The Dawn is Here

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes isn't just the pinnacle of a new type of acting...it just might be the beginning of a better type of blockbuster.

In 2008's The Dark Knight, Harvey Dent walks up to a podium in broad daylight in front of a crowd of angry and scared Gothamites.  He does so in the hopes of quelling the fears of a city on the verge of a mental breakdown.  But even though his demeanor remains calm, the citizens of Gotham do not.  They interrupt and plead for him to give in to the demands of a psychotic criminal before things get even worse.  And who can blame them?  The Joker is terrorizing their city in a way that's never been seen before, either by them or by us in the audience.  Eventually, even Harvey has to admit that they've reached a new low.  But in this admittance, he reassures everyone that just because it's bad now doesn't mean it can't get better.  "The night is darkest just before the dawn," he declares.  "I promise you, the dawn is coming."

Well Harvey, the Dawn is here.  And it is beautiful.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a sequel to a prequel that rebooted a 46-year old franchise.  Its very existence as a movie seems preposterous.  That type of connectivity to past movies screams out that Hollywood is just trying to make a buck.  But DotPotA (even in acronym form it seems ridiculous!) is so much more than a prequel-sequel-reboot.  It continues Rise of the Planet of the Apes' CGI facelift of the 1968 original in all the right ways.  It isn't a perfect movie.  But it is the best movie you may see this summer.  

What makes DotPotA so good?  The dedication and confidence in its intelligent story, its complex characters, its CGI wizardry, and its simian-like actors.  It would have been easy for director Matt Reeves (Let Me In, Cloverfield) to joke at the absurdity of apes riding on horseback or rebelling with machine guns, but the tone remains serious throughout.  The movie deals with themes of war, rebellion, and family as if its giving a lecture on current world politics.  Who knew a movie about talking apes could be so profound?  This seriousness continues as trust between the humans and apes is built up and destroyed seemingly every 15 minutes, and often in startling ways.

Like it's predecessor, Dawn also never suffers from a lack of stylized directing.  There are silent scenes that rely on the actors and the spectacular CGI visuals alone, including a prolonged opening scene featuring Caesar's ape tribe (a clear nod to the opening of 2001: A Space Odyssey, except these apes don't need a monolith to boost their intelligence...they already know how to use sign language, much less use weapons).  There's a great 360 degree shot on top of a tank that captures both the ape takeover of the vehicle and the scale of the surrounding battle.  And there's a battle scene between two apes that is at once reminiscent of the construction chase in Casino Royale, yet explores the completely new possibilities of how apes can use their surroundings in a fight in more effective ways than humans.

But the real revelation here, as it also was in Rise, comes from the motion capture acting.  Great movies allow the audience to suspend their disbelief, and in a movie about intelligent apes fighting a war against Earth's last human survivors, that's a pretty big thing to ask.  Yet through the work of multiple actors committed to monkeying around in motion capture suits--along with the brilliant work from Weta Digital (Avatar) to turn these human actors into hulking apes--the audience believes in this world fully, from the opening shot of Caesar's green speckled eyes to the closing one.  

While all the critical attention has been given to Andy Serkis (who played Caesar as both a young and old ape in Rise, and also famously played Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and King Kong in...well, you know), special praise here should also be given to Toby Kebbell, who plays the terrifying Koba.  I'm one of the many people who believe Serkis should have at least one Oscar nomination by now, but if a nomination is going to be given out to anyone in this movie, it should be Kebbell that gets the nod over Serkis (though give Serkis credit for allowing his supporting cast to shine...after all, motion capture is his baby.  He didn't have to start a school to help others reach his level.)  

In the ape tribe, Koba is the Scar to Caesar's Mufasa.  He's a loose cannon that is more trusted than he deserves to be, and Kebbell plays it perfectly.  Koba's face is scary enough with his one foggy eye and multiple lacerations, but it is Kebbell's acting that gives Koba a lunacy which is impossible to anticipate.  One scene in particular, where Koba confronts two humans testing machine guns on the waterfront, is so sadistically played that it made people in my theater laugh with delight and scream in terror within moments.  I hadn't heard a theater react like that since seeing Heath Ledger's turn as the Joker.

