The Oscar Winners

There is one, single word I would use to describe the Oscar Presentation last night... long!! I can't believe they were able to stretch that many awards into 4 hours! Not to mention the pre-Oscar Show in which reporters and "the fashion police" are on patrol, speaking like ya care, until you almost can't stand to look in the mirror and call yourself a human. Seriously. "What do the stars eat?!" Have you seen Nathalie Portamn, girl? They eat NOTHING. Even pregnant she's the smallest person I've ever seen.

Anyway- with THAT behind us- let's talk about who took home the awards!

Best Picture of the Year: After much anticipation, it has gone to The King's Speech. I won't pretend to be surprised or upset about this one. That movie had it all- a starstudded cast, without being A-List, witty dialogue, clever ways to keep the audience's attention, great music, costumes, makeup, editting, cinematography, etc. This film has literally swept the industry, not only because it's an "original" screenplay doing so well (Let's not forget, it is based on actual events, so it's technically a nonfiction adaptation) but this is a COMPLETELY off-the-book film. The industry's standard that they've slipt into sounds a lot like "Bigger and better than ever before!" If it's not an Epic, it's a Sequel. If it's not a sequel, it's based on a video game or a comic book. They want to shake the younger audience. With this film, they relied on the opinions of the mature audience, and not just on the middle school crowd who can't wait to see Avatar in 3D for the seventh time... this week. The King's Speech is a sign to writers, directors, and audiences, that America's film department is coming out if its agregious recession, and we're headed, again, for intellect.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Colin Firth for The King's Speech. While I am proud of the middle-aged Firth for accepting this role, and what a surprise it was for him and for his friend and family, especially given his older age and working in Hollywood, I actually thought that Jesse Eisenberg was going to collect this one for The Social Network. I felt like that role was unlike anything he'd done, so far, and the character was so... GOOD. But, in large part, that character was good for his line and delivery. Eisenberg takes credit for the delivery, but not those lines- those are all writer, baby. So, Firth claimed the award, I'm sure in part by making a stammer easy and hard for us to watch at the same time. You go, Colin.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Nathalie Portman for Black Swan. I mean... of course! Nathalie, you are Captain Rule-a-Role. Everything I have ever seen that girl in, she takes a part, makes it COMPLETELY her own, and turns it into a ravenous beast that could rip out your throat. She's such a cute little thing, and a badass- a total oxymoron- but she's captivating, cinematic, and talented. You're right, Academy. Black Swan may not have been the best written, but it was certainly good for one thing: Nathalie and Mila. Need I say more?

Best Performance by Actor in a Supporting Role: Christian Bale for The Fighter. Okay, so I still haven't seen this one. I rest judgment until I do see it, but let me just say... Mark Ruffalo is FIIINE and he did a fantastic job in The Kids Are Alright. I'm glad he was nominated, despite Bale taking it home- and what was up with his giant old-man beard? He beats his wife and kids and we have to forgive him, but the man beard? It's makin' it a little harder for me to forget the incident. Bale, try to be sexy at LEAST.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Melissa Leo for The Fighter. Again, I haven't seen this film. But personally- and we all know I didn't like the movie- I was rooting for Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit, a little bit. I mean, she's 14 and that performance was beyond her age as far as I'm concerned. Not to mention she looked great and was completely charming and optimistic the whole time. But, if this performance by Leo was really wonderful, as I will found out as soon as Netflix lets go of its hold on the DVD, then more power to her! Oh, and I did I mention, she was so flabbergasted that she swore on stage? The big one! She was "fucking" excited, man. Loved it.

Best Achievement in Directing: Tom Hooper for The King's Speech. Tommy... nice work. He must really be excited. He's won so many awards at this point, he could make a new suit out of them. And now that award season has ended, he gets to take them all home and make himself a shelf ripe with domination. Thank God he beat the Coen brothers, or I may never have watched the Oscars again. He must really be thanking his mother by now for enjoying Australian theater, so much.

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen: David Siedler for The King's Speech. I completely support this win, though I feel bad for Christopher Nolan. He worked SO hard, for so long... but at least he lost to someone who worked equally as long and hard on his own screenplay. And let's not forget, Siedler was attracted to this story because he grew with- and overcame- a stutter. I'm sure this has been an incredibly emotional award season for him, knowing that his story has been shared so well and so thoughtfully. My condolences to Inception, however, who will not stand forgotten. In my mind, Nolan, you've already won so much just for being the only screenplay nominated which wasn't based on another story, or true events.

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published: Aaron Sorkin for The Social Network. Again, I say, of course. The fact that Toy Story 3 was even in this category shows me how desperate they were. But, aside from that, this film really was great. As I said to my boyfriend last night, however, I wish they'd get smarter with the writing award. Because writing is more than just a story. Some writers right excellent story pieces without so much thought for the dialogue, and vice versa. I wish they would break the category down a little further like they've done to music and sound. That would really be more precise, I feel. Because honestly, I felt that Winter's Bone had a better STORY than The Social Network, but the dialogue in this film could cut glass it was so sharp. Nonetheless, I support the decision, at least... until they break down the category further.

