The Return Of The King

The title may suggest a lack of modesty, but I don't truly feel like I am royalty, I am perhaps better. I joke of course, although this very short and perhaps pointless post is really to let any readers out there to know I am going to return with more posts soon, and apologise greatly for my lack of effort on the blogging front recently. Look out world, I'm back. And on twitter now too @Scotty2207.

OSCARS 2011 - Final Predictions.

 

It is that time of year again, and the Oscars is little over 24 hours away. Here I Present my final predictions for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards. These predictions are based upon what I think will win in each category and not necessarily what I would like to win.

"And The Oscar Goes To.........."

BEST PICTURE

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

BEST DIRECTOR

Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan
David O Russell - The Fighter
Tom Hooper - The King's Speech
David Fincher - The Social Network
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen - True Grit

BEST ACTOR

Colin Firth - The King's Speech
Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network
James Franco - 127 Hours
Javier Bardem - Biutiful
Jeff Bridges - True Grit

BEST ACTRESS

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

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christian Bale - The Fighter
John Hawkes - Winter's Bone
Jeremy Renner - The Town
Mark Ruffalo - The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush - The King's Speech

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams - The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter - The King's Speech
Melissa Leo - The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld - True Grit
Jacki Weaver - Animal Kingdom

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Biutiful - Mexico
Dogtooth - Greece
In a Better World - Denmark
Incendies - Canada
Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi) - Algeria

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Mike Leigh - Another Year
Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson (screenplay), Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson (story) - The Fighter
Christopher Nolan - Inception
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg - The Kids Are All Right
David Seidler - The King's Speech

BEST ANIMATION

How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

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

BEST ART DIRECTION

Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inception
The King's Speech
True Grit

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

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

BEST SOUND MIXING

Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network
Salt
True Grit

BEST SOUND EDITING

Inception
Toy Story 3
Tron: Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Coming Home (from Country Strong) by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
I See the Light (from Tangled) by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater
If I Rise (from 127 Hours) by AR Rahman, Dido and Rollo Armstrong
We Belong Together (from Toy Story 3) by Randy Newman

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

How to Train Your Dragon - John Powell
Inception - Hans Zimmer
The King's Speech - Alexandre Desplat
127 Hours - AR Rahman
The Social Network - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

BEST COSTUMES

Alice in Wonderland
I Am Love
The King's Speech
The Tempest
True Grit

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Exit Through the Gift Shop
Gasland
Inside Job
Restrepo
Waste Land

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Come Up
The Warriors of Qiugang

BEST FILM EDITING

Black Swan
The Fighter P
The King's Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

Day & Night
The Gruffalo
Let's Pollute
The Lost Thing
Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

The Confession
The Crush
God of Love
Na Wewe
Wish 143

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2

BEST MAKE-UP

Barney's Version
The Way Back
The Wolfman


Here are the surprises I would like to see happen:

• Helena Bonham Carter - Best Supporting Actress (Love her, always)
• Inception - Best Original Score (Find this score is both dramatic and swells with emotion)
• Annette Bening - Best Actress (Although I feel Portman deserves it a little more)
• Geoffrey Rush/ John Hawkes - Best Supporting Actor (Bale truly delivered, just preferred these performances)
• Best Original Screenplay - Inception (Just based on the thought behind it - genius)

There are also various other categories I would be glad to see go another way, but these are the main changes I'd like to see to my predictions list.

It is now just over 1 day left til the awards commence, and I for one cannot wait. Enjoy the biggest night in the cinematic year :)

Absolute MUST See Films: Part I

With most of the focus of this blog being on what new films are currently featuring in the cinema, and which of these should be seen/not seen, I decided to change things up a bit and start series of posts on films every person must see, spanning through all time. These films shall have to meet no other criteria than to be ones I feel are necessary watches for every individual during their lifetime. So in each installment I shall present 5 films and give my reasons for them being so important.