Which brings me back to that opening paragraph.  Though Harvey's quote is a simple analogy to compare the end of a dark night to the current situation in Gotham, it might as well be comparing that same dark night to the current situation of the summer blockbuster.  A smart summer blockbuster is a rare occurrence.  Outside of the works of Christopher Nolan, we hardly ever see smart summer movies that make boatloads of money anymore.  Studios want their summer movies to play to the widest audience possible, and making movies that would go over the heads of some of that audience means lost profits.  So, we get dumbed down movies like Tammy, Think Like a Man Too, and Transformers: Age of Extinction.  

Dawn is literally arriving after the darkest point of the summer, where a movie that received a 17% rating on Rottentomatoes became critic proof and still took in over $600 million worldwide.  We as a movie-going public should not want this to happen.  No one needs to support Michael Bay.  It's movies like Dawn that deserve our support.

If Dawn of the Planet of the Apes makes money, it will once again show that big, smart movies are still worth making, just as Rise of the Planet of the Apes did when it proved to be far more intelligent and successful than anyone thought it had any right to be, and as The Dark Knight did when it blew away our notions of whip-smart filmmaking in 2008.  This weekend will hopefully end with Dawn taking its rightful place at the top of the box office.  And maybe, just maybe, it will even show Hollywood that someone other than Nolan can direct a sequel that will make money AND be made with the care, concern, and intellect that the audience deserves.

The dark night is over, ladies and gentlemen.  The Dawn is here.  Go and gaze upon its beauty.

Same Difference: 22 Jump Street Shows Us All The Correct Way To Make A Comedy Sequel

I've had a question on my mind for the last three weeks, and after much reassessment, I think it's safe to finally ask.  Is it blasphemous to cinema history to already call 22 Jump Street one of the best comedy sequels of all time?  Before you immediately disagree, let's unpack that statement a little:

First off, I'm not saying that 22 Jump Street is anywhere near the list of best all-time comedies.  The list of original comedies that are greater than 22 Jump Street is vast, and this movie probably wouldn't crack anyone's top 50.  But what about comedy sequels?  I have 22 Jump Street rated as an 8 out of 10, which could be a point high, but turns out to be exactly where it's currently sitting on IMDb AND exactly the same rating I gave 21 Jump Street when I put it in my Top 10 list of 2012. (Shameless self-promotion?  Check!)  8 out of 10 is a good score from me...that's right at the mark where I separate really good from great.

Now sequels in their own right are hard to do correctly, but comedy sequels have a special task that's even more difficult than dramatic ones.  In a dramatic sequel, the audience wants to see a movie expand upon the world from the first film.  Think The Two Towers, The Empire Strikes Back, or even the recently released How to Train Your Dragon 2 (though that one is nowhere near the same level as the other two...just want to make sure that's clear).

When we go to see dramatic sequels, we go in already knowing the characters and their motivations.  What makes these sequels great is that they put these characters in new locations that we previously didn't even know existed.  The group of characters that we've come to know and that we want to see together get split apart, making for more emotional tension.  The stakes are raised in bigger climactic scenes, new people get thrown into the mix that can change the course of the movie, and revelations about things that happened in the past can change our perception of the first film (or future films) entirely.

Comedy sequels can't do this.  Most great comedies aren't concerned about plot or world-building, but rather with relationships between characters that are fun to watch.  So when a studio green-lights a comedy sequel, what they really want is for the writers and directors to make the same movie but with new jokes, and maybe if one of the cast members has become a star since the last movie, give them a little more screen time.  The marketing efforts trick the audience into thinking this is what they want too.  But by the time the sequel is over, most people leave the theater feeling nostalgic for the first movie, yet indifferent about the second.

Think about recent comedy sequels you may have seen.  Remember the worldwide anticipation for Anchorman 2?  Can you quote any lines from it like you could from the first one?  What about the Hangover trilogy?  They're all rehashes that have funny moments, but in the end are extremely forgettable because they're basically the same movie.  The best comedy sequels are few and far between, and tend to change up the formula just enough.  Think National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (same family, but with holiday shenanigans that everyone can relate to) or Ghostbusters 2 (same city, different ghosts).

Enter 22 Jump Street.  No movie has subverted the comedy sequel formula like this since Austin Powers: The Spy who Shagged Me, and no movie has ever done it this well.  From the start of the movie with the "Previously on 21 Jump Street" montage, to Nick Offerman's deadpan delivery about how the department has given Jenko (Channing Tatum) and Schmidt (Jonah Hill) a bigger budget to do the exact same thing as the last time (see the trailer above), to that great camera gag with the 23 Jump Street condominiums that are currently under construction, and through to those end credits (more on those later) this movie is constantly making fun of the studio sequel model.

