3D horror film = teh awesome

I'm a sucker for awesome stuff, and this seems awesome. Sure it looks like the generic, run-of-the-mill, out to get your money no-good horror film that gets released every January. But kids, there is a twist, and it's in the title.

3-D ooga booga makes it all better. If the 3-D film in question is Final Destination (with a score by Brian Tyler), all the better. But we'll be waiting a while for that one, and this can bridle our hot-tempered interests until then. 

I'm going, are you? 

Good Grief AFI

Finally released, here is AFI's selection for the ten best American films of the year.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Frozen River
Gran Torino
Iron Man
Milk
WALL-E
Wendy and Lucy
The Wrestler

Not an entirely bad list (with the scorching exception of Iron Man and The Dark Knight, but I realize full well that I'm in the minority there). I'm also particularly keen on the fact that they're not turning a blind eye to the indies, some smaller (Frozen River) and some larger (The Wrestler) in scale. It's actually a fairly diverse meld. You've got blockbuster 4-quadrant fair there (Iron Man, TDK), smart indie cinema, an animated film, and engrossing Oscar-baity quality movies. 

I may not agree with their choices, but it's a heck of a list if you're looking for a taste of what 08 had to offer. In fact, my favorite film of the year made the list, which is very infrequent. 

My second and third favorites didn't, but I can live with that.

I only wish that AFI had included the other (*cough*superior*cough*) Robert Downey Jr. film of the year...

--DM

Jeff Wells, you have another friend

What can I say? Gran Torino was absolute awesome, head to toe. I'm not the biggest admirer of Eastwood as a director, but man does that guy kick some serious ass period. 

This film just proves that point to the t, as he makes one of the best crafted films of the years while being small and intimate at the same time. It's funny, touching, and eternal, a truly feel good film that makes you look back on your own life. It may not be the best film of the year, but it will always be one of the finest for me. There's something irresistable about the hard-shelled Kowalski who really is a capstone to Eastwood's lifetime achievements. He's a tough-as-nails character with  a hidden heart (maybe not of gold), and when the transformation becomes apparent to the audience, there's rarely anything better than that. It's a good, old-fashioned, story that doesn't pull any punches when it comes to telling the story, but still manages to pack a nice emotional punch in there. Think Million Dollar Baby, except you don't wish that you'd never seen it. At least that's how I felt, but some people clearly like being depressed. You may find this film disappointing. 

Just last post I was saying how my top ten was bound to remain unchanged. I was wrong. 

I've been bad...

Bad, in the sense, that I've been slow with updates. Sorry.
I'm sure anyone reading knows all of the big news, but I'll post the biggies again.

The LA Critics gave Wall-E best picture, which was suprising to say the least. I'm sure that robots everywhere are rejoicing for this leap in humanity (or androidanity, rather). Good stuff, I'm proud of the pick. Not my favorite of the year, but it's up there.

Second up, the New York Critics gave Milk best picture. Broadcast Critics are not really even worth the blog space because of some blatant exclusions (read: Revolutionary Road, one of the best films of the year - no doubt).

The Golden Globes were quite a shocker, in several ways for me. To be honest, my time/space continuum was punctured these past few days, and that's putting it mildly. Finals tend to drive us studious folk insane, temporarily of course. Which, oddly enough, pertains to Milk.

I'm going off on a severe tangent here. Milk was snubbed by the Golden Globes, only time will tell if it was an impeccably principled decision by the HFPA (sticking by the fact they thought the film wasn't up to snuff at the risk of being called out on a possible anti-gay bias), or simply foolish. I'm quite content with the choices.

In fact, all five nominess for Best Picture make my top 10, and it's likely to stay that way. So, kudos to them, this is the first time in a very long time. Best Picture for comedy/musical is a different beast entirely, one I cannot tame with words alone. When Mamma Mia begins competing, you know there's trouble amok. Now look, I know the film has its fans, I know some people will take their love for ABBA and start preaching to the Martians. The film has also made about a billion dollars (a hyperbolism, but not an incredibly excessive one). So be it, but the fact remains, I couldn't find one redeeming thing about the film and I know I am not alone.

Not to make things more scrambled, but I think Nico Muhly is awesome. This is the man who did the music for The Reader, for what it's worth. Great score.

Here are the nominations for the Globes, just to summarize.

