Oscar Reactions

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The opening monologue was amazing. But will people give them grief for making light of the recession? I don’t care. Jackman was great.

· Reading the supporting actress nominees took ENTIRELY too long. Entirely. If the whole night goes like this…I’ll be up until 2am.

· Steve Martin and Tina Fey were hilarious as Screenwriting presenters. I also LOVE the idea of reading the script as we see the finished product. GO SLUMDOG.

· Half an hour in and my wife has already told me to see WALL-E three times.

· I did enjoy the musical montage, though it was clear that Beyonce was lipsyncing. I would have chosen different songs—though it was entertaining. I give it a B, overall.

· Really no surprises, except for supporting actress.

· In the middle of the awards, I realized that I absolutely admire each of the best director nominees, and I’ve seen multiple films from each. I wouldn’t have been upset with any of them winning (though I’m quite happy Boyle got it).

· I did say earlier that having five former best supporting actresses, but I have to admit that seeing the five former best actresses up there, it’s pretty damn impressive.

· I particularly enjoyed the best actor montage. Lots of good memories there.

· Ditto with the impressiveness of the former best actors. Magnificent Seven soundtrack??? I guess for Yul Brynner.

· Big surprise with Sean Penn. I wanted to hear what Mickey Rourke was going to say. I did like Penn’s speech, though.

· Loved the best picture montage. Glad Slumdog won.

Wil Wheaton Says the Watchmen Movie is Good

In a nice spoiler-clean review, Wil Wheaton talks about his impressions on the Watchmen movie. His conclusion: we don't have anything to worry about.

Read the review.

Watchmen on DVD Will Come in Tall, Grande, and Venti

A friend passed on this link to me today, and I felt I needed to do the same. Zach Snyder, director of the anticipated Watchmen movie, is saying that he will release at least three different versions of the film on DVD--for the obsessed, the very obsessed, and the downright fanatical.

I've gotta say that at this point, I'm downright fanatical about Watchmen; whether that fanaticism carries over to the video medium...well, we'll find out on March 6th, won't we?

Check out the article: Watchmen will come in long, extra-long and really extra long.

40 Inspirational Speeches from the Movies in Two Minutes

Linky.

Film Review: Yojimbo

Of all the Akira Kurasawa films I have seen, this one feels the most like a Western. Set in feudal Japan, Yojimbo is the story of a ronin samurai that happens upon a town that has been overrun by two rival gambling gangs. Having no money or belongings, he thinks it would be fun to clean out all of the corruption in this town. Whether he decides to do this as a matter of morality or otherwise is not made too clear in the film.

The Western parallels are certainly not coincidental--Yojimbo was directly adapted into A Fistful of Dollars by Sergio Leone (the first "spaghetti Western")--and many of Kurasawa's other films have been adapted as well. The scene is a dusty, windy town in the middle of nowhere, all the citizens are afraid, the audience can't really trust anyone, and the music alternates between serious and whimsical.

In a broader Kurasawa sense, I liked Seven Samurai and Rashomon better, and Hidden about the same, but for my money, there isn't much better than these films. Yojimbo is a classic film that has sparked a lot of the films of today. Watch it if you like good stuff.

Technorati Tags: Yojimbo, Movies

Film Review: Broken Flowers

Broken Flowers is a film that fans of the art will definitely respect, but it's a film that isn't quite appropriate for mass consumption. It's extremely stylized, it's well-acted (especially by the lead, Bill Murray), and it gets you to think--these are all great things.

The problem is that Broken Flowers is too obvious where it should be nuanced, and too nuanced when it should be more obvious. For instance, Jim Jarmusch makes symbols obvious that only a film nut will care about, but the film nut will be frustrated at having these small things so obvious. Then he'll make something pretty integral to the film fairly obscure and hard to pick up on. This makes for some confusing film watching.

ALL of the transitions are fade to black, which gives the film a dream-like feel. This is aided by the fact that the audience is left in the dark for almost all of the movie, and certain pieces seemingly have no purpose. In a way, the film reminded me of Mulholland Dr., with its random, confused elements thrown together to tell a story, with a little About Schmidt sprinkled in for good measure.

Bottom line: if you enjoy the nuts and bolts of filmmaking and enjoy interpreting symbols, this flick is for you. If you're anyone else, you might want to take a pass.

Technorati Tags: Broken Flowers, Movies

Oscar Recap

Here are my jumbled, sleepy impressions of the Oscars:

I really liked the opening film characters monatge, at the very beginning.

The host montage was HILARIOUS--especially Billy Crystal and Chris Rock in the Brokeback Mountain tent.

Also, the gay western montage was great.

"Ben Stiller and His Amazing Green Unitard"

I found it ridiculously funny when they cut to Jack Nicholson during the Dolly Parton song.

Zach Braff was on the Oscars! Chicken Little Zach Braff! Yay!

In general, Jon Stewart was too clever for his audience, but he got into a rhythm later.

Apparently, Rachel Weisz is AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL. Why haven't I heard of this before?

The M. Night Shamalan commercial ROCKED. It was crazy.

I can't believe It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp won. Stupid.

I did like the lobbying parodies. They were funny.

Shocked that Crash won--I'll have to see it. And that Rachel Weisz is AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL. Glad that Ang Lee won.

I'm going to bed--to dream about Rachel Weisz.

Technorati Tag: Oscars

Film Review: The Motorcycle Diaries

A student lent The Motorcycle Diaries to me, and I'm glad he did. The basic premise/plotline is simple: two South American twenty-somethings decide to take a five month roadtrip before they are too old to do it anymore. As you can hopefully guess, however, the adventures become much more than this.

