Movie Review: The Expendables (2010) August 14, 2010
Posted by pacejmiller in Movie Reviews.Tags: action, action movie, Arnie, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Charisma Carpenter, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Randy Couture, Stallone, Steve Austin, Stone Cold, sylvester stallone, Terry Crews, The Expendables, Van Damme
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The Expendables is the type of idea that would have been really amazing 15, maybe even 10 years ago: an all-out action blockbuster featuring all the most famous action superstars in the world.
Unfortunately, as often is the case, the idea turned out to be a thousand times better than the actual film.
The Expensables may have Sylvester Stallone (Rocky and Rambo), Jason Statham (the Transporter), Jet Li (the guy with the Kiss of the Dragon), Dolph Lundgren (my personal favourite, Drago), ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin and Randy Couture (pro-wrestler/MMA fighter), with cameos from Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as fine macho actors Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, and beefy funnyman Terry Crews (every time I see this guy I think of White Chicks) (all it was missing were Van Damme, The Rock and Jackie Chan) — but it also has one of the worst screenplays (written by Stallone and David Callahan) for a blockbuster in recent memory.
Virtually no plot, uninteresting protagonists, horrible cardboard villains, even worse female characters, and dialogue that switches between grotsequely cheesy, cringeworthy and WTF — all these faults could have been forgiven had The Expendables simply been mindblowingly exciting and entertaining — but miraculously, against all odds, it wasn’t!
It wasn’t boring or anything, but despite all the fists, knives, guns, bombs, explosions and over-the-top carnage (think Rambo IV), The Expendables was nothing special. I was particularly surprised by the relative large number of slow and ‘character development’ scenes. When the action was going at full blast, I have to admit it was pretty good, but there simply wasn’t enough of such sequences.
Again, I go back to the horrendous script and I also partly blame the direction (also by Stallone). To me, it didn’t feel like any of the action roles were written with the specific action stars in mind. You would imagine that the film would play to the strengths of each of the action stars, but it doesn’t. I was appalled to see a hand-to-hand combat scene featuring Jet Li absolutely destroyed by rapid camera movements and cuts. What’s the point of filming a kung fu master using techniques that would allow any character to play the role?
Instead of roles written specifically for the stars, what you got was the opposite — a bunch of bland, stock standard roles that happen to be filled by past and present (mostly past) action stars. How is it possible that with so many fantastic personalities that not one character was interesting or featured an ounce of creativity?
As for the performances, they weren’t bad if you factor in the material they had to work with. With the 103-minute running time, there was really only room for two main leads — Stallone and Statham, with the rest relegated to filling thankless roles and cameos.
The reason I said the idea may have worked 10-15 years ago is because at least some of the stars would have been closer to their primes (and audiences would have loved the cheesy lines) . With the exception of Statham, all of the action dudes looked and felt too old for their respective roles. Now, it’s kind of sad to see a bunch of old guys trying to hold on to past glories.
Stallone, in particular, demonstrated perfectly why men over 60 should never use human growth hormones, work out with heavy weights, inject botox, pluck their eyebrows, or try to run with platform boots.
Ultimately, The Expendables was a good (albeit aged) idea that ended up as a failed experiment. It felt as though Stallone had put all his effort into gathering these amazing stars into one film rather than creating a coherent and exciting movie experience. What a shame. There was so much potential wasted here.
2.5 stars
(In all honesty this is quite generous — but I have to give big kudos for getting all these guys together, and in particular the one classic scene where all three Planet Hollywood owners — Stallone, Willis and Schwarzenegger were on screen at the same time.)
Thoughts on the Oscars: Winners, Losers and everything else February 23, 2009
Posted by pacejmiller in Entertainment.Tags: 81st Academy Awards, Academy Award Predictions, Academy Awards, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Film, Best Picture, best screenplay, Danny Boyle, Heath Ledger, Hugh Jackman, James Franco, Kate Winslet, Mickey Rourke, Oscar ceremony, Oscar losers, Oscar nominations, Oscar predictions, Oscar winners, Oscars, Penelope Cruz, predictable, Sean Penn, Seth Rogen, Slumdog Millionaire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, WALL-E, Winners and Losers
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The 81st Academy Awards ceremony finally took place last night. Here are just some of my thoughts on it.
