tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49110810157247960872024-03-12T19:36:39.443-07:00Jane and Geri Dish the MoviesJane and Geri, two high school friends, re-ignited their friendship over the internet and discover a love of movies and want to share their thoughts (Geri) and opinions (Jane, because she always has one, just ask her family). Feel free to share yours! (Jane cooks and Geri dances, so from time to time, we may wander away from the movies!Jane- 2 of 7http://www.blogger.com/profile/08687675489648006638noreply@blogger.comBlogger68125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-52854979303626073582012-08-17T22:09:00.000-07:002012-08-17T22:09:09.336-07:00Moonrise Kingdom- a Gem<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I recently saw Moonrise Kingdom.... the weekend "Batman Rises" was released. One can imagine that the theater going experience that weekend was a bit different. The quick little video about where the exits were, the brighter lights along the aisles.....<br />
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The best antidote for this is Moonrise Kingdom. What a lovely gem of a movie. Of course, if one gathers such a group of actors, one is expected to deliver. And Wes Anderson, as director and co-writer, certainly did that. I haven't seen many of Mr. Anderson's films. I do like The Royal Tenenbaums. Even if both Wilson brothers are in it. (They are offset by the brilliant performances of Gene Hackman, Bill Murray and the incomparable Anjelica Houston.) But I have, once more, left the path of this topic.<br />
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The movie is set in 1964/1965 on an island in New England. The plot: Sam (Jared Gilman), as a member of the Boy Scout troop attending summer camp, is attending the local production of the Noah story. He has a compulsion to seek out someone backstage. He finds Suzy (Kara Hayward), in a dressing room preparing for her role as one of the birds. They have an instant connection. Before Sam is tossed from the dressing room, Suzy and Sam manage to exchange addresses. Over the course of the fall, winter and spring, they write to each other. <br />
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Meanwhile, let me introduce the other characters:<br />
Bruce Willis- the local constable.<br />
Bill Murray- Suzy's dad and a lawyer.<br />
Frances McDormand: Suzy's mom and lawyer. (How much litigation can there be on an island?)<br />
Edward Norton: Boy Scout Leader.<br />
Bob Balaban: Narrator.<br />
Tilda Swinton: Social Services (yes, you read that right!)<br />
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Without spoiling the movie too much, Social Services in the form of Tilda Swinton, is called in as Sam is in their custody as a foster child. She is brilliant in this role, even if it is not a major one. All the acting is brilliant, understated and wonderful.<br />
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But the plot: Suzy and Sam have decided to run off (or according to the Cohen Brothers in one my favorite movies runnoft) and be together. This they accomplish being the intelligent youngster that they are. Of course, they throw the entire community into an uproar. It is so much fun to watch. A delightful movie. One caveat: Due to subject matter, I would recommend it for ages 16 and above depending on the maturity level of those watching.<br />
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One of my very favorite movies in a long time!<br />
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Jane- 2 of 7http://www.blogger.com/profile/08687675489648006638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-84405895424707638882012-05-13T13:37:00.003-07:002012-05-13T13:37:21.933-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The Five Year Engagement: At Long Last Love!<br />
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My friend Carol and I went to see The Five Year Engagement this past Thursday evening. Why? Because I really wanted to see the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. So how did we end up watching another movie? It's simple really. Marigold is in limited release. The theatres in which it is playing are not accessible to my friend on a weeknight in Greater Boston. It's the traffic. There are some activities that we just don't do because of our health. One of them is drive in rush hour traffic needlessly. It's just not good for the blood pressure. So, having agreed that we were both free to see a movie that evening, we chose another movie. <br />
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The Five Year Engagement stars Jason Segel as Tom Solomon as a rising chef who meets Violet Barnes, played by Emily Blunt, a behavioral scientist student. They live in San Francisco. One year after they meet, Tom proposes to Violet. Everyone is happy. Then Violet is offered the opportunity to further her career in Michigan. It's a two year commitment. Tom willingly goes along with this, it's only two years, right? <br />
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My impression was that the plot of this movie would have a series of setbacks for this couple along the lines of someone in a body cast for six months, someone would be exposed to a toxin and have to be quarantined for three months, someone would have to nurse a relative back to health out of state or in another country thus delaying the wedding, or perhaps someone would get stranded in Indonesia and be unable to leave because there is no airstrip and the docks were destroyed. At least, this is way I would have written it. <br />
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But no. Tom ends up a worker bee in a deli while Violet has her dream job. Then she gets a promotion and her job is extended. There are some interesting characters along the way. There are funny moments. It is a humorous film. Just not what I expected. I expected a bit more slapstick. I don't want to have write spoiler alert so you will just have to trust me when I say there is a lot to this film. It does touch on many different points in a relationship. However, it is not a chick flick. It is a comedy. So, I give this one a C.<br />
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<br /></div>Jane- 2 of 7http://www.blogger.com/profile/08687675489648006638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-82854122841583420362012-05-13T11:41:00.002-07:002012-05-13T11:41:18.532-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Safe! But from what?<br />
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Yes, another movie post. I'm getting caught up here. The ladies went to the movies a few weeks ago. It had been ages since we'd all got together. All four of us at the same time. It was a miracle. However, the selection of films wasn't the most compelling so we ended up viewing Safe. This is the Jason Statham action/adventure movie. We usually don't opt for this type of film but pickings were slim.<br />
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(Did you know that Jason Statham was a British Olympic diver before he became an actor? I didn't. Just a little trivia for the day.) <br />
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The plot premise involves a "black ops super cop" named Luke Wright, played by Jason Statham, who had been hired by the NYC mayor, played by Chris Sarandon, to clean up the streets. Luke Wright, being disgusted by the corrupt government officials, becomes a cage-fighter. Having ideals, Wright refuses to "throw" a fight. This causes the head of the Russian mafia, Docheski- played by Sandor Tecsy, to lose a great deal of money. It's not good to anger Docheski as this causes Docheski to murder your wife and then threaten to murder anyone you become close to. So, Wright ends up living in a homeless shelter barely existing. He finds himself seriously contemplating suicide when he becomes aware of Mei, played by Catherine Chan, as she works her way through a subway station avoiding several men who are obviously searching for someone. This snaps Wright out of his mental haze and puts him into "protector mode". From this moment on, we're in action adventure heaven. It turns out that Mei has escaped from being abducted by the Russian mob (Docheski's people) who took her from the Chinese Triads who had absconded with her from China where she had been forcibly removed without her consent from her family. Mei is a math prodigy with an eidetic memory and is being used to keep the bookies in NYC honest without a paper trail. At least, that's the story cooked up on which to base the movie. But hey, we're not looking for Oscar material, just a reason to have guns, fists and car chases. The Triads are headed by Han Jiao (James Wong). Mei has had to memorize a really, really, really long number that turns out to be the combination of a safe that holds millions of dollars......<br />
<br />
Anyway, you get the point. There is a lot going on. There is more going on than originally meets the eye. It's not just the Russian Mob and Chinese Triads because corrupt politicians are around and the mayor once hired Luke Wright. It's an action adventure movie so there will be lots of you know what. Mercifully, it's short, only 94 minutes. So I give it an A- because it hit all the right notes. Plus, in the previews, we found out there will be a sequel to The Expendables!</div>Jane- 2 of 7http://www.blogger.com/profile/08687675489648006638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-42394200028523183592012-05-13T09:54:00.000-07:002012-05-13T09:54:23.830-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hungry for a new post!<br />
<br />
Hello everyone!<br />
<br />
