Pre-Oscars Movie Blitz (Best Picture) February 28, 2011
Posted by pacejmiller in Movie Reviews, Reviews.Tags: 127 Hours, Academy Award, Annette Bening, Best Picture, Best Picture Nominees, Danny Boyle, James Franco, Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Julianne Moore, Kids Are All Right, Mark Ruffalo, Oscars, The Kids Are All Right, Winter's Bone
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The Academy Awards are upon us once again, and this year I vowed to watch all the Best Picture nominees before the ceremony. With the list of nominees extended to 10 for the second straight year, this was more difficult than I had anticipated. Fortunately, I had seen most of them already, so there were only three outstanding: Winter’s Bone, The Kids Are All Right, and 127 Hours.
Here goes!
Winter’s Bone (2010)
There’s usually one powerful independent film in the Best Picture mix and this year it’s Winter’s Bone, which has gotten rave reviews from just about every respectable critic out there.
The story feels complex but it’s actually very simple. In an extremely poor rural area, a meth cooker has disappeared while out on bail and his daughter Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) is looking for him — she has to, because she has two young siblings and a catatonic mother, and their house is collateral for the bail. But the more Ree snoops around the family business, the more trouble she gets into.
I suppose I would call it a gritty drama-thriller. A slow burn with moments of genuine suspense and horror. It’s the perfect example of a well-made indie film — low budget but compelling and well-acted — but I’m not sure I would put it in my top 10 list for the year (and hence Best Picture nominee).
My problem with it is that it rarely gets out of first gear, and all the mumbling makes some of the conversations difficult to decipher. That said, I was intrigued even through all the slow bits, and it was a very bleak and harrowing depiction of rural meth country.
Nevertheless, this film will likely make Jennifer Lawrence (nominated for Best Actress) a big star (she’s already nabbed the role of young Mystique in X-Men: First Class, and had an Esquire photo shoot that was rumoured to be the source of many ‘Winter’s Boners’). It was a knockout performance, subtle and utterly believable. Her co-star John Hawkes (also nominated, for Best Supporting Actor), was also very good.
Overall, a very good film, an excellent indie film, but perhaps because of the lofty expectations I came away slightly disappointed.
3.75 stars out of 5
The Kids Are All Right (2010)
I had no idea what this film was about before I saw it and I didn’t really care — it just didn’t look like the type of film I was interested in. But it’s a Best Picture nominee so I forced myself, and came out pleasantly surprised.
If there’s one movie I would compare The Kids Are All Right to (in terms of style and feel), it would have to be American Beauty. It’s one of those quirky dramas about suburban life in America, with genuine dramatic elements but also plenty of witty laughs and awkward moments.
Without giving away too much, it’s about a lesbian couple (Annette Bening and Julianne Moore), their kids (Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) and Josh Hutcherson) and the sperm donor (Mark Ruffalo). As usual, the less known the better.
I would say this is a borderline deserving Best Picture nominee if we’re talking about a list of 10 (which is still pretty darn good in a relatively strong year). It had a fabulous script with terrific dialogue that’s amusing while remaining strangely realistic, plus killer performances by all involved. The standout for me was Mark Ruffalo (Best Supporting Actor nominee), who was just such a fantastic character.
Even though I wouldn’t consider this a classic or a particularly memorable film, I still really enjoyed it.
4 stars out of 5
127 Hours (2010)
I was vary wary of watching 127 Hours, and it’s not just because of the gruesomeness most viewers knew they were about to encounter. It’s because it’s a story where it’s predominantly one guy in one place (think Buried, which a lot of people loathed) and you knew exactly what was going to happen at the end because it’s a true story.
But my concerns were absolutely unfounded. 127 Hours is hands down one of the best films of 2010 and a deserving Best Picture nominee (even if there were just five instead of 10). Full credit to Danny Boyle (who won for Slumdog Millionaire a couple of years ago) for overcoming all the obstacles I thought this film would have and delivering such an emotionally involving, jubilant, triumphant motion picture.