The Ceremony
It was…surprisingly not that much different to previous years despite all the talk of a toned-down version due to the global financial meltdown (though Hugh Jackman did make a joke about it). A few subtle differences in the presentation and sets, but most of it still involved ascertaining who was with who and who was wearing who and what; a musical medley and some jokes to kick things off; predictable winners and long, emotional acceptance speeches. Hollywood pats its back for another year well done.
That being said, I still enjoyed it. It’s not often that you get to see all the biggest stars in one place, and see them not as their characters but for who they really are. Sometimes, through their reactions (to winning and losing) and their acceptance speeches, you get to see a side of them you don’t normally see. I think this year’s was one of the best we’ve had in a while.
The Host
A big reason was the host. Hugh Jackman did an excellent job. It sounded like a strange choice at the beginning, but he really showed off his multiple talents, from singing and dancing to joking and hosting. He seemed reasonably relaxed given the occasion and gave it his all. However, if you’re used to seeing him as Wolverine, he might look a little awkward doing all these things you’re not used to seeing. His job was to host and he did that by not being too dominant and leaving most of the attention to the nominees and winners. He was classy, and that’s important to the Oscars.
The opening number was awesome. I’m not sure if anyone can ever top the Billy Crystal classics, but Jackman’s might be the closest we’ll ever get.
[NB: Not sure how long this will last before they take it down]
The Highlights
As usual, they had some clips in between. Most were pretty standard, but they did have clips on genres, such as romance and comedy. I thought the highlight of the night, apart from Jackman’s number (above), was the comedy clip presented by Pineapple Express, with Seth Rogen and James Franco. Man, Seth Rogen has lost a lot of weight, probably in preparation for his Green Hornet role. And James Franco was just sensational. I really thought he should have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor rather instead of Robert Downey Jr for Tropic Thunder. Check it out soon.
[NB: Poor quality and might get taken down soon, but it’s the best I can get]
Apart from that, there was a little song and dance number with Hugh and Beyonce and the leads of High School Musical and Mamma Mia! Personally it didn’t do much for me but there wasn’t really anything wrong with it.
The Winners and Losers
Despite reading everywhere that there were going to be some ‘surprises’ this year at the Oscars, when it came to predicting the winners, there weren’t many surprises at all, especially in the major categories. As expected, Slumdog Millionaire absolutely dominated, winning 8 of its 10 nominations including Best Picture and Best Director for Danny Boyle. Also expected was the disappointment for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which, despite leading with 13 nominations, came away with just 3 wins.
Below is the total list of winners and how they compared with my predictions (and some thoughts).
Best Picture
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
My Pick: Slumdog Millionaire
Thoughts: A foregone conclusion by the time the last award of the night rolled around. I don’t think there was one person in the audience that expected anyone else. This just about completes a sweep of all the major awards for Slumdog Millionaire this year. Was it deserving? Probably yes. Were there better films? Absolutely.
Best Director
Winner: Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
My Pick: Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
Thoughts: Another one that was well in the bag even before the ceremony began. Boyle’s acceptance speech was okay, nothing special.
Best Actor
Winner: Sean Penn (Milk)
My Pick: Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
Thoughts: I thought based on merit, Penn and Rourke were neck and neck. But I felt Rourke would take it out because Penn won not that long ago for Mystic River, and he’s the type of actor that will continue to be nominated as long as he’s acting. Rourke on the other hand, was one of those heart-warming, comeback stories. His character’s journey was very similar to that of his own. I thought that may have struck a chord with the voters, but apparently not. I think Penn won because: (1) he was truly brilliant and deserving; (2) the Academy likes portrayals of real people (especially in the last few years: Ray, Capote, The Last King of Scotland); and (3) Mickey Rourke must have really pissed off a lot of people. Penn’s acceptance speech was gracious and genuine. Some have criticised him for the slightly controversial comments about equal rights for homosexuals (eg marriage), but he probably would have been criticised too had he not said it.
