Oscarwatch! (V 2.0)

It may seem too early, but the Oscar Season is ever approaching, and it is of increased urgency that I bring you this months Oscarwatch! Now, we have had a bit of a surprise with the Academys suprise move to add five more slots into the Best Film category, and that should allow for some wiggling room. Normally one or two movies jump from obscurity and relatively unknown hype into the Oscar pool, but we are not taking them into account at the moment. Before you is a tentative prediction of what films will be awarded the honor of a nomination. Purchase your tickets accordingly.

Best Film:
Nine
Precious
Invictus
Amelia
Up
The Hurt Locker
An Education
Avatar
Biutiful
Funny People

Best Actor:
Morgan Freeman (Invictus)
Daniel Day Lewis (Nine)
Javier Bardem (Biutiful)
Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker)
Matt Damon (The Informant)

Best Actress:
Hillary Swank (Amelia)
Gabourey Sidibe (Precious)
Abbie Cornish (A Bright Star)
Penelope Cruz (Broken Embraces)
Carey Mulligan (An Education)

Best Director:
Rob Marshall (Nine)
James Cameron (Avatar)
Clint Eastwood (Invictus)
Lee Daniels (Precious)
Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)

Although there is alot of buzz about the women from Nine (Judi Dench, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, and Kate Hudson) stealing most (or all) of the Best Supporting Actress nominees, not much has been uttered about any good Best Supporting Actor performances, so I will keep them to myself for the time being.

I had a deep personal problem with removing Inglorious Basterds from my best film list, and excluding Quentin from the Best Director list. I have not had the pleasure of seeing it yet, but it appears to be geared toward Quentins hardcore fanbase instead of the Oscar panel. This is fine, and he may even garner a Best Original Screenplay or Best Supporting Actor (Eli Roth) nom, but these may be the only awards (aside from the technicals) that Inglorious Basterds may see.

Also, some may scoff at my inclusion of Funny People in the Oscar race. If the movie turns out to be anything like what the critics are saying about it (some are anxious to hand Sandler an Oscar for it...which I am just not sure about) it will make people question whether or not a college-student aimed comedy could possibly show up in the Best Picture race.

It appears that after last year's yawnfest of predictable Oscars (Oh, they gave another one to Slumdog Millionaire? What a surprise...) we may have some friendly (and fierce) competition in the ring. First up...

Precious VS Nine
Although there are many films that will jump headfirst into this race, the real race will be between the million dollar star studded musical, and the soul crushing reality based Cannes baby. In these times of economic struggle, I can see people voting the "take your mind off of your problems" musical about a film director and his many lovers over the heart woven tale of struggle, but then again, the same circumstances could help Precious to the top. It is a nailbiter, but as the date grows closer, we may be able to narrow it down to a clear cut option.

Morgan Freeman VS Daniel Day Lewis
Poor Morgan has yet to sweep a Best Actor win, and although some argue that he recieved his dues with his Million Dollar Baby win, some will want to see the old man take the prize with a role that he was created for. In case you haven't heard, Morgan Freeman will be playing Nelson Freaking Mandela. It is a pity however, that he has to be going up against a man who is arguably one of the best actors of this generation in a role that has swept awards from everywhere in the world. Day-Lewis will be the lead in what will arguably be the biggest movie of the Oscar season, and he will refuse to go unnoticed. then again, he has recieved two already, and Oscar voters may have a sympathy card or two in their wallet.

Rob Marshall VS James Cameron
This one is a toughy. Rob Marshall kicked the competition to dust in 2002 with Chicago and James "Titanic" Cameron is returning from his long slumber with what he claims will "revolutionize the way people watch films". Yes it is an edgy Sci-Fi adventure film, and the academy often doesn't glance at that, but this is "James Cameron and The Most Expensive Movie Ever Made". Be prepared for it to turn some heads.

Well friends, this marks the end of Version 2 of Oscarwatch. Tune in next time with mosre exciting Oscar news!

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

You will never hear me say that I hated the movie adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

Stylistically, things have improved this time around, but it is a pity that all of the puzzle pieces that helped the movie to this new state of achievement apparently came from different boxes. If I were to phrase it in a sentence without the metaphorical puzzle pieces, I would say that it felt like I was watching two separate movies.

