star
#11 The Brothers Bloom
#12 (500) Days of Summer
#13 Adventureland
#14 An Education
#15 I Love You, Man
#16 Duplicity
And as a special treat, I’m taking the People’s Choice Awards categories (because it’s funny) and naming my favourites:
Favourite Movie Actor: Sharlto Copley
Favourite Movie Actress: Meryl Streep
Favourite Action Star: Jeremy Renner*
Favourite Breakout Movie Actor: Sharlto Copley
Favourite Breakout Movie Actress: Anna Kendrick
Favourite On-Screen Team: Michael Sheen and Timothy Spall
Favourite Independent Movie: District 9 or The Hurt Locker
Favourite Comedy Movie: I Love You, Man
Favourite Movie: Up
*Because his character’s attitude to defusing bombs is totally that of an action star.
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Disclaimer of movies I've missed:
I haven’t seen several movies I might enjoy as much if not more, or at least want to see, including, but perhaps not limited to: Nine, Zombieland, A Single Man, The Lovely Bones, Crazy Heart, The Road, Bad Lieutenant, Broken Embraces, The White Ribbon, The Beaches of Agnes, Good Hair, The Cove, Food Inc., Every Little Step, Anvil! The Story of Anvil, A Prophet, The Messenger, The Maid, Whip It, Capitalism: A Love Story, Ponyo, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, In the Loop, and Moon.
This list is really more for myself than for anyone else because, well, to be frank, I doubt anyone but me reads this blog. But I have compiled the list of my favourite 16 movies from this year. It was a nice 15, but then I saw The Hurt Locker today and changed it... but anyway, this list is seriously lacking because, obviously, I haven't seen every movie released this past year. I have, at the end of this post, a list of movies I haven't seen but want to just to make clear that, yes, the reason this movie or that movie might not be included is because I just haven't seen it. But, without further ado, here is my ridiculously long list, because I just HAD to write this and that about each of the movies. The comprehensible full list, in proper order, can be found at the end.
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#16 Duplicity
I love a good caper and this one was legitimately very enjoyable. It had fun twists and turns, it had Clive Owen charming and sly and wonderful again (no wonder I wanted him for Bond during the Brosnan/Craig transition), Julia Roberts was similarly enjoyable, and simply overall it was a fun, time-twisting, delightful heist movie. Not the most memorable film of the year, but right up my alley.
#15 I Love You, Man
An unfortunately forgotten and incredibly enjoyable comedy from early on in the year, this is one of the funniest films I’ve seen this year (and yes, I saw The Hangover. Twice, actually; no Zombieland yet though). It didn’t set me off quite like Role Models did last year, but it was clever and fun and featured one of my favourite things: a well-done bromance.
#14 An Education
I’m not sure if I’m pleased with the direction the movie took, although that’s due to its source material I am sure, but I do know that the movie itself felt like a great journey that Carey Mulligan’s Jenny brought us along for. Seeing the new world, albeit a bit skeptically, as the fun and delightful and shady place she entered, growing up, getting her brand of education, learning and eventually, at the end, returning to where she belonged, but with a better sense of her life. Carey Mulligan is stunning, as is the supporting cast, from Alfred Molina as her gullible father to Rosamund Pike as her ditzy new-life friend to Olivia Williams as Jenny’s intelligent, guiding teacher who makes it all better.
#13 Adventureland
I saw this movie as part of a weekend home to celebrate my nineteenth birthday back in April, and it was such an honest film that I fell into it with ease. It wasn’t really trying for gimmicks and it wasn’t regurgitating anything I could recognize other than the nostalgia of something quite like an amusement park and the reality that they’re all pains in the ass (I went to two this past week while I was in southern California and I can’t see a single thing enjoyable about working there). But then, in the stupidest parts of life are some of the most fun and memorable bits, and a strange and great romance within. Adventureland has a great big heart and is so easy to access and enjoy. I still don’t understand why I was the only one so in love with it as we left the theatre.
#12 (500) Days of Summer
Many movies try to do things out of order to build suspension or to hint at future events or whatever, but most of the time I find these attempts to be useless and dull or sometimes too much (I’m looking at you, The Blind Side, for your weird flashforward to a confusing and utterly useless scene that does not build anything at all for your viewers). But with (500) Days of Summer, the out of order setting might not be necessary, but it doesn’t hurt the ride in the least, making it interesting rather than confusing, tantalizing rather than frustrating. The dance through time and between Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Tom and Zooey Deschanel’s Summer is well-done and incredibly enjoyable and, well, the movie features one of the most satisfying endings of a film that is not necessarily happy I’ve seen recently. But in the interim between the beginning of summer and the beginning of autumn, the ride is fun and real and understandable. I give the movie a bit of shit for its similarities to How I Met Your Mother, but it’s not as if the television show’s premise isn’t any good. (500) Days of Summer was essentially a well-told story wrapped in a package wrapped with delightful scenes and a very cool dance routine.
#11 The Brothers Bloom
I said before that I like a good caper, and The Brothers Bloom is at the very minimum a clever caper of a film. Featuring a broody Adrien Brody and a charming Mark Ruffalo, not to mention an enjoyable eccentric Rachel Weisz and a scene-stealing, albeit silent, turn by Rinko Kikuchi, The Brothers Bloom is simply a brilliant sophomore work by Rian Johnson, who directed one of my favourite films of all time, Brick. But while his newest work focuses on something different, the stylistic flair of a confident director remains, allowing The Brothers Bloom to be something aside from your generic Ocean’s movies, featuring the typical leads (although, don’t get me wrong, I quite enjoy the Ocean’s franchise). Its plot is fun and twisty and quite fitting as it is, but it is mostly its flair that really gets me going, much like Rachel Weisz’s Penelope with that weird drunken montage with the train and the moans. Like Brick, The Brothers Bloom oozes with style and an air that the characters are not your everyday kind of people, but clearly something beyond the norm, people who will do these fantastic crazy things provided for them. I can’t wait for Rian Johnson’s third film.
#10 Bright Star
I have a mixed record with period romance types of films. I can be a sucker for them without really liking them, but there are some genuinely great ones, such as Sense and Sensibility, and, in this case, Bright Star. Featuring a romance that is sweet, real, and yet very untouchable, Bright Star isn’t obsessed either with chastity or bodice-ripping, something period romances tend to fall into traps with, but rather providing us with an intimate and sweet story. Jane Campion’s directing of Bright Star is among some of the most underappreciated of the year to me, and Bright Star also features stunning cinematography as well as art direction, costuming, and etc. It is one of the most visually beautiful films I saw this past year, watching with my eyes round as saucers as Fanny sat on her bed and the curtain blew in at her, sunlight streaking through, giving the movie an other-worldly feel, but not removing any connection I could feel. The acting was brilliant and it’s sad to have seen Abbie Cornish’s praise diminished nearly as soon as it had begun, but the work by Ben Whishaw and Paul Schneider especially was also very good, very moving, but nothing that felt forced or wrong. I expected to be a bit bored by the movie, not really involved, as when I went in, all I had heard was that Abbie Cornish was great in it. But I was surprisingly pleased when the whole movie fell so well with me. One of my favourite romances of the year, Bright Star is much more than that, showcasing a beautiful relationship much more than simply the romantic parts of it.
#9 Up in the Air
Up in the Air was a great ride to me, but, like An Education, some of the twists and turns I didn’t want to go down, particularly concerning the resolution of Ryan and Alex’s relationship. But all three leading actors were magnificent, getting the chance to see Clooney as more than just the self-assured man he was, but also as someone genuinely lost, Farmiga taking a character I normally wouldn’t be able to like but managing to, and Anna Kendrick pleasing me beyond all measure as, if not for Mo’Nique in Precious, the best supporting actress I’d seen all year. The story’s background, which Jason Reitman brought to great attention, was best described by some short silent moments, like Natalie in the empty room full of chairs, she and Ryan arriving in a cleared out building with a few terrified employees left for them to dispose of in Detroit, and, of course, the memorable scene of Natalie firing a man by video who is only in the next room. The movie is torn between the characters and the overarching theme, which don’t necessarily match up so easily, but finds a good balance and managed to strike a strong emotional chord with me.
#8 A Serious Man
I had some weird unknown beef with this film about the lack of ending that is so like the Coen brothers and so unpleasant for me about a movie supposedly based roughly off of The Book of Job which I had read earlier in the year for a class entitled Narratives of Suffering, which was a wonderful class that made me strongly appreciate different facets of storytelling that I hadn’t grasped previously. And if A Serious Man was not supposed to be based off of The Book of Job, I wouldn’t have any complaints… but The Book of Job is extremely important for its bizarrely happy ending, in which Job goes back to life with tenfold what he had before, not potentially dying or with his children facing an ominous and symbolic tornado. Ending aside, the movie itself is a great work by the Coen brothers, featuring a great turn by Michael Stuhlbarg and a good supporting cast (Stuhlbarg is on my ideal Oscar ballot for Best Actor and that ballot was one of the hardest for me), and the rest of the story struck me so strongly, as I spent the whole semester looking through fifteen different texts, trying to find the meaning of suffering, just as Larry does in A Serious Man, so I could sympathize with his journey, and I understood when he was forced to simply go back to life and ignore the questions (so like Job, until the extra couple minutes at the very end). I think my frustration simply comes from a place of great investment in the film, where Larry too feels such frustration and can understand it as easily as I do.
#7 Inglourious Basterds
I’ve been a fan of Quentin Tarantino’s work for, well, not a long time since I only really began dedicating myself so heavily to movies a couple of years ago, but about since that began. I’ve missed a few of his features (Jackie Brown and Grindhouse/Death Proof), but both Kill Bill movies and certainly Pulp Fiction would end up being some of my personal favourite movies. Inglourious Basterds has been lauded by many as perhaps his best film and, while I’m not sure I agree, I certainly do believe that it is a fantastic film unto itself. There was nothing more satisfying in cinema this past year than seeing history turned on its head with such appropriate irreverence. There was no performance as electrifying as Christoph Waltz’s all year. Not to mention the cast at large being great and Tarantino’s script being a fun masterpiece all on its own. The very cool film references to the time, which were fun (I had two classes last year where we talked at least a little bit about Goebbels, one of which was my documentary class with, of course, a section on propaganda, most famously on Triumph of the Will and other such projects of the WWII era). Regardless of my attachment to the littler parts of the film, there is such unpredictability when it comes to Tarantino’s works. Many films, you see a formula at work and you know what’s coming, who will survive, who will die, but when it comes to Tarantino, I’m not sure if he’s going to kill nobody, everybody, or some number in-between. There’s a whole different kind of suspense at work in Inglourious Basterds than can be found in other, more grim features such as The Hurt Locker, but this suspense isn’t nail-biting, it’s fun.
#6 Avatar
I know that there are a lot of people out there who are vehemently against Avatar, or who want to see it fail because of its populist image, or who simply just didn’t like it all too much or find it too reliant on the CGI and not enough on being original. And, as I tell most Avatar-haters, far too few “original” films have ever been made. But that is hardly a problem to me. Because one of the best things about Avatar is the familiar epic touch it has, unafraid to attempt a new language, a new species, a new world, all in the name of creating something truly escapist and enjoyable. Normally, I scoff a little when people say that they go to the movies to escape (which is a normal reaction, but movies are much more than that to me), but Avatar really was an escape, 160 minutes on Pandora, somewhere I want to return to and explore more and more of. Yes, the CGI is brilliant and there have been better scripts this year, but I hardly think that the script suffers because of too much emphasis on the CGI, or that the script suffers at all. There was no cheesy dialogue that made me cringe, nothing that made me roll my eyes or groan in disbelief. Everything was fitting and right and, well, it is certainly quotable (I have said “You’re not the only one with a gun, bitch” several times since I first saw it, actually, as, although hardly poetic, it is a great line). I see no reason to nitpick at Avatar, to complain about its similarities to other (mostly great) films, to make jokes about the Na’vi being smurfs or cat people, because it’s stupid to reduce such an epic to something so base (something I was responsible for doing to the Harry Potter book series before giving it a chance, reading it, and unabashedly loving it). Avatar is not the best film made this year, but it is one of the most enjoyable, stunning, and engrossing. It stole me away in a manner few other films managed to this year, and I cannot ignore the longing I feel within me to keep going back, to want more of Pandora, more of this new world. As cheesy as this sounds, far more cheesy than anything from Avatar, my heart is what assures me that I loved that movie. And, honestly, if your heart isn’t in a movie, if you can’t feel it tugging at you, then there’s no legitimate connection.
