As 2011 closes and we look towards a shiny new 2012 I want to take a look back at the previous year. Which means it’s time for my favorite things of 2011. Please remember that this is only my opinion and I’m only one guy that has a full time job, so I can’t watch everything.
Movies
I didn’t get to see as many movies as I normally do this year. In fact I haven’t seen any of the “Oscar” bait films that usually come out this time of year. But there are two movies I saw this year that really stuck in my mind.
The first is “X-Men: First Class” this has instantly become the best of the X-Men films. Both James McAvoy and Michael Fastbender put in great performances as Xavier and Magneto. The film captured the spirit of the 60’s while at the same time giving us a great action/superhero movie.
The second is “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.” Now as a movie I have found the past 4 Harry Potter movies to be badly made movies. They do their job of portraying Harry Potter on screen well, but I think as a movie by themselves are not that good. But for getting all 10 of these movies out and having the same vision throughout the film makers should be commended. It was truly an astonishing feat.
Television
TV this year has continued the trend of the past several years where the cable channels are producing bigger hits than the network shows. But there has been a lot of good television this year, it seems to me that television is on the rise while movie quality is starting to dip down.
“Parks and Recreation” remains the best comedy of the year. With the addition of a love interest for Leslie in the form of Ben Wyatt the show has reached a new level. Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson is the funniest character on TV. The show has created a living town in Pawnee that is beginning to rival Springfield on the Simpsons. Unfortunately no one is watching it.
Speaking of TV no one is watching, “Community” has also fully embraced their status as a TV show that is about TV. This has elevated the laughs on the show, but has probably alienated a lot of their audience. Glover and Pudi as Troy and Abed is the best duo on television. The two of them are the best duo since Turk and J.D.
Finally the best new comedy this year was “New Girl.” Zooey Deschanel is truly adorkable. But the funniest stuff from this show comes from Schmidt. They could fire everyone else and just have The Schmidt Show and I would tune in to watch it. Hopefully they can keep the funny up for the rest of the season.
From a drama perspective there are only two that I get really excited for. The first is “Fringe” this show has a lot of ups and downs. Last year ended on such a great note, but this year has started out really slow. But, I’m invested in the show until the end.
Since “Mad Men” wasn’t on this year it leaves a spot open for my favorite show of the year. It still goes to another AMC show though, “Breaking Bad.” The whole season was focused on the confrontation between Gus and Walt and the final resolution was spectacular. The acting, the tone and the story were all just perfect for this season. AMC has some of the best television available right now.
Music
This year belonged to Adele. With the release of her album “21” we got great songs such as “Rolling in the Deep” and “Someone Like You.” Both of these are great songs. Kelly Clarkson put out a great new album and we got some solid work from the Foo Fighters. But we also got some great new artists like Hot Chelle Rae, LMFAO and Fitz and the Tantrums. It was a great year for music and I am looking forward to what comes out next year.
Comic Books
Before September, comic books sucked this year. Well, not completely we got the end of Snyders “The Black Mirror” saga in Detective Comics. This was one of the creepiest tales I have ever read. The build up of Jim Gordon Jr. as a villain was so well done that he is instantly a classic Batman rouge now. In addition to this “The Dark Angel Saga” in Uncanny X-Force was also brilliant that was able to use X-Men history very effectively. But the big moment was the New 52 from DC. The relaunch was great and injected a lot of new energy into comics with some great new titles launched like Animal Man and Swamp Thing. It made me more excited for comics than I had been in a long time.
Books
I usually don’t read many new books, but this year I started “A Song of Ice and Fire” by George R. R. Martin which is what the “Game of Thrones” television show is based on. The books are dense and require you to pay attention and remember a lot of details. But the read is fun and the books are really good. If you love The Lord of the Rings trilogy and feel like you can take something a little denser, I would try these out.
Video Games
I don’t have the time to play all of the new games as soon as they come out. I currently have a stack of “Skyrim”, “Arkham City” and “Assassin’s Creed: Revelations” sitting at home waiting for me to play. I mostly played “Fallout: New Vegas” and “The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.” Both of these are great games. Fallout gives you a new wasteland to explore, if you liked “Fallout 3” you’ll love this. Zelda is just more Zelda. If you want to play more from that great series this is the game for you.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Gigi - The Oscar Project Part XXXI
As we get closer to the 1960’s we get closer to entering the decade of the musicals. This begins early with the 1958 film “Gigi.” I am a fan of modern musical theater, I find the older stuff to be boring and lacking. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy watching a musical on stage, but I think that transferring from the stage to the screen takes some talent. “Gigi” was a movie first and then a musical so it doesn’t have this stigma. As always I entered it with an open mind.
“Gigi” is about a young girl (Gigi) who is being trained to be a courtesan in Paris that isn’t doing very well in her lessons. During her training she spends most of her free time with Gaston, a bachelor who doesn’t believe in marriage. Over the course of the movie, Gaston relizes he loves Gigi and after he visits and leaves her house several times eventually decides to marry her and they live happily ever after. It was also narrated by an old French guy. The whole plot reminded me of “My Fair Lady” but set in France, after doing some research I found out that the same person wrote both. “My Fair Lady” is a classic and I have never wanted to see “My Fair Lady” in Paris. Unfortunately I now have.
There isn’t much to say about the acting and directing. I found the leads to be boring and a chore to watch. The only decent bit of fun acting comes from Maurice Chevalier who works as a framing device and sings the most memorable song of the film, “Thank Heaven for Little Girls.” The directing had nothing wrong with it. It was perfectly watchable I just didn’t feel as though this was really a movie that I wanted to watch.