Both movies were exceptional, one being a very funny romantic comedy, and the other a brooding, dark and sinister fantasy drama, but those elements did not fit together the way director David Yates must have dreamed it would. It is possible for these genres to coincide very well (see American Beauty) but that level of film-making is not a level that Yates has achieved yet.

Don't get me wrong about this film. Many of the scenes were brilliantly done. The shots were absolutely stunning, and the filming was absolutely beautiful. The acting has improved this time around (more on that in a moment), the score, although mediocre, was definitely passable, and the direction seemed a bit more focused than Yates previous installment in the Potter franchise.

So where did everything go wrong? Haphazard grouping of certain sequences is exactly what killed this movie. You cannot jump from a sexually awkward "shoe tying" situation into an emotionally heart wrenching masterpiece, and then be thrust back into a rom-com romp without having people turn some heads in confusion.

On a brighter note, the acting in this film was exceptional from all involved (with the obvious exception of Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley. I really hate to pick on the girl, but watching her attempt to hold her own in a scene was a very awkward type of torture.)Tom Felton turned in a very unexpected turn as Draco Malfoy. Draco's insecurity and need to satisfy his own need to form an identity absolutely shine in this film, and Felton's performance is absolutely stunning.

I am proud to say that Michael Gambon's Dumbledore finally calmed the hell down, and it seems as though he finally understands who Dumbledore is supposed to be. The trio all turn in their expected performance, although it was pleasant to see Daniel Radcliffe get the opportunity to sneak some comedy into the film. His scene where he is on cocai- sorry...Felix Filicis is absolutely hilarious. Newcomer to the Harry Potter scene Jim Broadbent does absolutely marvelous as Professor Slughorn. It definitely is not Oscar worthy as some early reviewers have hinted, but it is absolutely wonderful to see an actor of his caliber joining the cast. An unexpectedly heartwrenching drunken monologue from Broadbent is one of the better scenes in the movie, and moved me almost to tears.

Also, don't let the PG rating make you think that the film-makers have toned down the film at all. We have a character completely bleeding out in one part, and another character forcefeeding someone poison by the end. By all means it is very dark, but it would fumble over its own feet before starting this perfectly accomplished tapdance.

By all means, it is what the new Star Trek was to the Star Trek films. There wasn't exactly a whole lot of plot to speak of,so they focused on character development instead. This is a worthy choice, as it will give us something t o care about in the next two installments.

Like I said earlier, it is a beautiful looking film with fantastic actors, but it doesn't work as a movie. It would be like if someone gave you the freshest eggs, the sweetest milk, and the richest flour and told you it was a muffin. It just doesn't work.

I enjoyed the romantic comedy aspect of the film almost as much as I enjoyed the darker side, but attempting to force the two together without any particular connection between the two creates a deep rivet in the film, giving many fans a very anticlimactic and unsatisfied sensation by the end.

B

If you enjoyed Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Shaun of the Dead, or Love Actually you will enjoy this movie.

Brüno

Although Borat was "so 2006", some may prefer it to this restyled and redone Sacha Baron Cohen mockumentary style comedy.

Does it do it's job? Absolutely. Certain segments are absolutely hilarious, and will leave you laughing long enough to miss other jokes.

And that's about it.

While Borat offered plenty of innocence, heart, and improvised candid comedy, Brüno sets out to just try and make you laugh. Occaisionally it becomes evident that they try too hard to make the audience laugh, and in those places it loses its comedy. The planned script absolutely murders the laugh factor of this movie, and it only gets back on track during its moments of candid comedy, and improvised trickery at the expense of others. Some people that Brüno encounters are paid actors, and when we realize that it loses its fun.

Sacha Baron Cohen does a fantastic job with this character, and the moments when the movie seemed to lose its track were not because of him. I have lately become very impressed with Sacha Baron Cohen's habit of completely melting into his characters and leaving little to nothing left to see. He never slipped into Borat or Pirelli, and I can understand that with such outrageous characters it could have been very easy to fall into both.

Now for the material. Don't kid yourself if you walked out in distaste. You knew what was coming. Borats use of racism, homosexuality, toilet humor, sexual humor, nudity, sexism and outrageous disrespect for people of all religionsand beliefs paved the way for what I can only describe as some of the most visual shit I have seen on a three story screen. And it was hilarious. The final scene (the one with the cage match) left me wondering when the last time I laughed that hard in a movie theatre was. (It was the Penis Drawing scene from Superbad. It's been that long)

I am currently downloading the soundtrack to Brüno as we speak, because although it has little to no artistic value, I loved the rythm and beat that persisted throughout the movie. The last track in particular (Starring Bono, Elton John, Snoop Dogg and guitar accompiniment by Slash) had me in belly laugh by the end.