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: Toy Story 3. I hope that no one was surprised about this. It was nominated for Best Picture of the Year for Christ's sake. Of course it was going to win for best animated picture. But, again, I don't think that's bad. The film was a good animated picture, for sure. I also was partial to How to Train Your Dragon, especially for the score which was really well-done, but Toy Story 3 did very well. So, kudos!

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: In a Better World (Denmark). I haven't seen any of the nominees for this category so far, but they included Biutiful (Mexico), Dogtooth (Greece), Incendies (Canada), and Outside the Law (Algeria). I plan on seeing them in the coming weeks, and will post about my responses to them, accordingly.

Best Achievement in Cinematography: Wally Pfister for Inception. Well, if nothing else, at least they finally saw the visual effect of the film. I was happy for this to take this award home, because it helps increase its notority, and the cinematography really was great, and the other films nominated were good, but not exeptional. There you go, Inception. It's going to be okay.

Best Achievement in Editing: Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall for The Social Network. I agree, the editting in this film was great. But, I'm not the best person to judge editing, so... I guess that's my only comment on that one. Moving along!

Best Achievement in Art Direction: Robert Stromberg and Karen O'Hara for Alice in Wonderland. Tim Burton's films are nothing if not artistic, so I felt that this award was well-placed, especially since- apart from Inception- the other nominees weren't especially artistic to me. The sets of this film are stunning, and colorful, and must have taken a good long time to make, so I concur. And, of course, they also took home Best Achievement in Costume Design (Collen Atwood). Again, it was one of the only nominees that really used elaborate costumes so again I say... of course; no contest.

Best Achievement in Makeup: Rick Baker and Dave Elsey for The Wolfman. I actually forgot about this film! I saw it back in January or February of 2010, I believe, and I completely forgot about it. The makeup is wonderful however, and it's also a decent thriller/horror film if you wanted to see it for that. I enjoyed it. It makes good stabs at mental institutions and tall, dreary castles. It is, of course, a remake.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for The Social Network. I absolutely agree with this decision, and I watched the film last night, which made me re-agree. That score is entirely befitting the piece, but can still sound epic when it stands alone. Inception's score was really, really good too, but I think that it's a little too similar to The Dark Night to really stand by itself, whereas Reznor and Atticus's work here is a little more... not original, but noticable, I would say.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song: Randy Newman's "We Belong Together," from Toy Story 3. I'm a little disappointed about this one. I honestly thought that A.R. Rahman and Dido's song "If I Rise," 127 Hours, was better than this one, and that maybe it wasn't chosen because of that film was less popular, or because those artists are less well-known, but the song itself was better and harder hitting to me. Not to mention, I just don't see anything that speical about Randy Newman's voice. The singer in the other piece had a lot of talent. So, boo Academy.

Best Achievements in Sound Mixing and Sound Editing: Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo, Ed Novick, and Richard King for Inception. I don't know much about sound, but power to Inception for packing in the smaller scale awards! It certainly sounded good to me.

Best Achievement in Visual Effects: Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley, Pete Bebb, Paul J. Franklin for Inception. I mean... duh. Paris on the ceiling.

Last of the awards I wll mention: Best Documentary, Feature: Inside Job. This is another category that I have yet to see any of the nominees for, but will be seeing in the coming weeks. So don't worry your pretty little heads, I WILL have an opinion!! I plan on it. :)

Those are the awards! For those of you looking for a complete list of the winners, since I stopped before the shorts, you can find a complete one at IMDB.com, as well as a list of all the potentials- nominees- who did not take home an Oscar. As I said, I'll still be watching some of the nominees in the coming weeks, so look back for those reviews! Award season is over, but a new realm of films to judge is about to begin! I'll be here to keep you posted on my feelings, until next year, when we do this all over again.

How to Train Your Dragon

How to Train Your Dragon (2010) is an animated Adventure/Comedy taking place on The Island of Berk, a Viking settlement. The young Viking, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), who has always been smaller than the others, works as an Apprentice making weaponry for the other Vikings to use since he is too weak to fight. When a dozen dragons attack the settlement, he makes his desire to fight them off as clear as everyone else, however his best intentions only lead to further dismantling of the settlement. Even though his invention to throw weapons at the dragons seems to work, taking one down, no one sees and he's booed back indoors by his own father, Tribe Master, Stoik the Vast (Gerard Butler) who doesn't need a bigger mess to clean up. Hiccup is determined to show his father that his invention has worked, killing a dragon, so he goes looking for the corpse in the forest. He finds the injured, but not dead, body of the mysterious Night Fury dragon. He has ruined one of the wings on its tail, however, and stuck down in field of grass and water below the mountain level,  it cannot fly. He cannot bring himself to kill it, however. But his father has set his mind to accept Hiccup for a dragon killer just as Hiccup decides he doesn't want to kill them, he wants to learn from them. Still, he's thrust into training to be a dragon killer during the day time, seeing his long time, dragon-killing crush, Astrid (America Ferara), and leaving to tend to the dragon he trains for himself afterward- who he names Toothless due to his ability to disguise himself as having no teeth. But as each side of him develops, he realizes that each one has a path that he cannot turn back from. And dragons are not what his people have thought. Can he juggle both lives long enough to please his father, and save the dragon he's grown to love?

