85th Academy Awards Winners + Quick Thoughts on the Show

WINNERS

BEST PICTURE: ARGO

BEST DIRECTOR: ANG LEE (LIFE OF PI)

 

BEST ACTOR: DANIEL DAY LEWIS (LINCOLN)

 

BEST ACTRESS: JENNIFER LAWRENCE (SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: CHRISTOPH WALTZ (DJANGO UNCHAINED)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: ANNE HATHAWAY (LES MISERABLES)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: DJANGO UNCHAINED

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: ARGO

BEST ANIMATED FILM: BRAVE

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: AMOUR

 

BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY: SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN

 

BEST SHORT SUBJECT DOCUMENTARY: INOCENTE

 

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT: CURFEW

BEST ANIMATED SHORT: PAPERMAN

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: LIFE OF PI

BEST ORIGINAL SONG: SKYFALL

 

BEST SOUND EDITING: SKYFALL and ZERO DARK THIRTY (TIE)







BEST SOUND MIXING: LES MISERABLES

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: LINCOLN

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: LIFE OF PI

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING: LES MISERABLES

BEST COSTUME DESIGN: ANNA KARENINA

BEST FILM EDITING: ARGO

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: LIFE OF PI

THOUGHTS ON THE SHOW



First off, let's talk about Seth MacFarlane's performance as the host. He did a fantastic job, evident from the opening monologue alone. Contrary to popular belief, he wasn't as raunchy as some were expecting, although there were some moments (like the musical number 'We Saw Your Boobs', which for the record, I actually did find kind of funny when I re-watched it. It's actually not in bad taste as some might think it is). I thought the next sketch he did where he reenacted Flight using sock puppets was quite hilarious. If I had one gripe with the whole opening monologue, it was that it went on for way too long. It was probably 20 minutes before they even started to present the awards. If you're wondering why the Oscars went on longer than expected last night, this is one of the reasons why.

Next, let's talk about the tributes and performances, headlined by a 50-year anniversary tribute to the James Bond franchise. As someone who is a huge Bond fan, I thought the tribute to Bond was pretty good and shows that, even at 76 years old, Shirley Bassey can still belt out that classic tune of hers from 'Goldfinger' like no one else. I just have one problem though; Where were the Bonds? Where was Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig? That would have made it even more awesome to see all six Bonds on stage together. Still, you can't go wrong with not just Bassey performing 'Goldfinger', but also Adele with her first live performance of 'Skyfall'. As for the other tributes/performances, they were solid all around and Barbara Streisand's tribute to the late composer Marvin Hamlisch was very touching.

Finally, I have to say that I had little to no problems with the winners for each award. The reason why I bring this up is because if I did something like this for last year's event (yes, I'm aware my blog wasn't even up at that time), I wouldn't be able to say much about it because I didn't see many of the films that were nominated for Best Picture. This year was different and even when a film I did not see received one of the awards, that just gave me a bigger reason to see the film (like 'Life of Pi', which ended with the most awards for the night at 4). Also, the tie for Best Sound Editing was a genuine surprise because I'll admit I never thought that would actually happen. But believe it or not, it has occurred before (a couple times, in fact). However, there were one award that I disagreed with and that was for Best Animated Feature, which went to Brave. I'm sorry, but Brave was not the best animated film of the year. No, I don't think it was a bad movie, but it wasn't Pixar's best effort.

And those are my thoughts on the Oscars, as well as the list of winners for anyone who didn't watch the show last night. Overall, it was a solid show and Seth MacFarlane did a great job hosting. Thanks for reading and I'll be back with another 'Post-Oscar' entry next year.

85th Academy Awards Predictions

I won't be going through every category because either A.) I'm not big on the subject (like Sound Mixing/Editing) or B.) I haven't seen any of the films in that category (Foreign Films). Heck, sometimes it might be both. So, let's get started...

BEST FILM

Nominees:


*Argo

*Amour

*Beasts of the Southern Wild

*Django Unchained

*Les Miserables

*Life of Pi

*Lincoln

*Silver Linings Playbook

*Zero Dark Thirty

My pick- Argo

There's certainly a strong list of candidates this year, but considering that Argo's winning almost every major 'Best Picture' award across the awards circuit, I won't be surprised if it earns another 'Best Picture' award this Sunday. This will also hopefully make up for the Academy snubbing Ben Affleck for Best Director. For runner-up, I'm going with 'Silver Linings Playbook' and in third, 'Les Miserables'.

