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2012 Oscar Race is On!

It’s that time of year again where everyone develops sore hands and sore wrists from typing all these categories and names we’ve never heard of, but to be a true movie junkie, you must follow protocol and deliver to the masses your thoughts on the annual nominations for our golden friend, Oscar.

[The movies marked with a "*" means I have actually seen it. Do not expect to see that much in the Doc Short Subject area, those are usually a crapshoot]

Best Picture:

The Artist

The Descendants (*)

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (*)

The Help (*)

Hugo (*)

Midnight in Paris

Moneyball (*)

The Tree of Life (*)

War Horse

Still no real clue on how the Academy makes its Best Picture nominations and why there is a fluctuating number, but I have some strong feelings about this years list. First off, Drive should absolutely be there and Tree of Life should absolutely not. Drive was a mastery of silence and tension, while Tree of Life caused groups of movie-goers to walk out wondering if what they saw could even be classified as a film. Sure enough, these are polar opposites in terms of filmmaking and should normally not be compared to each other at all, but in terms of being on this list, that’s where my main beef is. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close also really shouldn’t rank here with the superb fare of Moneyball, The Descendants and Hugo (which personally I think also just scrapes itself onto the list). The big money is on The Artist to win, but without seeing it, I can’t really agree or disagree on that yet.

Actor in a Leading Role

Demian Bichir – A Better Life

George Clooney – The Descendants (*)

Jean Dujardin – The Artist

Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (*)

Brad Pitt – Moneyball (*)

I think this is Clooney’s year. He gave an incredibly subtle performance, showing incredible control over internal struggle and pain versus his usual playful charm. Pitt was great in Moneyball, but his best bud will likely edge him out. Oldman definitely deserves the nomination, but the movie isn’t really great enough to support him taking the win, especially over Clooney. Dujardin took the SAG award and the Globe, but the The Artist was in another category at the Globes and he might get edged out here.

Actor in a Supporting Role

Kenneth Branagh – My Week With Marilyn

Jonah Hill – Moneyball (*)

Nick Nolte – Warrior

Christopher Plummer – Beginners

Max Von Sydow – Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (*)

The word on the street says this is Plummer’s to lose. Between the two performances I have seen, Sydow would get my vote over Hill. I am proud of Hill for moving his comedy career into the dramatic circle and give him amazing credit for wanting to prove himself. It can be an arduous transition and you end up doing double the work just to gain people’s acceptance. Yet, Sydow was the best part of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (all without actually saying one word), making the film just above bearable.

Actress in a Leading Role

Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs

Viola Davis – The Help (*)

Rooney Mara – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady

Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn

Viola Davis has been cleaning up the awards for her turn in The Help, but Streep and Close have also received tons of acclaim. I still put my money on Davis to close out the season, but either of her legendary competitors could pull the upset.

Actress in a Supporting Role

Berenice Bejo – The Artist

Jessica Chastain – The Help (*)

Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids (*)

Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs

Octavia Spencer – The Help (*)

McCarthy did get a Golden Globe for her hilarious role in the raunchy girl comedy, but The Help is dominating across the acting landscape and this could fall that way as well. Look for Spencer over Chastain.

Animated Feature Film

A Cat in Paris

Chico & Rita

Kung Fu Panda 2

Puss in Boots (*)

Rango (*)

Don’t really know too much about the first two in the category, but I think the real fight is between the two I actually got to see. Rango is a step forward in animated filmmaking because it was actually shot and treated as if it was a live-action drama that just happened to star a talking lizard. Puss in Boots on the other hand, proved it was more than just a spin-off from the Shrek franchise and provided a heartwarming and quite funny experience that could just slip into the winner’s circle on the big night.

Art Direction

The Artist

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (*)

Hugo (*)

Midnight in Paris

War Horse

While Hugo got nominated for the most awards this year, this is where I think it will actually begin to take some of them home. The train station set was incredible down to the last detail and look to Hugo to bring home a handful of statues due to the beautiful visuals. As a possible other option, The Artist (the next highest nominated) could also begin to flex its voting muscle here.

Cinematography

The Artist

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Hugo (*)

The Tree of Life (*)

War Horse

Here is the only place The Tree of Life should be mentioned. As a film, I really didn’t find it effective in the least, but in terms of pure visuals and expertise in cinematography, it was impressive. I’m not sure it will be enough to win, especially with Hugo and The Artist taking the spotlight, but here and only here could the tree bloom.

Costume Design

Anonymous

The Artist

Hugo (*)

Jane Eyre

W.E.

People love to lean towards the Shakespearean and Victorian flicks in this category, but it actually could go pretty much anywhere. I would give Hugo and The Artist a nudge based on pure momentum, but this will be one of those categories that determines who really wins your Oscar pool this year.

Directing

Michael Hazanavicius – The Artist

Alexander Payne – The Descendants (*)

Martin Scorsese – Hugo (*)

Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris

Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life (*)

Anyone but Malick! Seriously though, he has no shot in this year with Payne doing quite well with The Descendants and Scorsese already taking home the Golden Globe for Hugo. This also could be the place where we see how The Artist actually matches up when not split off into the Musical/Comedy category. It’s nice to see Allen still creating acclaim for himself, but we will have to wait until another time to hear what would likely be an amazingly odd acceptance speech.

Documentary Feature

Hell and Back Again

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front

Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory

Pina

Undefeated

I’ve heard a lot of buzz around Pina for some amazing visuals, but no real clue here if it enough to overpower the entire category.

Documentary Short Subject

The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement

God is the Bigger Elvis

Incident in New Baghdad

Saving Face

The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

I want to give it to God is the Bigger Elvis just because it is a great title, but a doc about the tsunami could garner a lot of votes from the heart.

Film Editing

The Artist

The Descendants (*)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Hugo (*)

Moneyball (*)

I really need to see Tattoo because something in my gut tells me the editing was amazing here, but in terms of the three I have seen, Moneyball gets my support for being able to pace and balance a fairly dull topic and sculpt it into a tension-laced experience.

Foreign Language Film

Bullhead

Footnote

In Darkness

Monsieur Lazhar

A Separation

Lots of good buzz around A Separation, especially after its Golden Globe win for Best Foreign Film. Strong likelihood it will continue along the golden path to Oscar.

Makeup

Albert Nobbs

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (*)

The Iron Lady

What’s more impressive, turning Streep into Margaret Thatcher, removing Ralph Fiennes nose or convincing at least half the public that Glenn Close actually was a man? I’ll go for Albert Nobbs to take this home.

Music – Original Score

The Adventures of Tintin

The Artist

Hugo (*)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (*)

War Horse

Since The Artist is basically all music, you might think this is a shoe-in, but never count out well-known industry names like John Williams (Tintin & War Horse) and Howard Shore (Hugo).

Music – Original Song

“Man or Muppet” – The Muppets (*)

“Real in Rio” – Rio

Not really sure how this category shrunk to only two songs this year, which in itself is a shame, but the highlight is the nomination of “Man or Muppet”, a pure genius chuckle-worthy song from Flight of the Conchords alum, Bret McKenzie.

Short Film – Animated

Dimanche/Sunday (*)

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (*)

La Luna

A Morning Stroll

Wild Life (*)

I have been able to find some of these online for viewing and out of those I would definitely cast my vote for The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (awesome title, by the way). It’s an amazingly adorable tale of a man and his passion for books, something to which I am very much akin to. There is always stiff competition when Pixar is involved (they made La Luna), but I’m pulling for the flying books to swoop down and take the gold here.

Short Film – Live Action

Pentecost

Raju

The Shore

Time Freak

Tuba Atlantic

Not a clue here. Time Freak sounds neat. That’s all I got.

Sound Editing

Drive (*)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Hugo (*)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (*)

War Horse

I actually think this might lean towards Tattoo, but the sound was such a beautiful part of the mix in what made Drive so memorable. I also hold a small candle for the hope someone from that movie will accept the award wearing that amazing dragon jacket.