Best Actress
Winner: Kate Winslet (The Reader)
My Pick: Kate Winslet (The Reader)
Thoughts: It was Kate’s time, and I was so glad to see her win after so many disappointments. Some may say she was probably better in Revolutionary Road, but I don’t think she cares. Congratulations!
Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
My Pick: Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Thoughts: Since everyone expected this, it didn’t turn out to be the emotional affair one may have pictured a few months ago around the time the nominations were announced. The acceptance speech given by Heath’s father and sister was relatively subdued. Still, a great achievement, and his performance as The Joker will go down in history as one of the greatest.
Best Suporting Actress
Winner: Penelope Cruz (Vicki Cristina Barcelona)
My Pick: Penelope Cruz (Vicki Cristina Barcelona)
Thoughts: This category is usually seen as the most wide open, but as usual, the favourite prevailed. While I thought she was good in the role, I didn’t feel it was worthy of the win, especially againt the other nominees in the group. Personally I would have preferred Amy Adams or Taraji P Henson.
Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Milk
My Pick: In Bruges
Thoughts: Milk was the favourite but I expected an upset here with In Bruges, which had some early momentum that was quickly lost. Should have known better than to best against the favourites.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
My Pick: Slumdog Millionaire
Thoughts: When one film has the momentum at the Oscars, they tend to sweep all the awards, irrespective of whether it was truly deserving. In this case I think you could make a strong case for the winner, but I felt it was pretty borderline. Any of the other nominees would have been worthy winners.
Cinematography
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
My Pick: Slumdog Millionaire
Thoughts: Another one that goes with being the most popular film at the Oscars.
Editing
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
My Pick: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Thoughts: I should have gone with the favourite, but I thought maybe the voters had a kittle sympathy for Button because it was sure to be pummeled by Slumdog in all the categories where both films were nominated. I was wrong.
Art Direction
Winner: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
My Pick: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Thoughts: As I said, if Slumdog wasn’t nominated, and Button was, then Button would win. I was right this time.
Costume Design
Winner: The Duchess
My Pick: The Duchess
Thoughts: The heavy favourite. The film wasn’t known for much else.
Makeup
Winner: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
My Pick: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Thoughts: Well deserved win here. The makeup was truly amazing. Also because Slumdog wasn’t nominated, or else it might have been in trouble.
Visual Effects
Winner: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
My Pick: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Thoughts: Definitely a well-deserved win. The most amazing special effects I’ve seen, probably ever!
Original Score
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
My Pick: Slumdog Millionaire
Thoughts: Would have been good to see another winner here, but Slumdog was like a tornado this year, sweeping everything in its path. I wonder whether the voters really paid attention to the particular category or whether they just went with the flow and voted everything Slumdog.
Original Song
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
My Pick: Slumdog Millionaire
Thoughts: With 2 songs compared to WALL-E‘s one, this isn’t a surprise. It’s the nominations that puzzled me. I didn’t even know Slumdog had 2 songs, and I’m sure there are loads and loads of songs out there that could and should have been nominated. I personally thought the theme song in Gran Torino (by Clint Eastwood) was awesome and at least deserved a nomination if not a win.
Sound
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
My Pick: Slumdog Millionaire
Thoughts: Typical.
Sound Editing
Winner: The Dark Knight
My Pick: The Dark Knight
Thoughts: Very gald they got this one right because it was deserving. And good to see one that Slumdog didn’t bag.
Animated Feature Film
Winner: WALL-E
My Pick: WALL-E
Thoughts: Possibly the most obvious choice of them all except for all of Slumdog’s wins. Many thought WALL-E was a masterpiece and should have been in the Best Picture category. I disagree, but it was certainly better than Kung Fu Panda.
