I reluctantly watched Paul Haggis's war drama In the Valley of Elah the other day, since it was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor. I don't like Paul Haggis as a rule. He doesn't like his characters enough for me to really appreciate him: kind of like the Neil LaBute of cinema (well, not as bad as LaBute, but you get what I mean). The last film of his I watched (The Last Kiss) I found completely infuriating, since it was based on a really good film. Haggis's version, made all the characters unlikeable.
In the Valley of Elah follows this mold, but is also a really poorly crafted film. The set up of Elah is that Tommy Lee Jones and Susan Sarandon's son goes AWOL somewhere in Texas. He disappears from the base and Jones goes down to the base to find him. He meets with opposition from the Army and so he recruits Charlize Theron, who is a local cop, to help him find his kid. The kid turns out murdered and chopped up into pieces. And then it loses steam, because the movie isn't really about anything. There is not really a plot except the act of figuring out what happened to the kid. And what happened to the kid is really underwhelming. Worse yet, what happened to the kid is revealed to the audience piecemeal, like evidence gradually being discovered in an episode of "Law & Order." There is no real detective work in the film, instead evidence just keeps dropping into the audience's lap. It's an un-artful way to script a mystery film, and In the Valley of Elah never works.
I also finally watched Deliverance, John Boorman's film of James Dickey's novel. I am writing about this movie obliquely for my thesis, so I thought it was important to watch it, at least for the scene of male rape that occurs about halfway through the film. Deliverance is a weird picture. It is centered around an act of male rape, but the movie is really an adventure picture with a tiny plot. I liked it, I suppose, but I didn't really get the film. It's a strange story to want to tell and it's told in a strange way. Eh.
Showing posts with label paul haggis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label paul haggis. Show all posts
26 February 2008
02 March 2007
Buddy Comedy
Remember Steve Guttenberg? I do, but barely. Well, today I watched the 1982 Barry Levinson drama (comedy?) Diner. The film stars Kevin Bacon, Daniel Stern, Mickey Rourke, Paul Reiser, Tim Daly (whose name I could not, for the life of me, recall) and a superb Ellen Barkin. Steve Guttenberg is first-billed. I didn't really think much of the film, but then, I am not nostalgic for the 1950s. I don't think I will ever understand the obsessive hearkening back to the 50's as the be-all end-all of Americana. Why is everyone so sentimental about that decade? And Diner isn't at all a deconstruction of the decade. It's more of a love letter, an homage to marriage as an institution and an ode to male friendship and homosocial bonding. It's all very hetero. It wasn't my cup of tea, but I'm not usually a fan of Levinson's work and I guess I shouldn't have expected too much. I have to say, though, it was very cool to see all of those guys so young.
And a couple weeks ago I saw the ridiculous Tony Goldwyn remake of Gabriele Muccino's The Last Kiss starring Zach Braff, Casey Affleck, Jacinda Barrett, Tom Wilkinson and Blythe Danner. The film is very stupid and, of course, derivative. The script for The Last Kiss is based directly on Muccino's L'Ultimo Bacio (a film I loved), which was based on Fellini's I Vitelloni. The Goldwyn film was written by Paul Haggis and, while it contains most of the plot points of the original, fails to retain any of the emotional resonance and power of L'Ultimo Bacio. In fact, the film paints all women as either whores or shrews. The men, really aren't any better. They behave as though they are in a script by Neil LaBute, continually doing hateful things to one another and behaving as though all of those things are okay. The role suits Braff, but the writing is so terrible that his talents are wasted. Ditto Blythe Danner's performance, which is easily one of her best performances ever. (And I think she's quite good in Sylvia and downright brilliant in Mr. & Mrs. Bridge.) I wish I could recommend the film just for Danner's work in it, but the film is so infuriating, I wouldn't dare recommend it to anyone. Roommate and I both wanted to throw things at our television screen. Paul Haggis (who is everywhere these days) did, as I recall, a great job of making me hate everyone in his film Crash, and with The Last Kiss he's done it again.
And a couple weeks ago I saw the ridiculous Tony Goldwyn remake of Gabriele Muccino's The Last Kiss starring Zach Braff, Casey Affleck, Jacinda Barrett, Tom Wilkinson and Blythe Danner. The film is very stupid and, of course, derivative. The script for The Last Kiss is based directly on Muccino's L'Ultimo Bacio (a film I loved), which was based on Fellini's I Vitelloni. The Goldwyn film was written by Paul Haggis and, while it contains most of the plot points of the original, fails to retain any of the emotional resonance and power of L'Ultimo Bacio. In fact, the film paints all women as either whores or shrews. The men, really aren't any better. They behave as though they are in a script by Neil LaBute, continually doing hateful things to one another and behaving as though all of those things are okay. The role suits Braff, but the writing is so terrible that his talents are wasted. Ditto Blythe Danner's performance, which is easily one of her best performances ever. (And I think she's quite good in Sylvia and downright brilliant in Mr. & Mrs. Bridge.) I wish I could recommend the film just for Danner's work in it, but the film is so infuriating, I wouldn't dare recommend it to anyone. Roommate and I both wanted to throw things at our television screen. Paul Haggis (who is everywhere these days) did, as I recall, a great job of making me hate everyone in his film Crash, and with The Last Kiss he's done it again.