Sound Mixing

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Hugo (*)

Moneyball (*)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (*)

War Horse

Again, Tattoo, maybe because even the trailer had intense sound elements. Transformers could also pull this out, but then we have to walk award saying, “the Academy Award winning film, Transformers: Dark of the Moon” which just plain hurts my ears.

Visual Effects

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (*)

Hugo (*)

Real Steel (*)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (*)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (*)

This is the first category where I have actually seen everything listed, so yay for me! Glad to see Real Steel got in here, because that was an incredibly under-appreciated film. Yet, while that was a fun ride, I would have to say this is a battle between Apes and Potter. Transformers was visually impressive, as always for that franchise, but Potter could win based on the franchise vote here, while Apes might get votes from all those people who feel Andy Serkis should’ve gotten an acting nod. Either way, I’ll likely be happy with the winner.

Writing – Adapted Screenplay

Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash – The Descendants (*)

John Logan – Hugo (*)

George Clooney, Grant Heslov & Beau Willimon – The Ides of March (*)

Steven Zallian & Aaron Sorkin – Moneyball (*)

Bridget O’ Connor & Peter Straughan – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (*)

Another fully filled out category! Here I have much more of an opinion on the outcome. I’m a Sorkin acolyte, so I would love to see him win. Moneyball was tight, crisp and paced perfectly for a story about something so dull, so huge props to that team. The Descendants is my next choice because it was penned with such incredble subtlety and given an amazing ability to breathe. Hugo was great, but really felt like two movies instead of one, so I’m inclined not to see it walk away with this one. The other two were enjoyable, but sadly petered out at the end of the story.

Writing – Original Screenplay

Michael Hazanavicius – The Artist

Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig – Bridesmaids (*)

J.C. Chandor – Margin Call

Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris

Asghar Farhadi – A Separation

Rounding out the list, sadly I have only seen one of these. There is a ton of buzz around The Artist and it could be the big winner overall tonight, but this could be where we get the amazingly awkward acceptance speech from Allen. For the comedy industry as a whole it would be amazing to see Bridesmaids pull it out, but I am not sure the Academy voters are ready for that yet. Maybe next time.

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83rd Academy Awards – Choices, Choices, Choices

What do you mean I’m just like all the others? I’m unique! I’m a beautiful snowflake!

Here’s what it all comes down to. Here’s where all the hard work, press tours and hour after hour of standing around on set while the lighting guys get exactly the right shadows to fall across the wall in background. This is the stage that everyone in the industry wants to walk across holding a tiny statue that never fails to surprise the new owner by how heavy it really is. To those people out there who say “Pish Posh” or “The Oscars are all politics and mainstream hype, I don’t need one.”, well, you’re lying. This year there are some categories which feel somewhat locked, a true front-runner eclipsing the poor remaining nominees in the glorious shadow of critical acclaim, but there are many still up in the air and the ceremony still promises to cause many baited breaths, sweaty fists and screams of joy and pain (and that’s just for the people in my Oscar pool). So before the sun sets on that fateful night, I will offer a few choice thoughts on the nominations this year: (I will mark the ones I have not seen with “*”)

Best Picture:

• Black Swan
• The Fighter
• Inception
• The Kids Are All Right *
• The King’s Speech
• 127 Hours *
• The Social Network
• Toy Story 3
• True Grit
• Winter’s Bone *

Originally I was a big fan of opening the Best Picture field up to 10 films and I would say at this moment in time I am still a fan, but maybe not as strong as before. Let’s be honest, the major push for opening the field was The Dark Knight being overlooked, but what it really did was open people’s eyes to the fact that the Academy needs to follow in the shoes of the Hollywood Foreign Press and create Best Drama and Best Comedy/Musical, but that’s for a much longer conversation. As to this year’s crop of fine films, the two heavyweights battling in the center of the ring are The King’s Speech and The Social Network. While many will claim The King’s Speech is much more attuned to the Oscar voting crowd (which they would absolutely correct in thinking), The Social Network was a tremendous achievement in making something extraordinary out of what most people previously wrote off as “that movie coming out about Facebook”. Fincher and Sorkin created a devastating and scathing pair behind the screen and it is that sheer power and talent which could very well push The Social Network across the big stage that night. Personally, I loved both films and I don’t care which one wins, but if I was a betting man, I would give the slight edge to The Social Network.

Best Director:

• Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan
• David O’Russell for The Fighter
• Tom Hooper for The King’s Speech
• David Fincher for The Social Network
• Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for True Grit

I was honestly not the biggest fan of True Grit. I found it to be a really well done film, but not to the tune of twelve Academy nominations. No Country for Old Men was far superior and the Coen brothers have possibly in my eyes become a victim to their own talent in previous works. All of these movies did feature amazing performances and I always give that credit equally to the actor and the director, because the director is truly the one to pull those performances forward. I think this could honestly be the free-for-all battle of the night, even a dark horse shot for the Coen brothers. I wouldn’t be really mad either way it went (maybe if the Coen’s got it I would be slightly miffed). If I need to cast a vote one way or the other, I am going to go back to Fincher and The Social Network.

Best Actor in a Leading Role:

• Javier Bardem in Biutiful *
• Jeff Bridges in True Grit
• Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network
• Colin Firth in The King’s Speech
• James Franco in 127 Hours *

This is where The Social Network will lose its steam. In the acting realm, although still quite good, The Social Network gets beaten in each round. Colin Firth is the clear leader in this category and for very good reason. The man is the consummate technician and makes everything look simple, clean and honest (and as Jon Stewart points out, “can really wear a sweater.”) Much praise has been handed out to Franco and Bridges, while extremely strong and glowing remarks from people like Julia Roberts have surrounded the performance of Bardem, but the statue will likely be going home with the King of Britain that night.

Best Actress in a Leading Role:

• Annette Bening in The Kids Are All Right *
• Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole *
• Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone *
• Natalie Portman in Black Swan
• Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine *

While I have heard many wonderful things about all of these performances and not actually witnessed any of the others myself, Portman will undoubtedly climb the stage with grace, humility and probably a good deal of care, since she is incredibly pregnant. The swan princess will bathe in the light of what her character strove for in the film, perfection.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:

• Christian Bale in The Fighter
• John Hawkes in Winter’s Bone *
• Jeremy Renner in The Town *
• Mark Ruffalo in The Kids Are All Right *
• Geoffrey Rush in The King’s Speech

Once again going above and beyond pure emotional transformation, Bale put his body in harm’s way and mutated into the stringy, wiry crack addicted former boxing hopeful, Dicky Eklund. Rush was also quite excellent as the comic foil to Firth’s stammering rage, but I imagine we will not be seeing him share the stage with his regal co-star. Bale will deliver the knockout blow (hopefully, not for real).

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:

• Amy Adams in The Fighter
• Helena Bonham Carter in The King’s Speech
• Melissa Leo in The Fighter
• Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit
• Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom

How could I avoid calling this anything but apt when you have two amazing performances by two amazing women battling it out inside a film called The Fighter. Hell, it practically writes itself. Steinfeld gave a good shot, but she’s young and has a great career ahead of her and I have no doubt we will see her name on this list again. Yet, back in the ring, Leo has been taking the kudos so far and while Adams was surprisingly raw, I believe Leo will continue her reign as champion of this category.

Best Animated Feature:

• How to Train Your Dragon
• The Illusionist *
• Toy Story 3

Right now my main issue here is that Toy Story 3 is listed in both Best Animated Feature and the Best Picture category and I thought you had to choose which one you wanted to be eligible for. Even though they have no shot at Best Picture this year, I find it a little unfair if the film were to take the top spot and then still claim Best Animated Feature as well. Seems like a touch of overkill. Yet, beyond that pettiness on my part, I enjoyed Toy Story 3 a lot, but it didn’t actually move me to the extent of many of my cinema-addicted brethren. I would like to see it go to How to Train Your Dragon, which actually just swept through the animation awards as well. Still holding great love for Pixar, but I have to give it to the other guys this year.

