The Graduate

That's right. After years of toil and struggle worthy of my own striking drama, I have finally graduated. The parties and celebrations have finally come to an end, the checks have stopped rolling in, and the confetti has at last settled...so you know what that means: it's movie season again. Just when you thought I'd never be back...I am, and I'm more ready than ever to take on my massive list.

First and foremost, I have to ackowledge the lone movie I managed to fit in during those few weeks of graduation. It snuck up on me and took me by complete surprise--but it ended up being one of the best movies I've ever seen. Seriously, it blew my mind. Hands down, best film off the list so far.

The Reader (2008) knocks the wind out of you with its powerful emotional punch. I can't even begin to describe the plot without feeling my tear ducts firing up, so I'll just say that it's a sweeping story of acceptance and unswerving true love. Painful, magical, gripping true love. Stephen Daldry delivers brilliantly in his directorial masterpiece. Kate Winslet muscles up the best performance I've ever seen her give, and Ralph Fiennes shows us his sensitive side in one of his better dramatic turns. For me, the real scene-stealer was David Kross. He is absolutely delicious and I have now decided that he is replacing James Franco as my future husband. Sorry, James, I hope you understand-- David is just too good to pass up.

Another crazy surprise I recently encountered? Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Biggest shock of the summer so far: it's actually good. The Pirates team out-did themselves in this one, whipping up the best installment in the series since the very first swash-buckling smash back in 2003. Hans Zimmer scores it again (in my opinion, his music makes these movies), giving that old familiar punchy tune a fresh new tone.
Sailing on sans Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, producers were taking a major gamble betting that Johnny Depp alone could take the helm-- but their faith in our favorite maritime outlaw definately paid off. Granted, he did get a hand from newcomers Ian McShane and Penelope Cruz, and from familiar faces like the pock-marked mug of Geoffrey Rush...but let's face it, this is Depp's movie. And it's a damn good one at that.

Spellbound

So I had typed out a long, articulate page predicting each category of tomorrow's Academy Awards...and then my computer shuts down the internet. I'm about to fall asleep after a long day of trekking all over DC, so though I'm bursting with excitement for tomorrow's festivities and though I expect to be fully spellbound by the results, I'm going to make these predictions quick.
Keep in mind that this year is a tight race and no category is completely dominated, so these are just speculations.

Best Supporting Actor
Nominees:
Mark Ruffalo, "The Kids Are All Right"
John Hawkes, "Winter's Bone"
Christian Bale, "The Fighter"
Geoffrey Rush, "The King's Speech"
Jeremy Renner, "The Town"
Ok, so I don't have too much credibility here because I have yet to see some of these performances. Still, I'm going to put my money on Christian Bale. The buzz surrounding his work here is too loud to ignore, and you have to admit that his physical transformation for the role was pretty hard core.

Best Supporting Actress
Nominees:
Amy Adams, "The Fighter"
Hailee Steinfeld, "True Grit"
Jacki Weaver, "Animal Kingdom"
Melissa Leo, "The Fighter"
Helena Bonham Carter, "The King's Speech"
Bonham Carter was pretty good in her quiet turn as the queen and Steinfeld is young, new, and prime for receiving an award, but I'm going to go with Melissa Leo, again choosing to believe the rumors and jump on the bandwagon without havin seen the performance. She's a solid bet though, especially considering that many contend that she was snubbed for her work in "Frozen River", so this could be the Academy's chance to make amends.

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Nominees:
Javier Bardem, "Biutiful"
Jesse Eisenburg, "The Social Network"
Collin Firth, "The King's Speech"
James Franco, "127 Hours"
Jeff Bridges, "True Grit"
This one is hard because I'm basically in love with James Franco and was brought to tears by his mind-blowing performance, but I still know that the Oscars aren't always about what's technically better. Collin Firth's work was also very moving...few could pull off a loveable stutter as effortlessly as this guy, so he's my pick. The rest of the bunch fall shamefully short of Franco and Firth; the winner is sure to be either one of them.

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Nominees:
Annette Bening, "The Kids Are All Right"
Natalie Portman, "Black Swan"
Michelle Williams, "Blue Valentine"
Jennifer Lawerence, "Winter's Bone"
Nicole Kidman, "Rabbit Hole"
Natalie Portman. I'd be pretty shocked if anyone else took the cake.

