Reverse Shot: Movies From a Fresh Perspective

This Blog Has Moved To A Different Location

noreply@blogger.com (Duncan Carson) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 02:17:00 +0000

Heyo, anyone who happens by. As it happens, there was already a Reverse Shot, which is a very professional and nice looking film blog/zine in its own right.

So this old blog has hopped over to Kinematoscope- a new, more film nerdier name! And I've embarked on a year and a half long, 400,000 word project to review and analyze all of imdb.com's top 250 films! Exciting, I know.

So follow the jump if that intrigues you.

2008 Oscar Predictions- Duncan

noreply@blogger.com (Duncan Carson) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 20:13:00 +0000

So it's all come down to this, it seems. Never before have I seen all of the Best Picture nominees, heading into the ceremony. I've read awardsdaily.com, I've read NYT's The Carpetbagger, I've pored over charts and figures, and now I have to put myself on record.

Last year, I went 17 for 24- I missed best animated short because I should have went with my gut, not the experts. I missed Alan Arkin over Eddie Murphy because I should have used common sense. I missed Happy Feet over Cars because I underestimated penguins. Otherwise, I missed some unpredictable upsets in cinematography and Foreign Language that nobody saw coming.

What will happen on Sunday? Most of the major categories are locks, except the two actresses. The technical awards are always anybody's guess. And then there are the complete wild cards like documentary short, and best original song.

Well, here's my best guess.

Best Picture

The Winner: No Country For Old Men
Dark Horse: Michael Clayton

Just for the record, we're doing "Dark Horse" picks this year as potential spoilers, but that doesn't mean I think Michael Clayton has a real chance. Nothing has dominated the awards since like No Country since Return of the King, and we all remember what happened there. There's just no derailing it, but if there were some bizarro world situation where No Country and There Will Be Blood split the vote, then Clayton could emerge from the dust on the strength of it's triple nominated cast.

The love for Michael Clayton has baffled some- I think the Academy misses non-Ocean's movies Steven Soderbergh so much that they'll take the nearest substitute. But I think it's great to see an atmospheric thriller recognized in major categories, which wouldn't have been unusual at all forty years ago.

The Rest:
Juno seems like a paper tiger to me, a gimme nomination for a crowd favorite. I liked it much, much more than it's frequent comparison partner, Little Miss Sunshine, but I have no fear of it stealing the Oscar this year- LMS seemed like a real possibility in 07.

Atonement is definitely an odd case- everyone outside America is head over heels for it-we thought it was okay. I wonder if it was marketed differently (and more effectively) overseas- the overall lukewarm reaction here seems to be from people that expected a sweeping, epic romance, and got instead a lighter, quicker meditation on nuance and authorship. Maybe if people could talk about what I mean by that without giving the ending away, the promotional campaign for the film could have been more direct and original than the standard Knightley/McAvoy looks of longing posters.

There Will Be Blood is brilliant, and definitely the second best film of the five, but I get the feeling that if No Country weren't around, there's no way it would have the award sewn up- the third act has proved too crazy and divisive to make it a real front-runner.

Best Director

The Winner: Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men
Dark Horse: Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

On the strength of his Golden Globe win, and the general feeling that Diving Bell got the shaft, I was leaning toward predicting a victory for Schnabel here. But his general antipathy for the Awards circuit hasn't helped his image, and the Coens took home the all important DGA award.

The Rest:
Tony Gilroy (Clayton) has the makings of an auteur, but is still a first timer and a longshot. Paul Thomas Anderson (Blood) is earning a reputation as a meticulous filmmaker that can create breathtaking films, but I think his achievement is being far too overshadowed by his star- if he returns to the ensemble format for his next film, I could imagine him easily winning a trophy. Reitman (Juno)? I keep forgetting he was even nominated. Sorry, but it's true.

Best Actor

The Winner: Daniel Day Lewis- There Will Be Blood
Dark Horse: George Clooney- Michael Clayton

Little left to say about this one, really. I sometimes wonder if I'll ever go back to the way I was before last year, when I started following awards news and categories with clear favorites like this one (and Forest Whitaker and Helen Mirren last year) lost any surprise. But then I remember how much I love this stuff. Even Clooney admits his loss is a foregone conclusion.

The Rest:
Personally, I was always baffled by Viggo Mortensen's lack of respect for taking what JRR Tolkien wrote as a horribly flat character and making him come alive. Maybe this nomination (for Eastern Promises) is for that trilogy, really. Tommy Lee Jones I'm sure did a wonderful job, but it seems like he got some guilt votes from all the academy members that didn't want to see In the Valley of Elah and get bummed out. Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd) gets a nomination for coolness- he won't actually have a chance until he stars in a "serious" film, which is a shame.

Best Actress

The Winner: Julie Christie- Away From Her
Dark Horse: Marion Cotillard- La Vie En Rose

But then again, there are still races that are too close to call- But I think Christie breaks a virtual tie with Cotillard on name recognition alone. The surprise adapted screenplay nomination for Away From Her suggests that it's high-profile enough to secure this award.

The Rest:
Laura Linney (The Savages) seems destined for one of those career recognition Oscars in the supporting category someday- she's always a contender, never quite at the top. Ellen Page (Juno) was in a comedy, and you know the rules on that. Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age) is the only one here with no shot at all- nobody wins Best Actress for a critically panned flop (I'm sure Dave will look something up to prove me wrong on that, though.)

Supporting Actor

The Winner: Javier Bardem- No Country For Old Men
Dark Horse: Casey Affleck- The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford

I've heard some complaints that Bardem is going to take home a statue for mostly being silent, but I don't think that's the case- just because sociopathy is a lack of recognizable human emotions doesn't mean that it's easy to pull off. If it was just someone sleepwalking through a wordless part, the character would be boring, instead of terrifying. Casey Affleck would have a much better chance for his nervy, jangling role in Assassination if, you know, anybody saw it.

The Rest:
Hal Holbrook is apparently a respected film veteran, and kudos to him, but it's quite clear that no one had any patience for Into the Wild for whatever reason. Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Charlie Wilson's War) just looked surly for a while- this nomination baffles me- really? Someone in an Aaron Sorkin scripted movie was irritable and made wisecracks? No way! And Tom Wilkinson was the heart and soul of Michael Clayton, but I guess he was out-crazied by Bardem.

Supporting Actress
The Winner: Cate Blanchett- I'm Not There
Dark Horse: Amy Ryan- Gone Baby Gone

I was too lazy to do the "will win" and "should win" distinctions (like Dave did), as this is really the only likely winner I would strongly disagree with. Really? She plays a man, that's awesome. Who cares?

I think it has a lot to do with impersonating someone, versus making an audience believe in a character from scratch. Anne Proulx, in her steaming-mad indictment of the Crash-Brokeback fiasco, touched upon this much more eloquently:

Hollywood loves mimicry, the conversion of a film actor into the spittin' image of a once-living celeb. But which takes more skill, acting a person who strolled the boulevard a few decades ago and who left behind tapes, film, photographs, voice recordings and friends with strong memories, or the construction of characters from imagination and a few cold words on the page? I don't know. The subject never comes up.

This issue might have tipped my choice in Best Actress (Edith Piaf v. fictional character) as well.

The Rest:
Can we all agree to stop nominating old people who are only in two scenes of a film just because they're old? Hey, good for Ruby Dee (American Gangster), I wish her all the best and have nothing but respect for her career. But she barely has time for one note in her cameo role, let alone the several notes that Amy Ryan hit in multiple scenes. Saiorse Ronan holds the first half of Atonement together, but is spared the more challenging scenes of harrowing guilt that the other two actresses in her role had to deal with. Tilda Swinton would be another worthy winner, as she was more fleshed out into a character that the eponymous hero of Michael Clayton.

Best Original Screenplay

The Winner: Diablo Cody- Juno
Dark Horse: Brad Bird- Ratatouille

It would be hard to send home the only Blockbuster among the best picture nominees with absolutely nothing. And since it has zero chance in picture and director, and a teensy sliver of a chance in actress, it seems to have been decided long ago that Cody's script is the place to honor it. Personally, I enjoyed the film, but it seems hard to credit the script without mentioning that it takes a great cast to make all that slang palatable. And it's unique and all, sure, but how is it that much more impressive than, say, Clueless? Brad Bird's newest film is the most lauded animated feature since Beauty and the Beast, and makes me nervous about predicting all five categories it appears in. Everyone loves this film, especially the critical community.

The Rest:
Nancy Oliver (Lars and the Real Girl) and Tamara Jenkins (The Savages) team with Cody for a record number of female screenplay nominees, and more power to all three- Juno seems to be drawing all of the girl power vote though, despite Jenkins' deft human touches. Michael Clayton is tightly written by Tony Gilroy, but the strength of the film is more in the atmosphere and the performances- corrupt businesses and shady lawyers aren't exactly anything new.

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Winner: Joel and Ethan Coen- No Country For Old Men
Dark Horse: Ronald Harwood- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

The Coens stand to win four statues apiece if everything goes their way, and they're the safest bet in this category, even though the actual writing of the screenplay was mostly done for them by Cormac McCarthy (he doesn't even use quotation marks- they could just scan most of the book and hand it out to people, for crying out loud). Hardwood, a recent winner for The Pianist, had the much more complex job of translating a slim, objectively sparse memoir of a paralyzed man into a sweeping, subjective movie experience - The BAFTA's went with Harwood, but they also went with Atonement for Best Picture...

The Rest:
Sarah Polley (Away From Her) surprised everyone, even one of the movie's biggest fans in yours truly, with a glad-to-be-here fifth nomination in this category. Christopher Hampton (Atonement) also had a weighty task in trimming Ian McEwan's pensive, thoughtful novel of reminiscence into a film with a rapt momentum. Paul Thomas Anderson has himself admitted that the second half of There Will Be Blood has little, if anything to do with Upton Sinclair's Oil!- so while a great script it has little chance at this Oscar.

Best Animated Feature

The Winner: Ratatouille
Dark Horse: Persepolis

It seemed like it would be a tough call, but honestly Ratatouille has been slamming the competition nearly everywhere else- Persepolis came out a little late in the states to turn back the tide, I'm afraid.

Best Documentary Feature

The Winner: No End in Sight
Dark Horse: Taxi to the Dark Side

All about Iraq this year- No End in Sight for the win. But my dark horse is currently at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Of course, I haven't seen any of these, so I could be way off.

Best Foreign Film

The Winner: The Counterfeiters
Dark Horse: Katyn

All anyone knows for sure here is that the loser in this category is international cinema- these nominations make little sense. But the whole Academy votes for this category, so I browsed the subjects and found that Austria's The Counterfeiters is the true story of a Jewish counterfeiter forced to make foreign currency for th Nazis while in a concentration camp. And if you don't think dealing with true stories from the Holocaust is a surefire bet for the win, then you obviously have never watched the Oscars before.

Achievement in Editing

The Winner: Christopher Rouse- The Bourne Ultimatum
Dark Horse: "Roderick Jaynes"- No Country For Old Men

A head scratcher here- The Bourne Ultimatum took the Guild Award, but the traditional march toward Best Picture for No Country would give the Coens( and their pseudonym) the award here. I'm going with the guild in a close call, since they are nearly always right, but if I'm wrong I'll be pissed.

