A few more bits and bobs

From Movieline: 8:52 We were off to such a nice, fast start! And now... this clip reel? "That's when movies were actually made on film." YOUR BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER SHOT DIGITAL, ASSHOLE.

[Ed: Not that he SHOULD have been best, but the point stands.]

9:42 Robert Downey and Gwyneth Paltrow "introduce" Best Documentary Feature: Undefeated. Um, wow. Shocking upset over Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory.

[Ed: Oh good. I'm so glad someone else was surprised.]

9:54 Emma Stone single-handedly saved at least the last half-hour of the Oscars. Thank you, Emma!

10:26 Best Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash win it for The Descendants. Payne, insufferably, to his mother: "If I ever won another Oscar, I had to dedicate it to you." Well, then.

[Ed: Seriously. What an asshole. Jim Rash FTW.]

11:08 Thank you to the Academy for elevating George Kuchar to roughly 10 dead-industry-people places below Elizabeth Taylor.

And from Slashfilm: Congrats Harvey, you grabbed another one. But, to be honest, the fact that a black and white silent film won Best Picture against such a star-studded line up is pretty extraordinary.

A video tribute to the snubs.  Yup. Shoulda been Drive.

Sadness, Anna Faris from the front is baggy and not as cute.

[Also: The 84th Annual Academy Awards. Brought to you by Susie's sequins emporium.] 

I don't think I ever mentioned, but Busy Phillips looked great. I loved when she randomly showed up on Sarah Connor.

Yup. I was right about Zachary Quinto's eyebrows. Ouch - that much plucking looks painful.

Also - I'm not sure I've said anything on here, but I'm thrilled with all the young hollywood stars coming out; him, Matt Bomer, Jim Parsons, Sean Maher. I don't think stars should be hounded about their personal lives, but I'm also glad that it isn't being seen as a career-ender. [Oh, and he brought Jonathan Groff to the Indies. SO CUTE.]

Someone pointed out that Angelina went all Jessica Rabbit. YES.

You know, I'm pretty sure the yutes only cared about Bret McKenzie winning. I bet if he and Jermaine had performed, that would have brought up viewership. (Twenty year out of date reference! Whoooo! This is why I watch the Oscars! And goodnight.)

Final tally

1. Cinematography: “Hugo.”
2. Art Direction: “Hugo.”
3. Costume Design: “The Artist.”
4. Makeup: “The Iron Lady.”
5. Foreign Language Film: “A Separation,” Iran.
6. Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, “The Help.”
7. Film Editing: “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.”
8. Sound Editing: “Hugo.”
9. Sound Mixing: “Hugo.”
10. Documentary Feature: “Undefeated.”
11. Animated Feature Film: “Rango.”
12. Visual Effects: “Hugo.”
13. Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, “Beginners.”
14. Original Score: “The Artist.”
15. Original Song: “Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets.”
16. Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, “The Descendants.”
17. Original Screenplay: Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris.”
18. Live Action Short Film: “The Shore.”
19. Documentary (short subject): “Saving Face.”
20. Animated Short Film: “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.”
21. Directing: Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist.”
22. Actor: Jean Dujardin, “The Artist.”
23. Actress: Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady.”
24. Best Picture: “The Artist.”

Damn. 17/24 again. BUT! I am still beyond thrilled by Dragon Tattoo's editing win. And still pissed about the Visual Effects and Cinematography wins for Hugo. SO. WRONG.

@DougBenson: Thank God THE ARTIST won. I don't know if I could handle two surprises in one night.

@cracked: I liked the artist. I'm going to go eat 4 grilled cheeses. Goodnight.

The show itself

Not going to be a running commentary, because I'm mostly going to sit back and enjoy. But I may kibbutz and post in the commercials.

Why is the score playing over Morgan Freeman? DID JOHN WILLIAMS HIJACK THE CEREMONY?!?

Okay I love what Billy Crystal is going for, but the mixing is off and I can't hear half his lines.

I love the set design.

@EveryTweet_Ever: MAKE IT STOP MAKE THIS OPENING SONG STOP #OSCARS

@Ceilidhann: "First black-face, then Jonah Hill fat jokes? Really fucking funny, you obselete dinosaur, Crystal. #oscars" Seems a bit harsh, but... both not good.