The only problem with the ending was when it ended. I understand there is only so much that you can do with this kind of comedy, but after 84 minutes and ten dollars, I was expecting more when the credits began to roll.

At the end of the night, my date and I left remarking how hilarious Brüno was, and I silently decided that I would probably not buy the DVD.

B-

If you liked Borat:Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, Jackass, and Step Brothers you will like this movie.

Boondock Saints II update

According to the fancy paper I agreed to sign in order to see Boondock Saints II, it claims that "remarks and evaluations are not to be made via electronic or written device", so I guess that limits what I can tell you on this thing. Let me just make a few vague observations of the film to get you an idea of how this film went in my mind.

1) It was DEFINITELY the same style of direction.

2) It was total, unabashed fun. There are a few more serious bits, but just like the first one, the laughs are aplenty.

3) Willem Dafoe is very much missing from the film. there is a very hurried "He Died" subplot, but he is taken over by his Protege, a southern woman with a cowgirl demeanor.

4) There are also alot of parts that i didn't care for. It was "trying too hard to make them laugh" comedy, which was in the first one, but only for a bit. It's in the second one alot and make me upset, but other than that, it was very good.

At the end, I was very satisfied with the film, and recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the first one.

Grade- B

If you liked Boondock Saints, Crank, and The Big Lebowski you will like this movie.

Public Enemies

After hearing the bout of mixed praise concerning Public Enemies, I soon became very anxious to see it myself. The results of this experiment seem incredibly one sided, and may behave as thus.
Public Enemies was an outstanding piece of work, helmed by the incredible master of action, Michael Mann. The camera style is really something you need to work yourself into, but once you jump into the story, it grabs you, shoots you in the face, and refuses to let you go.

The pacing was very brisk, and hardly left any wiggle room for people to look at their watches and begin to get bored. It literally kept me engaged for the entire two hour and twenty minute running time. If I recall, I only thought about the money in my bank account once, and that is impressive given that the movie is about a man who robs banks.

Depp gives a very dangerous, suave (and dare I say, pimp) performance as John Dillinger, and several scenes where he blends into the crowd left me chilled as I sat in the theater. He could have disposed of his Johnny Depp "crazy eyes" and lip twitches for this character as they were quite unneeded, but they happen so rarely that it was hardly noticed.

Now, it's not that Christian Bale did a bad job, as I have read several reviews that suggest just that. He did a good job playing a hard nosed cop with just Dillinger on his mind. This was what the script called for. I'm not saying it was a bad script, (in fact it was a very, very well done screenplay) but Bale responded honestly to the circumstance he was given as the character, which I believe is the definition of acting. He didn't push, or pull anything out of this guy and made him believable, and in that way he did his job. If you wanted him to do the "I'm being traumatized by the terrible things I'm seeing" eyes, then maybe Johnny should have played both roles.

Speaking of the performances, all around they were just fantastic. I have no idea hat Michael Mann may have said to them during filming, but this movie just reeked of the 1930's, and I had no trouble placing myself in that time period and going along for the ride. Even the bit characters were fully fleshed out, which says alot for both the actors playing those characters, and Michael Mann.

The music was incredibly well fitting and helped absorb people into the movies atmosphere, but it was the sound design that will turn heads at this year's Oscars. The sound design helped sell the reality of the movie to my mind, and I soon found myself on the edge of my seat, propelled by what was happening on the screen. From bullet raging action sequences to breathtaking silence in the forest, it was the sound design that wrapped all the tension in the movie into one big tasty burrito.

With the exception of the jarring first minutes and a few bumps towards the end, the film was shot gorgeously, and left me with very few complaints.

Public Enemies was an outstanding piece of art that was masked with all the action and intrigue of the normal summer popcorn flick.

A-

If you enjoyed Collateral, The Dark Knight, or The Untouchables, you will enjoy this film.