Produced by Dreamworks, How to Train Your Dragon is actually an adaptation of one story in a series of books written by the British, children's author, Cressida Cowell, published in 2003. When it was first adapted by William Davies, it was whimsical and adorable, sticking very close to Cowell's novel. But when Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders- most famous for their writing of Disney's Lilo and Stitch- entered the picture as co-directors, things changed. Davies had Toothless the dragon has a very small creature, smaller than most dragons, like the novel. He was redone to be the breed of the rare Night Fury, and large enough to carry Hiccup and Astrid on his back, at once. Roger Deakins, who often works with The Coen Brothers, was hired by the filmmakers as cinematographer to make the animated picture have a live action feel. This film is currently up for Best Animated Feature of the year at The Acamdey Awards, to be voted upon, tonight.

The score of the movie is another distinguishing feature it has. Listening to the movie, it's nostalgic of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and beautiful, old Celtic work. This score is probably my favorite so far, for 2010. Having now seen all of the nominations for score, I would have to pick this one. And we all know I LOVE Hans Zimmer (getting the credit this year for Inception) but this score really stood out from the film, all on its own. I wasn't listening for it, but it's there. As I said, it is also nominated for Best Original Score, this year, to be decided upon, tonight.

This movie is kind of adorable, as the writings dictates from the novel, but it's also hilarious at times. There is definitely a feel of the Lilo and Stitch humor by writers Sanders and DeBlois. Lilo and Stitch has a slapstick, hard-hitting punch line feel to it. It's really quick and witty. This film also has moments like that, and that style is great for a kid's movie, and can also keep adults widely entertained. The writing, in my opinion, is a huge success. I also found the picture to be really beautiful. Computer-generated animation can hit or miss at times, but this film is really nice to look at. The characters are in a less traditional style, not looking especially like anything else I've seen. They still look like PEOPLE, of course, but it's definitely not Disney.

It's hard to say if I prefered this film over Toy Story 3. They're both adaptations, but at least this one isn't a sequel, if I might say that (filmwise, anyway). I found them both to be as equally emotionally in depth as the other. I enjoyed watching them about the same. I found them both to be as graphically stimulating as the other. So it wouldn't be a surprise if either of them were to take home the award. Unfortunately, The Illusionist is still not available to me to judge, so if that one wins, I'll have to be surprised! How to Train Your Dragon has already won all of the Annie Awards it was nominated for, and the Visual Effects Awards. Animation is not my specialty, but it seems to be doing rather well.

I would reccomend this movie to kids, or to my cartoon-watching adult friends. Honestly, I didn't see any problems with it. It's not really a 'thinking' piece, it's another one of Hollywood's "3D Epics." You watch it to have fun, not to get involved. It's light in that way.

The Kids Are All Right

The Kids Are All Right (2010) is a Drama/Comedy in which Nic (Annette Bening) and Jules (Julianne Moore) are a long-term lesbian couple raising two kids. Their eldest, Joni (Mia Wasikowska) is in extremely intelligent, and in between high school and college- her last summer at home. She's just turned 18. Her younger half-brother, Laser (Josh Hutcherson) and she have different mothers-- he's Jules's biological son, and Joni is Nic's biological daughter-- but they share the same father- a sperm donor who they've never met. Now that she's 18, Joni is legally allowed to call the Sperm Bank and get the details on her biological father. She's not interested-- but feeling separated from both his legal parents, and having a douche-bag for a best friend, Laser is definitely interested. He convinces her to make the call, and they meet him. Paul (Mark Ruffalo) is working at his home-grown garden when he gets the call from Joni. He's a hippie type who likes to work with his hands and sleep with the girl working nearby, Tanya (Yaya Dacosta), growing all his produce locally, and he's an amazing call. He completely forgot he ever donated the sperm until Joni calls, but wants to meet his two biological children anyway. After meeting with them, he's captivated with these two young adults, and cannot get enough-- father life wasn't something he saw for himself, but he's more and more drawn to it. When the moms find out, they're less okay with it than they always thought they'd be. But, still, they make an attempt to meet him, and get to know him so that they're comfortable with their kids doing so. But as tension builds between Nic and Jules, and the family gets closer to the newly introduced Paul, little things start to pull them all apart. And it's only a matter of time before Joni will be gone.

This film is an original screenplay by Stuart Blumberg and Lisa Cholodenko, who also directed it. It's based on aspects from Cholodenko's real life, and was began in 2004. She stopped writing in 2006 however, when she was impregnanted by a sperm-donor. Julianne Moore was the first actor enlisted for the production, followed by Mark Ruffalo and then Annette Bening. It was made on a budget of four million dollars. It was widely received as an unbelievable picture when it first came out, and was releashed on DVD and bluray in November, 2010. It's currently up for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, as well as Best Leading Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Original Screenplay-- which has been officially changed to "Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen" due to a slump in truly original written work.