#5 Star Trek
Raised on Star Wars as opposed to Star Trek, I’d never had an interest in the franchise, and since I saw the new Star Trek movie, I tried my hand a bit at some of the older fare, two of the movies (Voyage Home and Wrath of Khan) and a few minutes of one of the original series episodes and I realized that no, the reason I like the new Star Trek movie has nothing to do with the source material and everything to do with it being, on its own, a fantastic ride. Star Trek features a fantastic cast, which is one reason it originally caught my attention. Led by the before-unknown (although I’d had a celebrity crush on him since The Princess Diaries 2) Chris Pine as the fantastically cocky and amazing Captain Kirk, and Sylar’s Zachary Quinto proving that his brilliance as Sylar (even as Heroes fell further and further into suckage) was only the tip of the acting iceberg. The supporting cast was also built up with two-time sci-fi stars this year Anton Yelchin (one of my favourite parts of Terminator Salvation) and Zoe Saldana (in that little film a lot of other people saw called Avatar), Eomer’s Karl Urban, Brit Simon Pegg, Harold and Kumar’s John Cho, and Eric Bana in a limited, but strong, villainous role. All of the supporting cast, although faced with generally limited screen time, made the most of their appearances on camera. Star Trek also featured probably my second favourite opening sequence of this year (the first being Up’s story of Carl and Ellie): the brilliant space battle where George Kirk died and James Kirk was born. Upon second viewing, this opening nearly brought me to tears it was so grand. I’d really like to give some credit to Star Trek’s great score here too. Beyond the opening, Star Trek didn’t waste any time. It told a good story, strong, but nothing spectacular, and introduced familiar characters (well, to other people) in a way that someone a Star Trek newbie like me could understand and appreciate them without thinking that too much is being thrown in at once. I’m a sucker for quality space operas, and Star Trek is, at the heart, exactly that. The film is stunning in every manner and has a humour without selling itself short, without resulting in the camp I later saw in the original version. Star Trek is one of the most delightfully and simply enjoyable movies I saw this year, not the smartest but smart, not the best but excellent, and not the wildest but incredibly entertaining.
#4 The Damned United
The Damned United is probably the best sports movie I have ever seen, and my prior knowledge of British football is that my friends all tend to be Manchester United fans and that Chelsea supposedly sucks and we Americans have David Beckham now. I went into the movie, fearing that I might be confused or lost, but that was hardly true. The Damned United was extremely accessible and highly gratifying. Not to mention that it contained one of my favourite bromances of all time, led by two talented actors, Michael Sheen and Timothy Spall. I hate that Michael Sheen will once again not be recognized for his masterful work here, and that Timothy Spall has been equally ignored, but I feel extremely privileged to have gotten the chance to watch the film and fall in love with it. It felt so good, watching Brian Clough and Peter Taylor kick ass and move up the ranks in the sport they clearly have a talent for working at. Not a moment is wasted and there is nothing in the film that bothered me in the least. Michael Sheen played Clough with impeccable talent, making a man that we root passionately for and yet don’t groan too loudly in frustration when he makes a stupid mistake, and then cheer for as he grows up and learns his place and begs for his dearest and best friend back on his knees (an amazing, amazing moment). It is such a flawless portrait of a man and his ambition and arrogance, but also his care and love and understandable determination. Not to mention that the sports part is very entertaining, something that doesn’t always catch my eye in a film (or in sports in general, as they tend to bore me).
#3 District 9
It’s been a little while since I went to Johannesburg with Sharlto Copley and the aliens derogatorily called the “prawns,” but I remember how satisfied and pleased I was with the movie. One of my biggest upsets with the awards season thus far is, not only the lackluster love for the movie, but also the total neglect for its heart and soul, no matter how blackened that heart seems at time, Sharlto Copley as perhaps my favourite lead performance of the year: Wikus. Wikus is ordinary and boring and he doesn’t transform into the hero in the end, doesn’t undergo some miraculous personality shift and change his allegiance because of deep love the way Jake Sully does in Avatar. Rather, Wikus distrusts his new allies to the end, wants more than anything to be human again, although he clearly has come to understand the hardships of the imprisoned aliens in the process. The effects and technology of the movie boast of a gigantic budget the film never had and never needed, giving us proof that while some movies like Avatar can prove that their big budget was worth it, you don’t need such a budget to make a sci-fi epic. With its excellent story straight out of reality, showcasing any instance of segregation (most notably Apartheid, of course), District 9 moves to become more than a sob story of a repressed race and doesn’t come around to have the natives win at life, but gives us a real portrayal of a struggle and the slow resolution that comes with real stories. There’s nothing I dislike about District 9, and it makes me confident in the ability of unknown filmmakers to provide us with a stunning vision where the movie doesn’t need stars, big names, or lots of money to get the story out… and make a great deal of money while at it. Paranormal Activity might be the low budget film story of the year, and I haven’t seen it, but District 9 is all the more impressive for the scale it dishes out, the epic quality of it, without trying too hard or selling out.
#2 The Hurt Locker
The most recent of the films I have watched, it reminded me of something a few of my friends complained about when watching The Dark Knight, about how the movie felt like it was always at a climax, building and building and building. That was one of my favourite things about The Dark Knight and the constant intensity and anything-can-happen spirit of The Hurt Locker made it instantly shoot to the near-top of my list of my favourite movies of the past year. I skimmed the Wikipedia article just now and was pleased and impressed to see how influenced the film was by Kathryn Bigelow’s excellent vision, even when talking about something that to passer-by fans is totally useless, like the type of stock used, Bigelow amazes me; I’ve used 16mm film and it doesn’t look anything near the artistic mastery shown in her piece (granted, she used Super 16, but regardless, they’re ultimately quite similar in my humble, barely educated opinion). The cast itself is stunning and it was a nice surprise to see beyond the amazing three leads some familiar faces; I kept arguing with myself “That’s Ralph Fiennes! Is that possible? Could it be?” and he’s barely in the movie, but even characters like his that only appear for short bursts are excellently portrayed. You can see writer Mike Boal’s experiences and trust in them to show such a stunning and engrossing adaptation of the real events of the War in Iraq (though, technically, as my documentary film professor reminded me, war was never officially proclaimed, but let’s not get into technicalities like this just now). The focus on the bomb squad, specifically on that 38 day rotation we saw them through, made the movie so much better than it could have been if it had tried to be any of the other sappy, dramatic epics trying to capture the whole thing. I’ll be sad to see the supporting cast, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty, not get the attention they deserve, but awards season is always tough. I do hope that The Hurt Locker pulls out to be the winner. I know some audiences don’t like it when the little unknown wins (well, that is, if it didn’t make as much money as Slumdog Millionaire, Little Miss Sunshine, or Juno, which I’d reckon a guess The Hurt Locker hasn’t), but The Hurt Locker is definitely the more masterfully made movie over its main competitor, Avatar (although it is also on my list of favourite movies this past year). All in all, I will stop weighing its awards chances and leave it at this: I am so glad I got the chance to rush into danger along with The Hurt Locker, feeling the experience very strongly, and although not wanting to go back to Iraq like one would want to go back to Pandora, understanding the other-worldliness and relishing it nonetheless.
#1 Up
There were a lot of good films this year that I saw and that I didn’t see, but Pixar has a habit of stealing my heart, ever since I first saw Toy Story when I was only just learning to spell. I first saw Up at the drive-in with my friend, her boyfriend, and her mom, and so I put a lot of effort into not crying during the movie. Then, a couple weeks later, after being in a horrible mood all evening, I rushed out at night and went to see Up and cried several times, feeling wonderful the whole time. Up is a beautiful portrait of, excuse my sort-of lifting of The Lovely Bones’ tagline but, a beautiful marriage and everything that came after. As many have said before me and many will say after, the first ten-odd minutes of the movie are enough to prove the movie’s excellence, much like people said of WALL-E’s opening half an hour. But then, the movie goes on past Ellie’s death and proves to us, like Pixar is so skilled at doing, that although the introduction is a story onto itself, stories are vaster and more grand than even the span of seventy years in the life of Carl Fredricksen. And those seventy years, illustrated in mere minutes, seemingly insignificant to the rest of the film, were everything and represented more than any words could ever say. When I first showed my mother the film recently after acquiring it on DVD, she saw Carl, older, alone, walk past the empty “Paradise Falls” coin collector and sighed, “It’s so easy to forget your dreams.” But I glanced over at her and told her to keep watching the movie, because as the movie teaches us, Carl’s life wasn’t one into which he settled and was deprived of the adventure he wanted when he was young, nor was Ellie’s – they both lived full and wonderful lives of strong love between them, many years of affection and care that are impossible to count out. The rest of the movie, beyond Carl and Ellie’s story, is a wonderful example of the adventure that Carl had wanted, but never needed, but it did allow him to appreciate, as Russel mentions, “the little things,” like eating ice cream on a curb, playing pointless, silly games, and so on. Dug too, although I was initially wary of having talking dogs (especially talking dogs that fly fighter planes), plays a beautiful role in the education of Carl, especially when complemented by the separate, but equally heart-warming, short film “Dug’s Special Mission.” Up is visually beautiful, the score is extremely fitting and one of my favourites of the year, but its story is, unsurprisingly, its best element. I will never tire of the masterpieces Pixar manages to churn out.
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FULL LIST:
#1 Up
#2 The Hurt Locker
#3 District 9
#4 The Damned United
#5 Star Trek
#6 Avatar
#7 Inglourious Basterds
#8 A Serious Man
#9 Up in the Air
#10 Bright Star
#11 The Brothers Bloom
#12 (500) Days of Summer
#13 Adventureland
#14 An Education
#15 I Love You, Man
#16 Duplicity
And as a special treat, I’m taking the People’s Choice Awards categories (because it’s funny) and naming my favourites:
Favourite Movie Actor: Sharlto Copley
Favourite Movie Actress: Meryl Streep
Favourite Action Star: Jeremy Renner*
Favourite Breakout Movie Actor: Sharlto Copley
Favourite Breakout Movie Actress: Anna Kendrick
Favourite On-Screen Team: Michael Sheen and Timothy Spall
Favourite Independent Movie: District 9 or The Hurt Locker
Favourite Comedy Movie: I Love You, Man
Favourite Movie: Up
*Because his character’s attitude to defusing bombs is totally that of an action star.
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Disclaimer of movies I've missed:
I haven’t seen several movies I might enjoy as much if not more, or at least want to see, including, but perhaps not limited to: Nine, Zombieland, A Single Man, The Lovely Bones, Crazy Heart, The Road, Bad Lieutenant, Broken Embraces, The White Ribbon, The Beaches of Agnes, Good Hair, The Cove, Food Inc., Every Little Step, Anvil! The Story of Anvil, A Prophet, The Messenger, The Maid, Whip It, Capitalism: A Love Story, Ponyo, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, In the Loop, and Moon.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
PREDICTIONS? Hardly, as if Sharlto Copley and Michael Sheen are getting nominated...
I have made the roughest combination of a dream list/prediction sheet. You'll see some glaring omissions, particularly from films I haven't seen yet, although some clear front-runners to get nominated I have left in some categories either for lack of a better suggestion or because I have faith that said film is awesome in that particular field. There are a couple categories that have an extra nominee because I couldn't narrow it down. There is a very clear bias in these selections. I have cut out a lot of Nine, there's no Invictus to be found, very little The Lovely Bones, but I also haven't seen any of those three so that's no surprise.