I'm back! Yes, I've been gone awhile. Sorry about that. I apologize for the neglect. I did actually see three movies and was too lazy to post right away. So, here we go. On April 6, 2012, I had the pleasure of viewing The Hunger Games with three lovely ladies to celebrate their birthdays. As you may know, I take my nieces out to celebrate. It's so much more fun to have an outing than simply hand over some store bought item. We'd rather make a memory. I wish I had had this opportunity to spend time with my older relatives having one-on-one times now that I think back. But life was different "in the old days". It's a new century, we get to do things our way. Yay! Since the day we chose happened to be my sister-in-law's birthday, we included her! A trifecta! We went to see The Hunger Games as we had all read the first book.<br />
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Let me start with the cast and crew:<br />
Suzanne Collins: Author of the book<br />
Gary Ross: Director of movie<br />
Jennifer Lawrence: Katniss Everdeen <br />
Elizabeth Banks: Effie Trinket<br />
Woody Harrelson: Haymitch Abernathy<br />
Stanley Tucci: Caesar Flickerman<br />
Donald Sutherland: President Snow<br />
Josh Hutcherson: Peeta Mallark<br />
Liam Hemsworth: Gale Hawthorne<br />
Lenny Kravitz: Cinna<br />
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Wes Bentley: Seneca Crane</span></div>
Willow Shields: Primrose Everdeen<br />
Amandla Stenberg: Rue<br />
Music: T Bone Burnett and James Newton Howard<br />
Costume: Judianna Makorsky<br />
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Fans of the book are <b>Fans</b>. And, I guess, I am one of them. I enjoyed reading the series and found the story well done with a good message for the young adult market. The theme is political and involves making choices. Morality is certainly a big factor here. Darker than the Harry Potter series. I didn't read the Twilight series as other nieces (we're a large family) had said not to bother. The movie stayed true to the book as much as possible. Small changes made to move the story along didn't affect the overall theme but cut the running time to 2 1/2 hours. I imagine it was a different experience for those who hadn't read the book. It comes down to having the background knowledge and therefore able to fill in the blanks and make connections. It's a great film for the fans of the book. Oh, damned with faint praise.<br />
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Here's my issue: the movie should be able to stand on its own. I realized that I was able to enjoy the movie <b><u>because</u></b> I had read the book, knew the story and was subconsciously filling in the blanks with "prior knowledge". For fans of the book, the movie did a great job. But for everyone else, not so much. I'm not sure how "not so much". One friend of mine who saw the movie without reading the book wasn't enthused. She saw the movie with someone who had read the book and liked the movie a lot more. The movie failed to deliver to the non-readers. Not a good thing. This loses the audience for movies two and three.<br />
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Enough about the movie.... let's get down to performances. Or at least the performances I enjoyed. First, Jennifer Lawrence. Fabulous. I knew she would be. Her performance in Winter's Bone made her a natural to play Katniss Everdeen. Katniss is the same character as Ree, just a different story. Woody Harrelson as Haymitch. - well of course. Perfect. Haymitch is a has-been alcoholic. Woody Harrelson can pull off this role with one hand tied behind his back. Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman. Why does this man turn in performance after performance and not have an Oscar? The movie was well-cast. Elizabeth Banks was fun as Effie Trinket though not quite as annoying as I'd expected her to be. Lenny Kravitz was a good choice as Cinna, the stylist.<br />
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T Bone Burnett always delivers on music. And he does here. Costumes were designed by Judianna Makorsky. She had a lot of work to do and she met the requirements. I see an Oscar nomination and I think perhaps an award. I know it is early but I think there's a winner here. I was somewhat apprehensive about the stadium costumes but these lived up to the descriptions in the book and maybe even topped them. Very impressive.<br />
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Overall, I give the movie a B, mostly for effort. It was fan-pleasing. The work that went into the movie was excellent but the movie itself doesn't stand alone. That said, I look forward to the next one. My recommendation for those who haven't read the books and are interested, please do read the books. It will make the movies that much better. For those who don't care, don't bother. But it is worth the time.<br />
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<br /></div>Jane- 2 of 7http://www.blogger.com/profile/08687675489648006638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-73577593262565944782012-02-27T07:21:00.000-08:002012-02-27T07:21:59.546-08:00And The Winner Is.......<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">First, it was quite a night. Billy was back. While it was a subdued show, the intro was nice and Cirque du Soleil gave a stunning performance. Absolutely stunning. I wish I had a bigger television just for that. But on to the results.<br />
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Jane did not made too many predictions while Geri did the whole kit and kaboodle. So, Jane's results first.<br />
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Jane managed to call it right on three out of four: Best picture, director, actor (The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius, Jean Dujardin) and blew it on Best Actress. But, if we remember correctly, Jane noted that she did want Meryl Streep to win. And Meryl did.<br />
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Geri predicted Best Picture, Director and Actor (The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius, Jean Dujardin) as well as Art Direction (Hugo), Foreign Language Film (A Separation), Supporting Actress (Octavia Spencer, The Help), Sound Editing and Sound Mixing (Hugo) Best Animated Feature (Rango), Best Supporting Actor (Christopher Plummer, Beginner), Original Score (The Artist), Original Song (Muppet Movie), Adapted Screenplay (The Descendants), Original Screenplay (Midnight in Paris), Live Action Short (The Shore), Documentary Short (Saving Face), Animated Short )The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. This means she only missed seven out of twenty-four which is impressive!<br />
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The remaining winners were:<br />
Cinematography: Hugo<br />
Costume Design: The Artist<br />
Makeup: The Iron Lady<br />
Film Editing: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo<br />
Best Documentary (feature): Undefeated<br />
Visual Effects: Hugo<br />
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The Artist and Hugo each won five Oscars. I found this fitting as each of these films explored the early years of film. Also, The Artist was markedly different from other films usually released as it was in black and white as well as (mostly) silent. Hugo was also very different as it was in 3D and very well done. <br />
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Just another comment. Christopher Plummer, who won Best Supporting Actor, is 82 years old. Not bad, eh? I wish two things, to look that good when I am 82, to get to 82, and to be that productive. I guess that's three things. I guess I wish four things because I also hope I can count when I get there.<br />
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</div>Jane- 2 of 7http://www.blogger.com/profile/08687675489648006638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-68931708066139015562012-02-25T19:45:00.000-08:002012-02-25T19:45:31.229-08:00Jane's Oscar Picks<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">It's been a tough year and I haven't seen as many movies as I should have. Only five of the nine best picture nominees and a pitiful amount of the other categories. It's shameful. I deserve twenty lashes with a wet noodle as my late husband would say.<br />
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Of the best picture nominees, I missed Warhorse, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball and Extremely Close and Incredibly Loud. Of those four, I am very disappointed that I haven't managed to see Moneyball or Midnight in Paris.<br />
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The remaining five are Hugo, The Descendants, The Tree of Life, The Help and The Artist. My favorites are Hugo and The Artist. Both films have a common theme: the early years in film. Both were fun to watch and different. Quite refreshing in the individual ways.<br />
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My pick for Best Picture is The Artist.<br />
Best Director is Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist.<br />
Best Actor is Jean Dujardin for The Artist.<br />
Best Actress is Viola Davis for The Help.<br />
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I haven't seen enough movies to make informed choices for any other categories.<br />
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I am secretly hoping Meryl Streep wins Best Actress for her performance but I can't honestly choose her for this as I didn't see the movie.<br />
I am predicting The Artist to take major categories due to the major buzz and its wins at the Golden Globes. It is a delightful movie.<br />
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Best of luck to the nominees!<br />
Geri and I will check back after the Oscars to recap and see how we did.<br />