Best Art Direction:

• Alice in Wonderland
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1
• Inception
• The King’s Speech
• True Grit

Once again, I kinda fell off the majority bandwagon this year in the praise for Potter Part 1. I am eagerly anticipating part two, partially because I know the big fight that is coming for our well-loved and well-worn characters, but also because I am hoping it will be better than the first half. As for this year, I’m a little torn between Inception and Alice in Wonderland, but I will have to toss my vote in with the more colorful and boisterous Tim Burton, the director of Alice (words that are rarely used to describe him).

Best Cinematography:

• Black Swan
• Inception
• The King’s Speech
• The Social Network
• True Grit

This comes down to the battle of characters with fractured minds and how well that was imagined and displayed out to us. Black Swan and Inception are my two favorites in this category. Beyond the similarities in the main characters, what we also have is a battle of the go-to cinematographers. Darren Aronofsky, director of Black Swan, went to his trusty friend Matthew Libatique, who also created the amazing visuals for Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain, while the director of Inception, Christopher Nolan, pulled in his top gun, Wally Pfister, who brought us the amazing sights of Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and even Nolan’s big breakout Memento. Tough choice here…slight edge…Inception.

Best Costume Design:

• Alice in Wonderland
• I Am Love *
• The King’s Speech
• The Tempest *
• True Grit

The most outwardly obvious choice is Alice in Wonderland, due to the flamboyant and fantastical nature of the setting, but you can never see the silent killer coming from the subtle dressings of WWII England (The King’s Speech) or the roughness of the wild west (True Grit). I’ll stick with Alice, but I’m quite prepared to be wrong here.

Best Documentary Feature:

• Exit Through the Gift Shop
• Gasland *
• Inside Job *
• Restrepo *
• Waste Land *

Having only seen one of these at the moment, it’s obviously hard for me to really vote. On top of that, the one that I did see, Exit Through the Gift Shop, is widely debated as to whether it is even really a documentary or a piece of street art in itself, created by the mysterious Banksy. If that rumor is true, i don’t think it should be allowed to be in this category, but by answering the question it also loses all the power behind the film. Catch-22, there you have it. Words on the wind though put this between Exit Through the Gift Shop and Gasland.

Best Documentary Short Subject:

• Killing in the Name *
• Poster Girl *
• Strangers No More *
• Sun Come Up *
• The Warriors of Qiugang *

I am going to try to find a way to see any of these because every year I feel bad for not even making the effort after the filmmakers have obviously done such a good job in creating these pieces. Plus, one of them mentions “warriors” and I am hoping for some real life Kung-Fu stuff.

Best Film Editing:

• Black Swan
• The Fighter
• The King’s Speech
• 127 Hours *
• The Social Network

I am going to run with Black Swan here because I felt that the editing here was incredibly important to giving the story its power and persuasion. Badly cut together we would never have followed the fragile ballerina into her fractured world. The editing mirrored her mindset and created the perfect environment for the character to morph and change along the way.

Best Foreign Film:

• Biutiful (from Mexico) *
• Dogtooth (from Greece) *
• In a Better World (from Denmark) *
• Incendies (from Canada) *
• Outside the Law (aka: Hors-la-loi from Algeria) *

Yep, not a good sense of anything here either except for Javier Bardem’s supposed masterpiece of a performance in Biutiful. Dogtooth has also gotten a lot of buzz around the indie houses, but it really hasn’t given me a sense of overpowering Bardem, who might end up the one man show this year.

Best Original Score:

• How to Train Your Dragon
• Inception
• The King’s Speech
• 127 Hours *
• The Social Network

OK, I give credit to Hanz Zimmer and his illustrious career in musical scores, but that damn tone from the Inception score just was played over and over and eventually played out. I found the Inception score to be overtly heavy and overbearing, at times, not all the way through.  While three of the others are all well known names in the field, I think this year will go to the new kid on the scoring block, Trent Reznor and Atticus Rose for their work on The Social Network. It was subtle and discreet, but intensely valuable to the overall mood of the film.

Best Makeup:

• Barney’s Vision
• The Way Back
• The Wolfman

Here’s where you start to find those movies that no one saw or very few liked, but had something special going on that the audiences might have missed while thinking, “This is a terrible film.” So, in that mindset, congrats to The Wolfman for scoring the nomination. Yet, since I have only seen one of these at the moment, I can only say that the wear and tear created on the weary travelers of The Way Back was truly exceptional and would make a deserving trophy winner that night.

Best Original Song:

• “Coming Home” from Country Strong *
• “I See the Light” from Tangled *
• “If I Rise” from 127 Hours *
• “We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3

Glad we have the yearly toss to Randy Newman (he would be the Toy Story 3 nomination). The man could write a song about an ant basking in a misty ray of sunlight next to a puddle on the sidewalk and it would still delight the voters throughout the Academy (and honestly, I might hum along to it as well).  A.R. Rahman was the big music maker of last year with the music from Slumdog Millionaire, which might give him some buzz this time around, but I think everyone, whether they admit it or not, is deep down a country fan and that’s why my money falls under the dulcet tones of “Coming Home”.

Best Animated Short Film:

• Day & Night
• The Gruffalo *
• Let’s Pollute *
• The Lost Thing *
• Madagascar, a Journey Diary (Madagascar, carnet de voyage) *

Admittedly I have only seen one of these, but the one I saw was made by Pixar (Day & Night), so really, that’s all you need. Plus, as usual, it was incredibly well thought out, executed and overall brought pure enjoyment to everyone in the theater.

Best Live Action Short Film:

• The Confession *
• The Crush *
• God of Love *
• Na Wewe *
• Wish 143 *

If The Crush from the list above was actually just the trailer from the Alicia Silverstone movie from the early 90′s, I would pick that by a mile, but since I highly doubt that is the case, this is a complete crap shoot for me. I’m going to put my mark on Na Wewe, just because the title gives me absolutely nothing to go on. Mystery makes it intriguing.

Best Sound Editing:

• Inception
• Toy Story 3
• Tron: Legacy
• True Grit
• Unstoppable *

Yes, that’s right, it can now officially be called “Academy Award Nominated – Tron: Legacy“. Nerds around the world, please continue rejoicing at your leisure (or between episodes of The IT Crowd). I actually believe Tron might have a shot here, right next to Inception. Those two really did have a beautifully intricate and expansive soundscape, which without those the movies would certainly fall many, many notches down the totem pole. I’m leaning towards Inception, but the geek in me hopes Tron pulls through.

Best Sound Mixing:

• Inception
• The King’s Speech
• Salt
• The Social Network
• True Grit

Following nicely on the heels of my last commentary, I slightly shudder at the idea of “Academy Award Nominated – Salt“. Never saw that coming in a million years. Inception will likely take this jewel home.

Best Visual Effects:

• Alice in Wonderland
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1
• Hereafter *
• Inception
• Iron Man 2

There was noting more exciting about the effects in Iron Man 2 over the original Iron Man, so I feel it kind of cancels itself out. Hereafter is too awkwardly mild in scope to break through the intensity of the rest of the crowd. As for Potter, well, I kind of find a movie mostly about kids in a tent a little light on visual effects. Once again Inception finds itself battling for supremacy against a strong opponent, once again the incredibly imaginative Burton and crew. In Alice the effects were actually the thing that impressed me most coming out of the film, the world, the characters mis-sized heads, everything down to the acid-trip induced minutiae. I think Alice deserves it, but Inception will likely take it.

