The Reader: Very good, not great.

To say this film deserved the elusive Best Picture nomination, is incorrect. The Dark Knight was a better film in almost all respects. Alone, The Reader is a very good film. It's one of the few films I can truly describe as drama, alongside Atonement and The Pianist. The direction here by Stephen Daldry was also very good, and that anticipates me more for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

The story describes of a young boy, Michael. Coming home from school, he purges, but is assisted by Hanna. Diagnosed with Scarlet Fever, he remains sick for three months. To thank Hanna, he brings her flowers, and catches her in the act of dressing. Hanna later asks Michael to bring him two buckets of coal. He comes home a mess, and Hanna bathes him. It ends with them, both seduced, having sex.

Together they have an affair. After reading to her, Hanna demands Michael to read first, than make love. Suddenly, Hanna leaves. Nine years later, Michael is a law student and Hanna is on trial for Nazi war crimes. And, Michael discovers a dark secret about Hanna, one that was in his face during their entire affair.

To say the acting was OK is an understatement. Winslet delivered a very sexual, unique, and powerful performance, while Finnes had a lesser, more subdued role. I'm happy Winslet won the Oscar for this, but she deserved much more for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. My main problem was with the kid, David Kross. His performance was too forced during quiet scenes, and too loud during quiet scenes. Perhaps he wasn't experienced enough. But if I were to pick a quality in the film as a coherent whole, it would be the music. The piano music is high, mighty, and adds wonderful atmosphere. I am amazed how well this film would go with Atonement, another WWII drama. It's too bad composer Nico Muhly wasn't nominated for his work on this film.

One of my main problems was the clunky time shifting. Though the beginning felt smooth with Nico Muhly's music, scenes from Kross to Finnes and back again were rugged and slurred the plot together. The film could've been much better if the time shifting narrative was more seamless or if the sequences were chronological.

All in all, I give this film a solid recommendation, but it's not without it's flaws.


VERDICT: 3 Stars/4

The best films from 2000-2009: Happy belated end-of-decade!

I was unable to see J. Edgar over the weekend, due to Finals. Now I highly doubt I'll ever see it, due to The Descendants, The Muppets, Hugo, and The Artist all coming out within the next 2 weeks. Instead, I made a top 15 films from the past decade, because... I really don't know why...


1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. There Will Be Blood
3. Juno
4. The Hurt Locker
5. Up in the Air
6. The Departed
7. Million Dollar Baby
8. Lost in Translation
9. Up
10. Atonement
11. Avatar
12. Little Miss Sunshine
13. Borat
14. Slumdog Millionaire
15. Ratatouille 

Oscars 1977: What should've happened...

I love 2 movies that came out in 1977: Annie Hall and Star Wars. Even though I personally like Star Wars more, Annie Hall won and deserved it. It was funnier, wittier, and more Oscar friendly. What was great about Star Wars was that it won more total Oscars than Annie Hall. In the end, they were both winners! All in all, I am 100% happy on how Oscars 1977 turned out.

My updated predictions: I never really liked Dustin Lance Black.

In my post about J. Edgar's tomato-meter, I said that I would remove J. Edgar and put in Young Adult. I've also done some other changes. There's not too many, really. I plan to see J. Edgar over the weekend.

BEST PICTURE:
1. The Artist
2. The Descendants
3. War Horse
4. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
5. The Tree of Life
6. Moneyball
7. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
8. Young Adult

BEST DIRECTOR:
1. Alexander Payne (The Descendants)
2. Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life)
3. Steven Spielberg (War Horse)
4. Michel Hazanvicuis (The Artist)
5. Stephen Daldry (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close)

BEST ACTOR:
1. George Clooney (The Descendants)
2. Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
3. Leonardo DiCaprio (J. Edgar)
4. Brad Pitt (Moneyball)
5. Gary Oldman (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy)


BEST ACTRESS:
1. Viola Davis (The Help)
2. Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)
3. Charlize Theron (Young Adult)
4. Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
5. Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin)


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
1. Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
2. Brad Pitt (The Tree of Life)
3. Albert Brooks (Drive)
4. Jonah Hill (Moneyball)
5. Patton Oswalt (Young Adult)


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
1. Octavia Spencer (The Help)
2. Jessica Chastain (The Tree of Life)
3. Berenice Bejo (The Artist)
4. Shailene Woodley (The Descendants)
5. Sandra Bullock (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close)


BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
1. Midnight in Paris
2. The Artist
3. The Tree of Life
4. Young Adult
5. The Iron Lady


BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
1. The Descendants
2. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
3. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
4. Moneyball
5. War Horse

Oscars 2012: Eddie Murphy, Brett Ratner, and The Muppets.