Overall this film wouldn’t really make it in today’s world. A movie that starts with an old guy singing about how much he likes little girls wouldn’t work today. The film even tried for a Broadway run in the 70’s and failed. If you want to watch a movie like this I would recommend “My Fair Lady,” a similar story and superior music and acting. Gigi gets 1 out of 5 stars.
“Gigi” is about a young girl (Gigi) who is being trained to be a courtesan in Paris that isn’t doing very well in her lessons. During her training she spends most of her free time with Gaston, a bachelor who doesn’t believe in marriage. Over the course of the movie, Gaston relizes he loves Gigi and after he visits and leaves her house several times eventually decides to marry her and they live happily ever after. It was also narrated by an old French guy. The whole plot reminded me of “My Fair Lady” but set in France, after doing some research I found out that the same person wrote both. “My Fair Lady” is a classic and I have never wanted to see “My Fair Lady” in Paris. Unfortunately I now have.
There isn’t much to say about the acting and directing. I found the leads to be boring and a chore to watch. The only decent bit of fun acting comes from Maurice Chevalier who works as a framing device and sings the most memorable song of the film, “Thank Heaven for Little Girls.” The directing had nothing wrong with it. It was perfectly watchable I just didn’t feel as though this was really a movie that I wanted to watch.
Overall this film wouldn’t really make it in today’s world. A movie that starts with an old guy singing about how much he likes little girls wouldn’t work today. The film even tried for a Broadway run in the 70’s and failed. If you want to watch a movie like this I would recommend “My Fair Lady,” a similar story and superior music and acting. Gigi gets 1 out of 5 stars.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Holiday Trailer Wrap-Up
The holiday season is typically the movie season for the Oscar films, but every year Hollywood saves a few blockbusters to be released. This year movies like “Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows” and “The Adventures of TinTin” are keeping us entertained over the holidays. With these big movies being released it is the perfect time for trailers to be released for the big movies of next summer. Last week was a big week for trailer releases and I wanted to take a quick look at them.
“Prometheus” – Here Ridley Scott is returning to the Sci-Fi genre with may or may not be a prequel to “Alien.” The movie looks like “Alien,” but for some reason they won’t admit that it is. The trailer looked like some people doing a few crazy things on a ship and then on an alien planet. The whole thing looks cool but I have no clue on what the movie will really be about. It was just a series of quick images and no substance. This did nothing to peak my interest in this movie.
“G.I. Joe: Retaliation” – The first G.I. Joe movie wasn’t that good. But it did set up a killer sequel and it is nice to see that this movie is not going to completely ignore that ending is exciting. This movie looks to be embracing the campiness that the Joe cartoon was famous for. While it hasn’t excited me enough to go see it in the theater yet, it has planted the movie on my radar.
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” – I love “The Lord of the Rings” movies and the books so I don’t really need a trailer to sell me on this. I’m going to be there in my costume on opening night seeing this movie. But, it’s nice to see that this will be more of the Tolkien realm that I expect from Jackson. I’m excited for this movie.
“The Dark Knight Rises” – I’m conflicted about this movie. Not that it will be bad, I trust Nolan, but whether or not to watch and dissect all of these trailers. This is the last Nolan Batman movie. Part of me wants to know as much as possible as soon as possible, but another part of me wants to go in blind. This trailer showed that the stakes will be ratcheted up quite a bit and will feature plenty of callbacks to the first movie. I could not be more excited for this movie.
“Prometheus” – Here Ridley Scott is returning to the Sci-Fi genre with may or may not be a prequel to “Alien.” The movie looks like “Alien,” but for some reason they won’t admit that it is. The trailer looked like some people doing a few crazy things on a ship and then on an alien planet. The whole thing looks cool but I have no clue on what the movie will really be about. It was just a series of quick images and no substance. This did nothing to peak my interest in this movie.
“G.I. Joe: Retaliation” – The first G.I. Joe movie wasn’t that good. But it did set up a killer sequel and it is nice to see that this movie is not going to completely ignore that ending is exciting. This movie looks to be embracing the campiness that the Joe cartoon was famous for. While it hasn’t excited me enough to go see it in the theater yet, it has planted the movie on my radar.
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” – I love “The Lord of the Rings” movies and the books so I don’t really need a trailer to sell me on this. I’m going to be there in my costume on opening night seeing this movie. But, it’s nice to see that this will be more of the Tolkien realm that I expect from Jackson. I’m excited for this movie.
“The Dark Knight Rises” – I’m conflicted about this movie. Not that it will be bad, I trust Nolan, but whether or not to watch and dissect all of these trailers. This is the last Nolan Batman movie. Part of me wants to know as much as possible as soon as possible, but another part of me wants to go in blind. This trailer showed that the stakes will be ratcheted up quite a bit and will feature plenty of callbacks to the first movie. I could not be more excited for this movie.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
The Bridge on the River Kwai - The Oscar Project Part XXX
Growing up as a “Star Wars” kid I always enjoyed Sir Alec Guinness as Obi Wan Kenobi. But that was all that I knew him from. I knew that one his big movies from earlier in his career was “The Bridge On the River Kwai.” The movie was released in 1957 and is probably most remembered for two things, the whistling performed by the British army at the beginning of the movie and the doctor running away while screaming “Madness!” at the end of the movie. After seeing it, there are many more things to remember than that.
