So... What are we doing for New Years?

Oh my.

2012-02-12T21:48:00.000-08:00

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.

Oscar voting

2012-01-25T18:21:00.001-08:00

For a good summary of how the new voting process works: http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/01/24/oscars-best-picture-why-nine-nominees/

Tidbits and Roundup

2012-01-24T13:29:00.000-08:00

So - I covered most of my reactions to the noms in my previous post. My intense displeasure at Extremely Loud usurping Girl with the Dragon Tattoo can be summed up here: http://www.movieline.com/2012/01/20/the-9-most-scathing-critical-responses-to-extremely-loud-incredibly-close/.

To reiterate; I'm thrilled with the Gary Oldman inclusion, and A Separation and Ides of March making it in for screenplay. Sad about the lack of Dragon Tattoo Love, particularly after it's late push nominations at the Producers and Directors Guilds. (How, HOW, does it get an editing nomination and not a best picture nod?!?) Sad about Albert Brooks. Excited about the Animated films. Shocked about the Documentaries. The three best scores of the year; Drive, Hanna, and Dragon Tattoo were shut out.Clearly, the thing I will be cheering hardest for is Muppets for best song. MUPPPETS!!!!

Also, Cleolinda follows the crowd's reactions here: OSCAR NOMINATIONS OMG. Best bits;

@cleolinda: Nothing for SWINTON, although she has the consolation of having already won and also being SWINTON.

@bestforfilm: No nomination for Andy Serkis either... #monkeyist #oscars #2012

@Haunt1013: Watching the live tweets blurting out names and either "HOLY SHIT YEAH" or "FUCK YOU FOR SNUBBING ____" much better than actual awards show.

And via the AV Club; "Brooks’ snubbing made room for Max Von Sydow’s performance as a mute old man in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, which showed impressive resilience despite mixed—and in some cases, toxic—reviews and zero year-end awards. To his credit, Von Sydow’s work is the best thing about EL&IC, much like lunch at the hospital commissary is the best thing about radiation treatment."

Also Albert Brooks and Patton Oswalt had the best twitter reactions:

@AlbertBrooks: I got ROBBED. I don't mean the Oscars, I mean literally. My pants and shoes have been stolen.

Patton Oswalt here.

As Nikki Finke points out, Sony got the most noms of any studio (Midnight, Moneyball, Dragon Tattoo, 3 of the foreign films, etc.). That is followed by Paramount (Hugo, 4 animated films, Transformers (Paramount! Where is your quality control?!)) and The Weinstein Company (Artist, Marilyn, Iron Lady, W.E., Undefeated). The Disney, Fox, Universal, WB, Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate, and Summit (With 1! Although with Lionsgate buying Summit, that's 3 altogether!)

Additionally, "indie" films captured 60 of the (what did I say before 119?) nominations. Then again, they are counting Hugo as an Indie. It cost $170m. THAT IS NOT AN INDIE.

Kenneth Branagh is the first actor to be nominated in five categories.

Meryl Streep is the most nominated actor in history. Woody Allen is the most nominated screenwriter. John Williams was just nominated for the 41st and 42nd times. STOP IT ACADEMY.

The changes to the documentary category will probably be welcome next year (NYTimes warning).

Those focused on the snubs: Deadline Hollywood (love the graphic), NYTimes (Dramas from White Men), and Bright Lights (It's a bourgeois town), I Watch Stuff. Best quote from that last one; "Best Visual Effects: Transformers 3 versus Real Steel. Rendering giant CGI robots is now the visual effects equivalent of playing retarded."

And if you think I'm pissed with the way the nominations went, check this out.

The Oscar noms

2012-01-24T10:08:00.000-08:00

And the real deal, ladies and gentlemen. With kibbutzing.

Bolded are the real nominees. Strikethroughs I got wrong.

Best Picture
The Artist
The Descendants
The Help
Midnight in Paris
Hugo
Moneyball

"I'm positive on those six. I think ~~Girl with the Dragon~~ and Tree of Life will take the next two and it will be 8 nominees.

If it is 10 nominees, I'll add War Horse and (sigh) ~~Bridesmaids~~. Hoping for a Drive or Ides of March spoiler."

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. You have got to be fucking kidding me. Only you, Academy. Only you.

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
~~David Fincher, Dragon Tattoo~~
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

"Terrence Malick, Tree of Life, and Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive, as spoilers. I think Steven Spielberg is out. Then again, were ballots due before the PGA honors?"

*sniff* ILU David Fincher!

Best Actress
Rooney Mara
Viola Davis
Meryl Streep
Michelle Williams
~~Tilda Swinton~~

"Glenn Close as spoiler. *sigh* I'd like to put SWINTON as spoiler, since she has an oscar already, but I'm just not sure Glenn Close is ever going to get it. Dragon Tattoo has surged, and both Albert Nobbs and Iron Lady are not good films around a central performance. I don't see Glenn getting in. Probably. She and Rooney Mara are close."

Hey! I should have gone with my gut.

Best Actor
George Clooney
Brad Pitt
Jean Dujardin
~~Michael Fassbender~~
Gary Oldman

"Yup. I think the recent nods for Gary Oldman and the fact that J. Edgar has completely faded means Leo is out. Still, Leo for a spoiler, and Michael Shannon. (I just don't see Ryan Gosling or Demian Bichir.)"

Wow - the SAG nom has it! Yay for not all being white. Boo for the lack of the Fassbender!

Best Supporting Actress
Octavia Spencer
Melissa McCarthy
Berenice Bejo
Jessica Chastain
~~Shailene Woodley~~

"Janet McTeer and Vanessa Redgrave as spoilers. Janet McTeer and Shailene Woodley are awfully neck in neck. Hmmm..."

Woo Janet McTeer! I like her.

Best Supporting Actor
Christopher Plummer
~~Albert Brooks~~
Keneth Branagh
Jonah Hill
Nick Nolte

"Max Von Sydow as spoiler, although the vitriol directed at Extremely/Incredibly Close/Loud (or whatever) is so intense that I think it puts him out. Ben Kingsley as a more likely spoiler. I don't see Andy Serkis getting it, but wouldn't that be lovely?"

I... what the fuck?!? ALBERT BROOKS!

The other categories after the jump:

Best Original Screenplay
~~50/50~~
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris
A Separation

"Win Win and Young Adult as spoilers."

Margin Call! Didn't see that one coming!

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Descendants
~~The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo~~
~~The Help~~
Hugo
Moneyball

"Tinker Tailor as spoiler."

The Ides of March! Whoa - singular inclusion for that film. Glad it got a little love.

Animated
Rango
Puss in Boots
~~Tintin~~
Kung Fu Panda 2
~~Arthur Christmas~~

"Rio and Chico & Rita as spoilers."

Add in A Cat in Paris. I am pleasantly surprised by this! The academy is nominating interesting little seen annies rather than blindly going after whatever dreamworks put out. Way to go, Academy.

Foreign
Footnote
In Darkness
Monsieur Lazhar
~~Pina~~
A Separation

Bullhead as spoiler.

Documentary
If a Tree Falls
~~Buck~~
Pina
~~Project Nim~~
~~We Were Here~~

"Bill Cunningham as spoiler."

Whoa. Add in Hell and Back Again, Paradise Lost 3, and Undefeated. I thought Peter Jackson's West Memphis film at sundance would pull focus from PL3 (although it is exactly the kind of thing the Academy would vote for). And Buck and Project Nim have won so many precursors. I'm shocked.

Cinematography
Artist
Hugo
~~Tinker Tailor~~
Tree of Life
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

War Horse as spoiler.

Editing
Artist
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
~~Tinker Tailor~~

War Horse and The Descendants as spoilers.

Art Direction
Artist
Harry Potter
Hugo
~~Tinker Tailor~~
~~Girl with the Dragon Tattoo~~

"The Help and Pirates as spoilers. (Drive? Drive?) (I would say War Horse, but it didn't get a guild nom...)"

And Midnight in Paris. Silly me for not putting down War Horse. It's an epic epic of epicness. Of COURSE the academy will nominate it in every technical category.

Costume
Artist
~~Help~~
Hugo
Jane Eyre
W.E.

"Harry Potter and Tinker Tailor as spoilers. (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? Melancholia? Drive?)"

I don't know why I bother to hope that the Academy might one day nominate something contemporary. Throw Anonymous into that pile.

Score
Tinker Tailor
Artist
~~Girl with the Dragon Tattoo~~
Hugo
War Horse

"Jane Eyre and Tintin as spoilers. (War Horse seems like a shoe-in, but I've noticed several criticisms leveled directly at the score.) God I wish Hanna and Drive were in here."

God, if it's John Williams....

Song
~~Lay Your Head Down - Albert Nobbs~~
~~The Living Proof - The Help~~
~~Life's a Happy Song - The Muppets~~
Man or Muppet - The Muppets
~~Hello Hello - Gnomeo and Juliet~~

"Coeur Volant - Hugo as spoiler. Although I'd personally prefer Star Spangled Man from Captain America. Captain-ettes!"

Add in Real in Rio - Rio. Guys? I think you're missing some. Guys?

[For realsies though, did everyone just put down Man or Muppet and leave the other slots blank?]

Sound Mixing
Hugo
~~Super 8~~
Transformers
Moneyball
~~Pirates~~

"Hanna, Planet of the Apes and Mission Impossible as spoilers. Maybe War Horse. I can never tell if the Oscars will follow the actual sound guilds. I think it may just go to the noisiest films (Transformers, MI4, Apes, Super 8, Pirates)."

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Huh. Well, I'm all for more nominations on that one. Surprised, though.

Sound Editing
~~Rise of the Planet of the Apes~~
~~Super 8~~
Transformers
War Horse
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

"Drive and Hugo as spoilers. Maybe Harry Potter."

Hey! Drive isn't COMPLETELY shut out! (Also - shocked that Super 8 isn't in)

Visual Effects
Harry Potter
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers
~~Tree of Life~~

"Captain America as spoiler."

Real Steel! Whoda thunk it?

Makeup
The Iron Lady
Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter

Hugo and the Artist as spoilers.

Short Animated
~~I Tawt I Taw A Puddy Tat~~
La Luna
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Wild Life
~~Magic Piano~~

"Luminaris and Paths of Hate as spoilers."

A Morning Stroll and Dimanche/Sunday.

Short Live
Time Freak
~~Love at First Sight~~
Pentecost
Raju
~~The Roar of the Sea~~

"The Road Home and Sailcloth as spoilers."

Tuba Atlantic.

Short Documentary
~~In Tahrir Square~~
~~Pipe Dreams~~
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom
Saving Face
~~Witness~~

"Incident in Baghdad and The Barber of Birmingham as spoilers."

Add in God is the Bigger Elvis. Ah well. Can't easily guess on those I've never heard of...

A few more thoughts in a minute. Overall? I got 4/5 right in 12 categories, which I'm pleased with. Overall, without spoilers, I got 84 nominees out of 119. With spoilers, 98/119. In the top 6 categories, I'm 28/34, or 32/34 with spoilers. The only two real shocks in the top categories being Demian and Extremely Stupid. The only category I got perfect was makeup. Le sigh.

Predicting the Oscar Noms

2012-01-23T23:22:00.000-08:00

As I was saying before, does anyone understand this? Seriously; I don't get it. If 5% of the submitted first place votes gets you a nomination, surely that must mean ten nominees. 3,000 people are not going to all put the Artist first, right? (RIGHT?) Couldn't 300 put War Horse, 300 put Tree of Life and so on and so forth? And if more than 10 films earn 5%, is that when the second and third ranked films weigh in? I'm confused.

I'll make up my own awards of what I think SHOULD be nominated later, but what do I think will actually make the cut tomorrow morning? Here we go:

Best Picture
The Artist
The Descendants
The Help
Midnight in Paris
Hugo
Moneyball

I'm positive on those six. I think Girl with the Dragon and Tree of Life will take the next two and it will be 8 nominees.

If it is 10 nominees, I'll add War Horse and (sigh) Bridesmaids. Hoping for a Drive or Ides of March spoiler.

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
David Fincher, Dragon Tattoo
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

Terrence Malick, Tree of Life, and Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive, as spoilers. I think Steven Spielberg is out. Then again, were ballots due before the PGA honors?

Best Actress
Rooney Mara
Viola Davis
Meryl Streep
Michelle Williams
Tilda Swinton

Glenn Close as spoiler. *sigh* I'd like to put SWINTON as spoiler, since she has an oscar already, but I'm just not sure Glenn Close is ever going to get it. Dragon Tattoo has surged, and both Albert Nobbs and Iron Lady are not good films around a central performance. I don't see Glenn getting in. Probably. She and Rooney Mara are close.

Best Actor
George Clooney
Brad Pitt
Jean Dujardin
Michael Fassbender
Gary Oldman

Yup. I think the recent nods for Gary Oldman and the fact that J. Edgar has completely faded means Leo is out. Still, Leo for a spoiler, and Michael Shannon. (I just don't see Ryan Gosling or Demian Bichir.)

Best Supporting Actress
Octavia Spencer
Melissa McCarthy
Berenice Bejo
Jessica Chastain
Shailene Woodley

Janet McTeer and Vanessa Redgrave as spoilers. Janet McTeer and Shailene Woodley are awfully neck in neck. Hmmm...

Best Supporting Actor
Christopher Plummer
Albert Brooks
Keneth Branagh
Jonah Hill
Nick Nolte

Max Von Sydow as spoiler, although the vitriol directed at Extremely/Incredibly Close/Loud (or whatever) is so intense that I think it puts him out. Ben Kingsley as a more likely spoiler. I don't see Andy Serkis getting it, but wouldn't that be lovely?

The other categories after the jump:

Best Original Screenplay
50/50
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris
A Separation

Win Win and Young Adult as spoilers.

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Help
Hugo
Moneyball

Tinker Tailor as spoiler.

Animated
Rango
Puss in Boots
Tintin
Kung Fu Panda 2
Arthur Christmas

Rio and Chico & Rita as spoilers.

Foreign
Footnote
In Darkness
Monsieur Lazhar
Pina
A Separation

Bullhead as spoiler.

Documentary
If a Tree Falls
Buck
Pina
Project Nim
We Were Here

Bill Cunningham as spoiler.

Cinematography
Artist
Hugo
Tinker Tailor
Tree of Life
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

War Horse as spoiler.

Editing
Artist
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
Tinker Tailor

War Horse and The Descendants as spoilers.

Art Direction
Artist
Harry Potter
Hugo
Tinker Tailor
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Help and Pirates as spoilers. (Drive? Drive?) (I would say War Horse, but it didn't get a guild nom...)

Costume
Artist
Help
Hugo
Jane Eyre
W.E.

Harry Potter and Tinker Tailor as spoilers. (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? Melancholia? Drive?)

Score
Tinker Tailor
Artist
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
War Horse

Jane Eyre and Tintin as spoilers. (War Horse seems like a shoe-in, but I've noticed several criticisms leveled directly at the score.) God I wish Hanna and Drive were in here.

Song
Lay Your Head Down - Albert Nobbs
The Living Proof - The Help
Life's a Happy Song - The Muppets
Man or Muppet - The Muppets
Hello Hello - Gnomeo and Juliet

Coeur Volant - Hugo as spoiler. Although I'd personally prefer Star Spangled Man from Captain America. Captain-ettes!

Sound Mixing
Hugo
Super 8
Transformers
Moneyball
Pirates

Hanna, Planet of the Apes and Mission Impossible as spoilers. Maybe War Horse. I can never tell if the Oscars will follow the actual sound guilds. I think it may just go to the noisiest films (Transformers, MI4, Apes, Super 8, Pirates).

Sound Editing
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8
Transformers
War Horse
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Drive and Hugo as spoilers. Maybe Harry Potter.

Visual Effects
Harry Potter
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers
Tree of Life

Captain America as spoiler.

Makeup
The Iron Lady
Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter

Hugo and the Artist as spoilers.

Short Animated
I Tawt I Taw A Puddy Tat
La Luna
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Wild Life
Magic Piano

Luminaris and Paths of Hate as spoilers.

Short Live
Time Freak
Love at First Sight
Pentecost
Raju
The Roar of the Sea

The Road Home and Sailcloth as spoilers.

Short Documentary
In Tahrir Square
Pipe Dreams
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom
Saving Face
Witness

Incident in Baghdad and The Barber of Birmingham as spoilers.

War Horse

2012-01-23T07:32:00.000-08:00

Or, the Epic epic of epic epicness.

This was a weird film. One, because it is a PG-13 war film. So all of the violence is off-screen or hidden behind objects. It's so strange.

Second, I think it says a lot about the target audience that the previews before this film were not for A Separation or The Deep Blue Sea or some other seerious adult drama. No no. The previews were for Disney nature films about an orphaned chimp and whales in trouble. The obvious, tear-jerker, happy ending, we are going to tug on your heartstrings till they bleed kind of films. Which is pretty much what War Horse is. Did I cry during it? Damn straight. Was it complete emotional manipulation rather than great film making? Yup.

I honestly have not completely wrapped my head around how the new Oscar balloting works, but my sense is that a film with a small, but devoted following (say, the Tree of Life) has a better chance of a nomination than something that is broadly liked, but not loved. The way I understand it, any film that gets 300 first place rankings out of 5,500 ballots will get a nomination. Now, I don't understand why people then think that there will only be 8 nominees, because I could see some dark horses (heh) reaching that number. But, despite War Horse's throwbacks to old-school film making, I think it is out in a year with too many other "nostalgia" films to be ranked as number one on many ballots. I could easily see it being left off the nominations while Tree of Life or Girl with the Dragon Tattoo sneak in. Although they did just have the tribute to Steven Spielberg.... hmmm. Hard to say.

Anyways, I'll take my best stab at predicting the nominees this evening. But War Horse? Meh. It's beautifully crafted, but not great. I'd rather watch a BBC WWI production.

Top films of 2011. Kinda sorta.

2012-01-22T15:09:00.000-08:00

I have to start with a confession: I didn't see as many movies as I had wanted to last year. I usually try to post this list by January 15th, in order to get a chance for last minute releases to show up in whatever city I'm in and a few final DVD releases to come out. But the way the last 6 weeks has gone, if I try to catch up on the last dozen films I've been meaning to see, this list might not come out till the Oscars. *sigh*

So - the notable omissions for the year: Tinker Tailor, Young Adult, War Horse, Cold Weather, Win Win, Margin Call, House of Pleasures, Bellflower, 50/50, Beginners, Higher Ground, 3, the Mill and the Cross, the Mysteries of Lisbon, Take Shelter, London Boulevard, Red State, the Princess of Montpensier, Like Crazy, Incendies, Melancholia, the Skin I Live in, Coriolanus, Tyrannosaur, Sleeping Beauty, Weekend, and so on and so forth.

I do have plans to see War Horse, Tinker Tailor (can we say Sherlock withdrawal?), and Mission Impossible in the next couple of days. So... I may have notes on those. We'll see if this week is as crazy as the last few.

Please note that those films most assured of an Oscar nomination at this point; The Descendants, Hugo, The Artist, The Help, and Midnight in Paris, are not to be found on this list.

Top films of 2011:
1. Drive. Yup. Pretty surprised by this, but, as I've mentioned before, it's been a weird year for movies. The Artist is more or less the one to beat for Best Picture (more on that later), and while it's fine, it isn't something I fell in love with (unlike Winter's Bone or The Hurt Locker). So it turns out the best time I had at the movies this year was high-art pulp. Like many of the films on the list, this one stood out for being visually striking. From my earlier review; "I loved it. It is really, really wonderful. First up, and important to know before watching, there are not many car chases in the film, aside from the brilliantly shot opening. Also, knowing Nicolas Winding Refn's work (and his propensity for filming violence) is probably good. That said, I was just riveted by the whole film. The supporting cast is good, but much of the movie is just an understated performance by Ryan Gosling. Also, the rumors of a bromance between Refn and Gosling must be true, because the movie is framed around Gosling to his best effect in each scene. It reminded me of Meet Me in St. Louis and how lovingly Minnelli filmed Judy Garland. I'm not a huge Ryan Gosling fan (although I think he does good work), but you seriously can't take your eyes off of him here. Hmmm... I'm finding it hard to word this without coming off as a fan girl. What I mean is, this character, the way he is shot, and the performance are all completely compelling. (And I'm sure those women who were fans of the Notebook will appreciate Gosling as eye candy, too.) Furthermore, the movie just exudes cool. The retro 80s pink font in the titles, his varsity jacket and driving gloves, and the slow-burn, taut direction; all of of it is stylish fun. It's an art-house pulp film. It's awesome."

2. Stake Land. My SFIFF review; "I LOVED this film. It is sort of The Road with a supernatural bent, or I've heard it described as a 'post-apocalyptic, vampire western.' And it is scary. Not because of the vampires, although those are good for a few good jump scares, but because of the picture it paints of how America would disintegrate in the wake of an apocalypse. It is horrifying because it feels true. As the protagonist explains, cults pop up everywhere and the religious right goes off the deep end (not that they have far to go, but I digress). It isn't the vampires you have to survive so much as the people. (The main religious cult actually ended up reminding me a bit of the cult that springs up in Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.) I think everyone likes to think that they'd be able to survive in a post-apocalyptic world, given that it is a popular genre. And while I think I might be able to feed myself and find shelter, the film taps into the primal fear that there isn't anything you'd be able to do against religious fundamentalism-crazy. Could any sense of goodness or culture survive when nutjobs drop vampires from helicopters to cleanse the world of sinners? Anyways, the characters in the film are fabulous. It is mostly about a boy named Martin, who is taken under the wing of a vampire-killer, known only as Mister. Mister schools Martin in the finer arts of vampire killing and survival and along the way they meet up with other survivors. All of the character development is great. And there are some really fun killing vampire parts. But that sense of scary is definitely going to linger"

3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It's impossible not to compare this film to the Swedish original, given how quickly it was remade. My personal take is that there are parts that were left out of each. I liked some of what was kept in the American version and some of what was kept in the Swedish. I personally come down on the Noomi Rapace side of the actress debate. She just came across as more of a coiled fist, whereas Rooney Mara came off as slightly more damaged and vulnerable (much as I loved her aesthetic). What did make the remake come alive for me was David Fincher's direction. Not only do I love the way he directs the production design and cinematography, he managed to keep a long, complex, and splintered story hum along for three hours without losing any tension or momentum. It's a beautifully crafted film, and one which managed to highlight parts that I particularly loved from the book.

4. Another Earth. From my SFIFF review; "This was brilliant. I completely loved it. I don't really know how best to describe it. It's about a woman, Rhoda, who on the eve of being accepted into MIT's astrophysics program, makes a horrible mistake. It is also the same evening that a second Earth is discovered. The film then follows Rhoda as she attempts to atone for what she has done and find a way forward in her life. It's much more a character drama than a sci-fi label might suggest (Moon notwithstanding). Although the second Earth discovery does prompt a myriad of questions and possibilities. What if there is another me out there? Did they make the same choices? What would their life be like? The two leads, William Mapother and Brit Marling (co-writer, co-producer) give absolutely amazing performances. If anything, I wanted more time with the characters - they were just such complete, interesting portraits."

5. Cave of Forgotten Dreams. From my SFIFF review; "Oh god. This was the film I was most looking forward to in the festival. And it was everything I had hoped it would be. AND SO MUCH MORE! First of all, Werner Herzog got unprecedented access to film inside the Chauvet cave in France, which has the world's oldest cave paintings. And they are stunning. Next, he realized that to properly appreciate the paintings, which make use of the topography of the cave walls, they needed to be filmed in 3-d. This is the first film I've seen that really necessitated the use of 3-d and it is wonderfully done. There are long stretches of the film that are just gazing at these paintings, beautifully filmed, while some wonderful choir compositions play. (A lot of the music was fabulous; some bits got a little too atonal, even for me, but a lot of the pieces were clearly written to play off of the acoustics in a cathedral, and accompanied the space inside a cave really well.) Also - just seeing the stalactites and stalagmites in 3-d is worth the price of admission on its own. So all of that is awesome (in the original sense of that word) and completely makes it a 5 star film. But then - THEN! - the fact that it is Werner Herzog means that you get his incredible musings on the nature of art and humanity. I giggled through long segments of the film. Plus, he gathers up several of the craziest French people he can find, which is just even more wonderful. And while some of the funny bits were clearly intentional, I also think he is just becoming more and more a parody of himself as he ages. It's no wonder he worked with Nicholas Cage on Bad Lieutenant. The postscript to the film might be one of the funniest things I've seen this year."

6. Jane Eyre. A Gothic period piece that uses shadows and the desolate moors to great affect, with incredible actors owning the iconic roles Jane and Mr. Rochester. From the Cinematical (RIP!) review; "Fukunaga, enabled by a terrific script by Moira Buffini ('Tamara Drewe'), makes their disputes seem more like connections, and in the most complimentary way possible creates a perfect equal for the other that transcends shared interests or even the immediacy of physical attraction. For her part, Wasikowska seems remarkably at home in a corset and dowdy governess' dress with her hair finely, modestly styled to suit her poverty-level class status, but she exudes the kind of attractiveness that comes from a person who knows her own self-worth, and refuses to settle for a value less than she deserves. Meanwhile, Fassbender is so effortlessly sexy as Rochester -- born for breeches and a fancy-lad shirt that somehow only further showcases his masculinity -- that the actor's natural intelligence only enhances his attractiveness. He gives the character a palpable connection to the young woman who has captured his fancy, and less because she happens to be genuinely, secretly beautiful underneath her businesslike appearance than the fact that her own irrepressible charm and personality fairly enchanted him."

7. The Ides of March. I'm surprised that this film was written off so quickly. I went to see it after the NBR added it to their top 10 list, and I was very pleasantly surprised. It is very much an actor's film and the cast assembled is stunning. I thought it was as good or better than Good Night and Good Luck, if more cynical.

8. The Guard. It's a black comedy by Martin McDonagh's brother. OF COURSE I was going to love it. But there was a good reason for Brandan Gleeson to be at the Golden Globes; he gets a role that he really tears into and he is excellent in it. Set in the West of Ireland, Gleeson plays a world-weary, foul-mouthed cop who may or may not be stupid like a fox. The criminals (including Liam Cunningham and Mark Strong) are hilarious. A very sharp, smart crime drama.

9. Circumstance. My SFIFF review; "This was so good. (And, as a side note, it won the audience award at Sundance.) It's about two teenage girls in Iran who fall in love and try to survive adolescence in Iran. Much as I love Persepolis, I think this film gives a much clearer idea of what it would be like to grow up under such heavy restrictions. To have to do everything in secret, underground, to be scared of who to trust not to turn you in to the government - and to have such dire consequences when you most feel the need to rebel and experiment and act out. It's a beautiful love story, a wonderful portrait of a family trying its best to cope under difficult times, and a fully realized vision of Iranian youth culture. It has fantastic character development, it's funny, sexy and heartbreaking. Go see it."

10. Shame. From The Guardian's review; "Steve McQueen's film about a damaged sibling relationship, co-written with Abi Morgan, is a nightmarish, laugh-free black comedy about neurosis and dysfunction. It has the same icy, unwavering stare as his previous work, Hunger, about the Irish republican hunger-striker Bobby Sands, with the same degree-zero long camera takes." Carey Mulligan interestingly compared working on Shame to theater, as Steve McQueen used only one camera and long takes and this approach heightens the focus on the characters.

11. Martha Marcy Mae Marlene. The story of a young woman trying to leave a cult, as told through narrative jumps between her time at the farm and her trying to recuperate with her estranged sister. Elizabeth Olson broke out as the damaged titular character who was trying to make sense of what was real anymore. Most of the film was very brilliant, and part of why this didn't crack the top 10 was the unbelievable brother-in-law, played by Hugh Dancy. It was the only part which seemed to be written without much thought or attention to detail and drew me out of the film. Which was too bad, because the rest of it was so immersing.

12. Meek's Cutoff. My SFIFF review: "I ended up really enjoying this a lot. It's a very minimalist film, and probably not everyone's cup of tea, but I think it ends up being an incredibly realistic telling of what life on the Oregon Trail must have been like. It would have been hard, tedious, and scary. There would have been a looming threat of not making it, and having your survival dependent upon the abilities of your traveling companions. The other really interesting thing is that the film was not shot in wide screen, which was so unusual. I thought it ended up mimicking how the women would have seen the landscape out of their bonnets, and it worked well to focus your attention on the characters.

13. Hanna. A fractured fairy tale of the best kind. Joe Wright's globe-trotting, diminutive assassin is terrific fun to watch. Even though the ending turns a little predictable, the actors are having so much fun (particularly Cate Blanchett and Tom Hollander), that it remains well worth watching. As my co-watched said afterwards, "they marketed it as an action film and then tricked everyone into seeing an art film."

14. Tree of Life. I love Terrence Malick. I love the way he looks at things. So, I loved a lot of the Tree of Life. Even if I didn't think it entirely hung together the way the Thin Red Line or the New World did. From Lisa Schwartzbaum's review; "There’s a certain awesome delight to be had from giving oneself over to all this narrative ambition and visual bravado, this swirl of desire and yearning, bumping up against the limits of translation on the part of so interesting an artist."

