Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Full Oscar Predictions
Here's how it works: first I pick who I WANT to win in each category; then I pick who I THINK will win. (That's why we've called it a "Want-Think List" in my family ever since I can remember). Sadly, many of these picks seem a foregone conclusion--whatever happened to the mystery surrounding the Oscars?
Best Picture
Want/Think: The Artist (1)
Best Actor:
Want: Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Think: Jean Dujardin, The Artist (1)
Best Actress:
Want: Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Think: Viola Davis, The Help
Best Supporting Actor:
Want/Think: Christopher Plummer, Beginners (1)
Best Supporting Actress:
Want: Jessica Chastain, The Help
Think: Octavia Spencer, The Help (1)
Best Director:
Want/Think: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist (1)
Best Foreign Film:
W/T - A Separation (Iran) (1)
Original Screenplay:
W - Woody Allen; T - Michel Hazanavicius
Adapted Screenplay:
W/T - Alexander Payne, et al., "The Descendants" (1)
Art Direction:
W/T - The Artist (Hugo-2nd Want)
Cinematography:
W - The Tree of Life; T - The Artist
Costume Design:
W/T - Sandy Powell, "Hugo"
Film Editing:
W - Hugo; T - The Artist
Makeup:
W - Harry Potter; T - The Iron Lady (1)
Original Score:
W/T - Ludovic Bource, The Artist (Hugo-2nd Want) (1)
Original Song:
W/T - "Man or Muppet" (1)
Sound Editing:
W- Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; T - Hugo (1)
Sound Mixing:
W/T - Hugo (1)
Visual Effects:
W/T - Harry Potter
Animated feature:
W - Puss in Boots; T - Rango (1)
Animated short:
W/T - The fantastic flying books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (1)
Documentary feature:
W - Pina; T - Undefeated (1)
Documentary short:
W - Saving Face; T - The tsunami and the cherry blossom
Live action short:
[no picks] (I have to see at least one of the nominees in any category)
(TOTAL = 15)
Best Picture
Want/Think: The Artist (1)
Best Actor:
Want: Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Think: Jean Dujardin, The Artist (1)
Best Actress:
Want: Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Think: Viola Davis, The Help
Best Supporting Actor:
Want/Think: Christopher Plummer, Beginners (1)
Best Supporting Actress:
Want: Jessica Chastain, The Help
Think: Octavia Spencer, The Help (1)
Best Director:
Want/Think: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist (1)
Best Foreign Film:
W/T - A Separation (Iran) (1)
Original Screenplay:
W - Woody Allen; T - Michel Hazanavicius
Adapted Screenplay:
W/T - Alexander Payne, et al., "The Descendants" (1)
Art Direction:
W/T - The Artist (Hugo-2nd Want)
Cinematography:
W - The Tree of Life; T - The Artist
Costume Design:
W/T - Sandy Powell, "Hugo"
Film Editing:
W - Hugo; T - The Artist
Makeup:
W - Harry Potter; T - The Iron Lady (1)
Original Score:
W/T - Ludovic Bource, The Artist (Hugo-2nd Want) (1)
Original Song:
W/T - "Man or Muppet" (1)
Sound Editing:
W- Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; T - Hugo (1)
Sound Mixing:
W/T - Hugo (1)
Visual Effects:
W/T - Harry Potter
Animated feature:
W - Puss in Boots; T - Rango (1)
Animated short:
W/T - The fantastic flying books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (1)
Documentary feature:
W - Pina; T - Undefeated (1)
Documentary short:
W - Saving Face; T - The tsunami and the cherry blossom
Live action short:
[no picks] (I have to see at least one of the nominees in any category)
(TOTAL = 15)
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Oscar predictions Part 2 - animation
This will be a short post -- the Academy had to dig deep to find nominees this year. There are two foreign nominees in the Best Animated Feature category ("A Cat in Paris" sounds intriguing), and the fifth slot was filled by "Kung Fu Panda 2" (say what?). I hope "Puss in Boots" wins (because it is the only one I've seen), but I suspect the award might go to "Rango," or a wildcard like "Chico & Rita."
The Animated Short Film category was a real disappointment this year: I paid $12.50 to see 58-minutes worth of 'cartoons' of varying quality. The absolute worst of the five is the British import "A Morning Stroll," a deplorable, disgusting piece of crap that is a disgrace to the memory of Walt Disney. The two Canadian imports are masterpieces by comparison: the visual artistry in "Dimanche/Sunday" and "Wild Life" are quite good; the stories are both a bit disjointed, however.
Of course, Disney/Pixar has a nominee, but this year the slick production values that are this partnership's hallmark might be a drawback for the clever but not particularly inspired "La Luna," in comparison to the free-wheeling originality of MY choice for this category (I both want it to win, and think it will win): "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore." A product of that animation hotbed of Shreveport, Louisiana (!), this unique and imaginative tribute to the magical power of books it utterly original in concept, animation, and story. Three cheers for Louisiana animation!