The main thing that stuck out to me is the simple beauty of the film. Director Walter Salles was very effectively able to show the natural elegance of the continent, while still making a poignant statement as to the very poor living conditions of many of the inhabitants. In an era when more money equals more spectacle, this movie puts them all to shame.

Another interesting--almost phantom in the film--is Ernesto Guevara de la Serna's gradual awakening to the injustices around him (as he eventually will become "Che" Guevara). It's a very organic, authentic transformation. I bought it.

I kept thinking of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, for those of you who've read it. And there are a number of similarities between the two, but they are rather different on the whole.

Of course, as only true art can do, I was spurred to do a few hours of research on Guevara and South America, which was quite interesting.

Highly recommended.

Technorati Tags: The Motorcycle Diaries, Movies

Film Review: Sideways

So I've seen Sideways twice now, and it's just amazing.* What stands out to me in particular is the editing. The cuts are SO intelligent--we, as viewers, are told the story with such craft--that it's as if it's an organic experience; like the grapes themselves.

The soundtrack is brilliant. The film has a lighthearted instrumental soundtrack, with just the right amount of dark, subtle sections in minor to accommodate the main character--while still preserving the overall adventurous tone of the film. Of course, one could argue that the film is really about dealing with the dark side of oneself, but on the surface, the music fits quite well with the tone of the film.

Why Paul Giamatti didn't win an Oscar is beyond me; perhaps his performance was too nuanced to catch serious consideration from the Academy. On a personal note, I couldn't help but draw constant parallels between his character and myself, which is rather depressing. He's an 8th grade English teacher, likes wine, is a writer, can't get over his past relationship, has a beard, is balding, sabotages his relationships, likes close friendships, ugh.

Virginia Madsen is HOT.

The director, Alexander Payne, has done another film that I adore: About Schmidt. His themes tend to revolve around characters who are supposedly past their prime, and their reactions to the situations life has put them in. Brilliant.

Overall, this film would probably be in my top ten, if I were inclined to rank movies--if only for the fact that I connected to this film so strongly on a personal level. I highly recommend this film to anyone who fits any of the following descriptions: likes wine, is stuck, can't move on, has little direction. Great movie.

*It should be noted that on each separate occasion I have viewed this film, I have consumed no less than an entire bottle of wine.

Technorati Tags: Sideways, Movies

Film Review: The Royal Tenenbaums

Okay, let's talk about The Royal Tenenbaums for a second. I just finished watching this movie for the millionth time, and it's STILL my favorite movie. I cringe every time I say that it's my favorite movie because I love so many movies, and TRT isn't as "acclaimed" as many others that I like, but in my book, you can't spend a better 110 mins. watching a movie.

Why do I like it so much? Well, I'll tell you.

1) Style. Wes Anderson's style is simply stunning. The fact that this family is "trapped" in their 70s-era heyday is ingenious. Anderson's normal cinematic choices go along so well with the visual framing, the "vintage" garb the characters wear, and the nicotine-filled culture that was the 1970s. It's fun to watch.

2) Dialogue. It's rare that a movie's words mean so much. If you think about it, why do we go see a movie? Because we like to watch (usually beautiful) people traipse around doing morally ambiguous things in a spectacular way. Well, in TRT the characters DO do all of those things, but the dialogue is so well chosen that you could take away all of the visuals for the movie, and it would still be quite funny and poignant.

3) Comedy AND Drama. Otherwise known as the "dark comedy." The first time I saw this movie was at Notre Dame, and there was a girl in the audience who would laugh raucously at EVERY--even understated--piece of light-heartedness in the film. And that's not how this film is supposed to be viewed. To get Anderson's full message, you have to see that these characters are NOT hilarious, but they're not completely pathetic either. This film is the best blend of comedy and drama I have ever seen.

4) All-Star Cast. Amazing. This is Wes Anderson's third film, and he was able to put together a cast with some of the biggest names in Hollywood. They are: Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Danny Glover, Bill Murray, and Alec Baldwin. Enough said.

5) Quotes. This is an extremely quotable movie. And what's more, the quotes are actually significant (instead of "dude, where's my car?") Here are just a few (from IMDB):

--Raleigh: Do you have an alternate?
--Priest: No.
--Raleigh: Are there priests on call?

--Royal: Anybody interested in grabbing a couple of burgers and hittin' the cemetery?

--Eli: Well, everyone knows Custer died at Little Bighorn. What this book presupposes is... maybe he didn't.

--Richie: Did you say you were on Mescaline?
--Eli: I did indeed. Very much so.

--Royal: I'm very sorry for your loss. Your mother was a terribly attractive woman.

--Medical Student: Can the boy tell time?
--Raleigh: Oh, my Lord, no!

--Narrator: Immediately after making this statement, Royal realized that it was true.


And there you have it. Five reasons why The Royal Tenenbaums rocks the house.

Film Review: Munich

Saw Munich this afternoon. I really liked it; it wasn't perfect, but nonetheless it was better than 90% of the movies out there. Spielberg seems to now produce two different types of movies:

Type A: Star-riddled, expensive blockbusters of questionable quality ("Opiate of the Masses Type")
Examples: Jaws, the Indiana Jones series, Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds

Type B: Historical, emotional, well-made epics ("Really Good, Underappreciated Type")
Examples: Empire of the Sun, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Munich

As you can see, this man is obviously a financial genius. He shows the studios that he can make a big, successful, "summer blockbuster" that can pack the seats, but more importantly, he gains their trust so they let him make something that is rather hard to find in modern culture, or at least something that's hard to find in the truest sense: art. I firmly believe that film can be art, but not all films are art. Art has to reflect truth, and it has to be made in a very intentional way. There are a myriad of books on aesthetic philosophy, so I won't try to go into it here, but the point is that we have to savor true art when we can find it.

PS--Let me know whenever you've found it.