The Lost Weekend

If you're trying to get your movie nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, but you're at a loss for titles, here's a suggestion: name it a name. That's right- a simple, first & last name title is a thing of value to the Academy, and I did the counting tonight to prove it. 17 films with name-names have been nominated for the award since they started handing these things out: Alice Adams(1935), David Copperfield (1935), Anthony Adverse (1936), Kitty Foyle(1940), Mildred Pierce (1945), Johnny Belinda(1948), Julius Caesar (1953), Elmer Gantry(1960), Tom Jones(1963), Mary Poppins (1964), Barry Lyndon (1975), Annie Hall(1977), Norma Rae (1979), Forrest Gump (1994), Jerry Maguire (1996), Erin Brockovich (2000) and number 17,tonight's feature, Michael Clayton (2007). I'm sensing a pattern here.

Clayton starts with a bang, lets up, and then has you figuring out what might possibly be going on for the better part of two hours in a long series of cryptic conversations and dramatic stares into mirrors and out car windows. Still, for all that mental work you have to do to actually enjoy the film, it ends with a pretty subdued catharsis. It's Erin Brockovich-meets-Jason Bourne without the do-good joy or the gritty action, but let me be clear: it's not a bad movie. It just isn't an explosion...the matte, emotionless format that Tony Gilroy shapes always feels like it's building to something, like it's holding back a bull that's just about ready to burst out of its stall and stampede...only we get to the end, and it turns out that the bull was just a lamb all along. And that's not a bad thing, because lambs are good too, they just aren't bulls. Which is a little disappointing to someone who came to see the bullfight.
But I have to hand it to George Clooney; he really made this movie. Suave, tough, smart, caring- there's few dimensions Clooney doesn't develop in his performance, except maybe fearfulness....Michael Clayton doesn't do fear. Clooney gives Clayton just enough smooth awesomeness to make us love him while keeping the character grounded in reality, so we can hope that someone this cool might really exist out there. Love it.
And Tilda Swinton is scary good. She's got fragile evil in the bag, delivering to us a villain that doesn't look the part- one that we almost feel sorry for, all wrapped up in a neat little bow. I'd say she totally deserved the Best Supporting Actress Oscar she won for this part.
So anyway, my final verdict is this: good, but not explosive. That makes this picture so real. But my question is this: do we really go to the movies for reality? Or do we go to get swept up in larger-than-life stories that only Hollywood magic can create?

Return of the King: Jackson is back!

In other news, production has FINALLY begun on the long-awaited Tolkien project The Hobbit, helmed by Lord of the Rings mastermind Peter Jackson. The two-part epic will surely grab much more attention as it picks up momentum, since it will be serving as a prequel to Jackson's wildly successful Rings trilogy. Personally, I could not get enough of LOTR...collectively, the three serve as one of my favorite movies of all time. The only fantasy film ever to snag a Best Picture Oscar, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003) is still regarded as one of the greatest movies ever made. Basically, the bar has been set pretty high for the latest installment in the franchise (if it can even be considered that), and Jackson should be feeling that pressure all the way in Wellington, New Zealand where the shooting is taking place. Unfortunately for us, we will have to wait until late 2012 to see the first flick hit theatres (and til late 2013 for part two).

Now this has absolutely nothing to do with the BPC and is therefore very unnecessary, but seeing as I went to the theatres for the first time in a long time this weekend, I thought I'd share some thoughts.
It's not often that you can get me to pay ten bucks to go see a movie when a DVD is five to own or one to rent, and the extra expense is just to see it on a much bigger screen with louder people sitting around you. Let me save you some time and money by advising against my latest expenditure: Limitless.
It was a good idea. Really, it could've been an OK film had it been done well. But relative newcomer Neil Burger sort of strangles this one in the crib with tedious narration and an effects overload. Luckily, Robert De Niro is awesome (if not aging) no matter what he does, and Bradley Cooper is extremely attractive (and has a lot of potential, if you ask me)...so that in itself may warrant a Red Box rental later on down the road. Maybe. Just exercise caution when approaching a half-baked movie like this...you may end up losing some IQ points.

Anyway, that's all I've got to show for this whole weekend. I'd call that another lost weekend for sure. When will I ever learn my lesson: stop trying to sleep at night, stop having a job, stop doing schoolwork, stop having friends, and watch more movies! I'm starting to feel like I'm drowning in a project that I can't possibly hope to finish...

Friendly Persuasion

I can't help but feel this tiny pang of disappointment in the wake of last night's Oscar ceremony, as my favorite movies of the year went home empty handed and the two major pictures "The Social Network" and "The King's Speech" proceeded to soak up nearly every award available. Every one of my predictions for the awards came true- except, oddly enough, my Best Picture pick. Although I knew that Speech was the front-runner from the get-go, I figured that the Academy would ultimately side with the jazzy modern flick rather than the archetypal Oscar bait, as it has appeared to be going younger for the past two consecutive years with its "The Hurt Locker" and "Slumdog Millionaire" picks...but again, I was just putting too much faith in the organization. Academy, I'm really starting to doubt your wisdom. Not to say that Speech wasn't any good though- it certainly deserves some accolades. Just maybe not all the accolades.