Other winners
Best Foreign Language Film: Okuribito (Japan)
Best Feature Documentary: Man On Wire
Best Short Documentary: Smile Pinki
Best Short Animated Film: La Maison en petits cubes
Best Short Live Action Film: Spielzeugland
Thoughts: I did a prediction for these when the nominations were first announced, but they were just guesses because I hadn’t (and still haven’t) seen any of them, so I don’t think it’s entirely fair to make predictions on that basis. Nevertheless, I managed to get Man On Wire (because I had heard of it) and Spielzeugland (because it sounded cool) correct.
FINAL THOUGHTS
My official predictions (which didn’t include documentaries, short films, foreign film, etc) did pretty well. I came away with 16 correct guesses out of 19 categories. If you include the other categories which I pretty much randomly guessed at the start, I got 18 out of 24. The frightening thing is that it would not have been that hard to guess ALL of them, and I’m sure plenty of people did. Just shows how predictable everything still is.
Maybe a change in the voting system wouldn’t be such a bad idea? It gets a bit boring when we all know who will win and it’s all driven by publicity and promotion rather than purely on merit. But then again Meryl Streep might win every year and that would make it even more boring.
Predicting Oscars 09: who should win and who will February 21, 2009
Posted by pacejmiller in Entertainment.Tags: 81st Academy Awards, Academy Award Predictions, Academy Awards, Academy Awards Prediction, Amy Adams, Anne Hathaway, Benjamin Button, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Film, Best Picture, Brad Pitt, Danny Boyle, David Fincher, Doubt, Frost/Nixon, Gus Van Sant, Heath Ledger, Kate Winslet, Kung Fu Panda, makeup, Marisa Tomei, Meryl Streep, Michael Shannon, Mickey Rourke, Milk, Movie Reviews, Oscar, Oscar nominees, Oscar prediction, Oscar predictions, Oscar winner, Oscars, Oscars Ceremony, Penelope Cruz, Philip Seymour Hoffman, predict Academy Awards, predict Oscar winners, Predicting Oscar Winners, prediction, predictions, Rachel Getting Married, Revolutionary Road, Ron Howard, Sean Penn, Slumdog, Slumdog Millionaire, special effects, Stephen Daldry, Taraji P Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, The Duchess, The Reader, The Wrestler, visual effects, WALL-E, who should win, who will win
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I’m excited.
The ceremony for the 81st Academy Awards is finally about to take place. I’ve finally managed to see most of the nominated films for the major catgories that are available to me (see reviews here, here and here). While I initially predicted the winners and losers when the nominations first came out (here and here), the landscape has changed a little and I feel that now, since I’ve seen most of the films, I can also comment on who deserves to win.
So for tomorrow night, here’s who should win and who will (only categories with films I’ve seen). If there is an asterick (*) next to a nominee it means I have not seen that film (so my views do not include it).
Best Picture
Nominees: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader, Slumdog Millionaire
Who should win: All great movies. Based on my ratings and reviews of the films, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Reader scored the highest marks, but I would give the nod to Button. I just thought it was such an unusual and memorable film. Though not quite as good, it had a certain Forrest Gump-feel to it (probably because of the same writer).
Who will win: Slumdog Millionaire has been tipped all along and there won’t be anything standing in its way come Oscar night. There is a teeny little chance for an improbable upset by Button (which had the most nominations) but I can’t see any of the scandals derailing what should be a glorious night for Slumdog. Especially now that all the child actors are coming to the ceremony (albeit after the voting).
Best Director
Nominees: Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire), Stephen Daldry (The Reader), David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon) Gus Van Sant (Milk)
Who should win: A very difficult one to pick because I feel they all did terrific jobs in their respective films. If I had to pick one I’d have to go with Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire was just that little bit more extraordinary than the others, and the way he pieced it all together was absolutely masterful.
Who will win: Danny Boyle. No doubt about it.
