Saturday, January 31, 2009

Revolutionary Road ***

Revolutionary Road
*** out of ****

Undoubtedly countless people were eagerly awaiting the return of America's most famous screen couple: Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. The two's first time together was in Titanic, which ended up being the biggest film of all time. They waited twelve years to work together again, and they made sure that the film they decided to do was as different from Titanic as possible. However, in Revolutionary Road, something does hit an iceberg and sinks.
DiCaprio is Frank, and Winslet is April. The setting is sometime in the 1950's. In the first scene, the two meet at a party and instantly connect. The very next scene is years later, after they got married and had kids and moved into the suburbs. They are no longer a happy couple. Frank has a boring job that he hates and admits that he doesn't even understand what he does. April is miserable as a stay-home mom. They bicker constantly and grow farther and farther apart. To ease the tension, April suggests they embrace the dream they had before they got married and move to Paris. Frank loves the idea and the two start packing to move. For about two months, they are in a state of euphoria, where they are the happiest they've been in years, or at least pretending they are happy. They explain to their kids that they'll be taking a boat to travel across the ocean. But, an unintended pregnancy and a big promotion for Frank suspend their plans permanently, sending them immediately back into the funk they were in before. Soon, both of them are engaged in adultery and talking about abortion.
By far the best part of the film is John Givings, played by character actor Michael Shannon. His mother Helen sold the couple their house and stops by almost everyday to pay a visit. Kathy Bates plays Helen as the stereotypical '50s old lady, always finding the positive and striving to keep everyone happy. She is embarassed by her son John, who was a successful mathematician until he went insane and was put in a mental institution. She convinces April to meet John so that he might become well. John pokes his nose into their business and asks probing questions, ultimately revealing precious truths these characters don't want said aloud. Shannon plays the character as such an uninhibited psychopath that he actually strangely reminds me of Heath Ledger's Joker. He does the most he can with his limited screen time and makes himself the most memorable part of the movie.
Revolutionary Road is a very dark film that has many glaring flaws. DiCaprio, usually a very entertaining actor to watch, gives an unusually mixed performance that sometimes feels stiff and reminds the audience that he's reading from the script. Strangely, the kids are largely absent from the film, appearing in only a few scenes when they should have been closer to the focus. The beautiful score and lighthearted costumes and sets mask the ugly nature of the plot. Instead of starting out as a happy couple and then descending into madness, they start off more or less as miserable as they end up. When there is a very tense and emotional fight before the title is even shown, there is something tragically wrong with the pacing of the film.
But amazing performances from the entire cast (especially Winslet and Shannon), impeccable direction by Sam Mendes, and some very emotional scenes raise the movie above the mess it could have easily become. I think the reunion of the two biggest stars in the world could have been a slightly happier occasion, but one guesses that the filmmakers were not interested in showing the happiness of suburban life; quite the opposite, actually. (Also, I find it funny that this is the movie in which DiCaprio and Winslet DIDN'T get on the big boat, and yet bad things happened anyway.)
I would recommend this movie to people who like dramas and fans of the stars.

You can watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z6kDo1OFzE

Friday, January 30, 2009

The Wrestler ***1/2

The Wrestler
***1/2 out of ****

If someone had told you they were making a serious dramatic movie about professional wrestling, what would you imagine it to be like? I would imagine that it wouldn't be very good, as wrestling in movies should be limited to comedies. But leave it to auteur Darren Aronofsky to change my mind, as he has created a masterpiece about a laughable subject, and revived the dead career of his star Mickey Rourke in the process. The Wrestler plays out like a 2000's version of Rocky, with wrestling replacing boxing and a has-been replacing the underdog.
Rourke is Randy, real name Robin, stage name The Ram. Whatever you call him, he's a loser. He's a professional wrestler who was a huge celebrity in the 80's but has now lost all his fans and money. His daughter, played with biting ferocity by Evan Rachel Wood, hates him and cut him out of her life long ago. He hangs out at a strip club and has a slightly creepy realtionship with Cassidy, an aging stripper. Cassidy serves as our Adrian, although there are obvious changes between the two characters. But like Rocky kept going into the local pet store to tell jokes to Adrian, Randy goes out of his way to impress Cassidy, telling her stories of epic matches and paying her extra for personal lap dances. Cassidy is played to perfection by Marisa Tomei, who gets naked for most of her screen time but manages to do all of her acting through her face as she struggles to accept this customer as someone she may care about.
After a particularly brutal match, Randy has a heart attack and collapses in the locker room. This prompts him to retire from wrestling, at least for a little while, and starts working full time at the local supermarket. It is surprising to see him interact with people, as he has all the charm and prescence of a celebrity as he talks with compelte strangers behind the meat counter. But when someone recognizes him as The Ram from the 80s, he loses control and starts yelling, causing a huge scene.
The wrestling matches are the highlight of the film, not because they're great action sequences or similar to climactic boxing matches, but because of how bad they are. The wrestling looks very fake, because, of course, it is. We see that all of the fights are heavily choreographed beforehand and the winner chosen far in advance. The shaky camerawork helps to make the film look like a documentary, as the wrestlers who pretend to hate each other in the ring actually are very good friends who trust each other not to hurt them. There's even a joke made about how gay they all look.
This film is truly haunting because it feels so real. Randy loathes everything about himself, yet can't seem to break away from the nasty brute he knows he is deep down. In the ring is the only place where he feels alive and has purpose. Even Cassidy is seen getting rejected by younger men, and the strange hurt on her face lets us know that she and Randy are cut from the same cloth, yearning to leave but unable to. This is an exceptional film that will find its place in history next to the Italian Stallion.
I would recommend this film to people who like dramas, violent sports movies, and of course, wrestling.

