I think that recently a consensus has been reached by the movie going public that when it comes to 3D there's good 3D and there's watching something like "Clash of the Titans" and mistaking it for someone taking a shit in your eyes. "Thor" decides to take the better of those two roads and in doing so executes some spectacular visuals and presents an all around ocular feast. Plus, seeing Natalie Portman's face hovering slightly in front of the screen made it all the more possible that I just might have been able to lean forward and give her a right good snog. You couple that with a charismatic young cast and you get an all around fun movie. Unfortunately what you don't get is a very good movie.
Now I know that calling a movie good or bad is subjective, but I'm going to highlight some aspects of "Thor" that I found odd or unnecessary in the hopes that you'll see it could have been handled with a bit (read: a lot) more poise.
Just above I said the performers were charismatic. But charismatic does not a character make. The cast clearly had a blast making this film, I don't know if it was the atmosphere of working on a superhero movie, or maybe because Kenneth Branagh spiked their water, but somewhere along the lines you have to venture out of the kiddie pool for at least a while and find some remnant of emotional depth. I guess what I'm saying is it would have been nice if someone at any point could have made a face other than that of Urkel after asking if he in fact did do that. Anthony Hopkins is even in this movie, and they have his character literally sleep through half of it, though judging from his energy levels, I'd guess he was actually always asleep, and has been so since the beginning of 2006.
Let's now discuss the allocations of resources in manpower, specifically the ratio of supporting cast members to screenplay writers, a ratio I calculated somewhere around 6 to 0. I won't go much deeper into the dialogue than to say Terri Schiavo could write a better script with fridge magnets. The more pressing matter to me was the abundance of sidekicks.
It's a common formula to give a protagonist a sidekick, we all accept that. Han has Chewie, the Lone Ranger has Tonto, the Beatles had Ringo, etc. But there's an inherent risk in the sidekick formula, mainly being that the associate may be annoying and terrible. Batman and Robin can often be hit and miss, Snarf did nothing for the Thundercats, and nothing good can ever come of pairing Indiana Jones with a racist asian boy. So when you get two characters who need sidekicks, you're already pushing the envelope. What you don't need to add is more fucking sidekicks. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) is a scientist looking for evidence of a wormhole in the middle of New Mexico out of the back of her Winnebago. Apparently filmmakers thought that not only did she need an old fatherly figure tagging along, but also comic relief. And heaven forbid they should combine the two and put Kat Dennings out of work, so already we have twice the number of sidekicks to main characters. Then we meet Thor who has, get ready for it... four best friends! That's four fucking distractions that we have to watch bumble around and try to hatch a plan with sparse yet evenly distributed dialogue whenever Thor gets into trouble.
Speaking of Thor getting into trouble, I'm always a fan of a good slapstick moment. A well-timed physical gag can help break tension when it's needed or just be good for an extra laugh. It doesn't really work four times in a row, though, because even then you've overshot the classic comedy rule of three. In the span of about 15 minutes, Thor gets hit by a van, tazed, sedated (causing his face to mash into a window and slide down "comically") then hit by a van again. It's as if the filmmakers decided to play a game of how many times can we knock Thor out in funny ways. But if that's not enough, it seems that those instances alone are able to humble a man who only hours before had enough arrogance to have him banished from a city of gods. And he certainly wasn't humbled by love, because let me be clear here, there was no love story in this movie. I repeat, there was no love story in this movie, and if you think that what Thor and Jane have is romantic, then I'm sorry to inform you that you don't actually exist.
One more thing, if you're going to spring for a Jeremy Renner cameo to play Hawkeye, an obvious and epic precursor of things to come in later movies, then utilize that cameo. The dude just sits in the rain for two minutes, itching to fire an arrow at Thor, meanwhile Thor's rolling around in the mud with some nameless goon. Fight Hawkeye for Christ sake! Have Hawkeye do something besides almost shoot an arrow. Do you realize how awesome a quick Thor/Hawkeye showdown could have been?!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Marcus: Akira (1988)
Say what you want about the Japanese, and I'll bet that part of what you say is that their culture is nothing short of weird. It's as if they as a people are a year away from worshiping Gary Busey as a deity. And yet all this eccentricity seems to filter off into some very useful and relevant by-products, namely, the uncanny ability to tell stories on an epic scale that rivals that of any other culture on the planet. Take a look at manga. Not all of it, for the love of God, not all of it, but a good portion of manga finds itself in that strange limbo between great visual and literary art (like Alan Moore's "Watchmen"). And not only does this manga prove itself as such, but it also is able to sustain itself for long, long, long periods of time without compromising quality. Keep in mind, most manga volumes are not like the comic books you get in America, with their flimsy bindings and thin... stuff. Each volume of Japanese manga tends to be the size of a novel in itself, and they can continue printing for years.
So when it happens that a story should emerge that is borderline classic literary material, and happens to be over 2000 pages long, and is planned to be adapted into a movie that will compress the whole thing into a two-hour event, the rules of Hollywood dictate that such an undertaking would result in an unmitigated disaster. But keep in mind, this is Japan we're talking about. The rules of Hollywood don't apply here (until American studios get the rights to do a crappy remake, as is often the case) and the project is put in the very capable hands of the original manga author himself, one Katsuhiro Otomo. Throw all this together and you get "Akira," a film that not only brought an unprecedented level of artistry to the anime movies, but stands as a beacon of triumph amongst film in general.
"Akira" has an animation style that would stand up with the best of the best even today. The environment, when it's not blowing up, is entirely immersive, and you can tell this isn't one of those budgeted projects that utilizes minimal action (Go, Speed Racer!). The character movement is fluid, and the mouths move in ways that enunciate real words.
And if the artist's integrity weren't enough, you also have the story, which is just... just awesome. You have some 15-year old members of a bike gang, living in a post-apocalyptic Japanese city called Neo-Tokyo, a replacement for the real Tokyo, which was destroyed by a massive explosion 30 years before. One day, during a turf war, they get mixed up in a secret government project when one of the gang members, Tetsuo, gets injured and is taken away by the government to be put under observation. Tetsuo has awakened within him a mysterious power, which at first manifests itself as headaches and really nasty acid trips (aka images of his toys coming to life, growing larger than life size, and then sweating milk absolutely everywhere.) This power is similar to those held by a group of children, also under government protection. It turns out that one of these children, Akira, is the source of the explosion that destroyed Tokyo. I won't say anything else about the plot, but I will issue a warning. Don't eat any meat before watching the end of this movie. The last 20 minutes are gross to put it mildly and gargantuanly tumor-tastic to put it not so mildly. Let's just say that as Tetsuo's powers develop and mature, he's no longer able to keep them under control. They change him into what can only be described as a giant baby made of internal organs. I'd also advise you watch this only if you have a love of, or at least tolerance for explosions, seeing as there's about one every two minutes. Hell, the first scene is an entire city being leveled. But ultimately, "Akira" is a huge cinematic achievement, one that uses anime to thoroughly explore themes of the decay of civilization and simultaneously looking at the trauma that many of us experienced while going through puberty. Although it's fair to say most of us didn't explode into giant pudding-muscled monsters that had to be teleported into a different plane of existence.
"Akira" has an animation style that would stand up with the best of the best even today. The environment, when it's not blowing up, is entirely immersive, and you can tell this isn't one of those budgeted projects that utilizes minimal action (Go, Speed Racer!). The character movement is fluid, and the mouths move in ways that enunciate real words.