Fight Club (1999 - David Fincher)

'Fight Club' follows a lonely insomniac office employee and a soap salesman as they build a global organisation to help vent male aggression. This film is one of a kind, and probably Fincher's best to date, even though he has a strong back catalogue. The film explores themes such as materialism, honor and freedom in  an unconventional yet very effective fashion with an unforgettable dark sense of humour weaved throughout. Brad Pitt and Edward Norton are superb in their roles, and the always amazing Helena Bonham Carter delivers one of her absolute best performances as Marla Singer. This film is very intelligent, and therefore will prove to be a source of many discussions after viewing, particularly because of the movie's infamous twist.

Mystic River (2003 - Clint Eastwood)

'Mystic River' details the story of a reunion between three childhood friends after one of them loses his daughter. Clint Eastwood presents one his greatest directorial features in 'Mystic River' creating a gripping drama, which engages from beginning to end, a gritty masterpiece. The performances in this movie are sublime from each and every single cast member(particularly from Sean Penn - wow) , overall being one of the greatest performances by an ensemble cast, ever! Each character is fascinating, and as more is revealed about them over the course of the movie, the story just becomes more engaging.

The Silence Of The Lambs (1991 - Jonathan Demme)

'The Silence Of The Lambs' tells of a young FBI cadet that must confide in an incarcerated and manipulative killer to receive his help in catching another serial killer who skins his victims. This does not sound like the usual winner of the coveted Academy Award for 'Best Picture', but it deservedly stole the show at that night's awards, as it is magnificent in every way. Utterly gripping and suspenseful throughout, and with two fantastic lead performances. Anthony Hopkins is both creepy and compelling as Hannibal Lecter, creating one of the most unforgettable leading performances ever captured on film. Jodie Foster also shines as the dedicated and hard nosed FBI cadet, Clarice Starling. Shot brilliantly, to get the most out of each moment, this film is utterly unmissable.

Shawshank Redemption (1994 - Frank Darabont)

'Shawshank Redemption' is about two imprisoned men who bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency. My own personal favourite, this film is both engaging and thought provoking, and is a fantastic piece of storytelling. With multiple elements to the plot weaving together throughout the film's run time, this movie has so many layers, each as compelling as the next. The cast are superb in their roles, most notably Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. It is so easy to get swept into this story, and Steven King's novel has been adapted for the screen with great elegance. The cinematography is also superb in this picture. I love everything about this film, and cannot recommend it more highly.

To Kill A Mockingbird (1962 - Robert Mulligan)

'To Kill A Mockingbird' tells the story of Atticus Finch a small town lawyer in the depression-era south, who defends a black man against an undeserved rape charge, and his kids against prejudice. This film is storytelling at its purest and finest, Harper Lee's novel was adapted fantastically to create an absolute classic in cinema. Gregory Peck is wonderful in his portrayal of the courageous Atticus Finch, a true hero, a performance which is quite frankly, perfection. Shot in black and white, the story is brought vividly to the screen, with the small town being created superbly in both style and atmosphere. Exploring themes which are still incredible important today, most notably people's attitudes towards race, the story is both important in its message but also very engaging.

2010: A Year In Review

Although it comes nearly 2  months into 2011, but I have finally decided to provide my thoughts on 2010's movies, better late than never. 2010 overall provided to be a fairly strong year in cinema, providing a broad mix of offerings. It presented a great deal of films that I loved, but also a few I loathed. Based on those I actually saw in the cinema during 2010, I present my personal Top 10 best films of the year, and because of those awful offerings too, my 10 worst.