Producing the Oscars...
a chance of a lifetime.

Was Brett Ratner the best choice? Recently, Oscar telecast producer Brett Ratner has stepped down. I bet he's been under stress, after claiming he's had sex with Olivia Munn, and claimed that "rehearsing is for fags". He might not have been the best director/producer (Tower Heist) ever, but against Eddie Murphy, he was the right choice. Oh well. Did I mention he had a homophobic slur that included the f*** word?


UPDATE: After pal Brett stepped down as producer, Eddie Murphy has stepped down as host. I've never been a big fan of the guy, but I don't have an opinion on it. But hey Letterman! They have a spot ready for you!


Brian Grazer has now been chosen as the new producer. Also, there was a brand new Twitter revolution. Who better to host the Oscars than The Muppets! I liked the idea quite a bit, but it might get old fast, I don't know how entertaing The Muppets could be for 3 and a half hours. Hey, but their movie looks good, right?


Billy Crystal is hosting. Again! For the bajillionth time! Yay....?

The fall of J. Edgar: Just like in real life!

It is Sunday. The best day in the whole year. Why? Extra hour of sleep from daylight savings!


But, My Oscar ballot had to let go of Clint Eastwood.


His new film, J. Edgar, currently holds a 44% on Rotten Tomatoes. Only 9 people have commented on the movie, and the tomato-meter can drastically change.


3 weeks ago, Anonymous, held a mighty 100%. Currently, it has a 45%. In the beginning, Winnie-the-Pooh had a 70%, but now has a derserving 91%. I hope the same happens for J. Edgar.


Now my Oscar ballot will include Reitman's Young Adult. The Tree of Life will also go up a notch on the indieWire prediction chart, so that will be good, too.


As for the AFI fest. So far, the true trash-to-treasure (not really trash in the first place,) is Martin Scorsese's Hugo. Current reviews praise the 3D effects and its ode to classic cinema. Keep track for my review on Hugo, J. Edgar, The Artist, and possibly The Descendants in the coming weeks.

Back to Backers: Best movies to watch, back to back

As a newer child concieved in a technological generation, I have seen many more 2000 movies than ones from the prior century. However, I still include films from the past on this list from that period. Here goes!

INDIE GOLD:

Film 1: Little Miss Sunshine
Film 2: Juno
You can always add: Punch-Drunk Love

IT'S NOT IMPRISONMENT, JUST GOOD FILMS:
Film 1: The Shawshank Redemption
Film 2: The Green Mile
You can always add: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

CHAPLIN:
Film 1: Modern Times
Film 2: The Great Dictator
You can always add: The Kid

SCORSESE, SET 1:
Film 1: Taxi Driver
Film 2: Raging Bull
You can always add: GoodFellas

SCORSESE, SET 2:
Film 1: GoodFellas
Film 2: The Departed
You can always add: Taxi Driver

90'S CRIME TIME:
Film 1: GoodFellas
Film 2: Pulp Fiction
You can always add: Fargo

BACK IN THE DAY-LEWIS:
Film 1: Gangs of New York
Film 2: There Will Be Blood
You can always add: The Age of Innocence

2007, A MOVIE ODYSSEY:
Film 1: No Country for Old Men
Film 2: There Will Be Blood
You can always add: Atonement

Johnny Tremain: Possibly the worst movie to land on the face of this blog.

Johnny Tremain is a cheap, lousy, and unforgettable. I say cheap because of phony looking sets. I say lousy for the deafening writing. I say unforgettable because it's that bad.

First off, I hardly cared for Johnny. He was such a goody-two shoes, with no interesting things about him. In the beginning, Johnny burns his hand. Even though he says he can't use it, he carries teabags, rides horses, holds guns, and makes near-perfect use of his hand.

Somewhere in the movie, there was a song about the Sons of Liberty. Pah! The song was forgettable and the character's mouths weren't even moving with the song! At least in a better movie called Magnolia, they sung along correctly.

All in all, I advise you not to see Johnny Tremain. There is lousy sets, cheap costumes, poor dialogue, and uninteresting characters.

