A Single Man

A SINGLE MAN

Up For: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Watching the trailer for this film does not prepare you for what you are stepping into.

Here is what I knew about this film when I stepped in:

Tom Ford, a fashion designer, is a first time director.

Colin Firth is nominated for Best Lead Actor.

Julianne Moore had Oscar buzz before the nominees came out.

Period. That was all I knew about the film.

First, Tom Ford, an openly gay man, makes a great debut as director in this homoerotic longing. The style of this film alone was enough to keep me intrigued. The color changes in the film allow for many interpretations and the camera movements are gorgeous. The screenplay is seamless in portions and a somewhat loose in others. The one thing that never came to mind during the viewing was fashion. Besides Julianne Moore, no one really wore anything out of the ordinary (this was a 60's film). Not to say that costumes were not great, they were just not extraordinary.

Now, Colin Firth: do I think he delivered a great performance... yes. Do I think he will win the Oscar? Absolutely not. In comparison to Jeff Bridges & George Clooney's A+ performances, Firth can not stand up to such monumental statures. Needless to say, Firth carries this film on his back. Without him, there would be no film. Firth becomes this character and rarely ever veers from the course of sheer perfection. Sadly, however, the film is just not good enough for him to shine completely. Had Firth taken Clooney's spot in Up In The Air, perhaps, but A Single Man was not able to challenge Firth enough, and for that, this performance remains unworthy of an Oscar.

I was surprised when I saw the trailer for A Single Man, and it exclaimed that Julianne Moore would definitely be up for an Oscar. Having the nominees announced, there was no such nomination. I feel this occurred because Moore was just not in the film that much. In an hour and a half, she was present for less than 20 minutes (if even that long). With such a small performance, you cannot even begin to compare her to Sandra Bullock or even Anna Kendrick for Supporting Actress, who strongly carried their respected films. Not surprised with the non-nomination of Julianna Moore.

Overall, an impressive directing debut for Tom Ford, but Ford has a long way to go before I go view another of his films. Colin Firth delivers a solid performance but is unable to break through the glass ceiling that this film's sub-par nature builds for him (you are only as good as the film itself).

(15 FILMS TO GO)

Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus

IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS

Up For:
Best Achievement in Art Direction
Best Achievement in Costume Design

The first two words that come to mind within the first 15 minutes of this film: Low Budget!

Now I know, "do not judge a book by its cover" so I bit my tongue through the film and hoped for the best. I was sadly mistaken.

Dubbed as the great Heath Ledger's final performance (before his untimely demise), you assume that this film will be note-worthy. Dead or alive, you end up wondering why Heath ever agreed to partake in such a film.

First, looking solely at what the film was nominated for (Art Direction & Costume Design), neither deserve the accreditation. The clothes look like bed sheets and window blinds found in a garbage dump, which, to the filmmaker's credit, was what I assume they were going for, however, no style what-so-ever was brought to them. The only costumes that I even recall were that of actress Lily Cole's when they are performing the Imaginarium on stage. Besides those brief instances, the costumes are un-noteworthy.

Art Direction, again, resembles that of a garbage dump (and not in the way that was intended). I never felt like the film tried to produce a style with any art what-so-ever. The bus they drove around was a cluster-cuss (thanks Mr. Fox). I felt as though it may be stylish, but upon reexamining my thoughts, the bus nor the stage get-ups were very established.

Perhaps the film went entirely over my head, but I did not buy into anything the filmmaker was trying to sell to me. The imagination sequences were gaudy, with animations that a beginning animator could conjure up. The attempt at salvaging the structure of the film without Heath was laughable and confusing. And overall, the entire film felt low budget (quality looked home video-ish, acting was not spot on, and the sets, costumes, and props all fell apart in front of you).

The film acted simply as a remembrance of Heath Ledger and nothing more. Heath Ledger acted as best as possible given the film he was acting in. By far, Heath was the shining light of the film, postmortem or not. Lily Cole was gorgeous and allowed for "eye candy", but generally glossed over as a character (besides a "piece" manipulated by the Doctor and the Devil). The adding of Johnny Depp, Jude Law, & Colin Farrel were appreciated but utterly ineffective. I have been told I do not understand Terry Gilliam's work, and that is fine, perhaps the film is not intended for me. The screenplay, to me, was a mess. The twists and turns were not well done. I understood the plot for the most part, but saw no reasoning behind any character's motives or driving forces. The plot simply came down to Immortals being bored and playing games, which leaves for no moral or underlying message.