26 February 2006
Oscar Nominees: Part One
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
8 Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score
The Academy's favorite film of the year, and it's hard to find fault with this drama. It's respectable, well-acted and emotionally affecting. I loved this film, but I am surprised it's taken off as much as it has. I say more power to it and I'm crossing my fingers that it takes home more than two Oscars on the big night.
Will Win: Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay
Could Win: Cinematography, Score
My Rating: #2 out of 81 films
CRASH
6 Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Original Song
The Academy's second favorite film of the year, and Brokeback's only real challenge for the big prize. This film about race relations and interwoven storylines in Los Angeles has appealed to a lot of people. Jean Oppenheimer called it one of the best American films she's seen in years.
Will Win: Original Screenplay, Editing
Could Win: Song
My Rating: #65 out of 81 films
GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.
6 Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction
The Academy loved this film more than anyone could forsee: more than critics loved it, too, I'd say. They love George Clooney, too. The man is everywhere. The film's appeal is easy to see, too. When I saw it, the audience applauded after the film's end.
Will Win: Nothing
Could Win: Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Art Direction
My Rating: #3 out of 81 films
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
6 Nominations: Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, Best Art Direction, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing
Snore. The Academy must've liked this movie more than everyone else did. It had pretty embarassing box office and was widely panned by critics. This movie is tediously boring and obvious Oscar-bait material. It looks so pretty but sounds so stupid.
Will Win: Costume, Art Direction
Could Win: Cinematography, Score
My Rating: #71 out of 81 films
CAPOTE
5 Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay
This critically lauded indie surprised tons of people (those not paying attention) by actually being nominated for Best Picture. Many have called it slow and boring. It's a very thought-provoking and intelligent film, to my mind, but I understand people's aversion. After all, it is, more than anything else, a film anchored by a star-turn from a fabulous actor.
Will Win: Actor
Could Win: Adapted Screenplay (in an upset)
My Rating: #9 out of 81 films
MUNICH
5 Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Film Editing
Will Win: Nothing
Could Win: Editing, Score
My Rating: #74 out of 81 films
WALK THE LINE
5 Nominations: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Recording
Will Win: Actress, Sound
Could Win: Editing
My Rating: #37 out of 81 films
KING KONG
4 Nominations: Best Art Direction, Best Sound Recording, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Effects Editing
Will Win: Visual Effects, Sound Effects
Could Win: Sound
My Rating: #46 out of 81 films
THE CONSTANT GARDENER
4 Nominations: Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score
Will Win: Supporting Actress
Could Win: Editing
My Rating: #11 out of 81 films
PRIDE & PREJUDICE
4 Nominations: Best Actress, Best Costume Design, Best Art Direction, Best Original Score
Will Win: Nothing
Could Win: Nothing
My Rating: #4 out of 81 films
01 February 2006
Oscar Nominations
This post is a day late, but, as they say, better late than never, and I know none of you could live without my thoughts on the nominations. So...
BEST PICTURE
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Munich
*I got 4 out of 5 here. I predicted Munich wouldn't make the cut and Walk the Line would grab a nomination instead. I guess that was just wishful thinking. Funnily enough, I strongly disliked both Crash and Munich, yet I LOVE the other three (they're all in my Top Ten.) I expect Brokeback to win this award quite easily.
BEST DIRECTOR
Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Bennett Miller, Capote
Paul Haggis, Crash
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck.
Steven Spielberg, Munich
*I got 5 out of 5 in this category. Yay me. But see above for my feelings on these films. I don't like Spielberg as a director (which you've heard me say more times than you'd probably like) and I think Paul Haggis' work in Crash is deeply flawed. I would've liked to have seen Terrence Malick, Michael Haneke or David Cronenberg here much more. Interestingly enough, I'm reading that the director category hasn't matched exactly with Best Picture since the 1982 Oscars (there was a big upset that year: Chariots of Fire narrowly eked out a victory.) Miller, Haggis and Clooney are all being nominated for the first time this year. This is Spielberg's seventh nomination. He's won twice. Anyway, I think this is Ang Lee's award. Everyone expected him to win in 2001 for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (his only prior nomination) and he's hugely respected.
BEST ACTOR
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
David Strathairn, Good Night, and Good Luck.
Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow
Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line
*I predicted this lineup. 5 of 5 again for me. This matches Best Picture pretty closely, too, especially if you note how this-close to a BP nomination Walk the Line was. Ledger, Hoffman, Strathairn and Howard are ALL first-time nominees. Phoenix has one prior nomination (supporting actor for Gladiator). This is Hoffman's party. He's won everything there is to win so far and he's mind-blowing in the role: as both a fine performance and a wonderful act of mimicry. It's unbelievable that he's never been nominated before. He's known mostly as a supporting actor, of course, and he did almost get nominated as a lead in 2000 for Flawless, but it's his year this time. Heath Ledger, his main competition, will have to win some other year.
