Anatomy of a Murder

Anatomy is kind of a funny little courtroom story... ultimately of no real consequence, but who doesn't love Jimmy Stewart? It also kind of had a goofy ending. The guy that Jimmy Stewart defended in the trial left his wife as soon as he was acquitted, which was good, right? Because then Jimmy could do another court case for the man's slightly slutty now -ex-wife. But hey, she was interested in Jimmy Stewart anyway. Screw the age gap.

So as I was looking at Jimmy's imdb profile just now and discovered two important and hilarious factoids. 1) Jimmy Stewart was the voice of Wylie Burp in that classic that we have all seen 1000 times, Fievel Goes West. Now that I think about it, there is no mistaking that voice, and what a perfect casting call. 2) He also made a guest appearance on the beloved Saturday-morning gen, Goof Troop. Those were the days. Saturday morning cartoons suck now... just throwing that out there.

Paradise Now

Eye opening.

Obviously, there is no justification for terrorism, but there is usually an explanation. Paradise Now follows two West Bank friends and their involvement in the continual fight between Israel and those displaced by the establishment of the Israeli state in the 1940's.

This is a powerful must-see for everyone open-minded enough not to condemn the movie's "heroes" from the beginning and empathize with both sides of a situation.

Jesus Camp

Jesus Camp is one of the feature-length documentaries that recieved a nom from the folks at the Academy this year, and it's easy to see why. The photography is excellently done, and the last 30 seconds of the film were pretty amazing (and immediately flipped to credits and "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum, a great touch).

That said, the subject material is hardly heartwarming. The film follows children and families as they go to 'Jesus camp,' which seemed like a church camp I might have gone to in elementary school except on lots of steroids and hallucinogens. The pastor that ran the camp used a lot of scare tactics in her sermons, and in many of the scenes in the chapel the 7-8-9-year olds that seemed to the target of the operation were actually sobbing (unfortunately, I didn't find any of those pictures to post. Imagine that.) I actually found some of these scenes to be the most moving, not because of any spiritual inspiration, but because I felt awful for the kids. If my memories of church at an early age were anything like what I saw in this movie, I don't know if I'd still be going. I would be scared to death.

I won't even get into how much I disagree with some of the things said and done at this camp. The film was very, very well-made but I think it's difficult for anyone but an actual Christian fundamentalist to warm up to its subject material. The people in the film are definitely not trying to make friends, and it definitely won't convert anyone. The technical side of things is what will keep it in the running for the statuette.

Letters from Iwo Jima

Damn it, Clint, you did it again. This is a great movie. There were a few moments where it lagged with typical war movie stuff, but it more than redeemed itself with some fantastic moments. One scene in particular might rank among my all time favorite movie scenes. Seeing things from the Japanese perspective and how their traditions were incorporated into modern warfare was a great experience.

I'll still stand by my last post, but this was one of my favorite movies of 2006.

Predictions

Right after the Golden Globe nominations in December, I posted this prediction about the Oscar nominations:

Here is my prediction for the eventual Oscar best pic noms, in order of certainty: Dreamgirls, Babel, The Queen, The Departed... after that it's hard to say, but I'll go with Little Miss Sunshine. I do see that fifth spot as a definite opportunity for the rare occurrence of a non GG nominee getting an Oscar best pic nom. Unless I'm mistaken, that has not happened since The Shawshank Redemption in 1994. Based on the directing noms, Letters From Iwo Jima would be a likely candidate if that happens.

So, close. I picked the right surprise nominee, but the wrong odd-man out.