This film, though marked as a comedy, was surprisingly humorous to me. For some reason, in reading the summary, I just didn't think it was going to be that funny-- it seemed like it would be kind of a downer, and at times, it can be. But there were several moments that made me literally laugh out loud. The comedy was tasteful and good. The movie is really a drama as far as I'm concerned, but moments of it really are funny. Apart from that, not a lot about this movie sticks with me. The performances were good, they just weren't striking. This movie wasn't groundbreaking for me in anyway. HOWEVER, I was clear to say "for me." I'm aware that lesbian parents aren't yet 'mainstream' in society-- which is disgusting, by the way. It ought to be, by now-- and because of that, this is sort of the Brokeback Mountain of girls. I feel like that's part of why it's up is the homosexual subject matter, especially them being parents.

This film also happened to be visually... bright! The sun was always shining, the trees blew in the breeze, it has a palpable feeling of summertime, and even though I'm a winter girl, it made me yearn for Spring. This film has a really nice quality to its sets and lighting. It's warm and inviting. The visuals had a really nice effect on the movie. The sex scenes in the movie are also... painful? I think painful is the right word. Even when the sex is being enjoyed, it's just so awkward-- like Election. You just kind of want it to go away. (And by the way, if I see one more awkward sex scene, I may never fornicate again.) The characters are believable and well-written, as well as all the different layers of conflict. They're subtle, but noticeable, and really great. These people have believable issues, which makes it a good statement on contemporary, middle-aged lesbian life in the burbs. 

I did enjoy this movie, and I might even buy it, but it wasn't 'new' to me. Inception explored new territory for me. The King's Speech explored a speech disorder, something I haven't seen in a film. Black Swan explored a thriller concept with a ballerina... those films had a certain new quality to them, even though two of the three are adaptatons and not new ideas, at all. They still FELT new. To me, someone who owns all 5 seasons of Queer as Folk, has seen The L Word lives in "The City of Brotherly Love" and has a girlcrush on P!NK... this just isn't that new. I felt that if the lesbian parents had been removed from the story, and the kids had been born to straight parents who simply needed a sperm donor, this film would have been... boring. The lesbians were what made it hip, new, and interesting. Don't get me wrong, as I said, I enjoyed this movie and found it a pleasure to watch. But aside from the lesbians, what's the catch? Not much. The writing was clearly well-done though, just from seeing the film, and if that wins, I wouldn't be surprised or upset. It's just not the Best Picture of 2010. Still, I reccommend it. It's kind of calming and a pleasure to watch. I wouldn't call it 'uplifting' but it's definitely enjoyable.

Burlesque

Okay guys, so I wrote this review back in November, just before the movie Burlesque came out, and it's been on the blog I write for my University since then. It's not in the same style I usually write my reivews in- it's more of a breakdown of what's WRONG with the movie... but since it's up for nearly no awards, I think it's fitting to point out its issues at the moment. Yes?
Since I do not yet have The Kids Are All Right from Netflix, and I cannot find The Fighter anywhere, this is just an interjection review so you have something to read! Enjoy.

Let's start with the bad...
The plot lacked… plot points? There was a distinct want of the protagonist (Aguilera) in the beginning of the film, however that want was satisfied before the movie was even halfway over. After that, you can discern that she simply wants to be “the best.” This is not really an attainable thing to achieve, and therefore, there’s never a point where the audience can say “she’s reached it!” This makes having a false climax next to impossible… and it equally effect’s the character’s low point. Because she was never “so close to getting the thing that she always wanted” there was no force to come and take that away from her. The film was set up decently enough, and there was a clear inciting incident and decision… but then the movie lost all of its plot steam.

There was no central antagonist causing problems for the protagonist. There were certain antagonistic forces, like the protagonist’s ex-employer, who caused the first reversal, causing her to move in with the B Story character, Jack, and thus giving them ample time to fall in love. There was a bitchy girl, Nikki (played by Kristen Bell) who worked at the Burlesque club, and who’s shoes Aguilera ends up filling in the midpoint when she allows herself to sing live on stage, but that character, after that point, loses all POWER to cause any problems for Aguilera, and simply stews in resentment in the background. There’s a rich, “I take what I want” character named Marcus at this point in the film, who’s after the protagonist for her body, but he never tries to take anything away from her. Throughout the whole film, he’s trying to buy the Burlesque club from Tess (Cher) who refuses to sell. Toward the end, Aguilera discovers that he’ll want to put up a sky-scraper in place of the club, and oh no! She’s upset. She tells Tess and they convince the man across the street to buy the air rights over the club so that he cannot build. You could call this a low point… ya know, if forgetting to put the toilet seat down and then falling in is the worst day of your life, then yes. This is a Low Point.

There’s a B Story lowpoint, yes, in which she discovers that Jack wasn’t COMPLETELY broken up with his fiancé. Oh no! But, that’s quickly resolved with very little fall out, and this movie is NOT set up as a Romantic Comedy, and therefore cannot be supported plotwise by a bulky B Story (not that it was “bulky” in the first place. It was simply much bigger than the A Story… which stopped existing after the Mid Point).

