The First Trimester

I dread what the movie theater has to offer between the months of January and May.  I of course go anyway, and afterwards when I am asked how a movie was, I find my answer is almost always, eh, it was okay.  Once again this rings true for 2011.  Thus I find I can wrap up my movie thoughts of the last four months in one post.

No Strings Attached - a chick flick I enjoyed even though I knew better

Rango - cute little lizard, but it wasn't the animated season opener that I was hoping for

Source Code - entertaining enough, but too many holes in the sci-fi

The Lincoln Lawyer - better than expected with a decent twist

Unknown - too many boring car chases and blowing up of buildings

Water for Elephants - at least it was better than the book

Scream 4 - satisfying as it fit in with the first three, but still an average gory mess

The one breath of fresh air in an otherwise blah beginning of the year...

Jane Eyre

I was a little surprised by how much I liked it as the story does run a little slow.  Even so, the matched wits of Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester is welcome amidst the onslaught of "control-freak woman calms down for an hour in order to fall for brain-dead bachelor who appears to have a glimpse of a heart" movies. 

I still need to see The Adjustment Bureau, Win Win, and Hanna to round out the beginning of the year.  Now on to summer blockbuster season and here's to hoping Super 8 is all it's cracked up to be and more.

My Top Ten of 2010

The Social Network
Inception
Winter's Bone
Black Swan
How to Train Your Dragon
The King's Speech
True Grit
127 Hours
Blue Valentine
Exit Through the Gift Shop

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Oscar nominations here.

The Good:

I predicted 40/45 of the top 8 categories correctly!

John Hawkes of Winter's Bone gets a supporting actor nod!

Winter's Bone beats out The Town!

The Bad:

Waiting for Superman snubbed.  I'm a little confused, wasn't this the most praised documentary of the year?

No supporting actress love for Barbara Hershey or Mila Kunis of Black Swan.


No sound nominations for Black Swan... grr.

The Ugly:

While I really really wanted John Hawkes to get his due, I could not be more upset that the heart of The Social Network, Andrew Garfield, was passed over.

But the absolute worst snub of the day goes to Christopher Nolan left without a Direction nomination. How do you nominate such an intricate, creative, and detailed film for Best Picture and Original Screenplay and leave off the nomination for the skill of actually putting it together?  Inception was a masterpiece and I cannot imagine what the Academy was thinking when they decided to praise the creation but not the creator.  If we have ten best picture nominees today because of a Dark Knight snub in 2008, I am not sure what will get this intelligent movie-maker his due.

Quick Takes

Unstoppable **/****

Life as We Know It **.5/****

Greenberg */****

No Strings Attached **.5/****

Exit Through the Gift Shop ***.5/****

Oscar Nominee Predictions

One week from today the Oscar nominees will be revealed! My predictions as follows:

Best Picture

The Social Network
Black Swan
Inception
The Fighter
The King's Speech
True Grit
127 Hours
The Kids Are All Right
Toy Story 3
Winter's Bone

Alternate: The Town
Hopeful for: Winter's Bone filling the tenth slot.

Best Actor

Colin Firth, The King's Speech
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
James Franco, 127 Hours
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Robert Duvall, Get Low

Alternate: Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine

Best Actress

Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Alternate: Lesley Manville, Another Year


Best Supporting Actor

Christian Bale, The Fighter
Geoffery Rush, The King's Speech
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right

Alternate: John Hawkes, Winter's Bone
Longshot/Hopeful for: John Hawkes and Matt Damon replace Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo

Best Supporting Actress

Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfield, True Grit
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
Mila Kunis, Black Swan

Alternate: Jackie Weaver, Animal Kingdom
Longshot/Hopeful for: Barbara Hershey replaces Helena Bonham Carter

Best Director

David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Christopher Nolan, Inception
David O. Russell, The Fighter

Alternate: Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit

Adapted Screenplay

Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Michael Arndt, Toy Story 3
Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit
Debra Granik, Anne Rossellini, Daniel Woodrell, Winter's Bone
Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy, 127 Hours

Alternate: Ben Affleck, The Town

Original Screenplay

Daivd Speidler, The King's Speech
Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz, John J. McLaughlin, Black Swan
Christopher Nolan, Inception
Stuart Blumberg, Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids Are All Right
Mike Leigh, Another Year