I'm here now to make my prediction for the Best Picture winner -

Rationale: Two years ago, I felt Million Dollar Baby was the best movie of the year, but was 100% certain that The Aviator would win best pic. It had won the Golden Globe and earned the most Oscar nominations, two indicators that, even independently, almost always signal victory. Million Dollar Baby won.
Last year, Crash was my favorite movie of the year, but I didn't think it was the type of production that the Academy would even nominate. I figured it was sitting in the 5th spot and had no chance to win even if another movie did upset Brokeback Mountain. Crash won.
This year, while there is no clear front runner, I have decided that, collectively, the Academy is starting to think more and more like me (this is possible as I understand their voter dynamic has changed in the last few years).
Return of the King was also my favorite movie in 2003, but I felt that one would win. I do still need to see Letters from Iwo Jima, so I may have to scrap this prediction after watching it, but I'll say it again:

The Departed will win Best Picture.

Oh, Ragtag

As we all know, Columbia, Mo. is home to one my favorite establishments, the Ragtag Cinemacafe. Aside from the sneak preview of Notes on a Scandal tonight for $4, check out this upcoming event:

Trapped in the Closet Sing-a-Long

Afterwards you can decide whether R. Kelly created an epic hip-hopera masterwork or an unintentionally hilarious abomination, but before that join us to sing along with this 12-part music video. First unveiled in 2005, it's been awaiting your voice and some of the best pipes on the Ragtag staff to really come alive. What will happen to Sylvester in the end? Free.

Times:

Saturday, January 20, 2007; 10:30pm (free!)

---------------

Hilarious.

Mixed Feelings about the Oscar Noms

Wow, since some things in life are out of our control, thank God there's always movies to talk about to get your mind off of them.

Anyway, this morning revealed some interesting choices by the Academy this year. Letters From Iwo Jima must be either damn good or at least hit a nerve with those of a generation much more affected by Iwo Jima than mine... or both. And as much as I think Dreamgirls deserved a nomination, I can't tell you how much it gives me pleasure that for the second year in a row, the movie that people have been calling a lock for months doesn't get the Oscar (I really, really hate it when people do that, coughoscarigloo). This also probably stems from my hatred of the idea that only one movie in an entire year could possibly be in contention for the big prize.

Leo's nom for Blood Diamond definitely surprised me. I still haven't seen that movie, and it looks great. Since this performance apparently trumps his role in The Departed, it must be amazing. As for Best Supporting... Alan Arkin but no Steve Carrell? I don't know how I feel about that.

Meanwhile, there were no surprises in the Best Actress category. Babel took two slots in the Best Supporting Actress category, which is stacked to say the least. Jennifer Hudson was amazing (see previous post) and this category is below her. Abigail Breslin - wow - I would love to see her with a statuette. The two ladies from Babel were both amazing as well.

Of course we all know the one person missing from this list is Gael Garcia Bernal. :) I can only hope that Babel's success (and potential best pic) will get him more American recognition.

Speaking of Best Pics, I have no idea who I want to win. Like Richie, I would love to see underdog Little Miss Sunshine pull out ahead. However... The Departed was incredible. Babel I'm very attached to for aforementioned reasons. Little Miss Sunshine was amazing, and I haven't seen the other two yet. Meryl Streep is the only individual nominated that I can truly say has my full support, and as she says so often in her newly-nominated role,

"That's all."

Oscars 2007 - One Word: Balanced

An amazing thirteen movies received three or more nominations this morning. The biggest surprise (and probably unprecedented) is Dreamgirls winning the GG and earning the most Oscar nominations (8) without getting a best pic nom. Here's a quick rundown.

Dreamgirls - 8
Babel - 7
The Queen - 6
Pan's Labyrinth - 6
Blood Diamond - 5
The Departed - 5
Letters from Iwo Jima - 4
Little Miss Sunshine - 4
Notes on a Scandal - 4
Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest - 4
Apocalypto - 3
Children of Men - 3
Little Children - 3

Two trends elevate Babel to a huge favorite to win best picture: it's win at the GG and it's leading the best pic nominees with 7 nominations. However, if we've learned anything the last few years it's that trends don't mean anything.

Other surprises:

DiCaprio up for Blood Diamond instead of The Departed, making Mark Wahlberg the only acting nom for Departed.