BEST ACTRESS
Judi Dench, Mrs Henderson Presents
Charlize Theron, North Country
Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice
Felicity Huffman, Transamerica
Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
*I got 4 out of 5 in this category. I am grateful to say that the Academy pleasantly surprised me by omitting the name of Zhang Ziyi in the oh-so-boring Memoirs of a Geisha in favor of Keira Knightley in a film I truly enjoyed (it's in my Top Ten). The Academy missed the big boat here, though, by not giving a nomination to the nothing-short-of-brilliant Joan Allen in The Upside of Anger. Notice, also, the dissimilarity here between Best Picture and Best Actress. I don't really have anything to say about that: draw your own conclusions, friends. I should take this opportunity to bitch one more time about Felicity Huffman's inclusion in this list. It just drives me crazy. I think Transamerica is a puerile, idiotic film and I think Huffman's performance is broad and grating. It's too bad critics got behind her as much as they did. A true shame when they had so many good actresses to choose from (Emmanuelle Devos in Kings & Queen, Vera Farmiga in Down to the Bone, Juliette Binoche in Caché, the aforementioned Joan Allen, Claire Danes in Shopgirl, Q'orianka Kilcher in The New World). I mean, if you're gonna go indie... So Reese Witherspoon wins this one handily and good for her. Her performance here is the best of the list and this is a way for the Academy to honor a film that most of them really liked. She is a true talent and a comedic genius.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
William Hurt, A History of Violence
Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain
Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Matt Dillon, Crash
George Clooney, Syriana
*I got 4 out of 5 on this one and it's because I have no faith. I knew that Bob Hoskins really wasn't going to be nominated, and I loved William Hurt's performance. It's one of my favorites of the year, in fact, but I just didn't think the Academy could do it. I am glad to say I've been proven wrong. This is probably going to be the most hotly contested award of the evening. And it's a good list. (I mean, except for Matt Dillon. What's he doing there?) And I don't know who's going to win, frankly. Clooney took home the Golden Globe and Giamatti recently won the SAG award. There are no more important precursors, so it could really be either. We'll see how well they sell themselves in the next couple weeks. Frankly, I wish Jake Gyllenhaal would win. I love his performance. But I guess he's too young, really. He'll have other years (although we said that about Matt Damon and he hasn't been nominated since Good Will Hunting in 1998).
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain
Catherine Keener, Capote
Amy Adams, Junebug
Frances McDormand, North Country
Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
*5 out of 5 again. I rock! Poor Scarlett Johanssen missed out again (snubbed also in 2004 for Lost in Translation). I guess the Academy just doesn't like her. Her films do well and she doesn't. It's so odd. But I am just so happy about Amy Adams' inclusion in this category. Her performance is really remarkable. If you haven't seen Junebug, it's a must-rent kind of thing: heartfelt, intelligent and truly insightful about the blue state/red state divide. Everyone was saying this award was up for grabs, but Weisz has bagged everything so far. I wouldn't be too shocked if the winds changed before March 5th, but right now she's the obvious frontrunner.
Top 6 predictions: 90%. Not too bad.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Corpse Bride
Howl's Moving Castle
Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
*I am SO GLAD that the Animation Branch opted out of Chicken Little. I had no faith in them after last year's embarassing Shark Tale nomination, a film far inferior to The Polar Express, which was inexplicably passed over. But, thankfully, Howl's Moving Castle prevailed. Should I confess I haven't actually seen it? Wallace & Gromit will win this one easily.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Match Point
Syriana
The Squid and the Whale
*This is pretty close to what I predicted. I expected that Syriana, which was having a little category confusion (the screen credits even say it's based on the book See No Evil by Robert Baer) would be omitted. Woody Allen is the most frequently nominated screenwriter EVER, by the way. Match Point is his fourteenth Original Screenplay nomination. He's back! This is George Clooney & Grant Heslov's for the taking, though. Their film is the most widely loved.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
A History of Violence
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Munich
The Constant Gardener
*5 out of 5 again with this category. I liked all of these films, aside from my, by this point well-documented, hatred of Munich, but I can't even be too mad about that one. I mean, Tony Kushner got an Oscar nomination and I'm too happy for him to even be mad about the piece of shit film he got it for. This is Brokeback's Oscar anyway, so it doesn't matter too much.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Batman Begins
Brokeback Mountain
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Memoirs of a Geisha
The New World
*I know it seems crazy that The Constant Gardener missed a nomination here in favor of Batman Begins, but Batman is beautifully shot and Gardener is burdened with occasionally grainy and often jumpy photography that isn't popular with Academy members. I am beyond excited that The New World was included here. It won't win, but I don't even care. I'm just glad someone said mentioned my favorite film of the year. It deserved a lot more nominations that just this solo one, but I got to be happy with what I got.
BEST ART DIRECTION
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha
Pride & Prejudice
*Whatever. I got only 3 out of 5 here. I'm glad to see Harry made a showing, but I'm a little sad that the respectable White Countess didn't make a showing even here.
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Memoirs of a Geisha
Mrs Henderson Presents
Pride & Prejudice
Walk the Line
*I did even worse here, only picking 2 out of 5. This is notoriously a hard group to predict, though I should have seen the Henderson thing coming. Ah well. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Really?! I haven't seen it yet, to be honest, but really?
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (I.E. THE AWARD FOR WHICH JOHN WILLIAMS IS NOMINATED EVERY SINGLE YEAR
Brokeback Mountain
Pride & Prejudice
Memoirs of a Geisha
Munich
The Constant Gardener
*Well, I certainly called the John Williams thing, but something weird happened this year, where I got really pissed and really happy with these nominations. Three of the nominees--Gustavo Santaolalla, Dario Marianelli and Albero Iglesias--have never before been nominated. Usually, the number of first-time nominees they choose is one. This category is usually filled with people who have already been nominated two and three times. (Recently they've shown a penchant for the great-but-not-that-great Thomas Newman.) But this year: three new people! And then the other two nominations went to John Williams. Give me a break! John Williams got his thirty-ninth and fortieth nominations on Tuesday morning. Why do they love him so damn much? I don't get it.
