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