The OSCARS and Other Notes

It is that time of season again and although this year wasn't an especially great year for films, a couple of interesting and outstanding "out of the box films" caught my eye: "The Artist", The Tree of Life" and "Melancholia".

On the other side of the coin, I'm grateful that the Harry Potter series has ended as they became painful to watch. And the Sherlock Holmes film was also very bad.

Some performances I would have like to have been honored but weren't would include: Michael Fassbender in "Shame", Kirsten Dunst in "Melancholia", Charlize Theron in "Young Adult", Carey Mulligan  in "Shame" (cannot give enough credit for her singing "New York, New York" as though she was standing on the edge of a cliff ready to fall at any moment), Christoph Waltz in "Carnage", and Albert Brooks in "Drive". 

Given the selected honorees by the academy, here are my picks for some of the categories:

• Best Picture: "The Artist"

• Actor in a Leading Role: Jean Dujardin in "The Artist"

• Actor in a Supporting Role: Christopher Plummer in "The Beginners"

• Actress in a Leading Role: Michelle Williams in "My Week with Marilyn"

• Actress in a Supporting Role: Octavia Spencer in "The Help"

• Cinematography: "The Tree of Life" Emmanuel Lubezki

• Directing: Michel Hazanavicius for "The Artist"

• Film Editing: "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall

• Adapted Screenplay: "The Descendants" Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash

• Original Screenplay: "Margin Call" J.C. Chandor

To all of you: Thank you for coming to my site and reading my reviews. The number of views has grown tremendously over this past year. There are now over 550 reviewed films and it is fun for me to post and read your comments.

May this new year bring on better films with new ideas tested and old ones enhanced. I know I'll be there in the 5th or 6th row center ready to suspend belief into someone else's story.

May you

Be Well...

Michael

Midnight in Paris

First Hit: A wonderful and tightly shot film that is both satisfying and enjoyable.

Woody Allen has found a wonderful male vehicle to speak his lines and play the part he would have probably liked to play.

Owen Wilson was outstanding as Gil a successful Hollywood script writer in Paris with his fiancée Inez (played by Rachel McAdams). They're in Paris because they’ve “tagged along” with her very conservative rich parents. Gil makes good money as a film script writer which is probably the only reason why her parents John and Helen (played by Kurt Fuller and Mimi Kennedy) tolerate Gil.

As a writer Gil is frustrated because he wants to be a great writer of books but suffers from confidence. While dining one evening they run into Paul and Carol (played by Michael Sheen and Nina Arianda) some friends of hers. Paul’s pompous style, her parents, and Paris pushes Gil to dream about what it might have been like to be a writer in Paris in 1940 or what he sees as the golden age.

At midnight one night an old car pulls up, one of the occupants pulls him in, and they go to a party. At first he thinks he’s fallen into a costume party because there was F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zelda Fitzgerald, and Cole Porter. But as the evening rolls along he discovers that he really is with these people and he’s been transported back in time to another era, his golden age.

Each night at midnight he waits, the car pulls up, he gets in and meets new and interesting people, like Hemingway, Dali, Josephine Baker, Luis Bunuel, and Gertrude Stein who promises to read his novel and give him some feedback. He also meets and falls in love with Adriana (played by Marion Cotillard) who is having an affair with Picasso.

One of the funnier scenes is during an art tour with Paul and Carol, Gil corrects the know-it-all Paul about a Picasso painting because the night before he spent the evening with Picasso, Adriana (whom the painting represents), and Hemingway discussing this very painting. As Gil becomes increasingly attracted to Paris, his golden age, and Adriana he begins to re-think his priorities with Inez and her family.

But the real question Allen puts before the audience is that often people think of another time, other than the time they are in, as the golden age they'd would have liked to been born in. But the fact is that where you are now is your time and it is what you do with it that counts. Here Allen exceeds, his point is made, because this film makes the point with fun, flair, beautiful scenes, wonderful characters, and excellent writing.

Wilson is perfect as Allen’s representative of his story line. Some of Wilson’s best acting ever. McAdams is good as the entitled spoiled fiancée. Fuller and Kennedy are great as the money and society obsessed parents of Inez. Sheen is particularly perfect as the self-obsessed arrogant know-it-all. Cotillard is excellent as Adriana the woman who can steal the hearts of men in a moment. All of the actors playing the great artists of the past of the past were outstanding. Allen wrote a brilliant screenplay while directing this cast with the sure handedness of a master at his craft. One thing to note, is that Allen proves that a film maker can tell a wonderful complex story in under 90 minutes. This film represents the joy of crisp clear storytelling in film.

Overall: This is a wonderful and enjoyable film and it will transport you and ensure you think along the way.

Something Borrowed

First Hit: Although not profound in anyway, this was an enjoyable film.

Like her mother Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson has a light airiness about her. However, unlike Goldie who was deeply and innocently about fun, Kate has an edge about her.

As Darcy, this edge comes across as privileged entitlement. Darcy and her lifelong friend Rachel (played by Ginnifer Goodwin) have shared all things together. However Rachel has been the thoughtful one while Darcy focuses on herself while relying on Rachel to be at her side no matter what. Darcy’s blond, smiling, and outgoing assertive personality allows her to get most any man and thing she wants.

