Okay okay. Every one's doing this, but I am at an entirely different viewpoint than others. This is the second year of the new century that the Academy has opened the window of Best Motion Picture to 10 films and most of them are films that should well be recognized. Unfortunately, as I write this, I've only seen 8 of the nominated 10 Best Pictures (127 Hours and The King's Speech are the remainders) so I cannot fully disclose my opinion without having seen the films firsthand.
As far as Best Picture is concerned, most of the films nominated justified their buzz. Yet I'm amazed and appalled about Winter's Bone snagging a nom. I guess there has to be a rotten egg in the bunch every year. Last year, it was An Education . This year, Winter's Bone . My vote would have been The Town .
I haven't seen Blue Valentine yet, but there are several who think that Ryan Gosling was gypped out of a second nomination in the Best Actor category. I get a little frustrated each year when a foreign film manages to sneak in an acting nomination. I am talking of Javier Bardem's nomination for Biutiful. It is not that I dislike Bardem (I thought he was the only good part of No Country For Old Men), but with all of the great acting the American films this year, Bardem must've done a damn good job to get his nomination.
Most of the Best Actress nominations were deserved, but I'm confused as to why Hailee Steinfeld from True Grit is not nominated in this category but Supporting Actress? Her character was in every scene of that film. Perhaps the Academy thought that a nomination in Best Actress might have upstaged Jeff Bridges for his nomination in the Best Actor category.
Christian Bale is a lock for The Fighter and if he loses it better not go to John Hawkes for Winter's Bone.
For the Best Supporting Actress category, some might say that Mila Kunis was robbed of a nomination for her performance in Black Swan, but the focus was on Natalie Portman, so Mila Kunis didn't have a lot to give. Melissa Leo is a lock for picking up the award for The Fighter. Animal Kingdom's Jackie Weaver is another example of a foreign film (it's Australian) grabbing a nomination for one of its actors.
I predicted that Christopher Nolan would not get nominated for a directing award for Inception though I'm glad it was recognized for several behind-the-camera awards. It may not come close in votes for winning the award for Best Original Screenplay (my vote is for The King's Speech, even though I haven't seen it. The race for Best Director is between David Fincher for The Social Network and Tom Hooper for The King's Speech though, again, I haven't seen it.
Aaron Sorkin is a lock to win Best Adapted Screenplay for The Social Network and if he loses it better go to Toy Story 3.
As far as the minor awards go, the biggest snub has to go to Daft Punk for not getting nominated for their awesome electric score for Tron: Legacy. Come on, Academy, you just nominated the lead singer for Nine Inch Nails, you couldn't nominate an electronica band in the same category?
Best Make-Up every year is a joke, with the three nominees getting the only nominations in this category for their films.
French animated film The Illusionist managed to beat out great American-made animated films like Tangled and Despicable Me. But it seems to happen every year with at least one foreign film being added to the ever-so-small Best Animated Feature category. Toy Story 3 is a lock.
Enjoy the movies everyone!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Season of the Witch
I used to enjoy looking forward Nic Cage films. In fact, two of my many favorite action films are The Rock and Face/Off. Recently, though, Nicolas Cage has been making a decline from big blockbuster budgets to thrown together reels of bad editing and acting. Season of the Witch is no exception to the string of low-budget wanna-be action flicks starring Nic Cage.
From the beginning, the film tries attempts to set the tone of the film: dark, dirty, and ready to deal with the devil, yet it is the only scene in which this is portrayed. Not even the climax can best the opening scene where townspeople toss women over the bridge for being witches.
In the years that follow, two crusading soldiers, Behman (Cage) and Felson (Ron Perlman) battle through several locales doing it all apparently in God's name. When Behman stabs an innocent woman in a town they've just overtaken, Behman finally realizes that all the killing he's done in the past is not something that God would want. Behman deserts the troop and Felson, being a good friend, follows him on a month long journey to nowhere in particular. They encounter a town to stock up on ratons but Behman's sword, which has a crest on the hilt that could give them away, gives them away. Instead of sending them to a dark dungeon, the Cardinal of the town (a hilarious cameo by Christopher Lee) asks them to transport a woman who is suspected of being a witch to a monastery where the Monks can exhume the demon spirit from her body, because, as a witch, she is suspected of bringing on the horrible Plague through the land.