Wow. Hugo for Cinematography. That does not bode well. TERRIBLE CHOICE OSCARS.

Liveblog

We'll see if I keep this up...

I think Zachary Quinto has been sporting those frames to cover up his Spock eyebrows. Also, I love that the interviewer just said, "I loved you in that sci-fi show... the one with Dylan McDermott... I can't remember the name..." (And I'm guessing a certain segment of tumblr just freaked out over that.)

Anyone sitting in the "fashion skyway" should know that Berenice Bejo is not wearing an empire waist. Come on, people. (That said, sea foam and sparkles with sheer sleeves is a little 80s. And with her forehead, I wouldn't have her hair pulled back like that, although I really like the design of the braid.)

I've switched over to E! Hmmm.... Not sure about Melissa McCarthy's dress.

Also, I only caught a glimpse of Missi Pyle and again with the sea foam. It is also apparently cruelty free to silk worms? I don't understand.

Jane Seymour? I need a better look, but that looks very shiny. In a bad way.


WOW. Jessica Chastain. WIN.

Younger viewers, cont.

What I meant to point out yesterday, and what I am not sure I entirely got across, was that the youtube awards (called the YouReview awards) picked good winners. Despite skewing younger, people weren't voting for Twilight. They voted for movies and performances that were critically well-reviewed by all ages, but which were, in many cases, more interesting, daring, or non status quo than what academy viewers would pick.

In the case of Drive and Dragon Tattoo, these are films that made top 10 lists or were best picture nominees at ceremonies or from critics groups such as the National Board of Review, the Washington, London, and Chicago Critics Associations, the Indie Spirits, the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the BAFTAs, the Producers Guild, the Writers Guild, the American Film Institute, as well as groups that I assume would also skew to younger preferences; the Online Film Critics Society, the AV Club, and the Golden Satellites. The YouReviewers awards weren't picking pablum like War Horse, Extremely Twee, or The Help. (Although I'm sure the strong box office for the Help won't hurt Oscar viewership). Still, if the Academy's Best Picture list looked more like this:

BEST PICTURE
Drive
50/50
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 2
Hugo
The Descendants
Midnight in Paris
Warrior 

I'm sure there would be a younger audience. (Look old people! You can still have your Artist, Hugo, and Midnight in Paris!)

Now you can scoff at the youngsters and say that Rise of the Planet of the Apes doesn't deserve a spot in history as a cinematic achievement along the lines of your Citizen Kanes, your Grand Hotels, All About Eves, Deer Hunters, or Silence of the Lambses. (Pluralizing movies is fun!) I would only point out that neither did Greatest Show on Earth, Oliver! or Crash AND that the Wizard of Oz had flying monkeys.

As an aside, I was researching to see if there was a preferable term to non status quo and I came across this; "mutatis mutandis" - things that needed changing have been changed.

Youngening the Oscars

Now, I don't know WHY the Oscars need to appeal to a younger demographic. They've been going for 80 odd years. Get a good, reverent comedian, and let it play out like the elder statesman of awards shows that it is.

However, for at least the last several years (probably longer - what was that Rob Lowe'/Snow White thing again?) there has been much discussion in leading up to the broadcast of how to appeal to younger viewers. This culminated in last year's terrible host decisions. Clearly someone thought that younger hosts would appeal to younger viewers, without considering the actual hosts they were hiring. (Does anyone like those two?) That flop led to hiring Brett Ratner - whygodwhy - which was also a terrible decision.

The fact of the matter is, young people will either watch it because they grew up watching and revering it, or ignoring it because - let's face it - it's an awards show and they just don't care. Those that are on the fence will tune in if there are movies they've seen or enjoyed nominated. Now, the Academy has different artistic sensibilities than the young. If the nominated movies were those that appealed to a younger demographic, they'd get younger viewers.

Take, for example, the 2nd annual youtube awards.

