8:38 AM is such a specific time to do this. I've been up since 8:00AM, after finally trying to get some sleep at 6:30. I'll probably go straight to bed after this, but come on! It's like Christmas morning, Happy Birthday and Easter baskets rolled into one! Hell, last year I was almost late to class on account of this, but it was awesome when my roommate and I came in with the news.
Hey, Ben Lyons! I wanted to get to know someone that's not you! He just said Meryl Streep will get nominated for The Blind Side, alongside Sandra Bullock for....then he look shame-faced, but rather than correct himself, they plow right on with the talk, talk, talk. Hey, Ben Lyons! I want to take a 2x4 to your head!
Ah, here we go! New Presidente Tom Sherak and the beautiful Hollmann Award Nominated Actress Anne Hathaway.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Mo'Nique, Precious
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
ACTRESS
Sanrda Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
ACTOR
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
DIRECTOR
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
James Cameron, Avatar
Lee Daniels, Precious
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Camon & Moverman, The Messenger
The Coen Bros, A Serious Man
Docter, Peterson & McCarthy, Up
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Blomkamp & Tatchell, District 9
Hornby, An Education
Armstrong, Blackwell, Ianucci & Roche, IN THE LOOP
Fletcher, Precious
Reitman & Turner, Up in the Air
FOREIGN
Ajami
El Secreto de sus ojos
The Milk of Siorrow
Un Prophete
White Ribbon
ANIMATED
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Princess & the FRog
Secret of Kell
Up
BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air
Holy fuck, Maggie Gyllenhaal is an Oscar nominee! I didn't think that Cruz nom was really gonna happen. District 9 nominated for Picture, which is cool; The Blind Side also, which is....huhn? But Invictus is left out, thank the Lord. Up and A Serious Man made it, too. In the Loop and The Messenger getting screenplay noms is one of the best things to happen this year! I like that lineup for Adapted Screenplay! Secret of the Kells, which barely got a release and which no one has heard of, gets that Animated Feature spot over Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.
The other nominees, via the Oscar official site:
ART DIRECTION
Avatar
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Barry Ackroyd, The Hurt Locker
Christian Berger, The White Ribbon
Bruno Delbonnel, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Mauro Fiore, Avatar
Robert Richardson, Inglourious Basterds
COSTUME
Bright Star
Coco Before Chanel
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
The Young Victoria
DOC FEATURE
Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home
DOC SHORT
China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of the Sichuan Province
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
Music by Prudence
Rabbit a la Berlin
EDITING
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
MAKEUP
Il Divo
Star Trek
The Young Victoria
SCORE
Marco Beltrami & Buck Sanders, The Hurt Locker
Alexandre Desplat, Fantastic Mr. Fox
Michael Giacchino, Up
James Horner, Avatar
Hans Zimmer, Sherlock Holmes
SONG
"Almost There" from The Princess and the Frog
"Down in New Orleans" from The Princess and the Frog
"Loin de Paname" from Paris 36 (!!!)
"Take It All" from Nine (!!!!)
"The Weary Kind" from Crazy Heart
ANIMATED SHORT
French Roast
Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty
The Lady and the Reaper
Logorama
A Matter of Loaf and Death
LIVE ACTION SHORT
The Door
Instead of Abracadabra
Kavi
Miracle Fish
The New Tenants
SOUND EDITING
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Up
SOUND MIXING
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
VFX
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek
So little love for Star Trek, actually. Just four tech noms. Strange. Paris 36 and "Take It All" came from nowhere. And I am VERY upset with the full snub at (500) Days of Summer. Not even original screenplay? Disappointing.
Showing posts with label District 9. Show all posts
Showing posts with label District 9. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Producer's Guild Noms
The Producer's Guild Association have announced their nominees for their annual awards. Like the Oscars' Best Picture category, the Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award has ten slots to fill. Last year, the nominees matched the Best Picture slate 4/5, with The Dark Knight edged out in favor of The Reader; this also occurred at the DGA and WGA awards. But then, the PGA does tend toward money-makers, being producers and all. Will their Big Ten match the Academy's? I mean, probably not exactly, but, you know...
The nominees are:
Avatar
I believe I am the sole person in Christendom who had yet to see it.
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
What's the appeal? The more I think about it, the more this movie irritates me.
Precious
Star Trek
Oh, rocking! This and District 9 getting in is...well, it's actually a testament to their financial success, right? But it's also the quality; I don't see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen getting a PGA nom, do you?
Up
Up in the Air
That's five movies that made it into my Top 25. Now, I don't necessarily believe that this is the Best Pic lineup as well, as I still believe the ten-wide option gives Nine an edge. But this is a pretty solid lineup, with only one dud out of the nine I've seen. Avatar will probably win this.