And if the artist's integrity weren't enough, you also have the story, which is just... just awesome. You have some 15-year old members of a bike gang, living in a post-apocalyptic Japanese city called Neo-Tokyo, a replacement for the real Tokyo, which was destroyed by a massive explosion 30 years before. One day, during a turf war, they get mixed up in a secret government project when one of the gang members, Tetsuo, gets injured and is taken away by the government to be put under observation. Tetsuo has awakened within him a mysterious power, which at first manifests itself as headaches and really nasty acid trips (aka images of his toys coming to life, growing larger than life size, and then sweating milk absolutely everywhere.) This power is similar to those held by a group of children, also under government protection. It turns out that one of these children, Akira, is the source of the explosion that destroyed Tokyo. I won't say anything else about the plot, but I will issue a warning. Don't eat any meat before watching the end of this movie. The last 20 minutes are gross to put it mildly and gargantuanly tumor-tastic to put it not so mildly. Let's just say that as Tetsuo's powers develop and mature, he's no longer able to keep them under control. They change him into what can only be described as a giant baby made of internal organs. I'd also advise you watch this only if you have a love of, or at least tolerance for explosions, seeing as there's about one every two minutes. Hell, the first scene is an entire city being leveled. But ultimately, "Akira" is a huge cinematic achievement, one that uses anime to thoroughly explore themes of the decay of civilization and simultaneously looking at the trauma that many of us experienced while going through puberty. Although it's fair to say most of us didn't explode into giant pudding-muscled monsters that had to be teleported into a different plane of existence.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Marcus, Alex, Diane, & Sam: 83rd Academy Awards Selection
Marcus:
Best Visual Effects: Inception (From the moment I saw the trailers, I knew.)
Best Visual Effects: Inception (From the moment I saw the trailers, I knew.)
Best Film Editing: Black Swan (Because I imagine it's hard to juggle scenes of people going crazy offstage and scenes of following around dancers on stage, then have them converge seamlessly together. Also I may have flipped a coin on this one.)
Best Costume Design: The King’s Speech (Because you can't be the King without kick-ass shoulder tassels.)
Best Makeup: The Wolfman (To be honest I thought most of this was CGI. Shows what I know, but good job with the makeup either way.)
Best Cinematography: Black Swan (It wasn't so much masterful cinematography as it was magically making a camera invisible in a room that was mostly mirrors. That and extreme close ups of hangnails. Fuck.)
Best Art Direction: Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (If the person in charge of finding set locations was not the highest paid crew member working on this movie then a terrible disservice was done.)
Best Sound Mixing: Inception (Aka how well sounds are combined to create an overall feel. You could feel every second of Inception deep down in your bones.)
Best Sound Editing: Toy Story 3 (Aka the creativity of sound effects that are recorded for use in the movie. What the hell, Toy Story 3's not going to win Best Picture, but it might as well win something other than Best Animated Film.)
Best Original Song: “We Belong Together” - Toy Story 3 (Because Randy fucking Newman, that's why)
Best Original Score: Inception (Forget Lady Perry and Katy Gaga. Let's face it, Hans Zimmer created the most iconic song of 2010)
Best Animated Short Film: Day & Night (Because it's Pixar and it's adorable, is there even a question?)
Best Live Action Short Film: The Crush (Because I read the summary and liked it better than the other summaries.)
Best Documentary – Short Subject: The Warriors of Qiugang (Haha... Qiugang)
Best Documentary – Feature: Exit Through the Gift Shop (This was one of the few documentaries I've seen that engaged me throughout and I really want to see if Banky has some sort of stunt planned for if it wins.)
Best Foreign Language Film: Incendies (National pride.)
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3 (Shut the fuck up.)
Best Writing – Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network (Because you got to hand it to Aaron Sorkin, at the end of the day he made a story where Mark Zuckerberg, a socially awkward man who's personality makes cardboard look sexy, seems like a pretty cool guy.)
Best Writing – Original Screenplay: Inception (Christopher Nolan wrote this whole thing by himself, kept track of the whole story line and everything, presumably without giving himself a nosebleed. Considering he got snubbed in the director category, I want him to have this one.)
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams (I'm torn between both the leading women in The Fighter. Adams and Leo both gave powerhouse performances, but at the end of the day I'm making my decision based on the fact that the porch-side conversation between Adams and Christian Bale was the most powerful moment of the movie.)
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale (He owned this part and it's about time he got his dues. No matter how weird the guy is, nobody can deny he's a great actor.)
Best Actress: Natalie Portman (If you need to ask, you haven't seen Black Swan. Watch it and just try to compare her to any other female performance this year.)
Best Actor: Colin Firth (He's such an under-appreciated actor, but he's so in his element with this role, it'd be a shame if he didn't win.)
Best Director: David Fincher (If he wins, it will not be a win for The Social Network, it will be a win for Se7en, The Game, Fight Club, Panic Room, Zodiac, and Benjamin Button combined)
Best Picture: Black Swan (Because I want to live in a world where a movie about Facebook is not considered the best piece of cinematic art made the whole year, and Black Swan was so very, very good. I didn't see The King's Speech, so maybe my choice is uninformed, but I find myself not too beat up over the fact that I missed it, and this is just my personal preference, after all, so I'm content with my pick.)
Alex:
Best Picture: The Social Network. (Marcus and Sam disagree, but they aren’t the boss of me!)
Best Actor: Colin Firth, King’s Speech. (I’ve seen True Grit, The Social Network, and King’s Speech, and Firth had the best performance among the nominations I’ve seen. But I’ve heard Bardem’s and Franco’s performances are better, so don’t listen to me.)
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter. (Luckily Bale fucking crushed his part, so we’re saved the Oscar going to someone just acting angry, like Renner did in The Town. I heard Hawke was fantastic though.)
Best Actress in a Leading Role: Natalie Portman, Black Swan. (Portman wins because I’ve only seen her performance, which was really good. Also she is Natalie Portman).
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Melissa Leo, The Fighter. (Fucking crushed it).
Best Animated Film: Toy Story 3. (Best Pixar movie ever? Best Pixar movie ever).
Art Direction: Inception (I don’t really understand what this category is)
Cinematography: Black Swan (Although I do love me some great western pan’o’ramas, the visuals of Black Swan was really what made a story about a skittery ballerina fucking terrifying).
Costume Design: True Grit (A Coen Brothers movie has to win SOMETHING).
Directing: Darren Aronofsky (see Cinematography)
Documentary Feature: Exit Through the Gift Shop (Just to see if Banksy would show up/what he (she?) would do).
Documentary Short Subject: Strangers No More (Puts nominations on wall, puts on blindfold, throws dart)
Film Editing: The Social Network. (The change of time settings, and the quick pace were two of the aspects of the movie I enjoyed the most).
Foreign Language Film: Biutiful (For Javier Bardem, and the precedent of movies with words being misspelled in the title being good).
Makeup: Barney’s Version. (Paul Giamati, and not the Wolfman)
Music (Original Score): Inception. (BWAAAAAAAAAA).
Music (Original Song): Toy Story 3. (Randy Newman!)
Short Film (Animated): Day and Night. (Best Pixar Short ever? Best Pixar short ever)
Short Film (Live Action): God of Love (There are a lot of fucking categories).