HOWEVER… (Bringing us into the good)
Because this was a musical, the plot was intervened by glamorous, lovely Burlesque numbers!
The costumes were fantastic. Typical, burlesque costume and lingerie, sailor hats, nurses’ outfits, bright red lips, and black high heels adorned the frames, as well as multiple wigs and make up styles, fit for the racier numbers, then others to go with the chic, glamorous songs. My favorite outfit of Aguilera was made completely of pearls, and during the song, she ditched the top and was campily covered by a fan of ostrich feathers, sequenced with knocking wood blocks in the song, for a true 1920’s, musical flare. Very cute, very classy, very sexy.

Furthermore, Aguilera’s voice would knock both Velma Kelly AND Roxy Heart on their asses. Cher had only two numbers in the piece- a little disappointing that they weren’t mingled within the movie and never shared in a duet, but, that is back to the writing, is it not? And we are pushing forward. Some of the best sung pieces I thought were “But I Am A Good girl,” and, “Guy What Takes his Time,” by Aguilera, and “Welcome to Burlesque” performed by Cher.

The acting was also nothing to be ashamed of. I was a little iffy, wondering if either of the two main characters could pull it off, but I thought they both did passable performances; could have been better, but they certainly could have been worse. There were also great performances included by Stanley Tucci, playing Sean, Cam Gigandet playing Jack, and Kristen Bell, playing Nikki.

The writing as I’ve said, was not the best, but there WAS a truly hilarious B Story moment between Jack and Alice (Aguilera) before their love is consummated, which I will not spoil, because apart from the musical numbers, it was the best damn part of the movie. I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes musicals for the music, or who’s into Burlesque. It gets a little chick-flicky at times, but it’s not an emotional piece (actually, I felt very little emotion at all, unless I was in awe over the dancing, or laughing my ass off at Jack).
I’d give it a 7.5/10, over all.

True Grit

True Grit (2010) is a Western Drama in which 14-year-old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) travels to a distant town in the Old West to collect the dead body of her murdered father. It's made clear that he was killed by one of his own hired hands, Tom Chaney, who also stole some of his California gold. Mattie is determined to find the murderer and bring him to justice, since she believes the law will not. Out of three reccomendations, she chooses to hire Deputy U.S. Marshall Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), because he is described as being the most malicious and nonforgiving- with real "true grit" about him. Sitting on his trial, she learns that he doesn't have a care for human life if he believes them to be guilty. He can't even keep track of the number of men he's killed in the line of duty. She pursues him, but he refuses to accept her offer, but Mattie won't hear of it-- she's quick-witted, clever, and well-educated. Sleeping in with an elderly woman at an inn, she's approached by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) who tells her to go home- he's hot on the trail of Tom Chaney, and has been ever since he killed a senator in Waco, Texas. She tells him that he's neglected to catch him so far, so she will stick with Rooster. There's tension between the two of them, as he doesn't take kindly to being lectured by a small girl. She convinces Rooster to work for her with her keen tongue and smart logic. He tells her to leave $50 and come back at 7AM the next day, but when she does, he's gone. She follows him to the river and forces her horse, Little Blackie, to swim across. When she gets over there she finds that LaBoeuf and Rooster have teamed up as LaBoeuf suggested, and she has to take both or nothing if she wants to find the man who killed her father. But with the tension mounting between the three of them, on a dustry trail in the mountains where you might rely on your friends to survive, can she handle the journey to bring the murderer to justice?

This film is a remake of the 1969 True Grit directed by Henry Hathaway and starring John Wayne. Both movies are adaptations of the 1968 novel by Charles Portis, also called True Grit. This particular adaptation was written by Joel and Ethan Coen, who also directed it. With the exception of Burn After Reading, this is the first Coen Brother's production I have seen. The Coen Brothers have also written such classics as The Big Lebowsky, and No Country for Old Men. This film was rumored to be in the works in 2008, but it went unofficially confirmed until March, 2009. They were admittedly drawn to the character of Mattie, even though she has certain dislikeable qualities, they admired her. It reached the number 1 spot in the box office in its third week running, and has a "soft" PG-13 rating, atypical for the Coen Brothers, which they and President of Paramount Pictures attribute parcially to the success of the film. It's currently nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing at The Academy Awards.

Now, let me start by saying, I am not necessarily a fan of Westerns. I am also not necessarily a fan of The Coen Brothers' work. I have only seen one other thing they have to show for themselves, Burn After Reading, and I thought it was a little... boring. It looked like it would be funny, but it wasn't. Maybe it's just my sense of humor. When it comes to True Grit, or any movie that has already been done, I have a personal feeling that when a movie is made- it's made... stop making it. It's been done. Move on. Grow a brain. Use the imagination that should hopefully be located somewhere inside it. But, let me also say, I LOVED The Dark Knight which is a film that has been done, and was based on a comic before that. So... good things can come of the process. For me, True Grit was not one of those good things. Honestly... I'm a little dumbfounded as to why it's so popular, and why it's doing so well. I look at the list of things it's been nominated for and just think... no! How is that possible? It's not even FAIR to nominated a movie like this for Best Writing. I'm sorry, no. The writing has been done and done and DONE again! If you're going to do it yet AGAIN, it should be fucking perfect. This isn't. This movie is boring. Act 2 had me lost going "There's still an hour left? Wtf?!" Nothing even HAPPENS in this movie. More happens in The King's Speech and it's based on a man who can't even talk, and is trying to. Are you kidding me with this? It has nothing to do with the Southern feel, which I actually enjoyed in this film, or going in biased about The Coen Brothers, because I didn't have enough background to judge them before now.