Movies yet to be watched, Oscar-wise, include (but are not limited to): The Lovely Bones, Nine, Invictus, The Last Station, The Young Victoria, The Hurt Locker, A Single Man, Crazy Heart, The Messenger, Brothers, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and a big host of others I could see. As it is, chances I'll see The Last Station or Brothers are kind of wobbly. Love Helen Mirren and the stars of Brothers, but goddamn does the material look eh.
Also to note, my original best Actor category had eight people (Michael Stuhlberg, George Clooney, and Matt Damon were also on it). I feel like a traitor totally ignoring Morgan Freeman, but this is a tough category this year, IMO.
ANYWAY, here is my intensely rough list praising District 9 and Bright Star far more than either will ever get praised:
(*asterisks mark movies I haven't seen*)
Best Picture
Avatar
District 9
An Education
*The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Julie & Julia
A Serious Man
Star Trek
Up
Up in the Air
Best Actor
*Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
Sharlto Copley – District 9
*Colin Firth – A Single Man
*Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker
Michael Sheen – The Damned United
Best Actress
Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
Abbie Cornish – Bright Star
Carey Mulligan – An Education
Gabby Sidibe – Precious
Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia
Best Supporting Actor
*Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
Alfred Molina – An Education
Stanley Tucci – Julie & Julia
*Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones
Cristoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress
Vera Farmiga – Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick – Up in the Air
Melanie Laurent – Inglourious Basterds
*Julianne Moore – A Single Man
Mo’Nique – Precious
Best Director
*Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
James Cameron – Avatar
Jane Campion – Bright Star
Joel and Ethan Coen – A Serious Man
Lone Scherfig – An Education
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds
Best Original Screenplay
(500) Days of Summer
*The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man
Up
Best Adapted Screenplay
District 9
An Education
The Informant!
Precious
Up in the Air
Best Editing
Avatar
*The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man
Up in the Air
Best Cinematography
Avatar
Bright Star
District 9
*The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Best Costume Design
Bright Star
*The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Inglourious Basterds
Julie & Julia
*Nine
*The Young Victoria
Best Make-Up
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek
Where the Wild Things Are
Best Art Direction
Bright Star
District 9
Inglourious Basterds
*Nine
A Serious Man
Best Visual Effects
2012
9
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek
Best Sound Editing
Avatar
District 9
*The Hurt Locker
Star Trek
Up
Best Sound Mixing
Avatar
District 9
*The Hurt Locker
Star Trek
Up
Best Original Score
Avatar
The Informant!
The Princess and the Frog
Star Trek
Up
Where the Wild Things Are
Best Song
“I See You” – Avatar
*“The Weary Kind” – Crazy Heart
“Almost There” – The Princess and the Frog (or “When We’re Human” or “Down in New Orleans”)
“Cinema Italiano” – Nine
“All Is Love” – Where the Wild Things Are
Best Animated Feature
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
*Ponyo
The Princess and the Frog
Up
(excluded: Best Animated Short, Best Live Action Short, Best Documentary Short, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Documentary Feature)
Movies yet to be watched, Oscar-wise, include (but are not limited to): The Lovely Bones, Nine, Invictus, The Last Station, The Young Victoria, The Hurt Locker, A Single Man, Crazy Heart, The Messenger, Brothers, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and a big host of others I could see. As it is, chances I'll see The Last Station or Brothers are kind of wobbly. Love Helen Mirren and the stars of Brothers, but goddamn does the material look eh.
Also to note, my original best Actor category had eight people (Michael Stuhlberg, George Clooney, and Matt Damon were also on it). I feel like a traitor totally ignoring Morgan Freeman, but this is a tough category this year, IMO.
ANYWAY, here is my intensely rough list praising District 9 and Bright Star far more than either will ever get praised:
(*asterisks mark movies I haven't seen*)
Best Picture
Avatar
District 9
An Education
*The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Julie & Julia
A Serious Man
Star Trek
Up
Up in the Air
Best Actor
*Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
Sharlto Copley – District 9
*Colin Firth – A Single Man
*Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker
Michael Sheen – The Damned United
Best Actress
Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
Abbie Cornish – Bright Star
Carey Mulligan – An Education
Gabby Sidibe – Precious
Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia
Best Supporting Actor
*Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
Alfred Molina – An Education
Stanley Tucci – Julie & Julia
*Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones
Cristoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress
Vera Farmiga – Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick – Up in the Air
Melanie Laurent – Inglourious Basterds
*Julianne Moore – A Single Man
Mo’Nique – Precious
Best Director
*Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
James Cameron – Avatar
Jane Campion – Bright Star
Joel and Ethan Coen – A Serious Man
Lone Scherfig – An Education
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds
Best Original Screenplay
(500) Days of Summer
*The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man
Up
Best Adapted Screenplay
District 9
An Education
The Informant!
Precious
Up in the Air
Best Editing
Avatar
*The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man
Up in the Air
Best Cinematography
Avatar
Bright Star
District 9
*The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Best Costume Design
Bright Star
*The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Inglourious Basterds
Julie & Julia
*Nine
*The Young Victoria
Best Make-Up
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek
Where the Wild Things Are
Best Art Direction
Bright Star
District 9
Inglourious Basterds
*Nine
A Serious Man
Best Visual Effects
2012
9
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek
Best Sound Editing
Avatar
District 9
*The Hurt Locker
Star Trek
Up
Best Sound Mixing
Avatar
District 9
*The Hurt Locker
Star Trek
Up
Best Original Score
Avatar
The Informant!
The Princess and the Frog
Star Trek
Up
Where the Wild Things Are
Best Song
“I See You” – Avatar
*“The Weary Kind” – Crazy Heart
“Almost There” – The Princess and the Frog (or “When We’re Human” or “Down in New Orleans”)
“Cinema Italiano” – Nine
“All Is Love” – Where the Wild Things Are
Best Animated Feature
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
*Ponyo
The Princess and the Frog
Up
(excluded: Best Animated Short, Best Live Action Short, Best Documentary Short, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Documentary Feature)
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Re: Up in the Air, An Education
Spoilers, people, if you haven't learned to expect them here.
Goddamn, can you stop ruining my romances with secret marriages? I mean, I was totally cool with it in An Education, and honestly, I'm okay with it in Up in the Air (although it does make me want to punch Vera Farmiga's character in the face; a similar sentiment I felt in The Departed), but WHINE.
But yes, Up in the Air was very good. I quite enjoyed it, it brought me to tears a few times, Anna Kendrick is stunning, George Clooney really does do a great job in the role, and Vera Farmiga, for making me want to hit her, does very well also. The film is very much of its time, and felt extremely satisfying in that way. It was very good.
Goddamn, can you stop ruining my romances with secret marriages? I mean, I was totally cool with it in An Education, and honestly, I'm okay with it in Up in the Air (although it does make me want to punch Vera Farmiga's character in the face; a similar sentiment I felt in The Departed), but WHINE.
But yes, Up in the Air was very good. I quite enjoyed it, it brought me to tears a few times, Anna Kendrick is stunning, George Clooney really does do a great job in the role, and Vera Farmiga, for making me want to hit her, does very well also. The film is very much of its time, and felt extremely satisfying in that way. It was very good.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
I saw it. Avatar.
I'm not going to blab on particularly long about Avatar because, well, I don't have that much to say. It was, to be frank, quite awesome. I really enjoyed it. Some people complained beforehand about the story being trite and thin and the dialogue being rather meh, but it hardly distracted me. It was hardly Shakespeare, but when it comes to sci-fi epics, I mean, how simple are the Star Wars lines that are endlessly quoted?
"May the Force be with you."
"My name is Luke Skywalker, I'm here to rescue you."
"I love you." "I know."
"No, I am your father."
None of these are exactly poetry either, but they are all incredibly awesome lines, particularly Harrison Ford's improvised ESB line pre-carbon freeze. So I see nothing to complain about with Avatar. Beside that, it is an EPIC. And by epic, I mean that the plot is going to be somewhat traditional in many ways, and that's nothing to guffaw at. Storytelling-wise, there's nothing revolutionary about the movie. The special effects are fucking amazing, of course, but the story itself is what it is supposed to be - strong, powerful, striking, and good. But not revolutionary.
But on the special effects, can I say how fucking amazing they are again? And it's not just the Na'vi, which were done very well, but also simply all alien life on Pandora. Every creature, all the flora, the whole thing was just so beautiful and, for lack of better word, exotic. It felt like I was truly transported to this location, which is what the best sci-fi and fantasy epics do. I have the same feeling with Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and to bring in video games, the sci-fi epic I am partial to: Mass Effect. These are spectacular worlds that tell amazing but traditionally-based stories. I am happy to see Avatar and look at it as a new classic. Although the special effects will soon enough be commonplace and not long after become outdated, the epic nature of the beast will keep it around for a long time.
It's not the special effects that made Star Wars or Lord of the Rings as awesome as they are, and it's not that they told a wildly original story - they simply brought us into this new world and captivated us with a beautiful story and a well-thought out and captivating world.
In fact, I want to return to Pandora really soon, and I hope that, if good sequels can be imagined, that there will be sequels. But only if they can be good (take a cue from Pixar; even though Toy Story 3 is eleven years after Toy Story 2, it's because they were waiting for a good story and I have few doubts that Toy Story 3 won't deliver the goods. Toy Story 2 did). We have enough bad sequels in the world. Other than that, I look forward to seeing Avatar again. I might dare to do it again in theatres if I find time between all the other movies, but probably not. I will see it again. And hopefully love it just as much. Because it truly is a GREAT film in both content and era. While maybe not the best film I've seen of this year or my favorite (and I am still lacking several, so we'll see what happens), I have a feeling that this movie will last.
I think I read somewhere that James Cameron doesn't see this film to be as timeless as Titanic, but I have a feeling it'll prove otherwise. For example, over thirty years later, everyone still knows what Star Wars is. Even if the damned fools haven't seen it.
Don't worry, I'm fixing that. Bard Film Committee is doing a Star Wars weekend next semester. A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. I am FORCING all my WEIRD friends who haven't seen Star Wars to come. I just don't understand. It's such an amazing classic.
One of my favourite things about future!motherhood (y'know, in ten years or so is what I'm aiming for) is going to be sharing my childhood experiences with my kids. The Pixar films, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter. And you know what? They're seeing Avatar too. And a shitload of other movies. 'Cause, well, if you know anything about me, I effing love movies. My kids better too.
PS: Let me make this very clear. Yes, I think Sam Worthington is a hunk. Yes, I think he was amazing in Terminator Salvation (as was Anton Yelchin. Sorry, Christian Bale, you're normally great but you really blew in that movie). Yes, I am going to start seeing movies probably explicitly because he is in them. No, Anton Yelchin is still my future husband.
PPS: I am attempting to do a double feature tomorrow of Fantastic Mr. Fox and An Education. Wish me luck! Hope it doesn't snow TOO much.
"May the Force be with you."
"My name is Luke Skywalker, I'm here to rescue you."
"I love you." "I know."
"No, I am your father."
None of these are exactly poetry either, but they are all incredibly awesome lines, particularly Harrison Ford's improvised ESB line pre-carbon freeze. So I see nothing to complain about with Avatar. Beside that, it is an EPIC. And by epic, I mean that the plot is going to be somewhat traditional in many ways, and that's nothing to guffaw at. Storytelling-wise, there's nothing revolutionary about the movie. The special effects are fucking amazing, of course, but the story itself is what it is supposed to be - strong, powerful, striking, and good. But not revolutionary.
But on the special effects, can I say how fucking amazing they are again? And it's not just the Na'vi, which were done very well, but also simply all alien life on Pandora. Every creature, all the flora, the whole thing was just so beautiful and, for lack of better word, exotic. It felt like I was truly transported to this location, which is what the best sci-fi and fantasy epics do. I have the same feeling with Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and to bring in video games, the sci-fi epic I am partial to: Mass Effect. These are spectacular worlds that tell amazing but traditionally-based stories. I am happy to see Avatar and look at it as a new classic. Although the special effects will soon enough be commonplace and not long after become outdated, the epic nature of the beast will keep it around for a long time.