Best Picture (Drama)
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Frost/Nixon”
“The Reader”
“Revolutionary Road”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

Best Picture (Comedy/Musical)
“Burn After Reading”
“Happy-Go-Lucky”
“In Bruges”
“Mamma Mia!”
“Vicky Cristina Barcelona”

Best Actor (Drama)
Leonardo DiCaprio, “Revolutionary Road”
Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”
Sean Penn, “Milk”
Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Micky Rourke, “The Wrestler”

Best Actor (Comedy/Musical)
Javier Bardem, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Colin Farrell, “In Bruges”
James Franco, “Pineapple Express”
Brendan Gleeson, “In Bruges”
Dustin Hoffman, “Last Chance Harvey”

Best Actress (Drama)
Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”
Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”
Meryl Streep, “Doubt”
Kristin Scott Thomas, “I’ve Loved You So Long”
Kate Winslet, “Revolutionary Road”

Best Actress (Comedy/Musical)
Rebecca Hall, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Sally Hawkins, “Happy-Go-Lucky”
Frances McDormand, “Burn After Reading”
Meryl Streep, “Mamma Mia!”
Emma Thompson, “Last Chance Harvey”

Best Supporting Actor
Tom Cruise, “Tropic Thunder”
Robert Downey Jr., “Tropic Thunder”
Ralph Fiennes, “The Duchess”
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”
Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, “Doubt”
Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Viola Davis, “Doubt”
Marisa Tomei, “The Wrestler”
Kate Winslet, “The Reader”

Best Director
Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Stephen Daldry, “The Reader”
David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”
Sam Mendes, “Revolutionary Road”

Best Original Score
“Changeling”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Defiance”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

Best Screenplay
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Doubt”
“Frost/Nixon”
“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

Best Foreign Film
“The Baader Meinhof Complex”
“Everlasting Moments”
“Gomorrah”
“I’ve Loved You So Long”
“Waltz with Bashir”

Best Animated Feature
“Bolt”
“Kung Fu Panda”
“WALL-E”

Best Original Score
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Changeling”
“Defiance”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

Best Original Song
“I Thought I Lost You” from “Bolt”
“Once in a Lifetime” from “Cadillac Records”
“Gran Torino” from “Gran Torino”
“Down to Earth” from “WALL-E”
“The Wrestler” from “The Wrestler”


The exclusion of Thomas Newman from best score is, quite frankly, a travesty tantamount to scalping a cuddly (vicious) panda. It's bad. Naughty. With a capital N. The nod for best song makes it somewhat better, but not a whole lot more.
Kudos on the best animated picture choices though, although I guess this just was a good year for CGI cartoons.

My goodness, where have all the 2D cartoons left. Is that really just kaput? Are we done with that?
I'm not sure what it means, but I can't help but feel sad. Maybe it's time had come though, who knows?

Moving on (I'm on a streak here), my thoughts on the ten nominated pictures.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Not enough words in the English language to describe how epic and gorgeous the film is. 

I'm not sure it's brilliant, but with each day I'm starting to think it is. Those TV spots are sure doing a good job of swaying me to that side of the spectrum. Rock on, I say. 

Frost/Nixon

Solid adult-fare, perhaps the most confident work Howard has done, and it shows. Terrific acting, tightly paced, and with a kicking payoff, this film is all but guaranteed to make a splash of some size. 

The Reader

Provocative, but imperfect, this film won't do bad, and I attribute that to its elusive staying power. 

Revolutionary Road

Beautiful film about the dangers of self-loathing. I didn't hit me, but that's all the film is about. 

Self-hate is a serious problem, one that really submerged deep within the soul, and every step of the way, these characters broil in a very discomforting and unsupportive environment. 

The fifties were the end of the era of superficiality, reflected in all the demonstrations was the fact that people were coming out from the under this demonizing spell. The film captures it all too well, and oh so subtly. 

Slumdog Millionaire

Good film, I'm not in love, but only tentatively. 

Burn After Reading

A film about morons that made me feel "moronical." I'm ok with it though, Brad Pitt was gold. 

It is difficult for me to throw this film anything more than that. It was very anti-climatic and lacked a certain substantive sense that made the film feel cheap. 

Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges

No comment yet. 

Mamma Mia!

I feel my thoughts on the matter were adequately disclosed earlier. Hint: pseudo-technicolor barf. 

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Boring and tepid Allen at his worst. Creepy sexuality done without a hint of passion, and slow motion. Lots of slow motion. I miss the old Woody Allen, the guy who made films like Radio Days. Before you dismiss me as just some rabid Allen fan who can't come to terms with him leaving New York, well -- maybe you're right, but I can look at things objectively. His films, as of late, do absolutely nothing for me. They lack inspired dialogue, intelligent actors, and, most of all, a sense of creativity. It seems that he's rehashing the works of other directors who have done that same film much better than Allen can ever have hoped to. It worked with Stardust Memories so many years ago, not so much with his latest batch. 

For what it's worth, here's my top ten at the moment (unfixed, and unlikely to change).

1) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2) Revolutionary Road
3) Two Lovers
4) Wall-E
5) Frost/Nixon
6) Doubt
7) Snow Angels
8) Slumdog Millionaire
9) Tropic Thunder
10) The Reader

The exclusion of several hot-ticket films is intentional, not a gap in my viewing slate per se. 

All right, hope your winter is warming up to be awesome in one way or another. 

--DM

Coming-of-Youth story

My my, Benjamin Button, how big ears you have.

...

WTF

To derail off the tracks for a moment here, I want to mention a fascinating little tidbit about Frost/Nixon and Doubt.
Both have a lot going for them, talented performers, based on reputable stage pieces, and a formidable amount of buzz.
Therein lies the rub, perhaps, they are a little too similar. The consensus has been growing, and somewhat firmly reached on Awards Daily, that the two are going head-to-head for the Oscar nod. No one is talking big money here (as in the top golden statuette), but nom. Milk seems to be in a category all of its own, whereas there seems to be a wave of supporters for Revolutionary Road flooding various shores.