As for Best Makeup and The New World's exclusion. Something is definitely wrong with the world. Overall, though, I think the nominations made me pretty happy.
Movies that were nominated that I still haven't seen:
War of the Worlds (it arrives tomorrow from Netflix)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (I already borrowed it from my boss)
Howl's Moving Castle (doesn't come to DVD until March... oops)
Joyeux Noël (hits theatres 3/6/06, so I'll see it right before the ceremony)
La Bestia nel Cuore (Don't Tell) (this movie played an L.A. festival last year, but I missed it. Who knows when I'll see it.)
Paradise Now (hits DVD 3/21/06)
Tsotsi (in theatres 2/24/06)
Good Night.
And Good Luck. I'm off to have a drink with some friends.
BEST PICTURE
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Munich
*I got 4 out of 5 here. I predicted Munich wouldn't make the cut and Walk the Line would grab a nomination instead. I guess that was just wishful thinking. Funnily enough, I strongly disliked both Crash and Munich, yet I LOVE the other three (they're all in my Top Ten.) I expect Brokeback to win this award quite easily.
BEST DIRECTOR
Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Bennett Miller, Capote
Paul Haggis, Crash
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck.
Steven Spielberg, Munich
*I got 5 out of 5 in this category. Yay me. But see above for my feelings on these films. I don't like Spielberg as a director (which you've heard me say more times than you'd probably like) and I think Paul Haggis' work in Crash is deeply flawed. I would've liked to have seen Terrence Malick, Michael Haneke or David Cronenberg here much more. Interestingly enough, I'm reading that the director category hasn't matched exactly with Best Picture since the 1982 Oscars (there was a big upset that year: Chariots of Fire narrowly eked out a victory.) Miller, Haggis and Clooney are all being nominated for the first time this year. This is Spielberg's seventh nomination. He's won twice. Anyway, I think this is Ang Lee's award. Everyone expected him to win in 2001 for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (his only prior nomination) and he's hugely respected.
BEST ACTOR
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
David Strathairn, Good Night, and Good Luck.
Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow
Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line
*I predicted this lineup. 5 of 5 again for me. This matches Best Picture pretty closely, too, especially if you note how this-close to a BP nomination Walk the Line was. Ledger, Hoffman, Strathairn and Howard are ALL first-time nominees. Phoenix has one prior nomination (supporting actor for Gladiator). This is Hoffman's party. He's won everything there is to win so far and he's mind-blowing in the role: as both a fine performance and a wonderful act of mimicry. It's unbelievable that he's never been nominated before. He's known mostly as a supporting actor, of course, and he did almost get nominated as a lead in 2000 for Flawless, but it's his year this time. Heath Ledger, his main competition, will have to win some other year.
BEST ACTRESS
Judi Dench, Mrs Henderson Presents
Charlize Theron, North Country
Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice
Felicity Huffman, Transamerica
Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
*I got 4 out of 5 in this category. I am grateful to say that the Academy pleasantly surprised me by omitting the name of Zhang Ziyi in the oh-so-boring Memoirs of a Geisha in favor of Keira Knightley in a film I truly enjoyed (it's in my Top Ten). The Academy missed the big boat here, though, by not giving a nomination to the nothing-short-of-brilliant Joan Allen in The Upside of Anger. Notice, also, the dissimilarity here between Best Picture and Best Actress. I don't really have anything to say about that: draw your own conclusions, friends. I should take this opportunity to bitch one more time about Felicity Huffman's inclusion in this list. It just drives me crazy. I think Transamerica is a puerile, idiotic film and I think Huffman's performance is broad and grating. It's too bad critics got behind her as much as they did. A true shame when they had so many good actresses to choose from (Emmanuelle Devos in Kings & Queen, Vera Farmiga in Down to the Bone, Juliette Binoche in Caché, the aforementioned Joan Allen, Claire Danes in Shopgirl, Q'orianka Kilcher in The New World). I mean, if you're gonna go indie... So Reese Witherspoon wins this one handily and good for her. Her performance here is the best of the list and this is a way for the Academy to honor a film that most of them really liked. She is a true talent and a comedic genius.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
William Hurt, A History of Violence
Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain
Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Matt Dillon, Crash
George Clooney, Syriana
*I got 4 out of 5 on this one and it's because I have no faith. I knew that Bob Hoskins really wasn't going to be nominated, and I loved William Hurt's performance. It's one of my favorites of the year, in fact, but I just didn't think the Academy could do it. I am glad to say I've been proven wrong. This is probably going to be the most hotly contested award of the evening. And it's a good list. (I mean, except for Matt Dillon. What's he doing there?) And I don't know who's going to win, frankly. Clooney took home the Golden Globe and Giamatti recently won the SAG award. There are no more important precursors, so it could really be either. We'll see how well they sell themselves in the next couple weeks. Frankly, I wish Jake Gyllenhaal would win. I love his performance. But I guess he's too young, really. He'll have other years (although we said that about Matt Damon and he hasn't been nominated since Good Will Hunting in 1998).