The film tells the story of British soldiers at a Japanese prison camp during the Second World War. According to the Geneva Convention officers cannot be forced to perform manual labor as a prisoner. The Japanese commander Saito doesn’t care about the convention and wants everyone to finish a bridge. From this point the movie diverts into two films. One involves an American that is impersonating an officer escaping from the camp and the second involves the construction of the bridge. Colonel Nicholson refuses to have his officers help on the bridge; this makes Saito torture Nicholson and his officers by sticking them in hot boxes. Eventually, after Saito determines they will not break and no progress is being made on the bridge, he lets the officers out to have them supervise their men as they work on the bridge. The officers bring the men together and focus them on building the bridge out of pride. While all of this happens the escapee, Shears, is enlisted by the British to destroy the bridge. Eventually on the day the bridge opens confrontation between the two sides occur and the bridge is destroyed.
When I say that this feels like two films that is because the bridge building half of the film is far superior to the mission to destroy the bridge. Both Alec Guinness as Nicholson and Sessue Hayakawa as Saito put in master classes in acting. By the end they had both created such realistic and relatable characters that I wanted the British to fail in blowing up the bridge. They made me want the Japanese to win, which is a tremendous feat. From a directing standpoint the film was great, the establishing shot of the British marching and whistling allowed me to instantly understand the soldiers and their unity. The movie was shot beautifully and the climax could have easily been bogged down in complication, since there is so much going on, but it was easy to follow. Director David Lean did a great job with this film.
Overall “The Bridge On the River Kwai” is a great movie that reminds me of movies like “The Hurt Locker” today. This movie definitely deserves 5 out of 5 stars.
The film tells the story of British soldiers at a Japanese prison camp during the Second World War. According to the Geneva Convention officers cannot be forced to perform manual labor as a prisoner. The Japanese commander Saito doesn’t care about the convention and wants everyone to finish a bridge. From this point the movie diverts into two films. One involves an American that is impersonating an officer escaping from the camp and the second involves the construction of the bridge. Colonel Nicholson refuses to have his officers help on the bridge; this makes Saito torture Nicholson and his officers by sticking them in hot boxes. Eventually, after Saito determines they will not break and no progress is being made on the bridge, he lets the officers out to have them supervise their men as they work on the bridge. The officers bring the men together and focus them on building the bridge out of pride. While all of this happens the escapee, Shears, is enlisted by the British to destroy the bridge. Eventually on the day the bridge opens confrontation between the two sides occur and the bridge is destroyed.
When I say that this feels like two films that is because the bridge building half of the film is far superior to the mission to destroy the bridge. Both Alec Guinness as Nicholson and Sessue Hayakawa as Saito put in master classes in acting. By the end they had both created such realistic and relatable characters that I wanted the British to fail in blowing up the bridge. They made me want the Japanese to win, which is a tremendous feat. From a directing standpoint the film was great, the establishing shot of the British marching and whistling allowed me to instantly understand the soldiers and their unity. The movie was shot beautifully and the climax could have easily been bogged down in complication, since there is so much going on, but it was easy to follow. Director David Lean did a great job with this film.
Overall “The Bridge On the River Kwai” is a great movie that reminds me of movies like “The Hurt Locker” today. This movie definitely deserves 5 out of 5 stars.
Monday, December 19, 2011
The Legend of Zelda: A Look Back Part III
The Nintendo 64 was sold on the marvelous world that was Super Mario 64. Nintendo had perfected the 3D platformer so expectations were high for the next biggest horse in their stable, Zelda. Could Zelda work in 3D? The answer was an easy yes. With The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, Nintendo put out one of the finest games of all time. The game drew on the past games while expanding the Zelda world and creating a truly beautiful and cinematic game. Looking back the plot mirrors “A Link to the Past” pretty closely with just enough changes that really perfect the game. The dungeon design was amazing with the two forest temples being my favorites. And who could forget the feeling of riding your horse, Epona, across Hyrule field. While trying to run away from that giant jellyfish looking thing that would come out at night. The game also really introduced the use of music in Zelda, except of course for the transport flute. I’ve played the game many times over the years and it remains one of my favorites.
We waited so long for “Ocarina of Time” that I was afraid that only one Zelda game would be released this generation like on the SNES. Fortunately I was wrong and “Majora’s Mask” was released. I was reluctant to it the first time I played it. No Gannon, No Zelda, I mean come on, how can this game be good. Well it wasn’t good, it was great. With a three day time travel scenario, a few crazy characters and a fun mask system the game took the Zelda franchise and got experimental. I eventually dove into the game, found every mask and loved every minute of it. A great game that usually gets forgotten because of how great “Ocarina of Time” is but is really just as good as it.
I’m now about 28 hours into “Skyward Sword” and the whole experience keeps getting better and better. I’m through the first 5 dungeons and every time I start to feel like I’m getting board with the sword play, the game gives me something new to do with it. The items feel fresh and unique with new ways to use them. The only thing I’m starting to get bored with are some of the non playable characters. I wish that it had more Groose, but it is still a great game so far.
We waited so long for “Ocarina of Time” that I was afraid that only one Zelda game would be released this generation like on the SNES. Fortunately I was wrong and “Majora’s Mask” was released. I was reluctant to it the first time I played it. No Gannon, No Zelda, I mean come on, how can this game be good. Well it wasn’t good, it was great. With a three day time travel scenario, a few crazy characters and a fun mask system the game took the Zelda franchise and got experimental. I eventually dove into the game, found every mask and loved every minute of it. A great game that usually gets forgotten because of how great “Ocarina of Time” is but is really just as good as it.