Sorry to say, this film will gladly not take any Oscars home, which is sad for the memory of Heath Ledger, which should have been left in The Dark Knight and not a low budget, Monty Python-turned-serious film. Long live The Joker.

(16 FILMS TO GO)

Fantastic Mr. Fox

FANTASTIC MR. FOX

Up For: Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

Stop motion animation at the medium's finest. Easily fell in love with this film.

Fox brings all the elements of a good film together in one package, leading in great voice actors, great screenplay, and great animation.

George Clooney tops off as the voice of Mr. Fox, only leading a cast of brilliance with Meryl Streep (you would never guess in a million years that she does the voice of the Misses in the film) and Jason Swartzman as my personal favorite, the child of the Fox's, Ash. Add Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, and Owen Wilson, and you have a truly unique voice cast.

Wes Anderson definitely brings his unique writing and directing to this film. The dialogue is genius and definitely creates a new blend of kids movie mixed with adult movie that films like Shrek & Up have made a staple in the industry. Not only will adults love the film (unless stop motion films scare you, which I know plenty of people that fit into that category) and plenty of children will love from the book by Roald Dahl (known for Matilda, The BFG, and Charlie & The Chocolate Factory).

Overall, great animated film that blows miles passed Coraline. Mr. Fox's biggest competition in the Oscars... Up. Though Fantastic Mr. Fox has not yet hit DVD, I feel as though when it does you will find many nay-sayers not for the humor or style of the film, while Up seems to be loved by all and rightfully so. I strongly feel that on Oscar night, Up should take the gold. Up does so many more things that Fantastic Mr. Fox just did not accomplish. Up aside, however, Mr. Fox was splendid and is worth several viewings (1) for catching onto the humor, (2) catching what was missed while catching onto the humor, and maybe even (3) for good measure. If anything, you will be lulled asleep by the soothing voice of George Clooney and his all-star voice cast.

(17 FILMS TO GO)

The Blind Side

THE BLIND SIDE

Up For:
Best Motion Picture of the Year
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Ask any one of my friends and most likely they can tell one thing... I dislike Sandra Bullock. Recently, her two headline roles have been in the Proposal and All About Steve (to which she won as Razzie Award, the equivalence of worst performance of the year). I was not a fan of either of those films, nor was I a fan of Miss Congeniality (1 or 2), Speed (1 or 2), or anything else she was in: Lake House was bad, Premonition was horrible, and Forces of Nature, not so good.

Needless to say, seeing her name in the nominations for Best Lead Actress made me chuckle. How can you go from worst performance of the year to best in a matter of one film. I was skeptical. Don't get me wrong, every time a new Sandra Bullock film comes out, I give it a chance because I want Sandra Bullock to sway me. There's nothing wrong with her, it is just her acting and characters completely and utterly annoy me to where I do not enjoy seeing her films. Never have I met a Sandra Bullock film I liked... Until Blind Side.

The Blind Side was a nice family drama. There is little conflict, which can make for a boring story, but somehow this film survived. My thought is that you get so caught up the real life situation that you put aside the lack of conflict and embrace the warm, comforting feeling you receive throughout the film.

Sandra Bullock was my favorite part. Not only was she stunningly gorgeous (blonde really suits her), I could not wait to see her again. Her character was so confident and striking that you couldn't help but be turned on by her (not in a sexual connotation). She was fiery and passionate, and everything that has ever been lacking from a Sandra Bullock performance. I believed her. To me, she might as well have been the real thing and loved her for it. Never thought I would say this, but Sandra Bullock finally swayed me to like her (if only just in this film).

Quinton Aaron, the main black character was BIG! But he could not act. You find this out within the first 5 minutes of the film, which was one of the most confusing set-ups to a film I have ever viewed. About four flashbacks in the course of 5 minutes that were unnecessary and added nothing structurally to the film.

In comparison, the young boy in the family, Jae Head, was an amazing actor. He, too, radiated confidence and an understanding for the comic element he was supplying. For a 13 year old kid, he definitely has a long future in the business. I just watched an episode of How I Met Your Mother where this kid made his debut as a kid stuck in a claw machine that Robin is reporting a story on. Great kid.

The other acting parts were minimal but suitable. Tim McGraw was average (did not know it was him until looking at the credits just minutes ago). Lily Collins was good as well for having not been in much.