Oscarwatch #1

Seeing as I have not yet acquired the monetary resources to see one of the many major blockbusters in theaters right now (look for my reviews for "My Sisters Keeper" "Public Enemies" the long overdue "The Hangover" and "Boondock Saints II" coming up soon) I have decided to include a short piece on possible Oscar-Worthy movies that are awaiting release for this Fall and Winter. As I watch and grade them, they will slowly be assembled into possibilities for different categories, and organized in the position of possibility to win Best Picture. For now, we simply have a list of hot movies to watch out for this year.

Nine:

http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/nine/trailer

This beautiful looking movie, Directed by Ron Marshall (The Academy Award winning Director of Chicago) and featuring a star studded Oscar Winning Cast (Including but not limited to Daniel Day Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Marion Cotillard and Penelope Cruz) is simply begging for Oscar recognition. I hate to judge movies before I see them, but I believe we have a winner.

Precious:

http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/precious/trailer

If Nine has a single competitor this Oscar season, it is this Sundance baby that seems to have popped out of nowhere. Every single audience that it has been screened to has given it incredibly ravetastic reviews, and that usually spells out great things on Oscar night. It has an Oscar release date (Late in November) and is already being pushed by Oprah, and we know that she can sell an Oscar movie (see Crash and Million Dollar Baby).

Amelia:

http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/amelia/trailer

Hillary Swank stars in a biopic of Amelia Earhart. It Costars Richard Gere and is directed by Mona Lisa Smile's Mira Nair. The Academy loves a good biopic, and I'm sure they wouldn't mind throwing another well earned nomination at Hillary Swank for her work in it, which looks absolutely magnificent. It looks spectacularly filmed, and although has been seen in its entirety by very few, Iam certain it will take my breath away.

Biutiful:

Javier Bardem returns to a starring role in this Alejandro González Iñárritu drama about a criminal who runs into an old friend, who happens to be a cop. Rumors about early screenings and mixed reviews have come up out of the internet, but all rumors should be taken with a pinch (or in the case of the Internet, a garbage bag) of salt.

Invictus:

There is not yet a trailer out for the very mysterious Invictus. All that is known is that it is about Rugby. Oh, and that it stars Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela. Pick your jaw up off the floor and lets move on.

The Lovely Bones :

Peter Jackson directs Marky Mark Whalberg in this adaptation of the New York times Best Selling novel. The jury is still out on this one, as Jackon has a shady past and a bright present while Marky Mark has a bright past and an increasingly shadier present.

The Tree of Life:

The Thin Red Line director Terrence Malick is directing Sean Penn and Brad Pitt in his latest movie revolving around a family in the fifties, brotherhood, and loss of innocence. This movie sounds like Oscar-bait if I ever knew what it was.

500 Days of Summer:

http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/500-days-of-summer/international-trailer

Here is our Indie-movie underdog. For every The Departed there is a Little Miss Sunshine for every No Country for Old Men there is a Juno. If the lighthearted quirky Indie jaunt has a place this year, it is this delightful looking film.

Inglorious Basterds:

http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/inglorious-basterds/international-trailer

I can't honestly say that I expect Inglorious Basterds to win or even be nominated for the top prize, simply because it has had such split critical opinions. I can't wait to throw my own two cents into the ring, but it is definetly a film to have on your radar this year. When a critically acclaimed, award nominated director completes what he has claimed to be his "Masterpiece", and stories are released based on the idea that he merely completed his past movies in order to earn enough street cred and money to produce the thing, you buy a ticket.

As Buzz continues, I am sure I will be able to add and take away from this list, but for the time being, here is your To Do list until next March when they open that damned envelope. If you have any ideas, or movies that you have been keeping track of for this Oscar Season, please mention them in the Comments section,

Hello World!

This is the first post on my new website, and while the kinks are being adjusted I find it prudent to introduce myself. Hi! I'm Jimmy Bean, your friendly neighborhood film critic. I attend Cal State Fullerton where I formerly majored in Acting, but have since switched to a Double Major in Journalism and Film Studies. I have always considered it a small dream of mine to be paid to watch films, and then later offer my criticism on said films. It has become apparent that people will pay me for that sort of thing. So here we are! Be sure to check back with me often, as I plan to update often with Movie Reviews, Oscar Speculation and Movie News. Don't be afraid to participate in the polls, and if my style of review and Oscar coverage catches your fancy, suggest me to a friend!

So while I burst through the metaphorical placenta that is the World Wide Web, I hope you enjoy the ride!