</div>Jane- 2 of 7http://www.blogger.com/profile/08687675489648006638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-67382167213266263092012-02-24T15:28:00.002-08:002012-02-24T17:00:24.638-08:00Geri weighs in on the 2012 OscarsAfter a very long absence attributed to working way too hard in my real life, it's time for me to offer my humble opinions on the Oscars being televised this Sunday, 2/26/12. <br /><br />The Best Picture nominees this year offer something for every moviegoer and include: the artsy discussion-provoking The Tree of Life, the film baseball biopic Moneyball, the child-friendly, wonderfully fantastic Hugo, a unique perspective on the 60's as viewed through the eyes of The Help, the outstanding tribute to early films as depicted in The Artist, the wonder of literary time travel as seen in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, and then there's George Clooney in The Descendants (need I say more?). I did not see War Horse or Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. My favorites in this category include Hugo, Midnight in Paris, The Help, and The Artist. I believe The Artist will win Best Picture and Michel Hazanavicius of The Artist will win Best Director.<br /> <br /><br />The Best Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress categories include outstanding performances by some of the finest actors to grace the silver screen. I had the most difficulty choosing between George Clooney and Jean Dujardin's performances in the Best Actor category. Having said that, here are my predictions:<br /><br />Best Actor - Jean Dujardin<br />Best Actress - Viola Davis<br />Best Supporting Actor - Christopher Plummer<br />Best Supporting Actress - Octavia Spencer<br /><br />Woody Allen deserves the Original Screenplay Oscar for his delightful romp through the streets of past and present-day literary Paris in Moonlight In Paris. The creative team of Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Nash will win the Adapted Screenplay Oscar for The Descendants.<br /><br />This year, I finally feel qualified to give predictions in the Live Action Short, Animated Short, and Documentary Short films. My husband and I spent a full day last Saturday at the Independent Film Channel Center in NYC and saw all the nominated films in each category. If you are ever in NYC, please visit this wonderfully artsy movie house located in Greenwich Village (it has the most comfortable movie theater seats, including sofa-like seats with movable arm-rests, in case you feel like laying down to enjoy the movie).<br /><br />Live Action Short: The Shore<br />Animated Short: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore<br />Documetary Short: Saving Face<br /><br />I have a far greater appreciation for these categories since my visit to IFC Center, and I applaud all the independent filmmakers who make movies because of their passion for film, not necessarily for monetary gain. Most of these cinematic gems are never seen by the general public and it is a shame that cinemas don't pay more attention to promoting these types of films.<br /><br />Other Oscar category predictions include:<br /><br />Animated Feature Film: Rango<br />Art Direction: Hugo<br />Cinematography: The Tree of Life<br />Costume Design: Jane Eyre (when has a period piece not won this category?)<br />Documentary Feature: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory<br />Film Editing: The Artist<br />Foreign Language Film: A Separation (Iran)<br />Makeup: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2<br />Music (Original Score): The Artist (even without music from Vertigo, this soundtrack is beautiful)<br />Music (Original Song): Man or Muppet<br />Sound Editing and Sound Mixing: Hugo<br />Visual Effects: Rise of the Planet of the Apes<br /><br />So sit back, enjoy the Oscars on Sunday night, and please keep supporting and enjoying the movies!<br /><br />GeriUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-6363255530809520852012-02-22T21:58:00.000-08:002012-02-22T21:58:18.983-08:00The Artist- Silence Can be Gold!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The Artist has been nominated for many awards and has won many. And rightly so, as it is a refreshingly differently movie in a sea of movies that seem to reiterate the same theme or device to tell us the story.<br />
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The film starts in 1927 when movies are in the heyday of silent films. Jean Dujardin, playing George Valentin, is a pleasure to watch. He is that "Hollywood Star" that is happy to please his public and live up to the image. However, it appears that his home life is less than ideal. A lack of communication (no talking?) is the order of the day.<br />
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As part of Valentin's daily work life, a young ingenue (Berenice Bejo playing Peppy Miller) manipulates a photo opportunity with the star and her career trajectory is higher than an Apollo mission. Unfortunately, times soon change and sound comes to the cinema. George Valentin will not consider "talkies". He takes on the writing, production, direction and starring in a silent movie that opens at the same time as a Peppy Miller "talking" film. Of course, no one wants to see a silent film when one can see a "talkie". Especially with Peppy Miller! <br />
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Valentin makes his opinion known at his studio. This consists mainly of studio head, played by John Goodman. Wonderfully played, I might add. We never hear him speak a word, but we can only wish. He has done a marvelous job, as always.<br />
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Valentin's career spirals down as does his domestic life. Valentin descends into poverty. He is rescued from a fire by a policeman notified by Valentin's faithful dog (I know, it's so trite but so dear) and the policeman is played by one of the Murray brothers (as in Bill Murray), and the whole scene is predictable. Because it's a silent movie. And it's supposed to be that way. If it wasn't, you would feel robbed of the experience. Peppy Miller becomes aware of Valentin's predicament and rescues him. He thinks it is charity until she proves it is something else..... respect. That is what makes this movie so good.<br />
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</div>Jane- 2 of 7http://www.blogger.com/profile/08687675489648006638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-67964485164153865702012-02-22T21:08:00.000-08:002012-02-22T21:08:54.288-08:00The Descendants- You can't choose your family....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I am so ambivalent about this movie..... did I really like it or did I feel manipulated? Was it a great George Clooney performance or not? The mainstream reviewers and Oscar nominators (obviously) think the movie was great. I have a certain friend who I couldn't drag to see this movie under pain of death (you know who you are, as do certain other friends). As I watched, I kept thinking about George's performance. Not about the movie. The movie/story was secondary. This does not a great movie make. For me, at least. <br />
<br />
I wish I could have enjoyed the movie more. I wanted to. I love George Clooney for his "offbeat characters". He's great as Danny Ocean, Lyn Cassady (Men Who Stare at Goats), Michael Clayton, Harry Pfarrer (Burn After Reading) as well as Everett in Oh Brother Where Art Thou (one of my all time favorite movies and best sound tracks of all time).<br />
<br />
Spoilers Ahead!<br />
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The story centers on a man (Matt King) who has ignored his family for the sake of his career/wealth building. He wakes up when his wife suffers a boating accident. At this point he needs to become the primary parent as his wife is in a coma and it becomes apparent that she will never wake up. He raves at her that he's "the back up parent". This is, for me at least, a very strange concept. I have no idea what a back-up parent is. You are a parent or you are not. You are in your childrens' lives or not. Why else would you have children? I could go on and on about this, but I'll stop. You really don't need to read my screed about all this.... truly. Plus, I'm getting way off topic here.<br />
<br />
So, we have a story about a man whose idea of his family is being shattered upon learning the circumstances of his wife's boating accident. It is confirmed when his older daughter tells him that she's known of her mother's infidelity for months (and, by the way, she was with the "other man" when the accident happened. Meanwhile, this older daughter refuses to go anywhere with her father and younger sister without her friend Sid. It turns out that Sid has lost a parent himself, but this isn't revealed until much later. Oh, and Matt King's extended family owns the last major tract of pristine land in Hawaii and for some reason they have to make a decision about selling it due to a new law. The family descends from early missionaries and Hawaiian Royalty. Why they can't sell the land to the state of Hawaii for a nice amount of change to keep the land pristine is beyond me but again, this baffles me. Oh, yeah, it's a movie.<br />
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A major part of the movie is Matt King looking for the man with whom his wife was having an affair in order to tell him that she was to be taken off life support. It is obvious that he wants a confrontation about all this.<br />
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The movie ends nicely, as it should, given all that happens. It is not my favorite movie of the year. It certainly not my choice for the Best Movie of the Year.<br />
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</div>Jane- 2 of 7http://www.blogger.com/profile/08687675489648006638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-37325131015840235302012-01-24T06:07:00.000-08:002012-01-24T06:07:16.385-08:00And the Oscar Nominees Are.......<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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</style> <![endif]--> <div class="MsoNormal">2012 Oscar Nominations for 2011 Films</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b>BEST PICTURE</b><br />
"War Horse"<br />
"The Artist"<br />
"Moneyball"<br />
"The Descendants"<br />
"The Tree of Life"<br />
"Midnight in Paris"<br />
"The Help"<br />
"Hugo"<br />
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"<br />
<br />
<b>LEAD ACTOR</b><br />
Demián Bichir, "A Better Life"<br />
George Clooney, "The Descendants"<br />
Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"<br />
Gary Oldman, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy "<br />