10-year-old Abigail Breslin up for Supporting Actress (though oscarigloo did call that one).

Paul Greengrass earns directing nom for United 93.

Three of Dreamgirls's nominations come in the same category: original song.

Best foreign language category drastically different than GG's. Iwo Jima moves into Best Picture, Apocalypto likely left out for lack of a Mayan speaking country (not sure how that works, but I think that's the same thing that kept Passion of the Christ out), Volver snubbed. Pan's Labyrinth becomes the hands down favorite here now. It has also just climbed into the IMDb top 100 of all-time.


Balance like this should make for more big surprises when the winners are announced. With votes more evenly distributed, films most people vote against, can still end up winning. In theory, a film could win best picture with only 21% of the vote (if the others get 20, 20, 20, & 19). It's impossible to tell who that favors. I'd be willing to bet that no best pic nom has more than 40% of the Academy planning to vote for it, so anything is possible. While I'm still backing The Departed, how crazy would it be to see Little Miss Sunshine emerge from that battle?

And the award for Best Actress in What Should Have Been Classified as a Leading Role goes to...

No one was kidding about Dreamgirls. It has pizazz, an in-freaking-credible soundtrack, and an amazing ensemble cast. You would think that a show like this would be hard to steal, but Jennifer Hudson did so with the ease and confidence of an experienced screen star. There are no flaws to be found in her work, and very few in the movie at all. I really am not sure why she is classified as a Best Supporting Actress instead of Best Actress. Her screen time was definitely equivalent (if not greater, which would not surprise me) to Beyonce's, and the quality of her work and vocals was indisputably higher. Don't get me wrong, Beyonce was very, very good, but the only thing keeping her in the potential Best Actress in a Leading Role category is her previously existing star power. Jennifer Hudson's performance was on par with any group of Leading Role hopefuls ever to grace the red carpet.

Also, I would like to point out that there is nothing at all besides her lack of previous work (a crappy reason) that is keeping Jennifer Hudson out of the nominations category she belongs in. From Rules 6.3 and 6.4 of the official Academy Awards rules:

3. A performance by an actor or actress in any role shall be eligible for nomination either for the leading role or supporting role categories. If, however, all the dialogue has been dubbed by another actor, the performance shall not be eligible for award consideration. Singing that is dubbed will not affect the performer’s eligibility unless it constitutes the entire performance. The determination as to whether a role is a leading or supporting role shall be made individually by members of the branch at the time of balloting.

4. The leading role and supporting role categories will be tabulated simultaneously. If any performance should receive votes in both categories, the achievement shall only be placed on the ballot in that category in which, during the tabulation process, it first receives the required number of votes to be nominated. In the event that the performance receives the numbers of votes required to be nominated in both categories simultaneously, the achievement shall only be placed on the ballot in that category in which it receives the greater percentage of the total votes.

Read: It could happen. Salma Hayek, please tell me tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. that Jennifer Hudson is in the Leading Role category. Much obliged.

Dreamgirls could give The Departed a run for its money for Best Picture. Musicals haven't done well in the past two years with Ray and Walk the Line, but neither of those were on par with Dreamgirls (Chicago was, and look what happened, Richie :D ). I don't know if I want it to win, though. The Departed was amazing. It won me back over to Scorsese after the painful ordeal that is Goodfellas (yeah, I said it.) and back over to Leo after losing faith in The Film to See During My Middle School Life, Titanic.

On a not-s0-Oscar-related-note, the Dreamgirls soundtrack is incredible. I definitely iTunes-ed the disco version of "One Night Only" about 12 hours after seeing the movie.
Also, Karen (the beloved roomie) returned from Texas and Europe over break with the Chicago soundtrack. It was immediately uploaded and has been the sole occupant of my headphones since, with the exception of an occasional playing of my current love, Weezer's "Island in the Sun." All of that listening got me to thinking that if I were ever to make a "10 Best" list of top scenes in movies ever, I'm pretty sure that the "They Both Reached For The Gun" scene from Chicago would be it. Richard Gere and the press as puppets is just plain hard to beat. I love that movie's sense of humor.