I’m now about 28 hours into “Skyward Sword” and the whole experience keeps getting better and better. I’m through the first 5 dungeons and every time I start to feel like I’m getting board with the sword play, the game gives me something new to do with it. The items feel fresh and unique with new ways to use them. The only thing I’m starting to get bored with are some of the non playable characters. I wish that it had more Groose, but it is still a great game so far.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
2011 Golden Globe Nominations
Here is the list of Golden Globe nominees (courtesy of Entertainment Weekly) with my thoughts on each category (where I have thoughts).
Best Drama
The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
War Horse
I haven’t had the chance to see any of these movies, but all have been on my radar at some point or another, though I didn’t think that The Help and Moneyball were comedies. The biggest surprise here is Hugo. For an animated picture to be nominated for Best Drama is strange indeed.
Best Comedy/Musical
50/50
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Carnage
Midnight in Paris
My Week with Marilyn
Another list where I haven’t seen any of these films but they have been on my radar. In either category I can’t think of any big snubs. Some will say Harry Potter, but really those people need to take off their blinders and realize that while the whole saga is definitely an achievement, the last films were not award worthy.
Best Animated Film
Arthur Christmas
Cars 2
Rango
Puss in Boots
The Adventures of Tintin
This has been a sorry year for animation, but whenever Pixar puts out a Cars movie I’m going to be disappointed.
Best Foreign Language Film
The Flowers of War
In the Land of Blood and Honey
The Kid With a Bike
A Separation
The Skin I Live In
Best Actor in a Drama
George Clooney, The Descendants
Brad Pitt, Moneyball
Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March
Michael Fassbender, Shame
Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar
Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Brendan Gleeson, The Guard
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50
Ryan Gosling, Crazy, Stupid, Love.
Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Albert Brooks, Drive
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method
Again people will be upset that there was no Alan Rickman love for Snape. But really watch his performance, in my opinion he didn’t really do much to earn one. Sorry.
Best Actress in a Drama
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy
Jodie Foster, Carnage
Charlize Theron, Young Adult
Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Kate Winslet, Carnage
Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
Octavia Spencer, The Help
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Best Director
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
George Clooney, The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Best Screenplay for a Motion Picture
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, Kaui Hart Hemmings, The Descendants
Steve Zallian, Aaron Sorkin, Stan Chervin, Michael Lewis, Moneyball
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, The Ides of March
Best Original Score in a Motion Picture
Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Abel Korzeniowski, W.E.
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Howard Shore, Hugo
John Williams, War Horse
Best Original Song in a Motion Picture
“Hello Hello,” Gnomeo & Juliet
“The Keeper,” Machine Gun Preacher
“Lay Your Head Down,” Albert Nobbs
“The Living Proof,” The Help
“Masterpiece,” W.E.
The movie Gnomeo & Juliet is nominated for a Golden Globe, ugh.
Best TV Drama
American Horror Story
Boardwalk Empire
Boss
Game of Thrones
Homeland
4 of the 5 nominees are new this year and this is only the second season for Boardwalk Empire. I have issues that Breaking Bad was not nominated, as in my opinion it had a great season and was some of the best TV available. If I had to take one away though I would find it difficult as both American Horror Story and Boss belong on there, but from what I’ve heard so does everything else. Couldn’t they have made a little more space?
Best TV Comedy or Musical
Enlightened
Episodes
Glee
Modern Family
New Girl
Probably the most infuriating nomination is the one for Glee. It’s only on there because it is the only musical available! To nominate that over Parks and Recreation and Community should be a TV crime. The voters should be locked in a room and forced to watch reality shows from the E! network for the next year, maybe then they will appreciate good television.
Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture
Cinema Verite
Downton Abbey
The Hour
Mildred Pierce
Too Big To Fail
Best Actor in a TV Drama
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Damian Lewis, Homeland
Jeremy Irons, The Borgias
Kelsey Grammer, Boss
For the first time in a while nothing to complain about here.
Best Actor in a TV Musical or Comedy
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
David Duchovny, Californication
Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory
Thomas Jane, Hung
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
Not true here thought, Californication is barely a comedy and Alec Baldwin has been phoning in his performance on 30 Rock for a couple of years now. There are a lot of other people that deserve to be on that list before these two.
Best Actor in a Mini-Series or Made-for-TV Movie
Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey
Idris Elba, Luther
William Hurt, Too Big To Fail
Bill Nighy, Page Eight
Dominic West, The Hour
Best Supporting Actor in TV Series, Mini-Series, or Made-for-TV Movie
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Paul Giamatti, Too Big To Fail
Guy Pearce, Mildred Pierce
Tim Robbins, Cinema Verite
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
I really wish they would split up Drama and Comedy here. Giancarlo Esposito (Gus) from Breaking Bad portrayed one of the best villains on television ever and to have him not nominated is a crime. Aaron Paul (Jesse) also deserved to be nominated. These two did some of the finest television acting I have ever seen this year.
Best Actress in a TV Drama
Claire Danes, Homeland
Mireille Enos, The Killing
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Madeleine Stowe, Revenge
Callie Thorne, Necessary Roughness
Best Actress in a TV Musical or Comedy
Laura Dern, Enlightened
Zooey Deschanel, New Girl
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Laura Linney, The Big C
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Does Tina Fey have something on the HFPA? Her time has passed; it’s time to get some different blood in there. Plenty of other funny ladies on TV to choose from.