Best Costume? Really? What costumes? It could have been 100% better than it was, in my opinion. It's all just... boring. The movie is called True Grit but there's very little about it that seems "true" or "gritty." None of it is hard to watch- with their 'soft' rating, and it's not exactly gritty either. I will say that I did think Hailee Steinfeld did a good job- I did admire her performance, and did enjoy the character that was played. But, it's not like she didn't have a reference- or TWO- and because of that, it should have blown me away. I have very high standards when it comes to remakes, because there's not a lot left to be original, so you better fix what was done wrong in the first place. I admittedly have not seen the original, so maybe it's absolutely terrible, and therefore this one is a Godsend... but I sort of doubt it.

I liked the soundtrack of this movie, a lot, so I wouldn't mind it taking home some sound awards. Anything else it gets, I'll have to be upset about. I wanted to see this movie, based on the commercial I saw. It looked like it was going to be really interesting, adventurous and captivating. It... wasn't any of those things. All of the other nominees have been so good, until now, that it would be a little insulting if this is chosen. Everyone seems to enjoy this movie, so maybe there's just something wrong with me, but I wouldn't reccomend this movie to any of my friends or family members- even my father, who likes Westerns. I don't think there's anything special or memorable out this, which means it's not Award worthy, and it's CERTAINLY not deserving of "Best Picture" of the friggen year. (I bet some of you were wondering if I gave bad reviews until this point. I do... when it's deserved.) But, I still say that anyone in the field of film should give the movie a view, because even though I don't think it deserves an award, someone certainly does, and it's a good point of reference for those who want to crack into the field.

The Social Network

The Social Network (2010) is a Biographical Drama about the creator of the social networking site, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and the enemies he made in the process. In the opening of the film, he's seen with his then-girlfriend, Erica Albright (Rooney Mara). He's selfish, incredibly intellegent- a fast-paced speaker- and rude to her. She breaks up with him. He goes home and drunkenly blogs about the bad aspects of Erica- such has her unideal bra size, and controversial family name change. At the same time, he creates a website called Facesmash, where he compares two photos of girls on campus to be rated based on their physical attractiveness. He hacks campus security in record time, and it's up. The site crashes the network, but not before it reaches 22,000 views. This reaches the attention of Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss (Armie Hammer), members of the row-team that Mark wishes he was good enough to join (or any well-standing fratboy scene of the like) who have been working on an idea for a Harvard dating website, exclusive to Harvard members. Mark agrees to help them. He proposes the idea to his good friend, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) for a social networking site linked to the same exclusiveness proposed by the twin Winklevoss brothers. The site is a huge success, and the Winklevossess are upset by this, claiming ownership to the idea, but one of them is timid about pursuing Mark on the subject, legally. As the popularity of Facebook explodes, it attracts more than members- creator of Napster, Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) wants in on the project, and he easily impresses Mark, dividing a line between himself and business parter, and best friend, Eduardo. The film takes place at the same time as it nonlinearly shows us the lawsuits between Mark and the Winklevosses and Mark and Eduardo. And the question keeps coming up, how much of an asshole is Mark, really? And what will become of him- as the rest of us already know what is to become of Facebook.

This film is based on the biographical book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich. The screenplay was adapted by Aaron Sorkin, also known for his writing in the television show, The West Wing. It was directed by David Fincher, who has a great deal of good-filmmaking to his credit, but some of the most notable titles being Fight Club, Se7en, and Zodiac. The first cast member attached to the film was Jesse Eisenberg, who coincidentally has a cousin who works as a Facebook Product Designer. The opening scene between Mark and his then-girlfriend, Erica, reportedly took 99 takes to get perfect (and having heard the amount of witty banter and dialogue, and the pace with which it's spit out, I can understand why). The Winklevoss twins were both played by the same actor, with Josh Pence acting as the body double in the scenes where they are shown together- just about all of the scenes- and then Hammer's face was superimposed onto Pence's afterward. An interesting fact about the realness of the movie is that the designers spent a good deal of time on the wardrobe worn by Mark Zuckerberg, and made sure that each and every shirt, fleece, sandal ensamble he wears in the film was one that he actually owned in his real-life. However, Zuckerberg was not entirely happy with the film being based on him (as he's portrayed in a rather negative light) and does porport that the partying is amped up for dramatic effect, in the film, and that he did NOT create it having anything to do with women, but because he enjoyed building new things. This film is currently up for Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Directing, Best Editing, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Best Adapted Screenplay, and more at the Academy Awards.

The soundtrack was done by the infamous NIN (Nine Inch Nails) musician, Trent Rezor, as well as Atticus Ross. The two musicians have already taken home the Golden Globe for Best Original Soundtrack, and are also nominated for the same at the upcoming Acamdemy Awards, as well as being nominated for Best Sound Mixing, going to Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick, and Mark Weingarten. Admittedly, this is my choice for both awards in both categories. The sound in this movie is superb- and it's not just because I have a thing for tasty singer/soundwriter/and-just-about-every-other-muscial-talent, Trent Reznor. It really is great- very mechanical, digital, and fitting to the subject matter.