Achievement in Cinematography

The Winner: Janusz Kaminski- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Dark Horse: Roger Deakins- No Country for Old Men

It seems weird to have to pick between Deakins work on No Country and Elswit's on Blood, since the landscape and pallet of the two films aren't very distinguishable to a non-DOP like myself. But since this guild is not a very accurate predictor, it's hard to give Elswit's victory there much weight. My gut is telling me that Janus Kaminski, the prohibitive favorite for his long, uncut shots from Children of Men last year, can't be ignored twice in a row.

Achievement in Makeup

The Winner: Didier Lavergne, Jan Archibald- La Vie En Rose
Dark Horse: Rick Baker, Kazuhiro Tsuji- Norbit

I'm hoping for the Rose team here based on their BAFTA win recently. Otherwise, with Rick Baker's resume (Six (6!) Makeup Oscars, including the first one in 1981), Norbit may actually win an Academy Award. But seeing as Norbit pretty much lost Eddie Murphy an Oscar for being in theaters during last year's ceremony, I don't think that'll happen.

Achievement in Costuming

The Winner: Jacqueline Durran- Atonement
Dark Horse: Colleen Atwood- Sweeney Todd

Something is telling me that the green dress from Atonement is the only really memorable costume this year- Marit Allen is a threat for La Vie En Rose, but I think Atwood, a recent winner for Memoirs of a Geisha is the next likely bet.

Achievement in Visual Effects

The Winner: Farrar/Benza/Earl/Frazier- Transfomers
Dark Horse: Knoll/Gibson/Hickel/Frazier- Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End

Another agreed-upon lock- I guess they spent a lot of time making robots into cars. Otherwise, the team from Pirates won last year (that Frazier is the same guy, by the way, John Frazier- he's looking as good as Daniel Day Lewis and the Coen's for a statue).

Achievement in Sound Mixing

The Winner: O'Connell/Russell/Devlin- Transformers
Dark Horse: Thom/Semanick/Kane- Ratatouille

Based on recent history, this guild is usually wrong- sorry, No Country team. I say it falls to Kevin O'Connell and his team- now that he has outdone Randy Newman and been nominated for his 20th Oscar without a victory, I think he'll finally get let off the hook. Nobody can be that cruel- right, sound mixers of the world?

Achievement in Sound Editing

The Winner: Silvers/Thom- Ratatouille
Dark Horse: Hopkins/Van Der Ryn- Transformers

The two Best Picture nominees in this category are actually the two without past Oscar wins on the sound teams. I'm saying this will go to the two guys who won a few years ago for The Incredibles- Ratatouille can't walk away with just one Oscar, can it?

Achievement in Art Direction

The Winner: Ferreti/Lo Schiavo- Sweeney Todd
Dark Horse: Greenwood/Spencer- Atonement

This category tends to go to exotic and distinctive contenders, from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to Dick Tracy- and given Sleepy Hollow's win in 1999, I think Sweeney Todd has the best chance for the statue here. The Art Director's Guild went with both The Golden Compass and There Will Be Blood, but they're wrong as often as they're right. Plus, if I didn't disagree with the consensus on something, then my opinion wouldn't really mean anything, would it?

Best Animated Short

The Winner: My Love
Dark Horse: I Met the Walrus

See here.

Best Live Action Short

The Winner: At Night
Dark Horse: The Mozart of Pickpockets

This category I reserve the right to change after I see the shorts tomorrow night.

Best Documentary Short

The Winner: Sari's Mother
Dark Horse: Freeheld

See here.

Best Original Score

The Winner: Dario Marianelli- Atonement
Dark Horse: Michael Giacchino- Ratatouille

A seeming lock for Marianelli since Greenwood's There Will Be Blood score wasn't eligible. But again, Ratatouille scares me in every category.

Best Original Song

The Winner: Hansard/Irglova- "Falling Slowly" from Once
Dark Horse: Menken/Schwartz- "So Close" from Enchanted

The most important award for me. See here.

But the hands down most awesome part about this year's Oscar ceremony is knowing that Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova are going to perform "Falling Slowly" in front of 40 million viewers, and then watch the sales of Once and its soundtrack skyrocket.

So that it's. All 24. I'll be watching on Sunday, and cursing like a sports fan when the announcements go against me. How this post, which could have been just a list, grew to nearly 3,000 words I have no idea. But thanks for reading.

My totals for, the curious- No Country wins 4, Ratatouille, Atonement, and Transformers win 2, and then 14 other films (including Juno, Diving Bell, and Blood) win one apiece. A big goose egg for Michael Clayton, alas.

2008 Oscar Predictions- Dave

noreply@blogger.com (A. Duncan Carson) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 19:16:00 +0000

Best Motion Picture of the Year

Will Win: No Country for Old Men
Should Win: No Country for Old Men
Best Dark Horse Chance: Atonement

No Country for Old Men has been the dominant picture of the year. It has won more awards than any other film. It was number one on more top ten lists than any other film. It has more four star reviews than any other film. It is running at a higher “fresh” percentage than any other of the best picture nominees. Basically, No Country for Old Men has set itself up to be the movie to beat on Oscar night, and I do not think any other movie will come close.

No Country for Old Men offers the most holistic movie of the five nominees. It is perfect in every way that a movie can be. Juno and Michael Clayton are both heralded for their strong script and top-notch performances. There Will Be Blood has the standout performance of the year, which may detract from the movie as a whole because Daniel Day-Lewis is the movie.

This leaves my dark horse: Atonement. Atonement won at the BAFTA’s and the Golden Globes. While the BAFTA’s may not be a good indicator of Best Picture winners (Last year, The Queen won the same award) it may have the British vote. Adding on the Hollywood Foreign Press voting it Best Picture over No Country for Old Men may sway some of the voters’ viewpoint.

I have seen Atonement twice and it held up well the second time around. This could be the movie’s reward as it was snubbed for actor, actress, director, and – arguably – another supporting actress nomination.

However, I still would take No Country for Old Men to the bank.

Best Achievement in Directing

Will Win: Ethan and Joel Coen – No Country for Old Men
Should Win: Ethan and Joel Coen – No Country for Old Men
Best Dark Horse Chance: Julian Schnabel – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Tony Gilroy, Jason Reitman, and Paul Thomas Anderson have their nominations as their reward, leaving three men to battle it out for Best Director.

The Coen Brothers have an outstanding film that is being toted as a masterpiece. Schnabel has an amazing film that benefits from his singular vision. Who will win this clash of the titans?

I think the Coen Brothers will garner the award because No Country for Old Men is a juggernaut and they won the DGA and BAFTA, while Schnabel’s landmark win has been the Golden Globe. Plus, I do not know if the Academy would like to reward a man who said he was going to wear pajamas to the award show.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Will Win: Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood
Should Win: Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood
Best Dark Horse Chance: Johnny Depp – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

When Daniel Day-Lewis wins, I would like his speech to go like this: “Ladies and gentlemen… I’ve traveled over half our globe to be here tonight. I couldn’t get away sooner because my new BAFTA was coming in at my London home and I had to see about it. That award is now glistening on my mantle and is paying me a $50,000 bonus. I have one Oscar already, and sixty other awards. So, ladies and gentlemen… If I say I’m an actor you will agree. You made a great choice here, but bear you in mind; I may not have won if I was not careful. Out of all the men that beg for this award, maybe one in twenty will be actors; the rest will be amateurs – men trying to get between you and the studio. Even if one gets lucky, and has the skills, he will know nothing about acting and they will rely on their co-stars. This is the way it works. Ladies and gentlemen, in conclusion, I say, I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE! SLURP! I DRINK IT UP!”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Will Win: Julie Christie – Away from Her
Should Win: Julie Christie – Away from Her
Best Dark Horse Chance: Marion Cotillard – La Môme (also known as La Vie En Rose)

Julie Christie’s graceful and sorrowful work in Away from Her is the best female performance of the year. Similar to Daniel Day-Lewis the movie is enveloped in her character to a point that everyone – save Gordon Pinsent – in the movie gets lost. Her performance was that good.

Marion Cotillard has earned some press for her transformation into Edith Piaf. However, she does not seem to have the same heartbreaking rendition as Christie.

How Cate Blanchett snuck into this grouping, I will never know. Congratulations to Laura Linney and Ellen Page, but your time is not now. I believe these two actresses will be rewarded some day for their work.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Will Win: Javier Bardem – No Country for Old Men
Should Win: Javier Bardem – No Country for Old Men
Best Dark Horse Chance: Hal Holbrook – Into the Wild

Javier Bardem, get your speech ready.

Nobody has a shot in this category because Bardem has dominated this category at every award show, in every possible way.

I choose Hal Holbrook at the dark horse because he may pull an “Alan Arkin” and win for a lifetime of work.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Will Win: Cate Blanchett – I’m Not There
Should Win: Amy Ryan – Gone Baby Gone
Best Dark Horse Chance: Ruby Dee – American Gangster

The most wide open race at the Oscars this year. There are a lot of memorable performances and all of these women have won multiple awards along the way, except for Atonement’s Saoirse Ronan.

I read in Entertainment Weekly that Tilda Swinton had the best chance after her BAFTA win. I disagree with this. Even though her role in Michael Clayton is strong, I can not remember a true “Oscar scene” for her. Maybe I missed it, but there was not that moment where I said, “This is where she wins it.” Though her work throughout the film was steadfast, it almost seemed too workmanlike.

Cate Blanchett should probably not win for I’m Not There. The notion of a female playing a man – or vice versa – is not Oscar worthy, challenging, or taboo as it once was. She may have the most nuanced performance out of any player in the field, but Amy Ryan’s performance in Gone Baby Gone was more daunting and engaging. Ryan’s performance wraps you in her initial hysteria, but you really do not like her by the end of the film. That alone makes her more worthy in my book than Blanchett. Disappointedly, I do not think Oscar voters will share my sentiments.

The outsider, who is gaining momentum, is Ruby Dee. I think she has the best chance to steal it away from everyone because of a long career and a true matriarch in American Gangster.

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

Will Win: Diablo Cody – Juno
Should Win: Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton
Best Dark Horse Chance: Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava, and Jim Capobianco – Ratatouille

This award has been locked up for weeks by Cody.

Gilroy’s complex script is superior to Cody’s in its depth and vocabulary. However, Cody’s work pulls on the heart far more than any scene in Michael Clayton.

Jenkins and Oliver were rewarded with nominations for their uniquely touching scripts, but that is all they will receive.

This leaves the crew from Ratatouille for the dark horse. A warm script that was much better than people initially gave it credit for in pre-production.

Ultimately this is Diablo Cody’s award.
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

Will Win: Ethan and Joel Coen – No Country for Old Men
Should Win: Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood
Best Dark Horse Chance: Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood

Sometimes a category should be decided by how hard the people work in it. It almost seems unfair that the Coen Brothers did the least amount of work this year, and will win the Oscar for adapted screenplay.