TOP 10 of 2010

1.  Toy Story 3
2.  Inception
3.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
4.  Up In The Air
5.  The Secret In Their Eyes
6.  Kick Ass
7.  The Kids Are All Right
8.  Easy A
9.  Precious
10. Jackass 3D

BOTTOM 10 of 2010

1.  The Bounty Hunter
2.  Clash Of The Titans
3.  Dinner for Schmucks
4.  Edge Of Darkness
5.  The Lovely Bones
6.  Eclipse
7.  Alice In Wonderland
8.  Splice
9.  The Hole
10. Sex And The City 2

'The Fighter' Review

'The Fighter' tells the story of the early years of boxer "Irish" Micky Ward, and his brother Dicky who helped train him before he went professional in the mid 1980s. 'The Fighter' is another of this year's primary Oscar contenders, and upon watching this is notable for various reasons. However, when it comes to the award for Best Picture, this film to me feels undeserving as it did not quite seem to hit the mark. The trailer built this movie to be a very uplifting tale, filled with highly inspirational moments, yet the film never seemed to live up to it. The movie doe not have any major flaws, or moments where it really loses momentum, just altogether as a picture it fell a little short.

However, there is one thing about this movie that is notably fantastic - the performances. Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, Amy Adams and Melissa Leo all shone through the entire duration of this movie, each giving their all to the role they were playing. Christian Bale played the role of Dicky Eklund spot on, which was made clear from the clip of the real Dicky during the credits of the movie. At times it may feel like Bale's performance is bordering on caricature, however this is evidently what the real Dicky Eklund is like, so what we actually have is a perfect portrayal of a damaged man. Bale also brought a great deal of commitment to the role in that he lost a massive amount of weight to play the character, so what we have is a complete transformation from the Christian Bale familiar to most in Christopher Nolan's 'Batman' films. It is looking inevitable that Bale will win the Supporting Actor Oscar for this portrayal. Melissa Leo was my personal favourite performance of the movie, playing Micky And Dicky's mother Alice. She is just fantastic as a woman who firmly believes in family values, yet has a neglect for what is best for her son's career. Leo plays a strong, ballsy woman, and this is done superbly in the way that Leo holds her body and face. She has truly become this character, and the movements and voice prove this entirely. Although I have a lot of love for Helena Bonham Carter, I feel that Leo is a very deserving winner of the Supporting Actress Oscar this year.With these two big performances, it is easy to lose track of Wahlberg and Adams, even though their performances and characters are ultimately what holds the movie together. It is their more quiet performances that allow for Bale and Leo to really go for it, without it all turning into some over the top cartoon. Adams character is easy to root for as she seems to have a better understanding to what is best for her boyfriend Micky. She stands up to Alice and Micky's sisters in some of the funnier moments in the film. She brings a very real performance to the movie, consistently believable in her portrayal. Wahlberg has been somewhat underrated in his portrayal as Micky Ward, with no nomination at the Oscars. He brings subtle understated performance to the movie, which is easy to go unnoticed given the huge personalities which dominate the screen. However he must be given perhaps the most credit as he is the key to this movie working, taking an unselfish approach to his performance to ultimately allow others to shine.

The way in which the movie was shot was also very well done, most notably the boxing sequences, which were filmed in a way which looked like televised material. This was a very creative means of bringing a more dynamic picture to watch overall. Director David O. Russell also evidently had a very clear vision for this movie, with a focused insight into a dysfunctional family. He also creates a great deal of excitement within the boxing sequences, which I found impressive given the fact it is a sport of no interest to me.

There were elements to this movie which did bother me particularly. The most significant of these was the use of the sisters, in a means comparable to a Greek Chorus, always hanging over somebody's shoulder throughout. Some moments with them were funny and valuable to the movie, but overall they felt overused and bordering on silly. I also felt the ending came out of nowhere. Normally within a movie of this type, the ending is massively important, and when it arrives you know about it. However with this one, the final fight sequence seemed to end somewhat abruptly, which may not be a bad thing, but to me it made the movie feel like it ended on a dull thud.

This move overall is very good, and worth watching. However, with high expectations going into this movie that were not met , I felt a little let down. This movie however houses a series of fantastic performances, deserving of any award they win.