Overall, this was a great film and I am confident in saying Sandra Bullock deserves the nomination. Everyone has the one part they were meant to play and this one was Sandra's. The film to me does not scream Oscar Winner and I do not see it winning the title. However, a great family film none-the-less. Do not expect to be amazed by the film as a whole, but enjoy the warmth the film brings and take from it the true story (really enjoyed the footage of the actual people during the credits... I love when filmmakers indulge us).

(18 FILMS TO GO)

Good News!

Good news to anyone who is following the journey: looks like I will be able to watch all but three films this year. I was able to find most films in the area.

The ones I will miss:
The White Ribbon (nominated for Best Cinematography)
The Most Dangerous Man In America (documentary)
Which Way Home (documentary)

If anyone knows where I can find these three, please let me know here, through e-mail, or Facebook.

Otherwise I have schedule for seeing the rest of the films including a tripler-header @ Safari this Saturday if you care to join me (Nine, Invictus, and Princess & the Frog). Otherwise, I have 13 other films to view (not counting those 6 films previously mentioned), in less than two weeks. Hope you are all getting through your own challenges and keep in touch.

The Young Victoria

THE YOUNG VICTORIA

Up For:
Best Achievement in Art Direction
Best Achievement in Costume Design
Best Achievement in Makeup

Overall, fantastic film. Emily Blunt is exquisite. Paul Bettany (not Ifans Rhys as I commonly mistake the two) was fantastic as well. Mark Strong took part in the cast as well, playing such a great part I did not even recognize him (most recently in Sherlock Holmes and Rock'N'Rolla). Coming out of the film, I am rather shocked that none of these fine performances were nominated for Best Actor or Actress, especially Emily Blunt. Hands down (only having seen Meryl Streep's performance of course), I would give the Oscar to Emily and will be severely disappointed to not see her beaming face take home the prize.

The aspects the film was nominated for is rightfully so. I find it difficult to produce the standards the judges look for when viewing the category films of Art Direction, Costume, and Make-Up. Do they look for quantity or quality or both. Obviously it is both, I suppose. If the costumes are sheer perfection and hundreds are used, then it would be apparent that the film that takes advantage of both would win the award.

Against, Bright Star and Coco Before Chanel, this film had the quantity. Though the idea of determining which film created better sets and costumes is difficult since most films these days do pretty well in recreating (or creating) the worlds in which they portray. Overall, I would say the costumes beat those of other films simply by never having to question them and seeing tons of them. Though I would not be surprised if Coco came through since the film was about a designer and they are recreating her outfits.

Oscars aside, Young Victoria blew my expectations for a period piece. The film flies by and with so many great performances, it is hard to dislike the characters that are inherently evil in nature, like Bettany's & Strong's character (although you end up hating Strong's character very much). The film carries you though the full spectrum of emotion and definitely provides enough for a second viewing, if only for trying to figure out the balance of power with kings & queens. Do not be surprised to see this film take home the gold in the given categories.

(19 FILMS TO GO)

Bright Star

BRIGHT STAR

Up For: Best Achievement in Costume Design


A viewer must be in a right mood to simply sit down and take in Bright Star. Though the costumes were gorgeous and century appropriate, the dialogue and storyline is like reading the poetry that is being presented.

The performances were great. The two leads were wonderful, though the on-screen chemistry was through dialogue instead of physically (which is era appropriate I am sure). Paul Schneider was the best performance to come out of the film, followed closely by Ben Whishaw. Schneider, though not a main character, was dead on with accent, demeanor, and style. When ever there were moments of no Schneider, I was anticipating his return.

Bright Star is a great time piece, but as a film, lacks in engaging you. The entire plot is an on-again, off-again relationship between a poor poet and a woman, who really does nothing but scream, cry, and cut herself.

Bright Star has been the hardest film to watch of all the Oscar movies thus far, but not for a lack of trying more so than just not being my cup of tea. Personal opinion aside, the film was nicely done. Still not sure it will take home Best Costume Design with Young Victoria and even Coco Before Chanel as the competition.

(20 FILMS TO GO)

Avatar

AVATAR

Up For:
Best Motion Picture of the Year
Best Achievement in Directing
Best Achievement in Cinematography
Best Achievement in Editing
Best Achievement in Art Direction
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
Best Achievement in Sound Editing
Best Achievement in Visual Effects

For a long time, I waited to say my piece about Avatar (if you are a friend of mine, you have probably heard me rant about Avatar at least once). Just the idea of Avatar and its recycled storyline and one trick pony was, to me, hardly one of the best films ever made, in idea and ultimately in viewing.