15. Rango. Well, I know that at least one film I really enjoyed will be winning an Oscar. From Roger Ebert's review; "Rango" is some kind of a miracle: An animated comedy for smart moviegoers, wonderfully made, great to look at, wickedly satirical, and (gasp!) filmed in glorious 2-D. Its brilliant colors and startling characters spring from the screen and remind us how very, very tired we are of simpleminded little characters bouncing around dimly in 3-D. This is an inspired comic Western, deserving comparison with "Blazing Saddles," from which it borrows a lot of farts. The more movies you've seen, the more you may like it; it even enlists big bats to lampoon the helicopter attack in "Apocalypse Now."" Really, of all the films this year that borrow heavily from cinematic tradition, this one was the best.

16. The Future. My SFIFF review; "I... am not sure I totally understood this film. But I liked it. It is about a couple who will be picking up a stray cat from the vet in a month and adopting it. They realize that this means it will be their last true month of freedom and they decide to be open to the possibilities that affords while facing the uncertainties of... well, the future. However, a certain amount of magical realism creeps into the film which makes it feel much more original than your generic indie romance. And it features a talking cat. I came into this film not knowing anything about Miranda July's performance background, and I haven't gotten around to watching her first film Me and You and Everyone We Know. She did a Q&A after the film and while those can sometimes just be awkward or not particularly informative, she was surprisingly charming and had a really unique perspective on film, since she is an artist who works primarily in other media. Both she and Hamish Linklater (Groove!) give great performances and it certainly surprised me with the twists and turns the plot took."

17. Le Quattro Volte. My SFIFF review; "If Meek's Cutoff is somewhat of an art film which may not be for everyone, that goes double for Le Quattro Volte (quadruple?). I don't really want to describe it, because I think going in without knowing much adds to the experience. I will just say that there is almost no dialogue and, as the introduction at the film fest went, it "pushes the boundaries of what is possible cinematically." That said, I don't want the non-traditional plot to scare off potential viewers. There are moments that work as well as any Charlie Chaplin film (seriously - the whole theater was laughing). And it is incredibly well made. The only thing I will say about the subject matter is; Goats! Lots and lots of goats! (So, also a good film for those who enjoy Cute Overload.)"

18. Kaboom. The apocalypse. With lots of college sex. From the SF Weekly review; "As spacey as its title suggests, Gregg Araki's latest youth film is an occult mystery set in the ultimate SoCal college playpen. Kaboom is Scooby Doo with sex, drugs, and tattooed hotties...With its pop colors and compositions — including a giant close-up of mac-and-cheese — Kaboom is a garish billboard for id unbridled, filled with wicked one-liners, relentlessly over-the-top in the tradition of Waters, George Kuchar, and underground comix. The action more or less proceeds from one bed to the next — the sex embellished by mysterious tantric starbursts and outlandish setups."

19. Submarine. My SFIFF review; "It is adorable. Very much in the Wes Anderson vibe, and it is quite cute. It's a coming of age set in Wales in the 80s and has Noah Taylor and Sally Hawkins, along with Paddy Considine, whom I did not know was in it as all. So - fantastic cast and very charming. Hmm... that all comes off as precious. And it isn't, really. It's very deadpan. And it doesn't succumb to the cliche of wrapping everything up in a neat little uplifting bow. It's a lovely romance with lots of clever monologues, but the film also touches on heartbreak and depression. It's a pretty ambitious first film and the director carries it all off."

20. Moneyball. My earlier review; "I also saw Moneyball, which I enjoyed, but not quite as much as I had thought I would. Maybe it is because I put off seeing it for a week or two after the season ended and was subconsciously sad there wasn't more of the actual game in the film. Or, actual talk about stats... In terms of being an adult movie, which is entertaining and accessible to those who don't actually care about baseball or stats, it works quite well. I think I was expecting more of an Aaron Sorkin influence, but he only revised the script and didn't actually write it. So there wasn't as much smart banter between Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill as I had hoped. I think I generally went in with my expectations a bit too high. But it is a good film. It just kind of made me want to re-watch The Social Network. And last year's world series."

21. Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I enjoyed this more than I expected to. Andy Serkis as Caesar is completely brilliant. I think this was maybe the film Avatar wanted to be.

22. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Do I actually need to explain this?

23. The Muppets. I've described this as more of a love letter than an actual film. For anyone who grew up on The Muppet Show, it is impossible not to love this. The tone, the songs, the gags, it is all really wonderful.

24. Attack the Block. I wanted to toss this on here, because I thought the concept was really clever. It's a fun, well-made action film, but it sets itself apart for being set in a council estate in London and for having really original aliens. Definitely worth seeing.

Played songs

2012-01-13T19:29:00.000-08:00

There is an interesting post over at the Awl: What's Your Most Played Song?

It's interesting for a few reasons. One - if you actually want to know what your most played song is in 2011, its going to have to be out of songs added to your playlists in 2011. I don't know how many times I listened to Hysteria by Muse in 2011, because iTunes has been tracking plays since 2008 on that one. So, it isn't really an 'end of 2011 list', as much as your favorite song since your current media player has been keeping track.

Mine, for the record, is I Think I'm Paranoid by Garbage at 205 plays. Now, given that that is iTunes plays on the computer since 2005 and iTunes + iPod plays since about 2008, and the fact that that song came out in 1998, and I think I can hazard a guess that I've probably listened to that song over 1,000 times in more than a decade. (Version 2.0 was the only CD I ever physically wore out from use).

So, then, what I find interesting about this list are the extreme numbers. Is there really no song a music critic has EVER listened to more than 18 times? (Do music critics need silence when they get home?) Or did those with low numbers try to guess play counts of songs only for 2011?

On the flip side, I have to imagine that 1,748 plays of Rolling in the Deep is hyperbole (particularly as it is a song released in January.) But there are some at 300-400 plays, which seems reasonable.

Then again, The Lonely Goatherd at 489? That is made up. (right? RIGHT?!?)

So, for those that I can count for 2011, which were my most played? Here are those that ranked over 60 plays. (Obviously, the club songs tend to get stuck in my head more...)
Glee - Don't You Want Me Baby - 61
Ana Tijoux - 1977 - 61
Adele - Set Fire to the Rain - 62
Gotye ft. Kimbra - Somebody That I Used to Know - 66
Christina Aguilera - Bound to You - 69 (I... don't know.)
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson - Rock Star - 75
Childish Gambino - Freaks & Geeks - 78
Adele - Rolling in the Deep - 82
David Guetta ft. Sia - Titanium - 83
Deadmau5 ft. Neon Hitch - I Can't Behave Myself - 84
Lady Gaga - Heavy Metal Lover - 107

Honestly? A little surprised Video Games by Lana Del Rey and You Know What I Mean by The Cults didn't make the cut....

Awards Season

2011-12-27T10:27:00.000-08:00

Two quick things as the awards derby rolls on:

265 films are eligible for academy awards contention. Now, some of these are The Twilight Saga or Green Lantern and are kind of silly inclusions. But while slashfilm said that there are only 10 possible nominees out of 20 possible contenders (or about 8% great films coming out of hollywood), looking at films that have been nominated for best picture, director, or acting from a critic's guild gives us 65 films. Or, to put it another way, 25% of the films being released in the US in whatever format merits Oscar contention are deemed worth seeing by some critical voice. (And of course, may or may not come out of the studio system.)

So, while Circumstance may not have a hope in hell of being nominated for an oscar, that obviously doesn't mean it isn't worth watching. Furthermore, those are only 65 eligible films, so no documentaries, some exclusions, and an odd assortment of foreign films (for example, Poetry, Le Quattro Volte, Kaboom, Bellflower, and the Kill List all have been mentioned in critics' lists, but are not on the eligibilty list.) The fact of the matter is that there are more than 75 films that have been mentioned for best film nominations of one sort or another, not to mention foreign, documentaries, or animated movies (Rango ftw!). And there are even more films worth seeing for performances or technical achievements. I just get annoyed whenever film discussions get framed in the old "there are no movies worth watching" way. Stop beating the poor horse.

Now, if the studios would not release about half of those in the last two weeks of December, it sure would make my life (and scheduling) less complicated....

Secondly, indieWire posted the Film Comment rankings. While you've got 50 films recommended up top (hey! A movie a week...), the second list is really interesting: Fifty Films Not Released in 2011. Some will be released in 2012 (the Deep Blue Sea, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia - which I am DESPERATE to see, etc.), and I believe the Innkeepers is now on DVD, I'm sure some of these may never quite make it past the film fest circuit. It is a good reminder that there is a whole world of undiscovered films out there, even for those of us that try to keep an ear to the ground for news coming out of Sundance, Toronto, Cannes, Venice...

And people wonder why my netflix queue maxes out at 500.

Golden Globe thoughts

2011-12-16T08:30:00.000-08:00

Yay Albert Brooks!

Other thoughts:

Yay:
American Horror Story! Whoo!
Bryan Cranston.
Jessica Lange! WHOOO!
The Hour!
Rooney Mara!
The Ides of March!
Michael Fassbender!
Moneyball!
50/50!
Brendan Gleeson!
Ryan Gosling! x2 (oh HFPA, you're so obvious.)
And again Albert Brooks!

Weird:
No Dexter/Michael C. Hall
Berenice Bejo? Really?
Boss? Really?
No Jim Parsons, no Mandy Patinkin (I don't care so much, but I'm surprised.)
No Tree of Life?
No 30 Rock?
Not really surprising, but no Community or Parks and Rec?
No Andy Serkis.

Not ok:
Breaking Bad. WHAT. THE. FUCK. (sub heading: No Aaron Paul.)
No Gary Oldman. Boo.
No Muppets in comedy?

Golden Globes

2011-12-15T10:20:00.000-08:00

I will have more thoughts on these tomorrow when I can look a little more closely, but most importantly:

WHERE THE FUCK IS BREAKING BAD. HOW CAN I INSIST THAT OTHER PEOPLE TAKE YOU SERIOUSLY IF YOU INSIST ON BEING RIDICULOUS.

Moar on the SAG noms

2011-12-15T10:16:00.000-08:00

First off: SO SAD about Albert Brooks. He had been getting more nominations than almost anyone else! I have high hopes he'll spring back.

The other big snub is obviously Michael Fassbender. I wonder if he split his own votes somehow?

Here's the movie rundown:

Actor: Demian Bichir, "A Better Life"; George Clooney, "The Descendants"; Leonardo DiCaprio, "J. Edgar"; Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"; Brad Pitt, "Moneyball."

Actress: Glenn Close, "Albert Nobbs"; Viola Davis, "The Help"; Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"; Tilda Swinton, "We Need to Talk About Kevin"; Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn."

Supporting actor: Kenneth Branagh, "My Week With Marilyn"; Armie Hammer, "J. Edgar"; Jonah Hill, "Moneyball": Nick Nolte, "Warrior"; Christopher Plummer, "Beginners."

Supporting actress: Berenice Bejo, "The Artist"; Jessica Chastain, "The Help"; Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"; Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"; Octavia Spencer, "The Help."

Demian Bichir is a surprise; Glenn Close less so, but I guess this keeps her oscar hopes alive. (I like Glenn Close, I really do. I just have not heard great things about Albert Nobbs. Sort of The Last Station of this year.) The other (somewhat) surprises: Berenice Bejo, Armie Hammer and Nick Nolte. They've all been nominated in other places, but haven't been among the more frequent nominees or winners thus far.

Personally, I'm sad for Ryan Gosling, although I think Drive and Ides of March splits it for him, and Rooney Mara, because I want her to be fantastic. And finally, no Gary Oldman? Really?

Here's the TV list:

Actor in a movie or miniseries: Laurence Fishburne, "Thurgood"; Paul Giamatti, "Too Big to Fail"; Greg Kinnear, "The Kennedys"; Guy Pearce, "Mildred Pierce"; James Woods, "Too Big to Fail."

Actress in a movie or miniseries: Diane Lane, "Cinema Verite"; Maggie Smith, "Downton Abbey"; Emily Watson, "Appropriate Adult"; Betty White, "Hallmark Hall of Fame: The Lost Valentine"; Kate Winslet, "Mildred Pierce."

Actor in a drama series: Patrick J. Adams, "Suits"; Steve Buscemi, "Boardwalk Empire"; Kyle Chandler, "Friday Night Lights"; Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad"; Michael C. Hall, "Dexter."

Actress in a drama series: Kathy Bates, "Harry's Law"; Glenn Close, "Damages"; Jessica Lange, "American Horror Story"; Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife"; Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer."

Actor in a comedy series: Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"; Ty Burrell, "Modern Family"; Steve Carell, "The Office"; Jon Cryer, "Two and a Half Men"; Eric Stonestreet, "Modern Family."

Actress in a comedy series: Julie Bowen, "Modern Family"; Edie Falco, "Nurse Jackie"; Tina Fey, "30 Rock"; Sofia Vergara, "Modern Family"; Betty White, "Hot in Cleveland."

Cast in a drama series: "Boardwalk Empire," "Breaking Bad," "Dexter," "Game of Thrones," "The Good Wife."

Cast in a comedy series: "30 Rock," "The Big Bang Theory," "Glee," "Modern Family," "The Office."

Thoughts:
I really have to see Mildred Pierce already.
Why no supporting tv acting? At least the whole cast of Breaking Bad gets nominated. Too bad AHS didn't get nominated, too.
Patrick J. Adams for Suits has got to be the biggest surprise here.
Glee? Over Community or Parks and Rec or... really anything?
Jessica Lange: YES. I love this SO. MUCH. She eats all your scenery! She eats it up!

SAG nominations

2011-12-15T09:41:00.000-08:00

For realsies:
THE ARTIST (The Weinstein Company)
BÉRÉNICE BEJO / Peppy
JAMES CROMWELL / Clifton
JEAN DUJARDIN / George
JOHN GOODMAN / Al Zimmer
PENELOPE ANN MILLER / Doris

BRIDESMAIDS (Universal Pictures)
ROSE BYRNE / Helen
JILL CLAYBURGH / Annie’s Mom
ELLIE KEMPER / Becca
MATT LUCAS / Gil
MELISSA McCARTHY / Megan
WENDI McLENDON-COVEY / Rita
CHRIS O’DOWD / Rhodes
MAYA RUDOLPH / Lillian
KRISTEN WIIG / Annie
REBEL WILSON/ Brynn

THE DESCENDANTS (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
BEAU BRIDGES / Cousin Hugh
GEORGE CLOONEY / Matt King
ROBERT FORSTER / Scott Thorson
JUDY GREER / Julie Speer
MATTHEW LILLARD / Brian Speer
SHAILENE WOODLEY / Alexandra King

THE HELP (DreamWorks Pictures / Touchstone Pictures)
JESSICA CHASTAIN / Celia Foote
VIOLA DAVIS / Aibileen Clark
BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD / Hilly Holbrook
ALLISON JANNEY / Charlotte Phelan
CHRIS LOWELL / Stuart Whitworth
AHNA O’REILLY / Elizabeth Leefolt
SISSY SPACEK / Missus Walters
OCTAVIA SPENCER / Minny Jackson
MARY STEENBURGEN / Elaine Stein
EMMA STONE / Skeeter Phelan
CICELY TYSON / Constantine Jefferson
MIKE VOGEL / Johnny Foote

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (Sony Pictures Classics)
KATHY BATES / Gertrude Stein
ADRIEN BRODY / Salvador Dali
CARLA BRUNI / Museum Guide
MARION COTILLARD / Adriana
RACHEL McADAMS / Inez
MICHAEL SHEEN / Paul
OWEN WILSON / Gil

Okay - a couple of things here. One? Very surprised by the Artist, as it is a small cast, and particularly over Margin Call. However, including James Cromwell tickles me, because seeing him as the chauffeur in the Artist made me think of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuNzcbCrNHg. Also tickled by Matthew Lillard's inclusion because YAY MATTHEW LILLARD.

However, I feel like Midnight in Paris COMPLETELY MISSED THE POINT. The point being Corey Stoll as Hemmingway (not to mention Alison Pill as Zelda Fitzgerald). Seriously - Carla Bruni as Museum Guide? In that case, you should have Tom Hiddleston as F. Scott and Lea Seydoux as Gabrielle. But more importantly: Hemmingway. Jesus. I wonder if people voted for the cast without noticing the SAGs planned to leave him off?

So anyways, 4/5 for me. Other reactions to follow.

SAG nominees

2011-12-13T21:24:00.000-08:00

The SAG nominations come out tomorrow (I think). One of my favorite categories they have is best ensemble, so I'm going to try to guess what will be nominated there:
Margin Call
The Help
Bridesmaids

Pretty sure about those. I think the last two might be The Descendants and Midnight in Paris. I'd prefer Martha Marcy Mae Marlene or Ides of March. I don't think Carnage will get it. Possibly Dragon Tattoo or Harry Potter, but I wouldn't bet on it.

TV time!

2011-12-11T17:21:00.001-08:00

The critics awards are coming fast and furious for movies. And while I am tracking all of those intently, there are also a couple of fun tv precursors to the Golden Globes. The WGAs, PGAs, and AFIs all release separate tv awards or nominations.

First up, AFIs top 10:
Breaking Bad
Boardwalk Empire
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Game of Thrones
The Good Wife
Homeland
Justified
Louie
Modern Family
Parks and Recreation

Hmmm. If I had to pick my own top 10 for 2011?
American Horror Story
Archer
Breaking Bad
Community
The Daily Show
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Justified
Parks and Recreation
Shameless
The Hour

Wow - it's been a little rough. I'm not digging the Colin Hanks storyline on Dexter quite the way I loved the Lumen season last year. Archer, the Daily Show and Always Sunny are reliably entertaining, but are in there mostly as place filler. Doctor Who keeps falling off the rails. The Walking Dead bored me enough that I quit watching. Glee is ridiculous. And even Jessica/Jason couldn't save the epic fail that was season 4 of True Blood (although I have high hopes for next year: Rev. Newlin, the King of Mississippi and Christopher Meloni. Yes please!) I liked about half of Sherlock, and am interested to see what they come up with next year, but don't think it warrants being in the top 10 (especially as it is shorter than even The Hour.) There are some notable things I should catch up on (Downton Abbey). I didn't get into the pilot of Game of Thrones, but maybe I should try again.

But really? I think Community is genius, Parks and Rec is a pretty perfect sitcom, Justified is so much fun (and I was so thrilled Margot Martindale won the emmy), Shameless does a great job of toeing the dramedy line, and I am OBSESSED with American Horror story. It and Breaking Bad are the two that I have to sit down and actually watch each week. And Breaking Bad? Well, I'll get to that in a minute.

Let's see what the WGA and PGA came up with:
Nominees of the 2012 WGA Awards
Drama Series:

Comedy Series:

New Series:

Episodic Drama:

"Boardwalk Empire" ("A Dangerous Maid")
"Boardwalk Empire" ("The Age of Reason")
"Breaking Bad" ("Box Cutter")
"Breaking Bad" ("End Times")
"Homeland" ("The Good Soldier")
"Dexter" ("Just Let Go")

Episodic Comedy:

"Modern Family" ("Caught in the Act")
"The Office" ("Goodbye Michael, Part 2")
"Modern Family" ("Mother's Day")
"Weeds" ("Object Impermanence")
"The Office" ("PDA")
"30 Rock" ("Queen of Jordan")

Long Form - Original:

"Cinema Verite"
"Five"

Long Form - Adapted:

Nominees of the 2012 PGA Awards

Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic TV, Comedy:

Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic TV, Drama:

I suppose I should catch up on The Good Wife - I like a lot of the actors in it. And possibly Boardwalk Empire, though I haven't heard anyone rave about it. And The Big Bang Theory - I would probably enjoy it, but I can't see it being brilliant, you know? (I do also need to see Cinema Verite and Mildred Pierce.)

So, yeah. Breaking Bad. Pretty much any episode rates up there with any of the films I have seen this year. I'll let a writer say it better than I can; Stephen King released his top 20 of 2011. Guess what was number 1?
"1. Breaking Bad, AMC. This season, Breaking Bad was more than a good thing; it was a great thing where performance, direction, concept, and hallucinatory New Mexico location photography all came together... Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul turned in the best performances I've seen in years, and Giancarlo Esposito (as Gus Fring) is simply the best villain ever on a continuing TV show. The ultimate showdown between Gus and Walter is mythic, the outcome simultaneously satisfying and completely surprising. Breaking Bad has now surpassed The Sopranos, and, although I love Steve Buscemi, HBO's Boardwalk Empire isn't even in the running. Breaking Bad is an American classic."

NBR

2011-12-01T13:13:00.001-08:00

Oh, National Board of Review. How COULD you?

Hugo wins best picture, director from NBR

I, clearly, am not a fan. I really, really disliked Hugo, and I'm not alone in that. (it was overly long and self indulgent. It could have been much, much better.)

Ah, well - let's look at the top 10 films:
The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
The Ides of March
J. Edgar
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Interesting.... BEYOND thrilled with Drive's inclusion. Surprised by the Ides of March - I'll have to catch that toot sweet. Happy with Tree of Life, Harry Potter, the Artist, and... of course... Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. :) War Horse's inclusion bodes well. I (and I know I'll be attacked for this) did not like Saving Private Ryan. So I'm approaching War Horse with some apprehension.

And the Top 10 Independent Films:
50/50
Another Earth
Beginners
A Better Life
Cedar Rapids
Margin Call
Shame
Take Shelter
We Need To Talk About Kevin
Win Win

Another Earth!!!! YAAAAAAAY! (Shame! Yay! 50/50! Yay! Take Shelter! yay!) (Also - Cedar Rapids - are you kidding me?) Also, between Margin Call's ensemble win at the Gothams and this, I may need to check it out. Maybe Zachary Quinto's presence will help tide me over till the next American Horror Story.

A few other awards worth noting:
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
Best Original Screenplay: Will Reiser, 50/50
Best Animated Feature: Rango
Breakthrough Performance: Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Spotlight Award: Michael Fassbender (A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, Shame, X-Men: First Class)
NBR Freedom of Expression: Pariah
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation

Sundance 2012

2011-12-01T10:30:00.001-08:00

So - the Sundance competition slate has been announced. Some of the titles that stand out are Smashed, Wish You Were Here, the Surrogate, Filly Brown, Nobody Walks and Save the Date.

Descriptions below:

Smashed — The Thing remake’s Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul play a young married couple whose freewheeling life of party and drink comes to a halt when she decides to sober up. The Help‘s Octavia Spencer costars as her AA sponsor while Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally play a teacher and principal at the school where she works. “It starts off very un-dangerous. It’s about how easy it is to be in life this way until you realize you have a problem,” Cooper says. “The drama’s not hyped up. You realize how close you could be to being her — well, I did.” (Director: James Ponsoldt; Screenwriters: Susan Burke, James Ponsoldt)

Wish You Were Here — Australia. Four friends embark on a carefree holiday, but only three return home. Who knows what happened on that fateful night? Cast: Joel Edgerton, Teresa Palmer, Felicity Price, Antony Starr. (Director: Kieran Darcy-Smith, Screenwriters: Felicity Price, Kieran Darcy-Smith)

The Surrogate — Based on the true story of Mark O’Brien, a 36-year-old poet and journalist who lived most of his life in an iron lung after contracting polio at a young age. (His life was the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary, Breathing Lessons, in 1996.) In this film, O’Brien is played by Winter’s Bone Oscar-nominee John Hawkes, who decides he no longer wants to be a virgin, and seeks help from a sex surrogate therapist (Helen Hunt) and his priest (William H. Macy). (Director and screenwriter: Ben Lewin)

Filly Brown — A Mexican girl rises through the ranks of hip-hop while struggling with family issues, including the imprisonment of her mother. “It’s an L.A. story with a really good performance by Gina Rodriguez, who’s in almost every frame of this movie,” Cooper says. “She’s a girl with ambition trying to break into the music business.” Cast: Lou Diamond Phillips, Gina Rodriguez, Jenni Rivera, Edward James Olmos. (Directors: Youssef Delara, Michael D. Olmos, son of Edward James; Screenwriter: Youssef Delara)

Nobody Walks — Olivia Thirlby (Juno) stars as a New York artist who comes to Los Angeles and upends the lives of a hipster family by triggering new attractions and old resentments. “They don’t even understand where these impulses are coming from. It just sends shock waves through their lives.” The title, of course, recalls the song Walking in L.A. by Missing Persons, which declares “nobody walks in L.A.” “A little bit,” Groth laughs, as Cooper adds: “It also means nobody gets out of this unscathed.” Costars: The Office‘s John Krasinski, Mad Men‘s Rosemarie DeWitt, India Ennenga, Justin Kirk. (Director: Ry Russo-Young; Screenwriters: Lena Dunham, Ry Russo-Young)

Save the Date — “This is a story of young people trying to decide about relationships and marriage, told from two women’s points of view,” Cooper says. Party Down‘s Lizzy Caplan and Community‘s Alison Brie star as the sisters, one of whom is getting married while the other is suffering from a recent breakup. Costars: Martin Starr, Geoffrey Arend, Mark Webber. (Director: Michael Mohan; Screenwriters: Jeffrey Brown, Egan Reich, Michael Mohan)

Media Endorsements!

2011-11-26T23:03:00.001-08:00

One blog I read regularly, Celebrity Gossip, Academic Style, (which I came to via The Hairpin), recently posted a short little note on things she is currently loving and recommends. And since LORD KNOWS I have no shortage of opinions when it comes to media, here are mine:

Television:
First up, American Horror Story. The story of the Harmon family and the haunted house they move into. This show just gets more addictive the more insane it becomes. It's like a nice little stylistic mash-up of the eeriness of The X-Files crossed with the bat shit, off-the-wall insanity of, say, True Blood. Or really any other Ryan Murphy creation. It has some great supporting performers, such as Denis O'Hare (speaking of True Blood: the greatest scene of anything ever), Frances Conroy, and finally Jessica Lange, who eats all the scenery for breakfast and is completely FANTASTIC. The Halloween two-parter, which centered on Evan Peters and Zachary Quinto, was amazing.

Also: Community. This show is just so smart and so endlessly clever. They recently set up a background joke where the punchline was three seasons in the making. Three seasons! Admittedly, the show doesn't really know what to do with Chevy Chase or Ken Jeong and I'd personally love to see less of those two and more guest spots by John Oliver. But take the most recent episode, which was a riff on Heart of Darkness AND featured Joel McHale's impersonation of the Dean. So funny, so smart. (Actually, per the recent Nielsen ratings, the top three shows with the greatest concentration of viewers, 18-49, with four or more years of college are: Parks and Recreation, The Office, and Community.

And speaking of Parks and Rec: Awwww.

Books:
A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan is super brilliant (and Pulitzer-award winning!). While it is nominally about an aging record producer, Bennie, and his assistant Sacha, each chapter delves into a different character with a relationship (in some form) with one or the other (or, unknowingly, both). It skips back and forth across decades and ends up giving you a sense of the scope of these two people's lives, even if their paths only crossed for a short while. It also examines how events in the past continue to shape their lives or influence them decades later. And given that they worked/work/will work in the music industry, the book also touches on the communal nature of art.

(Plus, Jennifer Egan is a fellow Burkes alumna, who mentions the school in the book. How could I not love it?)

Local by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelley is a twelve-part graphic novel about wanderlust and different locales around North America. While it was originally intended to be portraits of places with one character, Megan, as a unifying thread, it gradually became more and more Megan's story and the tale of how she grew up as she traveled. Obviously, as someone who has moved a lot during her twenties, and has a pretty strong case of gypsy blood, I'm biased. But the art is beautiful and, as evidenced by the previous book, I really enjoy narrative structures that come at their characters obliquely and through differing points of view (Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout, which won the Pulitzer as well, is another good example of that type of structure.)

Film:
I have to say, there is a glut of things to come in the next month, but I feel like this has been an oddly off year for movies. Not that there haven't been great things out - particularly on the indie/foreign circuit, as per usual-, but there hasn't been much that I've really fallen in love with. And not quite as many great things.

On DVD: Stake Land is a really fun post-apocalyptic vampire flick. Cave of Forgotten Dreams will be released on DVD this week, although I believe you can only see it in 3-D with a 3-D TV. However, I'm sure the paintings are still beautiful in 2-D, and Werner Herzog is crazy no matter the format. The newest Jane Eyre, with Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender is well worth watching, both for its great performances and the beautiful moor/dimly lit great hall cinematography. And Circumstance, about two teenage Iranian girls and what it is like to grow up under the Iranian state, is also worth checking out.

Drive is still showing in one or two theaters and it is fantastic. It is art house existentialism meets pulp violence. Martha Marcy Mae Marlene is also showing and is a really amazing film about a young woman trying to break free of a cult.

Music:
I think I've pretty well covered that this week.

Disc 2 videos!

2011-11-24T18:30:00.001-08:00

Mostly songs and not videos. But well worth a listen...

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(hey! It's all of Sucker Punch you need to see!)

Here is its awesome Terminator scene:

With bonus track!