Despite the somewhat strong MacGuffin of a plot line, the film is riddled with plot holes. The script stumbled out of the gate from the get-go. It's as if it was submitted in its first draft and never edited. There are so many plot holes in the story it seems as if the script was never even read to try and fill any gaps. Cage can't seem to catch a break with the material he's given, because every line he speaks seems as if he just read it right off the page with no adaptation to his character. It also doesn't help that a character is hired to guide them around the deadly forest between the towns they travel, but somehow find themselves in the middle of the forest they fought so hard to avoid in the first place.
Season of the Witch is a predictable journey with little thrills. Its attempts in enticing action throughout the story are futile because Behman, Felson, and the characters that follow them are not real heroes. They bob along the plot because that's where they need to go. There is no real goal for these two protagonists and that's why there is no need to care about them as they go on their journey. F
From the beginning, the film tries attempts to set the tone of the film: dark, dirty, and ready to deal with the devil, yet it is the only scene in which this is portrayed. Not even the climax can best the opening scene where townspeople toss women over the bridge for being witches.
In the years that follow, two crusading soldiers, Behman (Cage) and Felson (Ron Perlman) battle through several locales doing it all apparently in God's name. When Behman stabs an innocent woman in a town they've just overtaken, Behman finally realizes that all the killing he's done in the past is not something that God would want. Behman deserts the troop and Felson, being a good friend, follows him on a month long journey to nowhere in particular. They encounter a town to stock up on ratons but Behman's sword, which has a crest on the hilt that could give them away, gives them away. Instead of sending them to a dark dungeon, the Cardinal of the town (a hilarious cameo by Christopher Lee) asks them to transport a woman who is suspected of being a witch to a monastery where the Monks can exhume the demon spirit from her body, because, as a witch, she is suspected of bringing on the horrible Plague through the land.
Despite the somewhat strong MacGuffin of a plot line, the film is riddled with plot holes. The script stumbled out of the gate from the get-go. It's as if it was submitted in its first draft and never edited. There are so many plot holes in the story it seems as if the script was never even read to try and fill any gaps. Cage can't seem to catch a break with the material he's given, because every line he speaks seems as if he just read it right off the page with no adaptation to his character. It also doesn't help that a character is hired to guide them around the deadly forest between the towns they travel, but somehow find themselves in the middle of the forest they fought so hard to avoid in the first place.
Season of the Witch is a predictable journey with little thrills. Its attempts in enticing action throughout the story are futile because Behman, Felson, and the characters that follow them are not real heroes. They bob along the plot because that's where they need to go. There is no real goal for these two protagonists and that's why there is no need to care about them as they go on their journey. F
Monday, January 10, 2011
Resolutions
It's been eight months since I last posted to this blog and if you're a die-hard follower, I hope you haven't been holding your breath for my next post.
As it's January of the new year, which caught most of us off-guard by its quick approach, it's time to make some resolutions film-style. My first resolution is to watch every single stinkin' movie that gets released at the chain of theaters where I work. And yes, that even includes the god-awful fifth installment of the Fast and the Furious franchise. I'm hoping that this will break my 2005 record of number of films seen on the Big Screen. And I believe that number to be 112.
My second resolution is to not pre-judge films before I see them, so, for now, I take back everything I said about Fast Five in the previous paragraph. At least until June.
My third resolution is to continue my epic task of watching every Best Picture Oscar winner and nominee (except for 1927's The Patriot, which cannot be found on film or other medium anywhere. Betcha didn't know that, did you?)
Personally, I'm in a state of transition from my current job of theater manager to one of more career-going status, which, ironically enough, will allow me more time to enjoy the movies. In case you're wondering, working at a theater is not quite the career-going field. It's also difficult to spend my precious leisure time at a place where I work, especially when it's close to being the only thing in town that's open past 10pm.