BEST DIRECTOR
 

Nominees:

*Michael Haneke (Amour)

*Ang Lee (Life of Pi)

*David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)

*Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)

*Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

My pick (if he was actually nominated)- Ben Affleck (Argo)

 

But of course he wasn't, so moving on...

 

My actual pick- David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)





 

For me, it was either Spielberg or Russell and while Spielberg definitely did a good job with Lincoln, I think this one belongs to Russell. Not only will it serve as redemption for Russell after his 'on-set' incidents with George Clooney on 'Three Kings' and Lily Tomlin on 'I Heart Huckabees', but this film also means a lot to Russell (his son is a student at a special education school, which connects to the main character Pat who suffers from bipolar disorder) so I'm giving my vote to him.

BEST ACTOR

Nominees:

*Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

*Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)

*Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)

*Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)

*Denzel Washington (Flight)

My pick- Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)



This was actually the hardest category to choose from this year. For me, it was a three-way battle between Daniel Day-Lewis, Bradley Cooper, and Hugh Jackman. In the end, I decided to go with Day-Lewis and not because he's won the award two times already. Day-Lewis is seriously one of the best actors working today and there's no denying that he did a fantastic job as President Lincoln. I'm also in support of Hugh Jackman for 'Les Miserables' but ultimately Day-Lewis edged him out in my opinion.

BEST ACTRESS

 

Nominees:

 

*Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

*Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)

*Naomi Watts (The Impossible)

*Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

*Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)

 

My pick- Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)



In another close race, it comes down to Lawrence and Chastain. Chastain did a fantastic job in 'Zero Dark Thirty', especially when considering she's pretty much the only major character in the film. But Jennifer Lawrence also did a fantastic job in 'Silver Linings Playbook'. She had great chemistry with Bradley Cooper and held her own against an acting legend like Robert De Niro. Even if she doesn't end up winning this Sunday, I'm pretty sure this won't be the last time Lawrence will be up for this award.

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Nominees:

 

*Alan Arkin (Argo)

*Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)

*Phillip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)

*Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)

*Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)

 

My pick- Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)

 



Despite the fact that one major performance was snubbed this year (no love for Leonardo DiCaprio?), this is a really stacked group of nominees but in the end, my pick is for DiCaprio's Django co-star, Christoph Waltz, who gave an equally as good, if not better, performance in the film as bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz.

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Nominees:

*Amy Adams (The Master)

*Sally Field (Lincoln)

*Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)

*Helen Hunt (The Sessions)

*Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook)

My pick- Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)



No contest here, she stole the film in just 10 minutes of screen-time.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Nominees:

 

*Amour

*Django Unchained

*Flight

*Moonrise Kingdom

*Zero Dark Thirty

My pick- Django Unchained



It's about time the Academy recognizes Tarantino for his excellent screenplays.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Nominees:

*Argo

*Lincoln

*Beasts of the Southern Wild

*Life of Pi

*Silver Linings Playbook

 

My pick- Silver Linings Playbook



Mostly because of Russell's witty screenplay that perfectly balanced humor and drama.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Nominees:

*Paranorman

*Brave

*Frankenweenie

*The Pirates! Band of Misfits

*Wreck-it Ralph

My pick- Wreck-it Ralph



I was surprised that Brave won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature because it really wasn't their best effort, or the best Animated film of the year for that matter. Wreck-it Ralph, on the other hand, is a terrific film, and I'm not just saying this because I'm a gamer. Wreck-it Ralph is more than just a video game film. It's a creative film with an endearing story that can appeal to everyone, not just gamers.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

Nominees:

*Adam and Dog

*Fresh Guacamole

*Head over Heels

*Paperman

*The Longest Daycare

My pick- Paperman



While I haven't seen all of the nominees in this category, I have seen Paperman and I will be genuinely surprised if doesn't go home with the gold. Paperman is just a beautiful short in terms of both animation and story. For runner-up, I'm going with Fresh Guacamole because it does something very unique with such a simple premise that I don't want to spoil it here. I'll provide a link to it at the end so you can see it for yourself. (UPDATE: The video on YouTube has since become private)