For me, the most notable thing in this movie was definitely the dialogue. The spoken word has a powerful effect and command in this film, where it wouldn't neccessarily, normally. There are certain moments and scenerios for the film that stick with me, and I feel that the reason is the dialogue being said. This is partially credited to the actor speaking the words (in many instanes, Jesse Eisenburg), but it's mostly to the credit of the writer. Having not read the book, I cannot say which of the two credited writers wrote the words, but it's no surprise to me that this film is up for Best Achievement in Writing. It's punctuated, memorable, and witty without really being funny. Another reason I enjoyed this film was seeing a selfish, un-likeable quality so well-displayed by the Michael Cera look-alike, Jesse Eisenberg. I admit to being one of the people who link the two actors together, especailly after Eisenberg's performance in Zombieland. It seemed as though he might follow the same typecasting death as Cera did, however, I was happily surprised by the display of his range in this film. His performance is the second most memorable part of the experience, in my opinion. This film feels very contemporary- which is a duh since all of the events happen in or before 2003, but what I mean is that I see a lot of labels. Facebook (of course), Bank of America, GAP; the product placement doesn't stop, but it doesn't leave a bad taste. It simply feels contemporary- like passing a McDonalds on the way to school. It just... is.

It's hard to say whether or not I think this film is best film of the year. I loved the writing. I also really like Eisenburg for Best Actor, but I still need to see Javier Bardem in Biutiful, and Jeff Bridges in True Grit before I comit to that desicion fully. I also feel bad putting him above Franco for 127 Hours, but hey. This performance just sits more memorably with me. Maybe I watch too many thrillers, and that's why 127 Hours just didn't move me, but whatever the case, I'm putting Eisenberg before him. I would put the dialogue in this movie above Winter's Bone, Toy Story 3 and 127 Hours for SURE... but I still need to see True Grit before I vote it as the best. Best Film of the year... it wouldn't disappoint me, but I am still looking to Inception or The King's Speech on that one.

Still, I definitely reccomend this movie to just about anyone. The beauty of a drama is that it's marketable to everyone. There's no horror for the faint-of-heart. There's not a great deal of comedy for the serious audience, but there's enough for the younger crowd of fun-seekers. It's mature and easy to follow, but clearly brilliantly written. I definitely like it for several awards, if not Best Picture of the Year. Plus, Facebook has become a universal media outlet as we all use it. It's interesting to see how it came to be through the politics, perseverance, and betrayal. Whether you own a Facebook or not, it's an interesting story to see.

Black Swan

Black Swan (2010) is a Psychological Thriller of a play within a film, following the story of "Swan Lake." Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) is a young woman living with her mother while she attends school to be a ballerina. She's extremely timid, shy, and virginal, and when she is chosen to audition for the play "Swan Lake," she's a shoe in for the role of "White Swan," but there's a problem- Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel), her teacher, wants to cast the same woman for the roles of "White Swan" and "Black Swan" and Nina just doesn't embody the Black Swan. She convinces him without knowing on a bite to the lip when he attempts to take advantage of her, and he casts her as the Swan Queen, despite his fears that she's not versatile. As the tension heats up for Nina, not quite being able to let go of her frustrations and need to be absolutely perfect, and her mother only adds to her stress, Nina hesitantly makes friends with the easy-going party girl Lily (Mila Kunis), who can never show up on time and pops pills with her alcohol. But is everyone as innocent as they appear? Who can Nina trust? As Opening Night draws closer, and she begins to question what she's really seeing apart from what she might be hallucinating, everything's called into question, and the roles of White and Black Swan will have to become one.

The original story was written by Andres Heinz.  It was adapted into a screenplay by Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz, and John J. Mclaughlin, and directed by Darren Aronofsky, who also directed one of my absolute favorite thrillers, Requiem for a Dream, as well as The Wrestler. Aronofsky was originally interested in ballet when his sister was in school, and he hired a team of screenwriters to break down the script called The Understudy to make this film. He added in various elements that he was drawn to, including the duelity of the White and Black Swan characters. He first approached Natalie Portman about the role of a ballerina back in 2000, before he directed The Wrestler, and found her attracted to the idea. He mentioned to her the love scene between two ballerinas, in which one sees herself in the other, and she found it to be a great comentary on art and artists- being equally in love with and repulsed by themselves. It was Portman who reccomended Kunis (her good friend) for the role opposite her as the 'looser' character with more passion, juxtaposed to Portman's 'good girl,' who was stiff as a board. To become ready for the roles, the girls each engaged in intense physical activity- for up to five hours of cadio, pilates, swimming, etc a day, seven days a week, for six months- before they even began learning the cheoriography. Kunis, normally weighing about 117 pounds, lost 20, and Portman lost even more. They do fit the standard of professional ballerinas aesthetically in the film, but it is rather jarring to see the span of Portman's shoulders holding up her head in almost the same width. Jarring. This film is up for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing, this year at the Academy Awards.