Brad Pitt, "Moneyball"<br />
<br />
<b>LEAD ACTRESS</b><br />
Glenn Close, "Albert Nobbs"<br />
Viola Davis, "The Help"<br />
Rooney Mara, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo "<br />
Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"<br />
Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn"<br />
<br />
<b>BEST DIRECTOR</b><br />
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"<br />
Alexander Payne, "The Descendants"<br />
Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"<br />
Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"<br />
Terrence Malick, "The Tree of Life"<br />
<br />
<b>SUPPORTING ACTOR</b><br />
Kenneth Branagh in "My Week with Marilyn"</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Jonah Hill in "Moneyball"<br />
Nick Nolte in "Warrior"<br />
Christopher Plummer in "Beginners"<br />
Max von Sydow in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">I have some movies to see!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"> </div></div>Jane- 2 of 7http://www.blogger.com/profile/08687675489648006638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-65429450733264085652012-01-01T20:08:00.000-08:002012-01-01T20:08:54.329-08:00We Bought a Zoo! Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">My family is large. I have a couple of more brothers and a couple of more sisters than most. This has resulted in more nieces and nephews than most on a geometric basis. Should all of my immediate family (just my side, not including my late husband's side) show up for a photo opportunity, it would involve 29.5 people. At the end of March, there will be 30 (Yay!). If my dad and my husband were still around, we'd add two more. Anyway, I have a point and it's not looking for sympathy..... it is this: We don't exchange gifts. Not for birthdays or Christmas. Could you imagine the hassle: the shipping, the postage, keeping track of birthdays? the ages of various nieces, nephews? age appropriate toys, books, etc? Now comes the point. Of all my various siblings, only one lives withing hailing distance. We do hang out and do birthday/Christmas stuff for the kids. However, for the last couple of years, instead of buying gifts for my three nieces, we do a "Date with Aunt Jane". Each niece gets to pick what they would like to do with me. So far, so good. Today, we (all three nieces and I) went out to lunch and then to see "We Bought a Zoo". Lunch was at Mario's in Lexington Center, Massachusetts, our favorite place. By the way, the iced tea is decaffeinated and comes unsweetened, just another reason to patronize this wonderful restaurant!<br />
<br />
But, to the movie! It's a wonderful story. "We Bought a Zoo" is based on the true tale of Benjamin Mee's family, including his mother, Amelia, and brother, Duncan. The actual zoo is in Dartmoor, Devon, England, in the southwest (but not so southwest as Cornwall). For more information, I suggest you look up www.dartmoorzoo.org . Benjamin Mee has also written a book, upon which the movie has been based <u><b>We Bought a Zoo</b></u>. I have not yet read the book, but it's on my list. Obviously, the movie is different from the book. The movie is set in California, not England. The movie doesn't include the matriarch Amelia. The reason for looking to relocate is different.... in real life, it is Amelia looking to relocate. In the movie, it is Benjamin. All in the name for a better story. But the story works.<br />
<br />
So, a brief synopsis: Benjamin is a widower of six months with a 12 year old son, Dylan, and 7 year old daughter, Rosie. He is grieving, a lot. The ladies in his circle of acquaintance are filling his refrigerator with food. And flirting with him, a lot. Benjamin appears to be able to care for Rosie and concentrate on her grief but is at odds with Dylan. Dylan is troubled, unable to deal with his loss, he is acting out and we see this through his art and increasing trouble-making. This leads to Benjamin's decision to relocate the family. After a series of disappointing house-showings, Benjamin and Rosie see what is their "dream house" (Dylan has begged off this house hunting trip) and the first-time agent is flabbergasted and attempts to explain why the house is unsuitable. Before he is able, the denizens manage to make their presence known. This does not dissuade Rosie or Benjamin after all, adventurers that they are. <br />
<br />
The zoo, or more accurately, the wildlife park, is in disarray and poor condition. In short, it needs a massive infusion of cash, a promise of steady capital support and the most optimistic owner one could possibly pray for. The current staff are wary of Benjamin, his motives and commitment. As the movie progresses, obstacles seem to be surmounted, one by one. Not easily, ever. Life's problems never are.<br />
<br />
Benjamin Mee is portrayed by Matt Damon who does his usual admirable job. Scarlett Johannson plays Kelly Foster who runs the zoo, the workaholic. Angus Macfayden is Peter MacReady, the resident genius. (Macfayden is dear to my heart as he played Robert the Bruce in Braveheart and I thought he was so wonderful in that role... I look for him from time to time.) Thomas Haden Church is Duncan, the brother. I do like him. Always nice to see him. Walter Ferris, the villain of the piece as the inspector needed to give permission to open the zoo, is acted by John Michael Higgins. He is recognizable as a "character actor" who floats through movies and TV shows. He's been in three of the Christopher Guest/Eugene Levy movies (Best in Show/A Mighty Wind/For Your Consideration) and just recently an episode of Psych. Carlo Gallo is also here (she's Daisy Wick on Bones) as an alarmist bookkeeper.<br />
<br />
The movie is very enjoyable. It is being advertised as a comedy but it has many sentimental, sometimes tear evoking moments. But that could just be me. The film may be over the heads of younger children. My six year old niece certainly had some questions that I didn't answer..... I'll leave those to her dad if she remembers to ask. Or her mom. Such as "what does "hit on" on mean. This doesn't fall into AJ's purview of Christmas present. Nope. Explaining the facts of life, however simple isn't part of the deal. Never gonna happen. <br />
<br />
<br />
</div>Jane- 2 of 7http://www.blogger.com/profile/08687675489648006638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-65220522996189238262011-12-31T15:53:00.000-08:002011-12-31T15:53:11.018-08:00The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Redux<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I've read the books and liked them. Saw the original movies, liked them. Agonized over whether I should see the American version of the movies. And knew in my heart that I wouldn't be able to resist. After all, David Fincher directs the first American version. Daniel Craig plays Michael Blomqvist. Rooney Mara reportedly does a good job as Lisbeth Salander though it is mind-boggling to imagine anyone coming close to Noomi Rapace's perfomance. <br />
<br />
The story involves the search for what happened to Harriet Vanger, the niece of Henrik Vanger, Swedish industrialist tycoon. Disgraced journalist Michael Blomqvist is hired by Vanger to research her disappearance and presumed death 40 years earlier after so many others have failed. Blomqvist requests an assistant with computer/internet skills (read hacker) and Lisbeth Salander is hired. Both are intense, intelligent, independent individuals who are quick to intuit and inevitably become involved.<br />
<br />
Niels Arden Oplev's direction of the original movie, 152 minutes long, was very faithful to the book. Its depictions of violence, sex and sexual violence leave nothing to one's imagination: it is very graphic and detailed indeed. Fincher's version, six minutes longer at 158 minutes, while remaining true to the spirit of the novel and telling of the story, shows the sex, violence and sexual violence but assumes the American audience can neither tolerate it as much nor as long nor in quite so graphic detail. The screenplay takes a few shortcuts that don't affect outcome of the story or the setup of the remainder of the series. <br />
<br />
Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails fame) and Atticus Ross were responsible for the original music. They have worked with Fincher before, most recently on The Social Network.<br />
<br />
Positives: Daniel Craig does a nice job. Not a fantastic, Oscar worthy job, but he gets out of his clothes often enough to keep me interested. Not sure if that does much for any of you folks, but it made me happy. Rooney Mara was effective, her performance was more emotional than Rapace's, if it can be called that, as a character such as Lisbeth Salander is not one to show emotion. Always nice to see Robin Wright, here as business partner to Daniel Craig's character. Other actors were all good.<br />
<br />
Overall, I give the movie a B+. If I had to pick one movie, I would recommend the Swedish version. But if you are a true fan of the novels, see both.<br />
<br />
