There was much talk building up to the release of David Fincher's followup to The Social Network. Some were worried it wouldn't live up to the Swedish version, which was released a couple years ago.
For me, this film had a better flow to it than the Swedish version. I thought both Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara were fantastic in their roles, especially Mara. She had tough shoes to fill after Noomi Rapace's star-making performance in the Swedish version. I though Mara was perfect for this version though, and should receive an Oscar nomination for her work. Fincher's directing was perfect for this film, as he is used to filming dark material for his movies.
The script was tight, and provided some comedic moments in an otherwise unfunny plot. The cinematography from Jeff Cronenweth was one of the best I've seen this year, and should garner him another nomination, following his Social Network nomination from last year. Overall, this was a great experience for me, even with my high expectations going in. This is the best film I've seen this year.
Grade: A
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
Review: The Descendants
The Descendants is director Alexander Payne's follow-up to his much lauded 2004 film Sideways. I originally planned to see this film Saturday afternoon, but it was selling out like crazy. Sunday showings were also selling out, so online purchase was the way to go. I was expecting a solid film, as this is currently battling the Artist as frontrunner for the Oscars.
The film follows a middle-aged lawyer, Matt King, following a devastating boating accident that puts his wife Elizabeth into a coma. Matt must now deal with the stress of this event with his two daughters, Scottie and Alexandra. Things suddenly get worse for Matt when Alexandra tells him that Elizabeth had been cheating on him. This just adds to the drama that Matt has to deal with, and leads him on a quest to find the man Elizabeth had been seeing, and confront him. From here, the film has plenty of comedic moments as Matt and his daughters (along with Alexandra's friend Sid) visit family and search for this man.
Clooney is fantastic in this role, possibly the best I've seen him on screen. The screenplay is sharp and witty, while also pulling out some dramatic moments throughout the way. Payne is in his element here. I wasn't a fan of Sideways (couldn't make it through two tries), but this film has definitely made me a fan, and I can't wait to see what he does from here.
Grade: A-
The film follows a middle-aged lawyer, Matt King, following a devastating boating accident that puts his wife Elizabeth into a coma. Matt must now deal with the stress of this event with his two daughters, Scottie and Alexandra. Things suddenly get worse for Matt when Alexandra tells him that Elizabeth had been cheating on him. This just adds to the drama that Matt has to deal with, and leads him on a quest to find the man Elizabeth had been seeing, and confront him. From here, the film has plenty of comedic moments as Matt and his daughters (along with Alexandra's friend Sid) visit family and search for this man.
Clooney is fantastic in this role, possibly the best I've seen him on screen. The screenplay is sharp and witty, while also pulling out some dramatic moments throughout the way. Payne is in his element here. I wasn't a fan of Sideways (couldn't make it through two tries), but this film has definitely made me a fan, and I can't wait to see what he does from here.
Grade: A-
Sunday, June 27, 2010
It's been a while
Well, I haven't posted on here in a few months, thanks to school, work, etc. I'm hoping to get back on here and start posting reviews/thoughts more and more as the summer goes on. One topic I'd like to discuss is the upcoming movie Inception. Now, ever since I heard Christopher Nolan was working on his next project after The Dark Knight, I was ecstatic. Nolan has quickly become my favorite director. Ever since I saw Batman Begins in theaters way back in 2005, I have seen every one of his movies (except one, which I will watch this summer). He is such a great director, and storyteller in his movies. Whether it be an original idea, or adapted, it seems like he knows exactly what he wants in his movies, and knows exactly how to make them work. I believe we have the making of a directing genius. His new project, Inception seems to be nothing less than his best. From very early reviews, it seems like this is his masterpiece, yes even more so than Memento. Please go watch the Inception trailers. July 16- be in the theater seeing this movie. I have a feeling it will be truly great. More to come soon.
Until next time...
Saturday, March 13, 2010
And the Oscar goes to...
So, awards season has come and gone, but it has been a great one nonetheless. This is a little late of a post, but better late than never, eh? Let's start with best picture and move on down the line.
Best Picture: The Hurt Locker. This movie went in as the frontrunner, but some people still thought Avatar would come out on top. I had a feeling all along that this would get best picture just because it stood the test of time. It was released last summer, and never really lost momentum with critics. It deservedly won. It is one of the best war movies ever made.
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow-The Hurt Locker. Once again, Kathryn was the frontunner going in to the Oscars, but her stiffest competition was her ex-husband James Cameron for Avatar. I am glad Kathryn won, as she made the audience sit at the edge of their seats throughout the film. True movie making at its best.