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain
Catherine Keener, Capote
Amy Adams, Junebug
Frances McDormand, North Country
Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
*5 out of 5 again. I rock! Poor Scarlett Johanssen missed out again (snubbed also in 2004 for Lost in Translation). I guess the Academy just doesn't like her. Her films do well and she doesn't. It's so odd. But I am just so happy about Amy Adams' inclusion in this category. Her performance is really remarkable. If you haven't seen Junebug, it's a must-rent kind of thing: heartfelt, intelligent and truly insightful about the blue state/red state divide. Everyone was saying this award was up for grabs, but Weisz has bagged everything so far. I wouldn't be too shocked if the winds changed before March 5th, but right now she's the obvious frontrunner.
Top 6 predictions: 90%. Not too bad.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Corpse Bride
Howl's Moving Castle
Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
*I am SO GLAD that the Animation Branch opted out of Chicken Little. I had no faith in them after last year's embarassing Shark Tale nomination, a film far inferior to The Polar Express, which was inexplicably passed over. But, thankfully, Howl's Moving Castle prevailed. Should I confess I haven't actually seen it? Wallace & Gromit will win this one easily.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Match Point
Syriana
The Squid and the Whale
*This is pretty close to what I predicted. I expected that Syriana, which was having a little category confusion (the screen credits even say it's based on the book See No Evil by Robert Baer) would be omitted. Woody Allen is the most frequently nominated screenwriter EVER, by the way. Match Point is his fourteenth Original Screenplay nomination. He's back! This is George Clooney & Grant Heslov's for the taking, though. Their film is the most widely loved.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
A History of Violence
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Munich
The Constant Gardener
*5 out of 5 again with this category. I liked all of these films, aside from my, by this point well-documented, hatred of Munich, but I can't even be too mad about that one. I mean, Tony Kushner got an Oscar nomination and I'm too happy for him to even be mad about the piece of shit film he got it for. This is Brokeback's Oscar anyway, so it doesn't matter too much.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Batman Begins
Brokeback Mountain
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Memoirs of a Geisha
The New World
*I know it seems crazy that The Constant Gardener missed a nomination here in favor of Batman Begins, but Batman is beautifully shot and Gardener is burdened with occasionally grainy and often jumpy photography that isn't popular with Academy members. I am beyond excited that The New World was included here. It won't win, but I don't even care. I'm just glad someone said mentioned my favorite film of the year. It deserved a lot more nominations that just this solo one, but I got to be happy with what I got.
BEST ART DIRECTION
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha
Pride & Prejudice
*Whatever. I got only 3 out of 5 here. I'm glad to see Harry made a showing, but I'm a little sad that the respectable White Countess didn't make a showing even here.
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Memoirs of a Geisha
Mrs Henderson Presents
Pride & Prejudice
Walk the Line
*I did even worse here, only picking 2 out of 5. This is notoriously a hard group to predict, though I should have seen the Henderson thing coming. Ah well. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Really?! I haven't seen it yet, to be honest, but really?
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (I.E. THE AWARD FOR WHICH JOHN WILLIAMS IS NOMINATED EVERY SINGLE YEAR
Brokeback Mountain
Pride & Prejudice
Memoirs of a Geisha
Munich
The Constant Gardener
*Well, I certainly called the John Williams thing, but something weird happened this year, where I got really pissed and really happy with these nominations. Three of the nominees--Gustavo Santaolalla, Dario Marianelli and Albero Iglesias--have never before been nominated. Usually, the number of first-time nominees they choose is one. This category is usually filled with people who have already been nominated two and three times. (Recently they've shown a penchant for the great-but-not-that-great Thomas Newman.) But this year: three new people! And then the other two nominations went to John Williams. Give me a break! John Williams got his thirty-ninth and fortieth nominations on Tuesday morning. Why do they love him so damn much? I don't get it.
As for Best Makeup and The New World's exclusion. Something is definitely wrong with the world. Overall, though, I think the nominations made me pretty happy.
Movies that were nominated that I still haven't seen:
War of the Worlds (it arrives tomorrow from Netflix)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (I already borrowed it from my boss)
Howl's Moving Castle (doesn't come to DVD until March... oops)
Joyeux Noël (hits theatres 3/6/06, so I'll see it right before the ceremony)
La Bestia nel Cuore (Don't Tell) (this movie played an L.A. festival last year, but I missed it. Who knows when I'll see it.)
Paradise Now (hits DVD 3/21/06)
Tsotsi (in theatres 2/24/06)
Good Night.
And Good Luck. I'm off to have a drink with some friends.
26 January 2006
Oscar Predictions
The Oscar Nominations, probably my favorite day of my whole year as an addict, are on Tuesday, January 31st at 5:30a. I like the nominations better because I feel like there are more surprises when the nominations come out than there are at the awards show itself. I almost always predict the awards pretty well, but the nominations are a whole other story. I actually am not sure I even like trying to predict the nominations, but my roommate is using the TV, so I can't watch my DVD of The Chumscrubber and I just don't feel like reading. So here are my predictions for Tuesday morning...
BEST PICTURE
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Walk the Line
(Everyone is saying that Munich could show up here too but I just don't think anyone likes it. I think the other spoilers could be The Constant Gardener and King Kong. Cinderella Man is supposedly a dark horse, too. Whatever.)