The nominees are:
Avatar
I believe I am the sole person in Christendom who had yet to see it.
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
What's the appeal? The more I think about it, the more this movie irritates me.
Precious
Star Trek
Oh, rocking! This and District 9 getting in is...well, it's actually a testament to their financial success, right? But it's also the quality; I don't see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen getting a PGA nom, do you?
Up
Up in the Air
That's five movies that made it into my Top 25. Now, I don't necessarily believe that this is the Best Pic lineup as well, as I still believe the ten-wide option gives Nine an edge. But this is a pretty solid lineup, with only one dud out of the nine I've seen. Avatar will probably win this.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Catch-Up: Part One
How long has it been since I actually reviewed something? It feels like forever. Less talky, more review-y:
ADAM
Oh, heavens. What to say about Adam, the tale of a young man with Asperger's who falls in love with his neighbor? Well, Hugh Dancy gives a pretty good performance in the title role, and Rose Byrne isn't terrible when she's acting without words. Amy Irving and Frankie Faison are pretty good. Overall, though, the movie is pretty awful. It doesn't want to be a rom-com with Asperger's as a device. Grand. But the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and surely there is nothing more agonizing this year than watching Adam.
Peter Gallagher's performance is a step above community theater. Adam is frequently lit like a serial killer stalking his prey, which is just unsettling. The songs are irritatingly on the nose, describing the action of the story in a clunky, literal way. How did they actually find songs to match exactly what everyone in the audience should be thinking and feeling? It's almost a coup! God, and some of the lines are horrendous. Just horrendous. "Loving, my precious girl, is what matters most." And holy crapping crap, they can't even get the lead female's name right. Gallagher calls her Bethany, loudly and clearly, in one scene; later, it is revealed her name is Elizabeth. WHICH IS IT, MOVIE? Writer-director Max Mayer has just joined The List -- the list of people to take by the shoulders and shake violently.
DISTRICT 9
Interesting, intelligent sci-fi centering around the attempted relocation of prawn-like extraterrestrials in South Africa and the effects thereof. I think it only takes place over the course of three days (I think), and the pacing on this thing is impeccable. Yes, it is edge of your seat excitement at its best. It's best to go into the film with as little knowledge as possible. Certainly, I went in almost blind and wound up falling for it. I just want to point out three things: (1) Sharlto Copley gives a fantastic performance, (2) the visual effects are outstanding, far more convincing than VFX on more expensive productions, and (3) director/co-writer Neill Blomkamp has proven himself a force to be reckoned with.
JULIA
An interesting piece starring Hollmann Award nominee Tilda Swinton (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). She's an alcoholic who kidnaps a boy at the urging of his delusional mother. Julia hopes to benefit financially from this, but her lack of skills in this department, plus her need to drink, drink, drink, take the film down various roads that eventually lead to Mexico. Through it all, Swinton is sublime, with a perfect American accent, and an understanding of the ego and folly that is the drunk. It's a top-notch performance in a bizarre little film.
Some of the twists and turns of the screenplay seem to serve mainly as a way to keep the movie going for another ten or fifteen minutes, instead of progressing with a natural fluidity. I found myself questioning the why and the wherefore of many scenes, including the abrupt and ambiguous ending. Worth watching for Swinton (what isn't?), but an overall meh film.
JULIE & JULIA
Oh man, if only this was a follow-up to the above flick... By now you've read how kick-ass Meryl Streep's channeling of kitchen guru Julia Child is. You won't be reading otherwise here. She's funny and endearing, yet there is unexpected depth in her turn here. Yeah, it's La Streep, but last year was kind of a two-punch of insanity and scenery-chewing. Here, we get a real person -- though she does seem bored during the television segments. Julia was a heavy breather and took her time, but she also had an exhilarating joie de vivre that reached out to the viewers at home. It's the only misstep in a brilliant performance.
Ah, yes, but there is more to the film than La Streep. Amy Adams does a fine job as Julie Powell, a present-day blogger who cooks her way through Julia's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It's not an easy character, to be sure: while the real Powell is full of snark and bitchery, writer-director Nora Ephron tries to make her...you know...nice, but still with a cool edge to her. It doesn't completely gel. Chris Messina and Stanley Tucci play Julie & Julia's respective husbands, and are just great. Messina is shaping up to be one of the most reliable Everyman actors working, and Tucci...holy crap, Tucci. Tucci and Streep have a chemistry that practically demands remakes of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Thin Man, and (if this was twenty years ago) It Happened One Night. Now, these two gel, and their husband-and-wife routine is so natural, you'd think they were married off-screen. Jane Lynch, Joan Juliet Buck and Linda Emond also offer magnetic supporting roles as Julia's sister, teacher, and co-author.