Best Director
Nominees:
Tom Hooper, "The King's Speech"
David Fincher, "The Social Network"
David O. Russel, "The Fighter"
Darren Aronofsky, "Black Swan"
Joel and Ethan Coen, "True Grit"
This category is tough to call because everyone did a good job. Again, I find my preference (here, Aronofsky) clashing with who I think will win (here, Tom Hooper). I fully expect King's Speech to sweep and I think that Hooper's easy style will help him be part of the broom. However, it is highly likely that David Fincher could jump in here and win with his groundbreaking, talked-about work.

Best Animated Feature
Nominees:
"How To Train Your Dragon"
"The Illusionist"
"Toy Story 3"
I'm almost positive that Toy Story 3 will be the victor here. The poignant close to the franchise totally deserves to be rewarded.

Best Editing
Nominees:
"Black Swan"
"The Fighter"
"127 Hours"
"The Social Network"
"The King's Speech"
The edgy editing style of The Social Network is my pick to nab the award in this category, although "The King's Speech" will surely be lurking in the shadows...this will be another super-close section where Network and Speech will duke it out.

Best Original Screenplay
Nominees:
"The King's Speech"
"Another Year"
"Inception"
"The Fighter"
"The Kid's Are All Right"
The King's Speech. It's all part of its sweep.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Nominees:
"127 Hours"
"The Social Network"
"True Grit"
"Toy Story 3"
"Winter's Bone"
Is this really a question? I feel as though no other movie stands a chance when The Social Network or Speech stand in its way.

Best Picture
We know the nominees. We know the frontrunners. We know my favorite (127 Hours, doomed to stay a nominee forever). Now all that's left is to pick a winner, and my guess is The Social Network. It's a defining film that many enjoyed(including myself, though I wasn't blown away) and I think it's a serious contender. This category, the most important one there is, will boil down to the final round of Network vs Speech.

Those are the only categories I really care about. Expect to see "Inception" grab the technical awards like visual effects (barring an "Alice in Wonderland" upset) and an epic showdown between a classic and a new wave; the uplifting and the bloodless; Speech and Network. Who's excited?? I am!!!!

The Right Stuff

It's true...I lost nearly a week of movies, and I have no idea how I'm going to make it up. Our school has this ill-placed week-long break stuck in the middle of February, and my family used the first part of it to go skiing in Breckenridge. I learned two things: that I'm not destined to be a skiier, and that next time I should pack a couple DVDs to save myself from late night cable. My whole body is sore from countless awkward falls into the powder, and I really can't stand to see one more episode of a poorly written cookie cutter crime drama.
Anyway, the point is that I lost a lot of time and I'm just about to lose some more. Tomorrow I leave for North Carolina, and Friday, I jet off to Washington DC and don't return home until Sunday. How am I going to recover all these days of missed movies? I guess I'll have to double up this summer...

Sunday, February 27th is just four short days away...and I'm almost counting down the seconds. It's the biggest day of the year if you ask me...more exciting than Christmas and more meaningful than my birthday. That's right, this Sunday night marks the eve of the Oscar ceremony, a night when cinematic history will be written. I anticipate a lively and entertaining broadcast, as Anne Hathaway and my future husband James Franco are slated to host the event. The Academy better have made some wise choices, because there will be one angry kid out there if JFranc (like the nickname??) and 127 Hours go home empty-handed. I've listed them before, but in the name of simplicity, here are the nominees for Best Picture:

1. Inception Mind-blowing. How else can you describe it? This one achieves a rare double victory, pleasing the pickiest of critics and exploding into a box office success all at once. Though I'm skeptical that it has a chance amidst all these other attention-grabbers, I'd say Inception can still dream of gold (get it...dream?!).

2. The Fighter Still haven't seen it! I know, I know, I'm a major slacker. This one just didn't look all that good to me in the commercials. I just feel like the tough-Boston-down-on-his-luck guy thing has been way over done, and so has the whole boxing thing. I mean, we have The Departed (2006) (amazing flick) and Million Dollar Baby (2004) (still need to see this one!)...so what do we need The Fighter for?? Maybe just to see Christian Bale slim down to cancer-victim size.

3. Toy Story 3 Love it! But it won't win in this category...I'm 99% sure (though I'm just as sure it will take the cake in the Animated Feature category). This one really hit home for me because I'm also going to college in the fall, and I feel just like Andy, giving up my childhood and driving off into the sunset...I definitely needed the tissue box to make it to the closing credits.

4. Black Swan Interesting. Very interesting. I found it both haunting and wildly entertaining, and ended up heading back to the theater more than once to really digest this one. It's a very original piece of work, with brilliant cinematography and directing (though Darren Aronofsky is no Danny Boyle). Natalie Portman deserves the Oscar for throwing herself into this twisted ballet world.