Best Adapted Screenplay:

• 127 Hours *
• The Social Network
• Toy Story 3
• True Grit
• Winter’s Bone *

Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin. Aaron Sorkin.

Nuff said. (he wrote The Social Network)

Best Original Screenplay:

• Another Year *
• The Fighter
• Inception
• The Kids Are All Right *
• The King’s Speech

My feelings are torn between The King’s Speech, which was terribly beautiful, subtle and moving, and The Fighter, which surprised and enthralled me with its raw energy and depth. If either one wins, I am happy. Otherwise, sad, sad me.

There you have it. As you can see, my beliefs on who should win are heavily dependent on whether or not I got a chance to even see the film, which is really how it should be. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on who you hope for or just who you think will win.

The Last Exorcism: Twisted in a Bad Way

I don’t understand why using the dryer to dry the cat was so wrong. It’s called a DRYER!

Rating: 5 out of 10

Anytime you change the game, those who follow you will be forever compared to your moment of brilliance. How brilliant that moment was is completely objective, but it really doesn’t matter if it was the best or worst decision you ever made, just that you made it before anyone else did. The same goes for movies and when a film comes along and surprises a global audience with a new take on a classic genre. It is not only bound to make a mark, but it is bound to make some copies as well. If one person strikes gold, dig where they dig, or so it goes. Many people are comparing The Last Exorcism with The Blair Witch Project and the connection between the two is quick and easy to notice. While Blair Witch was not the first film to use the method of hand-held filmmaking and inclusion of the cameraman into the cast, it was the first to do it in quite a long time to such an incredible effect. Did The Last Exorcism recreate some of that power and fright? Let’s see…

The Last Exorcism plays out as a documentary starring Cotton Marcus, once a poster boy for the Evangelical market and a wunderkind who performed his first exorcism before 10 years old. Now Cotton fights against the whole idea of exorcism and has devoted his life to debunking the practice. A small film crew decides to go with him on a trip into the backwoods of nowhere in order to watch him prove how easily the idea of possession can be explained away. Yet Nell, the afflicted little girl, proves to be more than Cotton has ever encountered before.

***SPOILER ALERT – IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE END OF THE FILM, STOP READING NOW***

OK, had to get that out of the way because the only way to tell you why this film only gets a 5 out of 10 is to talk about the ending, but let us build our way there. Choosing to shoot this film as a fake documentary gives certain benefits right away. The doc style has a subconscious effect on the viewer, making them believe what they are seeing is real. We are so attuned to flashy editing and that filmic look that when we see home styled video camera images, which are more common to documentaries, they bring us directly into the doc mindset. We instantly feel we are there to learn or be shown something incredibly unique, so this works perfectly in favor of the director because his audience is just a little more down that rabbit hole. With that being said, there is one big caveat to this method and that is you instantly have to make the camera operator a member of the cast and you must justify why the audience gets to see anything and everything on screen.

This is where we run into a problem.

In Blair Witch this was handled with amazing creativity because there was more than one camera, so the POV could change whenever they feel they needed to, but in The Last Exorcism there was only one camera, therefore only one point of view for the entire film. That’s not always a bad thing since it can increase the audience feeling that they are indeed one of the characters (personally I felt this worked quite well in Cloverfield also), but one thing the others did was think all the way through to the very end before hitting ‘Record’ for the first time. The Last Exorcism feels like they painted themselves into a corner and their big twist ending, which truly wasn’t even needed, was further ruined by the continued justification of where the camera was.

***LAST WARNING – HERE COMES THE BIG TWIST***

The big demon birthing ritual was wholly unnecessary and actually devalued what up to that point was an interesting and creepy pic, but if they felt the need to go down that route, I want to see the big fight at the finish. Here we spent a whole movie watching the hero try and debunk the existence of real demons, but now that he is standing right in front of one, choosing to fight, trying to earn the evangelical praise that was heaped on him his whole life, at that critical cinematic climax, all we get is a bouncy running camera shot because there was no way to logically keep the camera there, since the guy holding it was surrounded by crazy cultists. As much as I am a stickler for following the rules of logic set up in the world of the film, this is one case where that rule bites you in the ass. The running, panting and eventual collapse of our viewpoint in that world (also done before and done better by Blair Witch) left the audience reeling in disbelief that all the time they had put in came to nothing but a split second CGI-creation of a fire demon. On top of that, there also seemed to be no need to add Nell’s brother, Caleb, into the cult. It just came off as another random twist in an already convoluted ending.

The real shame of the poor delivery at the end of the film is it washed away some really great moments earlier on. Ashley Bell did a commendable job portraying the home-schooled Nell, balancing her wondrous innocence with the truly eerie possessed nature she developed throughout the film. The shot of her last second terrible smile as the door closed in front of her gained the highest creep factor out of the entire experience. Patrick Fabian also showed some real range as Cotton, the preacher caught in between his fictional religious beliefs and the seemingly real demon possession standing in front of him. I actually wanted to see more of his struggle between what he believed and the stories he relegated to nothing but hocus-pocus from his dad’s old books. There was a really nice world created here, but in the end it faded into a ridiculous genre pic that leaves viewers wondering if they paid too much.

The End of the Page Recommendation: The Last Exorcism had potential, but they failed to scare up anything in the end.

Inception: Dream A Little Dream In Me

I’m going to win this Dreidel game if it’s the last thing I ever do.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Everyone fears the sophomore curse, when you break out of the gate in any type of popular media with something so unique, so gripping and so monumentally accepted by the ravenous public that you set the bar high into the stratosphere, making it impossible for your second creative effort to even bask in the reflection of that initial glory. It frightens each and every person stepping out of the shadows and into the spotlight, but there is a misconception lingering making people feel safe after they are past their second credit. The cold, hard fact is each and every time you release something out to the public it is another audition to the world. If your newest effort becomes known as the best of your career, congratulations my friend, welcome back to the curse. It’s been right here waiting for you. Christopher Nolan felt the sting of the curse after his breakout indie darling, Memento, which he followed with a poorly timed remake of the chilly psychological thriller, Insomnia. Yet Nolan fought onward and grabbed hold of the frayed cape of the Batman franchise and resurfaced with a much more dark and gritty take on the legendary crusader in Batman Begins. This inevitably led to his crowning achievement in the comic book sequel, The Dark Knight, where the world witnessed the true beauty of a director and actor, in Heath Ledger, creating something that will be remembered and talked about for generations. As the accolades for The Dark Knight poured in, Nolan found himself right back in the lap of the curse, plotting his escape, scanning the horizons for a safe way out. Turns out, he found his escape not by looking outside, but by turning in.

Inception is the name given to a procedure where a person with incredibly specific skills and equipment can enter someone else’s dreams and gently plant the seed of an idea, which would then flourish and grow in that person naturally, culminating in the subject doing exactly what you wanted them to. Most believe it can’t be done, but one man, Cobb, says it is not just possible, but he’s done it before. Hired for one last job, Cobb builds a team of people to help him complete his mission and try to win his ticket home to his children.

The out and out winner here is the writing. While the directing and acting, which will be mentioned later, are both up to par, the writing of such an intricate, delicate and verbose script is an achievement worth high recognition. People are already talking Oscar race for this film, and while I might be on the fence right now in the Best Picture category (we still have quite a few months to go people), in the arena of Best Original Screenplay, this should be a shoe-in. Nolan is truly at his best when dealing with fragmented and fractured realities, achieving a tender balance between intrigue and confusion that makes the audience think, but not feel stupid if they all come up with different answers at the end. As for the ending, I’ll leave that for later, loudly hidden behind the spoiler warnings.