Verdict:

4 Stars

Written In The Stars

I have decided to add my Star Ratings to my 'Movies I have Seen At The Cinema' lists along the right hand side of the page. This way you are able to see what I thought of a film at a glance, including for those I have not reviewed. So get looking, do you agree or disagree strongly with any of them?

'Black Swan' Review

After first hearing of this film about a year ago now, I have been eagerly awaiting the day of its release. Today was that day, and after much anticipation I was not disappointed. This movie was quite simply sublime. Natalie Portman leads the way in Darren Aronofsky's latest as a ballerina taking on the role of the Swan Queen in 'Swan Lake', and her descent into madness as her obsession with the role deepens. Aronofsky has made it clear that this film is a companion piece to his 2009 feature 'The Wrestler' and this makes sense given the parallels that can be drawn between the two films and the nature of the lead characters, however these two films are also so very different. 'Black Swan' is psycho-melodrama which delves into fear, love and hate.

This movie is visually fascinating, using hand held cameras to shoot the film capturing every movement, and taking the audience along to experience every moment. The handheld method of photographing this film, gives it a very immersive quality, providing it with a cheaper and grainier aesthetic, which ultimately creates a more atmospheric final outcome. And cinema does not often achieve such a claustrophobic feeling as is done in this picture, we feel how trapped Nina (Portman) is within her situation through looming close-ups and a  foreboding sense of evil. Nina's metaphorical transformation into a swan also provides interesting viewing, often making your skin crawl as the change in Nina becomes more graphic. The physical pain brought to Nina from this role, and the intensity of this calibre of ballet is portrayed very clearly through the effects it has to her body. Although some of this would have been genuine consequences of the dedication Portman brought to the role, training for up to 8 hours a day for a whole year to gain both the ability and the body.

The high standard of performances in this film is highly commendable, with superb acting on display from the cast as a whole.  Mila Kunis displays the Yin to Portman's Yang superbly; Vincent Cassel plays the dictatorial instructor with a great command and intensity; Barbara Hershey displays all that can be unlovable about a pushy parent; Winona Ryder is well cast as a prime example of what happens when you fall from the top of your game to the bottom; however it is Portman who delivers the showstopper performance in this movie. Delving into the two sides of the Swan Queen allows Portman to portray two very different characters in one role, and she displays the contrast between the white and black swan sides fantastically. She firstly shows the pressures of professional ballet and the strain it causes through desperation to succeed, before exploring the dark side of herself to portray the black swan with great intensity. The emotional depth she brings to Nina is hugely impressive: the emotion within her face and particularly eyes when gazing at Cassel's instructor whilst dancing together is very powerful and the depiction of frustration at the pressure she is under, and the relationship with her mother (Hershey) is so well developed. Also, look out for the moment where Nina dances as the black swan - wow! Portman's portrayal of a woman going through a major breakdown is mind blowing, and her work here WILL be rewarded with a highly deserved Oscar.

Aronofsky delivers another superbly unique picture with 'Black Swan'. Proving himself as one of the best directors at bringing utterly engaging character studies to the screen. Aronofsky has shown a strong knack for displaying psychological deterioration within his primary characters, with Portman's work here comparable to Ellen Burstyn's in 'Requiem For A Dream'.  Here his direction provides a very focused vision to this picture, even amongst all the outrageous goings on. Arronofsky has directed a series of film, which although are mainly crtitically praised are sometimes disliked - hugely. So even though myself and everyone I have spoken to so far have thought very highly of this film, there will be those who will have a serious disliking for it, both in terms of the content and style of the movie.

'Black Swan' is insane, outrageous and often over-the -top, but this is ultimately why it is just so fantastic. A gripping watch from the engaging opening to the superb ending, this movie will stick with you long after you leave the cinema. Portman astounds as Nina, and with this performance she will rightfully be showered with awards. Bravo.

Verdict:

5 Stars