You can watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61-GFxjTyV0

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Oscar Nominations, Part Two

Ah yes, Oscar season is here once more.
The nominations were announced early Thursday morning and by lunchtime, the whole world knew that Batman had been defeated. But they also found out that Oscar got it right on a few other notes.
Here are the technical nominations this year.

Best Original Score

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Defiance
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E

I bought the entire Slumdog Millionaire album, so am ecstatic to see it here. People who haven't seen the film can't even imagine: it combines traditional Indian music with modern pop rhythms for a very energetic sound throughout. (Those who saw Pineapple Express and were disappointed to not hear "Paper Planes" by M.I.A. will be happy to find it here.) I also have a couple tracks from WALL-E, and it is definitely better than regular cartoon music, as it is brimming with emotion and character. The other three nominees are typical dramatic fare. Defiance's score slightly resembles the score of Schindler's List.

Best Original Song

"Down to Earth," WALL-E
"Jai Ho," Slumdog Millionaire
"O...Saya," Slumdog Millionaire

As I said before, I have all three of these songs in my iTunes and am absolutely thrilled that they are going to be performed live at the ceremony. My prediction is for "Down to Earth," since for some odd reason, whenever a film has multiple nominations in this category, it tends to lose.

Best Film Editing

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

Oddly, the same five movies as my Best Picture predictions, and a haunting reminder of what could have been. This category usually coincides with the winner for Best Picture, but The Bourne Ultimatum took home this surprising and well-deserved Oscar last year. So, my money is on The Dark Knight, as penance for not giving it the top spot.

Best Cinematography

Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Part of me is surprised Cloverfield isn't nominated here, since that film depended entirely on unique camerawork, but it did come out last January, so it's gone from voters' minds, I guess. I remembered something strange: three years ago, Batman Begins received only one nomination, for Cinematography. So it's only natural that The Dark Knight is nominated here. My guess is that since it didn't get a Best Picture nomination, the Academy is going to give it as many awards as possible in other categories, so I'm going to guess Dark Knight to win here too.

Best Makeup

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Hellboy's only nomination, undoubtedly for Ron Perlman's makeup, which is much improved from the first film. The Dark Knight's makeup is mostly Heath Ledger's creepy clown face as the Joker, which made him completely unrecognizable. For Benjamin Button, however, the makeup made Brad Pitt age in reverse, from a child in an old man's body to an old man in a teenager's body. Cate Blanchett also aged several decades for her role. I can see any of these three winning here.

Best Costume Design

Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road

These are interesting picks: Australia's costumes are from the '40s of the title country, Revolutionary's costumes evoke the '50s, and Milk shows the '70s. The Duchess is Victorian England and Benjamin Button is the South from the '20s to present day. Usually the most glamorous of the costumes win, so my money's on The Duchess.

Best Art Direction

Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

I view this category as very similar to Costume Design, since the two have to be consistent to make the setting believable. Three of the nominees are the same. Changeling shows Los Angeles in the '20s, while The Dark Knight brings Gotham to life from Chicago. I'm unsure who will win here; all of them are very artsy looking.

Best Visual Effects

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man

Iron Man vs. Batman vs. Reverse Aging Man. It's nice to see that Iron Man wasn't completely ignored by the Academy, with two nominations. All of these films have amazing and very believable special effects. But for now, I'm thinking it will go to Benjamin Button because it put Oscar-quality special effects in a non-blockbuster.

Best Sound Mixing

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted

I honestly don't know why they insist on giving out two Oscars for sound, and I still don't really know the difference between the two. Usually they both go to the same film anyway. It's awesome that The Dark Knight is nominated here, but legendary sound designer Ben Burtt created all of the robotic sounds from WALL-E from scratch. When you watch the final film, he basically made half of the finished product himself. He will win this award easy.

Best Sound Editing

The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted

Ditto, WALL-E. Did I mention Ben Burtt was also the voice of WALL-E, before he put it into a computer and roboticized it?

Best Animated Feature

Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E

Bolt and Kung Fu Panda are really cool films, but neither of them even comes close to WALL-E. Pixar has proven once again that they're at the top of the world, and Oscar will reward them duly once again. My only complaint is that it couldn't be a Best Picture contender.

Best Foreign Language Film

The Baader Meinhof Complex
The Class
Departures
Revanche
Waltz with Bashir

I wish I knew more about these films. I know The Class won the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, which is a huge award. Waltz with Bashir is animated, and a sort-of documentary, so it could win simply for being so unique.

Best Documentary Feature

The Betrayal
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water

Man on Wire seems to be the favorite to win here, despite its simplistic story. Trouble the Water is about the effects of Hurricane Katrina, and it could possibly win because of its relevance.

Best Documentary Short

The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306

Sorry, I don't know anything about any of these nominees. Where can you even see short documentaries? On TV?

Best Live Action Short Film

Auf der Strecke (On the Line)
Manon on the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig
Spielzeugland (Toyland)

Nada.

Best Animated Short Film

La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up

Presto is the manic Pixar film that was shown in theatres before WALL-E. It's Looney Tunes-esque and incredibly hilarious, and I hope it wins along with its feature-length counterpart. I don't know anything about any of the other nominees.