It's not the special effects that made Star Wars or Lord of the Rings as awesome as they are, and it's not that they told a wildly original story - they simply brought us into this new world and captivated us with a beautiful story and a well-thought out and captivating world.
In fact, I want to return to Pandora really soon, and I hope that, if good sequels can be imagined, that there will be sequels. But only if they can be good (take a cue from Pixar; even though Toy Story 3 is eleven years after Toy Story 2, it's because they were waiting for a good story and I have few doubts that Toy Story 3 won't deliver the goods. Toy Story 2 did). We have enough bad sequels in the world. Other than that, I look forward to seeing Avatar again. I might dare to do it again in theatres if I find time between all the other movies, but probably not. I will see it again. And hopefully love it just as much. Because it truly is a GREAT film in both content and era. While maybe not the best film I've seen of this year or my favorite (and I am still lacking several, so we'll see what happens), I have a feeling that this movie will last.
I think I read somewhere that James Cameron doesn't see this film to be as timeless as Titanic, but I have a feeling it'll prove otherwise. For example, over thirty years later, everyone still knows what Star Wars is. Even if the damned fools haven't seen it.
Don't worry, I'm fixing that. Bard Film Committee is doing a Star Wars weekend next semester. A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. I am FORCING all my WEIRD friends who haven't seen Star Wars to come. I just don't understand. It's such an amazing classic.
One of my favourite things about future!motherhood (y'know, in ten years or so is what I'm aiming for) is going to be sharing my childhood experiences with my kids. The Pixar films, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter. And you know what? They're seeing Avatar too. And a shitload of other movies. 'Cause, well, if you know anything about me, I effing love movies. My kids better too.
PS: Let me make this very clear. Yes, I think Sam Worthington is a hunk. Yes, I think he was amazing in Terminator Salvation (as was Anton Yelchin. Sorry, Christian Bale, you're normally great but you really blew in that movie). Yes, I am going to start seeing movies probably explicitly because he is in them. No, Anton Yelchin is still my future husband.
PPS: I am attempting to do a double feature tomorrow of Fantastic Mr. Fox and An Education. Wish me luck! Hope it doesn't snow TOO much.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Precious: A Difficult Feeling
Last night's episode of Glee was one of the best of the season. The music of the episode wasn't the best, no, but the story was brilliant. I love Glee, but sometimes things are too much of a mash-up when I just want it all to move like a real story.
Maybe it's just me, but I really wasn't that in love with Coraline. I liked it, I wanted to really like it, but I just couldn't. It was a great film visually, but the story felt too thin at times that I just couldn't love it the way some of my critics seem to.
But onto more convoluted and lengthily-written sentiments...
I saw Precious this past Thanksgiving weekend (last Saturday, to be exact). I was almost ashamed that I didn't actually cry during it. I teared up, for sure, the same moment Mariah Carey's character was kind of blubbering on screen, and the whole film just left me in this state of mind that I just wasn't allowed to talk about it. Which is so interesting from the perspective we're taking from reading Maus in my literature class this past week. The idea that the Holocaust cannot be retold, but rather that Maus acts as a substitution, never daring to presume that it is a retelling or a recreation - it simply is what it is.
But something tugs at me and tells me that Precious is supposed to be real and that is what makes me clam up about it. Not that it's based directly off of a true story - although Oprah and Tyler Perry find themselves taking it and applying it to real tales around them, and I can't blame them for doing that in the least - but that it isn't trying to substitute for anything, it's trying to take the place of that reality, trying to show us it. I'm not sure how I feel about that, about seeing this depressing-as-hell story told to me. I can't really talk about the film, about the elements of it. I feel as if I'd be betraying what the movie is showing. I don't dare to put the film into a frame like we're asked to when we're asked how we feel about a movie or how it is. And some movies, most movies that I see actually, I can do that. I can talk and talk about the narrative structure, about what I liked and didn't like, about the portrayals and this and that and on and so forth. But some movies, like Precious, just leave me with the sense that I'm not allowed to say anything about it. I can't even know how I feel about it. I can pick out little things, talk about the skillful acting, about the interesting structure and bleakness of it all, but I can't even dare to seriously summarize or react to it.
This is something I don't want to have. I'd rather have the courage to be able to do what Art Spiegelman does and take the frikkin Holocaust and find some way to express myself without betraying the original event, without betraying Precious and her story, but still managing to express what that experience brings. I haven't read the novel the movie is based off of, and maybe the movie does that for the novel. Successfully substitutes the sufferings of the novel with the sufferings in the movie. There is something that so nicely converts a story sometimes when it is translated from a textual to a visual medium. But I'm rambling, and I don't even make sense to myself by this point.
My point is that this class, Narratives of Suffering, has changed the way I look at everything around me, no joke. I also saw A Serious Man and thanks to Narratives of Suffering, despite really enjoying the movie and thinking it was good, I have some serious beef with it that I am still trying to articulate in my mind to make into an eventual post. But A Serious Man is still something of a comedic movie, something quirky, by the Coens' brothers. Not like Precious, not like this brutally honest thing that I just don't want to confront but is haunting me everyday that I don't try to face it down and accept what it was trying to tell me. It's simple really: the horrors people can put on those they supposedly love, the hurt that "love" provides, and real love that can be found, a way to escape and a hope for something more. But there's still such a trauma there.
It's funny how everything pieces together so smoothly in life. Not only did I see these two movies all about suffering in the midst of trying to understand it through the lens of this class and the fifteen books we've read for it (The Road is last and coincidentally enough, the movie version just came out!), but one of my friends just did a presentation on trauma this evening, the last portion of which I attended. It was a pretty straightforward synopsis of trauma, providing the important information about it, and presenting it mostly within the idea of sexual abuse and on college campuses. But after having just finished rereading Maus, trauma seems so much bigger than that, so much more complicated. But basically my life is surrounding me with these narratives of suffering and asking me, begging me, in fact, to confront and understand them. The song I'm doing for my jazz final is even called "I Want To Be Happy!" I mean, what the hell, life?
It always circles back around to that class lately. And not without good reason. I'm glad that a class I'm taking has had such an effect on my life. Not like my film classes which, although awesome, have provided more of a technical and aesthetic appreciation and skill, but something that has truly made me think more profoundly and to look around me at the world with more thought. A year ago, I would have simply accepted Precious and A Serious Man as amazing films, and when Precious would have scared me from trying to talk about it, I wouldn't have bothered to try to think about why and have simply accepted that it's a difficult story.
And it is a difficult story, and a very difficult movie. But I want to try to talk about it without feeling the eyes on me, asking why I, such a privileged person whose worst worries are about getting her homework all done in time and adequately, should ever dare to think about such pain. Who am I to think about such pain? But it's not about looking at it apart, seeing it as myself. I want to look at this movie and not get lost in the pain and suffering but see it analytically as well, understandingly, but without losing my humanity in the process. Yes, I feel for Precious, I watch her in the movie and my heart tries to leap out of my chest to be closer to her, to join souls with her, but I don't want that to cloud my ability to see the movie as a narrative. It's easy to let that happen as I've felt with several of the narratives we've read in my class. And it's easy to step back and forget how to feel. I want to do both and it's a struggle, but a worthwhile one, because in feeling but understanding, like Art Spiegelman seems to succeed at in Maus, I can lay myself next to the story, and love it.
Maybe it's just me, but I really wasn't that in love with Coraline. I liked it, I wanted to really like it, but I just couldn't. It was a great film visually, but the story felt too thin at times that I just couldn't love it the way some of my critics seem to.
But onto more convoluted and lengthily-written sentiments...
I saw Precious this past Thanksgiving weekend (last Saturday, to be exact). I was almost ashamed that I didn't actually cry during it. I teared up, for sure, the same moment Mariah Carey's character was kind of blubbering on screen, and the whole film just left me in this state of mind that I just wasn't allowed to talk about it. Which is so interesting from the perspective we're taking from reading Maus in my literature class this past week. The idea that the Holocaust cannot be retold, but rather that Maus acts as a substitution, never daring to presume that it is a retelling or a recreation - it simply is what it is.
But something tugs at me and tells me that Precious is supposed to be real and that is what makes me clam up about it. Not that it's based directly off of a true story - although Oprah and Tyler Perry find themselves taking it and applying it to real tales around them, and I can't blame them for doing that in the least - but that it isn't trying to substitute for anything, it's trying to take the place of that reality, trying to show us it. I'm not sure how I feel about that, about seeing this depressing-as-hell story told to me. I can't really talk about the film, about the elements of it. I feel as if I'd be betraying what the movie is showing. I don't dare to put the film into a frame like we're asked to when we're asked how we feel about a movie or how it is. And some movies, most movies that I see actually, I can do that. I can talk and talk about the narrative structure, about what I liked and didn't like, about the portrayals and this and that and on and so forth. But some movies, like Precious, just leave me with the sense that I'm not allowed to say anything about it. I can't even know how I feel about it. I can pick out little things, talk about the skillful acting, about the interesting structure and bleakness of it all, but I can't even dare to seriously summarize or react to it.
This is something I don't want to have. I'd rather have the courage to be able to do what Art Spiegelman does and take the frikkin Holocaust and find some way to express myself without betraying the original event, without betraying Precious and her story, but still managing to express what that experience brings. I haven't read the novel the movie is based off of, and maybe the movie does that for the novel. Successfully substitutes the sufferings of the novel with the sufferings in the movie. There is something that so nicely converts a story sometimes when it is translated from a textual to a visual medium. But I'm rambling, and I don't even make sense to myself by this point.
My point is that this class, Narratives of Suffering, has changed the way I look at everything around me, no joke. I also saw A Serious Man and thanks to Narratives of Suffering, despite really enjoying the movie and thinking it was good, I have some serious beef with it that I am still trying to articulate in my mind to make into an eventual post. But A Serious Man is still something of a comedic movie, something quirky, by the Coens' brothers. Not like Precious, not like this brutally honest thing that I just don't want to confront but is haunting me everyday that I don't try to face it down and accept what it was trying to tell me. It's simple really: the horrors people can put on those they supposedly love, the hurt that "love" provides, and real love that can be found, a way to escape and a hope for something more. But there's still such a trauma there.
It's funny how everything pieces together so smoothly in life. Not only did I see these two movies all about suffering in the midst of trying to understand it through the lens of this class and the fifteen books we've read for it (The Road is last and coincidentally enough, the movie version just came out!), but one of my friends just did a presentation on trauma this evening, the last portion of which I attended. It was a pretty straightforward synopsis of trauma, providing the important information about it, and presenting it mostly within the idea of sexual abuse and on college campuses. But after having just finished rereading Maus, trauma seems so much bigger than that, so much more complicated. But basically my life is surrounding me with these narratives of suffering and asking me, begging me, in fact, to confront and understand them. The song I'm doing for my jazz final is even called "I Want To Be Happy!" I mean, what the hell, life?
It always circles back around to that class lately. And not without good reason. I'm glad that a class I'm taking has had such an effect on my life. Not like my film classes which, although awesome, have provided more of a technical and aesthetic appreciation and skill, but something that has truly made me think more profoundly and to look around me at the world with more thought. A year ago, I would have simply accepted Precious and A Serious Man as amazing films, and when Precious would have scared me from trying to talk about it, I wouldn't have bothered to try to think about why and have simply accepted that it's a difficult story.
And it is a difficult story, and a very difficult movie. But I want to try to talk about it without feeling the eyes on me, asking why I, such a privileged person whose worst worries are about getting her homework all done in time and adequately, should ever dare to think about such pain. Who am I to think about such pain? But it's not about looking at it apart, seeing it as myself. I want to look at this movie and not get lost in the pain and suffering but see it analytically as well, understandingly, but without losing my humanity in the process. Yes, I feel for Precious, I watch her in the movie and my heart tries to leap out of my chest to be closer to her, to join souls with her, but I don't want that to cloud my ability to see the movie as a narrative. It's easy to let that happen as I've felt with several of the narratives we've read in my class. And it's easy to step back and forget how to feel. I want to do both and it's a struggle, but a worthwhile one, because in feeling but understanding, like Art Spiegelman seems to succeed at in Maus, I can lay myself next to the story, and love it.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
I Hate Feeling So Behind Even Though There Is Still So Much To Arrive...