Moving onto the acting, Leonardo DiCaprio, who played our anti-hero Cobb, once again brims with sheer determination and builds layer upon layer into the role. The only fraction of a flaw in his performance in my eyes is it bordered on being too controlled. At times there felt perfect opportunities to let him fly off the handle or just peel back one more layer, showing his humanity, but the importance of the job and the need for sharp and complete focus kept him tightly wrapped up. Tom Hardy, playing Eames, the wise-cracking master thief of the group, steals many of the scenes not only due to his skill as an actor, but because he provides the only comic relief in the film. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as Aurthur, brings back a little bit of his steam-train determination and tunnel-vision drive that he perfected in Brick. Overall all the performances were on point, but in the minority there were two people that I felt were under used and under developed, Michael Caine and Ellen Page. Caine is a tremendous actor that felt totally wasted in a partially unexplained cameo part (he’s mentioned as the grandfather to Cobb’s children, but it is never illustrated whether he is Cobb’s father or his stepfather.) As for Page, while they try with one line of dialogue to cover over her rapid acceptance of the world of dreams and being able to control them, she still ends up feeling rushed into the story more as a person to move the plot than a full fledged character.

***SPOLIER ALERT – SPOILER ALERT – DO NOT READ AHEAD IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE FILM***

Now let’s talk about that ending. While I really do enjoy a nice ‘leave ‘em hanging’ closer, I think people are reading way too much into it. Yes, the top was still spinning, and yes the idea was to make you wonder if Cobb is still in a dream at the end of the film, but the theory that the entire movie was all a dream inside Cobb’s mind, showing his own journey to release himself of the guilt of pushing his wife to suicide, well, that just doesn’t sit right with me. The ‘whole dream’ theory robs the movie of all its importance and power and steals all the thunder from the other characters. I prefer to believe the top would have fallen in time; it was just really well balanced.

The End of the Page Recommendation: Nolan is on a hot streak that could see him crowned as one of the greatest directors in our generation, but let’s not pressure him too much, right? Inception is clever, intriguing and everything you want in a psychological drama, even if it draws a little long at the end. Worth seeing, if only for the ensuing discussion you will have immediately after.

What did you think of the ending? Does this top ‘Dark Knight’ for you?

Coraline: Amazing Fantasy Story (for the older kids out there)

“I swear I saw a little Chinese kid looking right back at me from the other end.”

Rating: 9 out of 10

There are a wide variety of animation styles out there in the cinematic landscape ranging from the subdued tones of Les Triplettes de Belleville to the mind warping surrealism of Heavy Metal, and that doesn’t even begin to jump into the realm of anime (Japanese animation). Each style brings its own level of emotional connection and differing amount of level of disbelief the audience allows, but the one style that consistently reaches across that fictional landscape and grasps the hearts and minds of audiences the world over is stop-motion animation. Something about the effect of having physical 3-dimensional objects, not purely pictures someone created, either on screen or on paper, allows the audience to feel the reality of the character no matter how fantastical they look. If they think they can actually touch it, then they can connect to it. There have been some masters of this style over the years (Nick Park for one), but the one who holds the reins of this current generation is none other than the visionary director of the holiday masterpiece, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Henry Selick. He recently graced us with his new creation, Coraline.

Coraline is a young girl, uprooted from her familiar surroundings by busy, career-minded parents on the move. Landing squarely in the middle of nowhere, Coraline begins to investigate her lonely and droll surroundings. She meets the boy from over the hill and a handful of odd characters that inhabit the rest of the apartment building, but what finally turns the crank of interest in her mind is a small door she finds covered up in her living room. Beyond the door lay a parallel world; the same, yet different; familiar, yet full of discovery; and charming, yet deceitful. Like when curiosity kills the cat, Coraline quickly finds herself part of a dastardly trap to keep her in the “other place” forever.

Right off the bat, before talking about the content of the film itself, a definite stand out point in this case is the movie was made from the beginning with 3-D animation in mind. It was never a 2-D animation that got the new technology run over it, this was planned from the get go with 3-D visuals in effect and that early knowledge gives Coraline a much better grasp on what that technology can do to affect the story and mood. The usage of 3-D here is much better than in my most recent foray into dimension-shattering cinema. The makers of Coraline created a flow and balance of how the technology plays out, using very subtle examples of it in the beginning, more to help create depth than anything else, but as the story unfolds and the rabbit hole runs deeper, the animation and technology bleed into each other for a much more exciting and chilling effect. Towards the end they even toss in a few of the crowd favorites with nasty looking pointy bits jaunting out of the screen, threatening to brush your cheek.

As for Coraline herself, the character is one I think many people can actually relate to, whether as an adult or a child. Her main dilemma is she was yanked out of her comfortable life and dropped into unfamiliar surroundings. Finding herself lonely and unattended to she wanders restlessly hoping to find a purpose for being there. She’s young, precocious and battle-ready at the drop of a hat, but really she just wants someone to show they care about her. Once resigned to her new living situation, she soon finds herself pestered and pursued by a nearby neighbor, a young boy named Wybie. Wybie actually provides one of the most charming and laughably honest moments in the film as he acts out this delicate dance between excited young boy and angst-ridden soul child. Some incredibly amusing barbs are fired from Coraline towards Wybie, both in the real world and the alternate version.

There is a colorful menagerie of side characters that fill out the story and various quests Coraline must go on to reach her goal. Two of these are a pair of ex-vaudeville acrobatic entertainers who live downstairs. Still clinging to the memories of their heyday, these sisters launch into a flashback dousing the film with a light blue humor. Some of their section might not be totally appropriate for young kids and I was honestly surprised the movie wasn’t touting a PG-13 rating. Also falling under that topic would be the villainess, the Other-Mother, who takes on a most frightening and gruesome shape towards the end. Even at my ever-so-advanced age, I still sat back a bit and thought, “Please don’t let me dream of her tonight.”

Voicing the characters are some big names, like Dakota Fanning (Coraline), Teri Hatcher (Mother/Other-Mother), John Hodgman (Father/Other-Father), Ian McShane (Mr. Bobinsky) and Keith David (the cat). All these people showed a great amount of dedication to the project because it took five full years to complete. Of course, not all the actors were voicing the characters from beginning to end, but Fanning did begin working on it at nine years old and didn’t speak her last line until she was fourteen. Surprisingly enough, you wouldn’t even know it was her in the film. All the other voices are fairly recognizable, but Fanning once again shows impressive acting chops and crafts her own voice around the character of Coraline.

Recommendation: Coraline satisfies on a number of levels; as a fairy tale, a moral lesson and lastly, as an entertaining adventure. Once again, not something I would bring the youngest of the clan to see, but I think parents will find it more interesting and enjoyable than they first imagined. Oh, the movie is also an adaptation of a popular childrens book, which you can check out here.

The International: Tension-Laced, but Underwhelming

I swear, just one more stop. Old Navy is having a fantastic sale.

Rating: 6 out of 10

There’s always something chuckle-worthy about particular movies and their release dates. Most people tend to forget the immense amount of time beforehand that goes into the creation of these films, so when something hits the theaters and happens to be particularly poignant to the current cultural climate, everyone thinks it’s just another hack writer or short-sighted studio executive greenlighting “hip” projects. Yet, most of these movies take years and years to make it to the big screen, so if they land at what many might see as “the right moment”, you can thank karma, your local psychic or just dumb luck. Now why would I start my review of this movie with such a particular topic? Good question, let me paint the picture for you.

The International is a suspense thriller about a dogged Interpol agent on the trail of one of the biggest banks in the world, the IBBC. At the heart of the investigation is allegations that the bank is using their deep pockets to fund third world wars in efforts to expand its global control and everyone who has tried to turn against them or gotten to close to the truth has disappeared or died. When the partner of our heroic Interpol agent is killed, he goes for broke and starts finding ways around the halls of justice. It becomes a tense game of cat and mouse as the agent tries to find ways in, while the bank tries to find ways to have him killed.