</div>Jane- 2 of 7http://www.blogger.com/profile/08687675489648006638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-76861889417342263522011-12-11T20:15:00.000-08:002011-12-11T20:15:12.875-08:00Hugo: You Should Go!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">I was caught asleep at the controls.<span> </span>Hugo was completely off my radar screen.<span> </span>This has been a crazy year for me and I have not been concentrating on movies, I haven’t seen or reviewed as many as I would have liked, I haven’t kept up with what’s been released.<span> </span>Then a friend told me he’d seen Hugo and it was wonderful.<span> </span>I did some reading up on it and agreed that it was a must see.<span> </span>So, off I went with one of my movie buddies.<span> </span>My friend was right….. Definitely a must see movie and definitely worth seeing in the theatre, in 3D.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Hugo is based on the story written by Brian Selznick titled <u>The Invention of Hugo Cabret.</u><span> </span>It is a Caldecott winner (won in 2008).<span> </span>The Caldecott is an annual award to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.<span> </span>For more information concerning the book, the inspiration, the author, George Melies and early filmmaking, please feel free to go to <a href="http://www.theinventionofhugocabret.com/">www.theinventionofhugocabret.com</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/">www.imdb.com</a> .<span> </span>Both sites have a wealth of information.<span> </span>I learned from my niece that Mr. Selznick’s books, both <u>The invention of Hugo Cabret</u> and his new one, <u>Wonder Struck</u>, are awesome.<span> </span>Trust me, I have it on the best authority.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">The story is about an orphan, Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield), who winds the clocks in Gare Montparnasse in Paris.<span> </span><span> </span>He was brought there by his sot of an uncle after Hugo’s father died.<span> </span>Uncle Claude then wandered off after training Hugo to do his job of winding the clocks while diligently avoiding the Station Master (nicely played in a restrained manner by Sacha Baron Cohen).<span> </span>Hugo also must avoid various adults while nipping food and supplies to keep the clockworks going.<span> </span>This leads to Hugo being caught by the proprietor of the toy shop, played by Ben Kingsley (Papa George, Monsieur Melies), who confiscates Hugo’s precious notebook.<span> </span>Young Isabelle(Chloe Moretz) is under guardianship of Papa George and Mama Jeanne and strikes up a friendship with Hugo when the toy shop owner confiscates Hugo’s notebook.<span> </span>She introduces Hugo to Monsieur Labisse (Christopher Lee) the bookseller and Mama Jeanne (Helen McRory).<span> </span>We slowly learn the story of George and Jeanne and how Hugo and his notebook fit in.<span> </span>Throughout the film we watch the budding romances of the Station Master and Lisette (Emily Mortimer) and between Madame Emilie (Frances de la Tour) and Monsieur Frick (Richard Griffiths) and their two dogs.<span> </span>Jude Law does a cameo as Hugo’s father and Johnny Depp pops in and out as a guitar player.<span> </span>Martin Scorsese pops in too as a photographer.<span> </span>One of the lovely parts of this film is the creation of a whole world inside this train station.<span> </span>A world unto itself.<span> </span>(I credit my on-line friend Hokahey for this succinct observation…. He expresses this sentiment well in his blog Little Worlds.<span> </span>I suggest you wander over to check his out.<span> </span>See my link.)</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">I found the cinematography wonderful.<span> </span>The sets were well imagined.<span> </span>The filming was lovingly done.<span> </span>The story was well-told.<span> </span>I learned a great deal about early movies.<span> </span>This is Martin Scorsese’s homage to movies.<span> </span>I was drawn in and kept there for the most part.<span> </span>I must admit there were moments here and there that I checked the time.<span> </span>At the end of movie I loved it.<span> </span>How does the film rate?<span> </span>One of the best I’ve seen this year.<span> </span>But that’s damning with faint praise.<span> </span>But this was a good movie.<span> </span>And, Marty knows how to end a movie.<span> </span>Something that’s been missing from the last few films that I’ve seen.</div></div>Jane- 2 of 7http://www.blogger.com/profile/08687675489648006638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-11154360633037994932011-12-04T22:18:00.000-08:002011-12-04T23:20:30.369-08:00Martha Marcy May Marlene- My, My, My, My!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I wanted to be clever and try to write this review with words all beginning with the letter M. I quickly rethought that as it would be so very, very annoying to both you and me. But not quite so annoying as I found the end of this movie. The end wouldn't have been quite so annoying except that the previous two movies I had seen in a theater (Drive and The Ides of March) had not been entirely satisfactory in their endings. Is this a trend? I'm not liking it. I tend to be a conventional person. I like Bach. I like old fashioned rock and roll. I like stories to have a beginning and an end. Is that too much to ask for? Oh, but I am giving you the impression the movie was not good. I shouldn't do that. There were many good points that made this movie worth seeing. It's just that the end didn't quite satisfy and was, well..... but let's leave this for the end.<br />
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Please: BE AWARE- SPOILER ALERT! This review discusses the movie at length. Including the end.<br />
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Martha Marcy May Marlene is the story of a young woman (Elizabeth Olsen, younger sister of the twins) who finds herself living on a farm somewhere in upstate New York (really, this covers basically all of New York State except New York City and immediate suburbs when you think about it) with quite a few young women, a few young men and an apparently charismatic older man named Patrick (I'm thinking Patriarch here) played here by John Hawkes. I am a big fan of John Hawkes. He played Teardrop in Winter's Bone, my favorite film of 2010. He was also in The Perfect Storm. I do like John Hawkes- a great actor to watch. He brings life and character to each role. I like Elizabeth Olsen as well. I enjoyed her performance, very "informed, nuanced and (I want to say gritty)" but that word doesn't really feel right here. I've just written a few cliches but what I really mean is that I loved her performance and she was a joy to watch. So natural and real. But I have wandered off a little, well maybe not since the actors are important but back to the story. Life on the farm is communal though hierarchal - Patrick at the top, then the men, then the women who serve the men. Martha, when she joins the community, is given a new name by Patrick- Marcy May. The name Marlene is the name given to any woman answering the telephone at the farm.<br />
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Sean Durkin wrote and directed this story. It is told in segments, present and past. Marcy May escapes from the commune and calls her sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson who was so delightful as Harriet Hayes on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip). It has been over two years since Lucy has heard from Martha and Lucy has married Ted (Hugh Dancy). Lucy and Martha mother's had passed away we learn. It seems Martha wanders off and is gone for two years before Lucy receives the phone call. In the interim, Lucy has, of necessity, "moved on" with her life. Martha only discloses that she spent these last two years with a boyfriend, not divulging that she has been living with a communal cult. The story moves between the present and the past. As Martha jumps into the water from the boat on the lake to swim, we see Marcy May in the water swimming in the secluded swimming hole with her communal cohorts. The film continues to move back and forth in this manner. <br />
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Martha's story begins to unfold in this present/past storytelling manner. Through this device, we begin to learn her journey and rigor/controlled circumstance of the life on the farm. Part of Patrick's control is the drugging then rape of the young women, performed as part of ritual. The day after Marcy May is "indoctrinated", Patrick shares a song he has written about her to the group. This flatters Marcy May and lulls her into acquiescence. Eventually, Marcy May assists in the "indoctrination" of another young woman that includes the administration of the drug and reassurance that this will be a wonderful night. In another scene, young men and women of the commune are having sex in the same room, while Patrick observes, though not in an orgiastic way. <br />
<br />
Once Martha has escaped the commune and is living with Lucy and Ted, she criticizes them for their essentially capitalistic attitudes. Later, Martha walks into their bedroom and lays down in bed with them while they are having sex, though not as if joining them. This clearly upsets Lucy as well as Ted. <br />
<br />
The film does a wonderful job telling the story and unfolding the pieces bit by bit. It keeps one's interest. As the story goes on, little by little, it gets a bit more disturbing as the members of the commune stray a little from the home front. We also watch Martha/Marcy May/Marlene try to cope or maybe we don't. Maybe she's in denial. We watch her story, we watch as Lucy and Ted become more baffled because Martha doesn't open up. The decision that Martha needs professional help is not an easy one. Does this lead to the end? What is the end? And then as the film ends, it all gets ambiguous. Did she see this or that? Who was that on the shore? Or is that just an hallucination? Who was in that car? Or is MMMM just plain crazy? This is my complaint...... it's like the end of Memento: who was calling on that damn phone?<br />
<br />
I liked the movie. It was interesting, intriguing, the acting was good. The story was moving along with an interesting device to go back and forth. Then POW! It has to end. Why is it no one can write a satisfactory ending anymore?<br />
Oh, my, my, my, my!</div>Jane- 2 of 7http://www.blogger.com/profile/08687675489648006638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-72630735321829745372011-11-06T07:10:00.000-08:002011-11-06T07:10:51.646-08:00The Ides of March: George, you should have heeded the warning<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Yes, the ladies went to the movies once again. Our friend from VT joined us and it was all good. Except the movie was boring. (Mostly Jane's fault- sorry Joanne- as Jane was asked her opinion and well, I'll explain another time, no wait, why not now? Jane likes political movies and George.) Jane also forgot Joanne doesn't. Joanne picks next time and Jane has to grin and bear it. But I've digressed.<br />