I know. It sound ridiculous. Some sort of mashup of the teen choice and MTV movie awards. But check out what won:

BEST PICTURE
Drive

BEST DIRECTOR
Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive)

BEST ACTOR
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (50/50)

BEST ACTRESS
Rooney Mara (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Andy Serkis (Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids)

BREAKTHROUGH ACTOR
Michael Fassbender

BREAKTHROUGH ACTRESS
Rooney Mara

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Rango

BEST VILLAIN
Albert Brooks (Drive)

BEST HERO
Harry Potter (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2)

BEST SCORE
Drive

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Rise of the Planet of the Apes

BEST TRAILER
The Dark Knight Rises Trailer 2

MOST UNDERRATED FILM
Warrior

THE I'M SHOCKED IT DIDN'T SUCK AWARD
Fast Five (tie)
Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (tie)

Okay, some fun, silly categories. But they movies that were picked to win? Drive, 50/50, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Bridesmaids, Rango, Harry Potter, and Warrior are all very well received films critically (metacritic scores: 79, 72, 71, 68, 75, 75, 87, 71. Michael Fassbender's aggregate for the year is a 71. EvenFast Five is a 67.) (The best picture nominees are : 72, 46, 62, 81, 89, 83, 84, 85, 87.) Aside from Rango, one Dragon Tattoo, and one Bridesmaids nomination, none of these are up for major awards. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Drive, and Harry Potter all had legitimate shots at being a best picture inclusion at precursors. If they were, I bet you'd get more younger viewers.

A Bevy of Animated Shorts

Caught the Oscar program of animated shorts. I don't want to give too many of the descriptions, because I think they work best going in without knowing what to expect. If you do want descriptions, they can be found at this site. Included were:

SUNDAY/DIMANCHE
Very cute, well done. The animation style was a little simplistic, but it followed the story.

A MORNING STROLL
God, easily the best of the bunch. Really smart concept, unbelievably hilarious, and showcasing several really well done animation styles. The Academy has really surprised me the last couple of years by going with ballsier short animation picks that were ones I really liked (Logorama, The Lost Thing to a lesser extent). So maybe this has a chance?


WILD LIFE
Really gorgeous animation and great use of historical footage. More poignant than the others. 

THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR. MORRIS LESSMORE
I'll let those more eloquent than myself say it; http://www.movieline.com/2012/02/14/oscar-season-distilled-to-14-words/

LA LUNA
Predictably great Pixar.

And a few others that were not nominated (funnily enough, the others that made the Academy's shortlist - I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat, Luminaris, Magic Piano, Paths of Hate and Specky Four-Eyes - were not included in this line up. Who knows.):
SKYLIGHT
Easily the crowd favorite of the whole bunch. Short, sweet, hilarious. Still eliciting laughs through the credits.

HYBRID UNION
Meh.

NULLARBOR
Too long.

AMAZONIA
Ehn.

These are apparently all available on OnDemand? Who knows. They should come online at some point. (Hey! One of my favorite live action shorts, Athena, starring David Thewlis and Harry Dean Stanton is now on vimeo. HEY! So is the Lady and the Reaper! You have five minutes - go watch this! Watch it full screen and stay through the first part of the credits. You will thank me!)

Also, the animated shorts program at IndieFest screened with the following films (I recommend clicking the links, because each film gets pictures and you can look at the varying styles of animation):

Time For Change
Cute, but very slight.
The Natural Order of Things
Phosphorescent bunnies! The rest of the animation is really, really basic.

(Baby) Its You!
Cute claymation about a mad scientist and a robot lady.

Attack of the Killer Mutant Chickens
This was insane. It was a Bollywood anime about giant killer mutant chickens. I mean, you need to see it.

Brucke
Pretty animation, well done, sad.

The Man With The Stolen Heart
Narrated by Bill Nighy, but he has done other, superior things. Speaking of fab short films he has been in, go watch this instead.

The Reality Clock
Meh. I like what the concept was going for, but it wasn't tight enough.

Being Bradford Dillman
Cute, if somewhat depressing also. (Aaah bad parenting!)

Sherman
AWESOME. I LOVED this.

Evil
This seemed so lazy. Cute concept - I wish the animator had worked it differently.

Masks
AMAZING. This is so, so brilliant.

Animeditation
Meh. Clever concept, kind of annoying to watch.

Waltz of the Demon King
I like paper sculptures, but it isn't a great story. Better to go look at some actual sculptures.

Kiss
This is really, really beautiful.

The ones I voted for to win best animation were Kiss, Sherman, Masks, and I think Being Bradford Dillman. I literally could not remember Time for Change after the program, but it was very professionally done as well.