There you have it, a movie about someone trying to take down a huge international bank that is rank with corruption and the misusing the funds of its clientele. Sound familiar? It’s only mostly similar to the headlines in the financial section of every big newspaper over the last year. No, there might not be murders mentioned or third world guerrilla wars, but the idea that banks have become the villains in much of what is wrong with the financial markets today is incredibly easy for movie audiences to connect with. Toss in a gun-toting international agent who wants to show these banks they can’t just do whatever they want and you have something just ripe for the viewing market right now.

At the center of this whirlwind of money and deceit is Clive Owen, playing our agent with the tunnel vision of justice, Louis Salinger. Owen has been on a meteoric rise since his big break in a series of BMW mini-movies. He had been working for quite some time before that, but his audience grew exponentially from that advertising coup and now he is one of the top British imports to American films and solidly stands atop the list of male “bad ass” actors. He’s got the stare, he’s got the accent and he’s truly got the moral ambiguity to do play characters who do what needs to be done (aka his performances as Smith in Shoot ‘Em Up and Dwight in Sin City). He does a great job of playing people who play in the dirt and manage to stay clean. He doesn’t get as much leeway in The International, where Salinger is on a one track mission to bring down the IBBC, and there are only brief mentions of his past, but Owen still manages to create a compelling persona on screen. Opposite him on screen, also on the side of justice, is Naomi Watts, playing the American consulate agent Eleanor Whitman. Watts is usually a spectacular and powerful performer, but she fell a little short this time. The movie centered much more around Owen and gave Watts very little to work with and in the end it left her character feeling one-dimensional and emotionally forced. The biggest thrill as far as the acting goes is seeing the return of Armin Mueller-Stahl. Ever since his intensely acclaimed turn as the rigid father in Shine, he bounced around television and smaller films for many years, but in the last few he has landed bigger roles once again worthy of the weight and gravitas he brings. Here he plays an aging Communist relic trapped inside a capitalist world still trying to turn the tide in his own small way. He becomes the one character in the film who actually reaches a moral crisis and he plays the scene beautifully. After this we are lucky enough to be seeing him in the upcoming Angels & Demons, which if my dreams come true will be paced nothing like it’s predecessor, The DaVinci Code.

The International is a suspense thriller, not an action film, but nevertheless provides one of the most entertaining action sequences so far this year. With the construction of a picture perfect replica of the inside of the Guggenheim museum in New York, the filmmaker stages a highly charged, briskly paced gunfight which bears a sort of “reverse homage” to the legendary villain’s lair sequence in Bruce Lee’s Game of Death. In Lee’s version he has to fight his way up, floor by floor, through this mansion defeating a new boss on each floor. In The International, Owen has to shoot his way down a massive spiral walkway, dodging and dealing death around every spin, in order to walk out alive. They even built a completely fake exhibit to house in the museum just to have it destroyed, which provided that little extra kick of excitement.

Recommendation: A solid film, yet not mind blowing in any real sense. As most suspense thrillers go, it is better enjoyed with big sound and big picture, but theater viewing is not wholly necessary. Clive Owen continues to do what he does best and it will leave you buzzing with anticipation for what he has in store in Sin City 2 (which unfortunately is not due until 2010. Until then you’ll have to make due with Duplicity, due out later this year)

Push: Borrowed Style Replaces Substance

“Wait a sec,  she’s only thirteen?!”

“Wait one more sec, he was in Fantastic Four? I can’t be seen with him.”

Rating: 4 out of 10

Just over three years ago hordes of people sat in their living rooms and bore witness to the birth of a phenomenon (however short it may have lasted). Heroes debuted and quickly gained a worldwide following as people everywhere attached themselves to the notion of ordinary people suddenly becoming extraordinary. While being glued to the comic-book styled serial every week, we all silently asked ourselves what power we would want, what would we do with those powers and would we turn into a ‘hero’ or a ‘villain’. No matter what the end result of those internal polls was, we were hooked to the live-action X-Men update and the rest of Hollywood was quick to make a note of that. Cut to three years later, Heroes is fighting to regain its mass appeal and while the shine has worn off of our shiny new TV toy, Hollywood unleashed their response to the comic book craze, Push.

Push takes place in a world where descendants of human experiments conducted under the Nazi regime have evolved into modern-day test subjects for the U.S. Government. Powers are unveiled, but not controlled, so a group known as Division is created to hunt down and collect ‘special’ people. In all the various types of powerful people, one group  is called the Watchers, who see the future, and a young, inexperienced Watcher has a vision which she must change, because if she doesn’t, she and others will die. A ragtag group of mutant outcasts on the run is brought together to fight Division and take possession of the one object they need to bring the whole conspiracy down to its knees and finally find their freedom.

On paper you have everything you need for a youthful, superhero-laden smackdown between the forces of good and evil, but what Push delivers is a badly paced, clunky, big-brother-esque mess only working its way up to four points on my ratings scale due to a fantastic fight scene at the end. In truth, those points might be cancelled out since while gaining points for the badass action sequence, it lost equal points for proving it could make great action scene and just chose not to. I fully support the right to try and create something new in an over-worked genre, but there are particular criteria which remain steadfast and necessary, like a training montage (such a popular tool, the South Park fellas made a song about it). We were supposed to buy the transformation of a main character from barely being able to mentally tip over a pair of dice to yanking down entire building structures without any increased practice with his powers. Beyond the holes in the structure, the visuals also leave something to be desired since numerous times throughout the film it cuts to grainy, 16mm-looking stock in an effort to make it look cool and edgy, but while dazzling you with the flashy technique they hope you won’t notice the scene is either totally unnecessary or unmotivated. I celebrate stylistic choices, but using them purely to make up for a bad script is sacrilege. Another sacrilegious thing is using a cinematic style that is a poor representation of Danny Boyle. Slumdog Millionaire is not a fluke, he’s just that good.

Flexing their dramatic abilities in this colorful mess is a group of young actors with a couple seasoned vets tossed in for critical weight. First in the brat pack is Chris Evans, who is no stranger to the land of comic book inspired cinema. He lit it up as The Human Torch in the pair of Fantastic Four movies and I will give him a certain amount of credit for being one of the only things done right in those tragedies. Evans gets a touch lost in the current landscape of young male leads, but he has done a decent job in the roles he sneaks in. He actually gave a surprisingly good show in the dark sci-fi thriller, Sunshine (directed by none other than Danny Boyle, coincidence?). Evans plays Nick, our reticent hero with the ability to move things with his mind, but unfortunately for the audience he is unable to move them for most of the running time of the movie. Next in line, stepping out of her creepy adult-like doll phase, is Dakota Fanning, who plays Cassie, the inexperienced and willfull Watcher who sees bad things ahead for her band of misfits (does she possibly see the sequel?). Fanning is doing her best to remind people she is a teenage girl and growing like a chemically-laden flower. There are a few moments where I think they took her need to look more adult a touch too far, considering she was thirteen when she shot it in Tokyo, but then again, Fanning played a rape victim at twelve, so nothing is really going to push her too far at this point. She still proves her level of talent and in a few scenes manages to vault herself above her castmates, but in the end the project felt more like a choice to open her up to a broader audience instead of being base don the merit of the story. Camilla Belle rounds out the youthful runts of Push, playing Kira, the mind-controlling supersoldier escaped from government hands. Of course, she also has a few hidden plot twists up her sleeve, but those never seem to play out right or feel supported in any fashion. They mostly appear in moments where the writer was thinking, “I bet they think it is going to go this way. It should go that way. Logically hat way makes sense. So I’ll do something totally different and they’ll love it because it’s unexpected.” Such a simple and flawed argument. Bringing in a touch of critical weight, beyond Fanning, is Djimon Hounsou, who first burst onto the scene as the earnest and determined slave looking for human rights in Amistad, which won him a Golden Globe nomination as well. Hounsou plays Carter, a powerful mind-controller on the government’s side who is on the hunt for Kira and has no qualms about who or what gets in his way, even his own people. While there is no doubt Hounsou has the ability to be amazingly intimidating, his stone-like stares and deep intensity have no context in the movie and never really get the chance to grow. His smoothness is indisputable, but the audience never truly gets to see how he backs up all that confidence. Not to be left out, Ming Na and Cliff Curtis have side roles as a “sniffer” who can figure out google-levels of information from the scent of anything and a “shifter”, which is basically a fancy term for an illusionist, respectively. Both do a decent job, but I know their work is much more layered when given better environments to perform in.