As I write this, I have achieved exactly zero percent of these resolutions as I have already mocked Season of the Witch for being at 1% on the Tomatometer at Rotten Tomatoes. Sigh. What have I gotten myself into?
As it's January of the new year, which caught most of us off-guard by its quick approach, it's time to make some resolutions film-style. My first resolution is to watch every single stinkin' movie that gets released at the chain of theaters where I work. And yes, that even includes the god-awful fifth installment of the Fast and the Furious franchise. I'm hoping that this will break my 2005 record of number of films seen on the Big Screen. And I believe that number to be 112.
My second resolution is to not pre-judge films before I see them, so, for now, I take back everything I said about Fast Five in the previous paragraph. At least until June.
My third resolution is to continue my epic task of watching every Best Picture Oscar winner and nominee (except for 1927's The Patriot, which cannot be found on film or other medium anywhere. Betcha didn't know that, did you?)
Personally, I'm in a state of transition from my current job of theater manager to one of more career-going status, which, ironically enough, will allow me more time to enjoy the movies. In case you're wondering, working at a theater is not quite the career-going field. It's also difficult to spend my precious leisure time at a place where I work, especially when it's close to being the only thing in town that's open past 10pm.
As I write this, I have achieved exactly zero percent of these resolutions as I have already mocked Season of the Witch for being at 1% on the Tomatometer at Rotten Tomatoes. Sigh. What have I gotten myself into?
Saturday, April 3, 2010
...More Than I Could Chew
Okay, okay, so I didn't complete the task I set out to do last month. I didn't think March would be so full of other things I had to do, but fear not, faithful blog followers, the Bond Marathon will continue into next month. Luckily, I'm halfway through (with The Spy Who Loved Me and For Eyes Your Only reviews to follow) so watching 12 films in 30 days is a feat I know I can achieve. What really frustrates me is that I am so focused on finishing this project that I haven't written a 2010 film review since February. I have not forsaken you; I will get back on track as quick as I can. In the mean time: enjoy the movies!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Day 22: The Man with the Golden Gun
As far as sophomore performances go for Bond actors, the franchise is 2-for-2. What separates The Man with the Golden Gun from other Bond films is that Scaramanga is somewhat the opposite of Bond, a doppelganger if you will. Christopher Lee is so delightfully evil that he is, in fact, one of my favorite villains in the Bond franchise. He kills because he can and he’s damn good at it too. So good that he requires only one bullet to kill his target. It might also be because gold bullets are horribly expensive and even a one million dollar payout per kill might not cover ammunition expenses. He lures others to his island to engage them in a game of cat-and-mouse in a funhouse Scaramanga has designed underneath his luxurious island. He also has a wax statue of Bond himself in a room, most likely there to keep Scaramanga looking toward the future when he can finally kill his Bond.
Scaramanga has been labeled the evil side of Bond, being able to slither and slink through big cities without being noticed, killing for pleasure and money, not for queen and country. Not only that, but he is like other Bond villains, using his power to obtain an object that will help with their journey to world domination. Though this film was made with an environmental theme, the film does not date itself, but instead uses it as a plot device for another Bond mission.
MI6 is sent a golden bullet with Bond’s number engraved on it and they are misled to believe that Scaramanga has sent it to intimidate Bond. The person truly behind the message is actually Andrea Anders, Scaramanga’s woman, who is tired of the restricted, yet lavish life she has. She wants Bond to defeat Scaramanga and free her from her life. What sets the film apart from others in the usual Bond formula is that Andrea could be considered the true Bond girl instead of Mary Goodnight, a young agent who has no reason to be in the film other than to guide Bond to Scaramanga’s island from the back seat of his trunk. Andrea’s actions throughout the film are important to the story rather than Goodnight running around Scaramanga’s island in a bikini (Diamonds Are Forever all over again!)
