In the spirit of full disclosure, let me admit something here at the beginning. I like many Danny Boyle movies, not all of them, but the last several, so I go into his movies expecting to like them. He is one of the directors that is able to move across genres easily and well. 28 [...]
Archive for the ‘Oscar Race’ Category
Slumdog Millionaire
Posted in 2008, Awards, BBC, Based on a Book, Blockbuster, Foreign, Oscar Race, tagged Danny Boyle, Dev Patel, Freida Pinto on January 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
2008 Oscars – Did You Watch?
Posted in Oscar Race, tagged Academy Awards, ceremony, oscars, Reviews, thoughts on February 24, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Alrighty, we’re starting off with an oddly CGI’d/animated intro with lots of our old favorite movie characters just walking around. Fair enough. Drumroll, please and thank you – and – Jon Stewart. Starting with a writer’s strike joke, bold. Followed up with a joke about Javier Bardem’s haircut in No Country for Old Men. That [...]
OSCAR MANIA! 2008
Posted in Oscar Race, tagged Academy Awards, best picture, Oscar pics, predictions on February 21, 2008 | 1 Comment »
I don’t always agree with the Academy but I do like to play the guessing game. So, these aren’t who I necessarily want to win but who I think will win.
Here are my predictions:
Best Picture: Does Atonement split the male dominated NCFOM and TWBB? No Country for Old Men
Best Actor (Leading): Daniel Day-Lewis
Best Actress (Leading): [...]
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
Posted in '07, Based on a Book, Biopic, Oscar Race, Period Piece, Westerns, tagged academy award nomination 2008, best supporting actor, Brad Pitt, casey affleck, movie reviews, Sam Rockwell on February 17, 2008 | 1 Comment »
What a mouthful. The title, I mean. The movie itself, also a cinematic mouthful at 2 hours and 40 odd minutes.
For me, this is a no brainer. I like movies like Tombstone (even with its questionable acting) and Unforgiven. All the actors in this one are good all the way around (Brad Pitt, Sam Rockwell, Garrett Dillahunt, [...]
Notes On A Scandal (2006)
Posted in Based on a Book, British, Oscar Race, tagged Bill Nighy movie reviews, Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench on February 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Judi Dench Rocks It!
Dame, indeed.
That said, this movie is very hard to watch. Her are some themes I do not overly enjoy: pedophilia, adultery, emotional blackmail, unrequited lesbian love. And this flick has them all. The story of a bourgeious bohemian art teacher (Sheeba Hart) who has an affair with a 15 year old pupil, [...]
Persepolis
Posted in 2008, Based on a Book, Movies, Oscar Race on February 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Nominated for an Oscar (for animation)
This movie is not going to be for everyone. It’s a mostly black and white animated French film. That right there is enough to put most people off. Add in the fact that it is about growing up in Tehran in the late 70’sand 80’s and even more people are [...]
Venus (2006)
Posted in Movies, Oscar Race, Reviews on February 11, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Peter O’Toole was nominated Best Supporting Actor for this one and it’s easy to see why.
The only thing I really knew about this movie before watching it was that Peter O’Toole’s character was somehow involved with a girl of about 19. This did not intrigue me. This kind of turned me off.
It was handled in [...]
Eastern Promises
Posted in '07, Oscar Race on February 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Shortcut to Oscar nom: a naked, bloody waltz in the shower.
Juno
Posted in '07, Comedy, Oscar Race, Reviews, tagged Ellen Page, Jason Bateman, Michela Cera on January 29, 2008 | 2 Comments »
I was excited to see this movie but for the first few minutes I was afraid that the writer was substituting cute, precious language for being funny. Like, if you give a character quirky, kitchsy knick-knacks you don’t have to develop the character in any way; Their belongings ARE their character! Clever.
It mostly got over itself [...]
Once -2007
Posted in '07, Musical, Oscar Race, tagged movie, oscar nominated - best original song, Reviews on January 28, 2008 | 1 Comment »
When I was in middle school or high school I remember talking with my dad about the state of musicals. He said they were dead. He claimed there wasn’t much of a point to make more because they always look so tired and remote. I agreed. Audiences had grown accustomed to seeing big hollywood movies and these [...]