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I believe it was stereogum that introduced me to Foolin' with; "Maybe parts of this video was [sic] done for shock value. But really, when society can’t yet accept an interracial gay May-December BDSM relationship full of loving foot massage and befingering, society’s the sick one."

Wow. I didn't actually know that song had a video, but I'm digging it. Apparently Little Red Riding Hood is related to Moira of the Murder House.

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2011 mixes - now in video form! (disc 1)

2011-11-24T17:15:00.001-08:00

If you watch only a few of these, I recommend Lonely Boy, Uberlin, and Shake It Out.

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Enjoy, also, its use in Breaking Bad:

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I also really love her performance of this song on SNL (it goes a little wonky in the middle, but by the end it is just jaw-dropping):

2011 Mixes!

2011-11-24T16:55:00.001-08:00

I know. I usually wait until December to pick out mixes for the year. But I have been waking up every morning for the last week humming "Past Three O'Clock" and "Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella" and now that we have officially passed Thanksgiving, I'm planning on cranking the carols for the rest of the year. (A quick note: lots of these were not released this year. Oh well.) So, for all of you in a tryptophan-induced coma, enjoy:

2011 (Disc 1)
Lost in the World (ft. Bon Iver) - Kanye
Moneygrabber - Fitz and the Tantrums (thanks, Em!)
Lonely Boy - The Black Keys
1977 - Ana Tijoux
Arlandria - Foo Fighters
Only Happy When it Rains (live in Trieste) - Garbage
Two Years Before the Mast - Astronautalis (thanks, Konner!)
Somebody That I Used to Know (ft. Kimbra) - Gotye
The Rake's Song - The Decemberists
Repatriated - Handsome Furs (thanks, Chris!)
Uberlin - R.E.M.
Gangsta - tUnE-YarDs
Freaks and Geeks - Childish Gambino
Echoes - The Rapture (what? I watched a lot of Misfits this year)
Rolling Till the World Ends - Adele vs. Britney (I figure everyone has Rolling in the Deep, so this is one of the remixes I like)
I Can't Behave Myself (ft. Neon Hitch) - Deadmau5
Sex Changes - The Dresden Dolls (I wanted one of their songs on here, since I rang in the New Year with them)
Letterbomb - American Idiot Broadway Cast
Shake It Out - Florence + the Machine

2011: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Disc 2)
You Are Here - Selene (sampling Clint Mansell's score from Moon. Mooooon!)
Titanium (ft. Sia) - David Guetta
Cold War - Blaqk Audio
Cardiac Arrest (ft. Robyn) - Teddybears (Again, I figure everyone has Call Your Girlfriend...)
Planetary (Go!) - My Chemical Romance (I listened to this one a lot while I was training for my 5k)
Not in Love (ft. Robert Smith) - Crystal Castles
A Real Hero - College (from the Drive Motion Picture Soundtrack)
The Devil is in the Details - The Chemical Brothers (from the Hanna Motion Picture Soundtrack)
White Rabbit - Emiliana Torrini (from the Sucker Punch Motion Picture Soundtrack)
The Man Comes Around - Johnny Cash (not from any particular soundtrack, but used to great affect in the Sarah Connor Chronicles and Dawn of the Dead)
Marcy's Song - John Hawkes (from the Martha Marcy Mae Marlene Motion Picture Soundtrack)
California Earthquake - Mama Cass (in honor of our many recent earthquakes and from the Beautiful Thing Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Who's Been Loving You? - Watsky
Foolin' - Devendra Banhart
Pretty When You Cry - VAST
Heavy Metal Lover - Lady Gaga
The Birds pt. 1 - The Weeknd
Hard to Explain - Owen Pallett
21 Guns - American Idiot Broadway Cast
Video Games - Lana Del Rey
You Know What I Mean - Cults

Stealing Confessions of the Unread

2011-11-19T15:35:00.001-08:00

So one of my favorite blogs is The Bathroom Monologues. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but it is a flash fiction site with great super-short stories. Occasionally haikus. However, sometimes the author, John Wiswell, talks about his writing process or other reading-related items. One of his most recent posts resonated with me: Confessions of the Unread. As John writes,

According to Goodreads, I present possess 141 books that I haven’t read. The desire to read everything I hear about is so strong that even if I only borrow, buy or steal a small fraction of it, I wind up with boxes of books. And among those books are a few that I feel particularly ashamed for not yet reading. Most of these are hard classics. Some are so long that I argued myself into reading long works from my industry instead. Such excuses work in the short term. In the long term, literary guilt is powerful. I'm publishing this list to further pressure myself to get some culture....

What we really need is a National Novel Reading Month.

Amen.

(Similarly, FT Magazine, recently published photos of writer's libraries. Junot Diaz said this, "Naturally, I buy more than I can read, so there is always at least a 100-book margin between what I own and what I’ve read. What’s cool is that I’ve caught up a couple of times. But then I’ll buy too much and the race starts again." Nice to know one is in good company.)

So: here's my list of shame. They aren't all hard classics, but some are gifts which I feel particularly bad about not having gotten to. And some I've carried through roughly five moves and really need to get to:

Possession by A.S. Byatt (which I started this summer and then put aside)

Ulysses by Joyce

Guys and Dolls and other writings by Damon Runyon

Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje

Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather (this one is particularly damning, since she's one of my favorite authors)

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

The Portrait of a Lady by James

2666 by Roberto Bolano

The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Collected Stories of Katherine Mansfield

Africa in my Blood by Jane Goodall

On Beauty by Zadie Smith

House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski (I have been carrying this around since 2005. I WILL READ IT.)

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents by Julia Alvarez

Jane Eyre by Bronte

The Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

The Omnivore's Dillema by Michael Pollan

Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maughm

From Hell by Alan Moore (I'm in the middle of it, but I keep wanting to read it in bed and it is TOO BIG.

Local by Brian Wood

Plus I have 4 books edited by Manley and Lewis that are short stories by female authors that I need to get around to. And there are a few others floating around somewhere. Good thing I'm taking vacation next week to go curl up with cats and read.

Reader

2011-11-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

I am BEYOND annoyed at Google Reader. It's now hard to read and unable to share. I'm working on finding a new rss feeder to go to (suggestions? I had one for feedly... which is closing down. Like so many others that tried to compete with the old reader).

And since google no longer supports a shared items page, I'm moving that over to tumblr, which I think will be fun, although I have to figure out how to repost things correctly. So that may take a little while. Anyways: jwdmeow.tumblr.com. You'll know you're in the right place quickly enough...

The Gothams! (And British Independent Noms)

2011-10-31T13:27:00.000-07:00

The British Independent Film Award Nominations are out, which made me realize I neglected to talk about the Gotham noms when they came out. (To be fair, I was in LA. But still.)

Neither of these lists are likely to weigh heavily in the Oscar race, but considering how little prognosticating came out of Toronto this year, it's nice to officially kick off the season.

So - first up: The Gotham Noms (with commentary):

Best feature: "Beginners," "The Descendants," "Meek's Cutoff," "Take Shelter," "The Tree of Life." Well, pretty surprised to see Meek's Cutoff on here! But it is a nice surprise. Could this bode well for Bruce Greenwood sneaking in for supporting actor? (Doubtful, but probably at the Indie Spirits...) This also let's me know that I really need to check out Take Shelter this week. Also, I can already tell that I'm going to be digging in my heels on The Descendants.

Best documentary: "Better This World," "Bill Cunningham New York," "Hell and Back Again," "The Interrupters" and "The Woodmans." I have no opinion here.

Breakthrough director: Mike Cahill, "Another Earth"; Sean Durkin, "Martha Marcy May Marlene"; Vera Farmiga, "Higher Ground"; Evan Glodell, "Bellflower"; and Dee Rees, "Pariah." Yay Another Earth! These all seem like very deserving nominees.

Breakthrough actor: Felicity Jones, "Like Crazy"; Elizabeth Olsen, "Martha Macy May Marlene"; Harmony Santana, "Gun Hill Road"; Shailene Woodley, "The Descendants"; and Jacob Wysocki, "Terri." All pretty straightforward, although I'm a little surprized Ezra Miller isn't on here. Also, I would have prefered Brit Marling be on here with her Sundance sisters...

Best ensemble performance: "Beginners," "The Descendants," "Margin Call," "Martha Marcy May Marlene" and "Take Shelter." Hmmm. Interesting that Meek's Cutoff was up for best picture, but not ensemble... (Other probable notable ensembles, imho; Tinker Tailor, Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, Contagion, A Dangerous Method, Coriolanus, Warrior, My Week with Marilyn. And I guess we can call Ides of March an also-ran at this point.)

Best film not playing at a theater near you: "Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same," "Green," "The Redemption of General Butt Naked," "Scenes of a Crime" and "Without." Man! I missed General Butt Naked at IFFBoston last year...

And the Brits:
BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM
SENNA
SHAME
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
TYRANNOSAUR
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
Shame! Tinker Tailor! Tyrannosaur! So many things I want to see!

BEST DIRECTOR
Ben Wheatley – KILL LIST
Steve McQueen – SHAME
Tomas Alfredson – TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Paddy Considine – TYRANNOSAUR
Lynne Ramsay – WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
I wasn't a big fan of Ben Wheatley's last film, Down Terrace, but perhaps this one is better.

THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD [BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR]
Joe Cornish – ATTACK THE BLOCK
Ralph Fiennes – CORIOLANUS
John Michael McDonagh – THE GUARD
Richard Ayoade – SUBMARINE
Paddy Considine – TYRANNOSAUR
I love ALL OF THESE. Well done, Brit awards.

BEST SCREENPLAY
John Michael McDonagh – THE GUARD
Ben Wheatley, Amy Jump – KILL LIST
Abi Morgan, Steve McQueen – SHAME
Richard Ayoade – SUBMARINE
Lynne Ramsay, Rory Kinnear – WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
I see patterns emerging.... (Also, I really need to see The Guard...)

BEST ACTRESS
Rebecca Hall – THE AWAKENING
Mia Wasikowska – JANE EYRE
MyAnna Buring – KILL LIST
Olivia Colman – TYRANNOSAUR
Tilda Swinton – WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
Yay Jane Eyre!

BEST ACTOR
Brendan Gleeson – THE GUARD
Neil Maskell – KILL LIST
Michael Fassbender – SHAME
Gary Oldman – TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Peter Mullan – TYRANNOSAUR

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Felicity Jones – ALBATROSS
Vanessa Redgrave – CORIOLANUS
Carey Mulligan – SHAME
Sally Hawkins – SUBMARINE
Kathy Burke – TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Interesting. I have not heard of Albatross. But Felcity was not up for Best Actress for Like Crazy... I think that film is probably out of it as well.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Michael Smiley – KILL LIST
Tom Hardy – TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Benedict Cumberbatch – TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Eddie Marsan – TYRANNOSAUR
Ezra Miller – WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
Awww - Sally Hawkins got in, but no Noah Taylor? Who is this Michael Smiley?

MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER
Jessica Brown Findlay – ALBATROSS
John Boyega – ATTACK THE BLOCK
Craig Roberts – SUBMARINE
Yasmin Paige – SUBMARINE
Tom Cullen – WEEKEND
Again with the Albatross. Hmm...

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION
KILL LIST
TYRANNOSAUR
WEEKEND
WILD BILL
YOU INSTEAD

BEST TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
Chris King, Gregers Sall – Editing – SENNA
Sean Bobbitt – Cinematography – SHAME
Joe Walker – Editing – SHAME
Maria Djurkovic – Production Design – TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Seamus McGarvey – Cinematography – WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
Really? One lump category? Sound Mixers! Fight the Set Designers!

BEST DOCUMENTARY
HELL AND BACK AGAIN
LIFE IN A DAY
PROJECT NIM
SENNA
TT3D: CLOSER TO THE EDGE

BEST FOREIGN INDEPENDENT FILM
ANIMAL KINGDOM
DRIVE
PINA
A SEPARATION
THE SKIN I LIVE IN
How is Animal Kingdom eligible this year? And much as I enjoyed Animal Kingdom - Drive! Drive! (Although, A Separation won the Golden Bear. It very easily could win this as well)

Cinematic choices

2011-10-30T21:22:00.000-07:00

Does my love for Cillian Murphy outweigh my intense dislike of Justin Timberlake?
Does my love for Brad Bird outweigh my objection to Tom Cruise's crazy?
Ditto Tilda Swinton/Thinking about school shootings for two hours?
How about Tom Hiddleston/Steven Spielberg's propensity for overblown pathos?
Gary Oldman and Tom Hardy vs. Colin Firth and Really? You felt the need to remake Tinker Tailor?
Noomi Rapace
/Istillcan'tbelievetheycalleditSherlockHolmesithasNOTHINGtodowithSherlockHomesRizzleFrizzleANDthefirstonewasinexcusablydull?

Halloween Challenge #3 and a few tidbits

2011-10-10T16:04:00.000-07:00

So the third horror/thriller of the month: Scream 4. This was alright. It certainly was the best since the first film, but it never matches the fun and cool of the original. However, the snarky, self-aware horror tropes are done fairly well. In this installment, we're looking at the trend of remaking horror classics. At one point there is this exchange between Ghostface and the blond movie buff:

"Name the remake of the groundbreaking horror movie in which the vill..."

"Halloween, uh, Texas Chainsaw, Dawn of the Dead, The Hills Have Eyes, Amityville Horror, uh, Last House on the Left, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare On Elm Street, My Bloody Valentine, When A Stranger Calls, Prom Night, Black Christmas, House of Wax, The Fog, Piranha. It's one of those, right? Right?"

[Ed note: Her list made me realize that I was confusing The Mist for The Fog in my last post...]
Anyhoo. There were certainly clever bits, such as having a "ghostface voice app" on your smart phone, or the high school movie club idolizing Randy from the original. The largest problem is that the main new girl, Emma Roberts, isn't a particularly good actress, and when it finally comes time for her to hold the screen on her own without support, she just doesn't hold your attention very well. It's particularly tough, since (giving a somewhat-phoned in performance) Neve Campbell is right there, highlighting the difference the two. The supporting cast was mostly good; Rory Culkin and Hayden Panitierre as movie club horror buffs were the most entertaining. And Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell show up for an cute bit. Unfortunately, someone left Courtney Cox on shrill, and Marley Shelton has no discernable purpose, other than to remind us all of some of the ickier parts in Planet Terror.

Finally, I've always liked how Ghostface really comes off as "someone trying to run around in a halloween costume" and therefore occasionally trips, or gets beaten up. It works as a much more realistic slasher film. So, all in all, okay film. Still not as good as the original.

In other news, I've seen a few movies recently which probably deserve mention:
Thor - I really enjoyed this much more than I expected to. The backstory of Valhalla's war with the Frost Giants - or whatever - was a bit rough. But I think they were smart in handing the film to Kenneth Branagh since it deals with a lot of mythological archetypes and his classical training seems to hold him in good stead. And while I'm personally never going to root for Thor over Loki (I mean, come on), I enjoyed Chris Hemsworth's broadly comic take on Thor. All in all, a pretty decent entry in the superhero cannon.

And speaking of Tom Hiddleston, I also finally checked out Midnight in Paris, since it has been out for like 8 months, and consequently has a bit of oscar buzz. I was not a huge fan. It felt like Woody Allen got in the way of a better film. Maybe that is because his schtick has never done much for me and that Owen Wilson doing his best impression wasn't going to win me over either. The city is lovingly shot, even for someone who doesn't have much of an interest in Paris. And the idea is very cute. Really, though, the historical cameos steal the show; Kathy Bates as Gertrude Stein, Alison Pill as Zelda Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston plays F. Scott briefly), Adrien Brody as Dali. Corey Stoll walks off with the picture as Hemingway. (Which reminds me of my favorite Chicken/road joke: Why did the chicken cross the road? Hemingway: To die. In the rain.) The problem with the film is that I cared far more about those bit players than Owen Wilson's twee problems, and I really would rather have seen a period piece with that cast.

I also saw Moneyball, which I enjoyed, but not quite as much as I had thought I would. Maybe it is because I put off seeing it for a week or two after the season ended and was subconciously sad there wasn't more of the actual game in the film. Or, actual talk about stats... In terms of being an adult movie, which is entertaining and accessible to those who don't actually care about baseball or stats, it works quite well. I think I was expecting more of an Aaron Sorkin influence, but he only revised the script and didn't actually write it. So there wasn't as much smart banter between Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill as I had hoped. I think I generally went in with my expectations a bit too high. But it is a good film. It just kind of made me want to re-watch The Social Network. And last year's world series.

And, finally, Drive. I don't know why it took me so long to getting around to this, since I had been SO excited for it. But I loved it. It is really, really wonderful. First up, and important to know before watching, there are not many car chases in the film, aside from the brilliantly shot opening. Also, knowing Nicolas Winding Refn's work (and his propensity for filming violence) is probably good. That said, I was just rivited by the whole film. The supporting cast is good, but much of the movie is just an understanded performance by Ryan Gosling. Also, the rumors of a bromance between Refn and Gosling must be true, because the movie is framed around Gosling to his best effect in each scene. It reminded me of Meet Me in St. Louis and how lovingly Minnelli filmed Judy Garland. I'm not a huge Ryan Gosling fan (although I think he does good work), but you seriously can't take your eyes off of him here. Hmmm... I'm finding it hard to word this without coming off as a fan girl. What I mean is, this character, the way he is shot, and the performance are all completely compelling. (And I'm sure those women who were fans of the Notebook will appreciate Gosling as eye candy, too.)

Furthermore, the movie just exudes cool. The retro 80s pink font in the titles, his varsity jacket and driving gloves, and the slow-burn, taut direction; all of of it is stylish fun. It's an art-house pulp film. It's awesome. Check it out.

Halloween challenge no.s 1 & 2

2011-10-05T22:36:00.000-07:00

The Last House on the Left (2009)

Well, this was an ignoble way to start off the halloween challenge. I saw that this had both Aaron Paul and Garret Dillahunt in it and thought that, perhaps, it was one of those remakes with good reviews, such as Dawn of the Dead or The Mist. I was wrong. So very, very wrong.

This movie is TERRIBLE. It isn't scary. The entire point would be to ratchet up the tension, or to at least identify with the protagonists, and the direction is so haphazard that neither of those things happen. The basic premise is that a murderous family is on the loose, and they come to spend the night with a couple out in the country, citing car trouble. The couple is unaware, initially, that these are the same people that just raped their daughter and killed their daughter's friend. Anyways, I don't know if the original was any better, but that seems like a premise that you could do a lot with in a horror film. And instead it just goes nowhere. It's all just sort of awful and without purpose. The camera work is shoddy and annoying. And there is an extra scene tacked on at the end that is laugh-out-loud hilariously bad.

DON'T SEE IT. Any episode of Breaking Bad (or Dillahunt's FABULOUS scene with... I think it was Paul Schneider in the Assassination of Jesse James) is tenser. And way, way better.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Not one of my favorite silent films that I've ever seen. However, it deserves recognition for apparently being the first twist ending in cinema and for the phenomenal art direction.

The plot centers around a carnival barker who displays a somnabulist in the town fair. During the fair, a rash of murders breaks out (a bevy of murders? What is the collective noun for murders? A raven?). Now, I always thought that a somnabulist was just a sleepwalker, but within the confines of this film, this guy can be woken up briefly to play the role of psychic as well. I don't know. Anyways, everyone runs around to try to figure out who the murderer is, one guy suspects the somnabulist, there's a girl (obvs.) and the barker tells the somnabulist to kill her, but he's so captivated by her beauty that the somnabulist simply kidnaps her instead.... it goes on. There are some red herrings and then a twist ending. It's all okay. They best part is that all the sets are painted and constructed at odd angles and with strange curvatures, so that the perspective is always off and a little hallucinatory. Anyways, it's an interesting bit of film history, but there are better silent films to see.

Hopefully the next installment will have actual recommendations...

It's Halloween! It's Halloween!

2011-10-01T16:47:00.000-07:00

Well, almost. October is just about my favorite month of the year. I love the fall and halloween is my favorite holiday. Which leads to me to two topics relevant to this blog.

The first is the silver lining that comes out of the Giants not being in the playoffs. While I spent last October watching games (and I would have preferred to do that again this year), the small consolation is that I'm free to bump all the horror films and thrillers to the top of my queue and indulge this month. Remember the Halloween challenge? Let's go ahead and resurrect that.

The second is a new mix! In addition to putting my Halloween mix back on my iPhone, I added a new one this year. I have a playlist called, "If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him" which is all murder ballads. (The title is a quote from an abused woman who was heard saying, "If I'd killed him when I met him, I'd be out of jail now." It's also the title to a Sharyn McCrumb book.) Anyways, this new playlist is the best of those that also display lyrical dissonance. Enjoy! Happy Spooky Month!

1. I Can't Decide - Scissor Sisters
2. Pumped Up Kicks - Foster the People
3. Becky - Be Your Own Pet
4. Kinda Outta Luck - Lana Del Rey
5. Goodbye Earl - Dixie Chicks
6. Gun Powder and Lead - Miranda Lambert
7. Smooth Criminal - Alien Ant Farm
8. Wrong 'Em Boyo - The Clash
9. Stagger Lee - Wilson Pickett
10. Maxwell's Silver Hammer - The Beatles
11. Hey Joe - Jimi Hendrix
12. Hand of Fate - The Rolling Stones
13. You Only Want Me 'Cause You Want My Sister - Evelyn Evelyn
14. Knoxville Girl - Louvin Brothers
15. The Banks of the Ohio - Charley Pride
16. Cocaine Blues - Johnny Cash
17. Caleb Meyer - Gillian Welch
18. Stack Shot Billy - The Black Keys
19. Jenny Was a Friend of Mine - The Killers
20. The Rake's Song - The Decemberists
21. The Curse of Millhaven - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
22. I Used To Love Her (But I Had To Kill Her) - Guns and Roses
23. I've Committed Murder - Macy Gray
24. Excitable Boy - Warren Zevon
25. Cell Block Tango - Chicago
26. The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun - Julie Brown
27. A Little Priest - Sweeney Todd
28. I Don't Like Mondays - Tori Amos
29. Miss Otis Regrets - Ella Fitzgerald

(Okay - so the Jenny Was a Friend of Mine/Rake's Song/Curse of Millhaven section is a little minor-key/murdery, but I like them, so whatever. And Nick Cave has to been on any mix with murder ballads... Also, there are still a few songs that I'm searching for to add to this list, including Irish Ballad - Tom Leher, I Kept Her Heart - The Pine Box Boys, Ballad of Booth - Assassins (god love Sondheim), I'm Sorry - Margaret Cho)

The Mill Valley Film Fest. Rawr.

2011-09-15T17:53:00.000-07:00

The Mill Valley Film fest has released its titles. *Le sigh* I barely have it in my budget to attend one film fest a year, let alone two!

The problem here is that there are a bunch of titles that I've been hearing about from Toronto, Telluride, and Venice, and which I am super excited about. However, a lot of those titles will likely get distribution, so if I can wait a little, I can see them for $11, rather than $13. Not including Golden Gate Transit fare over the bridge....

What's showing? Albert Nobbs, Jeff Who Lives at Home, The Artist, My Week with Marilyn, We Need to Talk about Kevin, Martha Marcy May Marlene, The Lady, Circus Dreams, Pina, Shame, Coriolanus, The Story of Film, Like Crazy, Pariah, Margin Call, Miss Bala, Turn Me On Dammit!, Being Elmo, Lotus Eaters, A Few Best Men, The Forgiveness of Blood, Pegasus, and Stage Left, amongst others.

Tell me that isn't a BRILLIANT line up.

So let's look at these films individually and see if we can figure out what is worth attending (scheduling and a lack of vacation days aside....)

Albert Nobbs - Glen Close protrays a woman who passes as a man to work in Victorian Ireland. Got disappointing reviews at Toronto. Skip.

Jeff Who Lives at Home (US premiere!) - The newest Duplass brothers film, with good reviews coming out of Toronto. Paramount Vantage is releasing in March, 2012. Wait for it. (Wait, I thought Vantage shuttered?)

The Artist - The Cannes sensation. The Weinstein Co. is releasing, but I am really excited for this. Check out scheduling.

My Week with Marilyn - Michelle Williams playing Marilyn Monroe. Being released in November. Wait.

We Need to Talk about Kevin (US premiere)- I remember this book being described to me by one of my regulars at the bar I worked at. Her description was, "don't read this if you are at all considering children." Well, I'm not, but still. Euch. Anyways, I'm sure Tilda Swinton is amazing, because SWINTON, but I'm not sure if I'm up to watching school shooting aftermath. I didn't see Michael Sheen's film on the same topic. If I'm going to watch something school shooting related, it should probably be Gus Van Sant's Elephant. Wait.

Martha Marcy May Marlene - Aaaaah! SO EXCITED FOR THIS! It's John Hawkes in a Sundance darling with a buzzed about female lead performance. OF COURSE I'M GOING.

The Lady - About Aung San Suu Kyi. A 2012 release after an oscar qualifying run. Wait.

Circus Dreams - Circus Smirkus! I LOVE Circus Smirkus! The only downside to this showing, is that it is geared towards kids. Hmmm.... Normally I wait for DVD on docs. But this one may depend on the scheduling. And how my tolerance for children is going.

Pina - Germany's foregin oscar submission, and 3-D modern dance. I definitely want to see this, and if the 3-D prices are cheaper at the film fest, I'll try to work it in.

Shame - SO EXCITED FOR THIS ONE TOO! Michael Fassbender and Steve McQueen reteam. If it is half as amazing as Hunger (and all reviews point to it being excellent), I'm totally in.

Coriolanus (US premiere!)- Ralph Fiennes's Shakespeare. Hmm - Totally excited; it is supposed to be excellent. Wide January release from the Weinstein co. Can probably wait. But this may sneak in if the timing works...

The Story of Film - I'm confused. I thought this was a tv series. It's like 15 hours long.
Aha! This is one section of the series they are presenting; in this case the 70s. Well, I want to see the whole thing at some point, in order. Skip for now.

Like Crazy - Another Sundance hit about a romance that breaks up as one half is forced back to the UK. All the actors involved are great. Paramount Vantage is releasing in late Oct/Nov, so I think I'll wait. (Aha again!: In June 2008, Paramount Pictures consolidated Paramount Vantage’s marketing, distribution, and physical production departments into the parent studio, while retaining the Paramount Vantage brand to develop and acquire specialty product with dedicated creative staff. So it shuttered as an independent branch.)

Pariah - Another one with good Sundance buzz. This one is about a Brooklyn girl trying to come out. Focus is giving a limited release at Christmas, including in San Francisco. I think I'll wait.

Margin Call - A great cast, a hard-to-sell topic (default credit swaps!), and mixed reviews. Releasing in October. Wait and see what the revviews are like on wide release. Possibly skip.

Miss Bala - I heard pretty good things about this one coming out of Cannes. It's about a beauty pageant contestant trying to break free from organized crime in Mexico. It's getting a limited release in October. I think I'll wait either for later, or for DVD.

Turn Me On, Dammit! - A Norwegian comedy that premiered at Tribeca (it won best screenplay). As far as I know, it hasn't been picked up for distribution, so I may try to catch it.

Being Elmo - I'm not sure I can stand the cuteness. Still, a super popular doc for the year. Wait.

Lotus Eaters - this sounds like an Irish modern day Bright Young Things and it premiered at Tribeca. I'm not sold on it, but there are no release plans I'm aware of. Hmmm.... leaning towards skipping.

A Few Best Men (North American premiere!)- an Aussie comedy about traveling through the outback to get to a wedding. No release plans. Directed by Stephan Elliott of Priscilla (awesome) and Easy Virtue (awful). Hmmm... I'll look at the schedule, but I'm leaning towards no...

The Forgiveness of Blood - about an Albanian family, it won the silver bear at Berlin. Sundance Selects has distribution rights, although I haven't seen a release date. This one is a maybe, dependent on scheduling.

Pegasus (North American premiere!) - winner of best picture at Africa's FESPACO fest, and a Moroccan film about a traumatized young woman with "elements of magical realism and a David Lynch–like sense of atmosphere and rhythm." I can't see anything about distribution or a release, so I think I'll try to check it out.

Stage Left: A Story of Theater in San Francisco. This could be awful, and yet I feel like I have to see it.

Of course, I should probably also see the short film line-up about Sustainability.

Okay - so I'll see what the sceduling and prices look like for those in bold... and maybe all this will result in some ACTUAL movie reviews on this blog! Whodathunkit...

Old mix

2011-09-03T14:53:00.000-07:00

I was cleaning my room and came across a mixtape (as in, an actual cassette tape) from April 6, 1999. Let's take a look, shall we?

1. Stupid Girl - Garbage

2. Just a Girl - No Doubt



3. Welcome to Paradise - Green Day



4. I Think I'm Paranoid - Garbage



5. Come Out and Play - The Offspring
Not embeddable. Video here.

6. Big Bang Baby - Stone Temple Pilots
Also not embeddable. Video here and it is HILARIOUS. I don't think I've ever seen it before, but how 1996 is that??