Yes, the graphics were great and will win those awards accordingly. Best Visual Effects & Art Direction for sure. The rest I am not too sure. Many times I have compared the film to a Led Zepplin Laser Show. When all the reviews I hear of the film are "it was gorgeous" and "the colors were pretty" I want to ask, but how was the story, the acting, the score. The reason it is so pretty is because that's all it is.

The story was beaten to death. Pocahontas ring any bells? I know most stories are reused these days and that is fine. But this film was tagged as 20 years in the making?? Did James Cameron watch Pocahontas and then start the writing of this story. And in hopes of not making the same story twice waited 20 years to release so viewers were less likely to recall the plot of Pocahontas. I have also heard the comparison to Fern Gully, which resembled this film very much. As for hooking up to machines to "become" the Avatars, the Matrix films cover that. And, in the end, there is nothing wrong with reusing ideas, but do not make it the best selling film of all time... Do not award it the Academy Award for Best Picture. IT MEANT NOTHING.

Personally, it is simply no wonder that this was NOT nominated for ANY acting or screenplay awards. Plain and simple, those areas were horrible. The dialogue in portions was atrocious. At times this felt like a paint-by-numbers film (both visually & story-wise). Give me a break, in no way would people continuous be explaining how everything worked in this world (which is everything because this was like LOTR, nothing was normal). There was no mystery in this film. Everything was laid out in front of you, being painted as you went. What is the fun in that? I want a surprise here and there, I want a twist, a moment of tension where I think one thing might happen and then another occurrence comes out of nowhere... I do not want to see, clearly, the end of the film 15 minutes into the credits (especially when it is a 2 hours plus movie).

Caring for anything in Avatar was dismal. With all the hissing and "Come Get Some's" that were being thrown around, I never really connected with any of the characters. Problems were solved without any real understanding as to why. I could never buy what was going on (not in regards to the futuristic aspect).

The best performance in the film: Giovanni Ribsi. He had the smallest part, but he was the only one I truly believed. The rest were disposable. You honestly could have put any actor as any one of those characters and it would not have mattered one way or the other.

What it all comes down to is that Avatar is the highest grossing film in the history of films, and that just goes to show you where our society is at right now. For all the crap Transformers gets for being worthless, Avatar is that and worse, yet no one feels that because James Cameron, the creator of Titanic, created it. I have nothing personal against James Cameron either. If Michael Bay made this film, I would have felt the same.

Ultimately, this film will win some awards but any more than some and I will be severely disappointed. Please Hollywood, produce a film worthy of highest grossing film and soon.

(21 FILMS TO GO)

Food Inc.

FOOD INC.

Up For: Best Documentary, Features


Here is what Food Inc. did for me: it disgusted me, it ripped my heart out, it suggested that I live the wrong way but cannot do anything about it because of my social status, and left me feeling helpless.

A documentary like this needs to be careful. The entire film is broken into sections and each section is a different area of food production (sometimes...) involving cows, chickens, pigs, etc. You meet farmers who work from small organic farms, to mass producing farms.

Warning however, the images you can see are very graphic, but they let you know this within the first segment little chicks are being conveyor-belted through machines...

The reason this film made me feel helpless was saying that the world had come to this point because of money. It is easier to pay a dollar for a McDonalds chicken sandwich than to produce a healthier (for you and the environment) option for yourself for nothing near a dollar. They ended up saying it was this way because of social status and how much money is being made in any given household.

It was hard to get any "action" from this documentary. Facts are shoved at you throughout the entire film of the bad things, but hardly ever fixes to these problems. One of the nine or so segments was about buying organic yogurt that is carried in Wal-Mart and the end had written word of "generic" things you could do, but in the end it was simply a ploy to get you to visit their website.

Overall, I feel that The Cove was a better mix of a documentary, causing a full range of emotion. But I have a feeling this is what Food Inc. was going for. They wanted to freak you out so that you would want to do something. What they don't realize is most people with eating problems already eat more when they are depressed.

Going off on a side tangent a little bit, but you have to wonder. If our culture could actually afford to organically grow and produce all our foods if that could actually work for as many people there are in the world. Even the organic farmer was not sure that if a large majority of the population started buying from him, and people like him, if they could sustain and meet the needs....