Being a full time student + part time employee + college students who enjoys socializing in her spare time when she isn't doing a shitload of homework = less time to see movies. As it is, I am far behind both on Oscar movies and regular enjoyment movies (helloooo, Zombieland). I haven't been to the theatre in nearly three weeks when I saw a few new films, including Bright Star. So there have been movies I have missed and hopefully they will remain in theatres until next weekend when I take a short detour home for a couple days to catch up on TV, movies, and good food.
Movies I Would Like To See This Month: Where the Wild Things Are, Zombieland, Good Hair, An Education, The Road, The Damned United, A Serious Man.
The Road and An Education come out in time for Thanksgiving break, while I'm going to have to hurry up to see Zombieland and Where the Wild Things Are before they disappear from theatres. I'd also like to see Clive Owen in The Boys Are Back, but, come on, I'm already assigning myself the task of seeing 7 movies during a three day weekend plus a four and a half day break, which also involves crossing the state to visit family for half of that.
But winter break will be a lot more interesting. The past two winters have seen me watch movies like a crazy woman between Netflix and the theatre. It is quite a bit of fun to see me and try to equate to yourself how many movie tickets I buy each year. Next to food, it's probably my biggest outlet for spending money. And this doesn't include the scenarios where I ask my friends to go with me, they say they don't have the money, and I just pay for them because I've already seen like 5 movies by myself that season.
Which leads me to the hard part about these two short breaks: I'm not going home alone. My roommate has decided that she wants to tag along next weekend (but I can just drop her off at Paranormal Activity, which she really wants to see), and then another of my friends, who, as an international student, lives across the world, isn't going home for Thanksgiving break, will be accompanying me then. But this will happen! I must see these movies. Not only do I really have a vested interest in seeing them and, as a film student, I should be watching lots and lots of movies, but I am a NERD when it comes to awards season. For reals, yo.
And we're not even into the major season yet. Like I said, I'll have more time come winter break (approx. six weeks of laziness... and a day or two of meeting my brother's Brazilian girlfriend), but there will also be more movies. Invictus. Nine. The Lovely Bones. Sherlock Holmes. Precious. Avatar. Up in the Air. Any other of a host of last minute surprises and things that suddenly occur to me "oh hey, that looks awesome, I should see that." Not to mention the netflixing of movies I missed earlier, like The Hurt Locker. But anyways, the more I think about this, the crazier I go, and I can't go crazy just yet; still got a month and a half left of classes. Blegh on that. I would much rather just watch movies.
I did finally see Waltz with Bashir (one year later). How that did not win Best Foreign Film is beyond me.
On another note, considering how The Road is being reacted to so far, maybe I was too quick in my judgment to assume that it could never match up to the book. I have become more interested in seeing it as of late. Viggo Mortensen looks like he gives a fantastic performance (I was close to saying that he looks fantastic, but he doesn't, which is the point), and so I will go see The Road when it comes out. So color me excited (in a minimal way).
Movies I Would Like To See This Month: Where the Wild Things Are, Zombieland, Good Hair, An Education, The Road, The Damned United, A Serious Man.
The Road and An Education come out in time for Thanksgiving break, while I'm going to have to hurry up to see Zombieland and Where the Wild Things Are before they disappear from theatres. I'd also like to see Clive Owen in The Boys Are Back, but, come on, I'm already assigning myself the task of seeing 7 movies during a three day weekend plus a four and a half day break, which also involves crossing the state to visit family for half of that.
But winter break will be a lot more interesting. The past two winters have seen me watch movies like a crazy woman between Netflix and the theatre. It is quite a bit of fun to see me and try to equate to yourself how many movie tickets I buy each year. Next to food, it's probably my biggest outlet for spending money. And this doesn't include the scenarios where I ask my friends to go with me, they say they don't have the money, and I just pay for them because I've already seen like 5 movies by myself that season.
Which leads me to the hard part about these two short breaks: I'm not going home alone. My roommate has decided that she wants to tag along next weekend (but I can just drop her off at Paranormal Activity, which she really wants to see), and then another of my friends, who, as an international student, lives across the world, isn't going home for Thanksgiving break, will be accompanying me then. But this will happen! I must see these movies. Not only do I really have a vested interest in seeing them and, as a film student, I should be watching lots and lots of movies, but I am a NERD when it comes to awards season. For reals, yo.
And we're not even into the major season yet. Like I said, I'll have more time come winter break (approx. six weeks of laziness... and a day or two of meeting my brother's Brazilian girlfriend), but there will also be more movies. Invictus. Nine. The Lovely Bones. Sherlock Holmes. Precious. Avatar. Up in the Air. Any other of a host of last minute surprises and things that suddenly occur to me "oh hey, that looks awesome, I should see that." Not to mention the netflixing of movies I missed earlier, like The Hurt Locker. But anyways, the more I think about this, the crazier I go, and I can't go crazy just yet; still got a month and a half left of classes. Blegh on that. I would much rather just watch movies.
I did finally see Waltz with Bashir (one year later). How that did not win Best Foreign Film is beyond me.
On another note, considering how The Road is being reacted to so far, maybe I was too quick in my judgment to assume that it could never match up to the book. I have become more interested in seeing it as of late. Viggo Mortensen looks like he gives a fantastic performance (I was close to saying that he looks fantastic, but he doesn't, which is the point), and so I will go see The Road when it comes out. So color me excited (in a minimal way).
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Stealing From My Livejournal Part XXIII
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 22, 2009:
"FUCK YOU HOLLYWOOD.
(And your non-love for The Dark Knight!)
I'm surprised you bitches didn't leave Heath Ledger off in ignoring it for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. I am so furious with them right now. The Reader is a good film, no doubt, but seriously! The Dark Knight is even better. Stupid freakin' prestige, biased against the giant blockbuster just because it is a blockbuster and not caring that on top of that you have one of the best movies of the year. You just cost yourself big time, Academy. Considering that Best Supporting Actor is the first category announced at the Oscars, I'm betting a nice portion of your viewers will come for Heath and then leave after he wins (and if he doesn't, I'll know just how lightly you take "comic book movies").
I'll admit there were a couple pleasant surprises in the nominee list:
Amy Adams for Doubt, which was personally my favourite performance in the whole movie. I'm glad Wall-E nabbed a much deserving Best Original Screenplay nod. Richard Jenkins got a nomination over Clint Eastwood and Leonardo DiCaprio for Best Actor for The Visitor. In Bruges got a Best Original Screenplay nomination.
And a couple surprises almost as bad as The Dark Knight snubs:
Sally Hawkins is ignored for Best Actress. Kate Winslet was pushed up to Best Actress for The Reader (not so much a bad surprise, but a surprise nonetheless - I think this makes her the front-runner in the category, but I could be wrong).
...I'm just so pissed off about ignoring The Dark Knight so strongly. Here's to hoping it makes a comeback in the smaller categories. Man, am I pissed at you Academy. And sorely disappointed. The Dark Knight was a gem of a movie. Fuck it, at least they made money, but I'm sure if I were in the shoes of anyone who took part in The Dark Knight, I'd want more. I'd want someone to see my hard work, my brilliant film, and give it a little more notice than just having paid for it.
It deserved better. Shame on you, Academy."
From January 22, 2009:
"FUCK YOU HOLLYWOOD.
(And your non-love for The Dark Knight!)
I'm surprised you bitches didn't leave Heath Ledger off in ignoring it for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. I am so furious with them right now. The Reader is a good film, no doubt, but seriously! The Dark Knight is even better. Stupid freakin' prestige, biased against the giant blockbuster just because it is a blockbuster and not caring that on top of that you have one of the best movies of the year. You just cost yourself big time, Academy. Considering that Best Supporting Actor is the first category announced at the Oscars, I'm betting a nice portion of your viewers will come for Heath and then leave after he wins (and if he doesn't, I'll know just how lightly you take "comic book movies").
I'll admit there were a couple pleasant surprises in the nominee list:
Amy Adams for Doubt, which was personally my favourite performance in the whole movie. I'm glad Wall-E nabbed a much deserving Best Original Screenplay nod. Richard Jenkins got a nomination over Clint Eastwood and Leonardo DiCaprio for Best Actor for The Visitor. In Bruges got a Best Original Screenplay nomination.
And a couple surprises almost as bad as The Dark Knight snubs:
Sally Hawkins is ignored for Best Actress. Kate Winslet was pushed up to Best Actress for The Reader (not so much a bad surprise, but a surprise nonetheless - I think this makes her the front-runner in the category, but I could be wrong).
...I'm just so pissed off about ignoring The Dark Knight so strongly. Here's to hoping it makes a comeback in the smaller categories. Man, am I pissed at you Academy. And sorely disappointed. The Dark Knight was a gem of a movie. Fuck it, at least they made money, but I'm sure if I were in the shoes of anyone who took part in The Dark Knight, I'd want more. I'd want someone to see my hard work, my brilliant film, and give it a little more notice than just having paid for it.
It deserved better. Shame on you, Academy."
Stealing From My Livejournal Part XXII
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 16, 2009:
"But what a movie! Frost/Nixon was really good. Really, really good. For my generation especially who wasn't alive in the time on the Watergate scandal and Nixon's time as a prominent political figure (...president) it is hard not to at times think "wow, I wonder if there's another president who deserves some accountability!" But it's not the current political landscape that really makes the movie so good. It's that after you see it you think to yourself, wow, I just sat through two hours with little movement much less physical action or sexual behaviour, and yet that was intense... and amazing. Michael Sheen and Frank Langella both dominated their roles, really making the audience feel for both of them (of course, Langella had the harder job, no doubt) in so many different ways. I never fully loved either of the characters, nor fully hated them, but there was no way I couldn't connect with and understand both of them at times. Of course, the writing certainly helped that (and, y'know, the real life events). But the film as a whole, nothing too particular, is what made the film so strong. It didn't work for your attention. It didn't try to substitute a lack of physical action with intense music or anything that was over the top (unlike Doubt, another play-turned-movie with little action, which I felt really didn't do quite so well with what it had). It simply was a magnificent film, no matter if it matched up perfectly with history or not, it keeps the spirit, so far as I'm aware, of the historical presence it draws from around and alive.
Frost/Nixon stays in my five. And no doubt it'll be in the Academy's.
So here is my five at the moment, the five I hope for, the five I want, the five I've seen, the five I expect
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (well, I don't really want this one as much as the others, but it'll get there. There needs to be some sort of traditionally epic film in there)
- The Dark Knight
- Frost/Nixon
- Milk
- Slumdog Millionaire (which will go on to win)
I'll kick something very, very hard if The Dark Knight gets muscled out. If any of the movies on my list deserves the boot, it's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."
From January 16, 2009:
"But what a movie! Frost/Nixon was really good. Really, really good. For my generation especially who wasn't alive in the time on the Watergate scandal and Nixon's time as a prominent political figure (...president) it is hard not to at times think "wow, I wonder if there's another president who deserves some accountability!" But it's not the current political landscape that really makes the movie so good. It's that after you see it you think to yourself, wow, I just sat through two hours with little movement much less physical action or sexual behaviour, and yet that was intense... and amazing. Michael Sheen and Frank Langella both dominated their roles, really making the audience feel for both of them (of course, Langella had the harder job, no doubt) in so many different ways. I never fully loved either of the characters, nor fully hated them, but there was no way I couldn't connect with and understand both of them at times. Of course, the writing certainly helped that (and, y'know, the real life events). But the film as a whole, nothing too particular, is what made the film so strong. It didn't work for your attention. It didn't try to substitute a lack of physical action with intense music or anything that was over the top (unlike Doubt, another play-turned-movie with little action, which I felt really didn't do quite so well with what it had). It simply was a magnificent film, no matter if it matched up perfectly with history or not, it keeps the spirit, so far as I'm aware, of the historical presence it draws from around and alive.