James Franco and Anne Hathaway did a tremendous job hosting the ceremony. I thought it was a particularly good one, definitely aimed at the younger demographic this year. This is their charmingly funny opening movie montage:



As for the BPC, I know that the show must go on. I have to wait another year before the Oscars come around again (which is pretty depressing...like that grey-cloud feeling a little kid gets the day after Christmas), so I should really get cracking on those movies again before the next time they light up that Kodak theater. I jumped back into it tonight, though tired and strapped down with homework, by conquering A Man For All Seasons (1966).
Usually these old, bare historical pictures tug at my eyelids, but not this one. I found Seasons to be a rich, brilliantly acted, even suspenseful tale to remind us of the good old days of Hollywood. It was interesting to watch a regal Best Picture winner so soon after rolling my eyes at this year's British royalty victor...perhaps it's to these simpler cinematic times that the Academy was hearkening back when it selected Speech.
Anyway, I quite enjoyed this film (I imagined myself saying that sentence in a British accent in my head). Sir Thomas More astonishes us with his moral fortitude and unwavering piety, played to perfection by Paul Scofield, who undeniably deserves the Best Actor Oscar he received for this work. I also found Robert Shaw's bombastic King Henry VIII to be a real scene-stealer and I wonder why he lost out on the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in this year (though I haven't yet seen any of the other nominees' performances, so I guess I really can't judge).

A quick tally of my list tonight told me that, to date, I've watched 68 of the films on my long queue, leaving 417 movies to be watched in the 305 remaining days of the year. Much of that time must be taken out, too, considering that in the fall I will be headed to college and therefore unable to sit for hours on end and watch any movie I want. Thus, it appears that I need to step up my game pretty intensely if I want to finish up by the end of the year. Or perhaps I can use some friendly persuasion on my parents so they will allow me to drop out of school and take up movie-watching as my fulltime occupation. I guess we'll see what happens...

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.

The Long Voyage Home

Now I'm not usually one to brag, but I'm about to throw a little bit of unabashed boasting your way: I'm ten for ten. That's right, the predictions I made last week (see "Great Expectations" if you need a little refresher)for this year's Best Picture nominations were all correct...if anyone doubted my cinematic genius before this moment, they can now rest assured in knowing that, when it comes to motion pictures, I'm basically omniscient.

Things aren't so perfect in my actual life, though. After sleeping through my alarm this morning, scrambling to get to school, dashing straight to my one job, flying off to my other, hauling myself to the gym from there, and nearly nodding off on the long voyage home, I'm truly learning what it means to operate on nothing but caffeine and unshakeable will power (it means seeing spots and staring at inanimate objects for inordinate amounts of time, for those who wonder). With my homework spread out in front of me (which was a major joke...I never do homework!), I finally settled down tonight to watch All About Eve (1950) in another journey back to the classic winners from the 50's. Since last night's selection- the victor of 1957- is seven years this film's senior, this stepped in as one of the oldest films I've seen to date. It was a new experience for me because I'm a black-and-white movie virgin (if you don't count Casablanca (1943), which everyone has seen anyway), but I loved it more than I ever expected to. From the moment that first greyscaled shot illuminates the screen, we are immersed into the plush, smoke-laden world of the elite theater, centered around Margo Channing (Bette Davis) and her company of play-people. Baby-faced, doe-eyed Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) doesn't seem to wear the countenance of evil, but we eventually see that her innocent appearance is nothing but a mask to hide her true character. Never has a villain looked so sweet, nor worked so swiftly and quietly to feed her own ferocious ambitions...honestly, who could resist this tumultuous tale of tricks and treachery?

All About Eve is a justly deserving Best Picture if I ever saw one. It merits every bit of praise that has echoed from the critics, fans, and industry insiders throughout the decades, and it certainly earned every one of the 14 Oscar nominations bestowed upon it in 1950 (a lofty number unsurpassed until Titanic blew our minds in 1997).
Now, why not use this opportunity to increase your useless movie knowledge?

Eve is the first and only film to garner four actress nominations: Davis and Baxter for Best Actress, and Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter for Best Supporting Actress.

Leading lady Bette Davis served as the first female president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (we plebeians know it simply as The Academy).

Some claim that Davis was actually the one who coined the affectionate nickname "Oscar" after receiving the award in 1936.

Entertainment Weekly named the film's famed quote, "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night" as the #9 greatest movie line of all time.

Bette Davis filmed all her scenes for this film in just 16 days.

Honestly, I could go on for days with these things, but I'm practically entering REM while typing. I need to stop starting these useless tangents if I don't have the ability to finish them...but again, I digress.

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.