The Animated Short Film category was a real disappointment this year: I paid $12.50 to see 58-minutes worth of 'cartoons' of varying quality. The absolute worst of the five is the British import "A Morning Stroll," a deplorable, disgusting piece of crap that is a disgrace to the memory of Walt Disney. The two Canadian imports are masterpieces by comparison: the visual artistry in "Dimanche/Sunday" and "Wild Life" are quite good; the stories are both a bit disjointed, however.
Of course, Disney/Pixar has a nominee, but this year the slick production values that are this partnership's hallmark might be a drawback for the clever but not particularly inspired "La Luna," in comparison to the free-wheeling originality of MY choice for this category (I both want it to win, and think it will win): "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore." A product of that animation hotbed of Shreveport, Louisiana (!), this unique and imaginative tribute to the magical power of books it utterly original in concept, animation, and story. Three cheers for Louisiana animation!
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Oscar Predictions, Part 1 -- documentaries
It was a great year for documentaries, but you'd have a hard time convincing the Academy of that fact, since they ignored three of the best docs that I saw this year: Bill Cunningham: New York, Buck, and Senna. (Not to mention the two Werner Herzog released this year (Cave of Forgotten Dreams and Into the Abyss), and Project Nim, none of which I have seen.) My money is on the one popular doc the Academy DID recognize, "Pina," Wim Wender's tribute to the late German choreographer Pina Bausch, brilliantly shot in 3D (proving the 3D technology is not just for action movies).
The documentary short category provides the real gems, as I found out at a special screening of four of the five nominated films. (Why the organizers of this year's "Oscar Shorts" series left out one title, "God is the Bigger Elvis" -- aren't you intrigued by that title? -- is a mystery). The clear weak one in the bunch is "Incident in New Baghdad," a re-telling of a tragic incident during the Iraq war where civilians and journalists were caught in the crosshairs by an over-anxious U.S. military. The filmmakers rely too heavily on cable news videos and the film wears its left-leaning politics too obviously on its sleeve (how is it that only Michael Moore can pull that off effectively?).
"The Barber of Birmingham" is a more effective piece of historical documentation, following a septugenarian 'foot soldier' in the Civil Rights movement of the Sixties, as he witnesses the election of America's first black President. Unfortunately, real life proved too messy for the arc of the story: barber James Armstrong was too ill to travel to Washington DC for Barack Obama's inauguration, then he died in 2009, before the movie was completed. Earnest and effective like a PBS documentary, it never reaches the depths of emotion as the next two nominees.
"The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom" starts with a remarkable four-minute home video that encapsulates the magnitude and horror of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Taken from atop a hill overlooking a seaside village as that village slowly washes away, the voices of the witnesses (and survivors) provide the only soundtrack as they watch their neighbors run up the hill, literally for their lives. Those chilling images provide the backdrop for the interviews with the survivors that follow, still fresh and numb from their experiences. If that were all to this film, it would be compelling; what makes this film transcendent is the juxtaposition of this tragedy with healing power of the cherry blossoms which arrive and leave at the same time every year, another part of nature indifferent to human suffering yet somehow comforting to the survivors. The strength and serenity the Japanese people get from the blossoms' annual appearance is mysterious and timeless, and especially needed this past spring. That director Lucy Walker (who also helmed last year's excellent "The Waste Land," also an Oscar nominee) was able to capture these events with humanity and respect makes this the odds-on favorite to win the Oscar (and I think it will!).
But I am holding out my want in this category to the brave Pakistani women whose stories are told in the equally-moving "Saving Face." A synopsis cannot adequately convey the power of this film, but here goes: it follows the stories of several women (of an estimated 100 per year) who have suffered acid attacks to their face, scarring them for life. What is insane is that many of these attacks come at the hands of their own husbands and in-laws, for whatever perceived slights or indignities they felt they have suffered. (Other cases involve jilted suitors). Often these women are physically abused to begin with. To make matters worse, they are ostracized by society to the point where one victim is forced by circumstance to return to live with the husband and family who perpetrated this crime!
The film does not shy away from showing the hideous scars these women have received, and the work of one ex-pat plastic surgeon who returns to Pakistan to help these women get their faces, and their lives, back. A secondary plot shows how the legal system is finally being changed to deal harsher sentences to the perpetrators of this unspeakable crime that oftentimes goes unpunished. If documentaries serve to open your eyes to a world you had no idea existed, this moving film more than achieves its goal.
The documentary short category provides the real gems, as I found out at a special screening of four of the five nominated films. (Why the organizers of this year's "Oscar Shorts" series left out one title, "God is the Bigger Elvis" -- aren't you intrigued by that title? -- is a mystery). The clear weak one in the bunch is "Incident in New Baghdad," a re-telling of a tragic incident during the Iraq war where civilians and journalists were caught in the crosshairs by an over-anxious U.S. military. The filmmakers rely too heavily on cable news videos and the film wears its left-leaning politics too obviously on its sleeve (how is it that only Michael Moore can pull that off effectively?).