Best Actor in a Leading Role: No surprise here, Jeff Bridges wins his first Oscar after many nominations. I haven't seen his performance in Crazy Heart, but I would bet that his biggest competition was Colin Firth in a Single Man. Firth's performance is hailed as the best of his career, and I hope to see both to determine who I think should've gotten this award. Nonetheless, congrats Bridges.
Best Actress in a Leading Role: Sandra Bullock comes away with this award. Her and Meryl Streep were battling it out all season winning awards here and there, but once we got the SAGs we saw that Bullock was slowly pulling away, and went in as the clear favorite. It is sad to see that Meryl, who has now been nominated 16 times, hasn't walked away with an Oscar in 27 years. I hope she can get another great role and finally win her 3rd Oscar sometime soon. I still think she deserved it last year for her performance in doubt (yes, even over Kate Winslet).
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: One of the easiest races to call this year was supporting actor. If I had to pick one category to bet on before the big night, it would've been this one. Christoph Waltz gave one of the fiercest performances ever to be on screen, and deserved this Oscar like no other. He was easily the favorite going in by a mile. The other nominees had a pretty easy night: go in, smile, have fun at the Oscars; no need to worry about winning an Oscar, Christoph already has it.
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: The second easiest category to pick would be supporting actress. Mo'Nique was the leader going in, and the producers milked that, holding this category to about midway through the ceremony, when it is usually the first award given out. Congrats Mo'Nique on your first nomination and win for this role.
Best Original Screenplay: There was a two way race here-Mark Boal for the Hurt Locker, and Quinten Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds. I knew that if the night was going for the Hurt Locker, then Boal would win, but if it wasn't Tarantino would. Well, needless to say, it went to Boal. Both were great scripts, so either one would've been a good win. Congrats Mark Boal.
Best Adapted Screenplay: Here is where the biggest surprise of the night came from. When Geoffrey Fletcher won this for Precious, it was clear that the Academy would shut Up in the Air out for any awards. I thought this would be an easy win for Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner. I think UITA peaked too early in the season to be a true contender on Oscar night. Remember when UITA was the favorite for best picture way back in December? It lost steam right in the middle of January, going into the critic's choice awards, Golden Globes, SAGs. It's okay, Reitman and Sheldon were the winners in my book.
Best Acheivement in Cinematopgraphy: Second most shock of the night (see above). I figured the Hurt Locker or The White Ribbon would win this award, but it really was a four-way race. The White Ribbon had the cinematographers guild win, while the Hurt Locker had almost every other win.
Editing: the Hurt Locker
Art Direction: Avatar-not a huge surprise here, and Sigourney Weaver presenting the award helped out also.
Best Original Score: Michael Giacchino for Up. This was an easy win for Giacchino, although if things would have gone for Avatar that night, I think James Horner could've come away with the award for Avatar. I think the right person won though, and I feel that Giacchino will have many more nominations (and wins) to come in his career.
Sound Mixing and Sound Editing: The Hurt Locker. once THL won these two, I think we all knew who would win Best Picture. Everyone thought Avatar would easily sweep the technical awards, but it didn't win many, so this was an early sign of how the night was gonna go.
Visual Effects: Avatar. Duh.
Best Animated Film: Up. Again, duh. Pixar has dominated this category in recent years, easy win for them.
Best Foreign Language Film: El secreto de sus ojos (Argentina). Third biggest surprise of the night. I thought the White Ribbon (Germany) would easily win this award, but it lost steam at the last minute I guess. TWR won multiple awards going into the Oscars to be considered a frontrunner.
Best Documentary: The Cove. This was an easy frontrunner goin in, and this has become one of the easier categories to predict in recent years.
Overall Oscar count: The Hurt Locker-6. Avatar-3. Up in the Air-0. Precious-2. Up-1. Star Trek-1.
Well folks, that's the list of winners (mostly) from the 82nd annual Academy Awards. What's gonna happen next year? Stay tuned, and we'll see. What an awards season it has been. Actually, a great year for movies all around. I could not be happier with the results. Thanks for reading.
Best Picture: The Hurt Locker. This movie went in as the frontrunner, but some people still thought Avatar would come out on top. I had a feeling all along that this would get best picture just because it stood the test of time. It was released last summer, and never really lost momentum with critics. It deservedly won. It is one of the best war movies ever made.
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow-The Hurt Locker. Once again, Kathryn was the frontunner going in to the Oscars, but her stiffest competition was her ex-husband James Cameron for Avatar. I am glad Kathryn won, as she made the audience sit at the edge of their seats throughout the film. True movie making at its best.