Golden Gun also tried to build on Moore’s success by including extra characters from previous films. As Bond is escaping Hai Fat’s henchmen on a motorboat through the waterways of Thailand, we are reunited with Sheriff JW Pepper from Live and Let Die. I’m not sure why a Louisiana sheriff is vacationing in Thailand, but he is still as irritating as ever and Bond knows it. Pepper is sitting in a vehicle in a car dealership (thinking about buying a car while on vacation?) when Bond jumps in aiming to follow Scaramanga to his hideout. On their pursuit, Bond attempts a stunt in order to make up for lost time. The stunt, if you’re not familiar with it, is one of more well-known in the series. It has Bond doing a 360˚ horizontal spin across a canal assisted by ramps built to get the car over the water. It’s a hilarious stunt, but it’s real. One that has since been unequaled in cinema to my knowledge.
Because Golden Gun hadn’t yet fully fallen to the tongue-in-cheek humor later Bond films would possess, it makes this mission an enjoyable one. B
Scaramanga has been labeled the evil side of Bond, being able to slither and slink through big cities without being noticed, killing for pleasure and money, not for queen and country. Not only that, but he is like other Bond villains, using his power to obtain an object that will help with their journey to world domination. Though this film was made with an environmental theme, the film does not date itself, but instead uses it as a plot device for another Bond mission.
MI6 is sent a golden bullet with Bond’s number engraved on it and they are misled to believe that Scaramanga has sent it to intimidate Bond. The person truly behind the message is actually Andrea Anders, Scaramanga’s woman, who is tired of the restricted, yet lavish life she has. She wants Bond to defeat Scaramanga and free her from her life. What sets the film apart from others in the usual Bond formula is that Andrea could be considered the true Bond girl instead of Mary Goodnight, a young agent who has no reason to be in the film other than to guide Bond to Scaramanga’s island from the back seat of his trunk. Andrea’s actions throughout the film are important to the story rather than Goodnight running around Scaramanga’s island in a bikini (Diamonds Are Forever all over again!)
Golden Gun also tried to build on Moore’s success by including extra characters from previous films. As Bond is escaping Hai Fat’s henchmen on a motorboat through the waterways of Thailand, we are reunited with Sheriff JW Pepper from Live and Let Die. I’m not sure why a Louisiana sheriff is vacationing in Thailand, but he is still as irritating as ever and Bond knows it. Pepper is sitting in a vehicle in a car dealership (thinking about buying a car while on vacation?) when Bond jumps in aiming to follow Scaramanga to his hideout. On their pursuit, Bond attempts a stunt in order to make up for lost time. The stunt, if you’re not familiar with it, is one of more well-known in the series. It has Bond doing a 360˚ horizontal spin across a canal assisted by ramps built to get the car over the water. It’s a hilarious stunt, but it’s real. One that has since been unequaled in cinema to my knowledge.
Because Golden Gun hadn’t yet fully fallen to the tongue-in-cheek humor later Bond films would possess, it makes this mission an enjoyable one. B
Friday, March 19, 2010
Day 17: Live and Let Die
If I plan this out correctly, I can still finish this Bond film commitment, though I may have to do some double features over the course of a few days. That aside, I am still cranking through these Bond films and enjoying them all over again as I watch the development of this wonderful franchise.
As I enter the Roger Moore era of Bond, I felt a sense of comfort as Moore was the Bond I grew up on and when I say that, I realize I wasn't born in the 70s, but it happened to be the era that my mom most enjoyed and as such she placed me on a serious diet of Moore/Bond adventures and these were the films that I remember so much as a kid.
Roger Moore's first scene as Bond happens to be in bed with a woman (surprise), an interesting way to introduce a new Bond. Perhaps producer and writer alike wanted to segue easily without pulling a technique they used with Lazenby in OHMSS. This is also the second time we get to see Bond in his home, a very different one from the penthouse we saw in Dr. No. Yet it is still an invitation to see a little glimpse of the personal side of a man whom we are used to seeing saving the world over and over again. Bond does have a place he calls home even though he is having to travel the world to exotic locations. He even has a coffee pot.