Sound Editing: Tron: Legacy (Tron got boned in visual effects so there has to be some make up)
Sound Mixing: Inception (BWAAAAAAAAAA)
Visual Effects: Inception (Please don’t let Alice in Wonderland win).
Writing (Adapted Screenplay): The Social Network. (This one seems to be pretty in the bag)
Writing (Original Screenplay): The King’s Speech. (Of the pictures I’ve seen, The Fighter, Inception, and The King’s Speech, the script wasn’t a particularly strong component of any of them. So… King’s Speech)
Diane:
Best Visual Effects: Inception (because you can’t imagine a train approaching without some damn good visual effects)
Best Film Editing: Black Swan (oh the mirrors!)
Best Costume Design: The King’s Speech (all period pieces win best costume)
Best Makeup: The Wolfman (the only one with not human makeup)
Best Cinematography: A tie for me between Black Swan and Inception
Best Art Direction: Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (because the movie was nothing but landscapes for good two hours)
Best Sound Mixing: The King’s Speech
Best Sound Editing: Toy Story 3 (because the sound of toys screaming doesn’t get there on their own you know! [it gets there by torturing the Korean kids who make the toys])
Best Original Song: “We Belong Together” - Toy Story 3 (I could be wrong now…BUT I DON’T THINK SO!)
Best Original Score: How To Train Your Dragon (Congrats Dreamworks, you won….something)
Best Animated Short Film: Day & Night (It was played before a Pixar movie, by associative Pixar property it shall win!)
Best Live Action Short Film: Na Wewe (One word: AFRICANS)
Best Documentary – Short Subject: Strangers No More (I’m tired of watching depressing documentaries and overall the message is uplifting and universal)
Best Documentary – Feature: Waste Land (While I normally watch documentaries like Inside Job, it wasn’t telling a story the population did not already know. Waste Land should have been nominated for best art direction as well because it was absolutely beautiful)
Best Foreign Language Film: Biutiful (Silly Marcus, a Canadian film isn’t foreign enough)
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3 (PIXAR! PIXAR! PIXAR!)
Best Writing – Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network (I hate to say it, but they’ll win this one)
Best Writing – Original Screenplay: Inception
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale
Best Actress: Natalie Portman (One of her best performances ever)
Best Actor: Colin Firth (So help me if Jesse Eisenberg wins I will shit a brick!)
Best Director: David Fincher
Best Picture: Black Swan (Toy Story 3 in close 2nd)
Sam:
Best Visual Effects: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part I (The longer the movie, the harder special effects are. Also, I hate to say this, but the potter franchise needs at least one Oscar before it’s over.)
Best Film Editing: Black Swan (The editing was seamless and made the story flow amazingly.)
Best Costume Design: The King’s Speech (It isn’t set in modern day. BOOM)
Best Makeup: The Wolfman (This movie was so poorly received for being so freaking good. It was a real throwback to the wonderfully hokey monster movies of the 40’s and 50’s and the make up did the style justice.
Best Cinematography: True Grit (Until Roger Deakins is discovered to be a robot that the Coen brothers made so they could win cinematography Oscars without breaking union codes, my vote is firmly with this guy.)
Best Art Direction: Inception (The maze motifs and folding building stuff and all the cool locations like the snow palace and Saito’s Japanese fortress really make me appreciate the art direction of this film. Nod to Harry Potter)
Best Sound Mixing: True Grit (Believe it or not, the sound guys had to do extensive audio clean up to make Jeff Bridges’ lines as coherent as they are in the film.)
Best Sound Editing: Inception (The sheer epic scale of this film, with constant quick cuts and multiple layers of sound in the action sequences, really shows there was a higher level of labor being executed off camera.)
Best Original Song: “We Belong Together” –Toy Story (If you play it backwards, its “Short People”. And if you play it forwards, its not AR Rahman.)
Best Original Score: 127 Hours – A.R. Rahman (I mean if people though Jai-ho was good….)
Best Animated Short Film: The Lost Thing (Shaun Tan is a remarkable artist whose cryptic looks at worldly problems always leave his readers amazed and warm on the inside. I truly want to adapt his book “The Arrival” as a feature film because of how awesome he is.)
Best Live Action Short Film: The Confession (because Martin McDonagh didn’t write a movie this year)
Best Documentary – Short Subject: The Warriors of Qiugang (It sounds the coolest out of all the nominees. Don’t judge me for not seeing any short subject documentaries this year)
Best Documentary – Feature: Inside Job (The topicality of the subject really pulls this one to the front. It’s also very professionally made and is very clean cut. Exit Through the Gift Shop is disqualified in my opinion for the potential of it being a hoax. Also, if it won, that would defeat its purpose.)
Best Foreign Language Film: Biutiful (It’s been a while since Mexico has been represented in the nominees which is strange considering how great their film industry is. Also, JAVIER BARDEM. You do the math, friendo)
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3 (All I can say to the unfortunate other nominees: Sucks to suck!)
Best Writing – Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network (not what I want, but lets face, Hollywood has been duped several times by Aaron Sorkin)
Best Writing – Original Screenplay: The King’s Speech (IT NEEDS MORE AWARDS)
Best Supporting Actress: Hailee Steinfeld (She was great. There is no denying that. What a spunky little teen who had to climb a giant tree and ride a horse across a river. That’s right! She did most of her own stunts. Not the snake pit though, they pushed a midget down a hole for that one)
Best Supporting Actor: Geoffrey Rush (I think Christian Bale is a phenomenal actor, but he’s too freaking weird. Geoffrey Rush is grounded and normal and plays a great eccentric character who you just want to sit in a cottage with next to a fire and have him read you a Beatrix Potter story)
Best Actress: Natalie Portman (Her performance was PERFECT. She truly has a great hold of how to show emotion. Yet, she never sacrifices subtlety.)
Best Actor: Colin Firth (Blah blah blah blah blah blah Good Stutter Blah blah blah)
Best Director: David Fincher (I’m so glad they are finally giving him his Oscar for Fight Club and Seven and Benjamin Button. Let me make this a little clearer. THE SOCIAL NETWORK IS NOT WINNING THIS CATEGORY. DAVID FINCHER’S DIRECTING OF EVERY OTHER MOVIE IS)
Best Picture: The King’s Speech (It is the most pleasant film ever. The story is compelling. Not a single actor is less talented than another in it. It’s the only film nominated in this category to feature Brendan Gleeson. Most audiences, focused on the inspirational story, missed the universal meaning it addressed as well as the heightened level of filmmaking being displayed. It is simply the most polished movie. Each other film has at least one gaping flaw. This one is practically spotless.)
The Final Results:
I come in dead fucking last with 9 correct guesses.
Sam and Diane tie for second with 11 correct picks apiece.
Congrats to Alex, who got a total 13 correct picks.
Alex:
Best Picture: The Social Network. (Marcus and Sam disagree, but they aren’t the boss of me!)
Best Actor: Colin Firth, King’s Speech. (I’ve seen True Grit, The Social Network, and King’s Speech, and Firth had the best performance among the nominations I’ve seen. But I’ve heard Bardem’s and Franco’s performances are better, so don’t listen to me.)
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter. (Luckily Bale fucking crushed his part, so we’re saved the Oscar going to someone just acting angry, like Renner did in The Town. I heard Hawke was fantastic though.)