Frost/Nixon stays in my five. And no doubt it'll be in the Academy's.
So here is my five at the moment, the five I hope for, the five I want, the five I've seen, the five I expect
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (well, I don't really want this one as much as the others, but it'll get there. There needs to be some sort of traditionally epic film in there)
- The Dark Knight
- Frost/Nixon
- Milk
- Slumdog Millionaire (which will go on to win)
I'll kick something very, very hard if The Dark Knight gets muscled out. If any of the movies on my list deserves the boot, it's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."
Stealing From My Livejournal Part XVII
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 December 30, 2008:
"So because I am a movie nerd, I follow the Entertainment Weekly's website's Oscar blog which posts some stuff I don't care about, but mostly talks about the possible noms and other award shows, which does interest me (if you couldn't tell from the majority of my posts). I assume that most people who read Entertainment Weekly in the first place are similar enough to me that they like movies, and typically they like movies for less common reasons, but not too cynical reasons, because EW is neither total fluff nor is it hardcore serious.
So what baffles me is, well, there is this one most recent blog post that the guy made about box office and award consideration and if one influences the other (this was in relation to Benjamin Button's higher per-theatre average against Frost/Nixon's). Now, this was genuinely interesting to me so I felt like, for probably the first time, I'd make the comment. I started skimming the comments already there, seeing the opinions of others. Now, what baffled me was that I kept reading comments about people bitching about the Oscars, saying how they were stupid and no one cares, people bitching about the movie industry, people just generally bitching about movies that were mentioned, and people bitching about pretty much everything that blog was about.
And I'm sitting here, thinking, why the fuck are people who don't like a) award shows, b) the movie industry, and/or c) award-magnet movies reading this blog in the first place (or this magazine/website)?"
From December 30, 2008:
"So because I am a movie nerd, I follow the Entertainment Weekly's website's Oscar blog which posts some stuff I don't care about, but mostly talks about the possible noms and other award shows, which does interest me (if you couldn't tell from the majority of my posts). I assume that most people who read Entertainment Weekly in the first place are similar enough to me that they like movies, and typically they like movies for less common reasons, but not too cynical reasons, because EW is neither total fluff nor is it hardcore serious.
So what baffles me is, well, there is this one most recent blog post that the guy made about box office and award consideration and if one influences the other (this was in relation to Benjamin Button's higher per-theatre average against Frost/Nixon's). Now, this was genuinely interesting to me so I felt like, for probably the first time, I'd make the comment. I started skimming the comments already there, seeing the opinions of others. Now, what baffled me was that I kept reading comments about people bitching about the Oscars, saying how they were stupid and no one cares, people bitching about the movie industry, people just generally bitching about movies that were mentioned, and people bitching about pretty much everything that blog was about.
And I'm sitting here, thinking, why the fuck are people who don't like a) award shows, b) the movie industry, and/or c) award-magnet movies reading this blog in the first place (or this magazine/website)?"
Stealing From My Livejournal Part XVI
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 December 28, 2008:
"Two more films down.
The Curious Case of Benjamin, I saw on Friday. It was a good movie, no doubt about that, and I enjoyed it. I have to admit that I didn't get as into it as I am sure the minds behind the film wanted me to. A lot of movies strive to bring the audience into the lives of the people they portray, in fact, I think most movies try to grab audiences and bring them in, if not all. But I felt very disconnected from Benjamin Button. It was a good story to watch, but I was definitely watching everything. I was extremely conscious of my presence outside of the movie. It started off too slow for my tastes, taking too long with old!Brad Pitt before it got into the story, really. And although I loved the guy who told us all the ways he got struck by lightning (hilarious, seriously), the woman who taught Benjamin piano... was a little overdramatic, like they were trying to grab us too soon, trying too hard to bring the audience in to sympathize with the characters. Anyway, overall, it was a good movie. Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt, and Taraji P. Henson all brought good performances into it. And the effects were good but not overdone or too braggy.
Slumdog Millionaire, I just saw today. Now, I don't think I can find one bad thing to say about it. I will say here and now, Slumdog Millionaire is my favourite for Best Picture at this point in time. Nothing bad against my other favourites that are possible Best Picture contenders (here's looking at you, Dark Knight and Milk), but Slumdog Millionaire is just so good. It was wonderful to look at, not necessarily beautiful (considering like half the film plays out in slummy areas), but perfect. The cinematography was great, the way the camera poses were perfectly imperfect, giving this film such a nifty unconventional feel. Danny Boyle definitely deserves a directing nod (and I feel the same about Christopher Nolan and Gus Van Sant, BTWs, Academy >.>), and the screenplay was also great, great stuff. Just an overall vibrant and beautiful movie. This is one I'd love to see again. I'd also love to see more Dev Patel! He did a really excellent job with Jamal and although it was definitely an ensemble film (even though there's a main character, he's played by three different actors of varying ages), I think his performance was particularly great. The actors that played his brother, Salim, also, did an especially good job with all three ages. And the soundtrack! Oh my god, what a perfect mix of so much. And I was laughing, happily, when I heard M.I.A. singing along. After hearing Paper Planes non-stop for months, it was wonderful to see it in such a film. <3"
From December 28, 2008:
"Two more films down.
The Curious Case of Benjamin, I saw on Friday. It was a good movie, no doubt about that, and I enjoyed it. I have to admit that I didn't get as into it as I am sure the minds behind the film wanted me to. A lot of movies strive to bring the audience into the lives of the people they portray, in fact, I think most movies try to grab audiences and bring them in, if not all. But I felt very disconnected from Benjamin Button. It was a good story to watch, but I was definitely watching everything. I was extremely conscious of my presence outside of the movie. It started off too slow for my tastes, taking too long with old!Brad Pitt before it got into the story, really. And although I loved the guy who told us all the ways he got struck by lightning (hilarious, seriously), the woman who taught Benjamin piano... was a little overdramatic, like they were trying to grab us too soon, trying too hard to bring the audience in to sympathize with the characters. Anyway, overall, it was a good movie. Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt, and Taraji P. Henson all brought good performances into it. And the effects were good but not overdone or too braggy.
Slumdog Millionaire, I just saw today. Now, I don't think I can find one bad thing to say about it. I will say here and now, Slumdog Millionaire is my favourite for Best Picture at this point in time. Nothing bad against my other favourites that are possible Best Picture contenders (here's looking at you, Dark Knight and Milk), but Slumdog Millionaire is just so good. It was wonderful to look at, not necessarily beautiful (considering like half the film plays out in slummy areas), but perfect. The cinematography was great, the way the camera poses were perfectly imperfect, giving this film such a nifty unconventional feel. Danny Boyle definitely deserves a directing nod (and I feel the same about Christopher Nolan and Gus Van Sant, BTWs, Academy >.>), and the screenplay was also great, great stuff. Just an overall vibrant and beautiful movie. This is one I'd love to see again. I'd also love to see more Dev Patel! He did a really excellent job with Jamal and although it was definitely an ensemble film (even though there's a main character, he's played by three different actors of varying ages), I think his performance was particularly great. The actors that played his brother, Salim, also, did an especially good job with all three ages. And the soundtrack! Oh my god, what a perfect mix of so much. And I was laughing, happily, when I heard M.I.A. singing along. After hearing Paper Planes non-stop for months, it was wonderful to see it in such a film. <3"
Stealing From My Livejournal Part XV
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 December 25, 2008:
"Saw Milk. Omg so good. Such a quality film. Sean Penn is stunning as Harvey Milk, giving an excellent performance as quite a character that I knew was going to prove interesting from the first scene were he picks up his unknown-to-be-several-year-boyfriend James Franco (also absolutely fabulous, but I'll get to that later) shortly before e turns 40. Gus Van Sant really deserves a directing nod for this feature, it was wonderful. It was constructed so well with the time lapses done appropriately and the comedic and dramatic portions complementing very well. And, although this is all of course based on fact, the kind of self-mocking scene when the first real female character appears, replacing Scott/James Franco as the campaign manager and all the guys (they're all gay, of course, including little mister Sharpay's brother from High School Musical; he was adorable xD) react rather oddly, all being used to their sausage fest. Of course, the girl is assertive and a lesbian, so that contrasts a bit from the feministic behaviour of a lot of the guys on Milk's team. The supporting cast was fabulous too; Sean Penn didn't quite steal the show from them, they managed quite well. Josh Brolin, of course, as Milk's eventual assassin, played off so well, like a real person rather than just some homophobic douche, which could have easily been portrayed. But no, White was a more interesting character than that, wanting to work alongside Milk even though he didn't in the least support Milk's gay rights platform, and only snapping when it's appropriate, when he's lost his job and can't get it back and he just can't take that a gay man is upstaging him. Then, of course, you get Milk's team. Emile Hirsch was wonderful, James Franco was perfectly stunning, and Diego Luna was absolutely insane (which is spot on for his character). James Franco's Scott was just so perfect, I wish I could be a gay man and have a boyfriend as awesome as him (and avoid anyone like Diego Luna's character). That tender scene just shortly before Milk's assassination, when he calls Scott and talks to him, not long after Diego Luna's character hangs himself, leaving Milk perfectly alone to be assassinated, and tells Scott that he misses him as they watch the sun rise, is so beautiful. There are so many wonderful scenes in the film, but that scene... arguably my favourite.
Anyway, the point of that ginormous paragraph of a review is that Milk is an amazing film, and I highly recommend it. I was totally tearing up at the end even though you know from the opening minutes if you didn't already know anything about Harvey Milk that he's going to die by the end of this movie, assassinated, it was just that strong. It's not just the message that Harvey Milk is trying to bring (one that is still so prominent today; his time really wasn't that long ago), but the emotion that the film carries. I feel like I'm there with him, or I wish I had been at times.
Oh and a little weird note: the costumes and hair in that movie were so perfectly period. I loved it.
So that's one of my films to see down. Plenty to go."
From December 25, 2008:
"Saw Milk. Omg so good. Such a quality film. Sean Penn is stunning as Harvey Milk, giving an excellent performance as quite a character that I knew was going to prove interesting from the first scene were he picks up his unknown-to-be-several-year-boyfriend James Franco (also absolutely fabulous, but I'll get to that later) shortly before e turns 40. Gus Van Sant really deserves a directing nod for this feature, it was wonderful. It was constructed so well with the time lapses done appropriately and the comedic and dramatic portions complementing very well. And, although this is all of course based on fact, the kind of self-mocking scene when the first real female character appears, replacing Scott/James Franco as the campaign manager and all the guys (they're all gay, of course, including little mister Sharpay's brother from High School Musical; he was adorable xD) react rather oddly, all being used to their sausage fest. Of course, the girl is assertive and a lesbian, so that contrasts a bit from the feministic behaviour of a lot of the guys on Milk's team. The supporting cast was fabulous too; Sean Penn didn't quite steal the show from them, they managed quite well. Josh Brolin, of course, as Milk's eventual assassin, played off so well, like a real person rather than just some homophobic douche, which could have easily been portrayed. But no, White was a more interesting character than that, wanting to work alongside Milk even though he didn't in the least support Milk's gay rights platform, and only snapping when it's appropriate, when he's lost his job and can't get it back and he just can't take that a gay man is upstaging him. Then, of course, you get Milk's team. Emile Hirsch was wonderful, James Franco was perfectly stunning, and Diego Luna was absolutely insane (which is spot on for his character). James Franco's Scott was just so perfect, I wish I could be a gay man and have a boyfriend as awesome as him (and avoid anyone like Diego Luna's character). That tender scene just shortly before Milk's assassination, when he calls Scott and talks to him, not long after Diego Luna's character hangs himself, leaving Milk perfectly alone to be assassinated, and tells Scott that he misses him as they watch the sun rise, is so beautiful. There are so many wonderful scenes in the film, but that scene... arguably my favourite.