That's all of them! Later I will post my winners predictions for all the categories, once the buzz starts rolling and I know more about all of the nominees.
Go to www.apple.com/trailers for movie trailers of all the feature films mentioned here.
The ceremony will be live on Sunday, February 22nd at 7:00 pm on ABC.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Oscar Nominations, Part One

As most of you know, the nominations for the Academy Awards were announced this morning, and I was one of the few non-professional people watching it live on TV. By now, most people have heard the nominations and are talking about it, so it's my turn to speak my piece.
First of all, I want to express my extreme displeasure that The Dark Knight was not nominated for Best Picture or Director. I was aware that such nominations would be long shots and difficult to acheive, but the Academy made a profound mistake in ignoring it. Ten years down the line, people will not remember The Reader or Frost/Nixon, but they will remember-and will still be watching- The Dark Knight. It is a profound film that was not only an exceptional action story, but changed the entire genre of superhero movies. The general public will be very angry and I expect some people will boycott the Oscars this year because of it. But, I'm not one to complain, so I will say no more of it.
Even though I'm mad about that, it is the Oscars, and there are still lots of reasons to celebrate. Despite its Best Picture snub, I am PSYCHED that The Dark Knight managed to get eight nominations, including Best Supporting Actor- Heath Ledger. I am PSYCHED that Slumdog Millionaire got ten nominations, as it totally deserves them all. I am PSYCHED that WALL-E got six nominations, including Best Animated Feature. I am PSYCHED that Richard Jenkins got his first nomination. I am PSYCHED that Amy Adams got nominated for Doubt. I am PSYCHED that Kate Winslet got nominated, and in a surprising turn too! I am PSYCHED about the Best Original Song category, which has the opening and closing songs from Slumdog Millionaire, and the closing song from WALL-E, all of which I already had in my iTunes library. I am PSYCHED that Presto got nominated for Best Animated Short Film. I am PSYCHED that one film- Benjamin Button- got thirteen nominations and has a chance to break the record for most awards ever won.
Today marks the start of my one-month high as I officially begin my obsession with the Oscars, and it won't go away until after the ceremony is over.
Now I'll present the nominations in all the major categories to compare them to my predictions. This is not my winners predictions. (That will come later.) This is just to see how close I was, and my thoughts on the results. (I didn't get all five nominations right in any category!) If I have a prediction for the winner, I'll give it, but at this point, it's not worth much, and will probably change later.

Best Picture

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Four out of five correct. Obviously, I put in The Dark Knight instead of The Reader, and I think most people were surprised by its inclusion here. I knew Dark Knight was the most vulnerable of my predictions, but if I had to replace it, I would have said Doubt or Revolutionary Road, not The Reader. At this point, Slumdog Millionaire seems set to win, and with Batman gone, I hope it does.

Best Director

Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry, The Reader
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant, Milk

Four out of five correct. Well, I was right that Director and Best Picture would square up, I just had the wrong movie. Obviously, I put in The Dark Knight's Christopher Nolan instead of Daldry. Experts said that even if Dark Knight didn't get in the Best Picture race, Nolan was a shoo-in here. I didn't agree with that, but it did give me hope. Hope...gone. At this point, my money's on Boyle.

Best Actor

Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Four out of five correct. I put in Clint Eastwood for Gran Torino instead of Pitt. Benjamin Button was a very quiet character, and also a very easy part to play, so I thought the Academy would give it to the much louder, and the much more entertaining Eastwood. Oh, well. They redeemed themselves by giving Jenkins a nomination, my personal favorite here. At this point, I'd say it's between Penn and Rourke for the win.

Best Actress

Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kate Winslet, The Reader

Three out of five correct. Like I said in a previous note, I'm always surprised by this category. I was right about them nominating an actress for an indie film no one's seen; but I said Sally Hawkins for Happy-Go-Lucky and Kristin Scott Thomas for I've Loved You So Long, when they actually gave it to Leo for Frozen River. (Who the hell is she?) I actually did think Winslet would get nominated for The Reader, but for Supporting Actress. Her entire performance is in flashback, which would have given her the supporting nomination, but the fact that she's the female lead and that it's an amazing performance (and apparently better than her turn in Revolutionary Road, which failed to get nominated) got her an upgrade. At this point, it's all up in the air for the winner. I'm thinking somewhere between Hathaway, Streep, and Winslet.

Best Supporting Actor

Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey, Jr., Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

Four out of five correct. I said David Kross for The Reader instead of Shannon, and honestly, I don't think anyone knew who would take that last spot. I left Revolutionary Road off of my predictions altogether, which I see now was a mistake. I applaud the Academy for nominating Ledger posthumously, and for a popcorn movie, and he is currently set to win, although a Hoffman upset win isn't unthinkable.

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams, Doubt
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

Four out of five correct. Technically, I guessed all the nominees, it's just that Kate Winslet got a lead Actress nomination instead of here. Tomei took the spot she occupied on my list. Adams' nomination puts Doubt at four acting nominations (and five with its screenplay nomination), and not in the Best Picture race. It's one of the very few films to do that, but I'm happy this exceptional cast all got nominated. At this point, the race is completely open, and I can see any of the nominees potentially winning.

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Four out of five correct. I was right in that all Best Picture nominees got a screenplay nomination, so I put down The Dark Knight instead of The Reader. I'm thinking Slumdog Millionaire is the favorite to win here.

Best Original Screenplay

Frozen River
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Milk
WALL-E

Two out of five correct. (Yikes!) In my predictions, I said that I might be way off. Instead of Frozen River, Happy-Go-Lucky, and In Bruges, I said Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Visitor, and The Wrestler. I think I'm happier with these results, especially having two comedies nominated. I again applaud the Academy for nominating WALL-E here. I'm thinking Milk will take home the award, since first-time screenwriter Dustin Lance Black worked for years on it, interviewing the real Harvey Milk's friends and beating out several other scripts.