This is where I get back to my main point. Benjamin Button is glorious, a total cinematic Joie de Vivre, so beautifully romantic and epic. The music, the production design, the seamless effects, the ambitious story, the grand direction and witty writing.

It is a superlative fairy tale for the ages, and I cannot believe how much I was in this contorted little world for several hours.
Magnificent in every sense, I felt deeply saddened that I had to leave the theater, finishing the story unfold, as wonderfully as it did.

The acting never struck me square in the jaw, but I appreciate that on a different dimension altogether. I was never cognizant of that particular aspect because everything sprung to life so vividly. I think, in a film like this, not noticing the acting says loads more about the fine quality of acting witnessed here than anything. Brad Pitt's stunning transformation is bound to having female audience members gasping in their seats, but more importantly, one grows to really love this acutely off-kilter character.

Maybe it is a testament to Pitt as an actor, but I seem to really care for most of the characters he brings life to, and I think there is a lot more to this guy than meets the eye.

In any case, the film is an absolute marvel, being very smart in covering this enormous scope of time and not doing what Gump did. Certainly, the whole point of Gump was his influence and the film's premise almost wholly relied upon particular historical events. What we have here is much more charming and genuine, a character aging backwards. It is such a complex premise, but it is deftly designed. Button's metamorphosis from a quiet unassured being into a wise and laconic young man is very detailed and organic, always staying true to Button's fascinating persona.

More than anything, it is too early for me to tell really, but I feel like the film makes you open your eyes to the beauty of life and all the wonder that we inexplicably turn a blind eye to every day. Benjamin Button is a pragmatic dreamer, and his paradoxical nature and lushly comforting world-view indefinitely rubs off on each and every audience member.
I feel different, and it is more than I could ask for from any film.

I have a gripe, it is small. I thought it would hurt the film, and less than a few hours has passed, but I couldn't even recall it.
I had to, literally, ask myself whether I had any outstanding complaints. I am not a fan of the narrative framing device Fincher uses, I think it needlessly breaks up segments. Perhaps "needless" is the wrong word to employ here, it is somewhat necessary as a branching tool, but I just wish it was more exciting. What happened is that I kept waiting anxiously while we put the film back into the camera, waiting for Button's story to continue unfold. Maybe this was Fincher's intention, and so be it.
The fact of the matter is, it doesn't bother me nearly enough to stop the film from being my favorite of the year.
I sincerely laud the filmmakers, well done.

--DM

RDJ for the win!

I really wish this man all the luck in the world. I hope he gets some award recognition for his startling turn as an Australian in Tropic Thunder earlier this year. Let's just say Hugh Jackman has some competition on his hands...

An Awards Update - National Board of Review

Revolutionary Road was snubbed (clearly), and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button did not get enough. Ultimately, I feel it will bear very little impact on how the major awards tend to go down this season. Though it is worth mentioning, most winners of Best Picture for NBR tend to go on to get an Oscar nod for Best Picture. 

NBR's top ten is particularly baffling. Here is the list:

Best Film: “Slumdog Millionaire”
Best Director: David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Best Actor: Clint Eastwood, “Gran Torino”
Best Actress: Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”
Best Supporting Actor: Josh Brolin, “Milk”
Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Best Foreign Film: “Mongol”
Best Documentary: “Man on Wire”
Best Animated Feature: “WALL-E”
Best Ensemble Cast: “Doubt”
Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: Dev Patel, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: Viola Davis, “Doubt”
Best Directorial Debut: Courtney Hunt, “Frozer River”
Best Original Screenplay: Nick Schenk, “Gran Torino”
Best Adapted Screenplay (tie): Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire” and Eric Roth, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

The top ten (in alphabetical order):
“Burn After Reading”
“Changeling”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Defiance”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Gran Torino”
“Milk”
“WALL-E”
“The Wrestler”

Top five foreign films (in alphabetical order):
“Edge of Heaven”
“Let the Right One In”
“Roman de Gare”
“A Secret”
“Waltz with Bashir”

Top five documentary films (in alphabetical order):
“American Teen”
“The Betrayal”
“Dear Zachary”
“Encounters at the End of the World”
“Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired”

Top Ten Independent Films
“Frozen River”
“In Bruges”
“In Search of a Midnight Kiss”
“Mr. Foe”
“Rachel Getting Married”
“Snow Angels”
“Son of Rambow”
“Wendy and Lucy”
“Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
“The Visitor”

William K. Everson Film History Award: Molly Haskell, Andrew Sarris
Spotlight Award: Melissa Leo, “Frozen River,” Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor”
The BVLGARI Award for NPR Freedom of Expression: “Trumbo”

Why this murderous disdain for Revolutionary Road? Is The Dark Knight really better? Is Changeling?

One can never predict what lunacy will prevail next...

-- DM