<br />
The movie is loosely based on John Edwards' folly, the Democratic party's inability to run an effective campaign and general politics. Ryan Gosling was good, playing a neophyte with a conscience (or was he?) and Paul Giamatti is always fun. Add to this mix Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jeffrey Wright (Look up Jeffrey Wright- he played Peoples Hernandez in the remake of Shaft among other roles 'cause he takes care of his peoples). Here we have some fine acting talent and yet the arc of the movie leaves one cold. Yeah it has an ending but it leaves one wanting a better ending. Something more satisfying. Meatier, even if you are a vegan. </div>Jane- 2 of 7http://www.blogger.com/profile/08687675489648006638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-51065346191832061072011-10-12T08:31:00.000-07:002011-10-12T08:31:31.389-07:00Drive: Yeah, try that in Boston.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">And Jane's back! Sorry it has been a slow year for posts. Life has been ultra-busy and I had been occupied finding alternate ways to descend stairs. But I'm giving up that new pastime for the safer, easier and more entertaining hobby of watching movies again. Takes less of a toll on my body. Anyway, the ladies and I finally got together again, celebrated one of our birthdays and saw Drive. While I didn't know anything about the movie (see, that other pastime was knocking things out of my head) I did know that Ryan Gosling was in it. It also had Albert Brooks, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston and Ron Perlman. Rounding out the cast were Oscar Isaac and Christina Hendricks. The director is Nicolas Winding Refn from Denmark.<br />
<br />
The plot of the movie involves a Hollywood stuntman (Gosling) who moonlights as a wheelman for heists. He gives his clients a five-minute window to go in, do what they do and get out. He leaves after five minutes. So the beginning of the movie has some nice, dark atmospheric scenes with some interesting action and a little chase scene. Oh, be forewarned. There will be spoilers. Especially toward the end of this post. But the reason to see or not see this movie is based more on the how it was filmed than the story. And if you like the cast. At least that's my take. Actually, you can stop reading here after I tell you that the movie gets very, very bloody and the violence is very up close and personal in the second half. Tarantino's Kill Bill Volume II is an easier film by far to watch than this was. So, from here on in there may be SPOILERS.<br />
<br />
Shannon (Bryan Cranston) is Gosling's boss. He wants to borrow $300,000 from Bernie Rose (Albert Brooks) a local gangster type to buy a race car so that Gosling can drive in races. Bernie likes what he sees but his partner/associate Nino (Ron Perlman) doesn't. Meanwhile, Gosling strikes up a friendship with Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her son Benecio who live in the same apartment building as he does. Eventually Gosling learns that Irene is married and that her husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac) is in prison. Gosling, Irene and Benecio do develop a bond despite this. Then, Standard returns home much earlier than expected. Standard is quick to see the connections but makes an effort to befriend Gosling as well. Soon, Standard is beaten and Gosling finds him. The beating was a warning to Standard from his protectors in prison to remind him he needs to come up with repayment money. Gosling agrees to help Standard get the funds. Through an arrangement with Bernie, Standard and Gosling hook up with Blanche (Christina Hendricks) and attempt to rob a pawn shop with Gosling as driver. Blanche comes out of the pawn shop with a big duffel bag, then Standard comes out but the proprietor is shooting and they watch Standard die. As Gosling and Blanche drive off, they are chased by another car. They lose their followers only for Gosling to find out that Blanch has double-crossed them and there is $1 million in the duffel bag, not the $40,000 they thought they'd get. More importantly, that money has to belong to SOMEONE who wants it back. Mayhem starts ensuing and the blood starts flowing. Meanwhile, we find out that Nino had setup Standard and Gosling and was responsible for the mob money. Remember Nino? turns out he really, really didn't like Gosling. <br />
<br />
At this point in the story, people start dying, many of them dying very gruesomely with knives. Because no one can be left alive to betray the other person to the mob who owns the money. This goes on for a while. Gosling, as the lead, of course, deftly manages to stay alive to accomplish what he wants..... protect Irene and Benecio. <br />
<br />
Ryan Gosling's character is very quiet, both literally and figuratively - until he explodes during certain scenes. In one such scene, this is jolting, not only to the viewer (though this is telegraphed to us as blatantly as possible) but to another actor in the scene. Indeed, the movie is very visual, the cinematography is done well as is the atmosphere and the scene set-ups. <br />
<br />
A.O. Scott of the NY Times said the supporting cast saves the movie from tedium and I agree. Certainly Albert Brooks and Bryan Cranston were well worth watching, but then I usually find them so. I am also a fan of Carey Mulligan's but I don't think this role stretched her very much.<br />
<br />
Overall, the first half of the movie was engaging but the as the plot moved into the second half, it became more gruesome and bloody. Perhaps it was the nature of the violence. The arc of the story with the anti-hero driving away just didn't leave me satisfied.</div>Jane- 2 of 7http://www.blogger.com/profile/08687675489648006638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-37791860133257322292011-09-10T21:08:00.000-07:002011-09-10T21:08:02.404-07:00The Tree of Life; The Help, A Good Life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Yes, I did promise more movie reviews. So, here goes Jane.<br />
I went to see <b>The Tree of Life</b> with the ladies. Interesting film. Mostly enjoyable with an interesting slant and point of view. Brad and Sean were very good. What didn't make sense and, I think, ruined it for most people was the long "creation of the universe" sequence that interrupted the film near the beginning and went on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on....... <br />
Quite frankly, I prefer the evolution of the universe as done in 15 seconds at the beginning of "Big Bang Theory". It works for me. <br />
<br />
Otherwise, there were some interesting moments and a story to be heard. But we were distracted.....by that long interlude that didn't make sense. Some of the items that we discussed after the movie were why didn't the parents seem to age. Perhaps told through a child's eye. But the whole film was tainted by that long, boring evolution of the universe which ruined the film for me.<br />
<br />
<b>The Help:</b> First I have to tell you that I read the book and loved it. Also, it is the type of book I like. The author and the director of the film are good friends so this ensured a good translation of the book onto film. Which it was. I should note that the book was written in a manner that it would easily "morph" onto film without losing the story. Actually, it had some great moments that were great on film. The best of the film were the actresses. All well chosen for their roles. I do have hopes that this may be nominated for Oscar. Probably will all considered.<br />
<br />
<b>A Good Year</b>: This film I rented from Netflix on recommendation. It turns out that it is based on a book by Peter Mayle who wrote several books that I have enjoyed starting with <u>A Year in Provenc</u>e and <u>Toujours Provence</u>. It stars Russell Crowe who is not a favorite actor of mine but easily performs this role and perhaps sways me back into admiring his skills. Overall, a very enjoyable film. Basic plot is a high-powered investment banker inherits his uncle's vineyard in Provence and learns a different way of life. A few different characters roam through the movie. I liked it a lot. <br />
<br />
</div>Jane- 2 of 7http://www.blogger.com/profile/08687675489648006638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-11962825500985652002011-07-02T08:49:00.000-07:002011-07-02T08:49:36.695-07:00Where have we been?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Jane and Geri met up a week ago and agreed we have been most lax in posting over the past four months. Where have we been? Anywhere but here! Geri has been very busy with teaching dance classes and her home life (all going well there, of course). Jane has been off the grid so to speak. She has been listening to lots and lots of new rock 'n' roll. All composed quite loudly in her basement. Then attending the shows at which it is played. For her stamina in listening to all these sessions of composition, practice and refinement of the music, Jane is generally put on the guest list to the various musical performances and she is thankful for that. Now that we have reached the second half of 2011, it is time we re-charge and see some movies. So, it is our aim to tell you...... We're back! Stay posted for movie reviews..... Coming to a blog near you!</div>Jane- 2 of 7http://www.blogger.com/profile/08687675489648006638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-3581619710257532642011-02-28T15:37:00.000-08:002011-02-28T15:37:24.614-08:00The Oscar Results: How did we do?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I just took a look at our predictions. How did Jane and Geri do? Not bad. Just looking at the major categories, Jane was wrong once (thought Geoffrey Rush would win Best Supporting Actor over Christian Bale, though Bale deserved the award). Geri had two: Social Network for Best Picture and Aronofsky for Best Director (Black Swan). It was quite the race, rumor had it (over the news reports) that Social Network did have a good chance at winning as a large amount of academy ballots were mailed in at the last moment and may have been influenced by the unrest in the Middle East supported by social networks. Aronofsky is always good.<br />