22 Jump Street is funny enough without the constant meta commentary, but the sequel jokes serve to push the laughs over the edge.  Many of the jokes are the exact same, but because the movie calls out the purposeful similarity, it adds an entirely new level of hilarity.  As 21 Jump Street flipped high school culture on its head, so 22 Jump Street does with college (like that zombie walk of shame shot with Schmidt or Jenko's musings on human sexuality).  There's a ridiculous car chase (or two, because, you know, bigger budget), another drug trip, and more strain on the bromance between the two leads (but for opposite reasons than the first movie).  And man, those end credits.  Without spoiling too much for those that haven't seen the movie, I'll just say they are worth the price of admission alone.  Phil Lord and Chris Miller completely blow up the chance for any further sequels (or maybe they've spelled out their plans for the next 40 years) with what has to be the best credit gag ever created.

Speaking of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, if you don't know those names yet, it's time to learn.  This directing team is on fire: in the last five years, they've directed 2014's best offering so far (The Lego Movie), somehow revived the 21 Jump Street property (22 Jump Street had the second-highest opening weekend gross for an R-rated comedy ever), and released the underrated Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.  Every film they've done has been a long shot, and they've all become bona fide hits.

Back to the initial statement of this post: I think 22 Jump Street has already earned its place in at least the top 5 comedy sequels of all time.  You can think of this as either a gross overstatement (you're entitled to your own opinion) or as me giving a movie seemingly a lot of credit for what is actually a very narrowly construed category.  ("Narrowly construed"...there I go getting all Constitutional Law-y on you.  Sorry.  Blame bar prep.)  But honestly, what else would even be in your list?  Home Alone 2?  Rush Hour 2?  D2: The Mighty Ducks (Minnesota!!)?  No matter your list, go see 22 Jump Street.  You won't be disappointed.  And you might just walk out agreeing that it's one of the best comedy sequels you've ever seen.

Time to Predict the 2014 Oscars!

It's once again the favorite time of year for every movie lover!  It's Oscar Weekend!

Wait...before we start...it is your favorite time of year, right?  I mean, I know not everyone is as off-the-walls enthusiastic about the Academy Awards as I am.  But even if you don't like watching rich people hand each other statues, there's plenty of reasons for everyone to watch the Oscars.  The best explanation I've ever heard for loving the Oscars is this: without the Oscars, there wouldn't be any good movies.  Think about it: what would motivate anyone in Hollywood to produce good art if not for the possibility of being acknowledged by their peers and the little naked gold statues they could put on their mantle?  Without the Oscars, we'd get 12 months of terrible rom coms, action movies that aren't thought out past the explosion scenes, and animated movies with no imagination.  So I guess what I'm saying is this: it doesn't matter that you don't love awards shows.  What matters is that the people up for those awards DO love them, and will make great movies because of them.  And for that, we should all be thankful that the Oscars rolls out the red carpet every year.

But enough preaching.  On to the awards!  As I said in my prediction blog last year, what you will read below is purely speculation.  If you are responsible for winning an Oscar pool this weekend because of this blog, feel free to throw all of the thanks my way.  But if you lose, please don't blame me.  This year may be one of the most difficult years to predict ever, which is a testament to just how many good movies there were.  Remember last year when the Best Picture winner (Argo) only took home three awards the whole night?  No?  Well...just...ok?  Take my word for it (Best Picture, Best Editing, and Best Adapted Screenplay).  I'm gonna guess a similar thing will happen this year (in fact, I could see the Best Picture winner this year possibly winning only two awards).  All of this is to say that the Oscars are a crapshoot.  Essentially, I'm attempting to predict what a mix of actors, directors, writers, and nerdy special effects guys, all either old or young, male or female, etc., have decided is the best in every category.  Some of these are going to be wrong.

With that said, in each category I will predict what I think WILL win while also marking what I think SHOULD win.  DO NOT READ ANYTHING INTO THE "SHOULD" WIN CATEGORY EXCEPT THAT I ENJOYED IT!!  Some of these will have potential dark horse candidates that I will explain if you want to have an idea of another choice to possibly make, while others are fairly set in stone (for example, Gravity is currently going off at -10000 odds to win Best Cinematography.  I'm not even sure how to quantify that).  Finally, in some of these categories I haven't seen all of the nominees (I'm not Superman, guys), so I will be going off what the experts are saying.  Like last year, I've broken this up into minor awards, technical awards, and big awards so you can just jump to whatever you like. You ready to do this?  I'm tired of making up things to write so LET'S GO!!!