7. Only Happy When it Rains - Garbage
Not embeddable. What the hell, people? Video here.

8. Kids in America - The Muffs
Don't think there is a video for this one. Song here.

9. Ray of Light - Madonna

Funny - I don't remember ever liking this song that much...

10. When I Grow Up - Garbage



11. Sunday Morning - No Doubt

Wow. Also did not know that this song had a video. I'd say that I would have totally coveted that skirt back then, but let's be honest. I still want that skirt.

12. Basket Case - Green Day



13. Machinehead - Bush

Yet another unknown video!

14. Dumb - Garbage
No video. Song here.

15. Vow - Garbage
Also no video, so here they are live:

16. Skin - Madonna
No video. Song here.

Oh, trip through 90s nostalgia....

Fall movies on the way

2011-08-31T20:09:00.000-07:00

Vulture has a list of their 50 most anticipated films for the Fall. Meanwhile, indieWire has a list of their 30 most anticipated films. Can you tell it's about to be September? Here are the ones I'm also looking forward to (all descriptions by Vulture and indieWire; starred items are on both lists):

*Drive: We've seen it. We loved it. We're obsessed with the soundtrack. Nicolas Winding Refn's brutal, luscious Ryan Gosling neo-noir is Vulture's most anticipated movie of the fall, just because we can't wait to see it again. Just don't watch the too-revealing trailers, OK?

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: David Fincher follows up The Social Network with this English-language adaptation of the runaway best-seller, starring Daniel Craig and relative newcomer Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander. Sure, the book was a big deal on its own, but what's not to love about the idea of Fincher handed a blockbuster budget to make a hard-R mystery thriller?

The Muppets: The Muppet brand faded away over the last decade or so, but who better to bring it back than a reverent Jason Segel, who also co-wrote the songs? At the very least, this has to outgross The Smurfs, or else we just don't know what to do with you, America.

*A Dangerous Method: David Cronenberg directs a kinky period drama starring Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley, and Vincent Cassel. Our only concern is that this might be too amazing. Well, that and the fact that the movie might cause us to unexpectedly lust after Carl Jung (Fassbender) and Sigmund Freud (Mortensen). What would our shrink say?

The Ides of March: We’d be eager to see a political thriller directed by George Clooney and co-starring Ryan Gosling — who is having quite the fall (see #1) —if we knew nothing else about it, but this one is based on the critically acclaimed play Farragut North, in turn loosely based on Howard Dean’s 2004 campaign, which means it’s sure to have the x-factor so many wannabe prestige films are missing: a good script.

*Martha Marcy May Marlene: The Sundance hit that turned Elizabeth Olsen from the twin’s little sister into an it girl in her own right, is an eerie, complexly layered film (remember the poster?) about a young woman readjusting to life after being in a cult. Though not similar plot-wise, it could be this year’s Winter’s Bone, which is to say raw, powerful, star-making, and co-starring John Hawkes.

*50/50: Seth Rogen makes another cancer dramedy, though this one could be a crowd-pleaser where Funny People was not. Joseph Gordon Levitt's cueball cancer patient is the selling point here, but we're also kind of excited to see Anna Kendrick in something again.

*Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: This veddy, veddy British espionage thriller is being tipped for Oscar glory, and pundits are already buzzing about Gary Oldman's lead performance. Still, even if it's simply a well-made John le Carre adaptation, what's to be mad about?

*Take Shelter: Michael Shannon is simply staggering in this Sundance drama about an ordinary family man driven to the brink by apocalyptic visions. The Best Actor field is going to be crowded this year, but can they please make some room for him?

J. Edgar: Leonardo DiCaprio gets good results from going period, and Clint Eastwood's decade-spanning drama about the man who founded the FBI has a juicy gay subplot that finds J. Edgar Hoover grappling with — then kissing — his right-hand man Clyde Tolson (played by Social Network breakout Armie Hammer). Let's hope they pull off the ambitious old-age makeup, since so many scenes feature Hoover and Tolson in their sixties and beyond.

*The Artist: The Weinsteins picked up this Cannes hit, a black-and-white, silent tribute to the Golden Age of Hollywood. Could this be this year's heartwarming Oscar contender, in the vein of The King's Speech? At the very least, expect major accolades for French actor Jean Dujardin, who plays the dashing, Errol Flynn-like lead.

Moneyball: The movie most likely to scratch your Social Network itch is another Aaron Sorkin screenplay that turns wonky, data crunching subjects into quip-spewing heroes. This one’s based on Michael Lewis’s Moneyball and stars a pre-slimmed down Jonah Hill and Brad Pitt as Billy Bean, the manager of the Oakland Athletics, who, with limited funds and a new perspective on how to measure a player’s quality put together a winning team. Predicted dialogue: “Batting average isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? VORP.”

*The Skin I Live In: Antonio Banderas finally reteams with the director who launched his career, Pedro Almodovar. This creepy drama, which casts Banderas as a plastic surgeon with a beautiful woman held captive in the basement, may give the actor another career jolt.

*In the Land of Blood and Honey: We’d be intrigued by Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut just because it’s Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut (and original screenplay), but early word on the Bosnian-set love story is that it’s better than just a vanity project. Is there nothing she can’t do? We’ll find out.

*Warrior: Two brothers face off in this season’s take on families who use their fists, professionally speaking. In a “twist” this movie’s tortured, dueling brothers (Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton) are mixed martial artists, not boxers. Warrior is as straightforward as can be, but it works like gangbusters, anchored by a charismatic, career-amping turn from Hardy.

*Like Crazy: Anton Yelchin and up-and-comer Felicity Jones toppling as star-crossed, long-distance lovers in this mumblecore romance, which was well-received at Sundance. And yep, that's the suddenly white-hot Jennifer Lawrence popping up briefly to make this relationship a tricky love triangle.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol: For sheer tentpole thrills, let's hope this fourth installment can deliver with Pixar genius Brad Bird at the helm of his live-action debut. Adding Jeremy Renner and Josh Holloway to the M:I team is a pretty good start.

*Coriolanus: Ralph Fiennes makes his directorial debut on this Shakespeare adaptation, but we've heard the real action comes from Vanessa Redgrave, who's a surefire Oscar contender as his mother. Plus, we're Jessica Chastain completists around here, so we feel obligated to go and support what may be her hundredth movie role of the year.

*Carnage: Roman Polanski’s first film since he was released from house arrest is an adaptation of Yasmina Reza's Tony-winning play God of Carnage. It co-stars Jodie Foster (whose affection for wildly misbehaving men seems to know no bounds), Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, and John C. Reilly as two sets of Brooklyn parents who face off, increasingly inappropriately, over an altercation between their sons. There will be projectile vomiting.

*The Rum Diary: Johnny Depp basically reprises his role as Hunter S. Thompson in this adaptation of Thompson’s zany novel set in Puerto Rico, and co-starring Amber Heard. Results seem appropriately, and enticingly, gonzo.

Weekend: Over the course of its titular timeframe, this SXSW favorite follows Russell (Tom Cullen) and Glen (Chris New), two men who extend their blurry and drunken one-night stand into 48 hours to remember. Russell is a pragmatic and semi-closeted lifeguard; Glen is a stubborn intellectual who “doesn’t do boyfriends.” Tender, talky and intensely sexy, the film could reductively be described as a sort of gay “Before Sunrise.” Which is meant a compliment. The star-crossed romance in “Weekend” is perfectly executed by director Haigh, who lets the film quietly creep up on the viewer as a powerful new entry into the queer cinema lexicon.

Pariah: Rounding out the quartet of acclaimed Sundance dramas coming out this fall, “Pariah” marks the directorial debut of Dee Rees. The film stars newcomer Adepero Oduye as a 17-year-old Brooklyn high school student coming to terms with her sexuality. While comparisons to “Precious” are all but assured (African-American femalecentric narratives to win raves out of Sundance aren’t exactly commonplace), “Pariah” is an entirely different entity, in large part because it avoids being as precious as “Precious.” Offering a fresh take on the coming out narrative, it provides an all-too-rare look at the triple-edged sword of repression that comes with being female, African-American and gay.

Sleeping Beauty: Australian novelist-turned-filmmaker Julia Leigh rose many eyebrows when she made it into Cannes’ official competition on her feature film debut. Starring Emily Browning as a high end prostitute who is sedated while wealthy men have their way with her, the film rose even more when it actually debuted. Endorsed by Australian cinema icon Jane Campion, “Beauty” marks a director to watch in Leigh. While it is sure to scare off filmgoers uncomfortable with its content, Eric Kohn’s Cannes review suggests it well worth the ride for anyone that can handle it.

Albert Nobbs: A major passion project for actress Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs” portrays an Englishwoman (Close) who disguises herself as a man and works as a butler to survive in male-dominated 19th century Ireland. Close first played the titular character in a 1982 stage production and has fought to have the play turned into a film ever since (she also co-wrote the screenplay and produced). Joined by an admirable supporting cast in Mia Wasikowska, Aaron Johnson, Brendan Gleeson and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, the film could bring Close back into the Oscar mix for the first time since 1988, when she ended a streak that saw her nab five nominations in seven years (but no wins).

Tyrannosaur: The first feature entirely written and directed by actor Paddy Considine, “Tyrannosaur” stars Peter Mullan, Olivia Colman and Eddie Marsan. Mullan stars as a troubled man whose life gets a chance of redemption appears in the form of Hannah (Olivia Colman), a Christian charity shop worker. Eric Kohn writes in his Sundance review: “The discomfiting story of a middle-aged drunkard overcoming his booze-fueled woes, Considine announces his directorial vision with a morbid character piece sustained by two remarkably intense performances.” He speaks of course of Mullan and Colman, who have received widespread acclaim for their work.

Maybe also W.E. - lets see the reviews coming out of Venice. I'm also waiting to hear about Butter, The Lady. Take this Waltz, 388 Arletta Avenue, The Deep Blue Sea, Afghan Luke, The Hunter, and Shame.

Another day, another list

2011-08-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

Literary this time!

The 10 books you should have read in high school. I have heard, and have absolutely nothing with which to back this up, that one silver lining to e-readers is that the fact that classics are free has meant an uptick in people reading them.

One interesting thing about this list is that only one, The Great Gatsby, was ever taught in any of the schools I went to, and Lord of the Flies was taught at my brother's elementary school (I borrowed his copy and read it). I've read most of these, but nearly all as a teenager or 20-something trying to catch up on classics that I had "missed" in my personal curriculum.

The So-Called Spielberg Curriculum

2011-08-02T14:06:00.001-07:00

I don't believe this list comes from Steven Spielberg, but hey. I've never met a list I didn't like. Or, rather, a list I didn't throw up here, because let's be honest - I FREQUENTLY disagree with lists.

Honestly, this list reads like someone with a TCM subscription and a thing for Al Pacino. There are a couple on here I've never even heard of. Hmmm....

And aside from the whole "to be a director, you should watch lots of movies to learn your craft" approach that one writer suggests as an explanation for the list, I can't imagine that anyone would describe these 200 movies as required knowledge. Either for the history of cinema, pop culture, or movie making techniques. Still, it does reinforce some of those classics I really need to get around to seeing... (cough*Taxi Driver*cough).

So... the 'Spielberg' Curriculum:

12 Angry Men
2001 (ugh.)
400 Blows
8 1/2
Adam's Rib
Alfie
Al Capone
All About Eve
All That Jazz
American In Paris
And Justice For All
Annie Hall
Apartment, The
Apocalypse Now
All/Presidents Men
Baby Doll
Bang/Drum Slowly
Barefoot In/Park
Battleship Potemkin
Belle De Jour
Best Years/Lives
Big Sleep, The
Bicycle Thief
Big Chill, The (Really? I mean, it's good...)
Birds, The (No.)
Body Heat
Bonnie & Clyde
Breakfast/Tiffany's (ugh.)
Breathless
Bridge/River Kwai
Brief Encounter
Bringing Up Baby
Bullitt (*sigh* I really need to see the whole thing.)
Butch/Sundance
Cape Fear
Casablanca (Ugh.)
Celebration, The
Champ, The (Seriously? I have heard nothing good about this film.)
Charade
Chase, The
Children/Paradise
Chinatown
Citizen Kane
Clockwork Orange
Close Encounters (There's no way Spielberg would add this to a list of his own devising.)
Come Back/Sheba
Cool Hand Luke
Conversation, The (I didn't realize this was directed by Francis Ford Coppola)
Day/Earth/Still
Days/Wine & Roses
Deer Hunter, The
Dog Day Afternoon
Double Indemnity (not a fan. There are better noirs.)
Doctor Zhivago
East of Eden
Exorcist,The
Face In The Crowd
Five Easy Pieces
Fly, The
French Connection
French Conn. 2 (Really?)
From Here/Eternity
Fugitive Kind, The
Gaslight
General, The
Gntlmn’s Agrmnt
Giant
Gone With/Wind
Grand Illusion
Great Escape, The (Love love love)
Godfather, The
Godfatherr II, The
Godfather III, The
Graduate, The
Grapes Of Wrath
Great Santini, The
Guess Who's…
Guns Of Navaronne
Heiress, The
High Noon
Hud
Hunter, The
Hustler, The
His Girl Friday
Holiday
I Confess
Immigrant, The
In A Lonely Place
In/Heat Of/Night
Indiscretion/Wife
It Happened/Night
It's A Wonderful Life
Jdgmnt/Nuremberg
Julius Caesar
Kramer Vs. Kramer
Last Detail, The
Last Picture Show
Last Tango In Paris
Lawrence Of Arabia
Little Foxes, The
Lolita
Lonelyhearts
Long Day's Journey
Long Hot Summer
Lost In America
Lost Weekend
Love Story (Seriously?)
M Fritz Lang Peter Lorre
Magnif. Ambersons
Magnificent Seven
Man/Shot Liberty…
Manchurian Cand.
Marathon Man
Marty
Mean Streets
Men, The
Metropolis
Midnight Cowboy
Miracle/Morgan's…
Misfits, The
Mississippi Burning
Missouri Breaks
Modern Romance
Modern Times
Mr. Smith Goes To…
Mutiny/Bounty
My Fair Lady
Nashville (I'd like to point out that whoever put this list together listed Jeff Goldblum as one of the primary actors... despite having no lines. Good job, listmaker.)
National Velvet
Network
North By Northwest
Notorious
No Way To Treat…
Odd Couple, The
On the Waterfront
One/Cuckoo's Nest
One-Eyed Jacks
Ordinary People
Panic/Needle Park
Papillion
Party, The
Parallax View
Patton
Pawnbroker, The
Philadelphia Story
Public Enemy, The
Psycho
Quiet Man, The
Raging Bull
Rain People, The
Raintree County
Ramblin' Rose
Real Life
Rear Window
Rebel W/out Cause
Red River
Reflections in a…
Requiem for a…
Rosemary's Baby (ugh.)
Runaway Train
Safety Last (I think?)
Sand Pebbles
Saturday Night Fever
Sayonara
Scarecrow
Scarface
Scent Of A Woman
Searchers, The
Serpico
Seven Samurai
Seventh Seal
Signal 7
Singin' In the Rain
Smiles of a…
Soldier In The Rain
Some Like It Hot
Sound Of Music (ugh. Ugh ugh.)
Splendor/Grass
Stagecoach
Star Is Born
Star Wars
Streetcar/Desire
Suddenly Last…
Sullivan's Travels
Sunset Boulevard
Sweet Bird of Youth
Taxi Driver
Teahouse of the…
Tender Mercies
Third Man, The
Three Days/Condor
To Kill/Mockingbird
Tootsie
Tree Grows in…
Trip To Bountiful, A
Two Rode Together
Verdict, The
Vertigo
Viva Zapata
Wait Until Dark
West Side Story
White Christmas
Who's Afraid…
Wild One, The
Wild River
Young Lions, The

Speaking of the Emmys....

2011-07-31T23:03:00.000-07:00

Gold Derby has a round up of the episode submissions here: http://www.goldderby.com/cms/view/87

Angry Women

2011-07-31T22:44:00.001-07:00

I came across this blog post and wanted to share it here: Good Girls Gone Mad: Music Videos and the "Problem" of Female Rage - pt. 1.

Mix Time!

2011-07-30T17:09:00.000-07:00

Here it is: my final mix that I'm taking for my first 5K tomorrow. No real order, since it'll be on shuffle:

Call Your Girlfriend - Robyn
Freaks and Geeks - Childish Gambino
Satellite Mind - Metric
Know Your Enemy (live) - Green Day
Strobe (Adagio in D Minor) - John Murphy
Planetary (Go!) - My Chemical Romance
Party Up - DMX
Kids in America - The Muffs
Semiotic Love - Blaqk Audio
This is the New Shit - Marilyn Manson
Bombs over Baghdad - Outkast
Major Tom - Shiny Toy Guns
Kick Ass - Mika
Popcorn - Muse
Telephone (Dark Intensity Remix) - Lady Gaga
MK Ultra - Muse
She (live) - Green Day

No - I don't plan on running for an hour. I wanted some spares in case one of them isn't doing it for me during the race.

TIFF

2011-07-26T13:33:00.000-07:00

So - I've been working on a longer post (for... ummm... months now. It keeps becoming more and more unmanageable). So... in my dearth of posting, I bring you: TIFF 2011. *sigh* One day I will go to there....

Gala Presentation
From the Sky Down (Davis Guggenheim, USA)

Galas - I'm excited about almost all of these.
Albert Nobbs (Rodrigo Garcia, Ireland)
Butter (Jim Field Smith, USA)
A Dangerous Method (David Cronenberg, France/Ireland/UK/Germany/Canada) [CANNOT WAIT.]
A Happy Event (Rémi Bezancon, France) [I have never heard of this.]
The Ides of March (George Clooney, USA) [Maybe? Can't wait to hear reviews for this.]
The Lady (Luc Besson, France/UK)
Moneyball (Bennett Miller, USA) [CANNOT WAIT.]
Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding (Bruce Beresford, USA) [Um.... what?]
Take this Waltz (Sarah Polley, Canada)
W.E. (Madonna, UK)

Special Presentations
11 Flowers (Wang Xiaoshuai, China/France)
50/50 (Jonathan Levine, USA) [Yay!]
360 (Fernando Meirelles, UK/Austria/France/Brazil)
The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius, France) [Already has good buzz]
Americano (Mathieu Demy, France)
Anonymous (Roland Emmerich, Germany) Ugh. Just... ugh.
A Better Life (Cédric Khan, France) Well, this is confusing, since Chris Weitz has a movie with the same title out at the moment....
Burning Man (Jonathan Teplitzky, Australia)
Chicken with Plums (Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud, France/Germany/Belgium)
Coriolanus (Ralph Fiennes, UK) [Already has good buzz]
Countdown (Huh Jong-ho, Korea)
Dark Horse (Todd Solondz, USA)
The Deep Blue Sea (Terence Davies, UK) This looks interesting...
The Descendants (Alexander Payne, USA)
Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn, USA) [Good buzz, CANNOT WAIT.]
Elles (Malgoska Szumowska, France/Poland/Germany)
Eye of the Storm (Fred Schepisi, Australia)
Friends with Kids (Jennifer Westfeldt, USA)
Habemus Papam (Nanni Moretti, Italy/France)
Headhunters (Morten Tyldum Norway)
Hick (Derick Martini, USA)
The Hunter (Daniel Nettheim, Australia) Awww.... Tasmanian tigers. :(
Jeff, Who Lives at Home (Jay Duplass & Mark Duplass, USA)
Killer Joe (William Friedkin, USA)
Like Crazy (Drake Doremus, USA) [Good buzz]
Machine Gun Preacher (Marc Forster, USA)
Martha Marcy May Marlene (Sean Durkin, USA) [Good buzz]
Melancholia (Lars von Trier, Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany) [Good buzz]
The Oranges (Julian Farino, USA)
Pearl Jam Twenty (Cameron Crowe, USA)
Rampart (Oren Moverman, USA)
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (Lasse Hallstrom, UK)
Shame (Steve McQueen, UK) CANNOT WAIT.
A Simple Life (Ann Hui, HK/China)
The Skin I Live In (Pedro Almodóvar, Spain)
Take Shelter (Jeff Nichols, USA) [Good buzz]
Ten Year (Jamie Linden, USA)
Trishna (Michael Winterbottom, UK)
Twixt (Francis Ford Coppola, USA) Seriously - what the hell is this?!?
Tyrannosaur (Paddy Considine, UK) Good buzz.
We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, UK) Mixed buzz.
Where Do We Go Now? (Nadine Labaki, France/Lebanon/Italy/Egypt)
Woman in the Fifth (Pawel Pawlikowski, France/Poland/United Kingdom)

Emmy noms!

2011-07-14T07:29:00.000-07:00

Awww... Love the Emmys. I don't care enough to really, REALLY get invested in them, but they come right at the perfect lull between movie awards seasons.

So... the nominations. With commentary. Because I kibbitz. It's what I do.

Best drama series: Boardwalk Empire, Friday Night Lights, Dexter, Game of Thrones, The Good Wife, Mad Men.

I didn't love The Walking Dead as much as I thought I would, but I wish it were up here. And I suppose I need to see Boardwalk Empire. Also, it should be an interesting year since Breaking Bad is ineligible till next year.

In conclusion: Dexter! Dexter!

Best comedy series: Modern Family, 30 Rock, Glee, The Office, The Big Bang Theory, Parks and Recreation.

Community community community. COMMUNITY. Also: Always Sunny In Philadelphia.

Drama actress: Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife; Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men; Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU; Kathy Bates, Harry’s Law; Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights and Mireille Enos, The Killing.

Comedy actor: Steve Carell, The Office; Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock; Jim Parsons, Big Bang Theory; Matt LeBlanc, Episodes, Louis C.K., Louie; Johnny Galecki, Big Bang Theory.

Joel McHale. I will say, though, that I'm kinda happy about Matt LeBlanc's inclusion.

Drama actor: Jon Hamm, Mad Men; Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire; Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights; Michael C. Hall, Dexter; Hugh Laurie, House; Timothy Olyphant, Justified.

Huzzah! Timothy Olyphant!! Also: Michael C. Hall. I know a lot of people weren't fans of the last season, but I loved it.

And I'm happy Chris Meloni is moving on to other endeavors, since he never got the recognition Mariska did.

Comedy actress: Tina Fey, 30 Rock; Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie; Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation; Laura Linney, The Big C; Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope; Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly.

Yay Martha Plimpton! (Is Raising Hope supposed to be any good?)

Supporting drama actor: Andre Braugher, Men of a Certain Age; John Slattery, Mad Men; Alan Cumming, The Good Wife; Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones; Josh Charles, The Good Wife; Walton Goggins, Justified.

I'm still a little sad that Ryan Kwanten didn't win for S2 of True Blood. But, happy to see Peter Dinklage and Walton Goggins on here. Plus, I love Alan Cumming, and Josh Charles can do no wrong (although I really don't need to add one more tv show to my 'to be watched category' - stop it, Good Wife!), so.... pretty strong category. I'm going to root for Walton Goggins, though. (I tried to watch Game of Thrones for Peter Dinklage, but.... I just couldn't get into it...)

Supporting comedy actor: Ty Burrell, Modern Family; Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family; Ed O’Neill, Modern Family; Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family; Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men; Chris Colfer, Glee.

Danny Pudi and Neil Patrick Harris. Just... stop with the Modern Family thing.

Supporting comedy actress: Julie Bowen, Modern Family; Sofia Vergara, Modern Family; Jane Lynch, Glee; Betty White, Hot in Cleveland; Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live; Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock.

Really? Betty White over Lea Michele? Really?

Supporting drama actress: Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife; Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire; Christine Baranski, The Good Wife; Michelle Forbes, The Killing; Margo Martindale, Justified; Christina Hendricks, Mad Men.

Movie or miniseries: Mildred Pierce, HBO; Downtown Abbey, PBS; The Kennedys, ReelzChannel; Cinema Verite, HBO; Too Big To Fail, HBO; Pillars of the Earth, Starz.

The Kennedys? Really?

Reality competition: So You Think You Can Dance, Top Chef, The Amazing Race, American Idol, Dancing With the Stars, Project Runway.

Reality host: Jeff Probst, Survivor; Cat Deeley, So You Think You Can Dance; Phil Keoghan, Amazing Race; Tom Bergeron, Dancing With the Stars; Ryan Seacrest, American Idol.

Variety, music or comedy series: The Colbert Report, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live, Conan, Real Time with Bill Maher, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

You know, I don't watch it, but shouldn't somebody have gotten an acting nod for In Treatment? Also, I've heard from those that watch it, that the most deserving actor on the Killing is Stephen Holder. Then again, it took the Emmys a little while to come around on Aaron Paul.

Also also (from Vulture): "Con: And speaking of Oscars, the debacle that was this year's James Franco–led Academy Awards somehow got nine Emmy nominations, including one for Best Direction." That's so wrong.

I suppose I should go bump Mildred Pierce up my queue.

Golden Trailer Winners

2011-07-01T22:49:00.000-07:00

First up, the category that was only unveiled on the day:
Best In Show

Winner:

The Social Network "Trailer #2", Sony Pictures, Mark Woollen & Associates

Nominees:

Blue Valentine "Trailer 1", The Weinstein Company, Zealot Productions Inc
Inception "Control", Warner Bros., BLT:AV
The King's Speech, The Weinstein Company, AV Squad
Tree of Life, Fox Searchlight, Mark Woollen & Associates

Yup. I'd say that's about right. The Social Network was the best. Blue Valentine, Inception, and Tree of Life were all brilliant. King's Speech. Bah.

Best Action
Inception “Control”, Warner Bros., BLT:AV
Sucker Punch “Trailer”, Warner Bros./Legendary Pictures, Mojo
The Town “This Side”, Warner Bros., Wild Card
Unstoppable “Domestic Trailer”, 20th Century Fox, Ignition Creative

Inception wins it!

Best Animation/Family
Cars 2 “Spies Are Us”, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, mOcean
Gnomeo & Juliet, Walt Disney Studios, The Ant Farm
Hop “Battle For Easter”, 20th Century Fox, Cimarron Entertainment
Rango “Teaser”, Paramount Pictures, The Ant Farm

Rango wins it!

Best Comedy
Bad Teacher “Hot For Teacher”, Columbia, Seismic Productions
The Hangover Part II “Trailer #3”, Warner Bros./Legendary Pictures, BLT:AV
The Other Guys “Return to Glory”, Columbia, Seismic Productions
Paul “Trailer”, Universal/Working Title, Workshop Creative

The Other Guys Wins it! I'm happy with that - their teaser was really funny.

Best Documentary
Catfish, Universal Pictures, Mark Woollen & Associates
Life in a Day “Best Day Ever Trailer, Scott Free/National Geographic, Empire Design
 Running America, Nehst, Mighty Pictures
The Tillman Story “Trailer 1”, The Weinstein Company/ A&E Indie Films, Zealot Productions Inc.

The Tillman Story wins it! Yay! Happy with all the wins so far!

Best Drama
127 Hours, Fox Searchlight/Pathe, Motive 
Hereafter, “Connection”, Warner Bros., Wild Card
The King’s Speech, The Weinstein Company, AV Squad
The Social Network ,”Domestic Trailer #2”, Sony Pictures, Mark Woollen & Associates

The Social Network wins it!

Best Horror
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, “Whisper”, Miramax, Buddha Jones
The Last Exorcism, Lionsgate, Mojo 
Let Me In, “More”, Overture/Hammer/Relativity Films, Buddha Jones
The Rite, “Proof”, New Line Cinema, Aspect Ratio

The Last Exorcism wins it! I... don't remember this one. Was it the priest who didn't believe nay more? Oh, yup. That got mostly good reviews.

Best Independent Trailer
It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Focus Features, Big Science Film, Inc
Martha Marcy May Marlene, “Can’t Wait”, Fox Searchlight, Acme Trailer Company
Tree of Life, Fox Searchlight, Mark Woollen & Associates
Winter’s Bone, Roadside Attractions, AV Squad

Tree of Life wins it! Still happy!

Best Music
Battle: Los Angeles, “Prepare”, Columbia/Sony Pictures Entertainment, Wild Card
Rabbit Hole, “Trailer 1A”, Lionsgate, Ignition
The Social Network, “Trailer 2”, Sony Pictures, Mark Woollen & Associates
Sucker Punch, “Trailer”, Warner Bros., Mojo

Social Network wins it!

Best Romance
Beginners, Focus Features, Mark Woollen & Associates
Blue Valentine, “Trailer 1”, The Weinstein Company, Zealot Productions Inc
Love and Other Drugs, “Match Trailer”, 20th Century Fox, Empire Design
Something Borrowed, “Best Things”, Alcon Entertainment/Warner Bros., Trailer Park

Blue Valentine wins it!

Best Thriller
Black Swan, Fox Searchlight, Mark Woollen & Associates
Buried, “Trailer 1A”, Lionsgate, Ignition
Super 8, Paramount Pictures, Mark Woollen & Associates 
Unknown, “Puzzle”, Warner Bros., AV Squad

Black Swan wins it!