"The Barber of Birmingham" is a more effective piece of historical documentation, following a septugenarian 'foot soldier' in the Civil Rights movement of the Sixties, as he witnesses the election of America's first black President. Unfortunately, real life proved too messy for the arc of the story: barber James Armstrong was too ill to travel to Washington DC for Barack Obama's inauguration, then he died in 2009, before the movie was completed. Earnest and effective like a PBS documentary, it never reaches the depths of emotion as the next two nominees.
"The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom" starts with a remarkable four-minute home video that encapsulates the magnitude and horror of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Taken from atop a hill overlooking a seaside village as that village slowly washes away, the voices of the witnesses (and survivors) provide the only soundtrack as they watch their neighbors run up the hill, literally for their lives. Those chilling images provide the backdrop for the interviews with the survivors that follow, still fresh and numb from their experiences. If that were all to this film, it would be compelling; what makes this film transcendent is the juxtaposition of this tragedy with healing power of the cherry blossoms which arrive and leave at the same time every year, another part of nature indifferent to human suffering yet somehow comforting to the survivors. The strength and serenity the Japanese people get from the blossoms' annual appearance is mysterious and timeless, and especially needed this past spring. That director Lucy Walker (who also helmed last year's excellent "The Waste Land," also an Oscar nominee) was able to capture these events with humanity and respect makes this the odds-on favorite to win the Oscar (and I think it will!).
But I am holding out my want in this category to the brave Pakistani women whose stories are told in the equally-moving "Saving Face." A synopsis cannot adequately convey the power of this film, but here goes: it follows the stories of several women (of an estimated 100 per year) who have suffered acid attacks to their face, scarring them for life. What is insane is that many of these attacks come at the hands of their own husbands and in-laws, for whatever perceived slights or indignities they felt they have suffered. (Other cases involve jilted suitors). Often these women are physically abused to begin with. To make matters worse, they are ostracized by society to the point where one victim is forced by circumstance to return to live with the husband and family who perpetrated this crime!
The film does not shy away from showing the hideous scars these women have received, and the work of one ex-pat plastic surgeon who returns to Pakistan to help these women get their faces, and their lives, back. A secondary plot shows how the legal system is finally being changed to deal harsher sentences to the perpetrators of this unspeakable crime that oftentimes goes unpunished. If documentaries serve to open your eyes to a world you had no idea existed, this moving film more than achieves its goal.
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
TOP TEN MOVIES of 2011
I have finally seen all the 2011 releases I care to see, and up until last Sunday I was worried that I wouldn't have enough films to make an even ten. I wouldn't characterize 2011 as a BAD year for movies, more of a year of hits and misses, with the real gems ever-harder to find in the crowded movie marketplace.
Happily, the one discernible theme in the movies released at the end of the year is: "Movies Rediscover Their Past." That theme produced two wonderful films (see below), and Steven Spielberg's "War Horse" -- a Disney-esque throwback that positively wallowed in one-dimensionality.
This year your response to the titles below might be a collective "Huh?" (more so than usual!). I plan to link many of these films to a more expansive review. With that in mind, here are TEN BEST MOVIES of the YEAR:
1. THE ARTIST
2. The Mill and the Cross
3. Hugo
4. Midnight in Paris
5. The Descendants
6. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (UK)
7. Martha Marcy May Marlene
8. Meek's Cutoff
9. Tree of Life*
10. Weekend (UK)
Honorable mention (alpha order)
The Adventures of Tin Tin
Contagion
The Debt*
Mission Impossible 4 ("Ghost Protocol")
Moneyball
Take Shelter*
"Saw & enjoyed" (a category reserved for good/not great movies):
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Help*
My Week With Marilyn
Puss in Boots
Texas Killing Fields*
And one suggestion for a new category for the Oscars: BEST OPENING CREDIT SEQUENCE:
This year produced two clear favorites:
RUNNER-UP: Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (oily!)
WINNER: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (excellent!)
* these five films all featured the lovely Jessica Chastain. And they all made the cut! Go figure...
Happily, the one discernible theme in the movies released at the end of the year is: "Movies Rediscover Their Past." That theme produced two wonderful films (see below), and Steven Spielberg's "War Horse" -- a Disney-esque throwback that positively wallowed in one-dimensionality.
This year your response to the titles below might be a collective "Huh?" (more so than usual!). I plan to link many of these films to a more expansive review. With that in mind, here are TEN BEST MOVIES of the YEAR:
1. THE ARTIST
2. The Mill and the Cross
3. Hugo
4. Midnight in Paris
5. The Descendants
6. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (UK)
7. Martha Marcy May Marlene
8. Meek's Cutoff
9. Tree of Life*
10. Weekend (UK)
Honorable mention (alpha order)
The Adventures of Tin Tin
Contagion
The Debt*
Mission Impossible 4 ("Ghost Protocol")
Moneyball
Take Shelter*
"Saw & enjoyed" (a category reserved for good/not great movies):
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Help*
My Week With Marilyn
Puss in Boots
Texas Killing Fields*
And one suggestion for a new category for the Oscars: BEST OPENING CREDIT SEQUENCE:
This year produced two clear favorites:
RUNNER-UP: Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (oily!)
WINNER: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (excellent!)
* these five films all featured the lovely Jessica Chastain. And they all made the cut! Go figure...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)