Best Actress in a Leading Role: Natalie Portman, Black Swan. (Portman wins because I’ve only seen her performance, which was really good. Also she is Natalie Portman).
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Melissa Leo, The Fighter. (Fucking crushed it).
Best Animated Film: Toy Story 3. (Best Pixar movie ever? Best Pixar movie ever).
Art Direction: Inception (I don’t really understand what this category is)
Cinematography: Black Swan (Although I do love me some great western pan’o’ramas, the visuals of Black Swan was really what made a story about a skittery ballerina fucking terrifying).
Costume Design: True Grit (A Coen Brothers movie has to win SOMETHING).
Directing: Darren Aronofsky (see Cinematography)
Documentary Feature: Exit Through the Gift Shop (Just to see if Banksy would show up/what he (she?) would do).
Documentary Short Subject: Strangers No More (Puts nominations on wall, puts on blindfold, throws dart)
Film Editing: The Social Network. (The change of time settings, and the quick pace were two of the aspects of the movie I enjoyed the most).
Foreign Language Film: Biutiful (For Javier Bardem, and the precedent of movies with words being misspelled in the title being good).
Makeup: Barney’s Version. (Paul Giamati, and not the Wolfman)
Music (Original Score): Inception. (BWAAAAAAAAAA).
Music (Original Song): Toy Story 3. (Randy Newman!)
Short Film (Animated): Day and Night. (Best Pixar Short ever? Best Pixar short ever)
Short Film (Live Action): God of Love (There are a lot of fucking categories).
Sound Editing: Tron: Legacy (Tron got boned in visual effects so there has to be some make up)
Sound Mixing: Inception (BWAAAAAAAAAA)
Visual Effects: Inception (Please don’t let Alice in Wonderland win).
Writing (Adapted Screenplay): The Social Network. (This one seems to be pretty in the bag)
Writing (Original Screenplay): The King’s Speech. (Of the pictures I’ve seen, The Fighter, Inception, and The King’s Speech, the script wasn’t a particularly strong component of any of them. So… King’s Speech)
Diane:
Best Visual Effects: Inception (because you can’t imagine a train approaching without some damn good visual effects)
Best Film Editing: Black Swan (oh the mirrors!)
Best Costume Design: The King’s Speech (all period pieces win best costume)
Best Makeup: The Wolfman (the only one with not human makeup)
Best Cinematography: A tie for me between Black Swan and Inception
Best Art Direction: Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (because the movie was nothing but landscapes for good two hours)
Best Sound Mixing: The King’s Speech
Best Sound Editing: Toy Story 3 (because the sound of toys screaming doesn’t get there on their own you know! [it gets there by torturing the Korean kids who make the toys])
Best Original Song: “We Belong Together” - Toy Story 3 (I could be wrong now…BUT I DON’T THINK SO!)
Best Original Score: How To Train Your Dragon (Congrats Dreamworks, you won….something)
Best Animated Short Film: Day & Night (It was played before a Pixar movie, by associative Pixar property it shall win!)
Best Live Action Short Film: Na Wewe (One word: AFRICANS)
Best Documentary – Short Subject: Strangers No More (I’m tired of watching depressing documentaries and overall the message is uplifting and universal)
Best Documentary – Feature: Waste Land (While I normally watch documentaries like Inside Job, it wasn’t telling a story the population did not already know. Waste Land should have been nominated for best art direction as well because it was absolutely beautiful)
Best Foreign Language Film: Biutiful (Silly Marcus, a Canadian film isn’t foreign enough)
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3 (PIXAR! PIXAR! PIXAR!)
Best Writing – Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network (I hate to say it, but they’ll win this one)
Best Writing – Original Screenplay: Inception
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale
Best Actress: Natalie Portman (One of her best performances ever)
Best Actor: Colin Firth (So help me if Jesse Eisenberg wins I will shit a brick!)
Best Director: David Fincher
Best Picture: Black Swan (Toy Story 3 in close 2nd)
Sam:
Best Visual Effects: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part I (The longer the movie, the harder special effects are. Also, I hate to say this, but the potter franchise needs at least one Oscar before it’s over.)
Best Film Editing: Black Swan (The editing was seamless and made the story flow amazingly.)
Best Costume Design: The King’s Speech (It isn’t set in modern day. BOOM)
Best Makeup: The Wolfman (This movie was so poorly received for being so freaking good. It was a real throwback to the wonderfully hokey monster movies of the 40’s and 50’s and the make up did the style justice.
Best Cinematography: True Grit (Until Roger Deakins is discovered to be a robot that the Coen brothers made so they could win cinematography Oscars without breaking union codes, my vote is firmly with this guy.)
Best Art Direction: Inception (The maze motifs and folding building stuff and all the cool locations like the snow palace and Saito’s Japanese fortress really make me appreciate the art direction of this film. Nod to Harry Potter)
Best Sound Mixing: True Grit (Believe it or not, the sound guys had to do extensive audio clean up to make Jeff Bridges’ lines as coherent as they are in the film.)
Best Sound Editing: Inception (The sheer epic scale of this film, with constant quick cuts and multiple layers of sound in the action sequences, really shows there was a higher level of labor being executed off camera.)
Best Original Song: “We Belong Together” –Toy Story (If you play it backwards, its “Short People”. And if you play it forwards, its not AR Rahman.)
Best Original Score: 127 Hours – A.R. Rahman (I mean if people though Jai-ho was good….)
Best Animated Short Film: The Lost Thing (Shaun Tan is a remarkable artist whose cryptic looks at worldly problems always leave his readers amazed and warm on the inside. I truly want to adapt his book “The Arrival” as a feature film because of how awesome he is.)
Best Live Action Short Film: The Confession (because Martin McDonagh didn’t write a movie this year)
Best Documentary – Short Subject: The Warriors of Qiugang (It sounds the coolest out of all the nominees. Don’t judge me for not seeing any short subject documentaries this year)
Best Documentary – Feature: Inside Job (The topicality of the subject really pulls this one to the front. It’s also very professionally made and is very clean cut. Exit Through the Gift Shop is disqualified in my opinion for the potential of it being a hoax. Also, if it won, that would defeat its purpose.)
Best Foreign Language Film: Biutiful (It’s been a while since Mexico has been represented in the nominees which is strange considering how great their film industry is. Also, JAVIER BARDEM. You do the math, friendo)
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3 (All I can say to the unfortunate other nominees: Sucks to suck!)
Best Writing – Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network (not what I want, but lets face, Hollywood has been duped several times by Aaron Sorkin)
Best Writing – Original Screenplay: The King’s Speech (IT NEEDS MORE AWARDS)
Best Supporting Actress: Hailee Steinfeld (She was great. There is no denying that. What a spunky little teen who had to climb a giant tree and ride a horse across a river. That’s right! She did most of her own stunts. Not the snake pit though, they pushed a midget down a hole for that one)
Best Supporting Actor: Geoffrey Rush (I think Christian Bale is a phenomenal actor, but he’s too freaking weird. Geoffrey Rush is grounded and normal and plays a great eccentric character who you just want to sit in a cottage with next to a fire and have him read you a Beatrix Potter story)
Best Actress: Natalie Portman (Her performance was PERFECT. She truly has a great hold of how to show emotion. Yet, she never sacrifices subtlety.)