The Don LaFontaine Award for Best Voice Over
Biutiful, “Intl Trailer”, Focus Features International, Mark Woollen & Associates
Born To Be Wild, “Evolution”, Warner Bros. Pictures, Mob Scene Creative + Productions
The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc Sec, “UK Trailer”, Optimum Releasing, The Editpool
Tangled, “Flynn’s Story”, Walt Disney Studios, mOcean

Awww.... Born to be Wild. My first loss. JUST BECAUSE IT IS MORGAN FREEMAN DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO GIVE IT TO THAT ONE.

Golden Fleece
Burlesque, “Make A Star”, Screen Gems, Seismic Productions
Faster, “Int’l Trailer B”, Sony Pictures Releasing, Tao Creative
Stone, “Trailer”, Overture Films, In Sync Advertising
The Tourist, “Domestic Trailer”, Columbia, Create Advertising Group

Burlesque "wins" it! Huzzah!

Most Original Trailer
Battle: Los Angeles, “Prepare”, Columbia/Fox Searchlight, Wild Card
Buried, “Trailer 1A”, Lionsgate, Ignition
The Social Network, “Domestic Trailer #2”, Sony Pictures, Mark Woollen & Associates
Tree of Life, Fox Searchlight, Mark Woollen & Associates

Ah - another upset. The Social Network gets it. I'm okay with that.

Summer 2011 Blockbuster Trailer
Cowboys & Aliens, “Domestic Trailer”, Universal Pictures/Paramount Pictures, Ignition Creative
Pirates of the Caribbean 4, “Jack”, Walt Disney Pictures, Create Advertising Group
Super 8, Paramount Pictures, Mark Woollen & Associates
Transformers: Dark of the Moon, “Alien Secret”, Paramount Pictures, Wild Card

Transformers? Are you fucking kidding me?

Trashiest Trailer
F, “UK Trailer”, Optimum Releasing, The Editpool
Hobo With A Shotgun, “Red Band”, Magnet, AV Squad
Machete, “Machete Int’l Trailer B”, Sony Pictures Releasing Int’l, Tao Creative
Piranha 3D, “Waiting”, Dimension Films, Buddha Jones

Hobo with a Shotgun wins it!

Best Foreign Action Trailer
22 Bullets, “German Trailer”, Europa Corp/Central Film/Wild Bunch, Trailerhaus
Carlos, “German Trailer”, Warner Bros. Pictures, Trailerhaus
Centurion, Magnolia Pictures, Kinetic Trailers
Valhalla Rising, “Theatrical Trailer”, IFC Films, Kinetic Trailers

Centurion wins it! Surprisingly! I'm... okay with that.

Best Foreign Comedy Trailer
Potiche, “Trailer 1”, Music Box Films, Zealot Productions Inc
Soul Kitchen, “Soul Kitchen”, IFC Films, Big Science Film, Inc
Submarine, “Trailer 1”, The Weinstein Company, Zealot Productions Inc
Wild Target, Vue Entertainment/Free Style Releasing, Create Advertising Group

Wild Target wins it. Is that the Emily Blunt/ Bill Nighy one? Yes, yes it is. I'm okay with that - I like that trailer. I heard, sadly, that the film is not as good.

Best Foreign Drama Trailer
Empire of Silver, Neo Classics Films, Big Science Film, Inc.
The King’s Speech, “Trailer 1”, Momentum Pictures, Zealot Productions Inc
Life, Above All, “Theatrical Trailer”, Sony Pictures Classics, Kinetic Trailers
Oranges and Sunshine, “Trailer 1”, Icon Films, Zealot Productions Inc

BLECH.

Best Foreign Horror/Thriller Trailer
F, “UK Trailer”, Optimum Releasing, The Editpool
I Saw the Devil, “Red Band”, Magnet, AV Squad
REC2, “Red Band”, Magnet, AV Squad
Silent House, “Theatrical Trailer”, IFC Films, Kinetic Trailers

REC2 - okay whatever.

Most Original Foreign Trailer
Drei, “Main Trailer”, X Verleih, Fleischmann Trailer
REC2, “Red Band”, Magnet, AV Squad
Rubber, “Greenband Trailer 1”, Magnolia Pictures, Zealot Productions Inc
Wasted on the Young, “Teaser”, Paramount, The Solid State

Rubber. You know, I really feel like it is more of an original concept to have a killer tire, than it is an original trailer.

So there you have it. I like most of the choices, and the Social Network gets some nice consolation comeuppance on the King's Speech. Well done, everybody.

On a completely unrelated topic, I finally got around to watching A Prophet and it is completely, totally, wildly brilliant and everyone should see it.

The Golden Trailers!

2011-06-28T21:51:00.000-07:00

The Golden Trailers are on tomorrow! Let's take a look at some of the categories (included here via Movieline.) [Ed. note: I'm including a lot of the trailers from the Golden Trailer site. They seem to not always play with sound. Try refreshing.]

Inception is a beautiful trailer (even though I can't see it now without thinking of this). But I feel like there were other Sucker Punch trailers that highlighted the fighting better. Inception on this one.

Rango.

I love the way 127 Hours crescendos, but I think it goes on a bit too long. And the Social Network trailer was the most attention grabbing and interesting trailer to come out last year.

Tree of Life on this one.

Huh. I thought one of the Sucker Punch trailers had the Sweet Dreams cover, but maybe not. Social Network again. That Radiohead cover is genius.

Ach. Blue Valentine. Hands down.

Hmm. Black Swan builds really well, but Buried is super original. It's hard to tell now if the dread from the Black Swan trailer is from also having seen the film, or just good editing and music. I might give the Buried poster, which uses the same effect, an edge in a poster competition, but I'll pick the Black Swan trailer here.

Adele Blanc Sec! Adele Blanc Sec!

For those who don't know, this is for the best trailer of the worst movie. Some strong contenders here, but I'd say Burlesque. It made the movie look fun and Chicago-esque. It was not. The Tourist trailer is exceptionally well-made, it shows off Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp is amusing, and my heart can't help but flutter when Map of the Problematique kicks in. (Seriously - Muse is good for trailers.) Then again, this trailer also makes Johnny Depp look puffy and tired, which is pretty criminal.

Hmmm. All good picks. But I feel like Tree of Life and Social Network are variations on a theme done especially well or creatively. There must have been a trailer for a horror film at some point almost entirely in the dark, but I can't think of one, so I'll pick Buried.

I like Cowboys & Aliens a lot personally, but I know the first trailer didn't strike the right tone with some. Pirates sells the whole concept incredibly well. Let's go with Pirates.

Machete would have won if it were the first one (from Grindhouse). So Hobo with a Shotgun it is!

Hmm... I like the Britishy Centurion, but the Lost copy-cat line puts me off. I like Carlos, too, so I'll pick that one.

Submarine!

Life, Above All.

Drei. I love this trailer. I can't wait for the film!

I'll check back in later this week with the winners...

The 25 best animated films

2011-06-27T04:57:00.000-07:00

Time has a feature up on the 25 best animated films of all time. Quite honestly, I think it's a pretty crap list. I'm really not a fan of Happy Feet, Paprika, Yellow Submarine, Up, Toy Story or the Little Mermaid... to name a few.

So... I'll just go ahead and make my own.

Caveats; I haven't seen many older foreign releases, although researching this has given me quite a few additions to my Netflix queue (did you know there was a stop-motion Hansel and Gretel Opera? or a Russian The Cat Who Walked by Herself?). In fact, I think the only foreign releases I had seen pre-Totoro were the Dot series from Australia. (Does anyone else remember those? I may have found them very influential as a child...)

And this list skews more recent, both because that's what I know best, plus I think more movies have pushed the boundaries of animation recently. Furthermore, there are just many, many more animated films being made today (compare the 46 films released in '98 alone to the 37 released in all of the 1950s).

I love animated films. They are important culturally, because they are how most of us are first exposed to the world of cinema. I still vividly remember sitting in a theater watching a re-release of Fantasia. And I'm pretty sure I could still quote-a-long with The Land Before Time, Robin Hood, the Care Bears Adventure and Ponteffel Pock, Where Are You? Every Disney release growing up was an event (and yes, I still need to see Waking Sleeping Beauty), and classics were watched and re-watched on rapidly deteriorating VHS tape. My father used to play old Betty Boops for us, and I'm still grateful to my mother for letting us endlessly re-watch our favorites. Although, come to think of it, it was probably a good way to get some quiet time to herself. Well, I appreciate her taking us to All Dogs Go To Heaven, which couldn't have been what she wanted to spend an afternoon and $20 on.

Anyways, I love the variety of styles animation takes. Take, for example, Fear[s] of the Dark, which, while all in black and white, has seven different visual styles at play. Then you've got stop motion like James and the Giant Peach or Coraline (3-D!), rotoscoping like A Scanner Darkly, or motion capture animation, along the lines of King Kong (one wonders if the technology will have advanced enough for Tintin). The animated shorts programs are often my favorite part of any film fest, just because you get the broadest array of creative and visually stunning work all together.

For example, take one collection of shorts from the 2010 IFFBoston:
Junko's Shamisen
Sebastian's Voodoo
One Square Mile of Earth
Wisdom Teeth
Varmints

Even live action is more and more heavily influenced by animation. Look at Sin City, Watchmen, and 300, which each try to replicate the visual styles or exact panels of their source drawings. And Avatar was practically animated. In fact, it was pretty much a continuation of the live action/animation mix which goes back to films like Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and the Three Caballeros.

There are many more movies which did not make this list which are all good films. Disney has made many, many solid films. I simply included the ones here that I thought were the best, most ground-breaking, or influential, but that doesn't mean I dislike 101 Dalmatians. You know? Same with Pixar, Cars aside (topical!).

Two final notes; Don Bluth is totally brilliant and I adore his work very much. And this is the best song in any animated film. (I can't in good conscience add Robin Hood as one of the best, but it is one of my favorites).

25. Halloween is Grinch Night. I include this one because I think Dr. Seuss was a highly influential artist. I also think it is one of the better films of the crazy, hallucinatory psychedelic 60s/70s era (as I mentioned - not a Yellow Submarine fan here.) Grinch Night came out the same year as Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure, which begs the question of why the hell my mother let me watch them. Repeatedly. Seriously. What the hell was everyone ON?

24. The Brave Little Toaster. The animation on this one isn't fabulous, but it's a great plot. Apparently a lot of the original Pixar gang was involved in this one, which explains why it has so much heart.

23. Charlie Brown's Christmas/Mickey's Christmas Carol. Of the entire genre of animation that sprung up around Christmas stories, these two are the best (I know, I know - cheating to include two).

22. Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day. The best of the Hundred Acre Woods gang. I also always really liked how they nodded to being books.

21. The Mind's Eye. A collection of early computer animation tests and shorts turned into a bizarre, fabulous fever dream set to a new soundtrack. It's a fascinating look at the beginnings of what would soon become the dominant form of animation.

20. Sleeping Beauty. The best of all the Disney princess films and one of the best villains ever committed to celluloid.

19. Charlotte's Web. The best thing Hanna-Barbera ever did. Interestingly, it was one of the best selling VHS tapes of the year when it was released in '94, 21 years after it opened in theaters.

18. Academy Award Review of Walk Disney Cartoons. Okay - not a proper film, but a round up of Silly Symphonies, several of which had won academy awards as shorts on their own. Also: Flowers and Trees! That's a great one.

17. Howl's Moving Castle. The first appearance of Studio Ghibli on the list. Based on a Dianna Wynne Jones novel, the film combines fantasy and lush visuals far better than Spirited Away did. My earlier review; "Nearly as good as Princess Mononoke, this is another triumph from Studio Ghibli. They continue their tradition of gorgeous 2-D animation, this time adapting a story by Dianna Wynne Jones about a girl transformed into an old woman by a spell, a sorcerer, and his castle which frequently rambles from place to place. Set against an epic backdrop of political machinations and magic, Howl's Moving Castle is imaginative and beautiful."

16. Persepolis. Another graphic novel adaptation, but this one was kept in the original artist's drawings. It also shows animation moving into more adult-only territory and tells both the story of the Iranian revolution and the coming–of-age of its heroine.

15. The Wrong Trousers. The first stop motion film on the list, and the best Wallace and Gromit.

14. Totoro. Just completely wonderful. My first exposure to an anime film, and it holds up all these years later.

13. Watership Down. In all honestly, this may deserve a higher spot on the list, but I was so scarred watching part of it as a child, that I haven't seen it since. I should probably see it again, though.

12. Pinnochio. Definitely one of Disney's best.

11. Wall*E. Aww. Now, this movie suffers from the first half being wildly better than the second. But it is super cute and the animated 'silent film' section in the beginning is completely brilliant.

10. Nightmare Before Christmas. Ignore the Hot Topic merchandising. This is still a wonderful film about being true to yourself and outsiders finding love, all with Tim Bruton's aesthetic and the fabulous Laika stop-motion animation.

9. Fantastic Mr. Fox. My earlier review; "Wes Anderson stylization comes to animation, which recalls Wallace and Gromit crossed with Gumby. The story, based on a Roald Dahl tale, follows a fox family and their woodland neighbors as they fight off the local farmers. A whimsical action caper that is completely endearing."

8. Finding Nemo. That is some seriously beautiful animation there.

7. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? The best mash up of animation and live action around.

6. Triplets of Belleville. My earlier summary; "Such an odd little film. Almost a throwback to the days of Silly Symphonies and Betty Boop, it's a near silent romp through eccentric French oddballs and the Tour de France."

5. Waltz with Bashir. My earlier review; "The only animated documentary I know of, the film examines the 1982 Israeli-Lebanese war through one veteran trying to remember what happened. It examines memory, culpability, and the emotional wounds soldiers carry long after fighting has finished." An amazing example of animation pushing into new genres of filmmaking.

4. The Lion King. Some of Disney's best recent animation and, by cribbing from Shakespeare, the story matches up as well.

3. Secret of NIMH. Like Pinnochio, this film takes the Grimm's Fairytales' approach to children's story telling. One of my complaints about many recent animated children's films is that they are bland, un-challenging and seemingly overly concerned with reactionary parental complaints. Yes, parts of this movie are scary for young children. That's a good thing. Anywho. Based on excellent source material, and with fantastic voice actors and stunning visuals, this is one of the all-time best.

2. Princess Mononoke. Studio Ghibli's beautiful landscapes are at their most resonant in this environmental parable. Here, A. O. Scott is more eloquent than I.

1. Fantasia. The culmination of what animation is capable of. The movie encompasses a wide range of styles and is utterly unforgettable.

Notable omissions (films I have yet to see): Akira, South Park, How to Train Your Dragon, Secret of Kells, Twice Upon a Time, Grave of the Fireflies, Millennium Actress, Waking Life, Sita Sings the Blues, Rango.

The half-way point

2011-06-26T09:52:00.000-07:00

indieWire has a round-up of indie films released/premeired in the first half of the year. While I'll try to get around to a write up of my 6-month standings soon, here are some movies to be watching for either in theaters or on DVD:

Top English-Language Films of 2011
1. Sound of my voice, directed by Zal Batmanglij (Sundance 2011)
criticWIRE average: A- (10.0 out of 13)

2. Martha Marcy May Marlene, directed by Sean Durkin (Sundance 2011)
criticWIRE average: A- (9.64 out of 13) [Ed: Cannot WAIT for these top 2. Although I'm surprised Sound of my Voice is in the Top 10 and Another Earth isn't....]

3. Weekend, directed by Andrew Haigh (SXSW 2011)
criticWIRE average: B+ (9.43 out of 13)

4. Pariah, directed by Dee Rees (Sundance 2011)
criticWIRE average: B+ (9.27 out of 13)

5. Cold Weather, directed by Aaron Katz (SXSW 2010/Theatrical Release 2011)
criticWIRE average: B+ (9.43 out of 13)

6. Like Crazy, directed by Drake Doremus (Sundance 2011)
criticWIRE average: B+ (9.14 out of 13)

7. Meek’s Cutoff, directed by Kelly Reichardt (Venice 2010/Theatrical Release 2011)
criticWIRE average: B+ (9.08 out of 13) [Ed: I've seen this one. It's good, although you have to appreciate languid films to enjoy it.]

8. Terri, directed by Azazel Jacobs (Sundance 2011)
criticWIRE average: B+ (8.81 out of 13)

9. Submarine, directed by Richard Ayoade (Toronto 2010/Theatrical Release 2011)
criticWIRE average: B+ (8.79 out of 13) [Ed: This one is very cute and has a fantastic cast.]

10. Take Shelter, directed by Jeff Nichols (Sundance 2011)
criticWIRE average: B+ (8.71 out of 13)

*sigh* So many Sundance films I'm dying to see...

Top Foreign Language Films of 2011
1. To Die Like a Man, directed by João Pedro Rodrigues (Cannes 2010/Theatrical Release 2011)
criticWIRE average: A- (10.17 out of 13)

2. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Cannes 2010/Theatrical Release 2011)
criticWIRE average: A- (9.74 out of 13) [Ed: ARGH. NEED TO SEE THIS!]

3. Le Quattro volte, directed by Michelangelo Frammartino (Cannes 2010/Theatrical Release 2011)
criticWIRE average: A- (9.50 out of 13) [Ed: This is awesome. GOATS!!!!]

3. Circumstance, directed by Maryam Keshavarz (Sundance 2011)
criticWIRE average: A- (9.50 out of 13) [Ed: This is incredibly brilliant. Highly, highly recommended.]

5. The Kid With a Bike, directed by Jean Pierre and Luc Dardenne (Cannes 2011)
criticWIRE average: B+ (9.08 out of 13)

6. Le Havre, directed by Aki Kaurismaki (Cannes 2011)
criticWIRE average: B+ (9.07 out of 13)

7. Certified Copy, directed by Abbas Kiarostami (Cannes 2010/Theatrical Release 2011)
criticWIRE average: B+ (9.02 out of 13)

8. I Saw the Devil, directed by Kim Jee-woon (Toronto 2010/Theatrical Release 2011)
criticWIRE average: B+ (9.00 out of 13)

9. Tuesday After Christmas, directed by Radu Muntean (Cannes 2010/Theatrical Release 2011)
criticWIRE average: B+ (8.95 out of 13)

10. Incendies, directed by Denis Villeneuve (Venice 2010/Theatrical Release 2011)
criticWIRE average: B+ (8.90 out of 13) [Ah yes, the one I had a ticket for and missed... I should see this.]

Top Documentaries of 2011
1. The Interrupters, directed by Steve James (Sundance 2011)
criticWIRE average: A- (10.20 out of 13)

2. How to Die in Oregon, directed by Peter D. Richardson (Sundance 2011)
criticWIRE average: A- (10.00 out of 13)

2. The Black Power Mixtape 1967–1975, directed by Göran Hugo Olsson (Sundance 2011)
criticWIRE average: A- (10.00 out of 13)

4. We Were Here, directed by David Weissman (Sundance 2011)
criticWIRE average: A- (9.88 out of 13)

5. Hell and Back Again, directed by Danfung Dennis (Sundance 2011)
criticWIRE average: A- (9.75 out of 13)

6. The Arbor, directed by Clio Barnard (Tribeca 2010/Theatrical Release 2011)
criticWIRE average: A- (9.73 out of 13)

7. Bill Cunningham New York, directed by Richard Press (New Directors New Films 2010/Theatrical Release 2011)
criticWIRE average: A- (9.63 out of 13)

8. Nostalgia for the Light, directed by Patricio Guzman (Cannes 2010/Theatrical Release 2011)
criticWIRE average: A- (9.58 out of 13) [Ed: Ugh. Not my cup of tea.]

9. Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop, directed by Rodman Flender (SXSW 2011)
criticWIRE average: A- (9.57 out of 13)

10. Project Nim, directed by James Marsh (Sundance 2011)
criticWIRE average: A- (9.52 out of 13)

Ummmm.... How is Cave of Forgotten Dreams not in the Top 10? IT HAS ALBINO ALLIGATORS.

Kaiser Chiefs

2011-06-19T15:17:00.000-07:00

Hmmm..... intriguing.

So I discovered the Kaiser Chiefs while I was living in Ireland. They're a good band, although their second and third albums didn't quite live up to their first. Still, there are lots of their songs that I like. Anyways, they have an intriguing concept going on. I'll let Amanda Palmer explain here. I thought I would just play around with the album creator for a bit, and then either buy someone else's album or download a few songs to see which I liked and then create one. But the album creator is REALLY fun to play around with, and an hour later; voila! Instant personalized Kaiser Chiefs record. It's a pretty ingenious concept. It discourages piracy, encourages word of mouth promotion, and it will let the band know which of the songs are resonating most with visitors. Very smart! Anyways - if you don't have an hour to play around on the creator, you can also buy my album (link below), and you get the 10 songs I picked, the album art I created, and I get 1 pound in my pay pal account. Nifty, eh?

Favorite musicians?

2011-06-18T10:48:00.000-07:00

So I was trying to come up with a new iPod playlist this week and I found it an interesting thought exercise. Basically, I already had a Green Day/AFI mix that I listen to a lot. They're two of my favorite bands (so I know the majority of each of their repertoires) and since they are both East Bay punk rock, they fit together well on a playlist. But I wanted something broader that incorporated more of my favorite artists. So I decided I'd put together a Top Ten artist list. The criteria would be the top ten bands whose work I know best.

But that ended up changing a bit. Obviously I know Elastica really well as the original line-up only released one (very brilliant) album. So I decided I should go with bands where I know tons of their songs. I modified the criteria to be any band where I knew three (or more) of their albums intimately. Side projects could be added to the mix, too.

Now, this would leave off someone like Poe, who only has two albums, and Bush, because I really only know "Sixteen Stone" and the "Science of Things" (although it makes me wonder if I should take another listen to "Razorblade Suitcase"). Ditto The Offspring - I know "Smash" and "Americana" pretty well, and I know a handful of songs off of "Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace", "Conspiracy of One" and "Ixnay on the Hombre", but I can't claim to know three of their albums inside and out.

Furthermore, I'm going back and forth on including Tori Amos. She's definitely one of my all time favorites, but she doesn't mesh as well with some of the other artists. (And technically, if we are talking about album familiarity - then the San Francisco Girls Chorus should be on there, too. Although I suppose that is music from many different composers... otherwise the SF Symphony, would be on it too. And, I suppose, certain Broadway composers... okay - let's limit this to rock.)

So - which artists/albums fit the criteria?

Garbage
-Garbage (1995)
-Version 2.0 (1998)
-Beautiful Garbage (2001)
-Bleed Like Me (2005)
-B-Sides and leaked Shirley Manson demos
I put in the B-Sides because if Garbage has done it, I have and know it. (Witness to Your Love, #1 Crush, Tell Me Where it Hurts, Lick the Pavement, Pretty Horses, The World is Not Enough, Enough is Never Enough, I Just Wanna Have Something to Do (cover), or how about Girl Don't Come? I'm Really Into Techno? Alien Sex Fiend? *sigh* I love Garbage.)

Green Day
-Dookie (1994)
-American Idiot (2004)
-21st Century Breakdown (2009)
-Bullet in a Bible (2005)
-International Superhits (2001)
-Awesome as Fuck (2011)

AFI
-Sing the Sorrow (2003)
-Decemberunderground (2006)
-I Heard a Voice (2007)
-Crash Love (2009)
-Cex Cells (Blaqk Audio - 2007)
-leaks from Bright Black Heaven (Blaqk Audio - 2011)

Muse
-Origin of Symmetry (2001)
-Absolution (2003)
-Black Holes and Revelations (2006)
-H.A.A.R.P. (2008)
-The Resistance (2009)

Red Hot Chili Peppers
-Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991)
-Californication (1999)
-By The Way (2002)

Tori Amos
-Little Earthquakes (1992)
-Under the Pink (1994)
-From the Choirgirl Hotel (1998)
-To Venus and Back (1999)
-The Beekeeper (2005)
-Original Bootleg: BofA Pavilion (2005)

(Interestingly - I'm not including Boys for Pele (1996) on here, because I'd say I know about half of that album. Actually - yeah. 9/18 songs exactly. Also - make a channel on youtube already!)

The Cranberries
This one was funny - because I don't often listen to The Cranberries much anymore and I tend to forget about them when I'm rattling off favorite bands. But really - I still know their stuff backwards and forwards (seeing them last year at the Orpheum in Boston was a trip). Anywho:
-Everybody Else is Doing it, So Why Can't We? (1993)
-No Need to Argue (1994)
-To the Faithful Departed (1996)

Amanda Palmer
-Who Killed Amanda Palmer (2008)
-Evelyn Evelyn (Evelyn Evelyn - 2010)
-Yes, Virginia (Dresden Dolls - 2006)

Fiona Apple
-Tidal (1996)
-When the Pawn (1999)
-Extraordinary Machine (2005)
Okay - this one is a little bit of a stretch. I know just over half of Tidal really well. I need to listen to it more...

So there you have it - 9 artists whom I know three or more albums for.

Ok. Your turn.

Whoops!

2011-06-16T18:22:00.000-07:00

I had some linkspam I was putting together about a month ago that I never ended up posting. Better late than never?
The Future Trailer

Eating your Cultural Vegetables

Meek's Cutoff Review

Nostalgia for the Light Review

I love the SF Appeal weekend roundups. This week's makes a particularly good point; "Everything Must Go - Everywhere It's the latest entry in the "Old White Man Finds Himself" genre. These are especially poignant if they star Michael Douglas or Jack Nicholson. Or an ex-SNL star, as is the case here. You know what sucks? Besides EVERYTHING? This: Everyone is wondering about the box office potential of a comedy starring a woman (the horror!), but nobody is worried about a film that's basically two hours of a boring old white man sitting on a lawn?"

Locke & Key. ARGH. I am holding out hope that SyFy may turn this into a miniseries at some point. Otherwise, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Nick Stahl auditions for the Michael Chabon/Darren Aronofsky project about WWII magicians. Because that is the next tv project in development that I am going to stupidly get my hopes up for.

The 100% Fresh List

2011-05-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

From an email meme: supposedly all the films on Rotten Tomatoes with a 100% Fresh Rating. (Bolded I've seen)

11:14
12 Angry Men
A Hard Day's Night
A Shot in the Dark
Aliens
All About Eve
All the President's Men
American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein
Anatomy of a Murder
Batman: Under the Red Hood
Before Sunrise
Bob Roberts
Boy
Bride of Frankenstein
Broken Blossoms
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Chinatown
Citizen Kane
City Lights
Coal Miner's Daughter
Comfort and Joy
Cool Hand Luke
Das Boot (I've seen parts...)
Days of Wine and Roses
Dr. Strangelove
Fat City
Frankenstein
Gasland
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
Ikiru
Jaws
King Kong
La Belle Noiseuse
Last Train Home
Le Samourai
Lenny
Lord of the Flies
M
Mad Max 2 (I think? There are a few of these I feel like I watched with my parents when I was young, but I don't really remember the details clearly...)
Man on Wire
Marwencol (Yay! Marwencol!!)
Mary Poppins
Melvin and Howard
Modern Times
Murder on the Orient Express
My Life as a Dog
North by Northwest
On the Waterfront
Rashōmon (ugh.)
Rear Window
Rebecca (again - think I watched this with my mother... I tend to confuse Rebecca and Jane Eyre though...)
Rio Bravo
Road to Rio
Roger & Me
Rogue
Room at the Top
San Francisco (wow. Seriously?)
Sátántangó
Say Anything...
Scarface: The Shame of the Nation
Seven Faces of Dr. Lao
Seven Samurai
Shadow of a Doubt
Sherlock, Jr.
Shoot to Kill
Singin' in the Rain
Sons of the Desert
Soy Cuba
Stagecoach
Stalker
Suspicion
Sweet Smell of Success
That's Entertainment!
The 400 Blows
The Adventures of Robin Hood
The African Queen
The Band Wagon
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
The Endless Summer
The Evil Dead (that's fabulous)
The Godfather
The Gold Rush
The Grapes of Wrath
The Heiress
The Hidden Fortress
The Invisible Man
The Kid
The Killer
The King and I
The Last Picture Show
The Lion King
The Maltese Falcon
The Mark of Zorro
The Miracle Worker
The Misfits
The Odd Couple
The Red Balloon
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
The Terminator
The Third Man
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
The Wrong Trousers (wait - Wallace and Gromit? Really? I guess that makes sense...)
Them!
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Three Colors: Blue
Tokyo Story
Toy Story 1 & 2
War and Peace
Waste Land
Witness for the Prosecution
Woodstock

I like this list. It's an interesting mix of classics, populist, and critically beloved. And it has a great mix of old (Sherlock Jr., etc.) and new (Man on Wire, Marwencol). [Actually - great representation from modern documentaries.]

While I'd only argue for a couple of the ones that I've seen to make any "best 100" type list, it is kind of fun to have a list with both Them! and Woodstock together... or the Adventures of Robin Hood and the Evil Dead.

Plus it has a bunch that have been in the top 25 of my Netflix queue for donkey years (Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, All About Eve, Witness for the Prosecution...) Really have to get around to those....