Paul Thomas Anderson has received three nominations for his writing already, but has gotten overlooked every time. This should be his year, but the power of No Country for Old Men will overpower his gloriously bleak script.

Christopher Hampton and Ronald Harwood received nominations because their works are powerful and innovative, but in a crowded field, they will be lost behind the Coen Brothers.

Sarah Polley’s nomination was her reward this year, but it is a promising start to her new avenue in filmmaking.

Best Achievement in Cinematography
Will Win: Roger Deakins – No Country for Old Men
Should Win: Janusz Kaminski – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Best Dark Horse Chance: Janusz Kaminski – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

With the exception of There Will Be Blood, this category’s nominees would be winners in any other year. It is that crowded of a field this year.

Roger Deakins has never won an Oscar. Never. To me, this was the most shocking thing I read about Oscar history. Of all the movies he has shot, all the technologies he has been on the ground floor of, and he has never won… Until this year. This is his year because of an outstanding career and for the dazzling cinematography of No Country for Old Men.

However, I personally do not think this was Deakins’ best work. It was not even his best work this year. While his work on the Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is more harrowing, No Country for Old Men has the broader audience and appeal.

Seamus McGarvey did a wonderful job on Atonement and I expect him to win an award one day. He did have a “money” moment, the Dunkirk five minute tracking shot, but that will not be enough in this year.

This leaves multiple winner, Janusz Kaminski. He actually has the best work of the year, but will be overlooked because of Deakins and the fact that he has two Oscars at home all ready. This is truly a shame for his inventive and beautiful work on The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

Best Achievement in Editing

Will Win: No Country for Old Men
Should Win: The Bourne Ultimatum
Best Dark Horse Chance: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Into the Wild and There Will Be Blood do not benefit from short running times. The long, purposeful silences in both films may not get them the recognition for the pacing of the film. However, There Will Be Blood was one of the quickest three hour movies I have sat through in recent memory.

No Country for Old Men will get the award because – as Brokeback Mountain found out – it is difficult to NOT win Best Picture without winning Best Editing. Ultimately, the Coen Brothers will walk away with four statuettes from the evening.

However, the two interesting movies are The Bourne Ultimatum and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The Bourne Ultimatum’s frenetic pacing makes it the most exciting movie of the year. The editing is one of those elements in the movie that make the movie excel beyond a solid action film into an excellent one. Plus, it won the BAFTA and two other editing awards.

I feel that The Diving Bell and the Butterfly cannot be discounted because it has the most unique editing, which is why I think it has a chance to pull off an upset. The insertion of black panels, while not revelation, is an addition to the film, similar to the overall editing in The Bourne Ultimatum.

Best Achievement in Art Direction

Will Win: Atonement
Should Win: Atonement
Best Dark Horse Chance: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

American Gangster and There Will Be Blood are not remembered for their fine art direction. They are period recreations, where American Gangster uses existing places and There Will Be Blood is sparsely decorated.

The Golden Compass falls into a similar mold of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, but without the same freshness of it all.

The two real competitors in this category will be Atonement and Sweeney Todd. Atonement has glamorous set direction and an epic scale to match. Sweeney Todd features a grim world created by past Oscar winners. Ultimately, I think Atonement will win the category for the re-creation of the evacuation of Dunkirk.

Best Achievement in Costume Design

Will Win: Atonement
Should Win: Atonement
Best Dark Horse Chance: Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Costume design tends to be awarded to a movie where the scope of the costumes is awe inspiring or for costumes that are truly out of this world. Sweeney Todd and La Môme do not have the overly bizarre element working for them, nor do they have a wide scope.

While Across the Universe may have the unique element working for it, there is not one costume that I distinctly remember.

Atonement does have one of the most memorable – and talked about – costumes of the year in Keira Knightley’s green dress. I believe the period drama wins another technical award for its expansive work.

Similarly, this is the same reason why I think Elizabeth: The Golden Age has an outside chance.

Best Achievement in Makeup

Will Win: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Should Win: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Best Dark Horse Chance: Norbit

La Môme does not have anything spectacular about its make up. They may have had a difficult time working on Marion Cotillard’s hair, but nothing truly stands out for me.

Norbit has a chance because of two words: Rick Baker. He is nominated for this award every year it seems.

The creators behind The Pirates of the Caribbean lost last year, but will make up (HA!) for it this year. Granted, they did not reinvent the wheel, but their work is more admirable and difficult than the other two.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

Will Win: Atonement
Should Win: Atonement
Best Dark Horse Chance: 3:10 to Yuma

Dario Marianelli’s exquisite and singular score for Atonement make it the clear leader in this category, seeing as Jonny Greenwood was not eligible.

Michael Clayton’s haunting score, The Kite Runner’s somber music, and the glee of Ratatouille do not compare to Atonement’s vibrant and dramatic score.

This leaves the lone outside, 3:10 to Yuma. While energetic and engaging, it lacks the presence of Atonement’s score. This is why I feel Atonement will win this category with minimal problems.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
Will Win: “Falling Slowly” – Once
Should Win: “Falling Slowly” – Once
Best Dark Horse Chance: The Academy

There should be no competition in this category. The only way that Once loses this category is if the Academy has a fit about its own ridiculous nomination rules and disqualifies it. Otherwise, this category is a slam dunk.

Best Sound Effects

Will Win: Transformers
Should Win: No Country for Old Men
Best Dark Horse Chance: The Bourne Ultimatum

While Transformers had a plethora of sound effects and did an excellent job at it, it should not win. However, it will because of those aspects. No Country for Old Men was much more reliant on its sound to create a behind-the-camera effect that enhances the movie, like the editing in The Bourne Ultimatum.

3:10 to Yuma is grand in the scope of its sound, but not much more. Ratatouille does a good job, but that is merely in terms of an animated film.

I penciled The Bourne Ultimatum in because it already has won some awards for its sound effects, but I do not think the Academy will look at that as a positive.

Best Sound Effects Editing

Will Win: Transformers
Should Win: No Country for Old Men
Best Dark Horse Chance: The Bourne Ultimatum

See above. I really can not explain this category.

Best Visual Effects

Will Win: Transformers
Should Win: Transformers
Best Dark Horse Chance: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

This should be an easy category because Transformers possessed a lot of special effects, which were really the star of the movie. It took over 80 hours per frame to create a scene in which a Transformer appears.

The Golden Compass will get thrown by the wayside as people are reminded too much of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, but the effects are nowhere near the level that those two franchises are.

As for Pirates of the Caribbean, they present the best dark horse chance. Why them? Oscar history likes repeat winners in this category. Recall 2001 through 2003? Lord of the Rings won every year. Did Fellowship of the Ring deserve the award? Yes. Did The Two Towers deserve the award? Yes, it expounded upon the wondrous effects in Fellowship with the inclusion of Gollum. Did Return of the King up the ante? No. Did Jim Rygiel get his third Oscar? Yes. Why? The Academy likes repeat winners, like Dennis Muren and Stan Winston.

Best Animated Film

Will Win: Ratatouille
Should Win: Ratatouille
Best Dark Horse Chance: Persepolis

Can someone down at the Academy’s office explain to me how Surf’s Up got a nomination over The Simpson’s Movie? Anyone? Please, feel free to.

This leaves two real contenders for this category. Up first is Persepolis, a critically raved about film that has more meaning and heart than Ratatouille.

However, Ratatouille – in addition to being one of my favorite films of the year – is a part of the Mouse House. I would bet on those guys every day of the week, and twice on Sunday.

Best Foreign Language Film

Will Win: Beaufort – Israel
Should Win: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Best Dark Horse Chance: The Academy

I have not seen one of these movies, but Beaufort has gotten a lot of praise.

However, the Academy’s rules are bogus in this category. They have the potential for an all-star gathering in this category, but ruled out The Band’s Visit, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Lust, Caution, and 4 Months, 3 Threes, and 2 Days. I smell a rule re-write coming.

Best Documentary Feature

Will Win: No End in Sight
Should Win: No End in Sight
Best Dark Horse Chance: Taxi to the Dark Side

No End in Sight was one of the best films of the year and this should be its reward. The control and focus of this movie is beyond reproach and holds more of an impact than Fahrenheit 9/11.

While Sicko may have the “celebrity” appeal of Michael Moore, it lacks the passion and grandeur of his past works. Additionally, I have never heard of War Dance and Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience.

This leaves the much lauded Taxi to the Dark Side. What hurts this film’s chance though is its late release in the year.

Totals

No Country for Old Men – 6, Atonement – 3, Transformers – 3, Away from Her – 1, Beaufort – 1, I’m Not There – 1, Juno – 1, No End in Sight – 1, Once – 1, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End – 1, Ratatouille – 1, There Will Be Blood – 1

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Review

noreply@blogger.com (Duncan Carson) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 22:50:00 +0000

Let me preface this review by saying: I am a complete sucker for film. In person, in conversation, to most people, I'm a cynic and a wise-ass, but if you set a halfway decent scene in a film to the right piece of music, I'll get chills every time.

But though I am so prone to falling under the escapist thrill of the theater, losing myself in another world, they all vanish when the house lights come up, and the world fades from vision like a camera flash- by the time I see something on video, it's not clear what the magic was in the first place.

Given all this, however, I still cannot even begin to describe to you how profoundly moving, and lasting, Julian Schnabel's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Le Scaphandre Et Le Papillon) was for me. The true story of a man paralyzed by a stroke, and only able to communicate by blinking his left eyelid- Jean Dominique Bauby painstaking composed a memoir in his head, and slowly dictated it to a transcriber in 1997.

And while I realize that the truth behind the story does most of the heavy lifting emotionally, it's to the film's ultimate credit and benefit that it doesn't approach it in any way with a Reader's Digest, disease of the week melodramatic approach- Bauby's memoir is wry and uncomplaining, a tone preserved for his character.

There's no cloying voice-over, there's no forced reconciliations, and no attempt to disguise the complicated relationship between Bauby and the estranged mother of his children. Instead, Schnabel and screenwriter Ronald Hardwood, both Oscar nominees, make the film as subjective and visceral as possible- the first ten minutes are hazy, out of focus and incoherent, as the audience experiences waking up with Bauby after a three week coma, to discover his "locked-in" syndrome.

The camera eventually moves outside of Bauby's perspective, as his family and friends come to visit, or don't- his girlfriend doesn't work up the nerve, and in the film's most moving scene, his aging father (a completely robbed-by-the-Academy Max Von Sydow) has to call him on the phone and awkwardly communicate with an interpreter, since he is unable to travel to the hospital where his son lies imprisoned.

The hazy, dreamlike quality of the film's look is beautifully matched to the wistful, quick tone of Bauby's memoir, which is told entirely in vignettes of a few pages. Harwood does a wonderful cataloging these brief impressions into a powerful narrative.