That's it for now. My next entry will feature all the other nominations, which I consider the technical awards, and my thoughts on them.
Go to www.apple.com/trailers for movie trailers of all the films mentioned here.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Defiance **

Defiance

** out of ****

You can count on Edward Zwick to deliver a solid action/drama period piece. Usually. It seems he's made so many that he thinks it's easy. Defiance can be at times exciting, violent, even heartbreaking. What the movie has in it is good; it's what the movie lacks that makes it less than great.
Daniel Craig is probably the best part of the movie. He is clearly taking roles very different from James Bond to try to avoid being typecast, and I think it's working. He sports a very un-Bond-like red leather coat and a Yiddish accent, and plays the character at first out for revenge, then heartbroken and trying to be a firm leader.
Craig is Tuvia Bielski, and Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell play his younger brothers Zus and Asael, respectively. As the movie opens, the Nazis are sweeping through Belurussia killing or taking away all the Jewish people. The parents of the three brothers are killed, and they later receive news of their wives' and even childrens' deaths. They immediately run into the woods to hide and come across many other people doing the same thing. At first they are reluctant to stay with them all, but soon they recruit many more people to join them, even breaking into a ghetto and evacuating everyone out of there and into the woods. There, they build their own homes and create a community where everyone works and helps out everybody else when needed. Tuvia, at first seen as a great leader the likes of Jesus Christ, soon gets sick and his reluctance to kill other people makes his leadership questioned. At the beginning of the movie, he finds the man who killed his parents, storms into his house during their dinner, and kills him and his two sons. After that, he fights back but doesn't want to kill anymore.
The film opens and the action starts very abruptly. By the time Tuvia shoots his parents' killer, the film has been going for maybe ten minutes and we have to assume he is some sort of soldier who kills people all the time. We never get to know any of the characters, and the relationship between the brothers is revealed later on. Tuvia and Zus do not like each other, and Zus eventually leaves to join the Soviet army. But the audience is not given a good reason why he does this; the two just start fighting randomly.
The film does seem to have more virtues than faults: it has some moving scenes, several good performances, and some violent and exciting action scenes, especially the climactic bomb raid, chase and battle in the woods. But when the movie is over, the viewer reflects back and realizes that for all of the important and weighty topics the film covered, it offered nothing new about the Holocaust, war, or even brotherhood. Hollywood's recent slew of Holocaust films doesn't help, and this one will simply fade away with all the rest.
I would recommend this film to people who like war movies, and fans of Daniel Craig.

You can watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYZ2oYDSKHA

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

The Films of 2008

I don't know about you, but whenever I go to the movie theatre, I keep my ticket stub; have for years now. I'm not entirely sure why I do this, I guess I just want to remember what I've seen. I put them in a disorganized pile in my top drawer whenever I come home. There's quite a few of them; they span a few years and I usually try to see a movie every week. Out of curiosity, I dug out a large stack of them and sorted through them, and found that they're more or less in chronological order; the older ones are on the bottom of the pile. I pulled out all of the ones from 2008 and organized them.
I saw 37 movies in a theatre last year.
Knowing there are 52 weeks in a year, this means I missed quite a few weeks, but I still think that's an incredible number and proves once and for all that I really do have no life. If anyone else keeps their stubs, I'd like to hear your number to compare.
Just for fun, I went through them and picked out my 10 favorites and my 5 least favorites. (Half as many least-favorites because I tend to avoid films I think I won't like.) This isn't necessarily a top-10 list because I didn't see every movie that came out; consider it a top-10 list of the movies that an ordinary college kid thinks is worth spending ten bucks to see. Again, this is just my opinion based on the films that I saw.

"Top 10"