VERDICT: .5 Stars/4

Scorsese, by Wu: My Favorite Directors

If I were asked my favorite director of all time, I would quickly respond with Martin Scorsese. 3 of his films (Raging Bull, Goodfellas, and Taxi Driver,) are in my top 10 favorite movies of all time. An additional title (The Departed) is in my top 20. I haven't seen any Bergman, but there's a few titles on my IMDb watchlist, which you can read here.

I find Scorsese a great director because he makes movies about the bad guys. If ya don't know what I'm talking about, think of Jake LaMotta, Travis Bickle, Henry Hill, and Tommy DeVito. Those are bad people, and 3 of them are real. But Scorsese puts heart in these characters, and makes want to watch them commit and be punished.

If I had to pick a 2nd, I might pick Allen(Woody) or Spielberg. I have yet to see much Coppola, and I am yearning to see The Godfather, Part II, Part III, and Apocalypse Now. The only Coppola I saw was The Outsiders, and I HATE that movie. So, Coppola, please redeem yourself.

My 84th Oscar Predictions: Might be nominated, but it's what I want to see.

If you read my awkward 9-Month review, I stated my passion for The Tree of Life, The Artist, and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Every Monday, I read indieWire for their awards column, which you can read here. Finally, I decided to make my own predictions. These probably aren't statistically correct, but this is what I want to see be nominated.

BEST PICTURE:
1. The Artist
2. The Descendants
3. War Horse
4. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
5. The Tree of Life
6. J. Edgar
7. Moneyball
8. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

BEST DIRECTOR:
1. Alexander Payne (The Descendants)
2. Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life)
3. Steven Spielberg (War Horse)
4. Michel Hazanvicuis (The Artist)
5. Stephen Daldry (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close)

BEST ACTOR:
1. George Clooney (The Descendants)
2. Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
3. Leonardo DiCaprio (J. Edgar)
4. Brad Pitt (Moneyball)
5. Gary Oldman (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy)

BEST ACTRESS:
1. Viola Davis (The Help)
2. Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)
3. Charlize Theron (Young Adult)
4. Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia)
5. Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
1. Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
2. Brad Pitt (The Tree of Life)
3. Albert Brooks (Drive)
4. Jonah Hill (Moneyball)
5. Alan Rickman (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
1. Octavia Spencer (The Help)
2. Jessica Chastain (The Tree of Life)
3. Berenice Bejo (The Artist)
4. Shailene Woodley (The Descendants)
5. Sandra Bullock (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
1. Midnight in Paris
2. The Artist
3. The Tree of Life
4. Young Adult
5. J. Edgar

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
1. The Descendants
2. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
3. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
4. Moneyball
5. War Horse

Ryan Gosling in The Ides of March and Drive: my opinion...

I just saw The Ides of March. As you may know, I saw Drive earlier this year. After seeing two Ryan Gosling films, I can really see what his emotions are. In Drive, he had a quiet walk. (Red would say "a walk and a talk that was different.") But in The Ides of March, he was cool and quiet, but he wasn't a pushover. See, in Drive, Gosling was quiet and as Driver says "kick your Teeth", but in this movie, he is one like "If you want to fight, do it verbally.".

Besides the point, I'm tired.

Drive (3/4 Stars)
The Ides of March (3.5 Stars/4)

Verdict: Go see Ides.

It doesn't have to be midnight: The best Parisian tour spots!

Gil might've not agreed. But, after 3 months back from Paris, here are my hot-spots:
1. Eiffel Tower (Duh)
2. Louvre
3. The McDonalds outside the Louvre. (Order the Royale with Cheese)

"Because of the Metric System, right?"

A top 23: Awkward number, eh?

I respect old stuff to the max? Gone with the Wind? A total classic! But, I'm someone who appreciates the films from the past 10-15 years. But... You're gonna see a lot of Scorsese on the list.

1. Raging Bull-1980-Martin Scorsese
2. Goodfellas-1990-Martin Scorsese
3. The Shawshank Redemption-1994-Frank Darabont
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind-2004-Michel Gondry
5. The Tree of Life-2011-Terence Malick
6. Breathless-1960-Jean-Luc Goddard
7. Taxi Driver-1976-Martin Scorsese
8. Modern Times-1936-Charlie Chaplin
9. There Will Be Blood-2007-P.T. Anderson
10. Do the Right Thing-1989-Spike Lee
11. Forrest Gump-1994-Robert Zemeckis
12. The Big Lebowski-1998-Joel and Ethan Coen
13. The Dark Knight-2008-Christopher Nolan
14. Raiders of the Lost Ark-1981-Steven Spielberg
15. Pulp Fiction-1994-Quentin Tarnatino
16. Juno-2007-Jason Reitman
17. Up in the Air-2009-Jason Reitman
18. The Departed-2006-Martin Scorsese
19. Star Wars-1977-George Lucas
20. Inception-2010-Christopher Nolan
21. The Empire Strikes Back-1980-Irvin Kershner
22. The Green Mile-1999-Frank Darabont
23. Million Dollar Baby-2004-Clint Eastwood

Criterion Cover Contest: My near-chance to getting 10 Criterions- for free!