Dreamgirls

Pretty straightforward, but very well done. Acting was great- everything it has been advertised to be. Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy both deserve their GG (and possible Oscar) wins.

The fact that it's sitting on the 6.9-7.0 bubble on IMDb is an insult and probably comes from following on the heels of Ray and Walk the Line (since 10.2% gave it a 1 which is higher than normal for any average movie - fellow contenders: Babel at less than 4% and Little Miss Sunshine, The Departed, and The Queen all less than 2%). It does have an impressive 80% on Rottentomatoes, so that's saying something.

Bottom line - The Departed is still the best movie of the year.

Golden Globes

No real surprises. I was hoping to see The Departed beat out Babel, but it still might at next month's Oscars (of course Dreamgirls could end up beating both of them).

The situation, for me, with Babel is similar to Gladiator in 2000. I thought Gladiator was a very good movie, but found Almost Famous far more enjoyable. So, even though I liked Gladiator I was forced to argue against it during awards season. Both Gladiator and Almost Famous took home best picture Golden Globes, though Almost Famous was denied an Oscar nom, much to my indignation. Likewise, while Babel was a good movie, it was not near as good, in my humble opinion, as The Departed.

A couple things to consider: Typically, the Oscar winner for best pic also wins one of the two GG best pic awards, BUT the last two years have both broke that trend, with Brokeback Mountain winning the GG and Crash winning the Oscar last year and Scorsese's The Aviator winning the GG in 2004, but losing the Oscar to Million Dollar Baby. So, I'm hoping this reversal continues this year.

Also, I need to remember that the awards voters do give a lot of weight to level of production. Titanic, Gladiator, Chicago, Return of the King. These were big productions. Babel is definately the big production amoung this year's contenders. I guess it just boils down to what you like. If The Departed fails to win the Oscar, it won't mean I enjoy it any less.

The Illusionist

I really liked this movie. It may not be spectacular, but it satifies greatly. It doesn't try to be more than it is, which is the one failing I'd say The Prestige had (though it was a very good movie as well).

I am a huge Edward Norton fan, but Paul Giamatti was simply amazing. Jessica Biel was also very impressive and proves she is not just a pretty face, but a serious actress (you might say, but what serious actor would do Stealth, but she was joined there by Jamie Foxx straight off his Oscar win).

This will likely be one of my top five movies of the year.

Diamonds are Forever. James Bond is not.

So, last night I watched Diamonds Are Forever, one of the laterish Connerys. After seeing Connery in both Dr. No and Diamonds are Forever, I offically declare Daniel Craig to be the James Bond. I have seen my share of Bonds - Die Another Day, Octopussy (seriously folks... Octopussy?), Moonraker, Tomorrow Never Dies, the aforementioned and Casino Royale. Diamonds did nothing but confirm all assumptions and generalizations I have made about Bond movies (with of course, the exception of Casino Royale). One woman's name was Plenty O'Toole, and guess what - they were referring to her chest. Enough said.

How on earth has this franchise lasted so long? Watching last night actually gave me a much bigger appreciation of Casino Royale (which was already good). Diamonds got boring early, and at many points was trite and just plain dumb.

I do understand and appreciate a few more Austin Powers jokes now... so there's that.

The Queen

I went to see this movie as it is becoming one of the year's major awards contenders. It was good, very well done, but, ultimately, completely forgettable. It made little impression on me and relied heavily on the viewer already knowing the situation which could make it almost unwatchable 50 years from now.

Helen Mirren is said to be lock to WIN the Oscar this year, favored more than any contender in any category. She was very good, but I couldn't help thinking that a comparable male role would be lucky just to get a nomination. This is further support of the belief that there just aren't enough great roles for women. Am I saying Mirren doesn't deserve to win? No I'm not, just that it's unfortunate that no other actress/role is in place to rise to the challenge. I was way more impressed with Michael Sheen as Tony Blair.

