The Gothams! (And British Independent Noms)

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

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

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

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!

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)