My last issue with Push is it repeats one of the worst things about Jumper, which easily qualifies as one of the worst sci-fi flicks of last year. Both films fail to adequately resolve the main story and arrogantly tease a sequel they fully expect us to beg for. Although Push gets to walk a couple spaces ahead of Jumper in the line of quality, neither is deserving of a second go-around.

Recommendation: My review isn’t all doom and gloom. There is a kick-ass fight scene at the end, which hopefully will be properly emulated if the filmmakers use some sort of mutant power of their own and manage to create a sequel. Wait until this hits cable TV, unless you have never learned to properly cook a decent hot dog, then go to the Arclight for a matinee.
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Taken: Neeson Brings the Pain

This girl, she was on ‘Lost’. You’re going to tell me what the hell her character was really doing there. TELL ME!!!

Rating: 9 out of 10

Sometimes it’s good to take a breather after watching a film, really take some time to process what you thought about it. Strolling out of the darkness on Friday night, I was on an adrenaline high from the film I just witnessed. I was already writing the headline in my mind, “First Perfect Score!”, “10 out of 10!”, or “I Got Taken!”, but now that I’ve had a couple days to catch my breath and really mull over the difference between the movie itself and the movie experience, I regretfully say you are going to have to wait a little while longer to hear me rant and rave about my first perfect film. But take heart, Neeson and crew came achingly close and I’m thrilled to give it the credit it deserves.

Taken is a terrifyingly simple story: Overprotective Dad find out his young and virginal daughter has been kidnapped. Of course, most fathers are going to do everything they can to get their daughter back, but in this case, “everything he can” encompasses a lot more than the usual retiree father. Calling on skills from his previous job as a “preventer” for the government, the father races off to Paris to follow his daughter’s trail and pick apart anyone and everyone who either stands in his way or had anything to do with the crime. It’s a prime example of a man on a mission and nothing in the world is going to stop him.

Simple story, right? So what could possibly make it so good or so much better than all the other ‘action/spy/thriller’ films we’ve seen in recent years? First off, Liam Neeson, who plays the incredibly dangerous dad, Bryan Mills, already brings a level of talent and pathos to the character we would have lost with a less skilled actor. Neeson is no stranger to playing undeterred heroes, in such films as Michael Collins, Rob Roy and even Schindler’s List. These were all men who were willing to step way over the line in the fight for what they believed in. Now you mix that determination with the moral ambivalence of another of Neeson’s previous creations, Darkman, and you get our paternal savior from Taken. Neeson is an unstoppable juggernaut, once set in motion he is unswerving in his determination to achieve his goal. The hero’s code has no place in the world of this character and brings a fresh feel to what normally would have been a very standard role. Picture Jason Bourne without a conscience and you’ll be right on the money. The care and ethical treatment of others is void from his actions, even those who would be considered his friends. Another reason why I liked this character so much is it reminded me of an adult version of Brick, another film with a lead character who steamrolls over everyone in his path. (If I had been reviewing film back then, Brick would have undoubtedly received a perfect score. If you haven’t seen it yet, make it a priority.) Outside of Neeson’s stoic violence, the only other actor worth mentioning is Maggie Grace, who plays Kim, the kidnapped daughter. She amazingly looks the part, even though her real age is far above the seventeen she plays in the film, but there were a few moments where she regressed a little too far, playing closer to fifteen or even thirteen. I can’t be sure whether it was a bad choice on the director, actor or if they were trying for a subliminal critique of how sheltered the character was from the real world, but either way, it just came off odd.

Continuing it’s reasons for success, Taken is also written extremely well, with a solid sense of pace and a keen eye towards the importance of development when needed. Most spy movies jump right into the espionage and a gunfight will erupt within minutes of the opening credits, but the inciting incident, the kidnapping, doesn’t actually come for at least twenty minutes. This gives the audience plenty of time to get to know daddy Mills and his daughter Kim, what their relationship is like and by the time she disappears, Mills has already had one chance to show off his skills, so the audience has a logical basis for all the damage he is about to incur on the villains. That brings up another particularly interesting twist in screenwriting; there is no antagonist character here. No villain which we can all attach our hate and anger to, the antagonist of the film is the crime itself and the society that promotes it. Each time a face or a name is revealed to be the person Mills is after, he finds them and dispatches them before anyone gets a chance to really attach anything to them. Normally this would be a failure in the writing, but screenwriters Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen achieve a lofty switch by making this movie all about the crime itself, instead of a single person. This writing duo is not unfamiliar with the action/thriller landscape, having penned the Transporter series, along with The Fifth Element, Kiss of the Dragon and Leon (the last one was Besson alone), so it doesn’t come as a big surprise that Taken has such a rich underbelly of character and subtext usually unfound in this genre.

Recommendation: A pulse pounding thriller with a slow burn to begin, this is a rare find in the cinematic world. There are moments in this film you will definitely not see coming and those alone make it worth a viewing, whether in the theater or at home. Neeson truly succeeds in making your first meeting with your girlfriend’s dad scary once more.
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My Bloody Valentine (in 3-D): Splat-terrific!

Usually I just draw a happy face on the window, but to each his own…

Rating: 7 out of 10

There is a time for deep, thought provoking films, and there is a time for light-hearted, slapstick comedies, but once in a while all you really want is some eye-popping, logic-avoiding, probability-jumping horror. When that need rushes up and bites you on the neck, your best bet is usually to run to the local video store and grab the first box with these three things on the cover: a weapon, a silhouette and the name of a holiday/special occasion. But sometimes you might just be lucky enough to look up into the glowing marquee at the nearest megaplex and see the wonderment just waiting for you…

…and this time, it’s in 3D!!!

My Bloody Valentine is a gore-filled romp through a small town trapped in the past. A terrible accident in the local coal mine  traps a handful of people in the deep, dark tunnels. When rescuers finally get inside, they find one of the miners has killed the rest in an effort to conserve his own air. The lone miner comes out in a coma, but when he awakens eight months later he continues his killing spree in the most glorified fashion before many believe he was finally killed in the very same mine. Ten years later, a young man returns to his hometown to sell his family-owned coal mine and in the process the killings begin once again. Suspicions burn in the minds of the locals as they try to figure out if the original killer is back or if an incredibly devoted copycat has taken on his predecessor’s passion.

Taking a brave step into the revamped 3D technology, My Bloody Valentine brings all the expected bells and whistles to the table. Numerous shots of the infamous pick axe jutting out towards the audience, blood splatters, fiery explosions, and last, but certainly not least, limbs and other appendages torn off and flopped on the eagerly awaiting crowd. The ads shown for this are a touch misleading with the true effect of the 3D technology, where they want you to think it will be reaching out to grab your soul from behind the silver screen, the newer 3D effect is more about creating depth behind the screen instead of in front of it. Nevertheless, the special effects are as impressive as they are cheesy and provide the perfect boost to make this an enjoyable theater experience. The movie still would maintain a certain sense of horror kitsch without being in 3D, but there would be a lot less giggling by the viewers.