Just in case you’re one of the three people on earth who don’t know the story of Aron Ralston (James Franco), I won’t say much. I just wonder how I would have received the film had I not known about his amazing story, but the impressive thing is that I was still completely absorbed by the film despite that dreaded feeling of inevitability.
I thought there was going to be a lot of extended flashback sequences, but to Boyle’s credit, there were surprisingly few. Some clever use of sound and sporadic dream sequences pushed the plot right along and kept it interesting and eventful for the entire 94 minute running time.
Of course, you can’t talk about this film without mentioning the ‘masterful’ performance from James Franco (a strange word for the guy from Pineapple Express), who has become one of my favorite actors. Is there anyone in Hollywood more affable than him right now? Who else could have carried a film like this from start to finish? It’s a shame he’s going up against virtual lock Colin Firth this year.
I loved this film and can’t believe I passed up two advanced screening opportunities last month. If I redo my Top 10 Films of 2010 this would probably be in the top 5.
4.5 out of 10!
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Movie Review: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (2009) February 27, 2011
Posted by pacejmiller in Movie Reviews, Reviews.Tags: Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, Girl Who Played With Fire, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Hornet's Nest review, Lisbeth Salander, Mikael Blomkvist, Millennium Trilogy, Noomi Rapace, Stieg Larsson
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I read the first book and saw the first two Swedish film adaptations, but unlike millions of people out there, I don’t really get why Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy is the biggest commercial book sensation in the world at the moment. Don’t get me wrong, I thought the first book (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) was pretty good, albeit a little long and tedious, and I thought the first film was phenomenal. The second film (The Girl Who Played With Fire — I have the book but haven’t read it yet) was pretty good, but nowhere as good as I wanted or expected it to be.
And now, the third and final (unless Larsson’s widow writes another one) volume of the series, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, is about to hit Australian cinemas next month. I saw it at a critics’ screening earlier this week, and I believe hard core fans of the series will not be disappointed. It’s still not as good as the first film, but is a moderate step up from the second.
This one picks up from where the second one left off, and Lisbeth Salander (ie, Noomi Rapace, aka the ‘Girl’ in all the titles) is fighting for her life after being shot in the head (at the end of the previous film), but things are just getting interesting as there is a massive conspiracy behind everything and Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nykvist) is there to get to the bottom of it.
Like the two earlier films in the series, Hornet’s Nest is a slow burn for the most part, with short bursts of excitement and exhilaration tossed into the mix. Once again, the story is driven by the two central characters, both who whom are at the peak of their game in this one.
I actually consider Dragon Tattoo to be kind of a separate part of the trilogy because it’s a film that stands up very well on its own. On the other hand, Fire and Hornet’s Nest are essentially one film, with Fire providing the set up (which is why it was weaker) and Hornet’s Nest providing the climax.
I can’t say I found the conspiracy to be particularly intelligent or engaging (to be honest I found it a little unnecessarily convoluted), though the way it was all brought together was ultimately quite satisfying. The courtroom scenes were especially enjoyable, as was the climatic showdown in the abandoned warehouse.
That said, like Fire, I was expecting and hoping for more, something that would blow me away and justify the hype surrounding this series. It didn’t happen, but on the whole, I was still pleased with the experience.
3.75 stars out of 5
PS: Still kinda looking forward to the American version.
My Career Tarot Reading February 25, 2011
Posted by pacejmiller in Misc, On Writing, Paranormal.Tags: career, Divination, Divinatory esoteric and occult tarot, Hierophant, job, Pentacle, Readings, Religion and Spirituality, Study, Tarot, tarot cards, tarot readings
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I’ve always been terrified of tarot cards. I mean, come on, in every TV show or movie that features tarot cards, things never turn out well. People always get ‘The Devil’ or ‘The Hangman’, or something ominous. And then they die a gruesome death.
