Academy Awards - The Oscars

OK, here we are again celebrating another year of film going. Some strong films this year, films that broke box office records, and films that failed. Here are my choices for the following awards and some thoughts around some of them.

• Best Actor - Nominees are:  Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Matt Damon (The Martin), Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant), Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs) and Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl). This is not as strong a field as it was last year. The obvious missing actors are Tom Hanks (Bridge of Spies) maybe because he made it look so easy, and Steve Carell who was so quirky and interesting you just wanted to see what he was going to do next. Both of these were strong performances, yet not in my top two of this listing. Although Cranston's  performance was good, I didn't like the character nor the interpretation. Fassbender was very good, however this role had been done too many times in the last two years. I did not see The Danish Girl therefore I don't have an opinion. However, Damon and DiCapiro's performances were fantastic - beyond amazing. I loved each of them. My guess is that DiCaprio will win the Oscar.
• Best Actress  - Nominees are:  Cate Blanchett (Carol), Brie Larson (Room), Jennifer Lawrence (Joy), Charlotte Rampling (45 Years), and Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn). This is a strong category although I didn't see 45 Years, the others were great. I also see a missing person from this list and that would be Rooney Mara in Carol as well. Between Cate and Rooney I would have picked Mara because I felt as though her evolution through the film was a more powerful statement. However, she is in the Supporting Actress listing. Out of the nominated list, it comes down to two outstanding performances: Ronan and Blanchett. Lawrence's performance was really good and I was fully engaged with her character, however it did not have the power of Ronan or Blanchett's. Larson was also very strong, however so much of her performance is linked to Jacob Tremblay the young boy that it took away from her own performance. For me I'd like Ronan to get this Oscar in an amazing performance in a  wonderful film.
• Best Supporting Actress  - Nominees are:  Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), Rooney Mara (Carol), Rachel McAdams (Spotlight), Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl), and Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs). As I mentioned earlier I think Mara's performance belongs in the Best Actress category. I didn't see The Danish Girl so I'm making my pick without full knowledge of the selections. However, without Mara I think the most interesting and performance is Leigh's. It was so hidden and yet over the top that I was mesmerized each time she opened her mouth and/or the camera focused on her. These are the top two and in my view either probably deserves the Oscar.
• Best Supporting Actor  - Nominees are:  Christian Bale (The Big Short), Tom Hardy (The Revenant), Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight), Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies), and Sylvester Stallone (Creed). The missing performance is Jacob Tremblay's in Room. He was phenomenal. But this is probably one of the strongest fields in years, so someone had to be left off the list. They were all great and my favorites out of this list are Rylance and Stallone. Rylance had such a small role yet it was so much impact on the film that it was unforgettable. However Stallone will get it for both this performance and his body of work as Rocky Balboa.
• Best Cinematography  - Nominees are:  Ed Lachman (Carol), Robert Richardson (The Hateful Eight), John Seale (Mad Max: Fury Road), Emmaual Lubezki (The Revenant), and Roger Deakins (Sicario). Although Mad Max: Fury Road was big it did not grab me because I thought the film was more on the mindless side. Carol was elegantly shot and fully deserves the nomination. However, The Hateful Eight and The Revenant are over the top amazingly beautiful and powerful. The Hateful Eight deserves a lot of credit for doing so much in one room, while The Revenant wins this award for how shots were made and the perspective by which they were made. The winner - pick.
• Best Adapted Screenplay  - Nominees are:  Charles Randolph and Adam McKay (The Big Short), Nick Hornby (Brooklyn), Phyllis Nagy (Carol), Drew Goddard (The Martian), and Emma Donoghue (Room). Wow, what a list. All great picks. Any one of these could win in any given year. However, my final two would be Randolf and McKay for The Big Short and Hornby for Brooklyn. In the end I'm picking Nick Hornby for Brooklyn because it was a great screenplay and a wonderful film to watch.   
• Best Original Screenplay  - Nominees are:  Matt Charman and Ethan & Joel Coen (Bridge of Spies), Alex Garland (Ex Machina), Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, and Josh Cooley (Inside Out), Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy (Spotlight), and Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff (Straight Outta Compton). Another strong set of contenders. All very different films. In the end I think I like Ex Machina and Spotlight as powerful screen plays for very different reasons. One reflects a horrible set of acts by Catholic Priests and the other about the obsessiveness and controlling nature of technology. In the end I select Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy for Spotlight.
• Best Director  - Nominees are:  Adam McKay (The Big Short), George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant), Lenny Abrahamson (Room), and Tom McCarthy (Spotlight). Missing are:  Ridley Scott (The Martian), J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Todd Haynes (Carol), Quentin Tarantino (The Hateful Eight) and John Crowley (Brooklyn). To me this is the most messed up nominee listing. How is Max: Fury Road better directed than all my exceptions? It isn't and doesn't hold a candle to them. Also given my exceptions, I think Abrahamson's delivery is not quite there. Anyway, from the nominee list, I would say it is between McKay, Inarritu, and McCarthy. In the end I'd select McKay (with McCarthy a very close second) because he did the most to keep the film on track. Inarritu had too many long wistful shots. However this listing of nominees is really flawed.
• Best Picture  - Nominees are:   The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, The Revenant, Room, and Spotlight. Missing here is Carol and The Hateful Eight. Mad Max: Fury Road is nowhere in the league as these other nominees and, in my opinion, doesn't deserve to be listed. I simply was board stiff by the one long chase film filled with foolish philosophy. It is hard for me to pick as I loved "Brooklyn" as being a wonderfully executed nostalgic story. I thought "The Big Short" told a compelling story of how our economy tanked. "The Martian" was beautifully delivered and Damon made it happen. "Bridge of Spies" and "Spotlight" are both amazing stories about something that really happened. I was totally engaged and felt they delivered in all ways; education and story. The only thing I didn't like about "The Revenant" was that there were too many long scenic only shots which took away from the story.  In the end, of the listed I'd like to see "The Martian" win but can also see the others winning except Mad Max.