Alternate: Derek Cianfrance, Blue Valentine

Art Direction

Alice in Wonderland
Shutter Island
Inception
True Grit
The King's Speech

Alternate: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Pt. 1

Cinematography

True Grit
Inception
The Social Network
Black Swan
The King's Speech

Alternate: Shutter Island

Costume Design

Alice in Wonderland
The King's Speech
Black Swan
True Grit
The Tempest

Alternate: Burlesque

Film Editing

The Social Network
Black Swan
Inception
The King's Speech
The Fighter

Alternate: True Grit

Makeup

Alice in Wonderland
The Wolfman
The Fighter

Alternate: Barney's Version

Original Score

Inception
The Social Network
How to Train Your Dragon
The King's Speech
127 Hours

Alternate: Alice in Wonderland

Original Song

"Shine" - Waiting for Superman
"We Belong Together" - Toy Story 3
"I See the Light" - Tangled
"If I Rise" - 127 Hours
"You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" - Burlesque

Alternate: "Bound to You" - Burlesque
Longshot/Hopeful for: "Stick & Stones" - How to Train Your Dragon

Sound Editing

Inception
TRON Legacy
How to Train Your Dragon
Iron Man 2
Toy Story 3

Alternate: Black Swan

Sound Mixing

Inception
Black Swan
The Social Network
True Grit
Shutter Island

Alternate: TRON Legacy

Best Visual Effects

Inception
Alice in Wonderland
TRON Legacy
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Pt. 1
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Alternate: Iron Man 2

Animated Film

Toy Story 3
How to Train Your Dragon
Tangled

Alternate: The Illusionist

Documentary

Waiting for Superman
Inside Job
Restrepo
The Tillman Story
Exit Through the Gift Shop

Alternate: Waste Land

Foreign Language Film

I am Love
Biutiful
In a Better World
Dogtooth
Of Gods and Men

Alternate: The Edge

Winter's Bone - Memorable Scenes

I was thinking about how Winter's Bone and The Social Network were left off of Variety's list of most memorable scenes.  It seems like scenes from The Social Network are constantly being talked about, so I'll let that one slide, but Winter's Bone (a film on the bubble for Best Picture) could use a little recognition in the last few days left leading up to Oscar Nominations. 

Anyway, here are some Winter's Bone scenes that I love:

1. Ree Dolly, beaten up, bloody, and with no more places to turn for help lays on Merab's garage floor awaiting any further punishment for stirring up talk about her father's whereabouts.  Slowly the garage door goes up to reveal Teardrop ready to claim Ree and any of her actions as his responsiblity.

2. Ree takes her mother on a walk through their woods, attempting to solicit her advice regarding selling the woods.  She tearfully asks her sick mother to look at her for help in making this decision.  The result is only a blank stare in return and Ree understands she will have to continue leading her family on her own.

Golden Globe Predictions

Best Picture - Drama

The Social Network

Best Picture - Comedy/Musical

The Kids Are All Right

Best Actor - Drama

Colin Firth - The King's Speech

Best Actress - Drama

Natalie Portman - Black Swan

Best Actor - Comedy/Musical

Johnny Depp - Alice in Wonderland

Best Actress - Comedy/Musical

Annette Bening - The Kids Are All Right

Best Supporting Actor

Christian Bale - The Fighter

Best Supporting Actress

Helena Bonham Carter - The King's Speech

Best Animated

Toy Story 3

Best Foreign Film

I am Love

Best Director

David Fincher - The Social Network

Best Screenplay

Aaron Sorkin - The Social Network

Best Original Score

Hans Zimmer - Inception

Best Song

"You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" - Burlesque

Most Memorable Scenes

Variety staff names their most memorable moments in film of 2010 here.

1. Completely agree with the scenes chosen for Black Swan and How to Train Your Dragon.

2. Surprised by the scene chosen for The King's Speech.  I thought it would have been a scene more focused on the interaction of the film's leading men given all the praise they have received.  My choice probably would have been King George VI's heart to heart with Logue while putting together his first model airplane.

3. The Social Network and Winter's Bone weren't included on the list... boooo.

Quick Takes

True Grit ***.5/****

The King's Speech ***.5/****

Morning Glory **/****

What?

How is Black Swan not in the running for a best makeup nomination?  Did everyone ignore the fact that a very human Natalie Portman was transformed into a swan?

Those in the running here.