BEST ACTOR
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
David Strathairn, Good Night, and Good Luck.
Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow
Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line
(Note the similarity to Best Picture, here. As for alternates, I really think the Howard and Strathairn slots are both really vulnerable and could go to... who? Most frequently mentioned are Russell Crowe for Cinderella Man and Jeff Daniels for The Squid and the Whale, but I can't really see any lineup other than the one I'm predicting.)
BEST ACTRESS
Zhang Ziyi, Memoirs of a Geisha
Judi Dench, Mrs Henderson Presents
Charlize Theron, North Country
Felicity Huffman, Transamerica (Too bad, too. This film sucks.)
Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
(I should be honest and say that I wish three of these performances weren't on this list. But then it seems no one is happy with this category this year. Joan Allen (The Upside of Anger) deserves to be on here like nobody's business. Maybe the Academy hasn't forgotten her and I will be happy on Tuesday morning. Maybe Q'orianka Kilcher (The New World) will show up too. Yeah. Right. Oh yeah, and the other spoiler is supposedly Keira Knightley (Pride & Prejudice). What?!?!)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain
Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Matt Dillon, Crash (This is so irritating.)
Bob Hoskins, Mrs Henderson Presents
George Clooney, Syriana
(I really wish William Hurt would show up here for A History of Violence, but I doubt it will happen. This is a pretty wide open category, I'm told. But as I see it, the same names get mentioned again and again and these are the ones. You might also see Don Cheadle for Crash here.)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain
Catherine Keener, Capote
Amy Adams, Junebug
Frances McDormand, North Country
Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
(OK, at the last minute I changed my mind here and added Adams. I hope hope hope she's nominated, but her slot will probably go to Scarlett Johanssen (Match Point) instead. This is a really hard category to call, but I thiink these are the favorites.)
BEST DIRECTOR
Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Bennett Miller, Capote
Paul Haggis, Crash
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck.
Steven Spielberg, Munich
(This category is historically unpredictable. We might see someone as out there as David Cronenberg (A History of Violence) or Michael Haneke (Caché) here. No one really knows what the directing branch will do. Terrence Malick (The New World) could show too, as well as James Mangold (Walk the Line) or even Woody Allen (Match Point). Don't hold out for King Kong's director though. That's sooo 2003. We're all over it.)
BEST ANIMATED FILM
Chicken Little
Corpse Bride
Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Caché
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Match Point
The Squid and the Whale
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
A History of Violence
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Munich
The Constant Gardener
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Brokeback Mountain
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Memoirs of a Geisha
The Constant Gardener
The New World (It's a shame no one liked Jarhead. It deserves a nomination.)
BEST ART DIRECTION
Cinderella Man
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Memoirs of a Geisha
Pride & Prejudice
The White Countess
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Casanova
Memoirs of a Geisha
Pride & Prejudice
The New World
The White Countess
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (I.E. THE AWARD FOR WHICH JOHN WILLIAMS IS NOMINATED EVERY SINGLE YEAR
Brokeback Mountain
Cinderella Man
Memoirs of a Geisha
The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The New World
I have no ideas about Best Song or any of the visual effects stuff. Expect Batman Begins to do well in all of those categories. War of the Worlds should make a showing here at least once as well and if I don't see The New World up for Best Makeup, there is something wrong with the world. I can't wait until Tuesday!!!
BEST PICTURE
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Walk the Line
(Everyone is saying that Munich could show up here too but I just don't think anyone likes it. I think the other spoilers could be The Constant Gardener and King Kong. Cinderella Man is supposedly a dark horse, too. Whatever.)
BEST ACTOR
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
David Strathairn, Good Night, and Good Luck.
Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow
Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line
(Note the similarity to Best Picture, here. As for alternates, I really think the Howard and Strathairn slots are both really vulnerable and could go to... who? Most frequently mentioned are Russell Crowe for Cinderella Man and Jeff Daniels for The Squid and the Whale, but I can't really see any lineup other than the one I'm predicting.)
BEST ACTRESS
Zhang Ziyi, Memoirs of a Geisha
Judi Dench, Mrs Henderson Presents
Charlize Theron, North Country
Felicity Huffman, Transamerica (Too bad, too. This film sucks.)
Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
(I should be honest and say that I wish three of these performances weren't on this list. But then it seems no one is happy with this category this year. Joan Allen (The Upside of Anger) deserves to be on here like nobody's business. Maybe the Academy hasn't forgotten her and I will be happy on Tuesday morning. Maybe Q'orianka Kilcher (The New World) will show up too. Yeah. Right. Oh yeah, and the other spoiler is supposedly Keira Knightley (Pride & Prejudice). What?!?!)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain
Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Matt Dillon, Crash (This is so irritating.)
Bob Hoskins, Mrs Henderson Presents
George Clooney, Syriana
(I really wish William Hurt would show up here for A History of Violence, but I doubt it will happen. This is a pretty wide open category, I'm told. But as I see it, the same names get mentioned again and again and these are the ones. You might also see Don Cheadle for Crash here.)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain
Catherine Keener, Capote
Amy Adams, Junebug
Frances McDormand, North Country
Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
(OK, at the last minute I changed my mind here and added Adams. I hope hope hope she's nominated, but her slot will probably go to Scarlett Johanssen (Match Point) instead. This is a really hard category to call, but I thiink these are the favorites.)