10. Zack and Miri Make a Porno
This film received almost no advertising because of the title and the fact that the film is so full of explitives, crude humor and sexual situations that it is almost completely unsellable as a product. But, look past that, and you will find one of Kevin Smith's best films, and further reason why Seth Rogen should be a bona fide movie star. It delivers probably the most belly laughs of any film this year, more than the hilarious Tropic Thunder and definitely more than the dull Pineapple Express, also with Rogen.
9. Wanted
One of the surprise action films of the summer, a big hit, and proof that James McAvoy needs to be in a lot more movies. Angelina Jolie is sizzling as the hot sidekick, and Morgan Freeman is simply one of the best actors alive, and brings his usual best to the table. With Matrix-like slow-mo and tons of brilliant, bloody fight scenes, this was one of the best action films of the year.
8. Burn After Reading
An insane plotline and hilarious characters mark the Coen brothers' followup to their dismal, Oscar-winning No Country For Old Men. George Clooney, John Malkovich, and Frances McDormand are all perfect and hilarious in their respective roles, but Brad Pitt is the highlight as the inept gym worker who tries to blackmail Malkovich's character out of useless CIA information. If only he had a larger part in the movie; if he had, he could be up for an Oscar.
7. Get Smart
This was a great summer for movies, as hit after hit was released. This opened opposite The Love Guru with Mike Myers, and this creamed it, and rightfully so. An update from the '60s sitcom, Steve Carell steps outside of his Office role to deliver something different yet still very funny that only he could really pull off. An uproarious comedy that also manages to have exciting action sequences, a rare feat.
6. Iron Man
This movie started off the summer with a bang and rebooted Robert Downey, Jr.'s dead career. Ironically, a comic-book superhero that few people know of and no one cares about made one of the biggest hits of the summer, and will spawn not only a sequel, but an entire franchise based on the Avengers superheroes. It's one of the most entertaining superhero movies ever, if not one of the most unique.
5. Quantum of Solace
Shut up, naysayers. I'm convinced that Daniel Craig is the best James Bond ever because he makes his character so real: he has brains but also acts irrationally, he has emotions but chooses to hide them. This was a very worthy sequel to the amazing reboot Casino Royale, and sets up the conflict for the next few Bond films. Bringing on Marc Forster as director was a risky move but ultimately paid off. Can't wait to see where this franchise goes next.
4. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
A hit, but mostly among kids. This seems to be largely ignored by the older kids and adults. Well, it shouldn't be. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was one of the greatest fantasy films I've ever seen, and is on its way to being a classic. This one was even better, despite the fact that the book was a very simple (and boring) story. Adding on complex elements and new action scenes, Andrew Adamson breathes this tale into life with startling clarity, humor, and excitement. If you haven't seen these movies, see them. The poor performance of this film compared to the first film caused Disney to dump the franchise. If it continues down this path, they may not make any more Narnia films.
3. WALL-E
Two years ago, I saw Cars, and while I liked the film, it failed to really impress me the way the earlier Pixar films had done. Last year, Ratatouille was a huge disappointment and a bore to sit through. With WALL-E, Pixar had something to prove, and they did all that and so much more. Returning to the spirit that made Toy Story and Finding Nemo such huge successes, this film is one of the greatest animated films ever made because it is unique in its execution, has a strong environmental message, an exciting and believable storyline, and oh yeah, those cute little robots. An amazing achievement from any standpoint.
2. Slumdog Millionaire
This is a relatively new release, but it makes it on my list by sheer giddiness. If this film doesn't make you smile at some point in time, you have no soul. Who would have thought that a small indie film with an entirely unknown, and foreign cast, could have such a large impact on American audiences? This is exactly the kind of films we need in these hard times: films that give us hope and show us that even in the face of brutality, love and happiness can be found.
1. The Dark Knight
Absolutely, without a doubt, the best superhero movie ever made, and by far the best film of the year. Nothing else even comes close. The follow-up to Batman Begins, which made a splash but didn't really turn heads, exceeded all expectations, in quality of film and quantity of audience...and ticket sales. The second-highest grossing film of all time actually gave Titanic a run for its money, and has another shot to break the record-it's being rereleased this month after the Oscar nominations are announced. Heath Ledger's incredible turn as the Joker is only the beginning. The script is brimming with sometimes almost unbearable tension, amazing action sequences and visual effects (like Harvey Dent's Two-Face), and stellar performances all around. (Ledger is getting all the attention, but don't forget the dark knight himself, Christian Bale; Maggie Gyllenhall, who is so much better than Katie Holmes; the magnificent Gary Oldman; the tragic hero-turned-villain Aaron Eckhart; the always-brilliant Michael Caine; and the aforementioned best actor alive, Morgan Freeman.) The biggest film of the decade is one of the few films of the decade that can truly be described as epic.

"Worst 5"

5. Australia
Arguably one of the biggest disappointments of the year, this was supposed to be the 21st-century version of Gone With the Wind. Instead, we got a silly love story that's structured all wrong, featured weird fantasy elements, too many unncesessary references to The Wizard of Oz, and a terrible performance from Nicole Kidman. This film simply should have been better.
4. The Golden Compass
Why did people like this movie? A confusing and bogus story follows a little girl who doesn't act at all like a little girl through various adventures in a fantasy world. I can't even remember half the movie; it made no sense. I remember Christopher Lee showed up in one scene, Daniel Craig showed up in two scenes, and all of the good actors were only voices for talking animals. Should have been dumbed down for kids or left on the bookshelf.
3. 10,000 B.C.
Roland Emmerich proves once again that he makes the stupidest movies in Hollywood. This film features creatures that are a few million years misplaced and a script that is a few writers misplaced. An obvious knock-off of other cheesy films, this belonged in the dollar cinemas.
2. Vantage Point
A relatively good idea for a film and a really good cast is ruined by a muddled script and way too much repitition. The structure of the film has it start over from the beginning five times, and often right as something exciting is about to happen, so there's an exciting event at the beginning, and then nothing happens until the end, when all hell breaks loose and nothing that happened in the rest of the film makes any sense.
1. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
A psychopathic serial killer in London at the turn of the century, who brings people into his barber shop and then slits their throats and uses their meat for pies in the pie shop downstairs. Given that it's directed by Tim Burton and stars Johnny Depp, this film should have had just the right amount of weird and been on just this side of a good movie. But, they made it a musical. Absolutely awful adaptation that is Depp's worst excuse for a Jack Sparrow rip-off.