Nevertheless, I tried a tarot reading for the first time last year after borrowing a set from a friend and former colleague. I was at that point in my life where I had already decided on a career change, but was terrified of the unknown and what lay ahead of me.
Thanks to the booklet accompanying the deck, I learned a lot about tarot cards and got quite addicted to them, conducting several ‘readings’ for friends during office hours (we either used the meeting rooms or went down to the cafeteria).
As it turned out, they are not as frightening as Hollywood has made them out to be, though I still get scared every time I do a reading for myself. Cards can be interpeted differently, and your future is supposedly subject to change all the time. As they like to say in the movies, your destiny is in your own hands.
Anyway, I returned the deck and stayed away from tarot cards until last week, when I downloaded a tarot app called ‘Tarot Holic’ on my iPad. It’s apparently the #1 top paid lifestyle app in South Korea!
The app has several types of readings, and the first one I went for was an ‘In-depth Career Spread’ with 5 cards. What that meant exactly I wasn’t sure, but I was ready to find out. It has almost been a year since I left the legal profession and took the plunge to become a ‘writer’. So far I am still a student, but I’m slowly making progress, even if it’s not as much as I have hoped for.
So, I selected 5 cards by concentrating on my questions and tapping on a spread out deck. And the results were very interesting…
(click on ‘more…’ to read on!)
Movie Review: I Am Number Four (2011) February 23, 2011
Posted by pacejmiller in Movie Reviews, Reviews.Tags: Alex Pettyfer, Dianna Agron, harry potter, I Am No. 4, I Am Number 4, I Am Number Four, I Am Number Four 2011, I Am Number Four Review, James Frey, Percy Jackson, Teresa Palmer, Timothy Olyphant
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No, I Am Number Four is not a sequel, nor is it the fourth film of a franchise. It’s a semi-children/adolescent sci-fi film based on the first (and currently only) book of the new hot novel series by Pittacus Lore (pen name of Jobie Hughes and James Frey — yes, that James Frey of A Million Little Pieces infamy) that attempts to cross-appeal to the general population (in the vein of Harry Potter, Twilight, etc).
I can’t speak for the book because I’ve only had a cursory glance of it in a bookstore, but if the movie is any reflection then it can’t possibly be very good. The story feels strangely familiar: aliens destroyed by other evil aliens send 9 gifted children to Earth; the evil aliens chase and start killing the kids off, one by one. Guess which one they are up to?
However, the premise is not the issue here, because any premise has potential — it’s the characters and the development of the story that lacked punch. Alex Pettyfer, who plays Number Four, is not a bad actor, but his character is not particularly likable or sympathetic. As of now, the character is just not very interesting. He needs more charisma, more heart — he needs to be more than just your typical angst-driven teenager. Maybe we’ll get to see more of that if this film does well and they decide to continue the series.
The love interest, Sarah Hart, is cringeworthy not just because her character is a horrible cliche, but it’s also because the actress playing her, Dianna Agron, has little more in her repertoire other than a flirty smile. Aussie Teresa Palmer, who plays Number Six, put on the absolute worst American accent I’ve ever heard for a mainstream movie. Why can’t she just be Australian? As for Timothy Olyphant — he’s still rather serviceable, but is it just me or was he Hitman not that long ago? And now he’s already the greying, ageing babysitter for the protagonist?
Anyway, I Am Number Four is adequate in some respects — the action sequences and the special effects are fairly good — but it’s still a somewhat uninspiring film that is more Percy Jackson than Harry Potter (and at least Percy Jackson had that whole Greek mythology thing going for it). The characters and the way the story unfolds is all very ‘cookie-cutter’, and I longed to see something I didn’t expect. It didn’t happen.
I could be wrong, but right now I just can’t see this film franchise coming close to replicating the success of Harry Potter or Twilight, or even Narnia. The second book (and potentially second film) would have to take it to a whole new level for that to be remotely possible.
2 stars out of 5