When to See It: As Soon As Humanly Possible

Leftover thoughts:

After much deliberation, I'm putting this in at number 2 on the top twenty of 2007 list- it's just not as complete a film as No Country, which is equally profound without relying on an unavoidable rush of empathy from the viewer. But choosing between two films so completely different is a fool's errand anyway.
It's hard not to compare oneself to Bauby- especially since I've never finished a book (I'm a wannabe writer) with the use of my body entirely intact.
Julian Schnabel- actually a New Yorker that learned French to make this film in the language it should be in. That explains the use of mostly English-language soundtrack music, though (like a great Joe Strummer song over the closing credits).

Best Documentary Short Speculation

noreply@blogger.com (Duncan Carson) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:45:00 +0000

Ah, best documentary short. Always a mystery. Always annoyingly obscure. Let's see exactly what we can find out about the four nominees this year.

Freeheld- Trailer
Director: Cynthia Wade, first time Oscar nominee

Subject: Doesn't get much more moving than this- a dying New Jersey policewoman wants to secure her pension for her lesbian life partner of six years- but of course, can't. It chronicles the efforts of activists to sway the will of the "freeholders" in charge of the pension board before she dies.

La Corona- (interview with Micheli)
Director: Amanda Micheli/Isabel Vega- first time Oscar nominees

Subject: A "character driven" piece about a beauty pagent in a women's prison. Seems like a longshot.

Salim Baba (official site) (interview with producer)

Director: Tim Sternberg, another first timer

Subject: A 14-minute affair about a man from north Calcutta that earns a living by "screening discarded film fragments for neighborhood children on a hand-cranked projector bequeathed to him by his father." Sounds interesting, but slight once again.

Sari's Mother (official site)

Director: James Longley, Oscar nominated director of last 2006's Feature Documentary Iraq in Fragments.

Subject: A mother tries to care for her HIV infected, ten year old son in war torn Iraq.

So it sounds like a tossup between Freeheld and Sari's Mother, based on the subject test. Too bad we can't know anything more. I would guess that Longley's relative name recognition, and the more hot-button issue of Iraq would push the latter film to the podium (plus we know how the Academy feels about gay people, don't we?).

And now- Top Ten Lovies Stories

noreply@blogger.com (A. Duncan Carson) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:05:00 +0000

Honorable Mention: Cinderella, Pretty Woman, and When Harry Met Sally…

10. It’s a Wonderful Life – A Christmas movie!? Yes, it is that, but it also has a tale of enduring love as James Stewart is shown what his life would be like if he had never existed.
The movie was initially rejected by the studios because it was deemed “too depressing” following World War II. It then opened to a middling box office before becoming an all-time classic.

It’s a Wonderful Life is for the couple who is truly happy with one another.

9. Some Like It Hot – Billy Wilder is the king of romantic hijinks. He directed so many wonderful pictures over the years, but this Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis vehicle has laughs a plenty.

Marilyn Monroe appears as Curtis’ love interest, and Jack Lemmon has a more unique love situation on his hands.

This movie is for the unusual couple, going through unique circumstances.

8. Shrek – Sure, it is a cartoon, but it has charm and laughs coming out of it. 2001’s smash hit has a tender store about being who you are, and loving who you want to.
Plus, it features a tolerable Eddie Murphy.

Shrek is for the couple that is young at heart.

7. Groundhog Day – “You like boats, but not the ocean. You go to a lake in the summer with your family up in the mountains. There's a long wooden dock and a boathouse with boards missing from the roof, and a place you used to crawl underneath to be alone. You're a sucker for French poetry and rhinestones. You're very generous. You're kind to strangers and children, and when you stand in the snow you look like an angel.”

This movie is for the couple that falls in love over and over.

6. Breakfast at Tiffany’s – If you can get past the racist portrayal by Mickey Rooney and the fact that George Peppard is actually a male prostitute, there is a touching love tale about two people finding one another.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a movie for people who never even truly realized they loved one another… Until a rain-soaked cat brought you together.

5. The Graduate – Imagine that you have just graduated from college. Imagine that you are dating a beautiful young woman, who you are now engaged to. Imagine that she has a mother, who is also quite attractive. Imagine this mom is a MILF. Imagine that she wants to seduce you. Imagine that you give into your urges and begin a relationship with your girlfriend’s mother. Imagine your girlfriend leaves you. Imagine you chase her down to a church and interrupt her wedding. Imagine you ride away with her into the sunset, aboard a city bus.

If you’re Mike Nichols, imagine how many parodies you have seen of this.
This movie is for the couple that may have been a part of a love triangle at some time.

4. Sabrina – Billy Wilder strikes again! So does Audrey Hepburn.
This is probably the most charming movie ever made about the ugly duckling that becomes the beautiful swan and how two brothers compete for her affection.
Ignore the ridiculous 1995 remake. Sabrina is for the couple that came together after a third party finally let them be.

3. Amelie – “A woman without love wilts like a flower without sun.”

This French film – directed by the same man who made Alien Resurrection – is a contemporary charmer about a young girl who ends up loving a porn store clerk. Granted, this movie takes on numerous twists and turns, and has some striking visuals, but this is a love story… Set in a porn store…

Amelie is for the couples who were worlds apart, but are not together.

2. Say Anything – Lloyd Dobler is a hero to all men. Seriously. It gives any good-hearted, sarcastic, and nerdy guy hope that he can win over the girl of his dreams by just being himself.
Cameron Crowe perfectly captures teenage angst, love, and adversity in this 1980’s classic. John Cusack is the perfect hero in this movie and Ione Skye’s career pretty much died after this movie. However, “In Your Eyes” never got such good press, ever. Peter Gabriel owes his career to this movie.

Cameron Crowe’s romantic comedy – when romantic comedies were still good – is perfect for any couple who loves their partner for who they are.

1. The Princess Bride – To all the couples all out there:
This is the perfect romance movie. William Goldman’s script has laughs, cries, action, and emotions!
Three simple words say so much, and it’s not what you think- “As you wish.”

Persepolis Review

noreply@blogger.com (Duncan Carson) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 22:30:00 +0000

The film The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was simultaneously one of the worst movies of all time, and one of the best things that ever happened to the comic book medium. A horrible bastardization of a revered modern classic miniseries by Alan Moore, it required nearly every review of the film to mention that it wasn't as good as the comic book it was based on.

And gradually, people realized that this implies comics can be... good. And since they're essentially storyboards for movies that don't exist yet already, maybe using them as a blueprint for a film is a good idea- witness the $700 million combined gross of 300 and Sin City, two movies that look exactly like the Frank Miller comic they adapt. Hmmmm...

Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical graphic novel Persepolis was another text ripe for the film treatment, and it's wonderful to see that it has followed suit and been transcribed nearly unchanged. The story of a young girl's experiences in war-torn Iran, and later Eastern Europe, it is at once whimsical and profound- the simple, black and white animation is as straightforward as the narrative.

There are no embellishments on lessons that should be learned, and no social responsibility is preached beyond the conclusions you draw natural from stories of oppressive regimes. In the film, Marjane goes through depressions and revolts of character, but never strays into self-pity of righteousness- it's just a tale of living a life, one tougher than most.

There's a bit of fun with American culture seeping in to Iran by subterfuge, as men in parks sell Bee Gees tapes from their coat pockets to our rebellious protagonist. And the film's lightest moment comes when Marjane decides to shuck off her despair by rocking out to "Eye of the Tiger."

It's a great story, and a great film that doesn't try to get in the way. For all the technical mastery and hours of work that went into Ratatouille, Persepolis might steal the Best Animated Feature trophy by simply (gasp!) looking like a comic.

When to See it: Before it Leaves Theatres

Leftover thoughts:

When I was a kid, a bad day was stubbing my toe, not having my house destroyed by Iraqi bombs. Makes you think.
Great cameo by God in this film. Good to see the big guy getting some work.
One lesson obvious from the story of the Islamic Revolution is the whole "who watches the watchmen" thing when the revolutionaries turn out to be just as bad as the overthrown. This is why I'm not sure why there are so many Che Guevara T-shirts on college campuses- but that's a whole nother post.

Best Animated Short Roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Duncan Carson) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 19:27:00 +0000

FYI to my fellow Milwaukee residents: The Times Cinema will once again be hosting the Academy Award nominated short films.

Unfortunately, the Live Action program starts on Friday, Feb. 23rd, and runs for a week. So they don't show the Animated shorts until March 1st, which is obviously after the awards ceremony.

But of Course, that's why we have YouTube. Four out of the five films are up in their entirety, so I here will link to them (some are in multiple parts, so embedding would be a little ridiculous), and post my reviews and thoughts.

I Met The Walrus -Trailer
link

This looks very cool in design, and originality is often a key factor. Last year The Danish Poet (Part I, Part II) was clearly the easiest film to animate, but far and away the best story of the five nominees and it won. I Met the Walrus is a 2D sort of animation show, set word by word to an interview with John Lennon conducted by a renegade 14 year-old in 1969. It is only five minutes long, though I have little clue if that counts against it. Josh Raskin, the director, has no previous awards pedigree either.

Peter And The Wolf
Part I Part II Part III

Excellently done in claymation, if a little slow developing. Suzie Templeton, a BAFTA winner for her short film Dog in 2002, adds a few subtle touches to the edges of the classical music piece (what's with the kid throwing Peter in a dumpster?), but it doesn't really set itself apart.

Even Pigeons Go To Heaven
link

A funny, wacky piece, in lieu of any Pixar shorts this year (wasn't there one attached to the Ratatouille DVD? What happened there?). A con-man priest tries to sell an old man a machine that will transport him to heaven in an eight minute entry that curiously never mentions pigeons. Director Samuel Tourneux is also a newcomer to the awards circuit.

Madame Tutli-Putli
Part I Part II

Our third claymation entry, and a weird one. A slow developing, silent piece about a woman who boards a train, and has progressively creepier things start happening to her. It has grating violin music, and tries a little too hard to be avante garde for me. It's kind of like if a David Lynch film were shortened to seventeen minutes, but still managed to be as slow-paced as it was to begin with.

My Love
Part I Part II Part III

I actually remember watching the Oscars in 2000, and seeing a short clip of Aleksandr Petrov's The Old Man and The Sea (Part I, Part II), and dropping my jaw in amazement for a second before saying "that has to win." And it did. His next film, eight years later, looks just as amazing as it tells a story of a young man confused about love. Or something- the subtitles on this copy are pretty wonky, and I'm relatively sure they're missing a lot of important lines, but the visual experience of this one is worth it. So much work went into this hand-painted film that it seems impossible to beat.

Thoughts on the Live Action Shorts right before the Oscars, if I have the time in the two days beforehand to see them. I'm still flying blind on Documentary Shorts, though- damn them.

The Netflix Diaries: The Devil's Backbone

noreply@blogger.com (Duncan Carson) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:57:00 +0000

Ah well- you have all the intentions of posting regularly, but then things like life and the stomach flu get in the way. A flurry of posts for you this Monday, our regular readers (or Czechoslovakians googling Marketa Irglova. She's like Elvis over there, apparently.)

Anyway, I finally caught up with Guillermo Del Toro's film El Espinazo Del Diablo, The Devil's Backbone, on DVD, and I could see why he would describe it a the "spiritual predecessor" to last year's acclaimed Pan's Labyrinth.