Best Actor in a Leading Role: No surprise here, Jeff Bridges wins his first Oscar after many nominations. I haven't seen his performance in Crazy Heart, but I would bet that his biggest competition was Colin Firth in a Single Man. Firth's performance is hailed as the best of his career, and I hope to see both to determine who I think should've gotten this award. Nonetheless, congrats Bridges.
Best Actress in a Leading Role: Sandra Bullock comes away with this award. Her and Meryl Streep were battling it out all season winning awards here and there, but once we got the SAGs we saw that Bullock was slowly pulling away, and went in as the clear favorite. It is sad to see that Meryl, who has now been nominated 16 times, hasn't walked away with an Oscar in 27 years. I hope she can get another great role and finally win her 3rd Oscar sometime soon. I still think she deserved it last year for her performance in doubt (yes, even over Kate Winslet).
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: One of the easiest races to call this year was supporting actor. If I had to pick one category to bet on before the big night, it would've been this one. Christoph Waltz gave one of the fiercest performances ever to be on screen, and deserved this Oscar like no other. He was easily the favorite going in by a mile. The other nominees had a pretty easy night: go in, smile, have fun at the Oscars; no need to worry about winning an Oscar, Christoph already has it.
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: The second easiest category to pick would be supporting actress. Mo'Nique was the leader going in, and the producers milked that, holding this category to about midway through the ceremony, when it is usually the first award given out. Congrats Mo'Nique on your first nomination and win for this role.
Best Original Screenplay: There was a two way race here-Mark Boal for the Hurt Locker, and Quinten Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds. I knew that if the night was going for the Hurt Locker, then Boal would win, but if it wasn't Tarantino would. Well, needless to say, it went to Boal. Both were great scripts, so either one would've been a good win. Congrats Mark Boal.
Best Adapted Screenplay: Here is where the biggest surprise of the night came from. When Geoffrey Fletcher won this for Precious, it was clear that the Academy would shut Up in the Air out for any awards. I thought this would be an easy win for Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner. I think UITA peaked too early in the season to be a true contender on Oscar night. Remember when UITA was the favorite for best picture way back in December? It lost steam right in the middle of January, going into the critic's choice awards, Golden Globes, SAGs. It's okay, Reitman and Sheldon were the winners in my book.
Best Acheivement in Cinematopgraphy: Second most shock of the night (see above). I figured the Hurt Locker or The White Ribbon would win this award, but it really was a four-way race. The White Ribbon had the cinematographers guild win, while the Hurt Locker had almost every other win.
Editing: the Hurt Locker
Art Direction: Avatar-not a huge surprise here, and Sigourney Weaver presenting the award helped out also.
Best Original Score: Michael Giacchino for Up. This was an easy win for Giacchino, although if things would have gone for Avatar that night, I think James Horner could've come away with the award for Avatar. I think the right person won though, and I feel that Giacchino will have many more nominations (and wins) to come in his career.
Sound Mixing and Sound Editing: The Hurt Locker. once THL won these two, I think we all knew who would win Best Picture. Everyone thought Avatar would easily sweep the technical awards, but it didn't win many, so this was an early sign of how the night was gonna go.
Visual Effects: Avatar. Duh.
Best Animated Film: Up. Again, duh. Pixar has dominated this category in recent years, easy win for them.
Best Foreign Language Film: El secreto de sus ojos (Argentina). Third biggest surprise of the night. I thought the White Ribbon (Germany) would easily win this award, but it lost steam at the last minute I guess. TWR won multiple awards going into the Oscars to be considered a frontrunner.
Best Documentary: The Cove. This was an easy frontrunner goin in, and this has become one of the easier categories to predict in recent years.
Overall Oscar count: The Hurt Locker-6. Avatar-3. Up in the Air-0. Precious-2. Up-1. Star Trek-1.
Well folks, that's the list of winners (mostly) from the 82nd annual Academy Awards. What's gonna happen next year? Stay tuned, and we'll see. What an awards season it has been. Actually, a great year for movies all around. I could not be happier with the results. Thanks for reading.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Review: Shutter Island
Grade: A
So, I saw Shutter Island last Friday (Feb. 19) and this Wednesday (Feb. 24), and haven't had time to write my review. Well, here it is.
