Oscar Watch: "The Sessions"

The Sessions

Nominated for: Best Supporting Actress

 

The Sessions is the story of a disabled man, played so well by John Hawkes, and is quest to lose hips virginity. If the story sounds a bit unconventional, it is, but it's also based on truth. The man, O'Brien, is crippled by polio, requiring an iron lung most of the time. But with the help of a caring sex therapist, played by nominee Helen Hunt, he is finally able to achieve his dream.

Overall, I thought the movie was decent. It focused a lot on the virginity aspect and breaking that, so hope you feel about it probably hinges on how you feel about the depth they went into. For me, it was a bit much, and it detracted from the film. Hawkes's acting was excellent, though, and it's upsetting that he didn't get a nomination. Hunt was also very good, very emotional, although I think Hathaway conveyed just as much, if not more emotion, in her one song in Les Miserables. Still, this was a good performance, and a decent movie, to me.

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Argo Soars

After winning both the PGA and the SAG, Argo is now positioned to be the frontrunner in the best picture race. A surprise, given Affleck didn't get nominated for best picture. If it wins, it's in a very small circle of best pic winners not nominated for best director; only three films have done it in the past, including Driving Ms. Daisy and the first best pic winner, Wings. I think it'd be fantastic if Argo won. Lincoln was stellar, driven by fantastic acting and directing, but the ending wasn't the best, to me. Argo also is a chance to reward an up-and-coming director. I still am partial to Les Miserables though. But given these recent wins for Argo, it's a much more interesting oscars this year.

JJ Abrams Directs "Star Wars: Episode VII"

After a few days of online speculation and reports, it's now official that JJ Abrams is the director of Star Wars: Episode VII! The whole flurry of SW news recently is still a bit of a shock to me. In recent years, after ROTS, I've become a more subdued SW fan. I haven't been into watching the CW series, although I do hope to get into it at some point. I haven't attended any celebrations since then, either. But, one a SW fan, perhaps always a SW fan, and news of the disney-LFL deal rekindled a bit of the old excitement!

I honestly thought SW was a done thing, in the sense that the huge spectacle of the films, the foundation of the saga, was over and done with. But now, disney goes and revives it. Not that SW was doing badly, as CW was holding its own. But now, we have a chance to reshape SW into something different from what it was. As much as I love the PT, in hindsight I can see the problems with it. GL is a fantastic storyteller, but not a fantastic director or screenwriter. As such, the PT is a stellar story, almost incomparable to many stories nowadays, and yes, that includes Tolkien. But the way it was told detracted many people. There's so much going on there, from political upheaval, to personal struggles, to differing ideologies.

That's part of what SW is all about. Along with a sense of adventure, a good dose of humor, and amazing battles. And if we had to choose someone to bring that again to the big screen, JJ Abrams is a fine choice. Is he the best choice? Arguable, because what he did with Star Trek polarized some fans, but he brought back a sense of adventure to the series, and really revamped it and made it more mainstream. But, it lost a little bit of what Star Trek was. The sense of adventure was fully there, I think, but it just felt very new, very modern. Not completely what the older series was. And let's not talk about him destroying the older timeline, for the most part.

But still, what he did there was commendable. Mission: Impossible III and Super 8 were also stellar films. JJ Abrams also has a love for SW, and hopefully that'll make him more cognizant of what fans themselves want. I hope LFL holds enough control so that he won't destroy any aspect of the older SW films. JJ Abrams shouldn't be completely in charge of this, but a player in a larger universe. But his style, both visual and from a character standpoint, should bring a nice change to the SW universe.

There are others I could see taking command of the first film. Whedon would be an interesting choice, although his strength lies more with characters and dialogue, and we're not sure yet what characters we are and aren't seeing in EpVII. Spielberg would've been an interesting choice years ago, but now his films are more subdued, subtle, and personal, and I don't know how it'd translate to a huge epic, effects-heavy film like SW. Affleck, rumored to be among the choices, would've been very interesting to see as well, I think. An up and coming director, with a skilled hand as evidenced in this year's Argo. I don't have a complete grasp on his style of filmmaking yet, though.

All things considered, JJ Abrams is a safe choice, and a wise choice to direct this film. I'm excited, and as a longtime SW fan, that's a good thing.  

Oscar Watch: "Silver Linings Playbook"

Silver Linings Playbook
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Actress (Lawrence), Best Actor (Cooper), Best Supporting Actor (DeNiro), Best Supporting Actress (Weaver), Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing

Silver Linings Playbook is a sweet, non-typical romantic comedy. I'm rather surprised AMPAS decided to honor the movie so broadly, in every acting category, and in directing. It's a sweet film, detailing the life of Pat (Cooper), recently out of a psychiatric health facility after beating up his wife's lover. After his release, he tries to patch things together with his dad (DeNiro), who's a very superstitious eagles football fan. During a dinner, he encounters Tiffany (Lawrence), who went through a phase of depression after losing her husband. Through dance and football, they become closer, and eventually fall in love.

The acting here is superb. Cooper is believable, empathetic, and a lot of the credit he's receving is probably because it's such a departure from his typical, comedic roles. Lawrence, as well, is quite impressive in the role. I don't see Katniss when watching her; I see her as the character she's portraying, someone in pain and confused, and trying to get her life back together. DeNiro is good as well, especially in the more poignant, emotional moments, and Weaver comes across as a caring mother and caring wife. I know it's probably going to be Daniel Day-Lewis's show, and deservedly so, but I wish Cooper would get recognition for his work here. Same for Lawrence, although that category's a bit more open. Honestly, she may even nab it, unless Chastain or Riva pull it off; I don't feel like the girl from Beasts (vomit) or Watts will get it, but Oscar's full of surprises.