As soon as Bond lands in New York, action occurs right away. His driver is killed by a poisoned dart and Bond is forced to drive the car from the back seat. Bond hijacks a double-decker bus and cleverly disposes his pursuers. He also engages in the longest boat chase I can remember.
Live and Let Die also has one of the most beautiful women in the series: Jame Seymour's Solitaire. This was her first film role and being 22 at the time the film was released, you could tell she would be a bombshell as she got older. In fact, Jane is still one of the classiest women in Hollywood today. Rosie Carver, considered a Bond girl though she turns out to be a spy working for Kananga, does not come close to the sexual appeal of Seymour. In fact, Carver's character becomes so annoying, it's no surprising Kananga kills her less than an hour in.
Live and Let Die was practically a 180-degree from Diamonds Are Forever. Live dealt with voodoo, an already dangerous, taboo subject. It dealt with interracial relationships and pushed the envelope with how dark a film Bond could be. In fact, I know off-hand that this is the only Bond film to deal with the dark arts. The topic is able to write its own intensity because conjuring up demons and magic potions through interpretive dance is already creepy enough. B+
As I enter the Roger Moore era of Bond, I felt a sense of comfort as Moore was the Bond I grew up on and when I say that, I realize I wasn't born in the 70s, but it happened to be the era that my mom most enjoyed and as such she placed me on a serious diet of Moore/Bond adventures and these were the films that I remember so much as a kid.
Roger Moore's first scene as Bond happens to be in bed with a woman (surprise), an interesting way to introduce a new Bond. Perhaps producer and writer alike wanted to segue easily without pulling a technique they used with Lazenby in OHMSS. This is also the second time we get to see Bond in his home, a very different one from the penthouse we saw in Dr. No. Yet it is still an invitation to see a little glimpse of the personal side of a man whom we are used to seeing saving the world over and over again. Bond does have a place he calls home even though he is having to travel the world to exotic locations. He even has a coffee pot.
As soon as Bond lands in New York, action occurs right away. His driver is killed by a poisoned dart and Bond is forced to drive the car from the back seat. Bond hijacks a double-decker bus and cleverly disposes his pursuers. He also engages in the longest boat chase I can remember.
Live and Let Die also has one of the most beautiful women in the series: Jame Seymour's Solitaire. This was her first film role and being 22 at the time the film was released, you could tell she would be a bombshell as she got older. In fact, Jane is still one of the classiest women in Hollywood today. Rosie Carver, considered a Bond girl though she turns out to be a spy working for Kananga, does not come close to the sexual appeal of Seymour. In fact, Carver's character becomes so annoying, it's no surprising Kananga kills her less than an hour in.
Live and Let Die was practically a 180-degree from Diamonds Are Forever. Live dealt with voodoo, an already dangerous, taboo subject. It dealt with interracial relationships and pushed the envelope with how dark a film Bond could be. In fact, I know off-hand that this is the only Bond film to deal with the dark arts. The topic is able to write its own intensity because conjuring up demons and magic potions through interpretive dance is already creepy enough. B+
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Day 16: Diamonds Are Forever
The first Bond film of the 1970s and Sean Connery returns as James Bond. Seems like a pretty awesome formula for a Bond film. Unfortunately, it is a recipe for disaster. Connery has aged plenty since his debut as Bond nine years ago. The lines in his face and his overall aging separate him from the sexually appealing man he was in 1962. True, he can still keep up with the physical and sexual demands Bond must have, but Diamonds never took itself seriously. Diamonds are, of course, a wonderful plot device for any spy/government thriller. However, what the diamonds will be used for reaches over the top for any villain's plan thus far. It also tries too hard to throw the audience off when the first scene has Bond threatening every source as to Blofeld's whereabouts. So when Bond drowns Blofeld in a mud pit, we're supposed to cheer and rejoice that Bond's nemesis has finally died, even after we've seen in two previous films that Blofeld doesn't go down so easily.