 

BEST SCORE

Nominees:

*Dario Marianelli (Anna Karenina)

*Alexandre Desplat (Argo)

*Mychael Danna (Life of Pi)

*John Williams (Lincoln)

*Thomas Newman (Skyfall)

My pick- Thomas Newman (Skyfall)



While John Williams always turns out great scores, evident once again in Lincoln, and Argo had a really beautiful melody at the end, titled 'Cleared Iranian Airspace', I give my vote to Thomas Newman's work for James Bond.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Nominees:

 

*'Before My Time' (Chasing Ice)

*'Skyfall' (Skyfall)

*'Everybody Needs a Best Friend' (Ted)

*'Suddenly' (Les Miserables)

*'Pi's Lullaby' (Life of Pi)

 

My pick- Skyfall



Again, no contest here. One of the best Bond theme songs of all time.

 

And those are my picks for the Oscars. Who will win this Sunday? You're just going to have to tune in to find out.

 

Fresh Guacamole: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQMO6vjmkyI





A Good Day to Die Hard (2013) review

John McClane has fought terrorists in a high-rise office building in Los Angeles. He's fought terrorists in a Washington airport. He's fought a terrorist's vengeful brother in the city of New York, and he's even fought cyber-terrorists who shut down every computer in America. So what's next for the no-nonsense cop from New York who was once called a 'cowboy' by terrorist Hans Gruber? Well, in 'A Good Day to Die Hard', the fifth entry in this long-running series, McClane heads out of the United States and joins up with his son Jack in Russia for another fight with a group of terrorists. But, I hate to break it to you people, but this movie... really sucks. Why? Because it's not a Die Hard movie. Sure, it may bear the name 'Die Hard' but in reality, this is nothing more than just a generic action movie starring Bruce Willis.

In 'A Good Day to Die Hard', NYPD Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) heads to Russia when he learns that his son John Jr. AKA Jack (Jai Courtney) has gotten into some trouble and has been arrested. When he gets there, however, he learns that Jack is actually working for the CIA. For the last three years, he has been on a mission to acquire 'political prisoner' Yuri Komarov (Sebastian Koch), who is believed to have incriminating evidence against a high-ranking Russian official, who has now sent henchmen in order to find Komarov and to kill anyone who tries to oppose him, namely Jack. Now caught up in the whole ordeal as well, John joins forces with his son in order to take down these terrorists before they get their hands on Komarov and this alleged file.

So what's wrong with this movie? Well, there's a lot to talk about in regards to that question, but easily the biggest problem with the film is that there is absolutely no tension. One of the greatest strengths of the last four films was that there was great tension and you got the sense that McClane was in mortal danger. Well, okay, in 'Live Free or Die Hard' he started to live through some outrageous stunts but in this movie, there's no denying it; John McClane has pretty much become superhuman. There are multiple instances where he survives through death-defying stunts with barely any scratches, like in one scene where's he driving a truck and it flips over at least 10 times but he manages to get out without much difficulty. The only real part of the film that has any tension is at the end. Why? Because the final action sequence takes place at Chernobyl and neither John, Jack, or the villains wear any protective gear and there's no indication that any of them get affected by radiation whatsoever (so you can add 'defying logic' to this film's list of many problems).

But that's not the only thing wrong with this film. The plot is so convoluted that the plot outline I just wrote for the film was my best effort of doing so. The plots of the other four films were simple; terrorists attack and John McClane has to stop them. There are somewhere around four villains in this film, and they are all terrible. Jack and John have absolutely no camaraderie at all and Jack spends most of the film yelling at John. At one point, he even threatens to shoot his own father. It's not really Jai Courtney's fault, it's the writing. You can't really blame Bruce Willis, either, but at this point he's not playing John McClane. He's just Bruce Willis in a generic action film that feels more like a video game (which is ironic considering that this director's last film was a video game adaptation (2008's 'Max Payne')) than an actual Die Hard film.