5. True Grit Haven't seen this one either! If I had to base my opinions on those of my friends, though, this one isn't winning anything.

6. 127 Hours I can't say enough good things about this movie. This one is my favorite for sure. If you haven't seen it, GO NOW! I'm still reeling over the fact that Danny Boyle didn't get a director's nod for his highly original work here, and I will be reeling if JFranc doesn't win his Oscar (though he will find some tough competition in Collin Firth).

7. The Kids Are All Right So I haven't seen this one either...but from what I've heard and read, it's not that great of a film. It's only nominated because of its progressive subject matter...or at least, that's what I've gathered. I'll get around to seeing it eventually (it's on my list!) and have some sort of opinion to share.

8. The Social Network Ehhh...it's alright. Quirky, cute, a little shocking sometimes...but Best Picture material? I don't think so. But although I don't think it's worthy of the golden man, The Academy may very well think it is come Sunday night. I guess we'll see.

9. Winter's Bone Ok, you got me...I didn't see this one either. So I'm not exactly qualified to be making all of these predictions. But here's another one I'm going to make anyway: The Academy won't be throwing this dog a bone (another pun?? I'm on fire tonight!). These Sundance-born indies still don't seem to have the wattage that a major studio film like Inception has.

10. The King's Speech I've said it before, and I'll say it again: this movie is overrated!! I'm not saying it's not good, because it is, but it's not the best of the bunch by any stretch (and I haven't even seen the whole bunch yet!). Still, if I was a bettin man, I'd say the odds are very much stacked in this one's favor.

So there you have it, a round-up of my current opinions as we head into the final days before the Oscars. It'll be a real nail-biter waiting to hear the verdict on these movies, with the top contenders (in my mind) being The Social Network, The King's Speech, Inception (maybe), and (I know it's probably just a pipe dream, but I'm gonna keep on dreaming) 127 Hours. The others, I think, are not nearly as likely to win. We'll see on Sunday night which film has the right stuff to become number one.

Now for the challenge, something I've been putting off lately. I watched American Beauty (1999) tonight and found it very...interesting. Despite being laden with graphic language and occasionally obscene images, the film felt poetic and graceful all the way through. Kevin Spacey, ever the acting savant, puts up a fantastic performance as a confused, aimless middle-aged man, and Annette Benning, a current nominee whose fate will be decided Sunday night, shines in her also-nominated turn as a repressed wife on the edge. Chris Cooper also surprises in his gritty portrayal of the homophobic neighbor. A twisted, sordid take on the American family deserving of pensive analysis.

From Here to Eternity

So I've decided that I'm going to marry James Franco. This is because he is absolutely amazing in every way...I learned enough about him from his Wikipedia page, and of course, from drooling over him in every movie I've watched that features his perfect face. Naturally, that's enough for me to determine that he is actually my soul mate despite the fact that he's at least fifteen years older than me. Age is just a number.

My James Franco preference became a James Franco obsession when I conquered Milk(2008) on Saturday and saw how effortlessly he pulled off a sensitive gay man's role even though by nature, he is a deliciously macho straight man. Even more impressive than Franco is Sean Penn, who practically becomes Harvey Milk reincarnated as he sinks into the role of a flamboyant homosexual politician. The mayor of Castro Street has never seemed more real to those of us born long after his tragic assassination.
Milk informs, inspires, and eventually devastates as it climbs towards those inevitable gunshots that simultaneously ended and began so much. I have to admit that I found myself reaching for the tissue box at the end of this one, crushed by the very personal loss of the enigmatic character we have come to love over the course of the film. A surprisingly engrossing biopic worth a second look.

Now maybe it's just my teenage bias against super old movies, but I just couldn't get into Gaslight(1944), though I had just survived two consecutive sleepovers so my sleep deprivation could have been a contributing factor to my inability to keep my eyes open. Sure, it was riddled with intrigue, mystery, twists, and all that, but the slow, wordy manner in which it was delivered did not spark my gaslight (get it?? punnny??). It just kept going and going...I thought the thing was going to last from here to eternity.
I don't think that sort of plot development is an inherent flaw of the film by any means...I just think that movies were made differently 75 years ago, and those of us who have never been exposed to such ancient methods have a hard time enjoying those old melodramas. At least, that's the case for me.