Best Actress in a Mini-Series or Made-for-TV Movie
Romola Garai, The Hour
Diane Lane, Cinema Verite
Elizabeth McGovern, Downton Abbey
Emily Watson, Appropriate Adult
Kate Winslet, Mildred Pierce
Best Supporting Actress in TV Series, Mini-Series, or Made-for-TV Movie
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story
Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Evan Rachel Wood, Mildred Pierce
Best Drama
The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
War Horse
I haven’t had the chance to see any of these movies, but all have been on my radar at some point or another, though I didn’t think that The Help and Moneyball were comedies. The biggest surprise here is Hugo. For an animated picture to be nominated for Best Drama is strange indeed.
Best Comedy/Musical
50/50
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Carnage
Midnight in Paris
My Week with Marilyn
Another list where I haven’t seen any of these films but they have been on my radar. In either category I can’t think of any big snubs. Some will say Harry Potter, but really those people need to take off their blinders and realize that while the whole saga is definitely an achievement, the last films were not award worthy.
Best Animated Film
Arthur Christmas
Cars 2
Rango
Puss in Boots
The Adventures of Tintin
This has been a sorry year for animation, but whenever Pixar puts out a Cars movie I’m going to be disappointed.
Best Foreign Language Film
The Flowers of War
In the Land of Blood and Honey
The Kid With a Bike
A Separation
The Skin I Live In
Best Actor in a Drama
George Clooney, The Descendants
Brad Pitt, Moneyball
Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March
Michael Fassbender, Shame
Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar
Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Brendan Gleeson, The Guard
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50
Ryan Gosling, Crazy, Stupid, Love.
Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Albert Brooks, Drive
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method
Again people will be upset that there was no Alan Rickman love for Snape. But really watch his performance, in my opinion he didn’t really do much to earn one. Sorry.
Best Actress in a Drama
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy
Jodie Foster, Carnage
Charlize Theron, Young Adult
Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Kate Winslet, Carnage
Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
Octavia Spencer, The Help
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Best Director
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
George Clooney, The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Best Screenplay for a Motion Picture
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, Kaui Hart Hemmings, The Descendants
Steve Zallian, Aaron Sorkin, Stan Chervin, Michael Lewis, Moneyball
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, The Ides of March
Best Original Score in a Motion Picture
Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Abel Korzeniowski, W.E.
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Howard Shore, Hugo
John Williams, War Horse
Best Original Song in a Motion Picture
“Hello Hello,” Gnomeo & Juliet
“The Keeper,” Machine Gun Preacher
“Lay Your Head Down,” Albert Nobbs
“The Living Proof,” The Help
“Masterpiece,” W.E.
The movie Gnomeo & Juliet is nominated for a Golden Globe, ugh.
Best TV Drama
American Horror Story
Boardwalk Empire
Boss
Game of Thrones
Homeland
4 of the 5 nominees are new this year and this is only the second season for Boardwalk Empire. I have issues that Breaking Bad was not nominated, as in my opinion it had a great season and was some of the best TV available. If I had to take one away though I would find it difficult as both American Horror Story and Boss belong on there, but from what I’ve heard so does everything else. Couldn’t they have made a little more space?
Best TV Comedy or Musical
Enlightened
Episodes
Glee
Modern Family
New Girl
Probably the most infuriating nomination is the one for Glee. It’s only on there because it is the only musical available! To nominate that over Parks and Recreation and Community should be a TV crime. The voters should be locked in a room and forced to watch reality shows from the E! network for the next year, maybe then they will appreciate good television.
Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture
Cinema Verite
Downton Abbey
The Hour
Mildred Pierce
Too Big To Fail
Best Actor in a TV Drama
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Damian Lewis, Homeland
Jeremy Irons, The Borgias
Kelsey Grammer, Boss
For the first time in a while nothing to complain about here.
Best Actor in a TV Musical or Comedy
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
David Duchovny, Californication
Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory
Thomas Jane, Hung
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
Not true here thought, Californication is barely a comedy and Alec Baldwin has been phoning in his performance on 30 Rock for a couple of years now. There are a lot of other people that deserve to be on that list before these two.
Best Actor in a Mini-Series or Made-for-TV Movie
Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey
Idris Elba, Luther
William Hurt, Too Big To Fail
Bill Nighy, Page Eight
Dominic West, The Hour
Best Supporting Actor in TV Series, Mini-Series, or Made-for-TV Movie
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Paul Giamatti, Too Big To Fail
Guy Pearce, Mildred Pierce
Tim Robbins, Cinema Verite
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
I really wish they would split up Drama and Comedy here. Giancarlo Esposito (Gus) from Breaking Bad portrayed one of the best villains on television ever and to have him not nominated is a crime. Aaron Paul (Jesse) also deserved to be nominated. These two did some of the finest television acting I have ever seen this year.
Best Actress in a TV Drama
Claire Danes, Homeland
Mireille Enos, The Killing
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Madeleine Stowe, Revenge
Callie Thorne, Necessary Roughness
Best Actress in a TV Musical or Comedy
Laura Dern, Enlightened
Zooey Deschanel, New Girl
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Laura Linney, The Big C
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Does Tina Fey have something on the HFPA? Her time has passed; it’s time to get some different blood in there. Plenty of other funny ladies on TV to choose from.