BEST DIRECTOR
Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Bennett Miller, Capote
Paul Haggis, Crash
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck.
Steven Spielberg, Munich
(This category is historically unpredictable. We might see someone as out there as David Cronenberg (A History of Violence) or Michael Haneke (Caché) here. No one really knows what the directing branch will do. Terrence Malick (The New World) could show too, as well as James Mangold (Walk the Line) or even Woody Allen (Match Point). Don't hold out for King Kong's director though. That's sooo 2003. We're all over it.)
Chicken Little
Corpse Bride
Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Caché
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Match Point
The Squid and the Whale
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
A History of Violence
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Munich
The Constant Gardener
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Brokeback Mountain
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Memoirs of a Geisha
The Constant Gardener
The New World (It's a shame no one liked Jarhead. It deserves a nomination.)
BEST ART DIRECTION
Cinderella Man
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Memoirs of a Geisha
Pride & Prejudice
The White Countess
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Casanova
Memoirs of a Geisha
Pride & Prejudice
The New World
The White Countess
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (I.E. THE AWARD FOR WHICH JOHN WILLIAMS IS NOMINATED EVERY SINGLE YEAR
Brokeback Mountain
Cinderella Man
Memoirs of a Geisha
The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The New World
I have no ideas about Best Song or any of the visual effects stuff. Expect Batman Begins to do well in all of those categories. War of the Worlds should make a showing here at least once as well and if I don't see The New World up for Best Makeup, there is something wrong with the world. I can't wait until Tuesday!!!
07 January 2006
I might be in love with Scott Foundas of the L.A. Weekly
This is from the last day of Slate Magazine's Movie Club 2005:
My god! I have this debate all the time with people at work, with my brother, with random people with whom I dare to discuss my views on movies. And what Foundas is saying only very recently occurred to me. In addition to my tastes being different than my coworkers', I simply see more movies than they do--way more movies--and so my frame of reference is vastly different than theirs. I mention twenty of my favorite movies and they've only even heard of three of them--that kind of thing always stuns me.
Foundas also says a few things about Crash that I love:
See what I mean? I need to start reading this guy a little more closely.
Nothing ticks me off more than when someone asks me if I ever go to see a movie "just for fun" or starts telling me what he or she thought of a particular movie only to interject, "but of course, I'm not a professional critic." Well, I've got news for everybody: Neither am I. In fact, to the best of my knowledge, none of us in this happy little clique went to Film Critic Academy. As James Agee so memorably wrote in his debut column for the Nation, "It is my business to conduct one end of a conversation, as an amateur critic among amateur critics." But it was also Agee, I believe, who said something about how readers couldn't reasonably expect someone who sees as many movies as a critic (even an amateur one) does to just sit back and let the umpteenth derivative of some hackneyed Hollywood formula to roll over him without objection.
My god! I have this debate all the time with people at work, with my brother, with random people with whom I dare to discuss my views on movies. And what Foundas is saying only very recently occurred to me. In addition to my tastes being different than my coworkers', I simply see more movies than they do--way more movies--and so my frame of reference is vastly different than theirs. I mention twenty of my favorite movies and they've only even heard of three of them--that kind of thing always stuns me.
Foundas also says a few things about Crash that I love:
Admittedly, Paul Haggis' directorial debut wasn't one of those so-bad-it's-mesmerizing debacles, like Town & Country or The Bonfire of the Vanities, that Tony so lovingly remembered a few weeks back in the Times—if it had been, it wouldn't have made my blood boil nearly as much. No, Crash is an Important Film About the Times in Which We Live, which is another way of saying that it's one of those self-congratulatory liberal jerk-off movies that rolls around every once in a while to remind us of how white people suffer too, how nobody is without his prejudices, and how, when the going gets tough, even the white supremacist cop who gets his kicks from sexually harassing innocent black motorists is capable of rising to the occasion. How touching. Haggis is trafficking in much the same territory here as Michael Haneke is in Caché, only he lacks the guts to pull out his paring knife and fillet his bourgeois characters with the mercilessness they deserve. (Instead, when Sandra Bullock's pampered Brentwood housewife accuses a Mexican-American locksmith of copying her keys for illicit purposes, Haggis doesn't condemn her reprehensible behavior so much as he sympathizes with it.) People who say that Crash is an insightful portrait of life in Los Angeles clearly don't live in the same town I do.
See what I mean? I need to start reading this guy a little more closely.
02 January 2006
Holiday
I haven't been to work in what seems like forever. I haven't been sleeping in my own bed, either, though all will go back to normal tomorrow morning when I wake up for work. I was in Monument, Colorado for Christmas where it didn't snow at all--though it was fucking freezing cold, and I was in Big Bear Lake, California for New Year's Eve where it snowed on the way out of town (luckily). I had never seen it snow before.
The sun is out here, now, after days of gloom and rain. I might even go visit my friend up in Valencia this afternoon. (A cloud just covered the sun.)
Back from Colorado, I have been watching movies like mad... making up for lost time. I'm behind in my viewing now: this is what I get for missing a week of movie-watching. I watched only one movie in Colorado, and that one was from 1951. (If you haven't seen Royal Wedding, Astaire dances on the ceiling, Jane Powell performs brilliantly in a New York-style dance number, and Peter Lawford looks extremely cute, but it doesn't have much else going for it.)