Monday, January 12, 2009

The Reader **1/2

The Reader
**1/2 out of ****

The Reader is a good film, but I just can't work up a lot of enthusiasm for it. It features wonderful performances from the goddess Kate Winslet and the newcomer David Kross. However, the story is very strange and the film goes on too long.
David Kross is 15-year-old Michael Berg, living in Germany in the late 50s. One day, while walking home during a downpour, he becomes very sick and a strange woman comes to his aid. Turns out, it's Kate Winslet with a German accent. She walks him home, and he is bedridden for months. When he gets better, he finds the woman-whose name is Hanna Schmitz-and is surprised to find himself drawn to her, a woman over twice his age. He develops a crush, and being the teenage boy that he is, starts following her around until she decides to sleep with him. Their relationship takes off from there, every day Michael coming to her apartment and reading to her from various books before having lots of sex, which Hanna insists on. During the few months they are together, he reads to her The Odyssey, Huck Finn, The Lady With a Little Dog, and Lady Chatterley's Lover. The relationship falters when Michael starts becoming attracted to girls his own age, but soon Hanna moves away without any explanation, leaving Michael heartbroken.
Fast forward eight years, Michael is a law student in a special seminar. His teacher takes his class to watch a war crimes trial uncovering newly discovered facts about the Holocaust. In a shocking turn, Hanna is one of the defendants on trial for murder. Michael watches her intently as she admits to being a Nazi guard working at one of the prison camps, but never makes his prescence known to her. The film is said to be about the Holocaust, but this is not the case. Those events are never seen and only ever discussed. Those scenes are some of the most poignant in the film and one wishes the rest of the film was more like them. She is declared guilty and sentenced to life in prison.
From there, the story jumps forward again, showing Ralph Fiennes as a grown-up Michael, and Winslet in heavy makeup growing older and older. Giving anything away after this point would be spoiling, which I am firmly against, but the story goes on, much longer than it needs to. Kross is a wonderful actor and his character Michael wears his emotions on his sleeve, so the audience can see the suffering on his face. Fiennes, however, plays him much more restrained and mature, and therefore, is a much less interesting force in the story. Once Kross' scenes stop and Fiennes' start, the audience starts caring less. Because of this, the film drags on and suffers badly from overlength, despite that it is barely longer than two hours.
Winslet is one of the bravest actresses in the business, and gets completely naked in several scenes in the movie, which distracts from the story when it should add to the drama. It definitely shows that their relationship is purely sexual in nature, and therefore not really love. Winslet is known for getting naked for a lot of her performances; in my opinion, she should pick and choose those nude moments carefully, as they often define an actress' career. This film had a lot of sex and nudity, much of which was not needed to tell the story. Winslet maybe should have chosen to cover up, but that doesn't diminish from the emotional power of her performance.
I would recommend The Reader to mature audiences that like quiet dramas and romances. Everyone else would probably be bored.

You can watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kifRQG_M-Do

Gran Torino ***1/2

My first official review!

Note: I like and will use the 4-star system. If you like the 5-star or the grading system, screw you. The 4-star system is easy, instantly comprehendable and comparable. I grew up on it, and am familiar with it. No stars is the worst rating, then 1/2 a star, then *, etc. It goes up by half a star until ****, which is the highest rating.

Gran Torino
***1/2 out of ****

Ladies and gentlemen, witness the triumphant return to the screen of Clint Eastwood. Gran Torino is proof that a senior citizen can still make a great leading man. Although no senior citizen, or any American for that matter is quite like Eastwood. At 78 years old, he's still in amazing physical shape and clearly has a brain much more alert than most people at any age. Throughout his early career, Eastwood was America's most famous screen cowboy, and was the supreme badass of cinema. Then, as he got older, his films got more sentimental, shown in Mystic River, the Oscar-winning Million Dollar Baby, and this year's Changeling. Gran Torino marks his return to being a badass.
Eastwood is Walt Kowalski, a Korean War veteran and widower who is outwardly racist, estranged from his two grown sons, and more than a little pissed off at the way the world works today, especially the teenagers of his grandchildrens' generation. The sheer volume of explitives and racial remarks that come out of his mouth could be used to make a dictionary on all things crude. The highlights of crudeness come from his dialogues with his barber, who he is supposedly best friends with but the viewer has a hard time telling who hates who more. He keeps many things from his past, including a large collection of tools, a bunch of old guns and rifles from the war, and a mint-condition 1972 Gran Torino, his prize possession, giving the film its title. He is never seen driving it, but frequently seen washing and admiring it. That car is what starts the action of the movie.
Walt's next-door neighbors are a large Hmong family who recently lost their father. The two teenagers are Sue and Thao, each played brilliantly by newcomers Ahney Her and Bee Vang, respectively. These kids break traditional customs by the girl being the dominant one in the household, speaking her mind whenever she sees fit and the boy very shy and quiet and frequently seen doing household chores normally reserved for the girls. Their cousin, nicknamed Spider, is the head of a gang and is trying to recruit Thao. He agrees to an initiation test, to steal Walt's beloved car. But Thao is caught in the act and is later forced to work for Walt to pay off his shame. The next night, the gang tries to get Thao to try to steal the car again, and when he refuses, trouble ensues, causing Walt to pull out his old rifle and threaten the gang. After that, he quickly befriends Sue and the rest of the neighborhood, made up predominantly of Hmong people, think of him as a hero.
From there, the plot gets rather formulaic, with the racist old man coming to respect and befriend the young Hmong people and their families. But, like the best formula films, it makes you forget that it is in fact formulaic and continues to surprise you. From the trailer and professional critics' reviews, one would expect a heartfelt drama with some violence sprinkled in. What they won't show is that the film is so damn funny, it's almost a comedy. The violence definitely plays a part in the importance of the film, as it is all there for a reason, to teach Walt about the difference between life and death.
His conversations with his late wife's priest are some of the film's most poignant, as he tries to get Walt to go to confession, and the two come to respect each other despite their vast differences about the workings of the universe. The film opens with the priest talking at Walt's wife's funeral, talking about how death is bittersweet, and Walt is clearly unhappy with the sermon. The final scenes, which I will not give away, reflect back on this sermon as what happens can only truly be described as bittersweet.
Gran Torino is the type of film that's not really made anymore: a brutally honest film about people in the real world, that they aren't always polite to their neighbors and things don't always happen the way common sense says they should. Further, it showcases senior citizens and Chinese people in major roles, which few other Hollywood films will do, and proves that they can hold their own agaist the younger, dumber films. (I'm happy to say this film surpassed both Bride Wars and The Unborn at the box office its nationwide opening weekend.) Eastwood and the story are so good, that the viewers are actually willing to overlook the film's flaws, such as its formulaic plot and the cheesy song playing over the end credits, sung by Eastwood himself. No joke! Eastwood is a fantastic director and actor, but I don't think anyone would encourage him to go on the radio.
I strongly recommend this film, just prepare for the crude language and brutal violence- the film earned its R rating.

