It seems to me like eveyone has been kind of thrown off by the ten best picture nominations this year. The buzz seems to be less pronounced so far. But I have a few observations.
Only two summer films are serious contenders for a picture nomination. This summer it seemed like several films got mentioned. But some were just silly. Star Trek? Come on. Harry Potter? No. Art house films? Anyone remember any of them?
But Up seems to be in the picture much as Wall-E last year. And had there been ten nominees last year, I think Wall-E would have been nominated. And The Hurt Locker seems to be just so well made that it has to at least get considered.
The two films that I think have gathered the buzz to clearly be in the race are Precious and Up in the Air. Clearly, the festival darling this year has been Precious. It does not matter what the film is about, when you win audience awards at both Sundance and Toronto, you are in the race. And Up in the Air is proven to most who have seen it that Juno was not a fluke for Jason Reitman. And Oscar voters would like to have their faith in Reitman verified.
In David Poland's list of the top contenders, he has the top four as Up in the Air, Up, Precious and An Education. I'm not seeing the fourth one yet. It might break out, but it hasn't yet. It lloks to me as possibly an art house film that the critics love but that doesn't get enough into the mainstream. The verdict should be in soon, as the film is already in release (in fact, I'm seeing it today).
It's too soon to truly judge on many of the December films. But I do think something is going to jump into the picture that is being overlooked right now. And that the overlooked film is NOT Alvin and the Chipmunks 2.
It also is odd to me that no frontrunner seems to be announced in the best actor race. In my mind, the only lock for that category is George Clooney for Up in the Air. But I don't think voters are ready to hand him a second acting Oscar, so a front runner is going to materialize that is hiding now.
I think the opposite is true in best actress. I think the frontrunner is an obvious one: Meryl Streep for Julie and Julia. Let's face it, she's due. Two actresses have won this category twice since she last won. It has now been more than 25 years! That's just not going to do for the best actress of her generation. Plus, she nailed the charisma and appeal of Julia Child while making it more than just an impersonation.
There way well not be much experience in the category this year. There is a serious chance of nominations for a combination of Abbie Cornish, Saoirse Ronan, Carey Milligan, and the lock nomination of Gabourney Sidibe. When the voters think over the experience of this field, Streep's excellence for over 3 decades will work in her favor.
One other note: there will be five animated feature nominees this year. I count Up, Coraline, The Princess and the Frog, and Ponyo. I have no read on what will be fifth on the list.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
No comment
My 10 year old son, the one who thinks Transformers 2 is the bestest movie ever, snookered his grandfather into renting GI Joe today. He excitedly brought it home, opened the case ... and there was no disc inside the case.
Write your own jokes, people.
Write your own jokes, people.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Staring at Goats
Is it possible to like a comedy which you don't laugh much at it? I've done it before. If the film remains intriguing and interesting, if the characters are absorbing, if I remain wanting to know what happens next, then yes, I can recommend it.
And that's precisely where I view The Men Who Stare At Goats. It's a film which is based on true events (though clearly some exaggerating has occurred) which belongs in the so strange its true category. I found the narration and the character of a reporter portrayed by Exan McGregor helped bring me into the film. The events are crazy, and sometime in the future I will probably watch the film and laugh repeatedly as it catches me right.
This was not that time, and I didn't laugh that much. But I was amused, and intrigued and I wanted to know more of the story. McGregor plays Bob Wilton, who after his wife leaves him head out to Kuwait looking to find a big story around the Iraq war. There he finds Lyn Cassady, who claims to be "supersoldier". Bob finds Lyn's story fascinating and joins him in exploring Iraq while learning the story of supersoldiers.
In flashback, we learn Lyn was one of the members of the First Earth Battalion. We learn how this came from research done by Bill Django (Jeff Bridges) based on his experiences in Vietnam who essentially incorporated new age ideas into trying to move the military into preserving peace rather than fighting war. So far so good.
But the way to bring about peace is to create superpowers through their minds, to find psychic powers, and apparently to incorporate the Jedi philosophy. This of course, gets ridiculous, and is where much of the humor of the film comes from. While I wasn't laughing as much as the filmmakers intended, I wanted to know more.
Of course, this being the military, politics does come into it, which is where Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey) comes in. He is looking for an angle, and the new age ideas of Django ultimately become something less idealistic. Eventually, because why have the framing story in Iraq if it doesn't, this back story is going to inform what ultimately happens in Iraq.
Director Grant Helov smartly doesn't show off any great visual flourishes. He understands the story is the star here, so he tells it as straight forward as possible. As the plot I just described begins to show, this is one goofy story. I cannot remember a movie with as crazy a story as this. So why get silly with it?
It's a great cast, and they play it sraight. Which is why the movie ultimately drew me in. If the film had spent the time winking at me, I would have checked out. But instead, I was drawn in because through all the silliness of the plot, I believed in the characters. When Django's idealism is betrayed, I wanted to know his ultimate result. I was always intrigued, I was already interested.
I just wished I would have laughed more.
Grade: B-
And that's precisely where I view The Men Who Stare At Goats. It's a film which is based on true events (though clearly some exaggerating has occurred) which belongs in the so strange its true category. I found the narration and the character of a reporter portrayed by Exan McGregor helped bring me into the film. The events are crazy, and sometime in the future I will probably watch the film and laugh repeatedly as it catches me right.