On an unrelated note, I think I've come to accept that as a general rule, I'm the only one who reads these posts. That's alright with me...I think I just use this blog as a way to keep me on track with the challenge and ensure that I actually think about the movies I've seen. However, if there's anyone out there who does read this, I'd appreciate any sort of contact...
When I started this blog, I envisioned some sort of Julie and Julia-esque success, through which I achieved international acclaim and got invited to host the Oscars and attend every premiere forever. That isn't going to happen, but I'm still halfway crossing my fingers!

Great Expectations

For any ignorant soul out there out who does not already know, the Academy will be releasing their nominations in just five days...that means ten more films will be added to the already astronomically long list I am attempting to conquer. My initial overview of the list tells me that 475 films (soon to be 485) have been nominated or have won in the Best Picture category since the 1927-28 season that saw the world's first Academy Awards ceremony...and out of all of these respected classics and cinematic masterpieces, I had only seen 44 (actually, it's 45 now that I've started, but more on that later). This leaves a lot of work ahead of me in the coming months!


I would be remiss if I did not  broadcast my personal prediction of which ten films this year will be nominated simply because I tend to lend my opinions on everything whether or not they are requested.
The lucky ten are:


1. Inception
2. Black Swan
3. The King's Speech
4. 127 Hours
5. The Social Network
6. True Grit
7. Toy Story 3
8. Winter's Bone
9. The Kids Are All Right
10. The Fighter


Note that these films are not arranged in any particular order. In fact, my personal favorite of 2010 is listed as number 4, and I'll get to my mouth-foaming rave about that one after just a few more rambling lines justifying my prediction. Inception, Black Swan, The Social Network, and The King's Speech are basically shoe-ins with the Academy, so I won't even touch on those. I think Winter's Bone could be this year's Precious if all goes well for the film; to that way of thinking, Toy Story 3 could be this year's Up, and The Kids Are All Right could slip in like Little Miss Sunshine did in 2006. My theories will be tested in five days...and if anyone else is reading this (though I suspect that no one is), I'd love to here your predictions as well.


Now for my thoughts on the film I mentioned above as my favorite, 127 Hours:

Best film of the year, hands down, if you ask me (no one did, but I’m informing you anyway).

A slip-up while traversing a ravine causes hard-headed outdoorsman Aron Ralston (James Franco, obviously) to become trapped miles away from any civilization when his arm is crushed and pinned beneath a large boulder- and so begins the harrowing personal and physical journey that captured the world's attention when it happened in real life and, here, spell-binds us in one of those rare cinematic masterpieces that restores our faith in Hollywood. During his five-day nightmare, Ralston constantly reflects on his most meaningful memories, the people he loves, and what it means to truly live, bringing us along for an existential journey more powerful than any we have traveled before.

Perhaps the most striking aspect of the film is its stark lack of melodrama in depicting this most dramatic of events. Instead of dressing the story up in layers of fluff and sappy gimmicks, director Danny Boyle takes a frank and objective look at Ralston's ordeal, ultimately allowing the purest of triumphs to explode through what I consider to be one of the most profound performances of our time.

All that hype surrounding Franco's portrayal of Ralston is more than true- I could honestly tout his performance as some of the very best bit of acting I have ever had the privilege of witnessing. Franco doesn't just deserve an Oscar...he deserves three. Or maybe the Academy can create some kind of Super-Oscar to be given to actors like Franco who deserve to be elevated to the status of demi-gods.

127 Hours may just redefine the biopic as we know it. It's visceral, it's gripping, it's uplifting to behold- and it's most definitely worth that overpriced movie ticket (or even two).

 Finally, we arrive at my last topic: the Best Picture Challenge, heretofore called the BPC. I kicked off the BPC with 2004's The Aviator. 

My thoughts: pretty awesome movie. Being the ignorant teenager that I am, I was not even aware of the Howard Hughes story before I saw this movie, but I was fascinated by his character. Leonardo DiCaprio does a beautiful job of portraying Hughes, who is, in my opinion, the perfect contemporary tragic hero: a man of high status crippled by his hubris, ignorant to his faults, and ultimately suffering the fall that all tragic heroes must face. Despite the abrasive nature and borderline malicious behavior we see in Hughes' character, we can't stop ourselves from rooting for him when his luck turns south; DiCaprio's ability to create this paradox makes his performance so brilliant. The slow, progressive crumbling of Hughes' sanity played against his climbing success builds a sense of tension that I really got into so that, by the end, I could deeply feel the pity and fear that are dredged up by the catharsis that all great tragedies inevitably create.

Great movie...great way to start the BPC. I have great expectations for the hundreds of films that remain.