Some other thoughts about films this year:

• "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" was amazingly edited.
• "Ex Machina's" visual effects were very strong and so were scenes in "The Revenant".
• "Anomalisa" and "Inside Out" were both amazing Animated Feature films.
• "Carol" had perfectly detailed costumes and overall set design.
• "Writings on the Wall" the song for "Spectre" was dreadful.

Note: I'll be England sitting in silence for 30 days starting late next week. I may be able to see one more film before I go, but otherwise I won't be seeing any films or posting any reviews until the first week of March.

Thank you for viewing my site.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (3-D)

First Hit:  Nailed it. This film immediately took me back to May 25, 1977 when the story first began and I knew it was going to be an amazing ride - this film was no different.

I remember standing in line about 38 years ago to see “Star Wars” and wondering if it was going to be as good as the hype.

As the yellow storyline rolled across the screen fading into a vanishing point while being accompanied by the powerful John Williams score; I sat back and smiled and said to myself, “here we go” and the ride began. Yesterday at the 9:00 AM I saw the 3D presentation of film number 7.

As soon as the story-line started scrolling up the screen, accompanied by the John Williams score, I laughed out loud, smiled, and said to myself; “it’s back and I'm ready". There was no let down in this film. The new characters were perfectly cast, the re-introduction of the original characters amazingly handled, while the story was very interesting and moved the whole set of stories forward with suspense, tragedy, and excitement. The writing was top notch, the visual effects were reminiscent to the first film, yet updated with today’s technology and the characters grew in depth while adding to the legacy. 3-D used perfectly - not a distraction only an enhancement.