The food is scrumptious to stare at, particularly the sole meuniere that opens the film. Costumes are beautiful, so that's always a treat. Alexandre Desplat's score is whimsical and delightfully simple, with the standard "Time After Time" (not Cyndi Lauper, alas) as a key theme used throughout. I guess the same can be said for the most of the film -- it's fun and sweet, but it's never TOO lit, TOO written, TOO art directed. Everything plays naturally and realistically, and coming from the director of Bewitched (the cinematic equivalent of water-boarding), it's a huge relief.
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
Suspenseful, funny, touching. Quentin Tarantino never ceases to surprise me. An ensemble flick centered around the theme of revenge and the effects of the Second World War, Tarantino offers neither blessing or damnation on the actions of the sadistic Basterds, a group of Americans hell-bent on revenge against the Nazis. It's interesting, since they do not distinguish between the officers who give out the orders and the grunts who merely fight a war for their country. I do not find this to be a negative, mind you. Rather, I see it as another layer to a surprisingly complex film. Everyone assumes they are the only ones capable of bringing order and balance to the world -- the Basterds through the systematic extermination of Nazis, Colonel Hans Landa (holy crap Christoph F'n Waltz) through the systematic extermination of "inferior" races, Jewish refugee Shoshana (Melanie Laurent) through a fortunate opportunity for revenge. A particular dinner scene underlines this intriguingly, with two opposing forces finding themselves dining with their prey. Incredible.
And it's all served up with Tarantino's usual talkiness, references to old films, and unrelenting violence. What, you thought you were going to be spared the horrors of a scalping? Fuhgeddaboutit. Mind, when one of my friends pointed out that a number of plot points and scenes were lifted almost verbatim from the Kill Bill films, I was a little disappointed, but Woody Allen's been ripping himself off for decades, and he's my favorite writer. I can forgive Tarantino, especially for the intriguing new interpretations he gives to some of these details. No, if we are to talk about a problem with his writing, it's the constant talking. I left for seven minutes (I was holding it for an hour and a half, for God's sake!) and missed nothing. Nothing. Three people were in a room, I left, I came back, they were still there. Hey, Sally Menke, you're the editor...EDIT.
Standouts in the cast include: Christoph Waltz as Col. Landa, aka The Jew Hunter; Melanie Laurent as Shoshana Dreyfuss; Diane Kruger as German actress/spy Bridget Von Hammersmark; Eli Roth as Sgt. Donny Donowitz, whose eyes tell it all; and Michael Fassbender as British spy Lt. Archie Hicox, who is very British.
ADAM
Oh, heavens. What to say about Adam, the tale of a young man with Asperger's who falls in love with his neighbor? Well, Hugh Dancy gives a pretty good performance in the title role, and Rose Byrne isn't terrible when she's acting without words. Amy Irving and Frankie Faison are pretty good. Overall, though, the movie is pretty awful. It doesn't want to be a rom-com with Asperger's as a device. Grand. But the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and surely there is nothing more agonizing this year than watching Adam.
Peter Gallagher's performance is a step above community theater. Adam is frequently lit like a serial killer stalking his prey, which is just unsettling. The songs are irritatingly on the nose, describing the action of the story in a clunky, literal way. How did they actually find songs to match exactly what everyone in the audience should be thinking and feeling? It's almost a coup! God, and some of the lines are horrendous. Just horrendous. "Loving, my precious girl, is what matters most." And holy crapping crap, they can't even get the lead female's name right. Gallagher calls her Bethany, loudly and clearly, in one scene; later, it is revealed her name is Elizabeth. WHICH IS IT, MOVIE? Writer-director Max Mayer has just joined The List -- the list of people to take by the shoulders and shake violently.
DISTRICT 9
Interesting, intelligent sci-fi centering around the attempted relocation of prawn-like extraterrestrials in South Africa and the effects thereof. I think it only takes place over the course of three days (I think), and the pacing on this thing is impeccable. Yes, it is edge of your seat excitement at its best. It's best to go into the film with as little knowledge as possible. Certainly, I went in almost blind and wound up falling for it. I just want to point out three things: (1) Sharlto Copley gives a fantastic performance, (2) the visual effects are outstanding, far more convincing than VFX on more expensive productions, and (3) director/co-writer Neill Blomkamp has proven himself a force to be reckoned with.