Ranking the SFIFF films

2011-05-08T11:37:00.000-07:00

Excellent:
Another Earth
Stake Land
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Circumstance

Really Good:
Meek's Cutoff
Le Quattro Volte
The Future
Submarine

Good:
Page One; A Year Inside the New York Times
The Trip
The Whistleblower
The Troll Hunter
My Joy

Didn't like:
Nostalgia for the Light

(The 15th film I saw was La Dolce Vita in a restored print, but since it was a special program, it doesn't seem to make sense to review and rank it with the rest. That said, it was beautiful and very, very long. I liked it, but I think I need to see some more Fellini, because I think I'll like some of his other films better. I get the impression that many of his films touch on similar themes, so.)

SFIFF continued

2011-05-08T10:18:00.000-07:00

I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up, so these will be quick mini-reviews:

The Whistleblower

Hm. This film is made well. And it is about an important subject (human trafficking in Bosnia after the war). Rachel Weisz continues to be one of my favorite actresses. And it is well directed, so it never becomes preachy or overly melodramatic. In fact, a long stretch of the film plays like a thriller, which works really well and keeps ratcheting up the tension.

All that said, it is about human trafficking. It's a hard subject to watch. I get the sense that it is like Precious. You have to be ready to go into a film knowing that it is very well done, but on a really depressing topic. If you have a day like that, this is well worth a watch.

3/5 Stars

Page One; A Year Inside the New York Times

This is pretty much a love letter to the Times. It isn't a particularly hard-hitting documentary, and given that it looks at the decline of newspapers in the rise of blogs and huffpo and whatnot, the topic could use something a little more informative. That being said, it is certainly entertaining and fun to watch. I can't imagine the material that must have come out of a year's worth of filming and the fact that it holds as a coherent narrative is seriously impressive.

3.5/5 Stars

Another Earth

This was brilliant. I completely loved it. I don't really know how best to describe it. It's about a woman, Rhoda, who on the eve of being accepted into MIT's astrophysics program, makes a horrible mistake. It is also the same evening that a second Earth is discovered. The film then follows Rhoda as she attempts to atone for what she has done and find a way forward in her life.

It's much more a character drama than a sci-fi label might suggest (Moon notwithstanding). Although the second Earth discovery does prompt a myriad of questions and possibilities. What if there is another me out there? Did they make the same choices? What would their life be like? The two leads, William Mapother and Brit Marling (co-writer, co-producer) give absolutely amazing performances. If anything, I wanted more time with the characters - they were just such complete, interesting portraits.

I can maybe sense that this is going to be this year's Hurt Locker/Winter's Bone (the brilliant small film that comes out in the midst of the blockbuster season). So save me the trouble of droning on and on about how amazing it is, and just go see it. (It comes out July 20th).

5/5 Stars

Circumstance

This was so good. (And, as a side note, it won the audience award at Sundance.) It's about two teenage girls in Iran who fall in love and try to survive adolescence in Iran. Much as I love Persepolis, I think this film gives a much clearer idea of what it would be like to grow up under such heavy restrictions. To have to do everything in secret, underground, to be scared of who to trust not to turn you in to the government - and to have such dire consequences when you most feel the need to rebel and experiment and act out. It's a beautiful love story, a wonderful portrait of a family trying its best to cope under difficult times, and a fully realized vision of Iranian youth culture. It has fantastic character development, it's funny, sexy and heartbreaking. Go see it.

4.5/5 Stars

My Joy

There's a reason I don't often delve into the great Russian authors. Great Russian art is a downer. This is a dark, absurdest series of vignettes that follows a truck driver as he goes down a cursed road. It keeps getting darker and weirder, and it certainly sticks to its convictions. Also - as an interesting side note - it was the only first feature film accepted at Cannes last year.

3/5 Stars

The Trip

An edited down version of a BBC miniseries. It's mostly Rob Brydon doing impressions for almost the entire running time, sometimes with Steve Coogan keeping up. It is intermittently hilarious. It is also filled with food porn. You should make reservations at a really great restaurant for afterward.

3.5/5 Stars

Submarine

Awww.. I'm glad this ended up being my last film. It's adorable. Very much in the Wes Anderson vibe, and it is quite cute. It's a coming of age set in Wales in the 80s and has Noah Taylor and Sally Hawkins, along with Paddy Considine, whom I did not know was in it as all. So - fantastic cast and very charming.

Hmm... that all comes off as precious. And it isn't, really. It's very deadpan. And it doesn't succumb to the cliche of wrapping everything up in a neat little uplifting bow. It's a lovely romance with lots of clever monologues, but the film also touches on heartbreak and depression. It's a pretty ambitious first film and the director carries it all off.

4/5 Stars

I ended up missing the Redemption of General Butt Naked and Incendies, as well as the two shorts programs I had planned on. I'm exhausted. Still, 15 films in 13 days ain't too bad... I do need to catch Incendies on DVD, though...

More coverage:
SFIFF Standouts

Page One trailer

Another Review for Cave of Forgotten Dreams

The Trip trailer

Snapshots of guests at SFIFF

Incendies was a Scorcher

SFIFF doc & shorts awards

Circumstance brings it all at SFIFF

Mick La Salle: Not so much a fan of Meek's Cutoff

On a completely separate tangent, I've been looking forward to Locke and Key like crazy and I'm going to be SO DISAPPOINTED if it doesn't get picked up.

And on a final, final note, Burlesque has been playing in the background as I write this. There are so many things about this movie I don't understand. Are Cher and Kristen Bell supposed to be the same age? Why does Alan Cumming keep photobombing the proceedings? How much did Famous Amos pay for product placement? Why is Cher not given more than two emotions to play? Why can't the make up artists get Christina's eyeliner straight? Does she have a lazy eye? Did they really just start playing Mazzy Star? What decade is this in? Did the guy grow a beard in 24 hours? Does Kristen Bell really never go to rehab? Umm... is Christina Aguilera sampling Marilyn Manson? And could this plot be any more paint by the numbers? This should have been a whole lot campier and Chicago-esque. At least Stanley Tucci seems like he's having fun.

Quick thoughts on the SFIFF films

2011-04-28T00:05:00.000-07:00

Man, April has FLOWN by. And all of a sudden, the San Francisco International Film Fest is upon us.

MUBI's coverage

The SFist guide

SFIFF Finds Life Among the Ruins

SFIFF54's Midnight Awards

Meek's Cutoff

I'm sure I'll probably get behind on a lot of these, since the next two weeks will be pretty busy, but I'll try to at least post brief impressions of the films I see. [Ed update: oh, god. I'm already behind.]

Meek's Cutoff
I ended up really enjoying this a lot. It's a very minimalist film, and probably not everyone's cup of tea, but I think it ends up being an incredibly realistic telling of what life on the Oregon Trail must have been like. It would have been hard, tedious, and scary. There would have been a looming threat of not making it, and having your survival dependent upon the abilities of your traveling companions.

The other really interesting thing is that the film was not shot in wide screen, which was so unusual. I thought it ended up mimicking how the women would have seen the landscape out of their bonnets, and it worked well to focus your attention on the characters.

4/5 Stars

Stake Land
I LOVED this film. It is sort of The Road with a supernatural bent, or I've heard it described as a 'post-apocalyptic, vampire western.' And it is scary. Not because of the vampires, although those are good for a few good jump scares, but because of the picture it paints of how America would disintegrate in the wake of an apocalypse. It is horrifying because it feels true. As the protagonist explains, cults pop up everywhere and the religious right goes off the deep end (not that they have far to go, but I digress). It isn't the vampires you have to survive so much as the people. (The main religious cult actually ended up reminding me a bit of the cult that springs up in Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.) I think everyone likes to think that they'd be able to survive in a post-apocalyptic world, given that it is a popular genre. And while I think I might be able to feed myself and find shelter, the film taps into the primal fear that there isn't anything you'd be able to do against religious fundamentalism-crazy. Could any sense of goodness or culture survive when nutjobs drop vampires from helicopters to cleanse the world of sinners?

Anyways, the characters in the film are fabulous. It is mostly about a boy named Martin, who is taken under the wing of a vampire-killer, known only as Mister. Mister schools Martin in the finer arts of vampire killing and survival and along the way they meet up with other survivors. All of the character development is great. And there are some really fun killing vampire parts. But that sense of scary is definitely going to linger.

5/5 Stars

Le Quattro Volte

If Meek's Cutoff is somewhat of an art film which may not be for everyone, that goes double for Le Quattro Volte (quadruple?). I don't really want to describe it, because I think going in without knowing much adds to the experience. I will just say that there is almost no dialogue and, as the introduction at the film fest went, it "pushes the boundaries of what is possible cinematically." That said, I don't want the non-traditional plot to scare off potential viewers. There are moments that work as well as any Charlie Chaplin film (seriously - the whole theater was laughing). And it is incredibly well made. The only thing I will say about the subject matter is; Goats! Lots and lots of goats! (So, also a good film for those who enjoy Cute Overload.)

4/5 Stars

The Troll Hunter

This film has a really great premise, and is mostly executed well, but it really needed to be edited down more. 2 hours is a long time to be hunting Trolls. There are certainly a lot of clever touches, but I did get restless in parts. However, the found footage gimmick works well and the Troll CGI is great. It is worth checking out if you are so inclined.

3/5 Stars

The Future

I... am not sure I totally understood this film. But I liked it.

It is about a couple who will be picking up a stray cat from the vet in a month and adopting it. They realize that this means it will be their last true month of freedom and they decide to be open to the possibilities that affords while facing the uncertainties of... well, the future. However, a certain amount of magical realism creeps into the film which makes it feel much more original than your generic indie romance. And it features a talking cat.

I came into this film not knowing anything about Miranda July's performance background, and I haven't gotten around to watching her first film Me and You and Everyone We Know. She did a Q&A after the film and while those can sometimes just be awkward or not particularly informative, she was surprisingly charming and had a really unique perspective on film, since she is an artist who works primarily in other media.

Both she and Hamish Linklater (Groove!) give great performances and it certainly surprised me with the twists and turns the plot took.

4/5 Stars

Nostalgia for the Light
This film falls victim to what my brother and I like to call "Metropolis syndrome," in that it decides to BEAT. YOU. OVER. THE. HEAD. WITH. ITS. MESSAGE. DO YOU GET IT YET?!?

And I did not like it as much as I like Metropolis.

The film is about the Atacama desert in Chile. It is one of the best places on earth to observe space because of the lack of humidity. It is also where there are pre-Colombian mummies, mining camps that became detention centers during Pinochet's reign and the remains of those killed during his dictatorship. (I thought of them throughout the film as los desaparecidos, but that term may have only been used in Argentina. I'm not sure.) The film is beautifully shot, especially the space porn bits, but it just goes on for a very long time over the same material again and again. The director connects the astronomers, looking at the light of the past, to the local women who go out looking for remains and, thus, live in the past. And he talks about how the calcium in bones formed in stars. And how the vastness of the desert these women are hunting in compares to the vastness of space. Again. Some more.

It's impossible not to be moved as some of the women talk about family members they lost. But when we came out of the theater, I misread the clock and thought the film had been 2.5 hours, which seemed about right. It had actually only been 1.5. And we had two people fall asleep during the screening. I think the topic matter would have been better served by a short film. However, the director is clearly passionate about the history of his country. I'd like to see his Battle of Chile, and see if it is any better.

2/5 Stars

Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Oh god. This was the film I was most looking forward to in the festival. And it was everything I had hoped it would be. AND SO MUCH MORE!

First of all, Werner Herzog got unprecedented access to film inside the Chauvet cave in France, which has the world's oldest cave paintings. And they are stunning. Next, he realized that to properly appreciate the paintings, which make use of the topography of the cave walls, they needed to be filmed in 3-d. This is the first film I've seen that really necessitated the use of 3-d and it is wonderfully done. There are long stretches of the film that are just gazing at these paintings, beautifully filmed, while some wonderful choir compositions play. (A lot of the music was fabulous; some bits got a little too atonal, even for me, but a lot of the pieces were clearly written to play off of the acoustics in a cathedral, and accompanied the space inside a cave really well.) Also - just seeing the stalactites and stalagmites in 3-d is worth the price of admission on its own.

So all of that is awesome (in the original sense of that word) and completely makes it a 5 star film.

But then - THEN! - the fact that it is Werner Herzog means that you get his incredible musings on the nature of art and humanity. I giggled through long segments of the film. Plus, he gathers up several of the craziest French people he can find, which is just even more wonderful. And while some of the funny bits were clearly intentional, I also think he is just becoming more and more a parody of himself as he ages. It's no wonder he worked with Nicholas Cage on Bad Lieutenant. The postscript to the film might be one of the funniest things I've seen this year.

I just can't hear his voice now without thinking of this. Hello, my little friend.

5/5 Stars

And that's where I am so far. I stayed home sick today, so I missed the animated shorts program, which is really disappointing. Oh well. Hopefully they'll all make their way online at some point.

RIP Cinematical

2011-04-18T07:38:00.000-07:00

The death of Cinematical:

AOL vs. Cinematical: the Final(ish) Chapter

AOL's Huffington Overhauls Online Brands Moviefone and Cinematical

Two of Cinematical's editors on what happened

What bums me out about this is that Cinematical was the first movie blog I discovered. I had noticed that the content had gone downhill since it merged with Moviefone and now it is dead. I'm pretty sure all of this happened over... 4 years? Ah internet life cycles.

One more thing on Sucker Punch Huh.

Scream 4 is getting surprisingly good reviews. I also liked this look back at the series, particularly this note; "There’s an interesting subtext behind the Scream movies, because the trilogy almost perfectly maps the creative rise and moral fall of Miramax."

Reactions to The Franchise (Hey! I like watching regular baseball!)

This is early days yet, and could very well change, but I think it is a perfect merger of director and project: Matt Reeves and The Passage.

"I feel like, just anecdotally, a lot of times when you get out, it’s that point of purchase moment at the theater, if you’re with your boyfriend or your husband, and they go, 'well I want to see ‘Transformers’,' and you go, 'O.K.' Ladies gotta say no to their husbands at the movies. They gotta say: 'No, we are watching back-to-back cancer movies. And then this movie about a cat.'" —Tina Fey on how women can gain more economic control of the movie business. [Via]

More movies about cats!

'Dishonour and Depredation!' said the Needles and Pins. 'Degradation and Dismay!'

2011-04-10T16:01:00.000-07:00

A quick few random tidbits;

From this weekend's Ask Mick LaSalle;

Dear Mick LaSalle: I was amazed that "Never Let Me Go" was not one of the 10 best nominees of 2010. Why didn't it get any nominations?
Bob Zimmerman, Lafayette

Dear Bob Zimmerman: It can't have helped that it's about the most depressing movie imaginable. Academy voters get DVDs of the Oscar contenders, and a movie's chances go down if viewers feel like killing themselves after an hour.

Awwww.... poor Never Let Me Go. (You should still see it! It's gorgeous and sad.)

I think I may have posted this before, but in case not: you should check out Selene, an EP inspired by Moon (Moooooooooooon!). It even samples Clint Mansell's score.

The Giants get their rings. And members of the SF Symphony play Aaron Copeland. *snnnniff!*

Feminism and Sucker Punch

2011-04-04T23:09:00.001-07:00

This was written pretty late at night. Or pretty early in the morning. I hope it makes sense.

Soooo.... I saw Sucker Punch.

I should preface this with the fact that I've been super excited for it for awhile. I was a huge fan of Watchmen and I really enjoyed 300. So I was thrilled when Zack Snyder decided to go all female ass-kicking for his next flick.

I saw the scathing reviews last week, interspersed with a few fan boy reviews that loved the action, so I tried to dial down my expectations. I figured it may not be great, like Watchmen, but it should be entertaining. It looks visually stunning. That's usually enough for me to enjoy a movie.

And then, throughout the last week, this entire, huge debate has sprung up around the film and whether it's portrayal of the heroines is empowering or objectifying. Frankly, I'm a little surprised that this is coming up now, not when the Sailor Moon-clad trailers first appeared. But I set these reviews aside until I could take a look and see for myself.

Now. I had already guessed that some of the disappointing reviews came from going into the film without giving the title a second thought. This was confirmed by the (not particularly well written) voice over in the first few minutes of the film.

So. If you haven't guessed what the film is getting at, and you want to go see it unspoiled - stop reading here.

I had guessed going in that the sucker punch is that Babydoll (the main girl) does not win her freedom, but gets lobotomized. I figured that she would go through all her fantasies and at the end we'd realize that she had been lobotomized early on and the whole thing had been a dream.

That isn't actually the way it eventually plays out, but I was close enough. And if there is anything that Cracked.com has taught us, it's that "it was all a dream" kinda sucks as a plot. Because there's no reason to be invested in the story (if you know it's a dream) or you're liable to be pissed off for getting involved for no reason (if you get sucker punched at the end).

Ok. So. Knowing that the fantasy sequences are going to be just that, without really advancing towards Babydoll saving herself and earning her freedom, did I enjoy the film?

Yes and no. Or, I enjoyed it in parts.

It's kind of a mess. And it is really frustrating because I feel that with just a few changes, it could have been awesome.

A quick synopsis of the film, for those who haven't seen it: Babydoll's mother dies, her step-father attacks her and her little sister, and as Babydoll tries to kill he step-father, her sister dies accidentally (it is a little unclear as to whether the step father had already killed the sister before Babydoll got there, or if the ricochet from Babydoll's bullet killed her). The step-father carts Babydoll off to an institution, where he bribes an orderly to forge the documents necessary for Babydoll's lobotomy in 5 days time.

At this point, the trauma becomes too much for Babydoll and she shifts into the first fantasy world, where the asylum becomes a brothel. She meets four of the other inmates; Blondie, Amber, Rocket - who becomes Babydoll's closest ally, and Rocket's sister Sweet Pea - the leader of the asylum girls who is reluctant to fight alongside Babydoll. In the brothel, the girls are required to dance for men. While she is dancing, Babydoll escapes to a series of fantasy worlds, where a wise man (Scott Glenn! Woot!) sets her on a quest that will earn Babydoll and the other girls their freedom from the brothel, and thus, their freedom from the asylum.

Let's start with the elephant in the room. I'd rather just go see a silly fun action flick for what it is, but seriously? The blogosphere has gone nuts over this shit. So - is it objectifying? Empowering? Demeaning? What? In looking at this issue, I think we'll also hit on the bits that were problematic in the film from a movie-making standpoint.

A bit of background:

Faux Feminism in Sucker Punch

Why Ass Kicking and Empowering aren't always the same thing.

Joe Wright (Dir: Atonement, Hanna) called Sucker Punch "Bullshit Feminism". indieWire's review of Hanna is titled: “Hanna” is the Ass-Kicker that “Sucker Punch” Wanted to Be.

And a contrarian view; In Defense of Sucker Punch

Now, coming out of the film, here were my initial impressions: I don't really care how stylized the action sequences were, they were pretty ass-kicking. Also, each of the fantasy sequences takes place while Babydoll is dancing. The audience never sees Babydoll dance, but it is described by one of the other girls as "all that gyrating and moaning." Honestly? It comes off as fairly masturbatory. So Babydoll is fantasizing about shooting nazi zombies or killing samurai robots whilst she is moaning and gyrating on stage. What I got from those juxtaposed sequences is that girls get off on the same fantasies boys do.

My biggest problem comes from what a passive narrator Babydoll is. As mentioned above, it made sense to me, since I figured she was either already lobotomized or about to be. But she barely has any lines in the film. It's hard to understand what keeps her going because we don't get much exposition from her character. Furthermore, we hardly get any background on the other girls. I have zero idea why Amber and Blondie were in a mental institution. It makes it hard to root for them as protagonists if you don't really know them as characters. I never felt particularly connected to Babydoll.

And since Babydoll doesn't talk much, I think that is where a lot of people see a lack of agency in her character. She isn't giving rousing battle speeches to the other girls or explaining to the audience the motivation for her fights. Therefore, it is easy to think that she is doing these things simply because Zack Snyder thought they would look cool rather than because she is a quiet character, going about fighting on her own inner strength. Particularly because she doesn't look strong. It's one thing to see Angelina Jolie in Salt and not be given a lot of explanation as to her motivations, because she radiates tough and inner strength. Babydoll looks like her name. I think the expectation going into the film was that she would look sweet, but curse and rage like a (typical action film) badass. Instead, she stays sweet and quiet and pretty unassuming, and then kills a lot of orcs. It's weird. It's certainly not a character we are used to seeing. And I think a lot of women crave more badass action stars to look up to, and were disappointed to see the main character of the film be sort of passive and quiet.

I think another reason why people were upset with the film is that they were surprised by the brothel world, which was only hinted at in the trailer. I had no idea that a most of the film would be set there and that hardly any scenes would be set in the real-life institution. It becomes a problem because the film doesn't clearly delineate what is fantasy and what is reality. In theory, only about 10 minutes of the film take place in reality. The shifts into the fantasy worlds are abrupt and never explained well. Or, really, at all. It's unfair, but of course there are going to be comparisons to Inception at this point, what with the jumping between fantasy layers. But while the rules of the fantasy layers were spelled out in Inception, they never are here, so the audience never really knows where they stand; or, rather, how much importance to attach to the actions occurring in the different worlds. My other large problem with the film was that these jumps between fantasy layers were often accompanied by strange tonal shifts and weird pacing. It made it difficult for the film to gain momentum and it took me out of the story a bit.

Per Cinematical; "rumor has it the 7 trips to the MPAA to get a PG-13 rating killed that clarity." Well, there's a big problem, right there. It might explain a lot about why I couldn't figure out how things were translating from brothel-world to real-world, or fantasy-world to brothel-world. (Did the other girls understand Babydoll's fantasies? Did she just imagine them or were they there, too?)

Now, getting back into the problems people had with the brothel world. There has been a lot of debate as to whether the girls are using their sexuality and objectification to their own strategic advantage, or whether they are simply playing into being exploited further. I feel like this hits on the entire debate in our culture over whether sex workers who choose sex work willingly are being degraded or empowered. That, though, is a long and lengthy other discussion that I'm not going to get into right now, but I'm pretty sure Violet Blue has written about it.

Staying on whether the Sucker Punch girls are objectified: Well, pretty much all action stars are. The $335 million Prince of Persia made was due in large part to people willing to shell out to stare at Jake Gyllenhaal's abs. Ditto the $456 million for 300 (to stick with stylized Zack Snyder films. (Is that repetitively redundant?))

I feel like there has been far more hue and cry over the girls' costumes in Sucker Punch than for other action heroines, which I find odd. Angelina Jolie certainly wasn't wearing a ton of clothing for Lara Croft. Ditto tons of Bond girls. I haven't seen Luc Besson's La Femme Nikita, but doesn't she run around in a slinky cocktail dress? It didn't bare much skin, but Trinity's matrix outfits were pretty fetishized. And I'm pretty certain Milla Jovovich tends to run around in sexy fighting outfits for most of her films.

Was Hit Girl's schoolgirl outfit okay because she didn't have tits? Do we prefer Ripley because she dresses like a man, therefore her strength is easily categorized? Is it the sense that the girls don't choose their outfits in the brothel world which makes it objectifying and derogatory? Do those same slinky outfits become empowering in the fantasy worlds since the girls choose those clothes for themselves? (Since it's on my mind, are the girls who dress up for Wondercon feeling less powerful for being in skintight, short or skimpy outfits? It also makes me think of derby girls. Their outfits might be revealing or fetishized, but they are certainly empowering for the women picking them out and wearing them (and no, they don't look like the costumes in Whip It, but you can't say there isn't some overlap with a Suicide Girls page there)).

[And speaking of women dressing how they want to dress, I present; The Great Toronto Slutwalk.]

Furthermore, while we're talking about women living within sexualized fantasies, there wasn't exactly a huge uproar over Black Swan, which also depicts a mentally unstable, fetishized woman wearing revealing outfits. (How many times can I use the word fetishized in one post? Let's find out!) Now, this was very possibly due to the fact that Black Swan is a better made film. But there are a lot of similarities. Nina is objectified by her choreographer, who also demeans her sexually, which is pretty similar to the Sucker Punch girls in the brothel.

In fact, there have been a lot of comparisons in attempt to rank just where Sucker Punch falls on the empowerment-objectification scale. "But this isn't sex workers fighting for their turf in 'Sin City.'"(Cinematical) I'm sorry, what? We're using Sin City as an example of empowered women? Because did you see Jessica Alba in that? [For the record, I enjoy many parts of Sin City, but Frank Miller is practically misogyny defined.]

I want to address one criticism in particular I find confusing (from Cinematical); "It's ridiculous to think that either girl would fantasize herself as a sexpot asskicker once imprisoned and forced into prostitution. We should not project any personal desires of being an all-out sexy tough girl on these characters,... both because it's a problematic desire for sex trade victims and because it makes no sense for the environment of the film."

What? First of all, it's clearly a fantasy film. This is not a historical depiction of the 1950s. And just because these girls didn't have Wonder Woman on tv doesn't mean that they couldn't fantasize being sexy ass-kickers. They're fantasizing about alternate planets and orcs and nazi zombies. I think sexy matrix ninja falls well within the scope of their imaginations. As for the desires of sex trade victims... I don't think this is a documentary about what women forced into prostitution think about while turning tricks. Or (as io9 puts it); "Action movies spring from the imaginations of enslaved, mentally unstable prostitutes." The fact is, the girls aren't dancing. They aren't actually prostitutes. They're in a mental institution. It just feels as degrading and imprisoning as sex work, which Babydoll imagines her incarceration to be.

Now, we can say that it is problematic that Zack Snyder decided to go with a brothel setting for most of the film rather than an institution because it looked prettier/sexier on film. (It certainly didn't help the clarity of the story.) Because Snyder spends the majority of the film using the brothel as the "real" world Babydoll returns to from her fantasies, I think a lot of reviewers became confused and reviewed it as if Babydoll actually were forced into prostitution.

But I think that denigrating the outfits the girls imagine themselves in their fantasy worlds is also problematic. It smacks of women who dismiss other women for having what they consider to be degrading sexual fantasies (usually any sort of fantasy that involves submission). The conceit of the story is this; Babydoll feels powerless and victimized. Her way of fighting back is to imagine herself as an epic heroine. If dressing herself, in her fantasy, in a schoolgirl outfit helps her feel empowered, who are we to knock it?

A final problem I have with some of the criticisms being lobbed at the film (and here in lies more spoilers). A lot of the critics have been saying that Babydoll doesn't actually do anything - she has exercises no authority over her own destiny since she is only fighting back in her imagination. As one reviewer so crudely put it; "the film's idea of treatment is telling rape victims in the moment to go to their happy place and all will be fine." But we learn in the end of the film that Babydoll was not merely fighting in her imagination. She was acting out in the institution; stealing objects, setting fires, stabbing orderlies and distracting guards. She absolutely was acting bravely and fighting for her freedom and that of the other girls.

Now, from a movie-making perspective, could the impact of Babydoll's actions have had more impact had we returned to the real-world asylum to see some of this playing out? Absolutely. C'est la vie.

A few other small notes on the film:

-The narration at the end of the film is terrible. Just completely god-awful.

-The soundtrack, however, is awesome. Really, completely fabulous.

-The visuals are great, but there is nothing particularly jaw-dropping or staggeringly new. (However, I do recommend checking out the short animations that accompany the film. They are a collaboration between Snyder and Ben Hibon, who was responsible for the Three Brothers animation in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt. 1.)

-Overall, the action scenes are fun, but dragged a little. The pacing was a little strange at times. This hearkens back to my earlier critique of the strange tonal shifts and weird jumps into and out of the various fantasy levels. This may all be due to kowtowing to the MPAA board.

I get where Zack Snyder was trying to go with all this. If the narrative had been more coherent, and if the heroines had been given more characterization, maybe his vision could have been realized. (Or, I should say, maybe his story could have been realized. I'm pretty sure his visuals were realized.) He's still a pretty new feature film director. As one review pointed out, do you remember what Steven Spielberg's 4th film was? 1941. Euch.

In sum, the movie would have worked with a more defined protagonist, less time in the brothel/more time in the actual asylum, and more understandable shifts between the fantasy worlds. And cutting out at least half of the final voice over.

On the other hand, how often is it that you hear college girls leaving a movie discussing the definition of post-feminism; so... well done Zack Snyder?

Or... to put it all another way:

I'm tired. I'm going to bed.

SFIFF

2011-04-01T01:48:00.000-07:00

Well, IFFBoston announced their line-up last week and I was getting a little bummed out. Such good picks! Such a great fest in general! Luckily, the San Francisco International Film Fest revealed their picks and tickets went on sale yesterday, which mitigated my disappointment.

A few notes on the differences between the festivals: SFIFF runs for 2 weeks instead of the one for IFFB. IFFB tends to come up with more features I'm desperate to see, so that week at IFFB is pretty intense. My schedule at SFIFF looks to be a lot more leisurely. A couple nights off, a lot of evenings with one film. I considered a marathon stretch one Saturday - they're showing the Mysteries of Lisbon - but I decided I'm unlikely to manage a 4.5 hour film on top of the other two I'm seeing that day. (Although I suppose it's like seeing Red Riding 1974 and 1980 back to back...)

IFFB has fest passes. SFIFF does not, which also means that it's going to end up being a tad more expensive. And annoying - since I can't adjust my schedule on the go - my screenings are locked in at this point.