The Fighter

People keep asking me about The Fighter and how much I liked it.  I can see that this is a crowd-pleasing film much like The Town so my opinion probably isn't going to go very far.

I will start by saying I have no idea why this film is a frontrunner for winning a Best Picture Oscar.  It's clearly an actor's film and the acting from Bale is very good.  The acting from Adams and Leo is good too.  Wahlberg, however, delivers Micky Ward as one of the blandest sports stars ever.  He just didn't seem to have much of a personality.  I know he is supposed to be overpowered by a clan of crazy sisters, a control-freak mother, and drug-addicted brother, but there wasn't even a subtle charm there.  At least for me anyway.

There's a lot of fighting both in the ring and to have a voice, and subsequently it comes off a little whiny.  The exception is a crack-addicted Dicky Ecklund struggling to stay out of prison, restart a never-going-to-happen-again career, and care for a son. His outlook is grim and his body is skeletal, but there's enough heart there to hope he will get a second and third chance.  It saddens the core of his mother who is forced to push the reality of his life out of mind in order to keep going.  The best of the story lies here.  I could have watched Bale all day, Wahlberg... not so much.

The Drive for Perfection

I've been really happy to hear how well Black Swan is doing at the box office (~$61,000,000) and the good reception it has received in general. I saw Black Swan for the first time in Chicago the day it arrived in theaters and due to some poor planning had to sit in the third row from the front. It was certainly not my ideal movie viewing situation, so I was more than happy to accompany some friends to watch it for a second time.  When I walked into my Buffalo movie theater I could not believe how full the screening was almost a month after its arrival.  Incidentally we had to sit in the front section again, but not quite as close as my first time. 

Prior to its release, it seemed like there was a lot of talk around the internet about how its extreme nature is not suited for the Oscar crowd.  While there is still a long road ahead, Black Swan is going strong and Aronofsky, Portman, Kunis, and Hershey's names continue to get recognition and praise amongst the other strong Oscar contenders.  I will be truly excited to see Aronofsky's name grace the DGA nominee list this week.

My first watch of Black Swan was more focused on the psychologically crazy trip through Nina's transformation, the dynamics of her relationships, and of course the disturbing beauty of the final stages of her metamorphosis.  The second time I was able to appreciate so much more her aspiration of perfection - it's consuming power and consequences.  It's there when she comes before Thomas in his office to ask for the part of Swan Queen, when she is moved in explaining her tendency toward attention to detail over an ability to be completely overtaken by the emotional aspects of the story. It's there when she sits in front of the mirror emotionally exhausted from failure and when she leaves the company for home only to immeadiately get out her shoes to continue practicing in her room.  Perfection is within reach as a quitely assured Nina tells Thomas she will be the one performing not Lily.  And as Nina falters in her portrayal of the White Swan we see her a step closer to embracing an all encompassing spot-on performance of the Black Swan. She becomes the role and by extension everything she has always wanted is hers.  Even in spite of all the suffering endured emotionally and physically, even when the performance costs life itself, Nina is overcome with the happiness of perfection.

Also of note is how watching Nina pull a long layer of skin from her finger went from cringe-party (first viewing) to purposeful in a battle for perfection (second viewing).  Sometimes watching a movie after knowing the ending is really great.  Especially this one because watching Nina's full immersion into Black Swan on the stage will never get old.  I love those first moments when her skin begins to grow goosebumps and her arms start taking on the black and grey tones all the way up to her fully feathered wingspan arched behind her.

Recent Rewatch - Toy Story 3

I watched Toy Story 3 right around the time it hit theaters.  It was my second movie of the night and I did not start watching it until fairly late, so I thought part of the reason I was not impressed might have been due to tiredness.  This is partially true because I definitely felt more engaged during the second viewing and I know I laughed more particularly in response to a tortilla-faced Mr. Potato Head and a Spanish-speaking Buzz.  I will even agree to experiencing a few heart-warming feelings when the toys accept meeting their end together and when Andy leaves behind the toys responsible for so many childhood memories as he enters adulthood.  It's a bittersweet acknowledgement of their importance to him and the inevitability of growing up. I can appreciate the final moments of the film and believe the growing up experience to be relatable to the masses.