X = Will Win

O = Should Win



Minor Awards (Also known as lots of movies no one has seen...including me)


Best Short Film (Live Action)

             That Wasn't Me
             Just Before Losing Everything
             Helium
             Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?
(X)        The Voorman Problem

Just like last year, we're starting off hot with exactly zero of the nominees seen in this category.  I know that certain theaters have nights where they show all these shorts at once and stuff, but with school and everything, that's just not happening.  The Voorman Problem is going off at 10/11 odds to win this thing.  In case you care, the movie is about a doctor who is called in to examine a prisoner named Mr. Voorman who believes that he is a god.  Is the guy insane, meaning he can be sent to an asylum?  Or is he just faking it.  Sounds interesting to me.  Not interesting enough to go out and find today before the Oscars, but interesting nonetheless.  Let's move on.


Best Short Film (Animated)

             Feral
(X)       Get a Horse!
             Mr Hublot
             Possessions
             Room on the Broom

If you've seen the movie Frozen, then you've seen one of these nominees!  Congratulations!  You've probably also seen the winner of this category, so why even watch the rest?  I promise I won't sound this lazy when it gets to the big awards.  Anyway, Get a Horse!, like it's feature film counterpart, seems like a lock to win here.  It's old timey and nostalgic (Mickey and Minnie!!), and it's Disney.  Oh, and if you're wondering about the absence of the Should Win marks, I'm not making those until there's a category where I've seen multiple nominees.


Best Documentary (Short Subject)

             Cavedigger
             Facing Fear
             Karama Has No Walls
(X)        The Lady In Number 6: Music Saved My Life
             Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall

Apparently, this one is pretty clear cut.  The Lady in Number 6 is going off at 1/10 odds and has been picked by almost every expert.  So there you go.  The point of the documentary appears to be in the title, so I have nothing more to say about that.


Best Documentary (Feature)

(O)       The Act of Killing
             Cutie and the Boxer
             Dirty Wars
             The Square
(X)        20 Feet from Stardom

Finally!  A category where I can actually provide some insight!  Earlier this week, I realized that every Oscar nominated documentary with the exception of one was put up on Netflix.  But it's a shame to report that the one movie that wasn't added was the movie that is likely going to win this award.  20 Feet from Stardom is a crowd-pleasing look at backup singers for popular bands and artists, finally giving these gifted voices the attention that they deserve.  It's got all the elements of a good documentary: an underdog story, previously overlooked people, and music that will emotionally manipulate the hell out of any voter.  That being said, I still think The Act of Killing should win this award.  It's about a far more important subject: the Indonesian genocide in 1965-66 that ended with 2.5 million people dead, yet the killers are still in control, have never been tried for any human rights violations, and are actually proud enough about what they did to reenact the killings to the documentarians filming them.  Documentary awards should go to the most important, well-told documentaries, but I just don't think enough voters are going to watch a subtitled movie about Indonesia when they can see Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger, and Sting in the other one.


Best Foreign Language Film

             The Broken Circle Breakdown
             The Missing Picture
             The Hunt
(X)       The Great Beauty
             Omar

Aaaannnddd, we're back to categories where I've seen nothing.  That was short lived.  If you're even reading the paragraphs for these categories, I'll be surprised.  Seriously, comment "See more movies" on my Facebook post for this blog if you're reading this.  I'm putting the over/under at .5 comments or likes of the first comment.  Oh, yea, and Great Beauty is a likely lock for this one.  Look out for The Hunt, though.  It's been on Netflix for a couple months (meaning it could be on voters' minds) and has definite dark horse potential.  Again, no Should Win mark for this one because I honestly don't know what should win.


Best Animated Feature Film

             The Croods
             Despicable Me 2
             Ernest & Celestine
(X)       Frozen
(O)       The Wind Rises

Is there a more sure thing tonight than Frozen winning this award?  Disney is looking to have a pretty decent little Oscar night, what with this win and likely a short film and Best Song win to boot.  But should Frozen win?  It's a charming movie, to be sure.  However, The Wind Rises is the final film ever for legendary animated film director Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle).  Shouldn't that deserve some recognition one last time?  Voters will know this, but I'm not sure it's enough to unseat Frozen.  I'll let it go and pick the Disney movie.