IFFB uses Festival Genius. SFIFF is retarded in this respect. (How do you have a film fest website without an easily customizable personal calendar?)

They both are in great venues - IFFB mostly at the Somerville and the Brattle, SFIFF mostly at the Kabuki, which I ususally won't shell out for otherwise, but it is swank. Also the Castro.

So - SFIFF's lineup this year: there are a few Sundance/TIFF titles I'm really excited about, but then a lot are ones that I probably wouldn't seek out otherwise, particularly documentares. I think it should make for a really great fest. I'm sure I'll see Tyrannosaur by Paddy Considine at some point, but would I take the time check out the Redemption of General Butt Naked otherwise? I haven't decided whether to buy a ticket to Beginners - the opening night film. On the one hand, I don't want to miss opening night - especially for my first time at this particular fest. On the other hand, tickets are expensive and I've heard pretty mixed reviews for it. Hmmm.

Otherwise - here is what I am looking at for films:
Meek's Cutoff - From director Kelly Reichardt (of Old Joy and Wendy and Lucy). Oregon Trail drama.
Stake Land - Recommended by a friend who caught it at TIFF. Post apocalyptic vampire western road trip. Or something.
Le Quattro Volte - An Italian fable about goats. I think. The first line of the NYTimes review was something along the lines of; Le Quattro Volte is so full of surprises that even to describe it is to risk giving something away. So I haven't read any more. It was an indieWire critical consensus pick of the week.
The Troll Hunter - Got good reviews coming out of Fantastic Fest. Trolls! Dun dun dun.
The Future - Another buzzy sundance pick. From Miranda July. Also stars Hamish Linklater, whom I'm not sure I've seen in anything since Groove. Groove!
Nostalgia for the Light - Stars! Pretty, pretty stars. And probably something about light pollution.
Cave of Forgotten Dreams - 3-d Paleolithic cave paintings! WITH WERNER HERZOG NARRATION! I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS!
Get with the Program - Animated Shorts program
The Whistleblower - No idea if this will be any good, but it stars Rachel Weisz.
The Redemption of General Butt Naked - Got great reviews out of Sundance. About reconciliation in Liberia.
La Dolce Vita - What? I've never seen it.
Page One; A Year inside the New York Times - Could be interesting. Probably fluffy, yet entertaining.
Another Earth - One of the buzziest films out of Sundance. Per indieWire; "The 2011 Sundance Film Festival has played host to a slew of fresh faces with multiple films in the lineup. British up-and-comer Juno Temple appeared in “Kaboom” and “Little Birds.” The other Olsen sister, Elizabeth Olsen, had lead roles in “Martha Marcy May Marlene” and “Silent House.” Kyle Gallner, meanwhile, came to Park City to hype his work in “Red State” and “Little Birds.” But none can hold a candle to blonde, brainy beauty Brit Marling, who quickly emerged as this year’s Sundance marvel by arriving with two critically acclaimed films under her belt (sci-fi romance “Another Earth” and the tense thriller “Sound of My Voice”), both of which she co-wrote, co-produced and stars in."
Irresistible Impulses - Shorts program. One with Brendan Gleeson!
Cicumstance - Audience award winner at Sundance about two Iranian teenage girls.
My Joy - I'm not sure if this a darkly comic or just dark look at post USSR-Russia.
The Trip - Winterbottom, Coogan, and Brydon. Hoping I like it more than I liked Tristam Shandy.
Submarine - Supposed to be an awesome coming-of-age tale, and I'm hoping that by seeing it at the fest, I'll avoid any cuts Harvey Weinstein was planning on making. Stars Sally Hawkins, Noah Taylor, Paddy Consindine and Craig Roberts (whom I only know as a whiny teen vampire from Being Human, but he's supposed to be quite good in this).
Incendies - Won all the Canadian Oscars last year. Should be good, eh?

So - most likely 19 films in 14 days (compared to 14 films in 7 days at IFFB last year). WOOT.

Giants Mix

2011-03-31T13:35:00.000-07:00

In honor of opening day... a short mix for the Giants. [Ed update: what the hell, Tejada.]

Credit for a chunk of this has to come from this lovely mix, which I listened to a lot last October. (It's also really great to work out to...)

Run This Town SF Giants Remix - DJ E Rock

Electric Feel - MGMT (Timmy's warm up song)

Only Girl in the World SF Remix - Rihanna (Well, the remix comes from San Francisco, and I was listening to it a lot during the series...)

The City - Richie Cunning (video isn't the whole song - fyi)

Black and Orange - Bailey

Say Hey I Love You (SF Giants Version)- Michael Franti

Higher Ground - RHCP

Vertigo - U2

Song 2 - Blur

Know Your Enemy- Green Day

Ready, Steady, Go - Paul Oakenfold

(Those last five are on because they all played at AT&T park on Monday)

SF Giants Fight Song

Don't Stop Believing (Giants 2010) - Ashkon (Duh.)

Movie opinions

2011-03-27T18:20:00.000-07:00

About a week before the Oscars, I started a post on movie opinions. Basically, several of my coworkers and I had been sitting around a conference room, filing, and the talk turned to the Oscars. Someone asked me what I wanted to win, and I explained that I thought Winter's Bone was the best film of the year, but I was rooting for The Social Network over The King's Speech. One of the other girls piped up and said she really liked the King's Speech; she thought it was stirring and feel-good. I said something to the effect that I liked Colin Firth's performance, but that I thought the script was uneven and one of the weaker parts of the film and that I didn't like how it glossed over some historical aspects of the story. To which she said something like; "Oh. Well, I really liked it."

And I instantly felt awful.

I hadn't meant to demean her response to the film, or suggest that someone's opinion on a movie only matters if you can break down the various elements in it. I had just gotten into the habit of debating films with a lot of other cinephiles. I'm used to discussing movies with talkative people with a lot of strong opinions. Or rather, with other people who love to debate. And yes, those debates can occasionally turn heated, but for the most part, film people really like talking about film. Getting into the nitty gritty and hashing it out.

Take, for example, the fact that Sherlock Holmes came up at dinner the other night. I really couldn't get into it; one of the other people there really enjoyed it. We talked about Guy Ritchie's other films. We were all able to agree that Rachel McAdams was weirdly anachronistic in it. And we talked about how it really didn't need to be called "Sherlock Holmes" (which led us onto how the same was true for the latest Robin Hood or... hmm. There was another film that used a story/legend but then had no real ties to the source material. It'll come to me. Ed update: I remember - the new trailer for the Three Musketeers. More explosions than one would expect in an Alexandre Dumas adaptation.)

Anyways. Point being - my dinner companions weren't offended by the fact that I disliked a movie that they had enjoyed. No one came away upset or slighted. We had a great discussion about movies that touched on a lot of different points.

But I think there's a real difference when I start talking movies with non-movie folk/more casual theater-goers.

What reminded me of this topic (and spurred me to finish my post) was an essay at Observations on Film Art entitled, "Pleased to Meet You. What's the Greatest Movie Ever Made?" I particularly liked this bit; "people who know a great deal about any subject are likely to seem condescending to people who don’t, even if that is not their intention." Obviously, I'm no expert. I didn't take film theory and I don't study movies for a living. But I'm passionate enough about the topic that if I (stupidly, without thinking) launch into talking about the scriptwriting in the King's Speech, I come off completely condescending, even though I really was just trying to talk about the movie. Carry the conversation forward, and so forth.

I'd hate for something like "What's your favorite movie?" to be a conversation stopper. One of the great things about film is that it is such a universally inclusive topic (we always get around to "recent films we've seen" at our family holidays.) I just wish I better knew how to direct my enthusiasm so that talking with a casual-viewer led to more discussion, not awkwardness.

*le sigh*

Review round-up

2011-03-13T16:19:00.000-07:00

Oh, blog. I have neglected you for far too long. Mea culpa. I forgot what it was like to be busy.

To be fair, I haven't exactly been living at the movies, either, seeing as art house flicks have been in short supply around here and the winter doldrums worse than usual. Not to mention the end of the Oscar race is always a little exhausting. Anyways, Jane Eyre doesn't open in SF till next week, ditto Sucker Punch, missed The Way Back, and I'm going to wait for DVD for Rango. I do want to see Uncle Boonmee, and All About Eve is at the Castro this week.

I did catch the animated shorts, and quite enjoyed both Madagascar: Carnet de Voyage and The Lost Thing. And a double feature of 42nd Street and the Gold Diggers of 1933, which ought to keep me satiated on Busby Berkeley for a while.

And I caught Kaboom, which I really enjoyed - it's well worth checking out. It's sort of a college-, coming-of-age, sci-fi romp. With a lot of sex. It's fun.

In terms of DVD releases, I caught The Proposition (fabulous and amazing), the Town (meh - it's no Gone Baby Gone and Rebecca Hall was surprisingly bad in it), State of Play (the BBC miniseries, not the remake; it is completely awesome - Bill Nighy is at his absolute best), Ravenous (silly and ridiculous), and Leaves of Grass (Ed Norton is good, but the script doesn't live up to his performance).

Also saw Season of the Witch. Drunk. It's bad. It's so very, very bad.

Mostly, though, I've finally gotten hooked on The Wire. I'm almost through Season 2, and I'm in real danger of becoming a shut-in until I finish it... Why are shows about drugs, like Breaking Bad, SO ADDICTIVE?! The first few episodes of Season 1 are a little uneven, but it really is one of the best shows around. Definitely see it if you haven't already. I may hold off a few days to finish Season 2, though. I really like the character Ziggy and I'm sensing that things are not going to go well for him...

My super-duper oscar predictions

2011-02-27T00:18:00.000-08:00

At last. More than 40 awards shows, critics lists, and prediction reports compiled. This is where I try to take emotion out of the equation, look at the tallys of what has been winning the critical and guild awards, what has the buzz from oscar-oligists, and then stubbornly stick to a Social Network win anyway. Last year I went 17/24, which was dismal, but in 2009, I went 21/24, which tied me with Tom O'Neil (the winning-est oscar pundit that year).

I've changed my mind on the shorts like 3 times already, so I'm stopping the second guessing and just laying it all out...

Best Picture
"The Social Network"

I'm sorry. This is the one where I am throwing out the guild sweeps and going with my gut. I think Harvey Weinstein is brilliant at what he does, and The King's Speech is just so oscar-baity, but I stand by the fact that no film that has won the GG, NBR and NYFCC has ever lost best picture. I think there was a bit of a backlash against the Social Network's early sweep, but I feel that backlash that has run its course. At least it is an interesting competition.

(My favorite title for someone's Oscar picks? If The King's Speech was best picture, it would win best picture.)

Actor in a Leading Role
Colin Firth in "The King's Speech"

Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale in "The Fighter"

Actress in a Leading Role
Natalie Portman in "Black Swan"

Sorry, Annette. You'll have to wait for that actual lifetime achievement Oscar.

Actress in a Supporting Role
Melissa Leo in "The Fighter"

I could easily see a Hailee Steinfeld upset here, particularly because of Melissa Leo's recent bizarre antics and the huge number of nominations for True Grit (not to mention its box office prowess). But I think Leo still has a lot of goodwill stored up from Frozen River, and that True Grit will get honored in Cinematography.

Animated Feature Film
"Toy Story 3" Lee Unkrich

Art Direction
"Inception"

Very tricky. It has to be either Inception or The King's Speech, because they each won the guild award (Fantasy and Period respectively), and the guild is 10/14 with the eventual Oscar winner. I think Inception has the visual flair to edge out here.

(Alice in Wonderland has a lot of supporters because it is visually extravagant and Tim Burton films do well here, but I think all the computer work will count against it.)

Cinematography
"True Grit," Roger Deakins

Wally Pfister could upset, given that he won the ASC. I can't decide if the acting branch will go with Inception or the older bent of the Academy will go with True Grit. Or rather, I think both those things will happen, but I can't tell who has more pull. Inceptions sequences were so memorable, but most of what I think about from True Grit were landscape frames. I'm going with "Oscar voters are old" on this one.

Costume Design
"The King's Speech," Jenny Beavan

Alice in Wonderland could upset, just because Colleen Atwood has SUCH name recognition for costumes. But as one blog pointed out, the last 5 winners here were: Memoirs of a Geisha, Marie Antoinette, Elizabeth: the Golden Age, the Duchess, and the Young Victoria. Period/Royalty FTW!

Director
"The Social Network," David Fincher

Documentary (Feature)
"Inside Job," Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs

Documentary (Short Subject)
"Strangers No More"

Film Editing
"The Social Network"

Foreign Language Film
"In a Better World," Denmark

Incendies as the possible upset.

Makeup
"The Wolfman," Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Music (Original Score)
"The Social Network," Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

I'd like to take this opportunity to point out that The Social Network, The King's Speech, and Inception ALL used previous recordings prominently (Edward Grieg's In the Hall of the Mounatin King, Beethoven's 7th, and Edith Piaf's Je Ne Regrette Rien respectively), but Black Swan, True Grit, the Fighter, and the Kids are All Right were all disqualified for using pre-existing music or songs. This category needs fixin.

Music (Original Song)
"We Belong Together" from "Toy Story 3," Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Short Film (Animated)
"Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)" Bastien Dubois

The predictable choice here is The Gruffalo. It's like the King's Speech of animation. BUT! Last year's Logorama upset was pretty shocking. I'd love to see Madagascar upset the obvious British choice. I think with its innovative mash of animation styles and international subject, it has a good chance.

Short Film (Live Action)
"The Confession," Tanel Toom

Wish 143 for an upset.

Sound Editing
"Inception," Richard King

Sound Mixing
"Inception," Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick

Shockingly, True Grit won this at the guilds. But I think Inception will get both sound categories from a broader pool of voters. (But, seriously, that club scene in the Social Network...)

Visual Effects
"Inception," Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb

Adapted Screenplay
"The Social Network," Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin

Original Screenplay
"The King's Speech," Screenplay by David Seidler

This makes me sad. The script was the weakest element of this film. Inception was clever, and Christopher Nolan was snubbed for directing.

So - sometimes the tech categories can point the way to what will win out, but I think Inception sweeps a lot of those this year, which doesn't help predict the Social Network/King's Speech showdown.

It's also important to note that Best Picture and Best Director have only differed 12 times since 1948. And people are pretty sure that David Fincher will get it, DGA be damned (17 oscar pundits predict Fincher over 10 for Hooper).

I realize that 5/6 films that have won PGA, DGA, and SAG went on to win best picture. BUT! I think the Fighter and the Social Network split the SAG vote. And the DGA was very much an upset.

AND since the Social Network is favored in Editing, Director and Adapted Screenplay, that gives it an edge. The last film to win those 3 categories and NOT best picture was Traffic in 2000 (although that was before preferential voting).

But I think preferential voting will also help Social Netowrk. I really think the Social Network will rank as #2 on more ballots than The King's Speech. Can you really see a Fighter/King's Speech or Inception/King's Speech ballot happening? I mean, The Social Network won 99 critics/guild awards to the King's Speech's 37 over the season. I think it is the more widely liked film.

As Sasha Stone wrote; “There is no reason to assume [The King's Speech] won’t win. Except for that tiny needling truth that it isn’t the best film of the 10.” That has to be needling the voters. They've gone for quality over expectation more and more in recent years.

The Social Network's totally gonna win.

The Oscars - who SHOULD win

2011-02-26T16:18:00.000-08:00

Best Picture
"Winter's Bone" Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

Actor in a Leading Role
Colin Firth in "The King's Speech"

I'm okay with this one. He was really good, plus I thought he was brilliant in A Single Man. The Oscars always skew old for males, and Jesse Eisenberg will probably get other nominated roles in the future.

Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale in "The Fighter"

Still sad that Mark Ruffalo was nominated over Andrew Garfield, but glad that John Hawkes got some love. All that aside, Christian Bale is brilliant. I'm happy he is finally getting his due.

Actress in a Leading Role
Natalie Portman in "Black Swan"

This one is hard. Jennifer Lawrence is BRILLIANT in Winter's Bone. But I think this is the best work Natalie Portman may ever do.

Actress in a Supporting Role
Hailee Steinfeld in "True Grit"

Much as I liked Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom, Hailee Steinfeld really had the meatier part.

Animated Feature Film
"How to Train Your Dragon" Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois

Art Direction
"Inception"

I... HOW is Black Swan not up for this?

Cinematography
"Inception," Wally Pfister

I do love Roger Deakins, but he should have won for the Assassination of Jesse James.

Costume Design
"The Tempest," Sandy Powell

Director
"The Social Network," David Fincher

Documentary (Feature)
"Exit through the Gift Shop," Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz

Film Editing
"Black Swan"

I would have picked Inception, but.... why are the tech categories so screwy this year?

Foreign Language Film
"Dogtooth," Greece

Makeup
"The Wolfman," Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Music (Original Score)
"The Social Network," Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Music (Original Song)
"If I Rise" from "127 Hours," Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong

I STILL WANT MY BURLESQUE.

Short Film (Animated)
"Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)" Bastien Dubois

Sound Editing
"Inception," Richard King

BRAAAAAAAHM.

Sound Mixing
"The Social Network," Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten

Seriously - the Club scene is brilliant.

Visual Effects
"Inception," Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb

Adapted Screenplay
"The Social Network," Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin

Original Screenplay
"Inception," Written by Christopher Nolan

Meme time!

2011-02-16T22:59:00.000-08:00

I got this from the fabulous Bathroom Monologues, found here.

It is based on the Bernard Pivot/James Lipton list of ten questions.

1. What is your favorite word?
I'm partial to oubliette. I never get to use it, though. I also really like words with an x in them; vixen, moxie, Roxie (which somehow ended up being a nickname of mine for about a month in college).

2.What is your least favorite word?
Any sort of management buzzword/jargon. Red flags for incompetence, and they make the hairs on the back of my neck go up.

3.What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
Possibility.

4.What turns you off?
Hmm... rejection?

5.What is your favorite curse word?
Fuck.

6.What sound or noise do you love?
This.

7.What sound or noise do you hate?
Babies.

8.What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Attempt? Something involving performing.

9.What profession would you not like to do?
Pediatrician. I can see that going very, very wrong.

10.If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
Open bar.

Linkspam

2011-01-31T00:03:00.000-08:00

Tori Amos is writing a musical. This is fabulous. (However, I like this performance here. And this one. And this one. Right. Stopping now.)

The Faces Behind Facebook.

If The King's Speech Gets Re-Edited to PG-13, It Doesn't Deserve the Oscar. Well, it doesn't deserve the Oscar anyway, but...

In honor of Sundance.... 10 Great Scenes from Sundance History. (Includes the fabulous note; "If film bloggers were dolphins, hype would be their echolocation.")

And Sundance actors to watch. And another crop.

What do the SAG awards have against Rooney Mara?

10 Reasons to Watch Archer instead of 30 Rock.

Truthful Best Picture Posters.

The history of hip hop.

This answers my questions about Inception's editing snub. Kinda.

Car chases, Whee!

The writer of An American Tail and Land Before Time died. Land Before Time was my second-favorite film growing up. "That's MY Hopper!" Excuse me, I've got something in my eye....

Here is my worry about the reality show about the Giants; (mostly, the more I can watch them, the happier I am. But...) Brian Wilson might start coming to practice dressed as Chuck Norris. And I really want the focus to stay on winning.

And speaking of the Giants.

Um, WHAT.

The SAG awards

2011-01-30T17:42:00.000-08:00

I'm coming in late, but... my thoughts. Let me show them to you.

-I love that Helena Bonham Carter starts to clap for herself and then smacks her own hand away.
-Melissa Leo; get it together girl.
-How drunk is Alec Baldwin?
-There's a show starring Breckin Meyer and Zach Morris? I feel old.
-I do not understand the appeal of Betty White. I think all the actors in the room just want to pray they'll still have careers at that age.
-You know I think the King's Speech is starting to remind me of Crash. The film is mostly focused on the 3 leads, but at all these awards, they keep focusing on all the supporting actors. I feel like somewhere out there, there's a very straight-laced, polite British mobster team sternly suggesting voting for the King's Speech. I mean, he helped defeat the nazis. Righty-o. There's a good chap.
-And Natalie Portman waddles out. Mila Kunis looks fabulous, though.
-Mark-Paul Gosslear. That's Zach Morris' name.
-Man, the SAGs take their tribute award seriously.
-Wow. I thought Elijah Wood was presenting, but it's Jeremy Renner. He sounds like he's been partying hard.
-Oooh! Patrick Stewart! Patrick Stewart!
-Aw. Al Pacino. But he's not there, so at least we move along.
-The good looking crew arrives.
-God. Armie Hammer is huge.
-"And fashion."
-Andrew Garfield is apparently unimpressed with the clip reel.
-Does Josh Duhamel count as an actor?
-Oh, god. I thought Temple Grandin's streak was over.
-Julia Ormond is happy to be getting laid.
-Winona Ryder was not happy with her clip.
-God, is THAT Susan Sarandon's boy-toy?
-Is it just me, or are a LOT of people having trouble speaking tonight? What are they drinking?
-Awww.... Pete Postlethwaite.
-John Hawkes gets some shrieks. Whoo!
-Yay Christian Bale! I'm glad he's finally getting some well-deserved recognition. I do hope, though, that it doesn't go to his head. No one let him get script approval.
-And Dickie Ecklund gets up to steal the spotlight.
-Chrisitan's beard is taking on Brian Wilson proportions.
-Mark Wahlberg has some things to say, let me tell you.
-Wow. Colin Firth gives Anthony Andrews a shout out. Scarlet Pimpernel woot.
-David Sutherland has been hanging out with Grizzlies.
-Please Social Network. But I'm thinking Fighter.
-OH FUCK.

2011-01-25T09:29:00.000-08:00

Quick reactions:

The Good:

-Winter's Bone is in for Best Picture! And 127 Hours swapped in for the Town, which is fine.
-And even better yet, JOHN HAWKES IS IN FOR SUPPORTING ACTOR!!! WHOOOOOO!!!!
-Dogtooth is in for foreign film! Way to go Academy!
-Jacki Weaver stays in for supporting actress. Yay!
-Restrepo is in for Documentary! More importantly, Waiting for Superman is out! YES! (Both Waste Land and Gasland are in... I should have thought about the fact that the academy looks kindly on environmental docs.)
-Yay! A travel story about Madagascar is up for animated short! Whoo!
-Barney's Version proves that if you put all of your marketing money into one category (makeup), you can get recognized.

The Bad:

-No Christopher Nolan for Best Director.
-Bardem. Ugh.
-No Ryan Gosling for best actor.
-I'm sorry. You put Hereafter in for Visual Effects and not Scott Pilgrim? Low blow. (And why does visual effects get 5 nominees this year?)
-Wait, no TRON for visual effects? WHAT? (No tron for score, either. It was a longshot wish, but oh well.)
-I really was hoping for Bound to You for best song.
-No Mila Kunis for supporting actress.

The Ugly (or particularly shocking):

-WHERE IS MY CHER?! HOW DARE YOU NOT INVITE HER? You're still pissed about the whole Bob Mackie thing, aren't you?
-NO!!! JOHN HAWKES WAS SUPPOSED TO SUPPLANT MARK RUFFALO! NOT ANDREW GARFIELD!! NOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo
-No Black Swan for Art Design? Are you kidding me? (That's actually the first of several shocking snubs for Black Swan in the tech categories. Here it was looking like it might come away with as many nominations as the King's Speech. (SERIOUSLY? NO BEST COSTUME? THE TUTUS WERE SO PRETTY!!!)
-No Inception for editing. Say what now?!

So the King's Speech, which did not get weirdly skunked in the tech categories, got 12 noms, which is going to make people think it has an edge. Psh. True Grit got 10 (yay!), Social Network and Inception got 8, The Fighter got 7, Winter's Bone got 4.

Black Swan got 5. 127 Hours got 6. Who saw that coming?

AND THE NOMINEES ARE...

2011-01-25T09:23:00.001-08:00

I'll have actual thoughts in a minute. But the important thing?
I predicted 89/120 nominees. 94/120, if you add in my alternates that made it.
40/45 for Picture, Director, Actors, and Screenplays. (43/45 if you count my alternates). Mwa ha ha....

Oscar predictions

2011-01-23T21:23:00.000-08:00

Let's guess the nominees:

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

127 Hours could replace Winter's Bone. But let's hope not. Please Winter's Bone over Kids Are All Right. I won't hope against TS3, despite the fact that I think its inclusion is awful. Potential surprises: Ghost Writer, Another Year, Shutter Island (God, I hope not).

At this point, I'd love to point out this fabulous tally at indieWire. While the PGA win for King's Speech gives some semblance of an actual race (and I'd never count out Harvey Weinstein), that's 29 wins for The Social Network vs. The King's Speech's 3. Inception and Winter's Bone follow with 2 each, which is what leads me to hold out hope for Winter's Bone.

Best Director
Darren Aronofsky
David Fincher
David O. Russell
Christopher Nolan
Tom Hooper

Going with the DGAs and counting the Coens out.

Best Actress
Natalie Portman
Jennifer Lawrence
Annette Benning
Nicole Kidman
Michelle Williams

A possible Hailee Steinfeld upset here? It would be easier to predict if she and Lesley Manfield were more set in supporting versus lead. Much as I would love a Noomi Rapace upset, I don't see that happening.

Best Actor
Colin Firth
Jesse Eisenberg
James Franco
Jeff Bridges
Robert Duvall

Ugh. I'd take Ryan Gosling or Mark Wahlberg over Duvall. But god know best actor tends to skew old. Better Duvall than Javier Bardem, though?

Best Supporting Actress
Melissa Leo
Amy Adams
Helena Bonham Carter
Jacki Weaver
Hailee Steinfeld

Mila Kunis in here if voters get confused about which category to place Steinfeld in.

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale
Geoffrey Rush
Mark Ruffalo
Andrew Garfield
Jeremy Renner

I'd give a limb for John Hawkes to supplant Mark Ruffalo.

Best Original Screenplay
Inception
King's Speech
Fighter
Kids are All Right
Black Swan

I suppose Another Year could get in after a nomination from the Critics Choice and DC awards. (It was ineligible for the WGAs)

Best Adapted Screenplay
Social Network
127 Hours
True Grit
Toy Story 3
Winter's Bone

The Town for an upset.

Best Foreign Film
At this point, it's a choice between these nine; Biutiful, Outside the Law, Dogtooth, In a Better World, Incendies, Confessions, Life Above All, Even the Rain, Simple Simon

Biutiful and In A Better World are safe bets. Incendies, probably, too. Outside the Law has proven controversial, so I bet it is out. I want to say Dogtooth and Confessions, since those are the two I most want to see, which leads me to believe the academy will snub them.

Well, here's hoping:
Biutiful
Dogtooth
Confessions
In A Better World
Incendies

Best Animated
Toy Story 3
Despicable Me
How to Train Your Dragon

Best Documentary
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Waiting for Superman
Inside Job
Last Train Home
Client 9: the Rise and Fall of Elliot Spitzer

The Tillman story could switch in for Last Train Home. I don't see Restrepo getting in.

Best Visual Effects
The current pool is Alice in Wonderland, Inception, Iron Man 2, Harry Potter 7, Hereafter, Scott Pilgrim, and Tron. I'm going with:

Alice in Wonderland
Inception
Tron

Harry Potter as my outlier. Why can't Scott Pilgrim have nice things?

Best Live Short
I only know what BAFTA has picked in this category, so I go with those:
Connect
Lin
Rite
Turning
Until the River Runs Red
[ED UPDATE 1/24/11: The pool for this category is; Ana's Playground, The Confession, the Crush, God of Love, Na Wewe, Seeds of the Fall, Shoe, Six Dollar Fifty Man, Sma Barn Stora Ord, Wish 143. I'll go with Confession, Wish 143, Shoe, God of Love, the Six Dollar Fifty Man.]

Best Animated Short
(Going with the Annie noms here:)
Coyote Falls
Day & Night
The Renter
Enrique Wrecks the World
Cow who wanted to be a Hamburger (how much do I want to see this when the shorts come out?)

[ED UPDATE 1/24/11: The pool for ani short is: The Cow who Wanted to Be a Hamburger, Coyote Falls, Day & Night, the Gruffalo, Let's Pollute, the Lost Thing, Madagascar Carnet de Voyage, Sensology, Urs, the Silence Beneath the Park. Therefore I am updating my picks to; Coyote Falls, Day & Night, the Cow who, and.... the Gruffalo and Madagascar. Since we can't see them until after the noms are announced....]

[ED UPDATE 1/24/11 CONT.: It occurs to me I have completely omitted Documentary Short. Whoops. The pool for this one is: Born Sweet, Killing in the Name, Living for 32, One Thousand Pictures - RFK's Last Journey, Poster Girl, Strangers No More, Sun Come Up, Warriors of Qiugang. I'm picking: Born Sweet, Killing in the Name, Living for 32, Strangers No More, Warriors of Qiugang.]