Best Actor
Nominees: Richard Jenkins (The Visitor)*, Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon), Sean Penn (Milk), Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
Who should win: A coin-toss between Sean Penn and Mickey Rourke. I saw The Wrestler first and thought Rourke was a lock based on his emotional, nuanced performance, not to mention his amazing physical resemblance to a real-life wrestler. You felt his physical pain in the ring, you felt his emotional pain outside of it. It was the performance of a lifetime. But then I saw Milk and Sean Penn’s performance just blew me away. Yes, he was playing a real-life character, but man did he do it well. You honestly believed he was the inspirational Harvey Milk. Too hard for me to choose.
Who will win: Mickey Rourke. He’s the sentimental favourite and Penn has already got one (for Mystic River). The only way Rourke can lose is if he really pissed off as many people in the industry as he claims (and judging from his BAFTA acceptance speech I can kind of see how it might be possible).
Best Actress
Nominees: Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married), Angelina Jolie (Changeling), Melissa Leo (Frozen River)*, Meryl Streep (Doubt), Kate Winslet (The Reader)
Who should win: Really tough choice. I think as far as the performance is concerned, Kate Winslet, Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway are all very deserving (Jolie was very good but not quite there). But based on the difficulty of the roles they had to play I would give Kate Winslet the edge. Her character was so important to what The Reader was trying to tell and she played each phase of Hanna Schmitz’s life wonderfully.
Who will win: Kate Winslet. It’s her time. Streep is consistently this good so she won’t stand out as much, whereas Hathaway is young and she’ll have plenty of chances (plus her role is less sensational).
Best Supporting Actor
Nominees: Josh Brolin (Milk), Robert Downey Jr (Tropic Thunder), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt), Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight), Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road)
Who should win: Heath Ledger. As terrific as Hoffman was in Doubt and Shannon was in Revolutionary Road, Ledger’s performance in The Dark Knight will forever be remembered as one of the great ones. I still remember when he was first cast as the Joker and plenty of people scoffed at the idea that he could pull it off (even after Brokeback Mountain). No one is denying that he was the right man for the role now.
Who will win: Heath Ledger. All the major awards leading up to the Oscars indicate he will win. I honestly believe he deserves it, even if he were still alive today – the performance was that mesmerizing. The fact that he’s not around anymore just about locks it in.
Best Supporting Actress
Nominees: Amy Adams (Doubt), Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Viola Davis (Doubt), Taraji P Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler)
Who should win: The ones that stood out for me were Amy Adams and Taraji P Henson. Marisa Tomei was wonderful in The Wrestler but I liked the other two more. Viola Davis was barely in Doubt, though she made great use of her limited screen time. Penelope Cruz was good but I didn’t think the performance was Oscar-worthy – or maybe I just didn’t like the character.
Who will win: Penelope Cruz. In this case, I think the least deserving will win. She’s the most well-known of the group and her role was different and explosive. Plus all the focus has been on her leading up to the Oscars. I hope she doesn’t win but I think she will.
Best Original Screenplay
Nominees: Frozen River*, Happy-Go-Lucky*, In Bruges, Milk, WALL-E
Who should win: Having only seen 3 of the 5 nominees, I don’t feel sufficiently equipped to judge this one. Out of the 3 films I did see, they were all very good, but probably In Bruges stood out as just being somewhat special.
Who will win: In Bruges has taken a lot of the lead-up awards, but WALL-E is also a favourite because it manages to do so much with so little dialogue. I’m going with In Bruges but won’t be surprised in WALL-E took it out. Note I originally picked Milk, but that was before I saw most of the films.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Nominees: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Doubt, Frost/Nixon, The Reader, Slumdog Millionaire
Who should win: “Adapted” screenplay is thrown around a little loosely because some of the scripts I’m sure barely resemble the original source. Nevertheless, I thought the adaptation of The Reader was sensational, dealing with the majority of the themes and events perfectly in Bernhard Schlink’s novel.