<br />
I, for one (Jane) don't like the ten picture/five director nomination style. I'd like to see the Academy go back to five nominations. This is not kindegarten. Does every ego in Hollywood need to be stroked? Really? My opinion, and of course I have one, is that the ten movie nominations is to get more people into movie theaters thus making more money for more people. Plain and simple. If Hollywood was serious, it would also nominate 10 directors, 10 actors, 10 actresses, etc. You get my point. Hollywood, stop it. Those who love movies will still go see the good ones, maybe some of the bad ones, share their thoughts and encourage their friends. Perhaps even more so as social networks continue to expand and do their work.<br />
<br />
There, I'm done. <br />
Happy 2011 and enjoy the movies and popcorn.</div>Jane- 2 of 7http://www.blogger.com/profile/08687675489648006638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-87667889631437487352011-02-03T08:01:00.000-08:002011-02-03T11:20:51.916-08:00Jane's Oscar picks<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Yes, it is that time of year. I've thought and thought about this. There are some very good films and actors/actress' that deserve the acknowledgment and praise. Also, directors and writers. So, without further ado, here is my opinion.<br />
<br />
Best Picture: Should win- Winter's Bone. Will win- The King's Speech<br />
Best Director: Darren Aronofsy (Black Swan), Will win- Tom Hooper, The King's Speech<br />
Best Actor: Colin Firth, The King's Speech (should and will win)<br />
Best Actress: Natialie Portman- Black Swan (should and will win)<br />
Best Supporting Actor: Should win- Christian Bale, The Fighter, Will win- Geoffrey Rush-The King's Speech<br />
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, The Fighter (should and will win)<br />
Original Screenplay: Should win- Inception; Will win- The King's Speech<br />
Adapted Screenplay: Should Win- Winter's Bone; Will win-The Social Network.<br />
<br />
I am not going to offer an opinion on any of the other categories as I didn't pay that much attention to them when watching the films, I may not have seen all films in that category, and/or I have no expertise in those areas.<br />
<br />
I can't wait to find out the results. Let me know what you think!</div>Jane- 2 of 7http://www.blogger.com/profile/08687675489648006638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-56016634570381130352011-01-29T15:13:00.001-08:002011-01-29T15:30:38.075-08:00My Oscar Picks for 2011With Academy Awards Night less than 4 weeks away, it's time for those annual predictions. I had a very good year with my predictions last year, so here we go:<br /><br />Best Picture: The Social Network<br />Best Actor: Colin Firth (The King's Speech)<br />Best Actress: Natalie Portman (Black Swan)<br />Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale (The Fighter)<br />Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo (The Fighter)<br />Best Director: Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)<br />Cinematography: True Grit (I've heard it's spectacular)<br />Original Screenplay: The King's Speech<br />Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network<br />Visual Effects: Inception<br />Best Animated Movie: Toy Story 3<br />Best Foreign Film: Biutiful (Mexico)<br />Original Score: Inception<br />Original Song: We Belong Together (Toy Story 3)<br /><br />I reserve the right to change these predictions until I see True Grit. I am planning on seeing it soon!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-25009219810539250242011-01-29T14:32:00.000-08:002011-01-29T15:13:03.280-08:00My thoughts on Blue Valentine, Another Year, and Winter's BoneNow that the Oscar race is in full swing, Ray and I have been pushing ourselves to see every Best Picture nominee and as many of the acting performances as we can.<br /><br />To that end, we saw Blue Valentine last weekend, Winter's Bone last night, and Another Year today. I'm sorry to report that neither one of us can give stellar recommendations to two out of the three movies and we really wanted to, given the caliber of actors in both movies.<br /><br />We did enjoy Winter's Bone, which tells the story of a teenage girl in the Ozarks searching for her drug-cooking father, who has put their house up for bail bond money and subsequently disappears. Winter's Bone takes a hard look at life in the Ozarks and brings the desperate qualities of poverty to light. At first, the townspeople seem to be divided into good and bad, but as the movie progresses, the two extremes become blurred. Jennifer Lawrence is outstanding as Ree, the teenage girl living with her mentally and emotionally absent mother and her two younger siblings. Ree serves as teacher, nurse, and moral compass in her family. Her uncle (wonderfully portrayed by John Hawkes) is reluctant to get involved in the search for his brother (he is also a meth drug cooker), but ultimately decides to do the right thing and help his family. You can't help but root for Ree to find out what really happened to her dad while keeping her family intact. <br /><br />Of the remaining two movies, I liked Blue Valentine better. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams made the best of a mundane, cliched script and rudimentary direction from Derek Cianfrance. Their gritty performances in a movie that explores the history and decline of a marriage were quite good. However, I don't understand how Ms. Williams scored a best actress nomination and Mr. Gosling was omitted from the best actor category considering that both of them have equal screen time. I could have done without the gratuitous, racy scenes which I don't feel added to the storyline. <br /><br />Another Year has one of my all-time favorite actors, Jim Broadbent, on board in this movie which explores a year in the life of a family. Unfortunately, the movie strays from this premise rather quickly and fixes itself on exploring the life of a desperately lonely friend and colleague of the wife, played to exquisite perfection by Lesley Manville. I believe the Academy made a mistake in not nominating Ms. Manville for Best Supporting Actress. Her performance was the only bright light in this movie. Mr. Broadbent is under-utilized in the movie, but I blame that on the change of focus in the screenplay. Another Year had the capability to be a memorable movie, but it fell far short of its goal.<br /><br />The only Best Picture nominee I haven't seen is True Grit, but I hope to remedy that soon. <br /><br />Keep grabbing that popcorn and go to the movies!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-75180584168864438752011-01-28T23:24:00.000-08:002011-01-28T23:24:08.180-08:00The Kids Are All Right- no, not the Who Album<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Lisa Cholodenko directed and co-wrote this movie. I am unfamiliar with her work, which includes directing some TV (The L Word, Six Feet Under) and some movies (Cave Dweller, Laurel Canyon). You can get the rest from IMDB. While I liked the movie, to a certain extent, it is not one of my top five. But then, the Academy has decided to nominate ten films again this year. What I find more interesting is whether the Academy is going to keep this up or not. Not so interested in writing this review. Like I said, not my favorite. So, why?<br />
<br />
The acting was great. This means, in some part, the directing had to be good. Annette Bening won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in this type of movie (meaning I can't remember and I'm too lazy to look it up). Her competition included her co-star, Julianne Moore. The ladies were believable. Very. They play a committed couple that has been together for a long, long time, in fact they have two children together, ages 18 (Joni) and 15 (Laser). The young actors, Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson, were good. Mark Ruffalo played sperm donor Paul. Yes, in the movie is referred to as exactly that. And, Mark is good.<br />
<br />
So, the story. Without spoiling too much, the kids contact and meet the sperm donor. What gets to me is how close, in terms of location, he is to them. Does that really happen? After all, based on the license plates, this takes place in California. I'm just thinking about how mobile the USA can be. I've lived in four different states and in 13 different homes over my life. The character Paul was 19 when he donated sperm. What are the odds, 18 or 19 years later, he lives so close that the kids can see him at lunch time, visiting back and forth is not a time and mileage issue? It just seems improbable to me. There, that's off my chest. This may have had a great influence on what I think about the film, as it distracted me the first time I watched it. <br />
<br />
Without spoiling this for those of you who actually read this blog and haven't seen the movie, issues arise and are resolved. It was nicely done for most part. I feel there are some unnecessary scenes as well as parts of the story where I wanted more details. And one scene, pivotal to the movie, that felt so manufactured it really, really bothered me. This movie has left me unsatisfied. But I really enjoyed the acting.<br />
<br />
Last but not least, how do I rank this film, in comparison to its competition? This year has seen some interesting movies. Of the ten nominated films, I have yet to see Toy Story 3. My bad.<br />
Winter's Bone (not all my friends agree with me). I think The Kids Are All Right comes in after The King's Speech and before Social Network.<br />
<br />
Winter's Bone<br />
Inception<br />
The Black Swan<br />
The Fighter<br />
The King's Speech<br />
Social Network<br />
True Grit<br />
127 Hours <br />
<br />
And those films not nominated:<br />
Never Let Me Go (really, it should have been, instead of True Grit and/or 127 Hours)<br />
RED (Retired, extremely dangerous: Helen Mirren, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman and John Malkovich.<br />