Best Actor: Colin Firth (Blah blah blah blah blah blah Good Stutter Blah blah blah)
Best Director: David Fincher (I’m so glad they are finally giving him his Oscar for Fight Club and Seven and Benjamin Button. Let me make this a little clearer. THE SOCIAL NETWORK IS NOT WINNING THIS CATEGORY. DAVID FINCHER’S DIRECTING OF EVERY OTHER MOVIE IS)
Best Picture: The King’s Speech (It is the most pleasant film ever. The story is compelling. Not a single actor is less talented than another in it. It’s the only film nominated in this category to feature Brendan Gleeson. Most audiences, focused on the inspirational story, missed the universal meaning it addressed as well as the heightened level of filmmaking being displayed. It is simply the most polished movie. Each other film has at least one gaping flaw. This one is practically spotless.)
The Final Results:
I come in dead fucking last with 9 correct guesses.
Sam and Diane tie for second with 11 correct picks apiece.
Congrats to Alex, who got a total 13 correct picks.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Marcus: Reservoir Dogs (1992)
What would you say if you walked into a warehouse and found a bunch of dead men in matching suits, a dead police officer duct taped to a chair surrounded by a pool of gasoline, a severed ear, and a lot of cigarette butts? I'll tell you what you'd say. You'd say, "Holy crap, this is from Reservoir Dogs, isn't it? I freaking love that movie," and you'd be correct on all counts because Reservoir Dogs has become iconic to the point where posters depicting the opening scene are hung in the rooms of douchebags everywhere, and the song "Stuck In the Middle with You" can give a guy nightmares.
Reservoir Dogs is the directorial debut of Quentin Tarantino (at least it is to those of you who have never heard of "My Best Friend's Birthday") and the film does a great job of introducing Tarantino's prowess behind (and to some extent, in front of) the camera. Now, I'm no great connoisseur of everything Tarantino. I love most of his stuff, and the reason for that is that rather than have a familiar style to his movies, he infuses them with a familiar feel. The films are eclectic, but you watch one and you can just feel that it's Tarantino behind the camera. I'm going to change the subject now because reading back the last few sentences, it seems like I'm high. Or a douchebag.
Reservoir Dogs follows the lead up to, and consequences of, a botched diamond heist, without actually showing the heist itself. "But wait a minute," you may find yourself asking, "how can a movie be any good if it doesn't show the climactic scene?"
"Well, you ignorant putz," I would respond, "it works because Quentin Tarantino understands that the events that take place between the major plot points are just as interesting, if not more so, than the plot points themselves." And it's absolutely true. We're not shown the diamond heist because ultimately, this movie is about the characters, and characters have no place to develop during a shootout. All they can do is shoot, whereas afterwards they can reflect and grow and communicate with each other and the audience can get a sense for who they are. Now of course that isn't the only purpose of the movie, but I like to think it helps, and it's a hell lot more interesting leaving some mystery as to what exactly happened rather than showing us another cookie cutter shootout scene (note to self: fight scene between holiday themed cookie cutters, eg. easter bunny shaped cookie cutter vs. Christmas angel shaped cookie cutter = terrible idea). Anyways, it's because Tarantino takes such care in creating interesting characters rather than just shoving boring people into a gunfight that we get a discussion at the beginning of the movie about tipping waitresses that is infinitely more fun to watch than the diamond heist would be.
I'd also mention that just because the movie doesn't feature the botched robbery doesn't mean the main hub of action has been removed. The real climax of the movie comes when the growing friction between the fellow robbers creates a distrust that leads to a vicious Mexican standoff, which Tarantino seems to use frequently in his movies and always makes it more exciting than the actual firing of weapons.
Here's a quick rundown of the major characters in this film, in a final attempt to get you to see this movie if you haven't already;
Mr. White: Harvey Keitel. A smart, cunning, but ultimately sympathetic robber who doesn't put up with any bullshit, and his guilt at getting Mr. Orange shot is what drives him throughout most of the film.
Mr. Orange: Tim Roth. An undercover cop hoping to catch the guy who organized this whole heist. Gets shot by a civilian woman while fleeing the robbery and spends most of the film bleeding out on a ramp (aka playing the Christ figure).
Mr. Blonde: Michael Madsen. A psychopath who, according to retellings of what went on during the robbery, was the main reason things became so hectic and screwed up. He dances while cutting off a cops ear and splashing him with gasoline before getting shot to death.
Nice Guy Eddie: Fat Sean Penn. He's actually played by Sean Penn's brother, Chris Penn, who surprisingly died of fat in 2006, though some doctors deny that and say it was merely a chubbiness overdose. He wears a light blue track suit and gets shot.
Joe Cabot: Lawrence Tierney. The mastermind behind the whole diamond heist. His description is best summarized by Mr. Orange in the film, "Motherfucker looks just like The Thing (from the Fantastic 4)."
Mr. Pink: Steve Buscemi.
I think I'll end on the excellent note that is Steve Buscemi.
Reservoir Dogs is the directorial debut of Quentin Tarantino (at least it is to those of you who have never heard of "My Best Friend's Birthday") and the film does a great job of introducing Tarantino's prowess behind (and to some extent, in front of) the camera. Now, I'm no great connoisseur of everything Tarantino. I love most of his stuff, and the reason for that is that rather than have a familiar style to his movies, he infuses them with a familiar feel. The films are eclectic, but you watch one and you can just feel that it's Tarantino behind the camera. I'm going to change the subject now because reading back the last few sentences, it seems like I'm high. Or a douchebag.
Reservoir Dogs follows the lead up to, and consequences of, a botched diamond heist, without actually showing the heist itself. "But wait a minute," you may find yourself asking, "how can a movie be any good if it doesn't show the climactic scene?"
"Well, you ignorant putz," I would respond, "it works because Quentin Tarantino understands that the events that take place between the major plot points are just as interesting, if not more so, than the plot points themselves." And it's absolutely true. We're not shown the diamond heist because ultimately, this movie is about the characters, and characters have no place to develop during a shootout. All they can do is shoot, whereas afterwards they can reflect and grow and communicate with each other and the audience can get a sense for who they are. Now of course that isn't the only purpose of the movie, but I like to think it helps, and it's a hell lot more interesting leaving some mystery as to what exactly happened rather than showing us another cookie cutter shootout scene (note to self: fight scene between holiday themed cookie cutters, eg. easter bunny shaped cookie cutter vs. Christmas angel shaped cookie cutter = terrible idea). Anyways, it's because Tarantino takes such care in creating interesting characters rather than just shoving boring people into a gunfight that we get a discussion at the beginning of the movie about tipping waitresses that is infinitely more fun to watch than the diamond heist would be.
I'd also mention that just because the movie doesn't feature the botched robbery doesn't mean the main hub of action has been removed. The real climax of the movie comes when the growing friction between the fellow robbers creates a distrust that leads to a vicious Mexican standoff, which Tarantino seems to use frequently in his movies and always makes it more exciting than the actual firing of weapons.
Here's a quick rundown of the major characters in this film, in a final attempt to get you to see this movie if you haven't already;
Mr. White: Harvey Keitel. A smart, cunning, but ultimately sympathetic robber who doesn't put up with any bullshit, and his guilt at getting Mr. Orange shot is what drives him throughout most of the film.