Bond is at peace with Blofeld's apparent death when MI6 has learns that diamonds are being smuggled out of South Africa to an unknown buyer. A buyer that Bond must track down by way of posing as a smuggler himself. A buyer that Bond will find out is Blofeld (gasp!) posing as hotel millionaire Williard Whyte (none other than sausage king Jimmy Dean) so Blofeld can use the diamonds in a satellite to destroy nuclear missiles. I should also point out that Blofeld's cat seems to get more screen time than Blofeld himself.
Tiffany Case, who is also a smuggler, and one that Bond must meet to learn who the next link in the chain is, gives an initial impression as a smart criminal. She dusts very discreetly for fingerprints to see if Bond is who he says he is (even though Bond is posing as real smuggler Peter Franks) and she understands the dangerous risks she is taking as a smuggler. Yet for some reason, she becomes sluggish and dull as the movie progresses. Her smarts have suddenly turned into naive supports, especially during the assault on Blofeld's oil rig when she is dumbed down and has to run around the base in a bikini completely helpless.
Diamonds also has its periods of implausibility, like its predecessors, yet more noticeable. Bond is somehow able to sneak into the back of a van at a gas station while there is a car idling behind the van. How Bond did this without the driver of the car behind him ever knowing will always be a mystery. Perhaps the driver was so busy screaming at Tiffany to move her own car that he didn't notice the 6-foot man open and close the van door. Diamonds also uses the most cursing ever found in a Bond film thus far. Bond calls Tiffany a colorful word, though it's for red herring purposes and Shady Tree, another smuggler, wants to know where his diamonds are, while using a nice 7-letter word that doesn't use the letter 'f'.
Even though Diamonds has its Bond-necessary implements, it gave off a negative aura because of its corniness. Bond's record is private knowledge, I'm sure, but Tiffany Case knows exactly who he is after she finds Bond's passport planted on a body ("You just killed James Bond!"); Blofeld is surgically changing his face and blowing up nuclear weapons from space with a diamond; and the semi-homosexual tendencies of Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd are something to be concerned about. D+
Bond is at peace with Blofeld's apparent death when MI6 has learns that diamonds are being smuggled out of South Africa to an unknown buyer. A buyer that Bond must track down by way of posing as a smuggler himself. A buyer that Bond will find out is Blofeld (gasp!) posing as hotel millionaire Williard Whyte (none other than sausage king Jimmy Dean) so Blofeld can use the diamonds in a satellite to destroy nuclear missiles. I should also point out that Blofeld's cat seems to get more screen time than Blofeld himself.
Tiffany Case, who is also a smuggler, and one that Bond must meet to learn who the next link in the chain is, gives an initial impression as a smart criminal. She dusts very discreetly for fingerprints to see if Bond is who he says he is (even though Bond is posing as real smuggler Peter Franks) and she understands the dangerous risks she is taking as a smuggler. Yet for some reason, she becomes sluggish and dull as the movie progresses. Her smarts have suddenly turned into naive supports, especially during the assault on Blofeld's oil rig when she is dumbed down and has to run around the base in a bikini completely helpless.
Diamonds also has its periods of implausibility, like its predecessors, yet more noticeable. Bond is somehow able to sneak into the back of a van at a gas station while there is a car idling behind the van. How Bond did this without the driver of the car behind him ever knowing will always be a mystery. Perhaps the driver was so busy screaming at Tiffany to move her own car that he didn't notice the 6-foot man open and close the van door. Diamonds also uses the most cursing ever found in a Bond film thus far. Bond calls Tiffany a colorful word, though it's for red herring purposes and Shady Tree, another smuggler, wants to know where his diamonds are, while using a nice 7-letter word that doesn't use the letter 'f'.
Even though Diamonds has its Bond-necessary implements, it gave off a negative aura because of its corniness. Bond's record is private knowledge, I'm sure, but Tiffany Case knows exactly who he is after she finds Bond's passport planted on a body ("You just killed James Bond!"); Blofeld is surgically changing his face and blowing up nuclear weapons from space with a diamond; and the semi-homosexual tendencies of Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd are something to be concerned about. D+
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