This film is more startling than I understood it to be. The thriller theme runs through it like a spine, and this movie really is very surprising and dark. Portman has become kind of a stick for me as playing roles in which her character is... well... nuts; crazy, but badass- so that part was no shock, for me. The shockers for me were the hallucinations, the visual effects in which she nearly becomes a swan, the relationship with the mother character (Barbara Hershey), and all the erotic moments, so still, frigid, that we feel terrible for watching- just another person interupting her privacy and keeping her from orgasm. The whole film sort of walks on the edge of a needle, teetering between insanity, genius, and some third dimension, raw passion. The themes are well-written, and beautifully executed, and though the protagonist has a very clear arc,

I don't think I'd vote this film as Best Cinematography, having seen Inception. However- and it's kind of unfair to say this with complete certainty since I have not seen Blue Valentine or The Kids are Alright, but, thus far, I would vote for Portman as Best Actress in a Leading Role. I did really like Lawrence's performance in Winter's Bone, but Portman is just so shocking and compelling to watch, that she wins me over in almost anything I see- and damn that girl works hard. This is also not my choice for Best Picture, still gunning for either Inception or The King's Speech as I am. I'm holding off on the judgment of Best Director and Best Editing for a spell, not being especially moved by this film in either of those departments, and still needing to see the other nominees.

A couple of my fellow screenwriters, and several of my close friends, didn't like this film. There were moments when I thought that certain emotions could have been conveyed better (having not seen Swan Lake, except for The Swan Princess when I was a child) and there were moments when I didn't know exactly what was going on- having nothing to do with a hallucination. But, maybe I'm just stupid. I did love the costumes in the piece, but having a play within a film... of course there are going to be great costumes. I would reccomend that people see it as a THRILLER piece, and not necessarily for the Swan Lake component, though I was equally impressed with Portman as a dancer, having never seen that side of her, before. She did very well. I do think this movie was worth seeing. I don't find it to be Best Picture, but I did enjoy it.

Winter's Bone

Winter's Bone (2010) is a Drama/Mystery/Thriller about 17-year-old, Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) who takes care of her younger brother and sister, and mother who appears to be catatonic. She cooks, cleans and dreams of going to a University and entering the Military while living in a dirt poor, rural, middle/south town- possibly Missouri, where even the days are cold, and she relies on neighbors for simple things like food, firewood, or transportation. Mostly, she walks where she needs to get. She's chopping wood for her family to use when the local sheriff stops by her house. Her father is missing, he says, but the court date set up for him is coming up, quickly. He tells her that he's most likely back into cooking Meth. She doesn't have any information for the sherif, but he informers her that if she can't find him in time for the court date, there's going to be a problem- because her father posted the house and surrounding land as his bond. And if he doesn't show up, the court will seize the bond for themselves. Ree searches in close family ties, and ones far away, through criminal friends of her father, as well as enemies. Gossip plays a major role in whether or not she'll find her father, and even her father's own brother says he's most likely been murdered. But unless Ree can find him and talk him into coming back, or otherwise find his corpse to present when he doesn't show up for the court date, she's going to find herself out of a home, and her family forced to take to the woods.

This film is based on the novel, Winter's Bone, written by Daniel Woodrell in 2006. The screenplay was adpated by Debra Granik, who went on to direct it. It was produced on a low budget, and follows the same gritty, piecey feeling of Granik's first film, Down to the Bone. She was originally interested in the material before it had even been published by Woodrell, but he knew what to expect if his rites were signed over to her, and he trusted the results. A big pull into the story for her was the subject matter of Meth and the very real impact it's had on that region of the country. It's true that just the state of Oregon is in a Drug Emergency Zone for the substance, and something like 90% of the population know someone who does it, or knows someone who makes it, or knows someone who has died because of it. The film was shot in such a way proposed by the filmmakers that Jennifer Lawrence had real-life struggles posed upon her for the shooting to affect her performane. She really did have to deal with cutting logs, and living amongst certain animals and cold, and it gives the performance a certain edge that is detectable to the auidience. The film is currently nominated for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress in a Leading Role, and Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the Academy Awards.

I honestly cannot think of a complaint about the film. On a personal note, I prefer a film with a few moments that provide either humor on some level, or an uplifting feeling, of which this film has neither- but that is not to the film's discredit, and I don't necessarily think that it would have benefited from such a thing. The film is sort of depressing, and sobering- but it's supposed to be. It's not my personal preference as far just as far as mood is concerned, but I still recognize that it's extremely impacting and good.

I did feel that this film was well nominated for Best Picture. It's gritty, real, emotional, and at times, the feelings of desperation and isolation are almost jarring. Not to mention that, for a low budget film, the visuals are fantastic. The cinematography is completely suitable to the material, for all the poverty and rural trash depicted. This film is a great question of character, with explicit contemporary themes. It's a very well-executed piece. I also think it's a good choice for Best Adapted Screenplay, because you can almost see the well-written material that's the backbone of this film- it really stands out. You can almost see the words on the page. For a film that sometimes relies on gossip, it has a marvelous amount of 'showing' action, versus 'telling' it.