At the same time, I have to say TS3 is no Up!, it's no Beauty and the Beast, no Lion King, it may not even be as good as the first Toy Story or How to Train Your Dragon for that matter.  My point is I do not believe Toy Story 3 is the greatest animated film of all time.  It was a good ending to a great story, but it did not have the emotional depth that Up! gave us in the form Carl and Ellie's love story, their disappointments and greatest moments that defined a love one could never get over even through death.  Nor does it provide a heroine as beautiful and intelligent as Belle or a grief and shame as deep as Simba's.  When animation provides a story with great emotional intelligence and beauty it deserves all the praise one can heap upon it.  I get that some people felt this deeply about Toy Story 3, I just wasn't one of them.

Black Swan, Natalie Portman, Oscar Chances

Black Swan is both disturbing and masterful.  It is an ode to the art of film making and a crazy trip into the mind of one ballerina who would be perfect.  The innocent and meek Nina Sayers has performed with her ballet company for years, but has yet to be featured in a leading role.  News hits that the aging prima ballerina, Beth would perform her last production at the request of the company and a new dancer would be selected for the lead role in a production of Swan Lake. As the director of the production, Thomas, surveys the class for his new prima ballerina, touching certain dancers on the arm as they warm up.  Nina spins harder, faster and watches him as he watches them.  He explains that his production of Swan Lake will be dark and visceral and the dancer selected would be required to portray both the purity and perfection of the White Swan as well as the passionate and villainous Black Swan.  He finishes his recollection of the major plot points of Swan Lake and calls together the group of women he has selected for a tryout at the end of the day. 

Nina flawlessly portrays the White Swan in her tryout, but when asked to perform the role of the Black Swan, she falters.  Thomas comments on the precision of her White Swan performance and explains that were he only looking to fill the role of the White Swan, Nina would be the perfect selection, however, she does not possess the raw emotion required to play the Black Swan. Disappointed Nina goes home to her overproctective mother and bedroom outfitted in light pink and decorated with stuffed animals.  Her mother, once a dancer herself, never achieved the success she longed for and subsequently has internally vowed to spare her daughter from the harsh realities of stardom.  Their relationship is much too close as Nina has no space that is her own in their small apartment and her mother's actions toward her are just plain creepy as she draws a bath for her daughter, inspects her body and clips her fingernails.  They are the actions of a mother towards her five year old.  It is in the realm of childhood that Ms. Sayers keeps her fully grown daughter.  As Nina agonizes over the seemingly lost chance of the lead role with her mother, she decides to go back to Thomas to convince him of her ability to play the Black Swan. Soft spoken and unsure she proceeds to tell Thomas of her qualifications to which he shares that the role will be given to another. Broken hearted she turns to leave his office as he comes on to her.  Struggling to break out of his grasp and away from his kiss she bites him and he is left to ponder a side he did not think Nina possessed.  Minutes later the role is hers and so begins her descent into the life of the Black Swan.  To help her she studies the ease of new dancer to the company, Lily.  Her technique is not as precise as Nina's, but her passion is at the forefront of her dancing, the perfect Black Swan.  Nina wavers between the two personalities and the result is a psycho-thrilling ride through the insecurities and longings of a dancer craving perfection.

Natalie Portman completely becomes Nina Sayers.  She fully embraces a dancer losing her grip on reality, the struggles of cutthroat competition, the technique of a master performer.  It will be remembered as a performance made for the likes of Portman, a perfomance wrought with raw emotion and perfection. The result is both Nina Sayers and Natalie Portman experience their own swan songs.

This is a once in a lifetime performance, deserving of recognition.  As Portman proceeds through Oscar precursors she is looking pretty good. He biggest competition is Annette Bening  for The Kids Are All Right.  Her performance was really great too.  It was real and full of disappointment and the fight for preservation of family. She has never been recognized by the Academy and her past work proves she is deserving, but I hope this is not the year.  My reason is I just don't think I'm going to look back and think her performance was a once in a lifetime role made for Annette Bening.  She's good, really good, but Natalie Portman dove deep into mind, body, and soul of a dancer and the performance will not be forgotten.

I hope Aronofsky gets some recognition as well.  A director nod would be well deserved.  I'm not the biggest Aronofsky fan around, but it's clear that the man knows how to capture the art of metaphor. His film is disturbingly beautiful and a standout for 2010.  I'm planning on seeing Black Swan again sometime over this weekend... maybe I'll have more thoughts to come.