Both are about orphaned children during the Spanish civil war, dealing with evil, greasy haired bad guys and supernatural forces. In Backbone, it's a child's ghost instead of an entire fantasy world, and the film as a whole is much less expansive than its "sequel"- the story is more or less self-contained in the orphanage that a young boy is sent to when his father dies, with the war lingering sadly at the fringes, instead of the much more intertwined plot of Labyrinth.

It's been described as a horror film (or at least it showed up on those Bravo "Scariest moment" countdowns that seem stupid but you end up watching the whole hour somehow), but it's not a jump out of your seat sort of experience. It's a ghost story with a purpose, and artistic merit- I guess I mean that it's a good story that happens to have a ghost in it, which is something that only seems to exist in other countries. In America, ghost stories are merely thinly plotted star vehicles where people slowly approach something creepy with creepy music playing before... BOO!

Another thing unique about both of Del Toro's historical fantasies is that he isn't afraid to show how unrelentingly cruel the world, and adults can be- there's no children's movie gloss to these stories just because the protagonists happen to be children. It makes me wish he'd have directed The Golden Compass.

Ah, well. At least we have The Hobbit to look forward to now. It should be interesting to see how he manages the more child friendly tone of that book with the dark currents of Jackson's trilogy.

Cloverfield Review

noreply@blogger.com (A. Duncan Carson) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:53:00 +0000

J.J. Abrams latest cinematic endeavor resulted in the visceral Cloverfield. The film is about five young professionals in Manhattan throwing a going away party. However, the angst and excitement of the evening are soon interrupted when a massive creature descends upon New York, destroying everything in its path.

Many have called Cloverfield “The Blair Witch that Ate Manhattan.” While that is funny, it does not do the movie justice. Cloverfield is much more than a monster movie shot in the camcorder way that The Blair Witch Project was constructed.

Drew Goodard’s script is actually a mish-mash of genres. When Abrams pitched the idea of Cloverfield to Paramount he described it as, “A Cameron Crow movie meets The Blair Witch Project meets Godzilla.” This is definitively more apt than “The Blair Witch that Ate Manhattan,” and it should not turn moviegoers away.

Matt Reeves’ visual style taps into people’s post-9/11 fears as landmarks are destroyed, the United States Marines canvas the street detaining people, and dust envelops people trying to run away from the chaos. Is this a shameless ploy on Reeves and Abrams’ behalf? I would say that it is not as they try to recreate in the most visceral of ways what a monster attack on New York would be like.

The acting in the film is done by a cast of unknowns who spend most of their time running for their lives and screaming, “NO!” or “OH MY GOD!” Perhaps it is for the best that this was a cast of unknowns because if it had been Will Smith and Reese Witherspoon running around, people would say that they were not doing a decent job. I feel the relative anonymity of these young professionals makes the docudrama nature of this production more enthralling because I did not go into the movie with any expectations regarding their skill.

Finally, the monster itself. Do you see it? Yes. Is it scary? Legitimately so. Are the special effects well done, or does it go into the I Am Legend territory of ridiculousness? The special effects – and sound effects for that matter – are quite well done. Cloverfield cost $25 million to produce and I imagine that the bulk of that money was spent in post-production.

Overall, the product that is put upon the screen in quite good. I would recommend seeing it in theatres because this movie is dependent upon the scope of the frame and the dazzling sound effects that pours in through the speakers.
When to See It: Before It Leaves Theatres

Rambo Review

noreply@blogger.com (A. Duncan Carson) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:48:00 +0000

I saw Rocky Balboa last year and was pleasantly surprised by what Sylvester Stallone delivered. Stallone crafted a film that was more about aging and wanting to be a part of the limelight again than it was about a boxing match. Critics and audiences lauded the film, resulting in an unforeseen success for Stallone. In turn, Stallone and Lions Gate Film decided that it would be a good idea to roll out Rambo, hoping to catch the same lightning in a bottle.

While it lacks the heart that Rocky Balboa possessed, Rambo certainly makes up for it with its brutality.

Stallone returns in the titular role, but a much older and wiser mercenary. Rambo has now secluded himself in the Myanmar countryside (NOTE: Stallone does not seem to realize that the country is now called Myanmar and not Burma anymore), where he handles poisonous snakes and shuttles people up and down the river with his longboat.

A group of missionaries comes to Rambo’s paradise and asks him to transport them “upriver.” Initially reluctant, Rambo does move them up the river so they may offer relief to survivors of a sixty-year-old civil war. However, two weeks pass when another man comes to Rambo and informs him that the missionaries have been taken hostage.

In turn, Rambo strikes back into action for what Stallone calls “Beyond Rangoon, but with rocket launchers.”

The exposition of the Rambo going through his daily routine and the missionaries seeking him out takes a plodding forty minutes. Once the action does get going though it is relentless in both its pace and demeanor.

Gang rapes, decapitations, bludgeonings, machine gunnings, machetings, cross bowings, neck snappings, and blow uppings all occur in the last hour of the film that would make Quentin Tarantino say, “Wow, that’s violent.” One analyst counted 220+ deaths in that film hour – which equivocates to 2.59 deaths per minute in the movie.

This violence does work though because it does show how jaded Rambo is. It does question the morality of its violence, even if it is in a fuzzy, illogical, schmaltzy manner.

All-in-all, it is nice to have an old fashioned action film that does not truly want to delve too much into the character’s psyche. In the end, Rambo is just more concerned with blowing things up and showing a spectacular fireball.

However, that really is a good thing.

When to See It: On DVD

An Open Letter to Landmark Cinemas

noreply@blogger.com (Duncan Carson) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 20:22:00 +0000

Dear Landmark,

First of all, let me say I really appreciate what you bring to Milwaukee. Without your two locations, we'd all be stuck waiting for the release of any independent or limited release movies worth a damn.

That being said, what the hell, Landmark? I distinctly remember seeing, in the lobby of your very own, nationally respected Oriental Theatre, a poster for Julian Schnabel's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, a reportedly outstanding film that just earned four Oscar nominations.

Later, I noticed that the posters had a date of "February 1st" attached to them- it was a little longer than I wanted to wait for a film I was so excited about, but I understand you have locations all over the country, and you can't get every print to everybody at once.

But now, after all this, I see you're not getting said film this Friday, nor are you getting the highly regarded Persepolis on Friday at all. What gives?

I notice that Diving Bell is playing at both of your locations in Chicago- you couldn't send one of those prints up the Interstate? I know our market here is small, but don't make me promises you can't keep.

Will you have it soon? Can I trust you when you say you will? Will I finally get to the theatre, only to be shown Alvin and the Chipmunks instead?

Stop shattering my hopes, Landmark. I want to make this relationship work again.

- Duncan

(mini-open letter to Marcus Cinemas:

You guys didn't promise me anything, but do you really need a print of Diving Bell in both Green Bay and Appelton, WI, without providing one for the state's biggest city? Just saying.)

Links for Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Duncan Carson) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 20:50:00 +0000

A slow starting week for the blog here- apologies.

What's been happening? Well, Ethan and Joel Coen won the Director's Guild award, making NCFOM's Best Picture chances just that much higher. It also won the ensemble SAG award (and then apparently Josh Brolin forgot that Tommy Lee Jones was much more important than he was and hogged the mic), and honestly we should just stop wondering now.

Also winning SAGs- Daniel Day Lewis, Julie Christie, Javier Bardem, and Ruby Dee. One of these things is not like the others...

The song "Falling Slowly" from Once, as I anticipated, is now in danger of having it's Oscar nomination revoked because it may not have been written for the film (duh!). I'm not saying forget the rules, I'm just saying get it right the first time, Academy. My take- they should revoke it (because if it beat 'original' songs it would seem unfair), but replace it with...another song from Once! "If You Want Me" was the only other song on the shortlist, but since that list was apparently also a piece of crap they could also go with "Fallen From the Sky," "Once," or "The Hill." (Or this!).

Meet the Spartans rules the Box Office, because we as a people are mentally incompetent. I would have been fine with Rambo, I really would have.

New Line finally settled with Peter Jackson awhile ago, so he's going to exec produce a 'Hobbit' movie (and another, blatantly unecessary LoTR film. Let's not get carried into nineties-era Lucas terriority here, people). So who's going to direct said film that wouldn't be a big step down from Jackson? Maybe... Guillermo Del Toro?

Speaking of which, beyond sequels like LoTR and The Dark Knight, I try not to scan crazy far ahead into movie news, because who wants to wait forever when they're excited about something? But get this- there's a 2009 movie called Public Enemies, about FBI agent Melvin Purvis tracking down John Dillinger.

Sounds cool enough already. But there are also three details that make it completely awesome, and I will list them in order of their excitement factor:

1. Michael Mann is directing it (Heat, Collateral, The Insider, The Last of the Mohicans)
2. Who will play Dillinger? Johnny Depp, that's who.
3. Oh, and the FBI Agent? Christian fucking Bale! Christian Bale is so awesome these days that a couple of months ago I had a conversation with Dave that went something like this...

Dave: There's making a fourth Terminator movie...
Me: Ugh.
Dave: It's directed by McG...
Me: Ugh.
Dave: and Christian Bale might be in it.
Me: Sold.

Crash, will now be a tv series. Yeah, there's really no need for that. The Onion's headline says it all. I felt, immediately after seeing that film, that it was pretty good, but why is it a modern masterpiece all of a sudden? Now I hate it to the point of revulsion, like a pretty good pop song that I can't go to any public restroom without hearing twice. The only good thing that has ever resulted from Crash is this list at McSweeney's internet tendency.

The WGA has agreed to provide the Grammy's with lame banter and uneccessary introductory monologues. Where's the waiver for The Oscars, already? Does anyone give a Belgian weasel about the Grammy's anymore? No!

My problems with the Grammy's: First of all, there's about eight billion different, gratiuitous, and hard to distinguish on the best of days categories. Second, in the major categories, all that ever gets nominated is what's all over the radio and at the top of Billboard charts anyway- I'm not saying it's not good music, but come on- we all know that popularity is not the basis for artistic merit.

This would be like if The Oscars nominated Spiderman 3 and At World's End and Transformers for everything, simply because they sold the most tickets.

The Savages Review

noreply@blogger.com (Duncan Carson) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 16:07:00 +0000

Tamara Jenkins' small film The Savages, sounds like a terribly depressing affair on paper. A struggling playwright (Laura Linney) and a frumpy Bertol Brecht scholar (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), get the word that their father is suffering from dementia and needs to be taken care of, and they fly to Arizona to do so.

And there's plenty of depressing subtext as well- Hoffman's girlfriend is being deported back to Poland on an expired Visa, Linney is having a quiet, joyless affair with a married neighbor and temping to pay the bills while getting rejected for artistic fellowships.

But there's a warm side to this film, from its naturalistic cinematography and light humor, to the patient way that it lets its story unfold.

The last name of all three major characters is "Savage," and they're constantly at each others' throats- the father in particular (Phillip Bosco), is unlikeable and rough, and Jenkins never forces him to recant his ways or apologize for anything. In one scene, while his two children are at each others' throats arguing, he simply turns down his hearing aid and ignores them, lost in his own world at the end of his life.