Who will win: Originally picked Doubt but after seeing the film I felt the adaptation could have been better. I have a feeling this award will be lumped with the bunch of awards that Slumdog Millionaire will win on the night.
Cinematography
Nominees: Changeling, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, The Reader, Slumdog Millionaire
Who should win: Another tough one. I’m don’t have any technical specialty so this is based purely on what I thought looked best. And using that criterion, I thought Changeling was particularly memorable, though Slumdog Millionaire’s eye-opening portrayal of Mumbai was also impressive.
Who will win: Slumdog to bag another one.
Editing
Nominees: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Frost/Nixon, Milk, Slumdog Millionaire
Who should win: Another technical one, but I liked the work in Button, where editing was particularly important.
Who will win: This might be one of those sympathy awards given to Button, which, despite all its nominations, continues to be beaten by Slumdog. I hope so because I think in this case it deserves the award.
Art Direction
Nominees: Changeling, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, The Duchess*, Revoluntionary Road
Who should win: I thought the Art Direction in Changeling was the best, though The Dark Knight was pretty cool too.
Who will win: A category where Slumdog was not nominated? Chalk this one up to Button because when the two films go head to head, it’s going to lose out most times.
Makeup
Nominees: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Who should win: No contest – the make-up in Button was just ridiculous. Sure, Hellboy II was good, but we had seen it all in the first film.
Who will win: Button. The make-up had to be seen to be believed – especially the old Cate Blanchett.
Visual Effects
Nominees: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Iron Man
Who should win: Another no contest in favour of Button. As goods as the effects were in the two superhero films, the effects in Button were the best I’ve ever seen. Freakishly amazing.
Who will win: See above. Button all the way. It cannot not win.
Costume Design
Nominees: Australia*, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Duchess*, Milk, Revoluntionary Road
Who should win: Only seen 3 of the 5 films, so not qualified. Though from what I’ve seen of the other 2, The Duchess looked great.
Who will win: The Duchess had won the earlier awards so I look for the trend to continue.
Music (Original Score)
Nominees: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Defiance*, Milk, Slumdog Millionaire, WALL-E
Who should win: To be honest I can’t really remember much of the music in any of the films – except the Bollywood music in Slumdog.
Who will win: Slumdog, just because it’s the favourite to win.
Music (Original Song)
Nominees: Slumdog Millionaire (twice), WALL-E
Who should win: Slumdog – one of the songs was pretty good.
Who will win: Slumdog – it has a 2 in 3 chance anyway.
Sound
Nominees: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Slumdog Millionaire, WALL-E
Who should win: The sound in The Dark Knight stood out for me amongst the nominees. It was probably the Batcycle.
Who will win: Slumdog.
Sound Editing
Nominees: The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Slumdog Millionaire, WALL-E, Wanted
Who should win: Now this I remember pretty well, and The Dark Knight was phenomenal.
Who will win: The Dark Knight. I hope it gets this one – and Slumdog can’t just win them all.
Animated Film
Nominees: Bolt*, Kung Fu Panda, WALL-E
Who should win: Not a big fan of animated films but WALL-E wasn’t too bad. Kung Fu Panda was pretty ordinary and Bolt (which I haven’t seen) didn’t look too crash hot either.
Who will win: WALL-E – pretty much a lock.
BAFTA Winners! February 8, 2009
Posted by pacejmiller in Entertainment.Tags: BAFTA, BAFTA Awards, BAFTA winners, BAFTAs, British Academy Film Awards, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Danny Boyle, Heath Ledger, Hunger, In Bruges, Kate Winslet, Man on Wire, Mickey Rourke, Penelope Cruz, Slumdog Millionaire, Steve McQueen, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, The Duchess, The Reader, The Wrestler, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, WALL-E
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The winners of the last major film award ceremony before the Academy Awards, the BAFTA Awards (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), have just been announced!
I must say there weren’t many surprises, if any. The big winner was of course Slumdog Millionaire, which came away with 7 awards (including Best Film) out of 11 nominations. Danny Boyle, Kate Winslet and Heath Ledger also continued their strong runs to now look like certainties at the Oscars next month.