Right from the beginning, Scorcese sets the tone of the film while playing John Adams's Fog Tropes right after the Paramount logo. The set up is a nice eerie feel to the film. We begin with seeing our protagonist, Marshal Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) on a boat on his way to Shutter Island. The music continues to prevail as the scene progresses, and Teddy and his partner Chuck (Ruffalo) enter the gates of the institution. Throughout the film, there are memories of war and dream sequences that are marvelously done by Scorcese. I think these scenes are the most memorable, and quite frankly some of the best scenes in a film that I've seen. The somber feel of them and the music that goes along is just spectacular. Oh yeah, you should take a listen to the soundtrack in its entirety, and you will have great recollections of the film. The film followed very closely to the novel, which was great. If you haven't read the book, go for it. If you liked the movie, you'll be even more impressed with the book. Even the second time seeing it, it was like it was the first time, it was stil lcaptivating. So, alas I got to see the movie that I was most anticipating for 2010, and was not dissapointed at all.
So, I saw Shutter Island last Friday (Feb. 19) and this Wednesday (Feb. 24), and haven't had time to write my review. Well, here it is.
Right from the beginning, Scorcese sets the tone of the film while playing John Adams's Fog Tropes right after the Paramount logo. The set up is a nice eerie feel to the film. We begin with seeing our protagonist, Marshal Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) on a boat on his way to Shutter Island. The music continues to prevail as the scene progresses, and Teddy and his partner Chuck (Ruffalo) enter the gates of the institution. Throughout the film, there are memories of war and dream sequences that are marvelously done by Scorcese. I think these scenes are the most memorable, and quite frankly some of the best scenes in a film that I've seen. The somber feel of them and the music that goes along is just spectacular. Oh yeah, you should take a listen to the soundtrack in its entirety, and you will have great recollections of the film. The film followed very closely to the novel, which was great. If you haven't read the book, go for it. If you liked the movie, you'll be even more impressed with the book. Even the second time seeing it, it was like it was the first time, it was stil lcaptivating. So, alas I got to see the movie that I was most anticipating for 2010, and was not dissapointed at all.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Review: An Education
Today I saw An Education (which makes my best picture nomination count 8/10)
Grade: A-
An Education is about a 16 year old school girl in London who suddenly becomes the part of a relationship that literally changes her life. The film starts off in school, were Jenny is an ordinary private schooled student who is being pushed into studying hard to get into Oxford. Her pushy father (played brilliantly by Alfred Molina) has her path set out for her. She will continue to get perfect grades in school, eventually leading her into Oxford. Jenny, like any normal teenager has other plans in mind. She'd much rather go to Paris and speak French and sing French music, quite like the dream of an American student wanting to go live in Manhattan and be a part of that culture. Little does Jenny know that her plans will soon change when she meets an older man, David (Peter Sarsgaard). Soon, the two begin going out with each other, and somehow, David gets Jenny's father to loosen up a bit and let Jenny live her life. Not all is as easy going as it seems with David, though. Jenny soon realizes she might not know exactly what she wants as life gets thrusted at her a mile a minute. Overall, this is a great film. Carey Mulligan is great in her first lead role, fitting Jenny perfectly.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Most anticipated for 2010
What am I looking forward to seeing this year? Read on and find out.
Shutter Island
This movie was originally supposed to be released in October, but got pushed back by Paramount on account of 'money problems'. I didn't buy that since they had just made hundreds of millions on Transformers:Revenge of the Fallen, but whatever. Anyway, so this is probably tied with the next movie on my list as the movie I'm most looking forward to seeing. If you have not read the book (or seen the trailers) yet, Shutter Island is about a couple of police that are sent to investigate the case of a missing patient at an insane asylum on Shutter Island. The book is fabulously written by Dennis Lehane (Mystic River), and I assume this will be a faithful adaptation. It is directed by Martin Scorcese (The Departed, The Aviator, Gangs of New York, etc) and stars Leonardo DiCaprio. These two men make a fantastic pair every time they work together. This is gonna be released Feb. 19th. I'm going opening day, so I'll post a review the minute I get back. Oh yeah, and this story packs a HUGE surprise ending you won't see coming.
Inception
This movie is directed by Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Memento, The Prestige), so it has that going for it. As you might know, Nolan used a lot of Imax cams for TDK, and I presume he did so for this movie as well. This movie revolved around a futuristic society where the government uses spies to go inside your head while you are dreaming, and they are able to see what you see. This is a blackmail story built up in the midst of it all. This also stars DiCaprio (probably gonna be a great year for him), Ellen Page (Juno), Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose, Nine), Joseph Gordon Levitt (500 Days of Summer), Michael Caine, etc. This is a great cast, and I don't think there is any way this movie could go wrong. It will be released July 16, and I personally will be counting down the days until then.
Other movies I'm looking forward to:
Alice in Wonderland
Iron Man 2
Robin Hood
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