Best Actress in a Mini-Series or Made-for-TV Movie
Romola Garai, The Hour
Diane Lane, Cinema Verite
Elizabeth McGovern, Downton Abbey
Emily Watson, Appropriate Adult
Kate Winslet, Mildred Pierce
Best Supporting Actress in TV Series, Mini-Series, or Made-for-TV Movie
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story
Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Evan Rachel Wood, Mildred Pierce
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Around the World in 80 Days - The Oscar Project Part XXIX
After “The Greatest Show on Earth” I was nervous about going into watching “Around the World in 80 Days” as I was expecting something similar. A bunch of boring entertainment held together by a thin story. Released in 1956, the film was a giant risk at the time. It was expensive and cast nearly every big actor in Hollywood at the time in various cameo roles. The film is based on the Jules Verne novel but included added scenes so that the Latin comedian Cantinflas would have a larger role. At the time he was the largest Latin star in the world and the movie was made to appeal to a global audience instead of just the American domestic audience.
The plot from the film is fairly simple. A wager is made at the England Reform Club that Phileas Fobb cannot go around the world in 80 days. Set in 1872 this is a very difficult task as most of the fast infrastructure in place today was not available. Fobb must travel with his man servant Passepartout via hot air balloon, boat and train. Throughout the course of the journey the pair encounters a large number of obstacles, several of which allow for a showcase of different cultures in the world. Unlike “The Greatest Show on Earth”, “Around the World in 80 Days” has a plot that kept my attention because I was constantly rooting for Fogg to win the wager and up until the end it seems that he may not succeed. Also the cultural displays in this film are far more enjoyable to watch since they don’t have the same “fake” feeling that existed in “The Greatest Show on Earth.”
From a production standpoint all of the actors put in a solid performance. Nothing really special about the performances but that isn’t what this movie was really about. In a film like this though the actors job is to put in a solid performance so that nothing distracts from the experience of the movie. Director Michael Anderson helps create that experience with great shots of far off lands and by using real objects and not models, and when he had to use models he used large scale ones, not small. The movie felt real like the crew actually travelled around the world in 80 days, which even though at the time the film was released would have been relatively easy, the film flows in such a way that it really feels like they are doing the impossible.
A film like this wouldn’t be made today unfortunately. The budget for something like this would be to large and unfortunately most of the population wouldn’t be interested in it. This type of movie is relegated to the documentary crowd now. I enjoyed it though and I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
The plot from the film is fairly simple. A wager is made at the England Reform Club that Phileas Fobb cannot go around the world in 80 days. Set in 1872 this is a very difficult task as most of the fast infrastructure in place today was not available. Fobb must travel with his man servant Passepartout via hot air balloon, boat and train. Throughout the course of the journey the pair encounters a large number of obstacles, several of which allow for a showcase of different cultures in the world. Unlike “The Greatest Show on Earth”, “Around the World in 80 Days” has a plot that kept my attention because I was constantly rooting for Fogg to win the wager and up until the end it seems that he may not succeed. Also the cultural displays in this film are far more enjoyable to watch since they don’t have the same “fake” feeling that existed in “The Greatest Show on Earth.”
From a production standpoint all of the actors put in a solid performance. Nothing really special about the performances but that isn’t what this movie was really about. In a film like this though the actors job is to put in a solid performance so that nothing distracts from the experience of the movie. Director Michael Anderson helps create that experience with great shots of far off lands and by using real objects and not models, and when he had to use models he used large scale ones, not small. The movie felt real like the crew actually travelled around the world in 80 days, which even though at the time the film was released would have been relatively easy, the film flows in such a way that it really feels like they are doing the impossible.
A film like this wouldn’t be made today unfortunately. The budget for something like this would be to large and unfortunately most of the population wouldn’t be interested in it. This type of movie is relegated to the documentary crowd now. I enjoyed it though and I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Star Trek: The Original Series Season 2
As a continuation of my exploration of the Star Trek universe, I recently finished watching the second season of Star Trek: The Original Series. The first series ended on a high note with “City on the Edge of Forever” among other great late season 1 episodes. I was happy to jump back in expecting a great second season.
The season opens strong with the classic “Amok Time” which features the famous Kirk vs. Spock battle with the curved blades. This episode revealed a ton of information about Spock and Vulcan culture and was a great episode. The episode “Who Mourns for Adonis” was also fun since it played on the idea that the ancient Greek Gods were aliens. This was followed up by the classic “Mirror, Mirror” which featured evil goateed Spock. It was fun at this point to have a different view of the cast and to see the characters in a different light. We also get the return of Mudd from the first season and an appearance from Zephran Cochran, who would be familiar to anyone that saw “First Contact.”
Eventually I got to the episode “The Trouble with Tribbles” which I was looking forward to, but I ultimately found disappointing. I’m not sure what I was expecting, the Tribbles were cute and all but it was mostly boring. This marked a downward turn for the rest of this season with further episodes seeming to focus more and more with putting the crew into costumes and situations that dealt with Earth’s past. This was fun when they only did it during the first season, but here it felt overdone with half of the last episodes following this pattern.
Overall the season was almost the opposite of the first with great episodes at the beginning with bland episodes near the end. I’m interested in seeing what season 3 brings.