This was not that time, and I didn't laugh that much. But I was amused, and intrigued and I wanted to know more of the story. McGregor plays Bob Wilton, who after his wife leaves him head out to Kuwait looking to find a big story around the Iraq war. There he finds Lyn Cassady, who claims to be "supersoldier". Bob finds Lyn's story fascinating and joins him in exploring Iraq while learning the story of supersoldiers.
In flashback, we learn Lyn was one of the members of the First Earth Battalion. We learn how this came from research done by Bill Django (Jeff Bridges) based on his experiences in Vietnam who essentially incorporated new age ideas into trying to move the military into preserving peace rather than fighting war. So far so good.
But the way to bring about peace is to create superpowers through their minds, to find psychic powers, and apparently to incorporate the Jedi philosophy. This of course, gets ridiculous, and is where much of the humor of the film comes from. While I wasn't laughing as much as the filmmakers intended, I wanted to know more.
Of course, this being the military, politics does come into it, which is where Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey) comes in. He is looking for an angle, and the new age ideas of Django ultimately become something less idealistic. Eventually, because why have the framing story in Iraq if it doesn't, this back story is going to inform what ultimately happens in Iraq.
Director Grant Helov smartly doesn't show off any great visual flourishes. He understands the story is the star here, so he tells it as straight forward as possible. As the plot I just described begins to show, this is one goofy story. I cannot remember a movie with as crazy a story as this. So why get silly with it?
It's a great cast, and they play it sraight. Which is why the movie ultimately drew me in. If the film had spent the time winking at me, I would have checked out. But instead, I was drawn in because through all the silliness of the plot, I believed in the characters. When Django's idealism is betrayed, I wanted to know his ultimate result. I was always intrigued, I was already interested.
I just wished I would have laughed more.
Grade: B-
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Who am I and what am I doing?
So what is the plan with this blog? First, I want to get some practice writing, just because I want to write for the pleasure of it. In high school and college, I wrote for school papers. I wrote for a small paper here in Springfield. But I haven't written this decade. And I want to get that muscle working again.
The idea is to start watching more movies, especially classic older movies, and writing on what I watch. In the past month, I've watched mostly recent movies, and not written anything. I still hope to write on what I've watched recently. But I would like to mix it up a bit more.
In 2006, I put together three "need to see" lists of 1,000 films each, none of which I've seen. The films were from the period through the year 2000. For the years 2001-2007, I've added 100 films to the list. So now I have a list of 3700 films. And last month, I saw the 22nd film from the lists. I will never complete the task, but I sure would like to pick up the pace.
In addition, my other list is all the Disney films up to the year 2000, as I put no Disney films on the "need to see" list. I want to see how many of these films I can watch, most of which with my kids. They are the studio which most intrigues me.
I have more to write, but now I must leave to go stare at some men who stare at goats. Maybe I'll even write about it.
The idea is to start watching more movies, especially classic older movies, and writing on what I watch. In the past month, I've watched mostly recent movies, and not written anything. I still hope to write on what I've watched recently. But I would like to mix it up a bit more.
In 2006, I put together three "need to see" lists of 1,000 films each, none of which I've seen. The films were from the period through the year 2000. For the years 2001-2007, I've added 100 films to the list. So now I have a list of 3700 films. And last month, I saw the 22nd film from the lists. I will never complete the task, but I sure would like to pick up the pace.
In addition, my other list is all the Disney films up to the year 2000, as I put no Disney films on the "need to see" list. I want to see how many of these films I can watch, most of which with my kids. They are the studio which most intrigues me.
I have more to write, but now I must leave to go stare at some men who stare at goats. Maybe I'll even write about it.
One month later...
Well, that didn't work. One month without a post. So what happened?
1. I am just wrapping up a three week battle with bronchitis, which has wiped me out.
2. I am worn out because my birthday was last Thursday. (By the way, I was born on the same date as Sam Rockwell, so happy 41st birthday to him too.)
3. Most recent movies in theaters did not interest me.
4. I was too torn up from the St. Louis Cardinals being swept from the baseball playoffs.
5. I've gotten really good at a pinball game I have for my Playstation and have spent many hours playing.
...all of the above are true, yet none are the real reason I haven't posted. I haven't written much in the past ten years, and am trying to find my sea legs. And once I locked up trying to write the BEST REVIEW EVER of Where the Wild Things Are, I resorted to my old problem of: if I can't write it perfect, don't right it at all.
So now I try again.
1. I am just wrapping up a three week battle with bronchitis, which has wiped me out.
2. I am worn out because my birthday was last Thursday. (By the way, I was born on the same date as Sam Rockwell, so happy 41st birthday to him too.)
3. Most recent movies in theaters did not interest me.
4. I was too torn up from the St. Louis Cardinals being swept from the baseball playoffs.
5. I've gotten really good at a pinball game I have for my Playstation and have spent many hours playing.
...all of the above are true, yet none are the real reason I haven't posted. I haven't written much in the past ten years, and am trying to find my sea legs. And once I locked up trying to write the BEST REVIEW EVER of Where the Wild Things Are, I resorted to my old problem of: if I can't write it perfect, don't right it at all.
So now I try again.
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