Best Costumes
Black Swan
King's Speech
Alice in Wonderland
True Grit
Burlesque

Tron and Inception for upsets here. (Upsets. Psh. Like there's much to go on once you reach this level of category)

Best Art/Production design
Alice in Wonderland
Inception
Black Swan
King's Speech
True Grit

Best Makeup
Pool: Alice in Wonderland, True Grit, Barney's Version, Fighter, Jonah Hex, Way Back, Wolfman. I go with:

Alice in Wonderland
True Grit
Wolfman (it would feel wrong if this didn't get in, no?)

Jonah Hex as the spoiler (Josh Brolin is in both). (And what is the makeup in the Way Back? Fake teeth? tattoos?)

Best Cinematography
True Grit
Inception
Black Swan
King's Speech
Social Network

Best Editing
Inception
Social Network
Black Swan
127 Hours
King's Speech

Best Song
You Haven't Seen the Last of Me (Burlesque)
If I Rise (127 Hours)
I See the Lights (Tangled)
There's a Place for Us (Narnia)
Coming Home (Country Strong)

Bound to You (Burlesque) as a spoiler. Possibly Shine (Waiting for Superman). Please god, don't nominate We Belong Together (TS3).

Didn't we just have the Beyonce/Jennifer Hudson sing-off a couple years back? It seems criminal not to get Christina Aguilera up there to belt at everyone.

Best Score
Important to remember here: the Fighter, the Kids are All Right, True Grit, and Black Swan are all disqualified in this category.

Social Network
127 Hours
Inception
King's Speech
Alice in Wonderland

How to Train Your Dragon as a spoiler. I would like TRON here, please. But I'm not seeing it happening.

Best Sound
Inception
Black Swan
Social Network
True Grit
King's Speech

Tron, Harry Potter 7, Shutter Island as spoilers.

Best Sound effects editing
Inception
Iron Man 2
Unstoppable
Black Swan
127 Hours

True Grit, Salt, Tron for upsets.

Top 20 of 2010

2011-01-18T23:22:00.000-08:00

Right, I usually try to get this up the first week in January, but... I was busy, dammit!

Notable Omissions that I have yet to see: The Town, Red Riding 1983 (I... don't ask), I Am Love, A Prophet, 127 Hours, Get Low, Ghost Writer, Buried, Red, the American, Monsters, Machete, Rabbit Hole, Another Year, The Way Back. I can't see everything. At some point I have to go watch Metropolis. There are only so many hours in a week!

So, with that in mind, here are my top 20 of 2010 (with links to earlier references/reviews on the blog included, and if you can see it now):

1. Winter's Bone. (On DVD) Just hands down the most brilliant film I've seen this year. An Ozarks-set noir with fantastic performances all around.
2. Red Riding: 1974. (On DVD) Part of a trilogy of films loosely based around the Yorkshire Ripper and police corruption in the area. This first film deals with a young reporter and one of the victim's mothers. Andrew Garfield was excellent in the Social Network and Never Let Me Go, but he is at his absolute best here.
3. Inception. (On DVD) I think you may have heard of this one.
4. Black Swan. (In theaters) I can't believe I never got around to writing this one up, but I really loved it. It's high art horror. And ballet lends itself particularly well to horror.
5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. (On DVD) Like any fan of the books, I could point out one or two niggling details that I would have done differently, but the fact of the matter is that they took a massive, widely-adored book and did it justice. Noomi Rapace knocks it out of the park as Lisbeth.
6. Fish Tank. (2009/2010 release, but I saw it in January, so I'm adding it here. Not yet on DVD.) I haven't been able to get this film out of my head all year. It is so striking, so original that it seared itself onto my brain. Katie Jarvis gives an incendiary performance as a teen that tries to live beyond her projects housing and Michael Fassbender is riveting as her mother's new boyfriend who begins to befriend her.
7. The Social Network. (On DVD) I think I'd like to see this one again. I feel like it may grow on me. I didn't quite fall in love with it, I won't re-watch it the way I will Inception, but it's so excellent on so many levels and I have found myself thinking about it a lot. Yes, even apart from the awards race.
8. The Fighter. (In theaters) What could have been a rote underdog sports tale is elevated by terrific characterization and filming style. This and True Grit were the two most pleasant surprises for me at the movies this year.
9. True Grit. (In theaters) If No Country for Old Men was the Coens' serious western, this one puts the genre squarely in their sly, darkly-comic oeuvre.
10. Red Riding: 1980. (On DVD) This one hasn't stuck with me the way 1974 did, but it is also incredibly well done and anchored with a remarkable performance by Paddy Considine.

11. Perrier's Bounty. (On DVD) Is this a great film? No. Did I find it wildly entertaining and enjoyable? Yes. Crazy Irish mob film with a great cast.
12. Cell 211. (Not yet on DVD) A fantastic Spanish prison drama. Does not go anywhere you expect it to.
13. Red, White and Blue. (Not yet on DVD) As I wrote before; "Really good, and really disturbing. I suppose it would be called a horror film, but it isn't supernatural in any way. It's flawed people in bad situations doing nasty things to each other. It's far more character-driven than most horror films and it's really well done."
14. Predators. (On DVD) The best summer action flick of 2010. Did everything it set out to do and was a lot of fun.
15. The Killer Inside Me. (On DVD) Casey Affleck as a murderous small town southern sheriff. Much in the same vein as American Psycho or Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.
16. Never Let Me Go. (Not yet on DVD) An achingly beautiful portrait of three friends who grow up at a strange boarding school for special children and the paths they take.
17. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. (On DVD 1/25/11) The trilogy wraps up with Lisbeth and Mikael fighting to keep Lisbeth out of jail and trying to return her rights to her. Incredibly satisfying.
18. Blue Valentine. (In theaters) Well done, if depressing look at the dissolution of a marriage.
19. The King's Speech. (In theaters) A sports film about a speech impediment, or Masterpiece theater for the awards race. Also, it turns out that Nazis are bad.
20. The Crazies. (On DVD) A surprisingly effective horror film about a zombie-esque plague in a small town. Also a good argument for why remakes are not always a bad idea.

The best of the rest: Ondine (On DVD - Irish fairytale), Red Hill (On DVD 1/25/11 - Aussie Western/Revenge thriller), Kick Ass (On DVD - what it says), Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (Not yet on DVD - horror comedy), Animal Kingdom (On DVD 1/18/11 - Aussie crime drama), Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (On DVD - ode to video games, hipster love, and amazing visuals), I Love You Phillip Morris (Not yet on DVD - gay prison dramedy), Marwencol (Not yet on DVD - fascinating documentary about the artist Mark Hogancamp), Salt (On DVD 1/18/11 - spy thriller), Bunny and the Bull (Not yet on DVD - surreal British road trip), Let Me In (On DVD 2/1/11 - vampire tale/coming of age film. But scary>sparkly.)

Blue Valentine

2011-01-16T21:24:00.000-08:00

Expectations can be a funny thing. See, I went into Blue Valentine expecting to fall in love with it. And that's a high bar to set.

I also went in knowing that it was the juxtaposition of two people falling in and out of love. I don't really know how else to talk about the reason I didn't fall in love with this movie than talking about how that isn't 100% true, so.... thar be spoilers ahead.

I think had it really been simply a story of how two people who fell so incredibly in love could, years later, fall completely out of love, that would have been really interesting and I might have loved it more. But the start of the story isn't the start of a beautiful, epic romance. She gets knocked up. With another man's kid. And Ryan Gosling decides to be the good guy and step in and marry her.

If that doesn't have flashing red lights all around it, going; 'this is completely and totally the wrong reason to marry someone,' I don't know what would. So it isn't, to me, much of a mystery about how these kids could end up on the brink of divorce. Of course it doesn't work. It's the logical conclusion to that story.

The thing is, lots of people do fall in and, later, out of love, and I think I wanted to see a story more about that. That was what I had expected going in.

Now, I will say that I think they both deserve acting kudos; both Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams give very vulnerable, nuanced performances.

The writing also felt really honest. Uncomfortably so. I think that's the other reason it's hard to love this film; watching people break apart is awful. They both make bad decisions. They both say the wrong thing. The relationship falling apart isn't really anyone's fault - it's just two people stuck in a cycle of being angry and hurt. And that's incredibly difficult to watch.

So; it's well done. I'm glad I saw it. It has some of my favorite end credits I've ever seen. The acting is great. Just... be kinder to each other, people.

4/5 stars.

True Grit

2011-01-13T21:54:00.000-08:00

I suppose I could write out an entire review, but the only thing you really need to know is this: True Grit is fucking hilarious.

5/5 stars.

So much to see...

2011-01-13T11:35:00.000-08:00

True Grit and Blue Valentine... True Grit and Blue Valentine....

Till then, enjoy this list of EW's 25 films to see before Oscar night (with helpful comments of availability included (bold are the ones I've seen):

The Social Network - on DVD Jan 11
The King's Speech
Inception - now on DVD
The Fighter
Toy Story 3 - now on DVD
True Grit
Black Swan
The Kids Are All Right - now on DVD
127 Hours
Winter's Bone - now on DVD
The Town - now on DVD
Rabbit Hole - goes wide Jan 14
Another Year - goes wide sometime in January
Get Low - DVD Feb 22
How to Train Your Dragon - now on DVD
Blue Valentine - goes wide sometime in January
Biutiful - goes wide Jan 28
Animal Kingdom - on DVD Jan 18
Waiting for Superman - on DVD in Feb
Alice in Wonderland - now on DVD
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - now on DVD
Inside Job - goes wide Jan 28
The Illusionist - goes wide Jan 14
Tangled
Burlesque

On an unrelated note, just as I was mourning what could have been with Nick Stahl's career, this news came through the wires: Nick Stahl Cast in Locke & Key. Yay! Back on the small screen and joining my most anticipated new show!

If I could make up my own awards

2011-01-10T22:25:00.000-08:00

Once the Oscar noms come out, I'm sure I'll gleeful about some inclusions, pissed at some snubs, outraged at the undeserving noms, and wistful for those that never had a chance. And then 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; White Material, I Am Love, the Tillman Story, Restrepo, Get Low, Rabbit Hole, Vincere, Ghost Writer, A Prophet, Dogtooth, Applause, Mother, Another Year, Incendies, Beyond.

I mean, if you look at every picture which has received a nomination for Best Picture from a critics guild, that's 47 different films right there, excluding docs and foreign films.

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

Best Picture
Winter's Bone
Inception
The Social Network
Black Swan
The Fighter
Girl with a Dragon Tattoo
Fish Tank
Red Riding: 1974 (hey, Carlos is getting foreign film nods from a bunch of guilds. Although, yes, it is ineligible for an Oscar. But these are MY awards.)
Never Let Me Go
Animal Kingdom

Notable Omissions; Blue Valentine, True Grit, 127 Hours, Ghost Writer, The Town

Best Popcorn Film (those genre flicks worth your time, if not critical love)
Cell 211
Perrier's Bounty
Red, White and Blue
Predators
The Killer Inside Me
The Crazies
Red Hill
Kick Ass
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Notable Omissions; Red, Machete.

Best Actress
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
Katie Jarvis, Fish Tank
Noomi Rapace, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Carey Mulligan, Never Let Me Go

Notable Omissions; Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine), Lesley Manville (Another Year), Anne Hathaway (Love and Other Drugs), Hye-Ja Kim (Mother), Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole).

Best Actor
Colin Firth, The King's Speech
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Farrell, Ondine
Andrew Garfield, Red Riding: 1974
Noah Taylor, Red, White, and Blue

Alternates; Jim Carrey (I Love You, Philip Morris), Mark Wahlberg (The Fighter), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Let Me In).

Notable Omissions; James Franco (127 Hours), Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine), Tahar Rahim (A Prophet), Edgar Ramirez (Carlos), Robert Duvall (Get Low), Jeff Bridges (True Grit), Jim Broadbent (Another Year), Aaron Eckhart (Rabbit Hole), Ciaran Hinds (the Eclipse), Vincent Cassel (Mesrine). *phew*.

Best Supporting Actress
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom
Mila Kunis, Black Swan
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Juliette Lewis, Conviction
Dale Dickey, Winter's Bone

Alternates; Chloe Moretz (Kick Ass), Amy Adams (The Fighter), Marion Cotillard (Inception).

Notable Omissions; Olivia Williams (Ghost Writer), Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit), Dianne Wiest (Rabbit Hole), Rosamund Pike (Barney's Version).

Best Supporting Actor
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
Michael Fassbender, Fish Tank
John Hawkes, Winter's Bone
Christian Bale, The Fighter
Armie Hammer, The Social Network

Alternates: Brendan Gleeson (Perrier's Bounty), Tom Hardy (Inception), Kieran Culkin (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), Michael Shannon (the Runaways), Geoffrey Rush (the King's Speech), Sam Rockwell (Conviction), Ben Mendelsohn (Animal Kingdom).

Notable Omissions; Jeremy Renner (the Town), Matt Damon (True Grit), Edward Norton (Stone), Pierce Brosnan (Ghost Writer).

[Ed. note: I know, I know. I didn't include Sam Rockwell in my top 5. Quelle Horreur. He was good. He's always good. He wasn't given as much material to work with as one would have hoped. So when it comes down to the last spot, Armie Hammer had a more impressive role overall.]

Best Director
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David Fincher, The Social Network
Christopher Nolan, Inception
Debra Granik, Winter's Bone
Andrea Arnold, Fish Tank

Alternates; David O. Russell (the Fighter), Lena Dunham (Tiny Furniture).

Notable Omissions; the Coens (True Grit), Danny Boyle (127 Hours), Roman Polanski (Ghost Writer), Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine), Mike Leigh (Another Year).

Best Screenplay - Original
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
Ondine
Fish Tank

Notable Omissions; Buried, Blue Valentine, The Square, Four Lions, Another Year.

I almost want Four Lions to win as a write-in, just for its audacity.

Best Screenplay - Adapted
The Social Network
The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Winter's Bone
Red Riding: 1974

Alternates; I Love You Philip Morris, Never Let Me Go, The Killer Inside Me.

Notable Omissions; True Grit, The Town, Rabbit Hole

Best Foreign Film
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Cell 211
(both ineligible for oscars).... and....um. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest?

I may not have seen enough films in this category this year. Let's say Dogtooth, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, and A Prophet (nominated last year) for the other nominees and Simple Simon, Beyond, Incendies, Mother, I Am Love (ineligible for the Oscar), Hadewijch, Of Gods and Men, White Material, Carlos (ineligible), Applause, The Edge, Life Above All, and Undertow as the alternates.

Best Animated
Nada. Despite my deep love for animation, I have seen none of these films. I... don't know what happened this year.

Best Documentary
Ditto as foreign films. Marwencol FTW!

So let's go with Exit Through the Gift Shop, the Tillman Story, Restrepo, and A Film Unfinished, with Winnebago Man, Gasland and Last Train Home as alternates. I can't watch Inside Job. I just can't.

Best Visual Effects
Inception
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
TRON
Harry Potter 7a
Alice in Wonderland

Notable Omissions; Monsters, Narnia, Prince of Persia.

I have yet to see any shorts (hmmm.... when do those group showings occur?), so let's skip those.

Best Costumes
Black Swan
Alice in Wonderland
King's Speech

Surely other people wore costumes. Hmmm... TRON? Can I give an award for getting Garrett Hedlund into that getup? Inception? People wore pretty things in that.

Notable Omissions; True Grit, Burlesque (SEQUINS!!!), I Am Love, the Tempest, Agora, Made in Dagenham.

Best Art/Production Design
Bunny and the Bull
Inception
Black Swan
TRON
King's Speech

Alternates; Harry Potter 7a, Shutter Island

Notable Omission; I Am Love

Best Makeup
Alice in Wonderland
Black Swan
Harry Potter 7a

Notable Omissions; True Grit, Splice, the Wolfman, the Tempest, Burlesque? Who wore makeup this year? I can't fill this category.

Best Cinematography
Black Swan
Inception
Never Let Me Go
Harry Potter 7a
Winter's Bone

Alternates; The Fighter, The Social Network, Shutter Island, Let Me In.

Notable Omissions; True Grit, I Am Love, 127 Hours, Sweetgrass, Monsters.

Best Editing
Inception
The Social Network
Black Swan
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Shutter Island

Notable Omissions; 127 Hours, The Town.

Best Song
(AKA: who do I want to watch during the show - it's like who gets a grammy nomination!)
You Haven't Seen the Last of Me (Burlesque). CHER!!! PLZ WEAR BOB MACKIE, K? THNKS.
Eclipse (Eclipse). Much as I hate to nominate anything having to do with Twilight, I really do like Metric.
Bound to You (Burlesque). (Christina Aguilera)
Life During Wartime (Life During Wartime). (Devendra Banhard & Beck)
What Part of Forever (Eclipse). (Cee-Lo Green)

Your other song options (FYI); If I Rise - 127 Hours (Dido - I like this one alright), I See the Lights - Tangled (Mandy Moore), There's a Place for Us - Narnia (Carrie Underwood), Better Days - Eat Pray Love (Eddie Vedder - ditto; also not bad), Chanson Illusionist - The Illusionist (Sylvain Chomet). The last one isn't a Belleville Rendezvous, but it's cute.

I almost wish I could throw on Avril Lavigne's song from Alice in Wonderland or Gwyneth Paltrow's Coming Home from Country Strong, just to see them both get schooled by Cher and Cristina Aguilera. Because I'm cruel like that.

Best Score
TRON: Legacy - Daft Punk [Ed: WHY is this not getting more attention? I LOVED it.]
The Social Network - Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
The Fighter - Michael Brook
Inception - Hans Zimmer
Black Swan - Clint Mansell

Alternates; King's Speech - Alexandre Desplat, Alice in Wonderland - Danny Elfman, Harry Potter 7a - Alexandre Desplat, Never Let Me Go - Rachel Portman.

Notable Omissions; True Grit - Carter Burwell, Ghost Writer - Alexandre Desplat, 127 Hours - A. R. Rahman.

Best Sound Mixing & Editing (I know the one has to do with recording sound effects and background, and the other has to do with volume/mixing/etc., but.... I'm grouping them.)
Inception
Black Swan
The Social Network
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Shutter Island

Alternate; Iron Man 2.

Notable Omission; True Grit.

Bits and bobs

2011-01-09T15:06:00.000-08:00

I'm supposed to be unpacking today, but unable to get in touch with my ride. Which is a pity, because I had hoped to be done in time to go to a double feature of Hitchcock at the Castro this evening. C'est la vie.

Here are a few things that have caught my eye recently:

I want an iPhone.

I know what I'm seeing this week. Then again, I am a 27 year old single girl.

Good Movies: When a Critic is Off Duty. It doesn't matter how brilliant Black Swan is, or how much my mother loves ballet, she'll never go see it. It doesn't matter that the Social Network has won something like 18 best picture awards, my father will never go see that Facebook movie. And I can shout till I'm blue in the face about how fantastic Winter's Bone is, and maybe 1 or 2 people will check it out. Not that I'm a critic. But I like her take on a lot of these films, particularly the King's Speech.

Are American TV Execs as Crass as Episodes Makes Them Out to Be? No one else seems to find it as funny as I do that Shameless and Episodes are premiering on the same night.

THIS. Is amazing. They got JEREMY IRONS to narrate. There's no way to watch it without starting to hum this.

Which Oscar Contended Do You Vehemently Refuse to See? Let's see; this year it is shaping up to be the Kids Are All Right.
2000 - Gladiator. I should have stuck by that - I saw it years later. God, the Greatest Show on Earth might be a better Oscar winner.
2001 - A Beautiful Mind. Stuck by that. Still haven't seen it.
2002 - The Pianist. It was never open near me. I still haven't seen it, but I'd like to.
2003 - Master and Commander. Despite my love for Peter Weir, there's that little issue of Russell Crowe.
2004 - almost all of them. What a weird year for movies.
2006 - Letters from Iwo Jima. Although I'd really like to see it and unsee Babel.
2008 - Benjamin Button. Despite my love for David Fincher, it just looked soooo loooong.
2009 - Blind Side. I mean, are you kidding me?

And finally, did you know that if you go to Rotten Tomatoes and look up an actor, it will give you their highest and lowest rated films? For instance;
Guy Pearce: LA Confidential (99%), Factory Girl (19%)
Christian Bale: Henry V (100%), Captain Corelli's Mandolin (29%)
Ben Whishaw: Bright Star (82%), Stoned (15%)
Sam Rockwell: Light Sleeper (94%), Strictly Business (11%) [Ed. note - I have never heard of either of these. Rotten Tomatoes should maybe not include early bit parts?]
Cillian Murphy: The Dark Knight (94%), Disco Pigs (20%)
Nick Stahl: In the Bedroom (93%), Kalamity (0%).

Wait, what? 0%? What the hell?

Apparently it is a total crap thriller, and then this review on the page caught my eye. "Any writer-director lucky enough to snare Nick Stahl for a lead should, if nothing else, be smart enough to make good use of him. Instead, the gifted Stahl is stuck blankly responding to the operatic overacting of co-star Jonathan Jackson. As longtime friends, both guys are going through bad breakups. For Stahl's Billy, this means moping around a lot. For Jackson's Stan, it means pulling out a gun and stalking every woman in sight.

Stahl should have had a career similar to Sam Rockwell's, blending thoughtful indies with fun popcorn flicks. Instead, he's spinning his wheels in junk like this. Calamitous indeed. [Ed: bold mine]"

*sigh* That's sad, but astute.

The King's Speech

2011-01-08T14:22:00.000-08:00

Right - catching up on my oscar-bait now. It's hard to go into films like these in a vacuum. Eventually, a certain amount of buzz rubs off on you. Films can certainly defy expectations, but you usually have those expectations going in. In my case, I had been hearing that the King's Speech was a front-runner for best picture after TIFF, it had slipped greatly and experienced a bit of a backlash, and then good word of mouth as it was released was helping it to regain momentum (backlash against the backlash?). Two of my very trusted friends had both really loved the film. I am not a huge Colin Firth fan, but I had really loved him in A Single Man last year. Then I found out that a lot of the supporting parts are occupied by some of my favorite British actors. Plus, I like the Weinstein Company, who is putting it out. And finally, I was raised on a lot of BBC and Masterpiece theater, so I figured the genre was pretty up my alley.

So did I like it? Eh...

Here's the thing - the acting and the production design are very good. I really felt that the script was incredibly uneven.

In case you have been living under a rock, the plot follows the Duke of York, who becomes King George VI when his brother abdicates for Wallis Simpson, from a disastrous public speech at Wembley to his speech to the people on the eve of WWII. The basis of the film is the relationship between the Duke and his speech therapist, Lionel Logue, an unconventional Aussie who helps him overcome his stammer.

Colin Firth gives a really great performance. And he and Geoffrey Rush are pretty much assured acting nods, I think.

The problem for me came from the script. There were these moments of expository monologue-ing that just didn't do it for me. It actually made me think of Fritz Lang's Metropolis; here, let me BEAT YOU OVER THE HEAD WITH THE MESSAGE OF THE FILM. And it was annoying, because parts of the film were really well written. For example, the best scene in the film comes from the Duke opening up to his therapist after the death of his father. It's wonderfully acted, and subtly written. The audience gets a lot of the home dynamics in the royal family, and the emotional trauma that the prince went through.

Contrast that to Michael Gambon as King George V, berating his son while he practices a speech;

This devilish device will change everything
if you won’t. In the past all a King had to
do was look respectable in uniform and not
fall off his horse. Now we must invade
people’s homes and speak ingratiate
ourselves with them. This family is reduced
to those lowest, basest of all
creatures...we’ve become...actors!...

When I’m dead that boy will ruin himself,
this family, and this nation, within twelve
months. Who’ll pick up the pieces? Sir
Oswald Mosley - marching his black-shirt
British Union of Fascists through the
streets of London? Herr Hitler,
intimidating half of Europe, Marshall
Stalin the other half? Who’ll stand between
us, the jackboots, and the proletarian
abyss? You?

Really, is that why it is important for him to not stammer? Gee, I hadn't gotten that through him watching you deliver a radio address, as part of your functional duties. You mean a part of his stammer comes from you being an overbearing father? I had no idea. It's like Masterpiece Theater for dummies. And these swings in the quality of the writing I found very jarring.

Finally, it also annoyed me to no end that Edward, the Duke's older brother, was reduced to an over-simplified villain. Okay, I get that the film focused on George, and that the whole royal family blames Edward for forcing him into being king and very possibly shortening his life-span by a whole lot. So I get that he is going to be the villain in this telling. But my understanding of his relationship with Mrs. Simpson was that they were wildly devoted to one another and that he was actually very canny in his dealings with parliament. In the film, he's basically a hood-winked playboy, even if he is well acted by Guy Pearce. Anyways, the part seemed very reductionist and inaccurate. Plus, it turns out that Winston Churchill was best friends with him? Didn't get that at all...

Finally, the woman who played Wallis Simpson looked very familiar and I could not place her till I got home; it was Eve Best. Eve Best, who is one of the finest Shakespearean actresses alive, was reduced to swanning around in a cocktail dress and looking cougar-ish. That is a tragic misuse of her talents right there.

I guess overall I'd say the scenes between Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush are very well done, training montages and all, and that most of the periphery is ill-handled and over-blown (if set in pretty scenery).

3/5 stars.

Red Hill

2011-01-08T14:03:00.000-08:00

So a couple of nights ago I went to see Red Hill, which is an Australian Western. Or Horror by way of a Western. Or Revenge Thriller. Some combination thereof. I had liked the trailer, was intrigued to see Ryan Kwanten of True Blood fame in something from his country of origin, and the NYTimes rated it as a critic's pick.

The film revolves around Constable Shane Cooper (Kwanten), who has moved to a nowheres-ville small town (Red Hill) for his pregnant wife. His first day on the job, a convicted murderer breaks out of a nearby prison and heads straight to Red Hill, throwing Cooper headlong into a series of shootouts, fights, and intrigue.

The film pretty much hits every Western cliche and foreshadowed sign post on its way to the final showdown. But it does so with such gleeful abandon that it is difficult not to be charmed. I know I complained about heavy-handed foreshadowing and knowing the plot ahead of time in TRON, but in Red Hill, the pacing zips along and the movie remains fun, even if you already know how it is all going to play out. It doesn't break any new ground or reinvent the Western, but its a solid, fun genre flick, which sometimes is all you are looking for. The genre fits well into the Aussie outback, simply because so much of it is on the edge of unforgiving, untamed wilderness and so far from civilization.

On a final note, I went to see this at the Lumiere, which is one of 5 Landmark theaters in SF. Very cute and absolutely the friendliest staff I've ever encountered at a theater. It was, however, very cold and they were offering free tea and coffee, which I really should have taken them up on.

3.5/5 stars

Wow, a regularly updated blog

2010-12-27T16:19:00.000-08:00

What a concept! I'm working on my year-end wrap up, but I'm hoping to catch 3 more oscar bait films before I settle on my rankings. Until then, enjoy a few odds and ends:

Will Studios Really Learn from the Flops of 2010?

10 Most Beautiful Films of 2010 I want to see Sweetgrass and I agree with Never Let Me Go. However, I'd throw in a lot of the Oscar contenders (Black Swan, Social Network, Inception) and Harry Potter 7. And TRON (it's so shiny!)

Bad science in movies

Is Netflix screwing itself over by focusing on streaming? Well, seeing as my DVD queue has 500 things on it and my instant queue has 275, I'd say yes. At least until the options for streaming are as plentiful, and given the access fees I don't see that happening.

Jon Stewart as Edward R. Murrow? I feel it overstates his impact, but I liked this; "He so pithily articulated the argument that once it was made, it was really hard to do anything else."

I totally want a skull business card holder now.

Best/Worst in Sci-Fi and Fantasy films of 2010. Love the Crazies and Predators love.

Winter's Bone and the Rural Noir

Speaking of actresses this year

What were your favorite movie scenes of 2010? I agree with the Black Swan dance, the opening of the Social Network, and the hallway fight in Inception. Also the Three Brothers sequence in Harry Potter. And one of my absolute favorites would be Lisbeth's moment of triumph in the courtroom in the Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

THIS is interesting for two reasons. 1 - because it is an interesting analysis and article in its own right and 2 - because the bottom infographic confirms something I had thought for awhile now. Look at what a TINY percentage Blu-ray sales make up compared to DVDs. And now look at this. 5 DVD deals to 15 Blu-ray deals. Okay - maybe the blu-ray deals are because they were too bullish about production. But, man, I want the sales focus to remain on what I actually might buy!

The Daily Mail's Blockbuster Quiz! I got 26.

THIS.

Happy Christmas!

2010-12-25T23:50:00.000-08:00

3 things:

1 - I never listened to the "official" world cup anthem, Waka waka, because a) I wasn't sure why Shakira was singing the anthem for the first African cup and b) it's called waka waka. BUT! I just found out that it is technically Shakira ft. Freshlyground. I saw Freshlyground play at Kirstenbosch my first month living in Cape Town. They are amazing. Waka waka is a ridiculous song, but I highly recommend checking out some of freshlyground's other songs.

2 - TIFF has put out a list of their 100 Essential Films. Check it out. (I only have 74 more to see!)

3 - this made me laugh