Ghost Writer<br />
Iron Man II <br />
<br />
And also this year, not my favorites, but some I enjoyed quite a bit:<br />
The Expendables (has one wonderful scene that you can't miss!)<br />
Jonah Hex<br />
Knight and Day (hilarious)<br />
9 (or was that last year's film?)<br />
<br />
So, one movie left to see. I can't wait for Oscar night, can you?</div>Jane- 2 of 7http://www.blogger.com/profile/08687675489648006638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-411444743425459672011-01-25T06:41:00.000-08:002011-01-25T06:41:52.055-08:00Oscar Nominations! 2011<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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</style> <![endif]--> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Here's the list! Ten movies are nominated for Best Picture. Is the Academy making this a permanent change? </span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Oscar Nominations:<span> </span>January 2011</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Best Picture</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">'Black Swan'<br />
'The Fighter'<br />
'Inception'<br />
'The Kids Are All Right'<br />
'The King’s Speech'<br />
'127 Hours'<br />
'The Social Network'<br />
'Toy Story 3'<br />
'True Grit'<br />
'Winter’s Bone'</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Best Director</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Darren Aronofsky, 'Black Swan'<br />
David O'Russell, 'The Fighter'<br />
Tom Hooper, 'The King's Speech'<br />
David Fincher, 'The Social Network'<br />
Joel and Ethan Coen, 'True Grit'</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Best Actor</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Javier Bardem, 'Biutiful'<br />
Jeff Bridges, 'True Grit'<br />
Jesse Eisenberg, 'The Social Network'<br />
Colin Firth, 'The King's Speech'<br />
James Franco, '127 Hours'</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Best Actress</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Annette Bening, 'The Kids Are All Right'<br />
Nicole Kidman, 'Rabbit Hole'<br />
Jennifer Lawrence, 'Winter's Bone'<br />
Natalie Portman, 'Black Swan'<br />
Michelle Williams, 'Blue Valentine'</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Best Supporting Actor</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Christian Bale, 'The Fighter'<br />
John Hawkes, 'Winter's Bone'<br />
Jeremy Renner, 'The Town'<br />
Mark Ruffalo, 'The Kids Are All Right'<br />
Geoffrey Rush, 'The King's Speech'</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Best Supporting Actress</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Amy Adams, 'The Fighter'<br />
Helena Bonham Carter, 'The King's Speech'<br />
Melissa Leo, 'The Fighter'<br />
Hailee Steinfeld, 'True Grit'<br />
Jacki Weaver, 'Animal Kingdom'</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Best Animated Feature Film</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">'How to Train Your Dragon'<br />
'Illusionist'<br />
'Toy Story 3'</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Best Foreign Film</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Mexico - 'Biutiful'<br />
Greece - 'Dogtooth'<br />
Denmark - 'In a Better World'<br />
Canada - 'Incendies'<br />
Algeria - 'Outside the law'</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Best Original Screenplay</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">'Another Year'<br />
'The Fighter'<br />
'Inception'<br />
'The Kids Are All Right'<br />
'The King's Speech'</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Best Adapted Screenplay</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">'127 Hours'<br />
'The Social Network'<br />
'Toy Story 3'<br />
'True Grit' <br />
'Winter's Bone'</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Best Art Direction</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">'Alice in Wonderland'<br />
'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I'<br />
'Inception'<br />
'The King's Speech'<br />
'True Grit'</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Best Costume Design</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">'Alice in Wonderland'<br />
'I Am Love'<br />
'The King's Speech'<br />
'The Tempest'<br />
'True Grit'</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Best Original Song</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">'Coming Home' - 'Country Strong'<br />
'I See the Light' - 'Tangled'<br />
'If I Rise' - '127 Hours'<br />
'We Belong Together' - 'Toy Story 3'</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Best Original Score</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">'How to Train Your Dragon' John Powell<br />
'Inception' Hans Zimmer<br />
'The King's Speech' Alexandre Desplat<br />
'127 Hours' A.R. Rahman<br />
'The Social Network' Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Best Film Editing</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">'Black Swan'<br />
'The Fighter'<br />
'The Kings Speech'<br />
'127 Hours'<br />
'The Social Network'</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Best Makeup</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">'Barney's Version'<br />
'The Way Back'<br />
'The Wolfman'</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Best Sound Editing</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">'Inception'<br />
'Toy Story 3'<br />
'TRON: Legacy'<br />
'True Grit'<br />
'Unstoppable'</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Best Sound Mixing</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">'Inception'<br />
'The King's Speech'<br />
'Salt'<br />
'The Social Network'<br />
'True Grit'</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Best Visual Effects</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">'Alice in Wonderland'<br />
'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1'<br />
'Hereafter'<br />
'Inception'<br />
'Iron Man 2'</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div></div>Jane- 2 of 7http://www.blogger.com/profile/08687675489648006638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4911081015724796087.post-8259297306344349582011-01-17T15:28:00.000-08:002011-01-17T15:28:04.676-08:00The K-K-K-K King’s Speech<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">King George VI succeeded his brother, King Edward VIII upon Ed’s abdication of the throne in 1936 so that he could marry the love of his life, a twice divorced woman.<span> </span>George (hereafter G VI) was born Albert Frederick Arthur George; on December 14, 1895 and reigned until his death at the young age of 56 (1952).<span> </span>He was married to Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, a descendent of Robert the Bruce.<span> </span>They had two daughters, Elizabeth (later Elizabeth II) and Margaret.<span> </span>So, we have G VI, his wife, later known to us as the Queen Mum, as well as the princesses Elizabeth and Margaret.<span> </span>G VI (or Bertie as he was called by family) had never expected to be king.<span> </span>But, due to his brother’s abdication, there he was.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Unfortunately, G VI had a small problem:<span> </span>he stammered.<span> </span>That is what this movie is about.<span> </span>After many different doctors and consultations, he still stammered.<span> </span>Then, someone found Lionel Logue, an Australian speech therapist who had relocated to England.<span> </span>They forged a relationship that was unusual for a monarch and a commoner, became friends and remained so for the remainder of their lives.<span> </span>This we all know and thus, we know that G VI will be able to give a speech by the end of the movie.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">The movie sounds boring.<span> </span>A real snooze.<span> </span>But it’s not.<span> </span>Thanks to Colin Firth (G VI), Helena Bonham-Carter (Queen Mum) and Geoffrey Rush (Lionel Logue), there is a human story here.<span> </span>Colin does a wonderful job with a character that must be difficult to play- having to stammer, stutter and trip over words he wants and needs to say.<span> </span>He is very, very believable.<span> </span>Geoffrey Rush is great as the speech therapist, Logue.<span> </span>He is a helpful but stubborn character.<span> </span>G VI must follow his rules:<span> </span>first names only (no HRH here, just Bertie), do his exercises and relax enough to follow instructions.<span> </span>G VI is combative at first….. as one would expect.<span> </span>Mr. Rush’s comportment as Logue also is a wonderful performance.<span> </span>I want to say the character is reserved, but it’s not.<span> </span>Low-key, respectful but assured.<span> </span><span> </span>Very different that his role of Barbossa (Pirates of the Caribbean), Trotsky (Frida), Philip Henslowe (Shakespeare In Love) and David Helfgott (Shine).<span> </span>I haven’t seen any of his other roles, but he does a marvelous job of making me believe the character.<span> </span>Helena Bonham-Carter is good, not overly noticeable but a caring helpmeet to G VI.<span> </span>And it is always nice to Derek Jacobi (Archbishop).<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">It is a good film.<span> </span>My attention didn’t wander, I didn’t get “antsy” and the performances and writing were good.<span> </span>As it is now awards season, I do think this may be Oscar worthy.<span> </span>As far as my ranking of favorite films:<span> </span>it’s still Winter’s Bone; Inception; Never Let Me Go, The Fighter and Black Swan ( three-way tie); The King’s Speech.<span> </span>I don’t think True Grit is Oscar worthy.<span> </span>I liked The Social Network, but I don’t think it’s as good as my favorite five.<span> </span>(The Hollywood Foreign Press disagrees with me.)<span> </span>The Town and 127 Hours are just not that good, in my opinion.<span> </span>But, many people don’t agree with me.<span> </span>Let me know what you think.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div>Jane- 2 of 7http://www.blogger.com/profile/08687675489648006638noreply@blogger.com1