Mr. Orange: Tim Roth. An undercover cop hoping to catch the guy who organized this whole heist. Gets shot by a civilian woman while fleeing the robbery and spends most of the film bleeding out on a ramp (aka playing the Christ figure).
Mr. Blonde: Michael Madsen. A psychopath who, according to retellings of what went on during the robbery, was the main reason things became so hectic and screwed up. He dances while cutting off a cops ear and splashing him with gasoline before getting shot to death.
Nice Guy Eddie: Fat Sean Penn. He's actually played by Sean Penn's brother, Chris Penn, who surprisingly died of fat in 2006, though some doctors deny that and say it was merely a chubbiness overdose. He wears a light blue track suit and gets shot.
Joe Cabot: Lawrence Tierney. The mastermind behind the whole diamond heist. His description is best summarized by Mr. Orange in the film, "Motherfucker looks just like The Thing (from the Fantastic 4)."
Mr. Pink: Steve Buscemi.
I think I'll end on the excellent note that is Steve Buscemi.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Marcus: Santa Claus Conquers The Martians (1964)
Right before winter break, I was fortunate enough to get invited to a dinner for all the members of my office, where a fateful game of Yankee Swap took place. You probably all know it by different names, but it's the game where you can choose to either pick a new gift or rob your neighbor. I'll spare you the details, but at the end of the night, I emerged the undisputed loser, as I walked away with my very own copy of "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians". And like a syringe full of heroin, it ruined Christmas without me even caring.
The movie was eventually retitled "Santa Claus Defeats the Aliens" but I'm going to use the original title because it makes Santa sound more like a warlord. Turns out the title change makes no difference because the movie does not involve Santa conquering or defeating anything except my will to embrace the holiday spirit. First of all, the front of the DVD case is guilty of false advertising. The top billed performer is Pia Zadora, but she has a total screen time of I don't give a fuck. She spends less than 5 minutes playing a young martian girl named Girmar, which is the astoundingly clever coupling of the words "girl" and "martian" (Other names include: Momar = Mom martian, Kimar = King martian, and Bomar = boy martian).
Another example of false advertising is the portrayal of Santa as a merry and rosy-cheeked man with a thick, full beard as white as snow and a glint in his eye. This photo was obviously lifted off of a Hallmark card, as the actual Santa in the movie looks nothing like this. Instead, he's a strange, useless old fart with a scraggly, sorry excuse for facial hair, and who spouts lines to Mrs. Claus that carry ominous undertones of domestic unrest, like after she gets blasted with a freeze ray and he casually says, "You know my dear, I can't recall a time when you've been so silent for so long." There's a loving husband.
Santa is played by an actor named John Call. Don't worry, you've never heard of him. It's actually quite sad, if you look up his acting credits, most of his roles were background or ensemble roles, and almost all of them were uncredited. His role in this movie was not only his biggest, but also his second to last. You just know as you watch that he's putting all he's got into the part, but it just falls flat and reeks of desperation. He crafts together a third rate mall Santa at best. The only redeeming feature is that I think the beard is real, but again, it looks mangy.
Also, when you think of characteristics of Santa, one of the first three things that will come to mind is his signature laugh. Well, there's no ho-ho-hoing for this one. Instead this Santa expresses (joy?) with a maniacal cackle that lasts for minutes at a time and slowly escalates until everyone else is joining in with feverish frenzy for fear of the bearded demon becoming angry and gnawing their scalps off. I should try to emphasize how troubling this is by adding that the main conflict in the film is that the children of Mars can not enjoy their childhood because they have nothing on Mars that is equivalent to Christmas (I guess that makes Jews like Martians... but hey, I didn't write the script) and Santa cures this problem by laughing at the kids for two minutes. That's it, he cackles at them, and eventually they join in. It's borderline child abuse.
The problem is first revealed to the Martians when Kimar (the King, remember) visits the Martian elder, Chochem, which I believe is Yiddish for genius, to find out why his children are acting so strangely. As Kimar puts it, "They appear to be troubled, they don't care to sleep. I had to use the sleep spray on them again." When you think about it, the kids might be more upset about their parents using date rape drugs on them rather than not having Santa to look forward to.
To solve the problem, the Martians decide to kidnap Santa and bring him back to Mars to work there. The whole plan goes awry when they have to stop and ask two human children for directions, then kidnap them so they don't alert the authorities, because it would be almost cliche to have the Martian's interplanetary vessel pulled over by the cops. Eventually one of the Martians goes rogue and tries to kill the kids and Santa by blasting them out of the airlock, which would have made the movie almost worth it. Instead we get a weird scene where Santa stands by silently while the kids struggle to think of an escape plan. It's like he's judging them, as if escaping is the deciding factor on whether or not they get presents or coal, except coal in this case is a cold, silent scream-filled death in the empty abandon of space. Once they escape things get even weirder, to the point where I get uncomfortable watching the end.
To stop the rogue alien the children devise a cunning plan to lure him into the cargo hold where they will then lock the door behind him and seal hi... oh wait, no, they attack him with toys and squirt guns while slow carnival music plays and the camera jostles around and pulls in and out in a format not unlike a snuff film. For 3 straight minutes this goes on. The Martian just spins and shields his face while the children squirt and the little mechanical toys advance ever closer, slowly but surely in a paroxysm of madness. And Santa... well, Santa just looks on and laughs that evil laugh as if the world were crumbling around him. Then the movie ends with a soft, translucent-edged still of Santa smiling with the words "Merry Christmas" underneath, but they might as well say "RIP" because not only does it look like a card you'd see next to the coffin at a wake, but by then the movie has killed your childhood.
And that, children, is what Christmas is all about.
The movie was eventually retitled "Santa Claus Defeats the Aliens" but I'm going to use the original title because it makes Santa sound more like a warlord. Turns out the title change makes no difference because the movie does not involve Santa conquering or defeating anything except my will to embrace the holiday spirit. First of all, the front of the DVD case is guilty of false advertising. The top billed performer is Pia Zadora, but she has a total screen time of I don't give a fuck. She spends less than 5 minutes playing a young martian girl named Girmar, which is the astoundingly clever coupling of the words "girl" and "martian" (Other names include: Momar = Mom martian, Kimar = King martian, and Bomar = boy martian).
Another example of false advertising is the portrayal of Santa as a merry and rosy-cheeked man with a thick, full beard as white as snow and a glint in his eye. This photo was obviously lifted off of a Hallmark card, as the actual Santa in the movie looks nothing like this. Instead, he's a strange, useless old fart with a scraggly, sorry excuse for facial hair, and who spouts lines to Mrs. Claus that carry ominous undertones of domestic unrest, like after she gets blasted with a freeze ray and he casually says, "You know my dear, I can't recall a time when you've been so silent for so long." There's a loving husband.
Santa is played by an actor named John Call. Don't worry, you've never heard of him. It's actually quite sad, if you look up his acting credits, most of his roles were background or ensemble roles, and almost all of them were uncredited. His role in this movie was not only his biggest, but also his second to last. You just know as you watch that he's putting all he's got into the part, but it just falls flat and reeks of desperation. He crafts together a third rate mall Santa at best. The only redeeming feature is that I think the beard is real, but again, it looks mangy.