Technical Awards (I've seen these films!)


Best Achievement in Visual Effects

(X)(O)  Gravity
             The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
             Iron Man 3
             The Lone Ranger
             Star Trek Into Darkness

Now we're getting into the fun stuff!  And with the first technical award of the night comes the first of likely many awards for Alfonso Cuaron's space thriller.  Like the force of gravity itself, not many things are going to be able to overcome this movie on Oscar night.  Gravity was made for technical dominance, and in this category, the 3D filming and its overwhelming special effects (be it the beauty or scariness of space depending on the part of the movie) will be more than enough to give it the award.  The other four movies here aren't even in the same class.


Best Achievement in Sound Editing

             All Is Lost
(O)       Captain Phillips
(X)       Gravity
             The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
             Lone Survivor

Last year, I gave a little blurb about what the difference is between sound editing and sound mixing (the next category), and I'm gonna give myself a little pat on the back and give that same blurb again.  For those who don't know the difference, sound editing is the ability to create sounds, such as a dragon's fiery breath or the explosion of space debris.  As with Visual Effects, Gravity is the likely winner here.  The irony, though, is that in space there is no sound, a fact the movie touts in its opening title screen.  For that reason alone, I feel like Gravity shouldn't get this win.  Instead, I think a win for Captain Phillips would be much more deserved (constant sounds of open water, large ships, and gunshots are not easy to believably create), and would also be in line with recent winners like Skyfall.  But, unfortunately, I only have a blog, not a vote.


Best Achievement in Sound Mixing

(X)(O)  Gravity
             The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
             Captain Phillips
             Inside Llewyn Davis
             Lone Survivor

Another technical award, another win for Gravity.  Ho hum.  As for the difference between this category and the last one, Sound Mixing is the ability to take all of the recorded sounds, put them in a mixing board, and find the correct balance between music, dialogue, and audio effects.  Here is where I think Gravity is far more deserving.  The majority of the tension in Gravity is built between the pulsating score and the simultaneously pulsating breathing of Sandra Bullock.  The dialogue between the astronauts, NASA, and a random Chinese guy and his dog all had to be expertly mixed to be clear, but not unbelievably so.  Oh, and those space explosions--specifically the ones that occur when Sandra Bullock is in the interior of various satellites and the audience can hear--are terrifyingly real.  The only chance of an upset here could be Inside Llewyn Davis.


Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)

             Happy (Despicable Me 2)
(X)(O)  Let It Go (Frozen)
             Ordinary Love (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom)
             The Moon Song (Her)

I have to be honest: I'm actually really looking forward to this award.  In any other year, all four of these songs would be a winner (there were five nominees, but one was dropped due to some illegal campaigning).  "Happy" is a bouncy Pharrell Williams track, and if you've listened to music at all this last year, you know that Pharrell Williams is on fire right now (a win tonight would give him the second part of an EGOT in the last month).  Meanwhile, The Moon Song is a perfectly light, airy tune that fit its movie to a "T" (credit goes to Karen O for the actual song, but Scarlett Johansson's version from the movie is better).  As for the two main contenders, it's Disney vs. U2.  That's extremely high stakes for a Best Original Song category.  However, as good as U2's track is, I don't think it stands a chance against Frozen.  Let It Go has already become an iconic Disney song, and the movie has only been out for two months.  It's going to win tonight.


Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Score)

             The Book Thief (John Williams)
(X)(O)  Gravity (Steven Price)
             Her (Arcade Fire)
             Saving Mr. Banks (Thomas Newman)
             Philomena (Alexandre Desplat)

While writing this blog (and a few other law school assignments), I've listened to all five of these scores in full.  They are all exemplary scores, but none of them are super memorable.  However, you probably could have guessed the winner without even hearing the music.  Steven Price's work for Gravity is the best of the bunch, involving straining bass for the majority of the movie, mixed with light moments and ending with a rally cry of a theme song that includes some great voice work.  If there's a dark horse, I would say it's Her.  Arcade Fire did a great job creating the melancholy sound that Joaquin Phoenix literally asks for at the start of the film, but it's not going to be enough to beat out the night's big winner.


Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling

(X)(O)  Dallas Buyer's Club
             Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
             The Lone Ranger

Now we're on to the most random category of the night.  I don't think even the producers of Bad Grandpa could have predicted that they would be nominated for an Oscar for their makeup work on Johnny Knoxville.  While I'm preferential to the work that has to go into doing makeup on a war film, specifically all of the continuity that must be kept with blood, scars, etc., I think Dallas Buyer's Club should and will win this one.  A recent report that the movie did all of it's makeup on a $250 budget should only help it win, as they somehow were able to create the ghastly sick look of Ron Woodruff and Co. at such a shoestring cost.  One nominee that I wish were here, though, is American Hustle.  Any movie that has Christian Bale in a combover, Bradley Cooper in jheri curls, and Jennifer Lawrence in a gigantic blonde whig deserves to be nominated.  Can I give a Should Win mark to a non-nominee?


Best Achievement in Costume Design

(O)       American Hustle
(X)       The Great Gatsby
             12 Years a Slave
             The Grandmaster
             The Invisible Woman

I said it last year, and I'll say it again.  Never bet against a period piece in the costume category.  This is the one category where it doesn't matter what the other award prospects are for a film.  People like showy costumes, and period pieces deliver them more than any other.  The period piece of note this year is The Great Gatsby, which had a lot of fun with bouncy flapper dresses and endless summer suits.  However, I'm giving my Should Win to American Hustle, as it allowed the audience to see A-list actors in showy costumes that we may never see again.  Five years from now, what will you remember more?  Amy Adams' deeeeeeep V-neck dresses and Jeremy Renner's suede blue suit or Carey Mulligan's frilly flapper outfits and Leo in a pinstripe (because Leo's never been in a suit in any movie before...)?  I know my answer.


Best Achievement in Production Design

             12 Years a Slave
             American Hustle
             Gravity
(X)        The Great Gatsby
(O)        Her

I've always felt the production design award should go to the movie that immerses you the most in the world of the film.  That being said, I feel like that production has to be tangible and real.  So for the first time in a technical category, I think we can disregard Gravity, which was almost completely made in front of green screens and on a computer.  However, that leaves us with four other extremely deserving nominees.  I personally think Her should win this award because of how completely it built its near-futuristic world, from the high-waisted hipster jeans to the endless use of Apple-type computer products.  Unfortunately, production design awards tend to follow the trend of costume design, going to the more elaborate sets rather than the most believable.  For that reason, I think The Great Gatsby is going to be a double winner this year, even though I don't really think it deserves either award.


Best Achievement in Editing

             12 Years a Slave
             American Hustle
(X)       Gravity
(O)       Captain Phillips
             Dallas Buyers Club

This award is a difficult one for me because editing and cinematography so often go hand-in-hand.  If that's the case this year, Gravity is a sure winner.  But the reason I don't really agree it should win is because the greatness of Gravity's cinematography comes from its long, extended shots, not its quick, fast-paced edits.  If the editing award went to what actually was the most difficult film to edit, I would give the award to Captain Phillips.  This is not unprecedented, either, as Paul Greengrass has done this before (creating a winner with The Bourne Ultimatum and a nominee with United 93).  I just think the momentum for Gravity is going to be too strong, and it'll walk away with yet another technical win.


Best Achievement in Cinematography

(X)(O)  Gravity
             Inside Llewyn Davis
             Nebraska
             Prisoners
             The Grandmaster

Remember that line I gave earlier about Gravity's chances to win in this category?  This award is the most sure thing of the entire evening.  Emmanuel Lubezki's work was stellar, starting with that 12-minute opening shot that dizzied audiences everywhere and continuing with scene after scene of tension, explosions, and finally extreme relief (all in eye-popping 3D!!).  The story of Gravity could not have been told without such brilliant camerawork.  If there was one other nominee that I wish was at least in the running, it would be The Wolf of Wall Street, but does it really matter?  Gravity is far and away the winner in this category.



The Big Awards!!!  Finally!!!


Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

             Before Midnight
             Captain Phillips
(X)(O)  12 Years a Slave
             The Wolf of Wall Street
             Philomena

I said at the start of this blog that 12 Years a Slave may only win two awards the whole night, and I think this is the first of them.  I haven't read the devastating memoir of Solomon Northup, but I've heard that this adaptation may have even been kinder to the audience than it could have been (which is saying quite a lot).  12 Years a Slave has a perfect mix of great speeches, difficult scenarios, and strong characters, all of which makes it sound more like a production than it really ends up being.  The movie was designed to not feel fake at all, and in all the behind the scenes writing and string-pulling, they did made it perfect.