JULIA
An interesting piece starring Hollmann Award nominee Tilda Swinton (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). She's an alcoholic who kidnaps a boy at the urging of his delusional mother. Julia hopes to benefit financially from this, but her lack of skills in this department, plus her need to drink, drink, drink, take the film down various roads that eventually lead to Mexico. Through it all, Swinton is sublime, with a perfect American accent, and an understanding of the ego and folly that is the drunk. It's a top-notch performance in a bizarre little film.
Some of the twists and turns of the screenplay seem to serve mainly as a way to keep the movie going for another ten or fifteen minutes, instead of progressing with a natural fluidity. I found myself questioning the why and the wherefore of many scenes, including the abrupt and ambiguous ending. Worth watching for Swinton (what isn't?), but an overall meh film.
JULIE & JULIA
Oh man, if only this was a follow-up to the above flick... By now you've read how kick-ass Meryl Streep's channeling of kitchen guru Julia Child is. You won't be reading otherwise here. She's funny and endearing, yet there is unexpected depth in her turn here. Yeah, it's La Streep, but last year was kind of a two-punch of insanity and scenery-chewing. Here, we get a real person -- though she does seem bored during the television segments. Julia was a heavy breather and took her time, but she also had an exhilarating joie de vivre that reached out to the viewers at home. It's the only misstep in a brilliant performance.
Ah, yes, but there is more to the film than La Streep. Amy Adams does a fine job as Julie Powell, a present-day blogger who cooks her way through Julia's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It's not an easy character, to be sure: while the real Powell is full of snark and bitchery, writer-director Nora Ephron tries to make her...you know...nice, but still with a cool edge to her. It doesn't completely gel. Chris Messina and Stanley Tucci play Julie & Julia's respective husbands, and are just great. Messina is shaping up to be one of the most reliable Everyman actors working, and Tucci...holy crap, Tucci. Tucci and Streep have a chemistry that practically demands remakes of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Thin Man, and (if this was twenty years ago) It Happened One Night. Now, these two gel, and their husband-and-wife routine is so natural, you'd think they were married off-screen. Jane Lynch, Joan Juliet Buck and Linda Emond also offer magnetic supporting roles as Julia's sister, teacher, and co-author.
The food is scrumptious to stare at, particularly the sole meuniere that opens the film. Costumes are beautiful, so that's always a treat. Alexandre Desplat's score is whimsical and delightfully simple, with the standard "Time After Time" (not Cyndi Lauper, alas) as a key theme used throughout. I guess the same can be said for the most of the film -- it's fun and sweet, but it's never TOO lit, TOO written, TOO art directed. Everything plays naturally and realistically, and coming from the director of Bewitched (the cinematic equivalent of water-boarding), it's a huge relief.
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
Suspenseful, funny, touching. Quentin Tarantino never ceases to surprise me. An ensemble flick centered around the theme of revenge and the effects of the Second World War, Tarantino offers neither blessing or damnation on the actions of the sadistic Basterds, a group of Americans hell-bent on revenge against the Nazis. It's interesting, since they do not distinguish between the officers who give out the orders and the grunts who merely fight a war for their country. I do not find this to be a negative, mind you. Rather, I see it as another layer to a surprisingly complex film. Everyone assumes they are the only ones capable of bringing order and balance to the world -- the Basterds through the systematic extermination of Nazis, Colonel Hans Landa (holy crap Christoph F'n Waltz) through the systematic extermination of "inferior" races, Jewish refugee Shoshana (Melanie Laurent) through a fortunate opportunity for revenge. A particular dinner scene underlines this intriguingly, with two opposing forces finding themselves dining with their prey. Incredible.
And it's all served up with Tarantino's usual talkiness, references to old films, and unrelenting violence. What, you thought you were going to be spared the horrors of a scalping? Fuhgeddaboutit. Mind, when one of my friends pointed out that a number of plot points and scenes were lifted almost verbatim from the Kill Bill films, I was a little disappointed, but Woody Allen's been ripping himself off for decades, and he's my favorite writer. I can forgive Tarantino, especially for the intriguing new interpretations he gives to some of these details. No, if we are to talk about a problem with his writing, it's the constant talking. I left for seven minutes (I was holding it for an hour and a half, for God's sake!) and missed nothing. Nothing. Three people were in a room, I left, I came back, they were still there. Hey, Sally Menke, you're the editor...EDIT.
Standouts in the cast include: Christoph Waltz as Col. Landa, aka The Jew Hunter; Melanie Laurent as Shoshana Dreyfuss; Diane Kruger as German actress/spy Bridget Von Hammersmark; Eli Roth as Sgt. Donny Donowitz, whose eyes tell it all; and Michael Fassbender as British spy Lt. Archie Hicox, who is very British.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)