Anyway, the point of that ginormous paragraph of a review is that Milk is an amazing film, and I highly recommend it. I was totally tearing up at the end even though you know from the opening minutes if you didn't already know anything about Harvey Milk that he's going to die by the end of this movie, assassinated, it was just that strong. It's not just the message that Harvey Milk is trying to bring (one that is still so prominent today; his time really wasn't that long ago), but the emotion that the film carries. I feel like I'm there with him, or I wish I had been at times.
Oh and a little weird note: the costumes and hair in that movie were so perfectly period. I loved it.
So that's one of my films to see down. Plenty to go."
Stealing From My Livejournal Part XII
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 December 6, 2008:
"Okay, so, back to my favourite topic which has been gone from recent livejournal posts: film and, specifically, the coming Oscars.
So, yeah, this is going to be WAY long. But if you like films, like me, it might be worth perusing.
Right. So, I haven't seen that many Oscar-buzz films yet, being devoid of easy transportation and multiplexes at college, but there are quite a few I'm keen on seeing and a few I have already seen. And there are others that might not actually end up with any noms but are, at least in my opinion, deserving. So here's a run down of the films I've seen, want to see, and opinions.
seen:
~ Wall-E: If this doesn't win Best Animated Feature (aka The Pixar Award >.>) I will be beyond shocked. I hear Kung Fu Panda and Bolt were also good, but I'm betting neither could really top Wall-E. I'd expect at least Kung Fu Panda to snag one of the other two nomination slots though. I haven't seen it yet, but I plan on renting it over break. I also think Wall-E should grab some Sound nominations if not awards, and maybe even a slot in the Original Screenplay department (Ratatouille got a nom there last year and although I really liked Ratatouille, Wall-E wipes it off the map).
~ The Dark Knight: Two words: Heath Ledger. He will definitely get nominated but I really think he's the strongest candidate in the Supporting Actor category at the moment. And after reading Entertainment Weekly's disappointments in early favourites for Best Picture Doubt and Australia, I'm hoping there's a slot for The Dark Knight to nab a nom (although I'm not sure it should win, but I haven't seen most of the other Best Picture contenders yet, especially since a bunch aren't even released yet). And I wonder to myself if TDK would be considered an Original Screenplay or an Adapted Screenplay. I think it's strong enough to be nominated there. And maybe even Christopher Nolan for directing, but he's got some stiff competition so who knows? Of course, a lot of technical noms for TDK are on the horizon as well, but I think that a lot of films this year have technical glory to them, so TDK may have quality rivals, perhaps even in summer superhero blockbuster special Iron Man. And speaking of that...
~ Iron Man: Unlikely to get any noms except some technical ones, although I'm hoping that in the more wide Golden Globe world, Robert Downey, Jr. might get a Best Actor nomination (would Iron Man count as a comedy or a drama? Drama would be much tougher...).
~ The Visitor: Will this bittersweet indie flick get some love? Specifically, will Richard Jenkins get some love? If only the Best Actor race wasn't so tight this year...
~ Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day: I was talking with my friend Carley earlier about this film actually and how it was probably the sweetest and most adorable film this year. But released in the off season and as more of a surprise treat than an award-winning machine, it's unlikely to garner much attention. This makes me sad, however. Amy Adams is a wonderful actress that is so charming in this movie that even Frances McDormand's presence can't overrules this woman's performance. And the costumes and set design! It was all such great eye candy while staying true to the times. I really hope that it gets some attention in the visuals department; it's just such an underappreciated film.
~ Rachel Getting Married: Well, Anne Hathaway is a dead giveaway for Best Actress. She may have some quality competition, but she's definitely a shoo-in for a nom. She was wonderful in it. The whole film was such a sad-but-wonderful indie flick. Seriously, I want my wedding to be like the wedding in that film; it was the most beautiful wedding on film I've ever seen. It'd be nice to sneak into the writing awards, but I don't know how much competition it might garner there.
~ Wendy and Lucy: I'm slightly favourable to this film but that's because I have a streak of pride that the director is a film professor here at Bard. I saw it at Woodstock and although I thought it was good, I don't think it'll have a chance in the Oscar race, but in case some of the future prospects for Best Actress fall flat, Michelle Williams has been talked up a lot in the film as a potential surprise nom.
~ In Bruges: ...is going to be totally ignored, but I wanted to mention it anyway because it was an excellent film nonetheless. x)
~ The Incredible Hulk: Might snag a technical nom or two; it takes some skill to make gigantic fighting green monsteresque things.
~ Tropic Thunder: Some people have been pulling for a Robert Downey, Jr. Supporting Actor nod, but I really don't think that's going to happen. The movie was hilarious, don't get me wrong, and definitely good, but the only thing that stood out to me as really extraordinary was seeing Tom Cruise being so fucking amazingly hilarious as the studio exec. Come on, that dance at the end? PRICELESS. I actually stopped caring that he's batshit insane for a few minutes! That is impressive.
unseen:
~ Australia: Despite mixed reviews from critics which have thrashed any leading chances at major categories at the Oscars, I still would like to see this film. I think it still has a shot at visual categories, for sure, and I think it'd be enjoyable for anyone who can sit through a long movie (which I can totally do) and deal with Baz Luhrmann's style (which I also can totally do).
~ Milk: Sean Penn with JAMES FRANCO as his gay lover? omgomgomgomgomg. I love James Franco. Seriously. Even if this movie wasn't as critically strong as it is, I would still want to see it just for that (James Franco in Pineapple Express was LOVE). But the fact that Sean Penn is supposedly amazing in it and that the film itself is great (and likely guaranteed a coveted spot in The Five) and the screenplay's certainly getting attention makes it even more appealing to the Oscar nut in me.
~ Doubt: Although if other critics echo Entertainment Weekly's thrashing of it, I might end up passing on this one. I am a fan of the cast presented to me (I've already expressed my love for Amy Adams and I definitely enjoy Meryl Streep and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Viola Davis is supposed to be good), and maybe EW is just a fluke. This film has been Oscar bait since I first heard about it a few months ago, so it may still end up grabbing something.
~ Kung Fu Panda: Probably the second best animated film of 2008 (although I haven't heard anything negative about Bolt yet), although I think Wall-E is bound to kick this film's ass in the Animated Film Category, I like to see all the nominees. Plus, it looks beyond adorable.
~ Bolt: I was a bit surprised to see this film doing so critically well. I was originally planning to write it off, maybe see it, but now I'd really like to see it. It looks adorable and as long as I don't actually see Miley Cyrus, I think I can deal with her being a part of it (especially with John Travolta in the lead).
~ Frost/Nixon: Definite Oscar bait, and it sounds genuinely interesting. Potentially one of The Five, with pretty good chances.
~ Revolutionary Road: I'm as excited as anyone else to see Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio reunited on screen and in an interesting assessment of The American Dream, as it appears. Oscar bait for sure, but like most of the Oscar bait films I haven't seen, it's not just the buzz but also the story that makes me interested. Kate Winslet is a great actress so I think she has a great chance of stealing a slot in the Best Actress category for this. Leo, not so much with all the stiff competition for Best Actor. Sam Mendes for Best Director? I think it's a definite possibility.
~ The Reader: And speaking of Kate Winslet, here's her Supporting Actress nom to take over Cate Blanchett's position of last year (one nom in each acting category). I don't remember exactly what I read about the content of the film but I know it interested me. x)
~ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Who ISN'T excited for this movie? Seriously? Is anyone who likes movies not looking forward to this one? Almost definitely guaranteed a spot in The Five, starring Brad Pitt who I believe to be an underappreciated excellent actor (often given roles that don't stretch his acting ability; as much as I love the Ocean's films they don't exactly show off amazing acting ability, but just take a look at Fight Club and acknowledge how amazing Brad is as Tyler Durden). Although the Best Actor race is tight, I hope that Brad Pitt steals one of the noms there (although I personally think Sean Penn might have it locked; it seems like biopics are a favourite for Best Acting categories (i.e. Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland, Jamie Foxx for Ray, Marion Cottilard for La Vie En Rose, and Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood - which is really much more of a character film than anything else, etc.)). And Cate Blanchett is wonderful and likely to steal one of the Best Actress nods. And, of course, the film overall just looks so wonderful. I'm excited. And if you aren't, get excited.
~ Slumdog Millionaire: There was an article in this week's Entertainment Weekly about how the attacks in Mumbai suddenly changed the mood of this film. As opposed to those who have already seen it, I'm sure when I see it it'll be so much different from this side of the calendar. As the Choice Indie for The Five this year, Slumdog is practically a shoo-in, but mostly it just looks like the sweetest rags to riches tale I've ever not-yet-seen. I'm hoping it shows up in my theatres because it's definitely on my to-see list.
~ The Wrestler: All I've heard about is Mickey Rourke's comeback role that's close to the chest and that he is destined to get a Best Actor nom. Sounds like enough to convince me to catch it if I can.
~ I've Loved You So Long: I finally saw an actual preview for this movie and it looked enticing. A strong support for a Best Actress nom for Kristin Scott Thomas also draws my Oscar-love attention for sure.
~ Pride and Glory: Unlikely to snag any noms, Colin Farrell and Edward Norton as brothers in a The Departed-esque film? I'm definitely renting this when it comes out on DVD.
~ Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist: Also almost definitely not getting any noms, I think it just looks adorable. I missed it in theatres but I'll catch it on DVD.
~ The Brothers Bloom: Although like the two above it almost definitely not getting any noms (not getting a single bit of notice from anyone aside from me it seems), it is sneaking into limited release just before the new year. As I am a HUGE fan of Rian Johnson's first film, Brick, I am beyond psyched to see his second film coming out and looking so great. And starring Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo and, well, the whole cast seems great. I'm excited. It comes into wide release in January, and I'm definitely planning on catching it when it does and I suggest you do too. I have high hopes for Rian Johnson's future.
~ The Duchess: I am really kinda sick of Keira Knightley, but Ralph Fiennes is amazing and might be worth renting this.
So... my take on the Oscars this season? Here's a summary with some redundancy from above. Well, without having seen a lot of these films, I have a few favourites from films I have seen and films I've heard a lot about and might change my mind after seeing. I'd LOVE for The Dark Knight to get a Best Picture nod (I'd totally understand if it didn't win, but a nom would be beautiful). I'd love for Amy Adams to get a nom (although I'm not sure Doubt will carry her as well as I might have hoped and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day has been forgotten by everyone which sucks because it's great). I would like Brad Pitt to get a nod for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and I'm pretty behind Kate Winslet's double nomination. I'm definitely all for Anne Hathaway's nom for Best Actress and I'd like to see Rosemarie DeWitt snag a Best Supporting Actress nod for Rachel Getting Married. I'm very enthusiastic about any rumour of James Franco getting a Best Supporting Actor nod for Milk, and I am totally and completely and utterly and beyond belief for Heath Ledger getting a posthumous nom for The Dark Knight (this could be bias for just loving The Joker character so much and being a superhero sucker, but oh my freaking god he better at least get nominated, even though I, unfortunately, understand that posthumous awards happen infrequently). Of course, I'm way behind Wall-E for Best Animated and for the Sound categories. I hope Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day snags at least one visual nod.
Oh and I'm totally WTFing over Clint Eastwood nomination talk. I'm a bit annoyed because I hadn't even heard like anything about Gran Torino until I heard that Clint Eastwood was angling for a Best Actor nod with it. He's a good actor and filmmaker and stuff, but with the tight race that is Best Actor, I have other favourites I'd rather see getting nominated. But he has a sense of prestige which might nudge other potentially more deserving candidates aside. But since I haven't seen a lot of the Best Actor buzz films yet, I haven't formed a full opinion yet.
Anyway, I've got a lot of films left to view to really round out my Oscar perspective and luckily I've got a month of winter break to see all that I'd like to see. Unfortunately, the nominees will be nominated at the very tail end of my break, but hopefully I'll be informed enough on the films involved that I can be either rightfully outraged or enthusiastic.