These Savages are cleverly contrasted with a few pets that come in and out of the story, a dog and two cats, and the simplicity of connection is illuminated by them- we love animals unconditionally, and warmly, but our feelings about other human beings are complex and hurtful. In the end, we're all animals.

The Savages reminded me of a more humanistic Woody Allen film, because it shared a similar academic New York sensibility, but it never went too far making its characters unrealistically pithy or absurd. Sometimes the film relies a little too much on embarassment for humor (like when Linney tries to help her father to the bathroom on a plane and his pants falll down), which seems unecessary when life itself can be so funny in such a three-dimensional film.

I also got the feeling that it would have benefited from teling us more of the history involved with the three of them- we know that the mother left, and the father was not really up to the task, but we get only glimpses of the childhood that's left so many marks on the two siblings.

Overall, it's a great character study, and a winning film.

When to See It: Before it Leaves theaters.

Lefotver thoughts:

This doesn't quite puch anything off the 2007 top 20, but it's definitely top 30 material.
Has there ever been a movie where an affair with a married man is a good idea? The longer they strung that sub plot out, the more annoying it became.
Some really surreal shots of Sun City, AZ in the opening of this film- I don't if they made it this way or it is this way, but it appeares like a suburban fantasia for the elderly full of golf-carts on the street, water aerobics, and happy-faced mailpeople riding old fashioned bikes.
Glad to see Laura Linney get an Oscar nomination, but Hoffman was just as good.
Linney's cat was named "Genghis."

The Netflix Diaries: Surf's Up

noreply@blogger.com (Duncan Carson) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 14:57:00 +0000

Last year, in predicting the Oscars for abc.com's official contest, I went with the favorite, Pixar's Cars, and got burned by the trendy, overly precious Happy Feet stealing the statue.

Let me tell you- Happy Feet is nothing special- it's just an environmentally minded novelty film with dancing penguins in it, and the multiple personalities of Robin Williams. We actually rented it from Blockbuster (children's fare is the one thing we usually miss in the theater, because we're... not children), and found it seriously overrated.

So when yet another Penguin themed CGI film came out this year, Surf's Up, I found it hard to muster up any motivation to see it- turns out I missed a pretty fun family film. And it's no surprise at all that it usurped The Simpson's Movie for the final, not a chance in hell, Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature.

Surf's Up asks the viewer to pretty quickly accept the idea that penguins like to surf, and many of them live on a tropical looking beach and surf all the time, and once you do, it's a pretty straightforward sports movie. Shia LaBeouf voices a runt penguin that dreams of becoming a champion surfer, and eventually gains the help of Jeff Bridges' disgraced former surfing champion.

And for once, Surf's Up doesn't go too crazy with the "guess the unnecessary celebrity voice" game, despite James Woods in a minor role. Any major draws at least actually fit their part (Jon Heder voices a very stoner-sounding chicken), and it's rounded out by people with actual voice talent (like Brian Posehn and Diedrich Bader).

A well chosen soundtrack moves the film along, and the ultimate message of this sports film is to not get too competitive, which is a good one for some kids to learn.

But the real thing that sets Surf's Up apart is the faux-documentary style in which it was done- there are off-screen interviewer's, and boom mics visible. The pacing of verite scenes inter-cut with talking head interviews makes it like a long episode of The Office, except about surfing penguins. It's a clever gag that they never take too far, and make it fun for those of us older than ten.

It's got precious little hope for an Oscar come February 24th, but it worth seeing all the same.

2007's Bottom Five Film's- Duncan

noreply@blogger.com (Duncan Carson) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 22:22:00 +0000

This list was even harder to fill out than the top 20, because perhaps to justify to myself spending so much money on movies, I rarely walk out of the theater thinking something was just downright bad.

So these are the five most disappointing movies I saw in 2007- that's not to say they didn't have redeeming qualities, or good intentions, but it the end they just couldn't pull it off. I can see why some critics would harsh on Bee Movie or Beowulf, for example, but I can't imagine expecting more than I got in either case. So all five of these are "Bad Movies That Had the Potential to Be Good," to varying degrees.

5. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (my review)

Some movies are twenty minutes too long, some half an hour, and usually it's forgivable in the face of good acting, beautiful cinematography, and a compelling story. But an entire excess hour really saddled down AJJCRF until it just became too much.

I'm eventually buying this and editing my own version on Windows Movie Maker or something- is that possible- and then I'll have a masterpiece.

4. The Golden Compass (my review)

Oh, book to film adaptations. Will you ever work? The previous entry had too much of the book that inspired it, but The Golden Compass had too little of its source material. Plus they got caught in that interminable family film limbo and watered down most of the parts of the book that were actually, you know, interesting.

3. Lust, Caution (my review)

Boring. Unnecessarily sensational. Overly mannered. Too much Mah-Jong. I'm already bored writing about this again.

2. Sunshine (me ranking it dead last on the summer countdown)

So close! Much like I Am Legend, it completely falls apart in a third act finale that's implausible, hackneyed, and gross. I wasn't sure if it made it worse or better (or higher or lower on this list) because the first two acts were so well executed.

The difference of course- I wasn't too surprised when I Am Legend fell apart, because Francis Lawrence is not Danny Boyle.

1. Before the Devil Know's You're Dead (me calling it the most overrated film of the year)

At least Rotten Tomatoes for Sunshine was a tentative 60% among the "top critics" (i. e. the more legimate than this blog could ever be critics), trying to warn me that it falls apart eventually. Those same critics were agog to the tune of 92% for Sidney Lumet's miseryfest of botched robberies and angrily slammed phones.

It just seems ultimately pointless- Really, movie? Robbing your parents jewelry store is a bad idea? I had no idea that betraying your family in a desperate attempt to skip the country before being investigated for tax fraud would go wrong. Thanks for the life lesson.

Also it completely wasted one of the coolest titles of the year, which is the real tragedy. I was stoked when the words "May you be in Heaven half an hour..." appeared on the screen, and then the title came in to complete it, but it was all downhill from there.

Best Original Song Oscar- What Happened?

noreply@blogger.com (Duncan Carson) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 21:31:00 +0000

One of the traditionally most ridiculous categories to predict, beyond the short films, is the Best Original Song Oscar.

The big complaint this year is that three songs from Enchanted got nominated. Now, I understand that Alan Menken has history on his side: eight wins for Disney standards like "Under the Sea," "A Whole New World," and "Colors of The Wind" from The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Pocahontas, respectively. So I actually went to YouTube and checked out the three songs. "So Close" is okay- kind of a cheese-ball ballad that really feels dated to me, but I could see why it's nominated, at least in a year with a Randy Newman Pixar song or something. But both "That's How You Know" and "Happy Working Song" are complete pieces of fluff- pale imitations of earlier Disney musical songs that are absolutely nothing special.

The August Rush song, "Raise It Up," is nice and soulfull- but honestly some of the after-school rap lyrics are honestly cringe inducing. Also, children singing is very hit or miss for me.

So here are my choices, from the original list of 59, for what I'd vote for.

"Do You Feel Me" - Diane Warren (perf. by Anthony Hamilton)
from American Gangster

Randomly sung during a nightclub scene in Ridley Scott's all-but overlooked crime drama, this song left an immediate impression- it could have been any random seventies cover, but Diane Warren (an Oscar song giant herself) captured the soul of the era, and Anthony Hamilton delivers it. No offense to Amy Adams' singing voice, but come on.

"My Hands Are Shaking" - Sondre Lerche
from Dan In Real Life

If I had known that Norwegian troubadour Sondre Lerche composed the score and wrote several songs for Dan in Real Life, I probably would have gotten off my ass and seen it. As it is, you shouldn't have to be a former Beatle to get an Oscar nomination for a pop song.

"Pop! Goes My Heart" - Andrew Wyatt (perf. by Wyatt and hugh Grant)
from Music and Lyrics

Good song? Yeah, it's cheesy and captures the era. But mostly, how awesome would it be to see this performed at the Oscars? (assuming there is an Oscars).

"Guaranteed" - Eddie Vedder
from Into the Wild

Usually I'm not the biggest Eddie Vedder fan, but this seems to fit the mood of the story perfectly. What's with the Academy not liking pop stars anyway? This getting the shaft, after winning the Golden Globe, is pretty strange on the heels of both Vedder's and Johnny Greenwood's late-breaking disqualifications for Best Score.

And finally, the only one of the academy's five I agree with:

"Falling Slowly"- Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
from Once

Curiously, this song seems like it shouldn't have been nominated, as per the Academy's bitchy rules (it was written well before the film, and even released on Hansard and Irglova's "The Swell Season"). But as long as the voters were ignorant enough of it to nominate it, there's no way it should lose.

I would be well more pissed than any other Oscar fiasco (including Crash over Brokeback Mountain, Titanic over L. A. Confidential, anything) if "Falling Slowly" doesn't win the statue.

2007's Bottom Five Film's- Dave

noreply@blogger.com (A. Duncan Carson) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 03:07:00 +0000

Best Movie That Was Bad, But Had The Potential To Be Good:

The Kingdom – All-star cast? Check. Decent writer? More or less a check. Good story? Surprisingly, yes. Good director? Check.

So what the hell happened?

Honestly, I do not know. My best guess is that I think the director, Peter Berg, chooses to showcase the action pieces more than the heart that lies with Carnahan’s script. Even though the action pieces are quite good, it almost becomes too much in a film that could have had as much soul as the best action movie of the year, The Bourne Ultimatum.

5. Spider-Man 3 – Three is a crowd. The latest (‘Cause there is more to come) installment in the web-crawler’s trilogy falls short of the previous two. While it may not be a horrible movie, it is certainly a disappointment.

4. Next – “Las Vegas showroom magician Cris Johnson has a secret which torments him: he can see a few minutes into the future. Sick of the examinations he underwent as a child and the interest of the government and medical establishment in his power, he lies low under an assumed name in Vegas, performing cheap tricks and living off small-time gambling "winnings." But when a terrorist group threatens to detonate a nuclear device in Los Angeles, government agent Callie Ferris must use all her wiles to capture Cris and convince him to help her stop the cataclysm.”

That is the plot synopsis from IMDB.com. The scary part is that this is not the most ridiculous thing in the movie. Julianne Moore plays a tough FBI agent, but the cream of the crop is Nicolas Cage’s hairpiece.

3. Shrek the Third – I kind of knew what to expect going into this movie, but it was still bad. The joy that was in the previous two is just not there anymore and they plan on making two more films. Ugh.