This is a one-time movie. Watch it for its historical context and forget about it.

Opposites alike

A while back I went to The Best Movie Theater Ever and saw The Pursuit of Happyness. It was good... definitely Will Smith's best work by far. His son plays his son (Jaden Smith) and doess a great job as well.

I still think changing the spelling in the title was a bad idea. It has very little significance in the movie, and the reference to the Declaration of Independence was enough to make the title significant on its own. There's actually a really great line Will Smith has where he is thinking about how it's not just "happiness," but the pursuit of it.

Another thing about the movie, and this isn't necessarily bad, is that it is a complete downer. The ending is happy, but sad. The rest of the movie is just sad the entire time.

I guess what keeps me from really liking this movie is that I'm still not sure of what it's trying to say. To simplify its message to something like, "happiness doesn't come cheap, but it comes" (or simply "hope") would make so much of this movie unnecessary. I have to wonder how much of their objective was just to make the heartwarming tale of a broke man and his son in L.A. There was a point where the movie was just a question of what bad thing would happen to them next, because that was what was happening - a Mad Libs kind of thing where the rest of the sentence never changes, just one word. Also, there was no "bad guy," so that fine line between social commentary and preaching - the movie didn't even approach it.

Last night I watched Bringing Up Baby, which is the opposite of Pursuit of Happyness in many, many ways, but ironically shares the lack of substance. It has everything. Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn star in it, for crying out loud, and both of them are at the top of their game and (duh) have great chemistry. They were fun to watch, but besides that the movie was absolutely ridiculous. It's a screwball comedy on steroids. The hijinks that are standard to the genre are all that ever happens. About thirty minutes from the end I turned to the guy I was watching it with and asked, "Seriously, is this ever going to be over?" and the last scene was just a very painful several minutes of waiting for the dinosaur to fall.

I liked the movie, but not too much. I'm beginning to discover that I tend to be less fond of movies that are strictly one genre. This movie is 100% screwball comedy, which would be okay because of the romance that is usually inherent in the genre, but the love story was barely treated and rushed when it was.

Wages of Fear

This is yet another reason why Netflix is awesome. Easy access to great, obscure movies that you wouldn't find otherwise.
This movie deals with the conflict between making a living and just plain living and what's important in life. Great, intense show.

Bad Education

This was the third Pedro Almodovar movie I have seen (All About My Mother and Talk to Her). He scores yet again with complex and intriguing characters. This movie was labeled as NC-17 though based on what I read on IMDb, I think the scene that did it had been removed... or I'm just not that sensitive (though I will say NC-17 The Dreamers definately earned its rating).
This movie was a bit hard to follow at times, but that's what makes it interesting... and that's my fault for watching it while working (repeated, prolonged pauses).
I am now even more excited to see Almodovar's most recent film, which is receiving much critical praise, Volver.

Indian Jones to take the Bond route?

This just in: Indiana Jones IV is supposed to be a "character piece." Sweet.

First entry of 2007! Oh, and The Good Shepherd

So, it's really long, and a pretty slow developer, but also pretty darn good. I saw it several days ago, but I feel obligated to make a post about it because it's getting Oscar hype - as well it should. The first thing I thought when I walked out of the theater was that the movie is Oscar nod bait. Nonetheless, I'm not really attached to this movie at all. It was very good, and sad, but at the same time a little dry (hence the several days before posting).

Angelina Jolie gave one of the better performances of her career... I'm a little saddened that the folks at The Oscar Igloo have demoted her on the predictions for Best Supporting. Matt Damon did a good enough job, but his role was too dry to be anything really memorable.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that this movie is a very good one-timer, and I'd watch it again if a group was going or something... but I'll never Netflix it or buy it. I'm a little on the fence about it, because it was good, and I liked it... but not that much. As for awards, it will get nominations for stuff, but few wins.

So... see it once.