Capsule reviews of the movies I've seen since my return from CO:
The White Countess I found kind of disappointing. Like all Merchant-Ivory pictures, I suppose it will improve with more viewings, but this film has a few troubles: mostly script problems. It looks gorgeous and is quietly moving, like most of Ivory's films, but it isn't quite as subtle as it ought to be. Madeleine Potter gives a superior performance.
Crash is all about racism. Racism, racism, racism. Everyone, in case you were unaware, is racist, and justice, in case you were confused, is impossible to achieve. The best scene in the film is a scene between good cop Ryan Philippe and hopelessly corrupt cop Keith David, where the older, black officer and the young idealist white officer conspire to keep bigoted officer Matt Dillon in a position of power. This film is irresponsible and silly, not to mention unapologetically sympathetic to a whole cadre of odious, unsympathetic characters.
Casanova is unabashedly silly and totally fun. It loses its initial cleverness about halfway through, but remains somewhat witty. The whole thing is ridiculous, but I thought it was fun. Plus I'm in love with Heath Ledger now. (There isn't anywhere near the amount of nudity there ought to have been in the picture, unfortunately.)
Transamerica sucked. It could've been a good road picture and it could have been a poignant father-son saga. It's neither. Felicity Huffman is occasionally believable as a transgender woman, but this film is terrible. The script is a total mess. None of the characters' motives make the least bit of sense and the non-resolution is utterly ludicrous. Fionnula Flanagan is terrible beyond words as Bree's scenery-chewing mother.
The Ballad of Jack and Rose is an exquisite little gem of a film about late-sixties idealism and the legacy this movement passed on to its children. Camilla Belle is extraordinary, Catherine Keener does her usual superb and dependable supporting work and Daniel Day-Lewis gives a raw, heartbreaking performance. The photography is breathtaking. It's a wonderful portrait of an idyll in turmoil and (perhaps) the end of an era. I liked it enormously.
Still in the Netflix queue from 2005:
The Beautiful Country, Tropical Malady, Yes, Kings and Queen, Hustle & Flow, My Summer of Love, Saraband, Happy Endings, The Girl from Monday, 5X2, Head-on, Fear and Trembling, War of the Worlds
Still to see in theatres from 2005 (i.e. call me if you want to catch a flick one night this week, as I will be going to see one every night):
Munich, Match Point, Caché, The New World, The Producers, The Libertine
XO
Happy New Year
Aaron
The sun is out here, now, after days of gloom and rain. I might even go visit my friend up in Valencia this afternoon. (A cloud just covered the sun.)
Back from Colorado, I have been watching movies like mad... making up for lost time. I'm behind in my viewing now: this is what I get for missing a week of movie-watching. I watched only one movie in Colorado, and that one was from 1951. (If you haven't seen Royal Wedding, Astaire dances on the ceiling, Jane Powell performs brilliantly in a New York-style dance number, and Peter Lawford looks extremely cute, but it doesn't have much else going for it.)
Capsule reviews of the movies I've seen since my return from CO:
The White Countess I found kind of disappointing. Like all Merchant-Ivory pictures, I suppose it will improve with more viewings, but this film has a few troubles: mostly script problems. It looks gorgeous and is quietly moving, like most of Ivory's films, but it isn't quite as subtle as it ought to be. Madeleine Potter gives a superior performance.
Crash is all about racism. Racism, racism, racism. Everyone, in case you were unaware, is racist, and justice, in case you were confused, is impossible to achieve. The best scene in the film is a scene between good cop Ryan Philippe and hopelessly corrupt cop Keith David, where the older, black officer and the young idealist white officer conspire to keep bigoted officer Matt Dillon in a position of power. This film is irresponsible and silly, not to mention unapologetically sympathetic to a whole cadre of odious, unsympathetic characters.
Casanova is unabashedly silly and totally fun. It loses its initial cleverness about halfway through, but remains somewhat witty. The whole thing is ridiculous, but I thought it was fun. Plus I'm in love with Heath Ledger now. (There isn't anywhere near the amount of nudity there ought to have been in the picture, unfortunately.)
Transamerica sucked. It could've been a good road picture and it could have been a poignant father-son saga. It's neither. Felicity Huffman is occasionally believable as a transgender woman, but this film is terrible. The script is a total mess. None of the characters' motives make the least bit of sense and the non-resolution is utterly ludicrous. Fionnula Flanagan is terrible beyond words as Bree's scenery-chewing mother.
The Ballad of Jack and Rose is an exquisite little gem of a film about late-sixties idealism and the legacy this movement passed on to its children. Camilla Belle is extraordinary, Catherine Keener does her usual superb and dependable supporting work and Daniel Day-Lewis gives a raw, heartbreaking performance. The photography is breathtaking. It's a wonderful portrait of an idyll in turmoil and (perhaps) the end of an era. I liked it enormously.
Still in the Netflix queue from 2005:
The Beautiful Country, Tropical Malady, Yes, Kings and Queen, Hustle & Flow, My Summer of Love, Saraband, Happy Endings, The Girl from Monday, 5X2, Head-on, Fear and Trembling, War of the Worlds
Still to see in theatres from 2005 (i.e. call me if you want to catch a flick one night this week, as I will be going to see one every night):
Munich, Match Point, Caché, The New World, The Producers, The Libertine
XO
Happy New Year
Aaron
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