As for the movie itself, there is a beauty that encompasses a film that fully and completely recognizes what it is and doesn’t try to be more. This is popcorn gore at it most picturesque, filled with cheesy dialogue, totally anticipated shock moments and a seemingly unstoppable villain behind a mask (who doesn’t love that one?). To its great credit, Valentine begins with a rather hokey flashback sequence sending out heaps and heaps of exposition onto the audience in order to get us into the bloodfest as soon as possible. Within ten minutes there is a scene in the local hospital which lays out carnage rivaling any zombie movie in recent years. It truly felt like the guys in the prop department laid out every fake body they had, then when they ran out they just started randomly placing torsos, limbs and various free-floating appendages wherever there was empty space. Although that might sound like it crossed the line of necessity, it was a perfect way to set the audience up for the sheer ridiculousness of the movie. People struggling to hold onto some sense of logic from that point forward should please leave quietly.

Normally the acting in these movies is pleasantly atrocious, but the CW network-inspired cast held together fairly well here. Jensen Ackles plays the young man who returns to town ten years after the last major killing spree and becomes the lightning rod for the new one. His time starring on the show Supernatural (Supernatural – The Complete First Season) set him up well for the tone of the movie. He naturally settles into that protective “stay behind me even though I have no idea how to fight whatever this is” look. Taking on the role of the hometown sweetheart-turned-local trophy wife is Jamie King. She screams well, yearns well and shoots a handgun slightly off target, what more could you ask for? Kerr Smith, of Dawson’s Creek (Dawson’s Creek – The Complete Series (Seasons 1-6 Plus Series Finale)) fame, plays the bad boy-turned-slightly-less bad boy who steals the high school sweetheart after Jensen bails from town. Kerr has always displayed a talent for playing characters with massive amounts of pent-up anger issues and Valentine offers plenty of that for him to revel in. All in all this post-teen cast holds its own fairly well, hitting all the right consciously bad notes where they need to be. No one watches these for Oscar-winning performances. What we want is attractive people to scream, kill or be killed and go down gloriously, which they all achieve fabulously.

The story follows a tight schlock horror pattern and gives us all the traditional beats along the way, but inside that pattern is the one fault of the film, the twist. The third act reveal is a touch underwhelming and not portrayed all that well on screen. Some nice visual effects are tossed over in an effort to distract the audience from trying to make sense of the twist, but in the end it was a touch disappointing for a movie which otherwise held up an actual sense of possibility throughout. They also decided to leave a window open for a sequel (and that’s not a spoiler if I don’t tell you why, so stop yer’ yelling. ) and as much as sequels are a cemented part of the horror movie tradition, it’s not one I think is paramount to making a good film. Sometimes the movie studios just need to make an effort to create a good film and let it have whatever life it will without stretching it out into a never-ending deluge of straight-to-DVD tripe. Instead of getting an “it’s not over yet” un-shocking moment in the closing minutes of the movie, I would much rather had a bigger, better and more gruesome climax with the remaining characters. It can be better to go out with a bang than to not go out at all.

Lastly, one tradition which this film relishes in is the deluge of nudity expected in anything under the horror genre and rated “R”. Valentine not only steps up the plate here, but swings a grand slam by successfully filling the quota and mocking it at the same time with a seven-minute long scream queen scene where our damsel in distress is completely nude for the her entire performance. My hats off to actress Betsy Rue for unabashedly delivering this tradition its best example in years.

Recommendation: If you are a schlock-horror fan, this is fantastically perfect in many ways. It is a must-see in the theater for that crowd because of the 3D experience. Without the jawbones flying at you it loses just a little of that…I don’t know…special something.

Coming Soon: Defiance, The Unborn
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Revolutionary Road: Could Lead to Oscar Blvd.

“Let’s take a cruise together.”

“Umm…actually, I have this thing about boats. They’re not really my thing.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Throughout movie history there has been a wide variety of classic couples, people you yearned to see on screen together again and again: Bogart and Bergman, Gable and Leigh, and Lancaster and Kerr to name only a few. But in 1997 another young couple cemented their right to being included on that list, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, in James Cameron‘s  record breaking film, Titanic. Even though the pair were one of the very few things in Titanic not awarded with Oscars or Golden Globes that year, they still lived on inside the hearts of the audience members who went back to see the romantic duo lean over that railing and declare their reign over the world. It only took eleven years for them to find a project to work on together again, but DiCaprio and Winslet have proven it was worth the wait.

Revolutionary Road is the story of a young passionate couple who meet, connect and yearn to spend their lives striving for the limits of experience. The story takes a only a brief look into their initial introduction to each other, instead opting to quickly jump years forward into their marriage only to find the passion has dissipated and their struggle now is against their suburban mundane existence. The couple, once wild and free, now find themselves deciding whether to stay in their current situation and try to make the best of it or to risk it all and run away to Paris in hopes of rekindling their love of life and their love for each other. It’s a war of contentment and  security versus passion and fulfillment and both sides fight dirty.

There was always one big threat looming over this film, that we, the audience, would look up at the screen and only see the Leo and Kate we remember from Titanic. The love struck duo fated to be together, but torn apart. All we would see would be longing glances full of love and hope and the rest of this new story would be lost in those memories. So, with that looming in front of director Sam Mendes, Mendes made a brilliant choice to jump very quickly into the deeply troubled marriage, nearly opening the film in a vicious fight on the side of the road. The anger and vitriol spilled on each other in that opening argument is more than enough to wipe away all previous visions of wistful gazes and romantic cuddling. DiCaprio rages against the self-imposed cage he’s stuck in, giving us the intensity and raw aggression we’ve come to expect from him (from performances such as The Basketball Diaries, Gangs of New York, The Departed, etc.). Now tie that aggression with the always impressive strength and surety of Kate Winslet and you’re locked and loaded for a true battle of the wills. Only actors who are completely trusting of each other could reach the fever pitch Leo and Kate achieve, which allows not only for touching moments of love, but also incredibly sharp attacks that cut deeper than any knife ever could.

Behind the dynamic duo there is a bevy of talented actors, including Kathy Bates, Kathryn Hahn and David Harbour, and heading into this film they had to know they were only bringing the trimmings and decorations to a party made for Leo and Kate, but one person decided to crash the party and steal some of the spotlight for himself. Michael Shannon plays John Givings, Kathy Bates’ son who happens to be on a short term visit from the local insane asylum. Now he doesn’t bash into the scenes ranting and raving, but his particular type of craziness allows him to cut through the bull and call people out on what is really going on underneath their shiny plastic veneer. Shannon has only three scenes in the film, but during each one of them you can’t take your eyes away from him. He is not only the spark-plug for those moments, but he becomes the lightning rod for the entire movie during a dinner scene which will go on my list as one of the best scenes on film in the last five years. The only shame in Michael Shannon’s performance is that he didn’t get a nomination for it. Here’s hoping the Academy voters are smarter than the Hollywood Foreign Press.

As much as I can rave about the wonderful acting on display in this film, those jewels are only achievable through the eyes and sensitivity of a talented director like Sam Mendes. Mendes keeps his tradition from American Beauty alive of painting picturesque communities of sterility and perfection, but all the while hinting and flashing light on the cracks growing underneath. There is always a deeper truth underneath the veil his characters show to the world and that’s where his real talent lies, making those people remove the masks in a believable and truthful fashion. I was on the lookout for subtle preferential treatment for Kate since she’s married to Mendes in real life, but both parties refused to pull any punches, once again proving the entire team’s commitment to powerful and honest filmmaking. Also proving that point is the completely anti-Hollywood ending, which I obviously won’t go into, but according to screenwriter Justin Haythe there was some push for it to be softened or changed, but Sam locked arms with him and demanded that it stay true to the original novel it is based on. If more people showed even half as much commitment to all the other film projects out there, the quality level we would reach would be unimaginable.

Recommendation: I’ll put this as plainly as I can: Before seeing this I was a locked in vote for Slumdog Millionaire for Best Picture of the Year, now I’m not so sure. My new fear is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is going to make this choice even harder, but for the moment I am blissfully unaware of that option.