The season opens strong with the classic “Amok Time” which features the famous Kirk vs. Spock battle with the curved blades. This episode revealed a ton of information about Spock and Vulcan culture and was a great episode. The episode “Who Mourns for Adonis” was also fun since it played on the idea that the ancient Greek Gods were aliens. This was followed up by the classic “Mirror, Mirror” which featured evil goateed Spock. It was fun at this point to have a different view of the cast and to see the characters in a different light. We also get the return of Mudd from the first season and an appearance from Zephran Cochran, who would be familiar to anyone that saw “First Contact.”
Eventually I got to the episode “The Trouble with Tribbles” which I was looking forward to, but I ultimately found disappointing. I’m not sure what I was expecting, the Tribbles were cute and all but it was mostly boring. This marked a downward turn for the rest of this season with further episodes seeming to focus more and more with putting the crew into costumes and situations that dealt with Earth’s past. This was fun when they only did it during the first season, but here it felt overdone with half of the last episodes following this pattern.
Overall the season was almost the opposite of the first with great episodes at the beginning with bland episodes near the end. I’m interested in seeing what season 3 brings.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Take 5 12/09/11
Each week I take 5 news items from the current week from the entertainment industry, list them out here and then give my take on them. This is Take 5.
1. Adele rules the Grammys! – Yeah I know that she didn’t get the most nominations, that was Kanye, but she got the most where it counts. Bruno Mars made a strong showing too with his freshman album. The Grammys are always really confusing when it comes to nominations because the eligibility period is very weird. For example Bruno Mars wasn’t up for best new artist either last year or this year, yet Nikki Minaj, who has been around for a couple of years was nominated this year. Anyways, I don’t really care too much about who wins. I just like to see the musical acts during the awards show.
2. Miyamoto Steps Down? – So first it is announced that Miyamoto (the creator of Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda etc.) was retiring. That was immediately withdrawn and he is apparently just taking on less responsibilities. To me that is just fine. The guy was a genius, but I almost feel as though the past couple of years he has been holding Nintendo back and it is time to let go some of his control. The guy will always be remembered as one of the best designers ever, he doesn’t need to add more to his legacy.
3. Bernicio Del Toro Leaves Star Trek 2 – Probably a big mistake on his part. If it was his decision. The Star Trek sequel is hugely anticipated and the villain will get a lot of focus. Del Toro is a good actor and could make for an interesting villain. Hopefully they will be able to take this opportunity to get someone even better.
4. Alec Baldwin Upsets the Friendly Skies – So apparently Alec decided that playing Words with Friends was really important. He was recently kicked off American Airlines for refusing to put his phone away. He complained about it on Twitter, and then quit Twitter. Now first I applaud the airline for kicking him off, he broke the rules and that is what happens. But why quit Twitter. It’s America and the Internet. If you aren’t complaining about something on the internet and you live in America you might be Canadian.
5. Community Put on Hiatus – I really enjoy most of the NBC Thursday night comedy block. But it seems I am in the minority. I find Community to be fantastic, it is this fun little quirky show that reminds me a little of Arrested Development. Not as funny, but still really good. Unfortunately, due to ratings the show was put on hiatus. Hopefully it won’t last too long and it will be back and continue working its way to six seasons and a movie.
1. Adele rules the Grammys! – Yeah I know that she didn’t get the most nominations, that was Kanye, but she got the most where it counts. Bruno Mars made a strong showing too with his freshman album. The Grammys are always really confusing when it comes to nominations because the eligibility period is very weird. For example Bruno Mars wasn’t up for best new artist either last year or this year, yet Nikki Minaj, who has been around for a couple of years was nominated this year. Anyways, I don’t really care too much about who wins. I just like to see the musical acts during the awards show.
2. Miyamoto Steps Down? – So first it is announced that Miyamoto (the creator of Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda etc.) was retiring. That was immediately withdrawn and he is apparently just taking on less responsibilities. To me that is just fine. The guy was a genius, but I almost feel as though the past couple of years he has been holding Nintendo back and it is time to let go some of his control. The guy will always be remembered as one of the best designers ever, he doesn’t need to add more to his legacy.
3. Bernicio Del Toro Leaves Star Trek 2 – Probably a big mistake on his part. If it was his decision. The Star Trek sequel is hugely anticipated and the villain will get a lot of focus. Del Toro is a good actor and could make for an interesting villain. Hopefully they will be able to take this opportunity to get someone even better.
4. Alec Baldwin Upsets the Friendly Skies – So apparently Alec decided that playing Words with Friends was really important. He was recently kicked off American Airlines for refusing to put his phone away. He complained about it on Twitter, and then quit Twitter. Now first I applaud the airline for kicking him off, he broke the rules and that is what happens. But why quit Twitter. It’s America and the Internet. If you aren’t complaining about something on the internet and you live in America you might be Canadian.
5. Community Put on Hiatus – I really enjoy most of the NBC Thursday night comedy block. But it seems I am in the minority. I find Community to be fantastic, it is this fun little quirky show that reminds me a little of Arrested Development. Not as funny, but still really good. Unfortunately, due to ratings the show was put on hiatus. Hopefully it won’t last too long and it will be back and continue working its way to six seasons and a movie.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Marty - The Oscar Project Part XXVIII
The 1955 film “Marty” is best known to me as Ernest Borgnine’s best performance and is what gave him real credibility as an actor. This was curious to me as I have always viewed Borgnine as just a silly old man, so I was interested to see where he got his Oscar from. Similar to “On the Waterfront”, which won the previous year, “Marty” is really about the performance of one guy. But the question is does can a movie based on the performance of a guy who’s career didn’t take the same path as Brando hold up today.