In the end, you just end up mad at corporations again. I really want to know what kind of people make up a corporation. Because they all seem skewed. The Cove had that feeling from it as well. There is just a skewed sense of reality in corporations (that the rules do not apply to them) that affects the whole world. The seed part of the film was the most obvious of this as they were putting small, old man farmers out of business for not using the genetically engineered seeds in planting. And in some scheme, "seed cleaning" (still not sure what this was... never really explained, just assumed I knew or I was a farmer...) was banned and the men doing it ended up looking like Soviet supporters during the Red Scare.

Ultimately, I really do not see Food Inc. winning. It got a lot of hype, but I guess I just do not want to see it win because it really wasn't that great. The Cove was by far better produced and relied less on fact-basing and more on getting the viewer engaged, something that Food Inc. was lacking. So if you want to be grossed out and have hundreds of facts thrown at you, go for it. Worth a viewing just to see a part of society you normally do not see, but otherwise, not Oscar-worthy.

(22 FILMS TO GO)

My Journey Thus Far

So far so good... My adventure through the many films nominated for Academy Awards is really paying off. I am completely amazed at how great films that sound so bad in title and on paper can turn out to be. I keep getting the same response from people: they are Oscar movies, they are supposed to be good. But most Oscar movies have a tendency of being bland and overrated. This year, I have enjoyed the small titles just as much as the big ones.

Here is an outline of what I have seen and where it fits in the nominations, and if I can, my predictions with what I have seen thus far (or speculation, as far as Avatar nods go):

Actor in a Leading Role

* Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
* George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
* Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

Prediction: Jeff Bridges (should be close between Bridges & Clooney)


Actor in a Supporting Role

* Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

Prediction: Christoph Waltz (Only one I've seen so far but ultimately want him either way)


Actress in a Leading Role

* Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

Predictions: Not Meryl Streep (Not Oscar-worthy performance)


Actress in a Supporting Role

* Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
* Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
* Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”

Predictions: Anna Kendrick (honestly do not think anyone could top this performance)


Animated Feature Film

* “Coraline” Henry Selick
* “Up” Pete Docter

Prediction: Up (out of these two, obviously Up... afraid either way, my bias against stop motion filmmaking will cause me this category)


Art Direction

* “Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

Prediction: No Sherlock Holmes (do not see any Oscar nods in Holmes' future)


Cinematography

* “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
* “The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
* “Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson

Prediction: The Hurt Locker (see this film taking best director, screenplay, & picture)


Costume Design

* “Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier

Predictions: ??? (possibly Coco, but very tough to tell without other viewings - gut feeling tells me Nine will take it)


Directing

* “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
* “Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
* “Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

Prediction: The Hurt Locker (see Cinematography Prediction)


Documentary (Feature)

* “The Cove” Nominees to be determined

Prediction: ??? (Gut feeling tells me Food Inc. -- watching that one tonight.)


Film Editing

* “District 9” Julian Clarke
* “The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
* “Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke

Prediction: ??? (Gut feeling tells me Avatar for anything technical)


Makeup

* “Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow

Prediction: ??? (Gut reaction says Young Victoria)


Music (Original Score)

* “The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
* “Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
* “Up” Michael Giacchino

Prediction: Up (Hands down thus far, deserves it ---whether it will get it is another story)


Music (Original Song)

* “Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
* “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Prediction: Crazy Heart (just because I believe since it didn't get Best Picture nom it deserves to win everything else it is up for... haha... skewed perception of justice I know)


Best Picture

* “District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
* “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro
* “Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
* “A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
* “Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
* “Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Prediction: The Hurt Locker (gotta go with Hurt Locker just because it has been bringing home awards where ever it goes, there's no way Avatar can take it without having anything in either acting or screenplay... know it makes it so Up In The Air wins nothing throughout the night, but I will be damned if anything besides those two win)


Short Film (Animated)
None yet


Sound Editing

* “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
* “Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman
* “Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
* “Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Prediction: ??? (Avatar most likely...)


Sound Mixing

* “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
* “Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
* “Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
* “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Prediction: ??? (Avatar most likely again...)


Visual Effects

* “District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
* “Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Prediction: ??? (Okay, if it took him 20 years to make, obviously it will probably win this one... Avatar...)


Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

* “District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
* “In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
* “Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Prediction: Up In The Air (possibly the only award it will bring home that night... sad)


Writing (Original Screenplay)

* “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
* “Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
* “A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
* “Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

Prediction: The Hurt Locker (I think to solidify its spot as Best Picture is has to win this one)