You can watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuJjTyEnKFA

Musings on Teenagers in Horror Movies

To continue writing about film, today I'd like to write about something completely different. As some of you know, I'm working at the movie theatre (AMC Highlands Ranch 24) over winter break. It's a minimum wage job, so I'm doing it more for the free movies than for the money. Last night, I was working as I usually do on Friday nights, because that's when the theatre is most busy. (Saturday night is a close second.) During my break, I wandered into The Unborn, not because I wanted to watch it, but because there were no other movies playing in the general vicinity and I wanted to sit down.
What I saw in there shocked me. Not the movie; from what I saw, it looks full of cliches, bad teenage acting, and a lousy story supported by maybe a couple good scary moments, which I like to call 'jumps' because they make you jump. I was shocked by the way the audience was reacting to the movie.
I had ripped most of these people's tickets on their way in, so I knew most of them were middle and high school kids on dates and in groups. I was shocked at the sheer NOISE going on in the theatre. Walking in, you'd think you had walked into a rock concert instead of a movie because the people would not stop talking. The scene playing when I walked in was just a quiet talking scene, but the crowd was constantly buzzing and chattering, clearly not paying attention. I was confused as to what was going on, but then I saw what kind of crowd this really was when the scene turned into night and the scary scenes started.
Immediately, you could feel a change come over the audience as they all got just a little louder and started murmuring things like, 'oh, something's gonna happen,' 'i remember that guy, he looks so scary.' Something weird happens, it's more weird than scary, but all of the girls in the audience start screaming, completely drowning out the sound of the movie. Not just yelping or that little scream that happens during the jumps; LITERALLY SCREAMING. As loud as they could. Dozens of girls, all at once. And these girls all must have been good singers, because they managed to hold that scream for several seconds, and then restart at the same pitch and volume. Then, at the end of the scene, there's a jump, it's not a very good one, but then the crescendo came: all of the girls, and some of the guys, let out this piercing scream that continued well into the next scene's dialogue. Without helping it, I was laughing my head off. The film was nowhere near that scary and I had never seen an audience react that strongly to any movie. A strange thought passed through my head as I left: Gran Torino was playing in the next theatre. If any of those girls behaved the same way in that movie, someone would call the cops on them.
Now, I understand that bad movies, especially bad horror movies, are inevitable and are actually a part of our culture. That's exactly what they're there for: so that teenagers can have a place to go to and socialize in. Clinging to one another brings them closer together and makes them better friends when they leave. But at one point in time, during the upward rising of female screams, I did hear one male voice among all the others shouting, 'Shut up!' This was the one voice of reason in that theatre.
These girls weren't really scared by that movie; if they were, they won't survive in the real world. They were screaming their heads off not because they were scared, but just for the sake of screaming their heads off. Now for the sake of fun I can't condone that, but I have to wonder about that part of society if there are murderers, rapists, diseases, and an ever-sinking economy in the real world, and these people are only really concerned about that creepy old man that may or may not do something scary so that they can scream as loud as they can.
I know everyone in that theatre walked out saying the exact same thing: 'oh my God, that was SO scary.' Unoriginal. Not unique. No opinion of their own. But I'm sure that one guy who yelled 'shut up' will say something different, and his opinion will probably be closer to the truth, not because he has the guts to be different and to have a dissenting opinion, but because he just sees it for what it really is: 'man, that was so stupid.'

Oscar Nominations Predictions

On a suggestion from a friend, I have decided to start writing about my favorite subject- movies. As most of you know, Oscar season is upon us, my favorite time of year. So, to start out my non-professional writing career, the topic will be predicting the nominations for the Academy Awards in all the major categories, with a major emphasis on Best Picture, 'cause let's face it, that's the only one that really matters.

Best Picture

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

This may seem like a copycat list pulled from other professional critics' predictions, but let me assure you it is not. I have been updating and reworking my list for the last couple of months now, and only just recently got it to be the five that it is now, and I'm pretty confident that this is what the final nominations will be. I'll go through each spot individually now.
The two best bets are and always have been Benjamin Button and Milk. They each have been advertised long before they came out, and are both critics' darlings. Both have been critically acclaimed long before they ever appeared in a theatre, and have both done pretty decently at the box office. Button has the 'spectacle' spot, in that it is a semi-epic film with a lot of appeal for technical aspects like art direction, visual effects, and costume design. The fact that it is also a winner in storytelling makes it a shoo-in. Milk is a little film that packs a wallop in emotion. It's a great acheivement in writing, directing, and acting. The fact that California recently passed Proposition 8 makes this important to today, despite that it takes place in the 70s.
Every year, one spot goes to a little indie film that is original and entertaining and makes the country turn their heads. This year, that spot is taken by Slumdog Millionaire. Three months ago, no one had even heard of it, but it is now sweeping the nation and picking up awards left and right. The spot usually goes to a comedy, which I would say this film is not (I would classify it as a happy drama), but the fact that it has a happy ending, in our times, makes it a must-see and a must-vote for the Academy.
The fourth spot has been very tricky for me and went through the most changes. Doubt had gone in that spot until it opened to mixed reviews, and for a long time, I was holding onto hope that Revolutionary Road would take that spot. The fact that it has been left off of many critics' top ten lists makes me wary. I finally gave the spot to Frost/Nixon, an entertaining film but certainly not my first choice. I thought that it just didn't have the relevance or the entertainment value to get a Best Picture nomination, but it is being universally lauded by critics since it came out. If Ron Howard gets a Best Director nomination, this is sure to get the fourth slot.
The final slot is the biggest question, the darkest horse, and the reason this particular Oscar year could be the year that the whole country pays attention. The question is: Will The Dark Knight get a Best Picture nomination? I believe the answer is yes, although it will be a long shot. It is now the second-highest grossing film of all time, behind Titanic, which, of course, swept the Oscars in 1997. The Oscars tend to stay away from big hits, but they can't ignore a hit of this magnitude. The fact that it was also universally loved by critics will ultimately earn it the nomination, as it has proved to be the most unique superhero movie in history, and much more than just a final vehicle for Heath Ledger. The Oscars generally hate comic book movies, but there is always a first for the Academy. Who remembers The Lord of the Rings winning Best Picture? I sure do.