The directing was well-done, and I liked many shots that were filmed, such as when Officer Keogh meets them for the first time. But to give Russell a nod over Affleck kinda sucks. Maybe Argo will get best adapted screenplay. Overall, I'm glad Oscar chose to nominate this film. It's not a stellar, groundbreaking movie, but a sweet, well-made romantic comedy.

Oscar Watch: "Zero Dark Thirty"

Zero Dark Thirty
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing

Zero Dark Thirty is a tricky film to review. It's sort of a very unbiased, inside look at the workings of a high profile CIA operation. Everything from the dirty (waterboarding) to the sad (suicide bombings) to the ultimate goal. I think Bigelow succeeded in showing what a manhunt on this scale is like, and the stresses with the people involved. And even more than that, the conviction and fortitude needed to pull it off, and the ability to take huge risks despite the odds.

The center of this movie is not the actual hunt itself, but Maya (Chastain), who portrays such a strong-willed character, willing to go against all odds and follow her beliefs, that without her, bin Laden may never have actually been killed. The movie is long, but it details the whole process almost, and how one small lead led to the big goal.

The much-ballyhooed torture scenes are rather unnerving to watch. You feel bad for the victims, even though you realize later they were not revealing all that they knew. Still, the waterboarding was quite bad, and drowning must be terrible, so simulating it for torture just looks horrible. The film definitely had excellent sound; I still get confused every Oscar season between mixing and editing. A quick wiki search, and editing is the person who chooses the sounds, the mixing is how it all comes together. The final scene, the invasion of the home in Pakistan, was insane. The sound there was stellar, and amplified the scariness of the scene. And you felt like you were basically there, in the dark, trying to find the goal. It was filmed very well.

Overall, I enjoyed this film much more than her last work, The Hurt Locker. It'd be more deserving, I think, of best picture than that film. But there's better choices out there, from Lincoln to Les Miserables to even Django Unchained. But this is a good movie, and the length makes up for it with the mission at the end.

Oscar Watch: "Amour"

"Amour"
Directed by Michael Haneke
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Foreign Language Film

Amour is a film about love, and life, and the end of life's journey. It follows two main characters, Georges and Anne, through the last parts of their lives together. Anne gets a stroke, and Georges becomes her caretaker, and the new relationship between them takes their toll, until Georges is forced to make a painful decision.

The film was superbly made. Time was taken showing the interaction between the two, the mundane activites of life, such as looking through an album, eating food, washing dishes. The small things that life becomes in the end. That's what they shared. And the way he cared for her after her illness, with such love. And finally, the decision he made at the end of her life, to spare her suffering, or his, or maybe both.

The film is a bit long, and feels somewhat strained at times, but I think that helps us understand the pain and suffering he's going through. And her acting is stellar, showing the humiliation she's feeling, and how she doesn't want to be a burden to her loving husband.

Overall, a very well-made, and very saddening film. I think it's a lock for best foreign film, but aside from that, probably not much, as Oscar may go for a more publicized film like Lincoln.

Oscar Watch: "Beasts of the Southern WIld"

Beasts of the Southern Wild
Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress (Quvenzhane Wallis)

Welcome to this year's Winter's Bone. A boring as heck movie set in a more rural setting, with some wild animals mixed in, and some nonsense involving dancing with random women in some strip club or party or something. I have no clue. The whole movie is like some weird dream you have, and wake up and feel dumb for wasting your time dreaming it.

I'm being a bit harsh. It had something to do with Katrina, and a young girl and her dad. The dad's actually a pretty good character, who sacrificed certain things for his daughter, knowing he's going to die. The girl, Hushpuppy, acts well also. I just don't get the point of the film. I guess the beasts symbolize something. About how her world may come crashing down? But she maintains control in the end? I just don't care.

The movie is boring. Why it was nominated for best picture, I can't understand. And they took the best director nomination from Affleck (at least he got the golden globe) to give it to Zeitlin? Waste, waste, waste. I don't want to talk about this waste of time anymore. I hope it wins nothing.

Oscar Watch: "Les Miserables"

Les Miserables is one of the biggest musicals of all time, so naturally, a film version will be held to a high standard. Tom Hooper, director of Oscar darling The King's Speech, chose to go a more emotional route with the film, which after two viewings, I believe really works to its advantage.

The story follows Jean Valjean (Jackman) and his relationship with Javert (Crowe), and along the way, he encounters a suffering woman, Fantaine (Hathaway), her daughter whom he cares for, Cosette (Seyfried), some revolutionaries, and a shady innkeeper and his wife (Cohen and Carter).

The musical technique Hooper employed, having the actors sing live on camera to capture the emotion, worked so well. Valjean's regret at the start, Fantine's dismay at her situation, and even Javert's inability to comprehend Valjean's actions at the end, all were captured so well. Musicals can often have a problem portraying reality in such an unrealistic setting, but this film did it so freaking well. You feel Fantine's pain. And Hathway was stellar, just that one song itself, I Dreamed a Dream, is enough to garner her a nomination. She portrays such a depth of emotion, from longing to depair, it's really incredible.

The acting overall was just so stellar. And set design itself was beautiful, capturing the epic scale of the story. The new song, Suddenly, was also very nice, and a lot of the lyrics were more heartfelt to me, as a newlywed.

Overall, I'm very biased towards Les Miserables, and they did well by the West End musical. They took a stage production and succesfully coverted it to what a film should be. No belting out songs. We see actors up close, see the emotion in their face the way the stage can't portray. It's a beautiful film, and I know I'm biased, but it's thus far my pick for best pic.