Also, when you think of characteristics of Santa, one of the first three things that will come to mind is his signature laugh. Well, there's no ho-ho-hoing for this one. Instead this Santa expresses (joy?) with a maniacal cackle that lasts for minutes at a time and slowly escalates until everyone else is joining in with feverish frenzy for fear of the bearded demon becoming angry and gnawing their scalps off. I should try to emphasize how troubling this is by adding that the main conflict in the film is that the children of Mars can not enjoy their childhood because they have nothing on Mars that is equivalent to Christmas (I guess that makes Jews like Martians... but hey, I didn't write the script) and Santa cures this problem by laughing at the kids for two minutes. That's it, he cackles at them, and eventually they join in. It's borderline child abuse.
The problem is first revealed to the Martians when Kimar (the King, remember) visits the Martian elder, Chochem, which I believe is Yiddish for genius, to find out why his children are acting so strangely. As Kimar puts it, "They appear to be troubled, they don't care to sleep. I had to use the sleep spray on them again." When you think about it, the kids might be more upset about their parents using date rape drugs on them rather than not having Santa to look forward to.
To solve the problem, the Martians decide to kidnap Santa and bring him back to Mars to work there. The whole plan goes awry when they have to stop and ask two human children for directions, then kidnap them so they don't alert the authorities, because it would be almost cliche to have the Martian's interplanetary vessel pulled over by the cops. Eventually one of the Martians goes rogue and tries to kill the kids and Santa by blasting them out of the airlock, which would have made the movie almost worth it. Instead we get a weird scene where Santa stands by silently while the kids struggle to think of an escape plan. It's like he's judging them, as if escaping is the deciding factor on whether or not they get presents or coal, except coal in this case is a cold, silent scream-filled death in the empty abandon of space. Once they escape things get even weirder, to the point where I get uncomfortable watching the end.
To stop the rogue alien the children devise a cunning plan to lure him into the cargo hold where they will then lock the door behind him and seal hi... oh wait, no, they attack him with toys and squirt guns while slow carnival music plays and the camera jostles around and pulls in and out in a format not unlike a snuff film. For 3 straight minutes this goes on. The Martian just spins and shields his face while the children squirt and the little mechanical toys advance ever closer, slowly but surely in a paroxysm of madness. And Santa... well, Santa just looks on and laughs that evil laugh as if the world were crumbling around him. Then the movie ends with a soft, translucent-edged still of Santa smiling with the words "Merry Christmas" underneath, but they might as well say "RIP" because not only does it look like a card you'd see next to the coffin at a wake, but by then the movie has killed your childhood.
And that, children, is what Christmas is all about.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Diane: The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters is the most nerdtastic documentary you n00bs will ever see. Period. It begs the question: Why wasn’t my middle school science teacher as awesome as Steve Wiebe? Heck, all my seventh grade science teacher did was drop pens on the ground and ask me to pick them up in order to look at my cleavage. But that’s a different story, a much darker… repressed… different story.
Here are the game’s main characters:
Steve Wiebe: he’s like your Mario, who never seems to get any stars or coins and constantly gets thrown barrels in his way. Some of these barrels include getting badly injured while pitching in the high school baseball championships and getting laid off the day he signed the lease on his home. But like Mario, he starts over with a new life and tries to move on. While on the hunt for a new job, Wiebe looks up the world record for Donkey Kong and decides at that moment, he is going to beat it. But before he can do that, he needs to face a whole new set of barrels being thrown at him.
Billy Mitchell: the record holder of Donkey Kong. He is the Donkey Kong throwing all of the barrels…if Donkey Kong looked like a more twisted brother of hair guru, Paul Mitchell. Billy earned the world record score in 1982, and has been living off of that fame ever since.
Walter Day: meet Barrel #1. Walter is the head “referee” of the FunTown tournament. Walter enters and verifies all of the new high scores for classic arcade games. Walter didn’t count Steve’s video submission of what would have been the highest Donkey Kong score because of Billy’s affiliation Roy Shildt, an enemy of Billy Mitchell. It’s funny though, Walter was so quick to add Billy’s secret new video submission even though it had many breaks and skips in the VHS tape.
Brian Kuh: Barrel #2. After Steve Wiebe sends in his tape, Kuh breaks into Wiebe’s garage and pulls apart his machine to see that it is not tampered with. He finds a box in the garage with the return address belonging to Roy Schildt and reports it to Walter Day. Brian quits his job as a bank comptroller so he could move closer to FunSpot and practice there everyday. He enters the tournament as a competitor against Wiebe, claiming that he has what it takes to win. But aside from losing early in the levels, he spends most of the tournament reporting to Billy Mitchell of Steve’s increasing scores.
Despite all of the barrels and Donkey Kong metaphors, the documentary ends with a sentence saying that eventually Wiebe earns the highest score. Yay! Steve wins, you really feel for the guy. But overall, all I felt was that all of the characters were pathetic. Each of them was desperately trying to relive the past. Wiebe, having a high score in a game won’t make you win that baseball game you lost years ago. Walter, you are sooo old. Retire! No one needs a referee for these games anymore because no one plays them anymore. If you don’t believe my argument, Google Image search Billy Mitchell and that’s all the proof you need. This rivalry is still going on today. So Billy Mitchell, I hope it’s worth your Kid Rock haircut and Steve Wiebe, I hope it’s worth neglecting your kids because in the end you both lost. On January 11, the record was taken by Hank Chien, a 35 year old plastic surgeon who had only been playing the game for a year and a half.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Marcus: The Fighter (2010)
Oh, David O. Russell, you certainly know how to direct a film. He does, you know. If you've seen "I Heart Huckabees" or "Three Kings" then you should agree. I just saw "The Fighter", Russell's take on the old standby of a genre, the boxing film, and now witnessing his masterful directorial skills has given me what us completely heterosexual men call a "man crush" and an "urge to have sex with him". Russell stands out as he always seems to have stood out, rather than taking the old formula and renaming it, he takes it, gives it a little spit shine, moves a few parts around, adds a few new parts, takes out some old pieces, and serves it all up with the best work from a collective cast you've seen all year.
I'll focus mainly on the work of the actors, but first I need to commend Russell himself. He presents parts of the movie in a very meta-documentary fashion, with the camera following a film crew following Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and his family rather than just follow them around on the shaky handicam itself, a style that seems to have taken a predominately cliched seat in the film and television world as of late. It's particularly effective once the action moves to the ring and the camera takes on the unique scratchy and unusually bright filter that is unique to televised pay-per-view, it's simple but just perfect, like a great bowl of soup. Like clam chowder. Like a great big bowl of New England clam chowder.
This movie takes place in New England (nailed the transition!). Lowell, Massachusetts to be exact, and everything about that fact is embraced and presented in the most beautifully poignant ways that a economically defunct small town can be presented. The setting we are introduced to in the opening credit sequence are about as gritty and real as a non-simulated plate of grits (now that's gritty and real... fuck all of you). The neighborhood in which our protagonist lives is one of obvious poverty and suffers from a huge case of being located in Massachusetts. Micky's family, who provide more than sufficient antagonism for him through the course of the movie is the biggest bundle of white trash you'll see outside of a KKK yard sale.