Long long ago, on planet Earth...

I entered in a Criterion Cover Contest. You see, the Criterion Collection was hosting a contest to see who made the best DVD + Backdrop mix. I made a few entries, and one was a big hit.

One big problem: it was a photoshop! As a teen, I can't buy Criterions and blow my wad monthly on stuff like it! I had to make photoshops as entries. I thought Criterion would base finalists by number of likes, and if so... I had a shoo-in.

Instead, Criterion picked their favorites. :(

 Because I made such a portrait on Paint, I got 32 likes and a bit of hate. You can see the entry and the comments here:

If you even want to know what the Jesus Quintana Criterion is, click here:

Oscars 1994: What should've happened...

If you read a list of the best Best Picture winners in order, you probably would find Forrest Gump  near the bottom, just ahead of Chicago, Dances with Wolves, and Ordinary People. Lots of people say that either The Shawshank Redemption (my 3rd favorite movie. EVER.) and Pulp Fiction should've won.


What won:
Best Picture: Forrest Gump
Best Director: Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump)
Best Actor: Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump)
Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary (Pulp Fiction)

What really irked me was that The Shawshank Redemption didn't win anything. (After all, it wasn't that big of a hit when it came out.) Instead, I made a list of what should've won...

What Should've Won:
Best Picture: The Shawshank Redemption
Best Director: Frank Darabont* (The Shawshank Redemption)
Best Actor: Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump) OR Tim Robbins* (The Shawshank Redemption)
Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary (Pulp Fiction)

*Wasn't even nominated!!

A 9-Month Review of 2011: 10-16-11

Has 2011 been a good year? Yeah... for Razzie Pickings. I already have a list of nominees...
Worst Picture: 
Abduction
Other Nominees:
-Father of Invention
-Bucky Larson
-Season of the Witch
-Jack and Jill
Other Contenders:
-The Roommate
-Green Lantern
-Dream House


ANYWAYS...


Fortunately, I haven't seen any of the above. But what I did see has been rather friendly-
Source Code (3/4 Stars)
Kung Fu Panda 2 (3.5/4 Stars)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 (3.5 Stars/4)
The Tree of Life (4/4 Stars)
Rango (3/4 Stars)
Drive (3/4 Stars)
Midnight in Paris (3.5 Stars/4)

The Ides of March (3.5 Stars/4)

I really didn't see too many new releases, but more so a recap of the past 25 years. A few months ago, I saw Taxi Driver. Now it's my 7th favorite film ever. I also saw my #1 and #2's, which is Raging Bull and Goodfellas, respectively.

OSCAR TALK: I am big on Oscar talk. I am so psyched to see The Artist, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. (After all, I just finished the book the other day,). What has been greatly upsetting me is the rank on The Tree of Life. If you've been reading my total 3 posts, you probably know I am quite passionate about the film, and it's my favorite of the year so far. (Midnight in Paris takes a close 2nd.) On blogs like indieWIRE, the film's rank just keeps on falling down, and down, and down...

About The Help. People say it's going to get nominated, but I highly doubt it. Just because stay at home moms took their 7-year old daughters out to see it doesn't really mean that much. The thing is, the audience can't vote. Unfortunately. And I highly doubt 5% of people are going to put it at #1. But the cast CAN campaign. With the Academy, anything goes. (After all, Crash won in '05, AND The Blind Side was nominated in '09). Also, I haven't seen it yet. My theory has been chucked out the window.

That's why films like The Artist and The Tree of Life have the upper hand. Their innovative styles can promise some #1 spots. I'm also quite happy that Fox Searchlight will campaign The Tree of Life by giving Academy voters the Blu-ray. (Which I NEED!).

Midnight in Paris. Even though it is one of my favorite movies this year, I don't think it deserves a spot on the elusive Best Picture list. Instead, I would like to see it be nominated and possibly win Best Original Screenplay.