2. Rush Hour 3 – I did not see this film, yet the awfulness is so palpable I had to put it number two.

Actually, I put it here because this movie raises more questions than answers.
Consider the following:

Why was there a six year gap between Rush Hour 2 and Rush Hour 3? It is not like Chris Tucker wasn’t available.
Did Rush Hour 2 leave that many questions unanswered?
What does $50 million + $53.25 million + $7 million equal? You could say $110.25 million, and you would be correct. How about the paydays for Tucker, Chan, and Ratner? That would be correct too. How does this happen?
Tucker’s character is from California, Chan’s is from China, yet the movie is set in France. What?
You can clearly see the ridiculousness of this all

1. Lions for Lambs – I figured this would actually be a good movie, if not a great one. I looked and saw that Robert Redford was directing and producing the film, which has yielded such results as Ordinary People and A River Runs Through It. I saw Matthew Michael Carnahan, who is an up and coming writer and brother to Joe Carnahan of Narc fame. I saw Tom Cruise, who I admire and has previously worked with Joe Carnahan on Narc for great results. I saw Academy Award winner Meryl Streep, and rising stars Derek Luke and Michael Pena. I figured this was the first movie coming out of the United Artist stable under Tom Cruise’s guidance and he would not allow it to fail.

I was horribly wrong. This film fails on so many levels it almost mystifies me. Similar to this year’s All the King’s Men, I found myself wondering how all this talent just went to waste.

The only positive to this movie is that is clocks in at 88 minutes.

Academy Award Nomination Musings

noreply@blogger.com (A. Duncan Carson) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 14:21:00 +0000

Best Picture Nominees: No surprises here. I thought Sweeney Todd would have a chance, especially after the Golden Globes win, but Michael Clayton garnering a nomination is not shocking. No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood are the clear frontrunners right now. I do not think the comparisons between Juno and Little Miss Sunshine have ever really been deserved (Because I think Juno is a lot better), but at least Little Miss Sunshine had an outside chance to actually win the category.

Best Actor Nominees: Every major entertainment news outlet (Entertainment Weekly, Rotten Tomatoes, etc.) lauded Tommy Lee Jones, but figured him for dead. Jones getting a nomination is a bit of a surprise because of the underwhelming box office of In the Valley of Elah and the crowded field. However, I think this category is already closed because one of the nominees drinks your milkshake! He drinks it up! Excellent to see the Academy also give a nomination to Viggo Mortensen for his daring and dark performance. Here is a bold prediction for the 2010 Oscars – which will award the 2009 movies – Viggo Mortensen will actually win his Oscar then.

Best Actress Nominees: Cate Blanchett? Really? In this category? I know that critics said her performance and the costume design were the only highlights of the film, but I did not figure her for a nomination. I thought Blanchett’s Golden Globe nomination was because of the dearth of fantastic female performances, but apparently, the Academy is sold on her. I figured that Angelina Jolie had a spot clinched because of the emotional impact and hype surrounding A Mighty Heart. Finally, congratulations to the almost always underrated and undervalued Laura Linney.

Best Supporting Actor Nominees: Easy to see these nominees coming.

Best Supporting Actress Nominees: No surprises here either, as all of these women have received multiple nominations from various sources.

Best Director Nominees: Two surprises in this category. I did not have Jason Reitman picked at all. I figured Juno would receive praise for a variety of things, but never did I see a Best Director nomination coming for him. Tony Gilroy is just a tiny bit surprising because this is his first feature film. Impressive for Gilroy, but I figured that Ridley Scott would skate in for his courtesy nomination. The omission of Joe Wright is not overly shocking, but still seems odd for an incredible movie.

Best Original Screenplay Nominees: Nice to see some new blood in the category in the form of Tamara Jenkins and Nancy Oliver. Brad Bird’s inclusion is excellent to see that the Academy is willing to award outstanding animated films.

Best Adapted Screenplay Nominees: Congratulations to Sarah Polley. I thought the Academy would give their love to Aaron Sorkin, just like the folks who run the Emmys.

Overall, the only thing that kind of surprises is the lack of love for Sweeney Todd. I thought it would have an outside chance at multiple nominations, but apparently not. However, looking at other guild nominees, it should not be overly surprising.

Also, this sounds weird, but I am glad to see that Into the Wild did not get a nomination. After several guild nominations, I thought it had a chance to grab the last spot. I saw this movie and did not walk away with the sense, “Oh, this could be a Best Picture nominee.” It is a good movie, but not one of the five best of the year.

It's Oscar Nomination Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Duncan Carson) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:11:00 +0000

I feel like it's Christmas or something.

Anyway, here are the nominees. No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood lead the field with eight apiece, followed closely by Michael Clayton and Atonement with seven. The final Best Picture nominee is Juno, with four nominees total.

Dave and I both called four out of the big five (I had The Diving Bell and the Butterfly instead of Juno, he had Sweeney Todd instead of Michael Clayton), and did pretty well overall. A breakdown follows:

Dave:

Total: 56 out of 85 predictions correct, or 65.9%

Big eight categories (Actor/Actress, Supporting Actor/Actress, Picture, Director, both Screenplays): 28 out of 40, 70%

Technical categories: 23 out of 32, 71.9%

Miscellaneous (Animated Feature, Song, Score): 5 out of 13, 38.5%

Categories nailed: Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Visual Effects

One Wrong: Best Picture, Lead Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Animated Feature

Me:

Total: 63 out of 89, 70.8%

"Big eight": 35 out of 40, or 87.5%

Techs: 22 out of 36, 61.1%

Misc: 6 out of 13, 46.2%

Categories Nailed: Original Screenplay, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress

One Wrong: Best Picture, Best Director, Adapted Screenplay, Lead Actor, Lead Actress, Animated Feature, Cinematography, Editing, Visual Effects, Costume

Not too shabby, I'd say. In fact, since the news broke late last night that both Johnny Greenwood and the Into the Wild team were disqualified for score, and the Original song nominees were nut-bonkers (three songs from Enchanted? really?), I say we throw out those two categories and give us a boost to 75% and 71% correct in the categories that we could reasonably predict.

Hopefully before the ceremony itself we'll have time to catch up on everything- there's usually a print that comes through town of the nominated live and animated shorts, so everything but Documentary short (and usually most of foreign) has played in Milwaukee by late February.

In fact, since Into the Wild completely got the shaft (only 2 nominations? ouch.), this will be the first time I've seen all five Best picture candidates before they were even announced (and Dave, I trust, will see Michael Clayton soon). So look forward to Oscar Prediction columns even longer than the nominee ones.

Consensus Top 20

noreply@blogger.com (Duncan Carson) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 16:43:00 +0000

For the curious, and because I like math, here's Dave and my top 20's combined by a simple points system:

19t. Juno 7
19t. American Gangster 7
18. Ratatouille 10
16t. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 11
16t. The Mist 11
15. No End in Sight 12
14. Eastern Promises 13
10t. Grindhouse 15
10t. Michael Clayton 15
10t. Knocked Up 15
10t. 3:10 to Yuma 15
9. Away From Her 17
8. The Bourne Ultimatum 18
7. Rescue Dawn 22
6. Atonement 28
5. Zodiac 32
4. Once 33
3. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 34
2. There Will Be Blood 35
1. No Country for Old Men 40

So that's the Reverse Shot master list, I suppose. Tomorrow we have the worst of the year for you, and we see how well we did with our Oscar predictions.

2007's Top 20 Films- Dave

noreply@blogger.com (A. Duncan Carson) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 19:10:00 +0000

Nine Movies That Would Have Probably Made My Top Twenty If They Had Arrived In Milwaukee Sooner, Or If I Had Made An Effort To See Them:

Away from Her, Control, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days, Gone Baby Gone, King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, Michael Clayton, The Orphanage, and Persepolis.

Only Away from Her, Gone Baby Gone, King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, and Michael Clayton made it to the Milwaukee market and I never got around to seeing any of them. Hopefully, I will catch Michael Clayton as it is going into a re-release for an Oscar run. As for the remaining five, they have not hit the Milwaukee market yet, but – assuredly – I will see them when they do. I have a feeling that they are all spectacular films based on their trailers, the reviews, and the award nominations they are receiving.

20. 28 Weeks Later
19. Breach
18. Juno
17. The Namesake
16. Knocked Up
15. 3:10 to Yuma
14. Into the Wild
13. Rescue Dawn
12. Ratatouille
11. The Bourne Ultimatum

I think that Breach and The Namesake could have been contenders for Best Supporting Actor if they had a campaign and a later release date. I am also not entirely blown away by Juno, though it is a very good movie. 3:10 to Yuma, Rescue Dawn, and – yes – 28 Weeks Later are all solidly crafted movies that I was unsure at first and all pleasantly surprised by.

I find the Best Picture talk for Into the Wild to be kind of crazy talk. I think the performances and cinematography are all top notch, but as an overall product, it does work that well for me.

Ratatouille and The Bourne Ultimatum are both outstanding fares for various reasons. I miss the early 1990’s because these two films would have garnered Best Picture buzz. The world has changed from the days of Beauty and the Beast and The Fugitive getting Best Picture nominations.

10. The Mist

I was initially reluctant to see this film because I know that Stephen King adaptations tend to be horrible. However, I figured the pairing of Frank Darabont and King has yielded good results in the past and I had nothing to do on a weekday afternoon.

This film’s focus is so sharp on the paranoia and power structures that arise with ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Though some labeled this a “B Movie,” it is nowhere near that in its portrayal of small townspeople.

Plus, the ending is surprising and still shocks me months after I first saw the film.

9. No End in Sight

Hey, look! A documentary! I rented this one a few weeks ago – on the same night that I rented The Namesake – and was entranced by it. Charles Ferguson’s film is not nearly as explosive as Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, but the intimate interviews of people that do not support the war or have become disillusioned by it is mesmerizing. If you want to watch only one documentary on the conflict in Iraq, make it this one.

8. Eastern Promises

When I heard Cronenberg and Mortensen were re-teaming for another film, I was excited. Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises may lack the down-to-earth feel of A History of Violence, but it is still packs a powerful punch.

Mortensen’s performance was probably the most unhinged of any actor this year. The raw emotion – and body parts – that he put on display here is admirable. Supported by an outstanding supporting cast, Eastern Promises was one of the most satisfying films of the year.

7. Once

It should get nominations for Best Song, but it probably will not. It should probably merit a Best Picture nomination, but the Academy has not nominated a film for solely Best Picture since Grand Hotel.

This is the little musical that could and like Spielberg says, “This movie gave me enough hope for the rest of year.”

6. Grindhouse

Robert Rodriguez made a documentary / lecture called Film is Dead. I would like to make an addendum to that saying the cinematic experience is dead.

There are a few exceptions where going to the movies becomes an experience. Whether it is because people dress up like the characters, religiously attend midnight showings of the movie, or know every single line of the film.

However, Grindhouse was the most fun at the movies all year. It was a unique experience that allowed people to stand up and cheer, openly cringe, and laugh hysterically at things that traditional Hollywood movies would not cue you to laugh at.

5. Atonement

I was completely fascinated with this movie after I saw the trailer. The movie lives up to the incredible hype that surrounds it constructing a beautifully tragic tale.

After I had seen the film, I told a friend about it and how excellent I thought it was. He said that he did not want to because “it seems like a British movie that is created solely for the purpose of making an Academy Awards run.” I could not disagree with him more, citing the stellar performances, outstanding editing, and the overall scope of the film.