Best Director

Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight
Gus Van Sant, Milk

This category is easy. The Director nominations don't always square up exactly with Best Picture, but it does happen from time to time. I think they'll be the same this year.

Best Actor

Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Maybe this is more wishful thinking than anything else. The Visitor is a movie almost no one has seen, but almost everyone will like. Richard Jenkins is an actor almost no one has heard of, but almost everyone has seen. His first real lead role is emotional and realistic, and after a long career of unthankful roles, he totally deserves this nomination. Clint Eastwood is an Oscar-winning director and producer, and despite him being one of America's best and most famous actors, he has yet to win an Oscar for acting. This may be his year. The Oscars love actors playing real people, so cue Frank Langella and Sean Penn as Richard Nixon and Harvey Milk, respectively. If it weren't for The Wrestler, I never would have heard of Mickey Rourke (apparently he was the next Brando until he became a prima donna, a boxer, addicted to drugs, and basically ruined his own life). I haven't seen this film yet, and as such, am still skeptical, but the critics seem to love him, and Oscar does like a comeback.

Best Actress

Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kristin Scott Thomas, I've Loved You So Long

I always seem surprised by what the Academy nominates in this category, so I have prepared for that possibility. Meryl Streep is obvious; she can't get in front of a camera without getting nominated. The Academy likes to nominate women for foreign-language films that no one has seen, so Kristin Scott Thomas will probably get that slot. Sally Hawkins is the woman that gets nominated for an indie film that no one has seen. People forget that Angelina Jolie is in fact an Oscar winner, and while critics weren't too fond of the film itself, I think she has gained enough momentum to get a last-minute nomination. Anne Hathaway was the girl from The Princess Diaries, but her nomination this year is one of the only sure things, as she's been getting rave reviews for months. However, Bride Wars just opened today, and that film's obvious awfulness will hurt her for sure. If you don't believe me, think about this: Eddie Murphy was nominated for Dreamgirls right as Norbit was released in theatres. He was the favorite to win, but he didn't.

Best Supporting Actor

Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey, Jr., Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
David Kross, The Reader
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

This category is always a mixed bag of actors, both dramatic and comedic. Posthumous nominations are rare and tricky, as they don't want to give away a nomination or a win just because the guy is dead. However, for Heath Ledger, this is not the case. He has created one of the best screen villains in film history, and I'm sure he would still get nominated if he were still alive. Philip Seymour Hoffman is the other sure thing in this race, although why Supporting Actor? He was the male lead in that movie. Josh Brolin is also a critics' favorite as the tortured villain of Milk. I would not have thought Robert Downey, Jr. could ever have gotten anything for this movie, but his character was incredibly original and this award does like to honor comedy roles. David Kross is the long shot here, and is unlikely to appear on any professional critics' lists. But he has been hailed for his performance, and for his age, it is difficult to get recognized, but I think the Academy will do so last-minute.

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams, Doubt
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Kate Winslet, The Reader

If my predictions are wrong in this category, it will be because I put Amy Adams in the list. If you're paying attention, I'm saying that Doubt will receive four acting nominations but not get a Best Picture nomination, a feat that is very unusual and not suggested by professional critics. But after seeing the movie, I think they will be ignoring a great performace by not nominating her. (Maybe it's just cuz I got a little crush. Can you blame me? When she's not wearing a nun's cap, she's really cute!) Viola Davis and Kate Winslet are sure things, have been ever since before the season started. Taraji P. Henson is a long shot, but her performance raises that movie to a new level, and won't be ignored. Personally, I don't think Penelope Cruz's work warrants a nomination, but strange enough, she is a sure thing. The film came out last summer and promptly flopped, and they're gonna give the star an Oscar nomination. This is why no one watches anymore.

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
Slumdog Millionaire

All Best Picture nominees generally get a screenplay nomination, so in that spirit, I give you four of the five in the adapted category. The Dark Knight is a long shot, but I think it's foolish to give it a Best Picture nomination but ignore it here-the screenplay is half of what made the movie so good. Doubt is added in because it was skillfully adapted from a stage play into a film that doesn't feel contained or staged.

Best Original Screenplay

Milk
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
The Visitor
WALL-E
The Wrestler

I'm probably way off on these. The only ones I'm sure of are Milk and WALL-E, the former because it's a Best Picture nom, and the latter because they do tend to nominated animated films here, especially Pixar. Ratatouille was nominated here last year. The Visitor and The Wrestler are long shots, but since I think they'll be nominated for Best Actor, the Academy will also honor the films themselves here. And finally, Oscar does like Woody Allen, so Vicky Cristina Barcelona will probably get nominated here as well.

The Oscar nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 22nd at 6:30 am Colorado time, live. I think it will be on all the news stations, but ABC is your best bet. This is the one day of the year I willingly get up before the sun rises. The ceremony itself will be live Sunday, February 22nd at 7:00 pm on ABC.
Also, www.apple.com/trailers is a great place to watch movie trailers; it's got all the movies mentioned here. Make sure you have QuickTime installed.
Well, those are my long-winded but informed predictions. Feel free to respond with comments, arguments, suggestions, or questions.