Oscar predictions

And here we go:

Best Picture: The Artist
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Best Actress: Viola Davis
Best Actor: Jean Dujardin
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer
Best Screenplay adapted: The Descendants
Best Screenplay original: Midnight in Paris
Best Animated: Rango
Best Foreign: A Separation
Best Documentary: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Best Editing: The Artist (ugh. As Vulture points out, this would mean Michel Hazanavisius winning three more Oscars in one night than Hitchcock ever won. Ever. Oscar, you are a cruel mistress. (master? gender-neutral sword-holder?))
Best Cinematography: Tree of Life
Best Song: Man or Muppet
Best Score: The Artist
Best Production Design: Hugo

Now, all of the above I'm 90% on. There could be upsets (George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Undefeated or Hell and Back strike me as likeliest) but I think these are solid, safe picks. The next few are a little more divination, so I'm including likely upsets.

Best Costume: The Artist. However, W.E. did win the guild's prize for period piece. But I think Jane Eyre's inclusion will split the period votes and keep it on the Artist. (That and Oscar voters fawning over top hats and tails at movie premieres.)
Best Visual Effects: Rise of Planet of the Apes. Spoiler: Hugo (which would be SUCH a spoiler. Rise was such an achievement in so many respects, it should get this.)
Best Sound Mixing: Hugo
Best Sound Editing: War Horse. Here's where I'm going out on a limb. Most people are predicting Hugo to take both sound categories. While four of the last six ceremonies have lumped the two awards together, none of the previous five years did (and at least one of the winners in each of those years was nominated in both categories). HOWEVER, between the veteran sound editor (complete with NYTimes profile piece), the sounds of shelling and trench warfare, and the sense that the Oscars are spreading it around a little in the technical categories (screen writing, cinematography, production design), I think War Horse takes this one.

Speaking of which, Moneyball may be the only serious best picture contender to go home empty handed. :(

Best short animated: I think it's between La Luna and The Fantastic Flying Books... I'm going safe this year, so I'm sticking with my gut, and picking the flying books. But, as Vulture pointed out, if Pixar doesn't win something Oscar night, the world may well implode.
Best short live action: The Shore. With Raju as spoiler. I think Ciaran Hinds wins it for the lack of Tinker Tailor love. Or because Oscar voters have picked the Irish short in the past. (Martin McDonagh what up!?)
Best short documentary: Hmm. This is between Saving Face and the Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom. I'm going with the Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom for being uplifting and from a past nominee.
Best Makeup: The smart money here is on The Iron Lady. However, I really think that Harry Potter could pull it out here since the biggest (and very well-received) final installment didn't get ANY OTHER LOVE. I'm putting down Iron Lady, but hoping to score 23/24 on my predictions.

Although actually, I'm always pleased if something I think SHOULD win pulls it out over what I predict. (And hey, since the outguess Ebert contest this year does not come with a $100,000 grand prize, a perfect score counts mostly for pride. And a possible iPad.)

Also on that note, the last two years I've gone 17/24 and in 2009 I got 21/24. My goal this year is to tie or best 21...

Who should win (imsho):
Best Picture: Out of this crowd? Moneyball. Tree of Life was beautiful and ambitious, but too flawed to win I think.
Best Actress: Glenn Close. Yeah - I like Lisbeth. But actors get it all the time for body of work. Give it to Glenn.
Best Actor: Gary Oldman. Brad Pitt is good in Moneyball, and both are quiet performances, but Gary gets more range to work with.
Best Supporting Actress: Janet McTeer. I like her.
Best Supporting Actor: Jonah Hill.
Best Director: Terrence Malick. For all around brilliance.
Best Adapted: Hmmm... VERY torn here between Moneyball and Tinker Tailor. Going with Tinker Tailor. (Ides of March was good, too.)
Best Original: The Artist. Going to give it this one - it's a clever concept done well. Margin Call was also good.
Best Animated: Rango
Best Documentary: Pina. Although I plan to see If a Tree Falls soon...
Best Foreign: I've only seen Bullhead. A Separation looks good, though...
Best Costume: W.E. probably. Although I wish Jane Eyre would get something.
Best Production Design: Harry Potter
Best Visual Effects: Rise of Planet of the Apes
Best Editing: Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. So brilliantly done. And since the other large book into film (Tinker Tailor) isn't here...
Best Score: Tinker Tailor
Best Song: Man or Muppet
Best Sound Editing: Drive. Ah - the car chase. SO GOOD.
Best Sound Mixing: Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Best Cinematography: I actually really liked Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Tree of Life almost as much, and I do adore Emmanuel Lubezki (Children of Men! The New World! Sleepy Hollow!).
Best Makeup: Harry Potter. SO MANY GOBLINS!