4. There Will Be Blood

“Drainage! Drainage, Eli! Drained dry, you boy! If you have a milkshake and I have a milkshake and I have a straw and my straw reaches across the room and starts to drink your milkshake. I drink your milkshake! I drink it up!”

Daniel Day-Lewis sells this movie all by himself.

3. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Initially, people wondered if Tim Burton’s distinct visual style would hinder the film. I think the end product has silenced anyone who ever did question that.

Burton’s delightful film cruises along with toe-tapping songs, Johnny Depp’s memorable performance, and an exquisite complimentary cast.

I wish this film would get all the Academy Award nominations it deserves. People would argue that musicals tend to get overlooked by the Academy, but they should stop and notice the excellence this film exudes.

2. Zodiac

If I had run of the Academy Awards, Zodiac would be the runaway leader in nominations. However, because the film was released in March and has had a minimal campaign, it will get entirely overlooked come Oscar time.

Remarkable performances from everyone made this the best ensemble piece in my eyes. From Gyllenhaal’s restraint to the always undervalued Anthony Edwards everybody had a genuine feel to them. Robert Downey Jr.’s performance was arguably one of the best of the year, but in a crowded field, he has almost entirely been forgotten.

The cinematography is an awesome spectacle as it is the first film to completely use the Vesper-Thomson film system. The editing, score, and attention to detail are heightened to a point that you feel like you are really in the Bay Area.

James Vanderbilt, having improved his writing skills since Basic, is at the top of his game and I hold out hope that he will be recognized for his work come January 22nd.

In the end, the person who deserves the most credit for Zodiac is David Fincher. His meticulous work and research on the film makes this film the highlight of his career. This movie – along with one other this year – left me completely breathless at the end, even though I knew what the outcome was going to be. Just like…

1. No Country for Old Men

This is movie perfection. There is no other way to describe it. I feel that no matter how many adjectives I throw out there they simply will not do this movie justice.

So much has already been said about the film that I feel I can only add one thing: Javier Bardem is not the “ultimate badass.” I would call him the ultimate car wreck. There has never been a character that is so horrific and methodical, yet I can not take my eyes off of him. I want to see what he will do next and I know that it is going to be something atrocious. That is how I know the Coen Brothers truly captured something menacing.

Most Overrated Film of the Year:

Charlie Wilson’s War – Yes, the two male leads are quite good. The script is very good for about 75 minutes. However, the more I think about this movie, the more I do not like it. I view Julia Roberts as a waste of space, Mike Nichols seems content to let his stars do what they want, and I wonder how the heck it managed a Best Picture Comedy or Musical nomination at the Golden Globes.

Best Guilty Pleasure Film of the Year:

300 – It made a gazillion dollars and has amazing visuals, but the dialogue is a tad ridiculous and – at times – it really quite cheesy. In ten years this movie may still be heralded as a visual achievement, but I do not think it will age well. Still, Snyder’s unique vision is entertaining for its slow-motion fight scenes and bombastic catchphrases.

2007's Top 20 Films- Duncan

noreply@blogger.com (Duncan Carson) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 20:25:00 +0000

The clock is ticking on "best of" columns for 2007. But, due to the curse of the midwest, I must compose my list not having seen things like Persepolis, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and The Savages, since the first two don't open for two weeks in Wisconsin, and the latter just got here.

So know that this list will be revised, if applicable, when I do see those films, and I'll link back to it when appropriate. I ended up seeing over fifty films released last year, depending on how you count it (I say count February to January, since this month is all about seeing art-house award contenders that hadn't made it here yet). And with very few exceptions, they were all pretty much a good time. Whittling it down to 20 was hard.

The latter half of the list:

21. Ratatouille
20. Paprika
19. Stardust
18. Juno
17. Gone Baby Gone
16. The Darjeeling Limited
15. American Gangster
14. The Bourne Ultimatum
13. 3:10 to Yuma
12. Knocked Up

Pretty self explanatory runners-up. I'm obviously not as high on Juno as other countdown makers, but it's still a great film in a crowded year. Paprika is the only thing to make the list that I missed in the theater- otherwise I saw most of this list on the first weekend I could.

11. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

The only film in all of 2007 that I saw more than once in theaters, so it leapfrogs The Bourne Ultimatum and Knocked Up from the Summer Countdown for the ten-spot. I never would have predicted, based on the first two films, that I'd eventually be as stoked for first-day midnight showings of the Harry Potter series as I was for Lord of the Rings, but the last three films are right up there with any other famous trilogies. Can't wait until November.

10. Atonement

After I saw Atonement, I read the Ian McEwan novel (normally something I'd have done first), and to my surprise still preferred the film. It was able to cut very efficiently through a beautiful, but plodding novel, and maintain a tense energy throughout.

It's not really as "Oscar"-ish at it seemed at first glance, which is not necessarily a bad thing. It eschews redundant pining and melodrama for a twist that is both satisfying and heart-wrenching at the same time. In a slower year, I wouldn't have hesitated so much to put it into my Best Picture nominees.

9. Zodiac

As I am now reminded, January through March is not the best time to go to the movies (unless you're Dave, who's seeing Cloverfield this weekend and Rambo(?) next weekend, he tells me. I felt like I had to share this with you). This is the only representative from the Mid-winter and Spring months of 2007 on this whole list- The Namesake, Reign Over Me, Hot Fuzz, and The Host are all in the twenties for sure, but still.

Robert Downey, Jr. steals the show in David Fincher's moody, atmospheric procedural not-quite-a-thriller about the unsolved Zodiac killings in San Francisco. Jake Gyllenhaal does a workmanlike job as a cartoonist obsessed with the case, but never really solidifies this picture into an awards contender. Between this and what I hear is a bland turn in Rendition (I didn't see it), we're still waiting for you to capitalize on the potential you showed in Donnie Darko, Jake.

8. Rescue Dawn

Christian Bale eats live worms. For real.

7. Michael Clayton

A heart-pounding, throwback thriller that has stuck in my memory so well I might go see it again once they re-expand it next weekend (so far, the Clayton and No Country teams are positive enough about multiple Oscars noms that they've planned the Awards rerun expansions already. If Into the Wild makes it into the final five, they'll probably re-up that as well).

6. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

True story: right before I went to see this with Nicole, we had lunch at Boston Market and I ordered a chicken pot pie. Yeah.

5. Away From Her

Bought it on DVD, and it still holds up. Further information (from my parents, who watched it on my fervent recommendation) has revealed to me that the K. D. Lang song that plays over the credits is a classic Neil Young song.

So maybe they chose it to appeal to the presumably older than I am target audience of this Alzheimer's centered drama. So what- the Ray LaMontagne song from the trailer is still a better fit, I way.

4. There Will Be Blood

Basically the shortest three hours I spent in a movie theater this year. Between the score, the visuals, and the utterly ridiculous badassness of Daniel Day-Lewis, an instant buy on DVD. And it's a shoe-in for a Best Picture nomination on Tuesday, to boot.

3. Once

I know, I know, this was runner up to Away From Her on my list four months ago. What can I say? I'm not paid enough for this to not change my mind about things. Watching it on DVD, I realized what an efficient, brilliant film it turned out to be for the budget.

And they say nothing elevates a film like the right soundtrack, but this is really a case of a brilliant soundtrack elevating a bootstraps indie film to an instant classic. It's a shame that only two songs ("Falling Slowly" and "If You Want Me") are eligible for the Best Original Song Oscar, and that's the only place that Once has a shot at showing up in.

2. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

(See review)

1. No Country For Old Men

Sure, pick the most lauded film of the year, Duncan. Way to go out on a limb. What can I say? You can't argue with two Coen brothers, a Pulitzer-winning author, two badasses and a complete psychopath.

Most Overrated film of the year:

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

When I caught up with this one, I remembered vaguely the premise and that it got outstanding reviews. And while the execution is there, and the cast is more than able (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei's breasts, Ethan Hawke, and Albert Finney), it's just a miserable film about misery for the sake of misery. Much like the similarly lauded but god-awful House of Sand and Fog, I can just never get behind sad people with bad luck doing horrible things to each other.

Plus, 83-year old Sidney Lumet decides to fracture the timeline of this film with completely jarring and useless Tarantino cuts, which recur until you just start wishing for the thing to end. Maybe the critics were just so proud of him for managing to shoot a whole film without soiling himself that they gave him a free pass.

Best Guilty Pleasure: Across the Universe

Who doesn't like a good sing along? I have no intention of buying Julie Taymour's cheesy, goofball Beatles collage movie (maybe as a gift), but I did pick up the soundtrack to blast in my car.

It's been such a strong year for musicals/music-related pictures I thought the Academy might dust off the "Best Musical" category and nominate Across the Universe, Once, La Vie En Rose, Hairspray, and Sweeney Todd.

Omissions:

I never had the effort to see Into the Wild (which would be an inspiring yarn of natural connection and individualism if (spoiler) its protagonist didn't starve to death in an abandoned van in Alaska(end spoiler)). And that's the only film in the running for Best Pic I haven't made it to, except for Diving Bell as I mentioned. I could really care less about The Great Debaters (I was on the Chess Team in high school. The Debate Team was a bunch of nerds) or The Bucket List. I didn't ever really feel the need to see La Vie En Rose or A Mighty Heart, because I'm not into French music or bad French accents. And there was too big a part of my mind that thought Lars and the Real Girl sounded too much like a National Lampoon's movie (the crappy ones, with Paris Hilton in them for five minutes) to take seriously.

Otherwise I saw just about everything, which is way too many for someone who doesn't get paid to.

Trailer Report: The Savages, Snow Angels, The Band's Visit

noreply@blogger.com (Duncan Carson) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:36:00 +0000

Some interesting upcoming features in front of There Will Be Blood over the weekend..

The Savages

trailer link
(not on YouTube? Get with the program, people!)

This film on paper? Sounds horribly depressing. Two dysfunctional adult siblings have to decide what to do with their cranky, elderly father as his health fails. I had no idea at all it had comedic moments in it- Phillip Seymour Hoffman plays tennis! Hilarity ensues...

Snow Angels

Sam Rockwell alert! He seems to play strictly sad cases these days, based on this and his part as the paranoid brother in The Assassination of Jesse James. And he got second billing to Kate Beckinsale!?

This looks depressing, but not as depressing as David Gordon Green's previous directorial efforts- All the Real Girls and Undertow. Seriously, can he just make a movie about kittens or something?

The Band's Visit

Interesting fact about this film- it was disqualified for the Best Foreign Film Oscar for containing too much English. Isn't that kind of harsh, considering that America is such an obnoxious world power that English is becoming sort of a neutral language between other cultures? Oh sorry, is our lack of diplomacy forcing your children to learn our language? Then your movies fail to be different enough!

And the foreign category is completely whack this year anyway- France didn't submit The Diving Bell and the Butterfly because they'd rather it won Best Picture, but then Persepolis doesn't make the shortlist for the Oscar- neither does Spain's most lauded film, The Orphanage, or any other foreign film with any buzz that I've heard about (like Iran's Offside, or Romania's 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days). Can we just agree, AMPAS, to scrap your ridiculous "one movie per country" rule and just let merit win out next year? Sheesh.