It's made clear right away that the family is dysfunctional. Not only do the eight sisters (that's an estimation, if I had to look at them long enough to count them my genitals would shrivel until they resembled a mummy's uvula) have difficulty explaining who came from which father, but their hair alone gives some indication of the early nineties hellhole from which they had emerged. Melissa Leo plays the matriarchal tycoon of the family. Given the jumbled accounts of her past (she had half of her brood by one man and then remarried to the man who would soon father Micky and the other half of the family... or something) she clearly either had a condom allergy, or was a bit of a whore. She also plays a royal class bitch better than any actress I've seen in a long time. It's a phenomenal performance, but to say it stands out in this movie is like saying Peter stood out amongst the disciples, or that George stood out amongst the Beatles. She's a team player in a group that is all talent and who all lend a small part to a project that is made better as a result, it's their collective effort and unique contributions that make the final result so memorable (Ringo was the goofy one, Judas was the betrayish one).
That being said, let's move on to the real meat of this movie, the three people who make "The Fighter" what it is, Mark Wahlberg, Amy Adams, and Christian "Motherfucking" Bale.
Mark Wahlberg plays Micky Ward, the fighter who has never really broken into the big leagues and as of yet has not managed to follow in the shadow of his big brother, who's claim to fame is once knocking down Sugar Ray Leonard in a fight. The problem is that Micky's family is the worst. Not the worst family, the worst thing ever. They are comically disfunctional, with all the sisters siding with the mom, the mom favoring the older brother, Dicky, over Micky, and Micky's father constantly trying and failing to get a voice of authority in the family over the mother. After a documentary about crack addiction centers its focus around his brother and destroys his family's reputation, Micky decides to fight and push himself out of the small times with a possible shot at a title belt. He, like his father, is repressed by his bitch of a mother, might as well start calling her Alice now to put a name to the evil, evil face.
Amy Adams plays Charlene, Micky's girlfriend who has twice the sass of a Tyler Perry movie and triple the appeal. She's the only one who supports Micky unselfishly and she defends him the only way she knows how, with a no-nonsense, sharp-witted bitchy attitude. She's badass who actually has one of the better fight scenes in the movie. Her confrontation with Dicky Eklund is the most emotionally powerful scenes of this past year in cinema.
And with the mention of Dicky Eklund I find myself unable to put it off any longer, I must talk about the shining diamond of a presence in this film that is Christian "Motherfucking" Bale. He plays Dicky Eklund, Micky's older brother. Micky idolizes him, which poses the central problem in the film, being that Micky finds it almost impossible to cut his brother out of his life even after Dicky collapses under rampant drug use. Bale masterfully portrays a character who means well and wants to stay loyal and helpful to his family, but can't help but let his own selfish needs interfere. The thick Bostonian accent and wide, glassy-eyed stare are the icing on this orgasm cake of a performance, and in case I haven't made it clear yet, my money's on him for the Oscar this year for Best Supporting Actor. To portray an antagonist who desperately means well, but can't shake his own demons.
The great thing about "The Fighter" is that the main fight isn't Micky Ward's struggle to the top, but rather the struggle to avoid his dysfunctional family from keeping him down while not wanting to compromise his love for them. "The Fighter" is a true cinematic triumph this year and sure to become a classic. I implore you to seek out and watch this film, I promise you won't want it to end.
I'll focus mainly on the work of the actors, but first I need to commend Russell himself. He presents parts of the movie in a very meta-documentary fashion, with the camera following a film crew following Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and his family rather than just follow them around on the shaky handicam itself, a style that seems to have taken a predominately cliched seat in the film and television world as of late. It's particularly effective once the action moves to the ring and the camera takes on the unique scratchy and unusually bright filter that is unique to televised pay-per-view, it's simple but just perfect, like a great bowl of soup. Like clam chowder. Like a great big bowl of New England clam chowder.
This movie takes place in New England (nailed the transition!). Lowell, Massachusetts to be exact, and everything about that fact is embraced and presented in the most beautifully poignant ways that a economically defunct small town can be presented. The setting we are introduced to in the opening credit sequence are about as gritty and real as a non-simulated plate of grits (now that's gritty and real... fuck all of you). The neighborhood in which our protagonist lives is one of obvious poverty and suffers from a huge case of being located in Massachusetts. Micky's family, who provide more than sufficient antagonism for him through the course of the movie is the biggest bundle of white trash you'll see outside of a KKK yard sale.
It's made clear right away that the family is dysfunctional. Not only do the eight sisters (that's an estimation, if I had to look at them long enough to count them my genitals would shrivel until they resembled a mummy's uvula) have difficulty explaining who came from which father, but their hair alone gives some indication of the early nineties hellhole from which they had emerged. Melissa Leo plays the matriarchal tycoon of the family. Given the jumbled accounts of her past (she had half of her brood by one man and then remarried to the man who would soon father Micky and the other half of the family... or something) she clearly either had a condom allergy, or was a bit of a whore. She also plays a royal class bitch better than any actress I've seen in a long time. It's a phenomenal performance, but to say it stands out in this movie is like saying Peter stood out amongst the disciples, or that George stood out amongst the Beatles. She's a team player in a group that is all talent and who all lend a small part to a project that is made better as a result, it's their collective effort and unique contributions that make the final result so memorable (Ringo was the goofy one, Judas was the betrayish one).
That being said, let's move on to the real meat of this movie, the three people who make "The Fighter" what it is, Mark Wahlberg, Amy Adams, and Christian "Motherfucking" Bale.
Mark Wahlberg plays Micky Ward, the fighter who has never really broken into the big leagues and as of yet has not managed to follow in the shadow of his big brother, who's claim to fame is once knocking down Sugar Ray Leonard in a fight. The problem is that Micky's family is the worst. Not the worst family, the worst thing ever. They are comically disfunctional, with all the sisters siding with the mom, the mom favoring the older brother, Dicky, over Micky, and Micky's father constantly trying and failing to get a voice of authority in the family over the mother. After a documentary about crack addiction centers its focus around his brother and destroys his family's reputation, Micky decides to fight and push himself out of the small times with a possible shot at a title belt. He, like his father, is repressed by his bitch of a mother, might as well start calling her Alice now to put a name to the evil, evil face.
Amy Adams plays Charlene, Micky's girlfriend who has twice the sass of a Tyler Perry movie and triple the appeal. She's the only one who supports Micky unselfishly and she defends him the only way she knows how, with a no-nonsense, sharp-witted bitchy attitude. She's badass who actually has one of the better fight scenes in the movie. Her confrontation with Dicky Eklund is the most emotionally powerful scenes of this past year in cinema.
And with the mention of Dicky Eklund I find myself unable to put it off any longer, I must talk about the shining diamond of a presence in this film that is Christian "Motherfucking" Bale. He plays Dicky Eklund, Micky's older brother. Micky idolizes him, which poses the central problem in the film, being that Micky finds it almost impossible to cut his brother out of his life even after Dicky collapses under rampant drug use. Bale masterfully portrays a character who means well and wants to stay loyal and helpful to his family, but can't help but let his own selfish needs interfere. The thick Bostonian accent and wide, glassy-eyed stare are the icing on this orgasm cake of a performance, and in case I haven't made it clear yet, my money's on him for the Oscar this year for Best Supporting Actor. To portray an antagonist who desperately means well, but can't shake his own demons.
The great thing about "The Fighter" is that the main fight isn't Micky Ward's struggle to the top, but rather the struggle to avoid his dysfunctional family from keeping him down while not wanting to compromise his love for them. "The Fighter" is a true cinematic triumph this year and sure to become a classic. I implore you to seek out and watch this film, I promise you won't want it to end.
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