Full list of winners below.
Best Film: Slumdog Millionare
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
Best Actress: Kate Winslet (The Reader)
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
Best Director: Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
Best British Film: Man on Wire
Best Original Screenplay: Martin McDonagh (In Bruges)
Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire)
Best Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire)
Best Editing: Chris Dickens (Slumdog Millionaire)
Best Production Design: Donald Grahan Burt, Victor J Zolfo (The Curious Case of Bejamin Button)
Best Costume Design: Michael O’Connor (The Duchess)
Best Make Up/Hair: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Film Music: AR Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire)
Best Sound: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Non-English Film: Il y a longtemps que je t’aime
Best Animated Feature Film: Wall-E
Orange Rising Star Award: Noel Clarke
Most Promising Newcomer: Steven McQueen (Hunger)
Best Short Animation: Wallace and Gromit in ‘A Matter of Loaf and Death
Best Short Film: September
Slumdog Update: Protests, Giving Back and More Awards February 5, 2009
Posted by pacejmiller in Entertainment.Tags: Academy Awards, child exploitation, Danny Boyle, defamation, demonstrations, Dev Patel, Kate Winslet, Mickey Rourke, Mumbai, Mumbai protest, Oscars, protests, Richard Attenborough, Richard Attenborough Film Awards, scandals, Slumdog Millionaire, The Dark Knight, The Reader, The Wrestler
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Oscar front-runner Slumdog Millionaire is still dominating the press for various reasons, both good and bad. As a result, this is shaping up to be a very interesting Academy Awards this year. Will the voters stick with the movie or will they be swayed by the negative press?
Protests in Mumbai
Despite the success of the film worldwide, Slumdog Millionaire has been the subject of protests in the country in which it was made. Naturally, there are those who believe it is a poor portrayal of India and in particular Mumbai. We’ve also already heard about the child exploitation allegations. Now according to Reuters, dozens or residents of an actual slum in Mumbai (where some scenes of the film were shot) protested against the film by “hurling insults and hitting pictures of its cast and crew with slippers”.
According to The Times, social groups in India are also speaking up against the film. “Referring to people living in slums as dogs is a violation of human rights,” claimed social activist Tateshwar Vishwakarma, calling for effigies of director Danny Boyle to be burnt as a sign of protest. A defamation suit was filed on 23 January against the film’s composer AR Rahman and actor Anil Kapoor (who plays the host).
Nicholas Almeida, another activist, was reported by MSNBC to be planning another lawsuit to change the film’s title.
On top of this, various Indian filmakers have also spoken out against the film’s Indian stereotypes and unbelievable plot.
Giving back to the Slums
With the blacklash in India running wild, The Times has reported that the film’s makers are planning an ambitious scheme to pump “significant” amounts of the film’s profits back into the slums of Mumbai (and perhaps the rest of India) by establishing a fund. According to director Danny Boyle, the idea came to them after their successful night at the Golden Globes.
While refusing to specify exactly how much will be donated, Boyle said that the aim of the fund would be to assist underprivileged children and to distribute money to various projects.
The director has also defended the film’s title, stating that “slumdog” was not intended as an insult and was more akin to the word “underdog” – to connote the idea of a person who succeeds against all odds.
Slumdog bags more Awards
Slumdog Millionaire picked up more accolades at the Richard Attenborough Film Awards handed out at the end of January. The film won the award for Film of the Year, while Danny Boyle picked up another one for Best Director. It was also good to see Dev Patel win a couple of awards, the Rising Star Award and the people’s choice British Breakthrough Star prize.
Other winners included Kate Winslet (Best Actress for The Reader), Mickey Rourke (Best Actor for The Wrestler) and Martin McDonagh (Best Screenwriter for In Bruges). In the People’s Choice categories, The Dark Knight won best film and best score, while Mamma Mia! took the best British film prize.
Stumble It!
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