The shorts - I'd like The Shore to win for Live Action. No horse in the doc race. On my way to see the animated - toodles!

Oscar party food

I forget if I've posted my oscar menus the last two years. (My best was black and white cupcakes for Black Swan last year, and prawns with cocktail sauce for District 9 for the year before.) I'm not throwing a party this year, but I still thought I'd try to come up with a menu for Oscar day:

Hawaiian pizza (The Descendants)
Crackerjack (Moneyball)
Fried Chicken (The Help)
Hush Puppies (The Artist (get it?!?))
Goose (War Horse)
Champagne, Gin Rickeys, and Absinthe (Midnight in Paris)
Creme Brulee (Hugo (because it might resemble the moon and it'll likely be a mess, much like the film)
A piece of modern art (Tree of Life)
A sense of despair for Oscar voters (Extremely Twee)
Coffee and sandwiches (Dragon Tattoo)

Obviously, you couldn't really serve all those. So maybe keep the crackerjack, hush puppies, and fried chicken. Could you do spam and pineapple for an appetizer? You need finger foods as much as possible. Keep the liquor. Ignore Hugo (as God intended). Maybe angel food cake with Devonshire cream for War Horse for dessert? Also good for the Artist: Oreos.

And I'm stealing this from another site: The Brie of Life.

The JWD awards

In which I pretend that I get my own awards show. And I steal a bunch of categories from the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, who are awesome.

What I wrote last year holds; once the Oscar noms come out, I'm gleeful about some inclusions, pissed at some snubs, outraged at the undeserving noms, and wistful for those that never had a chance. And I'll pick the ones I think will win, and which I think should win, and root for my favorites.

But what if I could pick all the nominees myself?

I certainly haven't seen everything that has come out this year. There are many films which I'm sure are some of the best of the year that I never got to (see the top films of 2011 entry for examples).

Again, if you look at every picture which has received a nomination for Best Picture from a critics guild, that's roughly 80 different films right there.

So, given what I have seen, here's what I'd pick (nominees and notable omissions of the films I have yet to see):

Best Film:
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Drive
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Tree of Life
Shame
Jane Eyre
Moneyball
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
Martha Marcy Mae Marlene
Another Earth

Best Popcorn Film (those genre flicks worth your time):
Stake Land
The Guard
Hanna
Rango
The Muppets
Mission Impossible
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Rise of Planet of the Apes
Attack the Block
Source Code

Best Actress:
Mia Wasikowska (Jane Eyre)
Brit Marling (Another Earth)
Michelle Williams (Meek's Cutoff)
Rooney Mara (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
Elizabeth Olson (Martha Marcy Mae Marlene)
Nikohl Boosheri (Circumstance)
Rachel Weisz (The Whistleblower)

Notable omission: Charlize Theron (Young Adult), Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin), Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia)

Oh my.

I guess it's been awhile! What can I say? Life shows no signs of slowing down here in San Francisco. I plan to be out a lot of the next week at IndieFest (plus I need to catch the Oscar shorts and Once Upon a Time in Anatolia) and I wanted to jot down a couple of brief thoughts about things I've seen in the last couple weeks before those.

Margin Call - I had this out from Netflix for weeks. I could NOT bring myself to watch it. I refused to watch Inside Job last year, despite its frontrunner status for Best Documentary. I just couldn't stand to watch anything about the economic crisis. The financial situation is painful in enough in real life; I didn't want to devote any of my movie-going-time to it as well. So I finally sat down with it today in part because it had to go back to Netflix (my queue maxed out again) and in part because I figured I could work on my computer and keep one eye on the film and just get through it already.

By the end of the first scene, my laptop was abandoned on the table. The film is riveting. It unfolds over not even 24 hours and ratchets up the tension like a thriller. While I had been slightly annoyed that the film was picked for the Altman award at the Indie Spirits over Tinker Tailor (more on that in a moment and, on reflection, I'm not sure Tinker Tailor is eligible for the Indies...), I now think it is very warranted choice. It is a stunning cast and really an ensemble achievement. I'm also particularly glad it sneaked into the original screenplay race. Even though it came through over the more favored...