“Marty” is about a butcher named Marty. He is a bachelor in his 30’s that lives with his mother and is socially awkward. One night he goes out to the clubs with his friends and ends up spending the evening with a lady who is almost as socially awkward as he is. They hit it off and the next day when he plans on calling her, he gets advice from everyone around him that he shouldn’t because of a variety of reasons. Eventually at the end he brushes everyone off and makes the call. And that is where the movie ends. This plot is okay but it is fairly simple. For the movie going audience of today not enough is really going on here. While “On the Waterfront” focused heavily on Brando’s character, there were others there, the entire plot of the movie didn’t hinge on his performance and he was able to make a good film a great one. Here, without Borgnine’s performance, the movie would have nothing else.
From an acting standpoint I find that Ernest put in a solid effort, but I didn’t find it to be anything spectacular. Except for the last speech, which was pretty good, his character lacked a lot of emotion. I realize that this is the way the character is meant to be portrayed and that it is really more of a script problem than anything Borgnine had control over. But a solid performance can’t carry a movie full of one note characters that you’re not supposed to like because the film is designed to make you root for Marty. It leaves very little to write about.
In the end I don’t think that this movie could have been made the same way today. Audiences now need more going on in a movie, and a more charismatic lead character. A character like Marty would most likely we relegated to a supporting character and a subplot which may sound unfortunate, but that is the way the world is. “Marty” gets 2.5 out of 5 stars.
“Marty” is about a butcher named Marty. He is a bachelor in his 30’s that lives with his mother and is socially awkward. One night he goes out to the clubs with his friends and ends up spending the evening with a lady who is almost as socially awkward as he is. They hit it off and the next day when he plans on calling her, he gets advice from everyone around him that he shouldn’t because of a variety of reasons. Eventually at the end he brushes everyone off and makes the call. And that is where the movie ends. This plot is okay but it is fairly simple. For the movie going audience of today not enough is really going on here. While “On the Waterfront” focused heavily on Brando’s character, there were others there, the entire plot of the movie didn’t hinge on his performance and he was able to make a good film a great one. Here, without Borgnine’s performance, the movie would have nothing else.
From an acting standpoint I find that Ernest put in a solid effort, but I didn’t find it to be anything spectacular. Except for the last speech, which was pretty good, his character lacked a lot of emotion. I realize that this is the way the character is meant to be portrayed and that it is really more of a script problem than anything Borgnine had control over. But a solid performance can’t carry a movie full of one note characters that you’re not supposed to like because the film is designed to make you root for Marty. It leaves very little to write about.
In the end I don’t think that this movie could have been made the same way today. Audiences now need more going on in a movie, and a more charismatic lead character. A character like Marty would most likely we relegated to a supporting character and a subplot which may sound unfortunate, but that is the way the world is. “Marty” gets 2.5 out of 5 stars.
Monday, December 5, 2011
The Legend of Zelda: A Look Back Part II
As much as I enjoyed the first and second Zelda games it wasn’t until the Super Nintendo game “The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past” that I became officially obsessed with a game. I don’t think I could count how many times I played that game. I did speed runs, I did runs where I didn’t save and I did several runs where I did not die. I played that game more than any other game of that generation. It also set up a lot of the mythology and game mechanics that are still in Zelda today.
It setup the concept of a twist after the first three dungeons, something that has carried over to almost every other Zelda game as well. It also introduced the proper mythology of the three separate pieces of the triforce, sages, and the dark world. It was a game I just threw myself into and remains my favorite 2D game of all time. Having such a huge world to explore and then halfway through the world size doubles by having a light side and a dark side.
Around this time we also got the Zelda cartoon series. This was part of the Super Mario show and they always showed the Zelda cartoon on Friday. Looking back I realize that it was not a very well produced cartoon, but I was always excited for Friday. Because that was Zelda day. The animation was bad and the stories weren’t interesting enough to remember at all, but seeing those Zelda characters in action made up for everything that was bad about it.
I’m currently 21 hours into “The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword” and I am really enjoying it now. I’ve adapted to the controls more and can now take on enemies a lot easier. Which is good because they have started to get harder. I’m near the beginning of the 4th dungeon and the separation between Skyloft and the world below makes me feel like I’m playing two different games. One I am exploring and adventuring and in the other I am just a citizen of Skyloft. It’s awesome. I can’t wait to see what comes up next.
It setup the concept of a twist after the first three dungeons, something that has carried over to almost every other Zelda game as well. It also introduced the proper mythology of the three separate pieces of the triforce, sages, and the dark world. It was a game I just threw myself into and remains my favorite 2D game of all time. Having such a huge world to explore and then halfway through the world size doubles by having a light side and a dark side.
Around this time we also got the Zelda cartoon series. This was part of the Super Mario show and they always showed the Zelda cartoon on Friday. Looking back I realize that it was not a very well produced cartoon, but I was always excited for Friday. Because that was Zelda day. The animation was bad and the stories weren’t interesting enough to remember at all, but seeing those Zelda characters in action made up for everything that was bad about it.
I’m currently 21 hours into “The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword” and I am really enjoying it now. I’ve adapted to the controls more and can now take on enemies a lot easier. Which is good because they have started to get harder. I’m near the beginning of the 4th dungeon and the separation between Skyloft and the world below makes me feel like I’m playing two different games. One I am exploring and adventuring and in the other I am just a citizen of Skyloft. It’s awesome. I can’t wait to see what comes up next.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)