This is a sad day. The legacy of a great franchise is tarnished by what is undoubtedly its worst film ever. It's a film so bad that after I saw it, I bought the first Die Hard film simply out of pity. It's a film that in no way resembles its four predecessors and the end result is just a generic action film starring Bruce Willis, who certainly isn't playing John McClane anymore. I know a lot of people weren't huge fans of the PG-13 rated 'Live Free or Die Hard' but believe me when I say that that film actually felt like a Die Hard film while this film is far from it. Before this film came out, Willis said that he wanted to do at least one more movie after this one before retiring the character. But now, after this film, I recommend that they end the series here because unless this 'Die Hard 6' can be as good as the first four films in the series, this series is pretty much dead.

 

Rating: 0.5/5

Warm Bodies (2013) review

Sometimes there is a movie that pisses you off so much, you become weary of any future movies that come out that have the same premise as that movie. For me, one of those movies is Twilight; the film franchise that somehow became a worldwide phenomenon despite the fact that it is was nothing more than a poorly-written, poorly-acted, and just poorly-made melodrama. So as you might have guessed, I wasn't really looking forward to 'Warm Bodies', a film that has the same premise of a human girl falling love with a paranormal creature, in this case a zombie, and was from the same company that distributed Twilight, Summit Entertainment. But believe it or not, 'Warm Bodies' is a really good film for pretty much doing what Twilight failed to do in many areas, from the romance to actually making its two leads likable.

The film takes place after the world is affected by a zombie apocalypse. One zombie in particular (Nicholas Hoult), who remembers that his name started with an 'R', spends most of his days wandering around an airport along with the other zombies while any surviving humans are hidden from the zombies in a heavily guarded enclave. One day, when a group of young men and women head out to acquire medical supplies, R and some other zombies attack and R ends up eating the brains of one of the humans, Perry Kelvin (Dave Franco). However, by doing so, he starts to fall in love with Perry's girlfriend Julie (Teresa Palmer), the daughter of General Grigio (John Malkovich), the leader of the human resistance. As R and Julie start to fall in love, R starts to become more human, a change that is spreading to his fellow zombies as well.

 

For the record, this is a very simple story (it's pretty much Romeo an Juliet, just with zombies) so if you're a huge zombie fan, then you might be a little disappointed with this film as it takes a couple of liberties in how they portray zombies here. It's a romantic comedy first, and a zombie film second so it's going to be a little cheesy. Still, for a romantic comedy, this actually has to be one of the best-written romantic comedies in recent years. Sure, there could have been just a bit more humor, but once this film gets going, it ends up being really entertaining. A lot of the humor comes from R's inner monologue because, of course, he's a zombie and he can't speak as well as a human. Overall, the writing is quite solid though they could have gone just a bit farther with the premise.

Speaking of R, the character is what really sells the movie for me. Remember, this is a film that is in the same genre as the film starring a dull and creepy vampire who pines for a teenage girl who is at least a century younger than him. R, on the other hand, is very engaging, and as mentioned earlier, funny thanks to his inner monologue. You really have to hand it to Nicholas Hoult for his performance here, as he clearly blows Robert Pattinson out of the water and does a terrific job. As for Teresa Palmer, while her character is just a little flat, she also does a good job as well. Because of these two, I was able to get into the romance which, of course, I could never get into with Twilight because it was just boring and the two leads were just straight up unlikable. This film's romance is actually pretty sweet.

Basically what I'm trying to get across here is that for those of you thinking that this film is just a 'Twilight clone', you will be surprised by how good this film actually is. Sure, it's not perfect; there could have been some more humor and maybe it could have been a little less cheesy. But still, for a romantic comedy, it's one of the better films from this genre that I have seen in a while. If anything else, it's a hell of a lot better than Twilight because I was actually able to get into the romance and the male lead was really engaging. For anyone like me who had to suffer through the Twilight films, this will be a breath of fresh air for you.

Rating: 4/5

2013 Preview: February

Welcome back to this monthly preview of the upcoming films of 2013. This is Part 2 of 12 and today we'll be looking at the films that will hit theaters in the month of February.

*While January saw the return of the one and only Arnold Schwarzenegger, fellow 80's stars Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis both have new films coming out this month. Stallone's movie, 'Bullet to the Head', starts off the month on the 1^st. Directed by Walter Hill (producer of the Alien franchise and director of '48 Hrs.'), Bullet to the Head stars Stallone as Jimmy Bobo, a professional hit-man who joins forces with a young detective to take down an enemy in New Orleans.