Harrison Ford returned as Han Solo. He was wonderfully introduced, exquisitely honored, and ceremoniously pathed. For his part, Ford was amazing. Carrie Fisher came back as General Leia (versus Princess Leia) the leader of the resistance against the First Order. Although less dynamic than Ford, her place and fulfilment of her part of the puzzle was required and perfectly executed. I was happy she was part of the film. Mark Hamill continued as a much older and wiser Luke Skywalker. Although his role was small, it begins a new cycle as well, wonderful. As for the major new players: Daisy Ridley as Rey was superb. She filled her role as an intelligent, physically capable, and believer of her destiny amazingly well. She exemplifies and is the new heroine for this series. John Boyega as Finn was auspiciously wonderful as a new male hero for the resistance. Lupita Nyong’o was fantastic as Maz Kanata the very old wise woman. Oscar Isaac was fun as Poe Dameron a renegade fighter pilot for the resistance. Domhnall Gleeson was perfectly arrogant and heartless as the General Hux, leader of the First Order. Lastly, Adam Driver as dark side leader Kylo Ren was very strong. Lawrence Kasdan and J.J. Abrams wrote an incredibly strong script. Definitely Oscar worthy. Abrams fulfilled everybody’s hope in delivering a very exciting film that kicks off a new era of Star Wars films. The next one will be tough to do – just as Lucas found out.

Overall:  Abrams, Kasdan, and the whole team turn out an amazing story – thank you.

Star Trek Into Darkness

 First Hit:  Kept the thrill, charm, and excitement of the first prequel – I liked it.

What I really liked about the first 2009 “Star Trek” prequel was the embodiment of the original Star Trek television series characters as younger people.

For this film, the thing I was concerned about was if this film would be able to carry through the joy and feel of the characters. The answer is yes. Although there were things that needed some work and scene trimming, the feel of the film worked and it was fun to watch.

I’m not sure what others think, but Chris Pine (playing Kirk) has a great feel of the original Captain Kirk. A brash intelligence mixed in with independence. He knows he doesn’t know everything but he cares about the crew more than himself.

The film begins with him losing the star ship Enterprise do to this brash behavior. Then he is pressed into being captain again because of an attack at Federation HQ by Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch) and he's the one who figures it out. The story hangs together really well and the main criticisms where that some scenes, like Spoke in a fist fight with Khan on the cargo containers, was overly long and served no real purpose.

The special effects were well done and did not take over the film but enhanced it.

Pine makes a great Kirk and there is room for him to grow the character in the next film. Zachary Quinto as Spock is very good. Zoe Saldana as Uhura is strong and brings an exotic presence to the bridge. Karl Urban as Bones is slightly overplayed but good enough. Simon Pegg is wonderful as Scotty. John Cho as Sulu holds his character with strength. Anton Yelchin does a wonderful job of embodying Chekov. Cumberbatch did a very good job of being the guy who was going to rule the universe. Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman did a good job putting together a fun and interesting script while J.J. Abrams kept the Star Trek theme and feeling alive – kudos.

Overall:  Very entertaining and a good effort for the second prequel.

Super 8

First Hit: Superb acting by the young characters added to an effective story line but some trimming would have made the whole thing work even better.

While watching a film there is one behavior which tells me I’m seeing more than needed, and that behavior is that I look away from the screen to look at other audience members. Such was the case in this film.

There were elongated scenes which needed to be clipped. One such scene was when the kids run through town to find the subterranean chamber where the alien is holed up. The military guns firing uncontrolled everywhere was totally unneeded. We already knew the dangerousness of their task.

Another such scene, and the worst in the film, was the train crash. In their attempt to make it gloriously big and realistic, they made it too big and gloriously unrealistic. Trains do not crash like this one did – ever. The proof lies in wondering how did the driver of the truck that ran into the train head-on survive? No way does that happen with all the blustery crashing and explosions after the initial impact. 

Outside of this flawed scene and a couple over long scenes, this was a wonderful film. What made it work where the young kids. Charles (played by Riley Griffiths) is obsessed in creating a zombie film for a competition against older teenagers.