Rachel is down to earth, smart, and basks in the outgoing nature of Darcy. In all the reflections of their growing up together Rachel was always giving up something to have Darcy shine. When Rachel, who thinks she is unworthy of the attention of Dex (played by Colin Egglesfield), lets Darcy swoops in and entices this handsome, unassertive, and clueless man away from her, Rachel makes it OK for her feelings to be ignored and hurt – because it's Darcy.

Darcy and Dex decide to get married but Rachel’s best male friend Ethan (played by John Krasinski), pushes Rachel to tell Darcy and Dex that Rachel is and has always been in love with Dex. However, as Hollywood stories go, this wasn’t enough because Ethan is also harboring his unrequited love for Rachel.

The point of the movie is that both Rachel and Dex have allowed themselves to be controlled or manipulated by Darcy because of her powerful and engaging personality. They both have to learn about setting boundaries and living their truth.

When the truth comes out that Dex and Rachel love each other and that Darcy is pregnant with someone else’s child, this film’s universe begins to take shape into the ending we expect to see.

Goodwin is great at these roles as the girl who is good looking enough to get attention but is outshined by someone else. Therefore she begins this film by settling for less than what her heart deserves, but by the end of the film she gets what we all knew she could get if she would have asserted herself. I hope she will grow out of these roles as she is quite talented. Hudson is really good as the good looking girl who deserves the best looking guy because she is fun and is the overtly beautiful life of any party she attends. Egglesfield was really good in the most difficult role on the screen. He had to make us believe he was smart but also easily manipulated by his parents and Darcy. It worked, I believed it. He was smart and dense at the same time. Krasinski was superb as the friend whose longing heart was rarely heard. Jennie Snyder wrote this thoughtful and, at times, witty screenplay. Luke Greenfield directed this film very evenhandedly while keeping the story interesting and comedy poignantly at hand.

Overall: This film was better than I thought it might be because of the good acting.

Just Go With It

First Hit: Very funny at times, but wallowed at times in poor humor and a mediocre storyline.

I like Adam Sandler (as Danny) much of the time, but the humor in this story at times was unnecessary.

Example: Michael (played by Griffin Gluck), who is plays Aniston's son, takes a crap and does this on Danny's brother Eddie’s (played by Nick Swardson) arm as he sleeps in the bathtub while his arm is draped into the toilet. Why was this scene necessary? It wasn’t.

There are a number of scenes like this. I also thought the opening wedding scene where Danny hears that his wife has been sleeping with other men and that Danny and his sister are ridiculed by having overly prominent noses as the unnecessary setup for Danny to become a plastic surgeon and never let himself get close to a woman.

However as we witness the seamless relationship between Danny and his surgical assistant Katherine (played by Jennifer Aniston) we see some good, funny and interesting acting going on. The basis of the story is that Danny wears a wedding ring to obtain sympathy from women and has intimate temporary relationships with them.

He meets Palmer (played by Brooklyn Decker) and falls in love with her. However she thinks he’s married so Danny tells her he’s getting a divorce. Katherine plays his wife to collaborate his story but it becomes convoluted from there. Additionally, while in Hawaii Katherine runs into her college nemesis Devlin (played by Nicole Kidman).

Some of the scenes with Katherine and Devlin are well done and funny. In the end we all know what’s going to happen.

Sandler is OK, nothing great and generally is playing the same character he always does, semi sensitive and always wisecracking. Aniston is the one of the prizes of this film. She is so easy to believe in her character it just doesn’t look like acting. Gluck played a ridiculous character and he did it poorly. Decker is OK as the young beautiful woman. Kidman is funny in this role and she actually has more facial expressions here than she has shown in the past 3 films - think about her plastic surgery. Allan Loeb and Timothy Dowling wrote the up and down screenplay. Dennis Dugan directed all the scenes good and bad, but overall just an OK movie.

Overall: This is a film that is worth watching on DVD.

How Do You Know

First Hit: This is one of those “this isn’t a good film” films, but I enjoyed it.

I’m could find lots of reasons to pick on this film, from the lack of authenticity of Lisa (played by Reese Witherspoon) being an Olympic softball player.

To the jocular lines by Matty (played by Owen Wilson) “I only like to sleep with athletes.” Or even the unevenness and lackluster performance by Jack Nicholson (Charles) as a business owner who has set up his son George (played by Paul Rudd) to take the fall in a government kick-back scandal.

The story line is highly improbable and I never got the feeling that these characters could actually exist as portrayed. Lisa gets booted of the team because she’s .7 seconds slower than she was when she was younger (she is in her mid-thirties in this film). She doesn’t know what to do. She dates Matty who is a pro baseball pitcher who has plenty of women, money, and a carefree lifestyle.

Matty actually believes he might be falling for her and knows he is in love because “he wears condoms when he is with other women”. However, Lisa meets George, who is simply a kind, caring nice guy who listens to her and is interested in her.

Yes, the ending is what you think it is, but there are some funny bits and lines and overall the main actors are good enough to make it fun to watch.

Witherspoon is only slightly believable as an Olympic softball player but she is believable as a woman who doesn’t know what it is like to be in a loving relationship. Wilson is his same character he always is; a smiling, laid-back man who is barely awake to the realities of a life other than his own. Rudd is strong in his role; however the whole business scandal didn’t fit him very well. Nicholson was moderately amusing but lacking a soul in his role. James L. Brooks wrote and directed the film, and it was his script that let it down. The direction to the script was good.

Overall: Despite the poorness of the plot, it was overall enjoyable.