What's my opinion in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy? I would like to see it be nominated, but it has a much better chance of a Best Picture shoo-in at the BAFTA's. Which is a-OK by me.

On my seen this year list, I put down Drive. I was expecting a big Oscar hopeful, and I got it. Not really, but more so a little Oscar hopeful. I would like to see Gosling, Brooks, the sound, and the soundtrack nominated. Other then that, it doesn't have that much going for it. I really didn't care too much for the last half, and the female characters. (I'm not sexist, I just didn't think that they were really fleshed out. Especially Carey Mulligan's character. She was used more as an object between Driver and Standard's character. Same with Christina Hendrick's character. She had a 10-minute cameo and she died. Why did she get a higher billing then Ron Perlman and Albert Brooks? Who knows, but I really dug the pink font on the posters.)

The Tree of Life: More food for thought than Chicken Soup.

The Tree of Life is an odyssey. It's a low budget epic masterpiece. Maybe not low budget (32 Mil.), but epic masterpiece still fits. Brad Pitt delivers a great performance as a tough luck dad, and newcomer Chastain also delivers.

There are themes in the movie that make it feel like a religious Hallmark movie, (FIREPROOF) but it should feel like so. The movie is religious, from quoting the bible to asking mystifing questions about God. In fact, it goes so far that you could even call the movie "A prayer".

Part of the movie has a "yin-yang" feel. As Chastain narrates, there's there's two ways through life: the way of Nature and the way of Grace. Nature only wants to please itself, and Grace wants to please others. In the end, the two paths need each other.

The first hour of the movie is what I call "The Nature Part". As earlier described by Chastain, Nature wants others to please it, to make benefit for itself. Through out the part, there's the divisive "Beginning of Earth" sequence Toward the end of the scene, there's the dinosaur head stomp. To me, it represents the climax of the part: Grace gives in to Nature, so it could be pleased.

The next hour and a half is a dizzying epic. This is what I call "The Grace Part". There are lovely scenes with no dialouge, instead just classical music. The main focus now is Mr. and Mrs. O'brian, played by Pitt and Chastain, respectively. Pitt's performance, as Mr. O'brian is the current embodiment of Nature, and Chastain is Grace. Together the family works, not always in harmony. They are almost like the two dinosaurs, except Pitt and Chastain look much much better than their respective dinosaur representations. The kids are pressured by the Senior O'brian, who needs his kids to be perfect in his eyes. The Misses insteads lets them be their own embodiment, and her action pleases others. Sequence play out, and the kids are challenged by their parents to choose an side. Toward the end of the part, Mr. O'brian consults the oldest son. He tells him he's sorry for how he treated him. Maybe he also becomes Grace. The opinion is open-ended, for the scene cuts to present day, with Jack, the oldest son, contemplating the end of his brother's life.

If the two paths (nature and grace), created harmony, and Mr. O'brian also became Grace, did that create an imbalance? We may never know the path life takes to affect others, but in the end, the imbalances may create a perfect harmony: a path for life.


4/4 Stars

Being John Malkovich: Easy to experience, but to feel? No.

As of many- or any movie buffs, I appreciate the Criterion Collection. Recently, the collection announced "Being John Malkovich. The Facebook audience applauded the announcement. I was excited, so I decided to see it before the 2012 release date.

Nice beard.

Being John Malkovich is about a depressed puppeteer (JOHN CUSACK), who finds employment at LesterCorp. As he works, filing papers, he finds a mysterious door that turns out to lead to John Malkovich's mind. The puppeteer, Craig Schwartz, and an associate, Maxine (CATHERINE KEENER), decide to start a company, having customers charge $200 to "experience John Malkovich". Soon, Craig's wife, Lottie (CAMERON DIAZ), begins to interfere with Craig and Maxine's business.

While viewing the film, it evoked many wants. It wanted to be a comedy. It wanted to be a drama. The first hour was very... unusual. There were many events, all as unrelated to the next. Toward the second hour, the movie started connecting. It changed from being a giant hunk of "Malkovich" to "Malko-watch". The movie is entirely innovative and original, and many parts awkward. A main problem, though, that it changes tone to often, from being very happy to sad and melodramatic. I can't debate if it's a wholly original masterpiece or a OK melodrama with John Malkovich playing himself. Toward the end, the film has an unique conclusion, and Charlie Sheen.

3/4 Stars