And, Academy, a small word. You know yourself that The Dark Knight has drawn way more viewers than any of the other films you nominate are likely to attract. Considering your dropping viewership in the past few years, a Heath Ledger nod or even a Best Picture nod could realllllllly help you get some ratings and make the night actually interesting, which it hasn't been since The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King swept the awards in 2004. So, please, nominate Heath Ledger, goddammit!"
From December 6, 2008:
"Okay, so, back to my favourite topic which has been gone from recent livejournal posts: film and, specifically, the coming Oscars.
So, yeah, this is going to be WAY long. But if you like films, like me, it might be worth perusing.
Right. So, I haven't seen that many Oscar-buzz films yet, being devoid of easy transportation and multiplexes at college, but there are quite a few I'm keen on seeing and a few I have already seen. And there are others that might not actually end up with any noms but are, at least in my opinion, deserving. So here's a run down of the films I've seen, want to see, and opinions.
seen:
~ Wall-E: If this doesn't win Best Animated Feature (aka The Pixar Award >.>) I will be beyond shocked. I hear Kung Fu Panda and Bolt were also good, but I'm betting neither could really top Wall-E. I'd expect at least Kung Fu Panda to snag one of the other two nomination slots though. I haven't seen it yet, but I plan on renting it over break. I also think Wall-E should grab some Sound nominations if not awards, and maybe even a slot in the Original Screenplay department (Ratatouille got a nom there last year and although I really liked Ratatouille, Wall-E wipes it off the map).
~ The Dark Knight: Two words: Heath Ledger. He will definitely get nominated but I really think he's the strongest candidate in the Supporting Actor category at the moment. And after reading Entertainment Weekly's disappointments in early favourites for Best Picture Doubt and Australia, I'm hoping there's a slot for The Dark Knight to nab a nom (although I'm not sure it should win, but I haven't seen most of the other Best Picture contenders yet, especially since a bunch aren't even released yet). And I wonder to myself if TDK would be considered an Original Screenplay or an Adapted Screenplay. I think it's strong enough to be nominated there. And maybe even Christopher Nolan for directing, but he's got some stiff competition so who knows? Of course, a lot of technical noms for TDK are on the horizon as well, but I think that a lot of films this year have technical glory to them, so TDK may have quality rivals, perhaps even in summer superhero blockbuster special Iron Man. And speaking of that...
~ Iron Man: Unlikely to get any noms except some technical ones, although I'm hoping that in the more wide Golden Globe world, Robert Downey, Jr. might get a Best Actor nomination (would Iron Man count as a comedy or a drama? Drama would be much tougher...).
~ The Visitor: Will this bittersweet indie flick get some love? Specifically, will Richard Jenkins get some love? If only the Best Actor race wasn't so tight this year...
~ Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day: I was talking with my friend Carley earlier about this film actually and how it was probably the sweetest and most adorable film this year. But released in the off season and as more of a surprise treat than an award-winning machine, it's unlikely to garner much attention. This makes me sad, however. Amy Adams is a wonderful actress that is so charming in this movie that even Frances McDormand's presence can't overrules this woman's performance. And the costumes and set design! It was all such great eye candy while staying true to the times. I really hope that it gets some attention in the visuals department; it's just such an underappreciated film.
~ Rachel Getting Married: Well, Anne Hathaway is a dead giveaway for Best Actress. She may have some quality competition, but she's definitely a shoo-in for a nom. She was wonderful in it. The whole film was such a sad-but-wonderful indie flick. Seriously, I want my wedding to be like the wedding in that film; it was the most beautiful wedding on film I've ever seen. It'd be nice to sneak into the writing awards, but I don't know how much competition it might garner there.
~ Wendy and Lucy: I'm slightly favourable to this film but that's because I have a streak of pride that the director is a film professor here at Bard. I saw it at Woodstock and although I thought it was good, I don't think it'll have a chance in the Oscar race, but in case some of the future prospects for Best Actress fall flat, Michelle Williams has been talked up a lot in the film as a potential surprise nom.
~ In Bruges: ...is going to be totally ignored, but I wanted to mention it anyway because it was an excellent film nonetheless. x)
~ The Incredible Hulk: Might snag a technical nom or two; it takes some skill to make gigantic fighting green monsteresque things.
~ Tropic Thunder: Some people have been pulling for a Robert Downey, Jr. Supporting Actor nod, but I really don't think that's going to happen. The movie was hilarious, don't get me wrong, and definitely good, but the only thing that stood out to me as really extraordinary was seeing Tom Cruise being so fucking amazingly hilarious as the studio exec. Come on, that dance at the end? PRICELESS. I actually stopped caring that he's batshit insane for a few minutes! That is impressive.
unseen:
~ Australia: Despite mixed reviews from critics which have thrashed any leading chances at major categories at the Oscars, I still would like to see this film. I think it still has a shot at visual categories, for sure, and I think it'd be enjoyable for anyone who can sit through a long movie (which I can totally do) and deal with Baz Luhrmann's style (which I also can totally do).
~ Milk: Sean Penn with JAMES FRANCO as his gay lover? omgomgomgomgomg. I love James Franco. Seriously. Even if this movie wasn't as critically strong as it is, I would still want to see it just for that (James Franco in Pineapple Express was LOVE). But the fact that Sean Penn is supposedly amazing in it and that the film itself is great (and likely guaranteed a coveted spot in The Five) and the screenplay's certainly getting attention makes it even more appealing to the Oscar nut in me.
~ Doubt: Although if other critics echo Entertainment Weekly's thrashing of it, I might end up passing on this one. I am a fan of the cast presented to me (I've already expressed my love for Amy Adams and I definitely enjoy Meryl Streep and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Viola Davis is supposed to be good), and maybe EW is just a fluke. This film has been Oscar bait since I first heard about it a few months ago, so it may still end up grabbing something.
~ Kung Fu Panda: Probably the second best animated film of 2008 (although I haven't heard anything negative about Bolt yet), although I think Wall-E is bound to kick this film's ass in the Animated Film Category, I like to see all the nominees. Plus, it looks beyond adorable.
~ Bolt: I was a bit surprised to see this film doing so critically well. I was originally planning to write it off, maybe see it, but now I'd really like to see it. It looks adorable and as long as I don't actually see Miley Cyrus, I think I can deal with her being a part of it (especially with John Travolta in the lead).
~ Frost/Nixon: Definite Oscar bait, and it sounds genuinely interesting. Potentially one of The Five, with pretty good chances.
~ Revolutionary Road: I'm as excited as anyone else to see Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio reunited on screen and in an interesting assessment of The American Dream, as it appears. Oscar bait for sure, but like most of the Oscar bait films I haven't seen, it's not just the buzz but also the story that makes me interested. Kate Winslet is a great actress so I think she has a great chance of stealing a slot in the Best Actress category for this. Leo, not so much with all the stiff competition for Best Actor. Sam Mendes for Best Director? I think it's a definite possibility.
~ The Reader: And speaking of Kate Winslet, here's her Supporting Actress nom to take over Cate Blanchett's position of last year (one nom in each acting category). I don't remember exactly what I read about the content of the film but I know it interested me. x)
~ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Who ISN'T excited for this movie? Seriously? Is anyone who likes movies not looking forward to this one? Almost definitely guaranteed a spot in The Five, starring Brad Pitt who I believe to be an underappreciated excellent actor (often given roles that don't stretch his acting ability; as much as I love the Ocean's films they don't exactly show off amazing acting ability, but just take a look at Fight Club and acknowledge how amazing Brad is as Tyler Durden). Although the Best Actor race is tight, I hope that Brad Pitt steals one of the noms there (although I personally think Sean Penn might have it locked; it seems like biopics are a favourite for Best Acting categories (i.e. Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland, Jamie Foxx for Ray, Marion Cottilard for La Vie En Rose, and Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood - which is really much more of a character film than anything else, etc.)). And Cate Blanchett is wonderful and likely to steal one of the Best Actress nods. And, of course, the film overall just looks so wonderful. I'm excited. And if you aren't, get excited.
~ Slumdog Millionaire: There was an article in this week's Entertainment Weekly about how the attacks in Mumbai suddenly changed the mood of this film. As opposed to those who have already seen it, I'm sure when I see it it'll be so much different from this side of the calendar. As the Choice Indie for The Five this year, Slumdog is practically a shoo-in, but mostly it just looks like the sweetest rags to riches tale I've ever not-yet-seen. I'm hoping it shows up in my theatres because it's definitely on my to-see list.
~ The Wrestler: All I've heard about is Mickey Rourke's comeback role that's close to the chest and that he is destined to get a Best Actor nom. Sounds like enough to convince me to catch it if I can.
~ I've Loved You So Long: I finally saw an actual preview for this movie and it looked enticing. A strong support for a Best Actress nom for Kristin Scott Thomas also draws my Oscar-love attention for sure.
~ Pride and Glory: Unlikely to snag any noms, Colin Farrell and Edward Norton as brothers in a The Departed-esque film? I'm definitely renting this when it comes out on DVD.
~ Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist: Also almost definitely not getting any noms, I think it just looks adorable. I missed it in theatres but I'll catch it on DVD.
~ The Brothers Bloom: Although like the two above it almost definitely not getting any noms (not getting a single bit of notice from anyone aside from me it seems), it is sneaking into limited release just before the new year. As I am a HUGE fan of Rian Johnson's first film, Brick, I am beyond psyched to see his second film coming out and looking so great. And starring Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo and, well, the whole cast seems great. I'm excited. It comes into wide release in January, and I'm definitely planning on catching it when it does and I suggest you do too. I have high hopes for Rian Johnson's future.
~ The Duchess: I am really kinda sick of Keira Knightley, but Ralph Fiennes is amazing and might be worth renting this.
So... my take on the Oscars this season? Here's a summary with some redundancy from above. Well, without having seen a lot of these films, I have a few favourites from films I have seen and films I've heard a lot about and might change my mind after seeing. I'd LOVE for The Dark Knight to get a Best Picture nod (I'd totally understand if it didn't win, but a nom would be beautiful). I'd love for Amy Adams to get a nom (although I'm not sure Doubt will carry her as well as I might have hoped and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day has been forgotten by everyone which sucks because it's great). I would like Brad Pitt to get a nod for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and I'm pretty behind Kate Winslet's double nomination. I'm definitely all for Anne Hathaway's nom for Best Actress and I'd like to see Rosemarie DeWitt snag a Best Supporting Actress nod for Rachel Getting Married. I'm very enthusiastic about any rumour of James Franco getting a Best Supporting Actor nod for Milk, and I am totally and completely and utterly and beyond belief for Heath Ledger getting a posthumous nom for The Dark Knight (this could be bias for just loving The Joker character so much and being a superhero sucker, but oh my freaking god he better at least get nominated, even though I, unfortunately, understand that posthumous awards happen infrequently). Of course, I'm way behind Wall-E for Best Animated and for the Sound categories. I hope Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day snags at least one visual nod.
Oh and I'm totally WTFing over Clint Eastwood nomination talk. I'm a bit annoyed because I hadn't even heard like anything about Gran Torino until I heard that Clint Eastwood was angling for a Best Actor nod with it. He's a good actor and filmmaker and stuff, but with the tight race that is Best Actor, I have other favourites I'd rather see getting nominated. But he has a sense of prestige which might nudge other potentially more deserving candidates aside. But since I haven't seen a lot of the Best Actor buzz films yet, I haven't formed a full opinion yet.
Anyway, I've got a lot of films left to view to really round out my Oscar perspective and luckily I've got a month of winter break to see all that I'd like to see. Unfortunately, the nominees will be nominated at the very tail end of my break, but hopefully I'll be informed enough on the films involved that I can be either rightfully outraged or enthusiastic.
And, Academy, a small word. You know yourself that The Dark Knight has drawn way more viewers than any of the other films you nominate are likely to attract. Considering your dropping viewership in the past few years, a Heath Ledger nod or even a Best Picture nod could realllllllly help you get some ratings and make the night actually interesting, which it hasn't been since The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King swept the awards in 2004. So, please, nominate Heath Ledger, goddammit!"
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."
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."
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