Win Win - this was a very cute film with impressive work by Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, and newcomer Alex Shaffer. There's nothing flashy about it, but its a great story and it just feels very true. Its the kind of domestic drama that I don't feel Hollywood makes very often anymore (or makes well).

Cold Weather - God. This was dreadful. I couldn't finish it, which is a rarity. I had heard a lot about this being one of the best undiscovered films of the year, and the mystery plot element drew me to it. I hadn't realized it's mumblecore. The only mumblecore film I've enjoyed was Tiny Furniture (although to be fair, I haven't seen Medicine for Melancholy). It seems to me if most mumblecore insists on having a completely unlikable protagonist. I realized about three quarters of the way through that I could not care less about the mystery and that the main guy was getting in the way of some beautifully filmed scenery. Euch.

Pina 3-D. Really beautifully shot modern dance. The only film since Cave of Forgotten Dreams where the 3-D seemed necessary to explore the space being filmed. Considering it didn't make it past the short list for Foreign Oscar, I don't know if it has a chance at Documentary. Maybe considering it is the most widely appealing doc in a year noted for the snubbing of Project Nim, Buck and Senna?

Tinker Tailor - God, I LOVED this. I'm not entirely sure how they managed to fit everything in (although David Bordewell pointed out here that the film clearly leaves a lot of gaps for the viewer to mentally fill in and that it didn't need the repetition of points that the miniseries needed, having a gap of a week between episodes.) Anyways, the adapted screenplay nod is incredibly well deserved. (Also; how sweet is this? "Picking up best adapted screenplay [at the BAFTAs], the film's co-writer Peter Straughan thanked "The Artist for not being adapted from a book". He then paid tribute to his co-writer and wife, Bridget O'Connor, who died before Tinker Tailor was made. "She wrote all the good bits and I made the coffee. So Bridget I love you, I miss you, this is for you."" Awwww.)

BTW - it is up for best actor, screenplay, and score at the Oscars. And it also won the BAFTA for best British film. I'm a little surprised that it didn't make it in for editing at the Oscars (but then it isn't up for Picture, which is a shame. It and Dragon Tattoo SO should have replaced Extremely Twee and War Pony.)

Mostly though, it might be one of the best casts EVER: Gary Oldman, Ciaran Hinds, Toby Jones, Stephen Graham, Colin Firth, Mark Strong (!), Benedict Cumberbatch (!), Tom Hardy (!!!), John Hurt, Christian McKay, and... AND Roger Lloyd-Pack!!!!


I just love that amount of stunning talent. I mean, you have Orson Welles showing up for maybe four lines. Mark Strong continues to just be the best. (I did mention how hilarious he was in The Guard, right? Seriously. LOVE HIM.) And I had forgotten Peter Guillem's role in the story, but Benedict Cumberbatch was really excellent (okay - I also just like typing his name. It's Cumberbatches of fun!) And considering I'm somewhat worried about understanding Tom Hardy in The Dark Knight Rises (did anyone catch what he was saying in that long preview?!), it was nice to see him in a part that let him shine.

Oh, speaking of that long preview, MI4 in Imax! Fun fun fun. I eventually decided that my love for Brad Bird outweighed my dislike of Tom Cruise's crazy, and it was a good decision. The whole film zips along and is a fabulous blockbuster. Tom Cruise's crazy didn't get in, and it was a reminder of why he became such a star. He really is pretty perfect in the role. The supporting cast is great, although I would've preferred if the film had set up Josh Holloway as the franchise replacement, since Jeremy Renner is getting the Bourne Franchise. That said, I have no idea how tall anyone is.

Oh yes, and I also saw Sleeping Beauty, which was fascinating. There's an interesting piece on it over at MUBI. It was amazingly disturbing, and one of those films that I found myself thinking about for days after I had seen it.

So, in sum? Try to catch Tinker Tailor and Margin Call before the Oscars; check out Pina in 3D and MI4 in IMAX if at all possible, add Sleeping Beauty and Win Win to your Netflix/on demand queue, and avoid Cold Weather like the Dickens.