His best friend Joe (played by Joel Courtney) is the make-up artist, sound man and co-producer. Joe is gratefully surprised that Charles gets Alice (played by Elle Fanning) to play the femme fatale lover of Martin (played by Gabriel Basso) who has decided to leave her to fight the zombies.

Cary (played by Ryan Lee) is crew and special effects man when they need something blown up because he is a pyromaniac of sorts. While shooting a scene at their small town railway station a military train goes by and crashes because their biology teacher Overmyer (played by Richard T. Jones) tries to ram the train with his pickup truck. This crash and the escaping of an alien is captured on their Super 8 film.

The story centers around the kids, their zombie film, and their ability to carry on the truth of the alien’s wishes.

Griffiths is extraordinary in his ability to portray a young filmmaker with vision (Orson Welles Jr.), sensitivity, and honest enough to tell his best friend about why he was upset at Joe’s and Alice’s relationship. Courtney is wonderful at being strong and sensitive to everyone around him while mourning his mother’s recent death. Fanning was genuinely amazing at her ability to be strong and cautiously vulnerable all at the same time. Like her sister, this Fanning can act. Basso was good as the lead character of the film while fighting through his own fears. Lee was funny and fully out there as his character needed to be. I just knew he wanted to blow something up. The adults were also good in their roles, but this is a film about kids and their amazing abilities. J.J. Abrams wrote the screenplay and overall it was great. It was long in sections that didn’t need to be long thereby over making his point. As a director, he has a great touch with these young actors and is to be commended for these efforts even though he let himself get carried away with  big explosions and extended scenes.

Overall: A very enjoyable and extraordinarily well-acted film even after wading through the lengthy scenes.

Star Trek

First Hit: A wonderfully satisfying film which fires on all cylinders and gives depth to the original television characters.

I’ll start by saying I was never a real trekkie or a Star Trek fan. I did like it enough to watch it from time to time. I did enjoy Star Trek Next Generation a lot more as the special effects and story lines were a bit more advanced. However, how did this story begin?

The previous Star Trek films tried to take off from the original TV series. This film, however, puts context to all of it. In the opening sequences, there was a lot of noise, visual effects, and destruction and I was caught a little off balance, but this was a set up from the past to give context to the time slice in which most of the film takes place.

Kirk (Played by Chris Pine) was born out of this destruction and it shapes his young childhood. The story then shifts to the story of Spock (Played by Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy) and his struggles as a half human and half Vulcan.

This film is about how the original crew, their skills and peculiarities come together to make up the “crew of the starship Enterprise” which could fulfill the mission of boldly going where no man has gone before. The enemy used to bring the past, the film’s present, and the future is Nero (Played by Eric Bana) who is a renegade Romulan who uses red matter to induce black holes to shift space and time for his benefit.

I won’t go any further into the plot but it is enough to say that the way Dr. “Bones” McCoy (Played by Karl Urban), Uhura (Played by Zoe Saldana), Scotty (Played by Simon Pegg), Sulu (Played by John Cho), and Chekov (Played by Anton Yelchin) are introduced and brought together was nothing less than wonderfully fantastic.

Each distinctly gets to demonstrate why they were the best person to be an integral piece to the Starship Enterprise.

The main writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman nailed the dialogue and scenes. Director J. J. Abrams eloquently put them together in a story that brings out each of the characters. Pine, Quinto, Urban, Saldana, Pegg, Cho, and Yelchin are perfect to their roles and as the dialog flowed from their mouths I laughed and cried with them. They made Star Trek come alive. Bana is great as the enemy and, although not as dynamic as a previous film’s Khan, he sets the right tone, mood, and power to let the Star Trek team come alive. Then there is Nemoy, I don’t know how they did it, but he fits within this film really well, and when the ending comes, his voice stating the mission of the Starship Enterprise will make me see the next installment.

Overall: This film was great fun. This film put context to the entire Star Trek TV series. This was one of the most satisfying prequels I’ve ever seen. It was a “sit back, let go and enjoy it” kind of film.