*Two other movies hit theaters the same weekend as Bullet to the Head. One of these films is a crime-comedy, 'Stand Up Guys'. Al Pacino stars as Val, a con man who is released from prison and reunites with his old partner Doc, played by Christopher Walken. Little does Val know that Doc has been hired by a man known as Claphands to kill Val as revenge for killing his son.



*The final release of the week is 'Warm Bodies', a zombie romantic comedy film from Jonathan Levine, director of 2011's '50/50', and based on the novel of the same name by Issac Marion. Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class) stars as R, a zombie who wanders around America after a mysterious plague wipes out most of the human population. After eating the brains of the boyfriend of a young woman named Julie (Teresa Palmer), R falls in love with her.



*A slew of new movies hits theaters starting on the 8^th of February. The first is a comedy, Identity Thief, directed by Seth Gordon (who helmed 2011's 'Horrible Bosses'). Jason Bateman stars as Sandy Bigelow Patterson, who heads to Florida when he learns that his identity has been stolen by a woman named Diana (Melissa McCarthy).

*'Side Effects' is a psychological thriller from director Steven Soderbergh. Rooney Mara stars as a young woman who tries prescription drugs to deal with her anxiety as she awaits her husband's release from jail. Jude Law, Channing Tatum, and Catherine Zeta Jones co-star.

*This week also sees the first 3-D re-release of the year (one of two (previously five until the cancellation of 'The Little Mermaid 3D' and both 'Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones' and 'Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith') in 'Top Gun', the classic 1986 action film directed by the late Tony Scott starring Tom Cruise as Maverick, a hotshot pilot who enlists at the Navy's prestigious school, Top Gun. The film will see a 6-day re-release in IMAX 3-D starting on the 8^th.





*Valentine's Day Weekend is going to be a packed one at the theater as four new movies are set to come out this week, including two romance films (both of which are based off of books), an action film, and an animated film. The first romance film is 'Beautiful Creatures', based off the novel of the same name by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, the first novel in the Caster Chronicles. The story follows a boy named Ethan, who falls in love with a girl named Lena who is revealed to be a Caster, someone that can use magic.



*The other romantic film that weekend is the latest based off of a novel by author Nicholas Sparks, following 'The Notebook', 'Dear John', 'The Last Song', and 'The Lucky One'. In 'Safe Haven', a young woman named Katie (Julianne Hough) moves to the town of Southport, North Carolina harboring a dark secret. While there, she falls in love with Alex (Josh Duhamel), a widower living with his two kids. 'Safe Haven' is directed by Lasse Hallstrom, director of 'Dear John'.



*For the action crowd, this weekend sees the release of 'A Good Day to Die Hard', the fifth entry in the 'Die Hard' series. Bruce Willis reprises his role of NYPD cop John McClane and in this film, he heads to Russia where he becomes involved in a terrorist scheme along with his son Jack (Spartacus' Jai Courtney). It is also the first film in the series to not be based off of either a preexisting novel (Die Hard 1 and 2) or screenplay (Die Hard with a Vengeance/Live Free or Die Hard).

*The animated film released this weekend is 'Escape from Planet Earth'. The film is produced by Rainmaker Entertainment, the company responsible for the first CGI animated series, Reboot, and will be distributed by the Weinstein Company. The film follows astronaut Scorch Supernova, a national hero on his home world of Baab who gets caught up in a trap when he answers an SOS from a dangerous planet.

*A sci-fi horror film hits theaters on the 22^nd. Dark Skies is the latest film from Jason Blum, producer of the Paranormal Activity series and Insidious. Keri Russell and Josh Hamilton (the actor from the 1993 film 'Alive', not the baseball player) star as a couple who must save their family from an alien presence.



*The last film to hit theaters in February is Snitch. Dwayne Johnson stars as the father of a teenaged boy who is framed and put in jail for distributing drugs as Johnson's character tries to clear his son's name.

LIMITED RELEASE OF THE MONTH



*'A Glimpse inside the Mind of Charles Swan III' is a comedy film directed by Roman Coppola, son of Francis Ford Coppola. Charlie Sheen stars as Charles Swan III, a successful graphic designer who tries to turn his life around after his girlfriend dumps him. The film will hit theaters in a limited release starting on February 8^th.