Best Writing (Original Screenplay)

(X)       American Hustle
             Blue Jasmine
(O)        Her
             Nebraska
             Dallas Buyers Club

This category is a two-horse race between two movies that are not going to walk away with nearly as many awards as they probably deserve: American Hustle and Her.  So which movie will get the benefit of putting a Best Screenplay win on its DVD box?  I really, really want it to be Her, but I think American Hustle is going to barely edge it out.  This may be slightly unfair, as it seems like so much of American Hustle is just the incredible actors doing whatever they please and letting the plot go from there (as is the case with most David O. Russell films).  Meanwhile, Her is an extremely unique movie with important insights into relationships and general humanity.  I think writing Her took far more talent than writing American Hustle, but in the end, I think voters are going to feel the need to vote for American Hustle somewhere, and that's going to happen here.


Best Performance by a Supporting Actress

             Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine)
             Julia Roberts (August: Osage County)
(X)(O)  Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave)
             Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)
             June Squibb (Nebraska)

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I am so happy that Jennifer Lawrence is not going to win this award. That is not meant to be an insult to Lawrence's performance at all, which was explosive and scene-stealing every time she was on the screen.  But Lupita Nyong'o has deserved this award since September, and I finally think the award voters are realizing this.  Lawrence is a Hollywood darling, a comedy wrapped in beauty, and my dream girl, all of which makes her the perfect person to let loose on the awards circuit.  On the other hand, Nyong'o has hardly said a word, letting her portrayal of Patsey do the real work.  I love Lawrence with all my heart, but she was out-acted this year.  I'm pulling for Nyong'o here more than any other nominee in any category, and as of last week, I finally believe she can do it.  Oh, and if you're keeping track of my tally for 12 Years a slave, that gives it two...


Best Performance by a Supporting Actor

             Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips)
             Bradley Cooper (American Hustle)
             Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street)
             Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)
(X)(O)  Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

I think this is the most stacked of all the acting categories this year, slightly edging out Best Actor.  I mean, Jonah Hill gave the best performance of his career, and he's not even close to winning this because everyone else was so perfect.  Cooper gave his funniest performance ever, Abdi got to utter the line of the year ("I am the captain now"), and Fassbender actually acted with such cruel brutality that he fainted on set.  But none of them are anywhere near the performance given by Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club.  If you told me that they had swapped in a different actor/actress to play Rayon and just given credit to Leto, I would totally believe you.  Such is the depth to which Leto disappears into his character.  Though Rayon herself may be underutilized in the script, Leto does everything he can and more.


Best Performance by an Actress

(O)       Amy Adams (American Hustle)
(X)       Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
             Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
             Judi Dench (Philomena)
             Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)

Actresses are always shocked when they beat out the legendary Meryl Streep for an award, but Cate Blanchett may be the second greatest actress alive (behind Ms. Streep, of course) and deserves recognition for it.  It's hard to believe that someone that can change so much for every role (she's previously played an elf, Bob Dylan, Queen Elizabeth, a Russian spy, and Katherine Hepburn) has only won one Oscar, so she's due for a second.  To be honest, I have not seen Blue Jasmine (and of the others I have seen, I think Amy Adams was the best, giving it an honorary Should Win mark), which makes this the only major category where I haven't seen the eventual winner.  But I'm gonna believe the hype, and you should too.


Best Performance by an Actor

             Christian Bale (American Hustle)
             Bruce Dern (Nebraska)
             Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)
             Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)
(X)(O)  Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

Regardless of the names on this list of nominees, this category is actually not as close as you may have been led to believe.  Don't buy into Leo's previous award season failures...that's not going to be on voters' minds.  And though for the longest time I was singing the praises of Chiwetel Ejiofor, even his performance can't touch what Matthew McConaughey did in Dallas Buyer's Club.  If you've seen the movie (or even the trailers), you know that McConaughey lost a ton of weight (47 pounds, to be exact) to portray AIDS patient Ron Woodruff.  And not only did he lose those 40 pounds, but he acted the hell out of that role.  Furthermore, McConaughey has done great work all around this year, setting the tone in the first 10 minutes for Wolf of Wall Street, portraying a homeless wanderer in Mudd, and now being seen on your premium cable channels in True Detective.  I think all of that is going to weigh on the voters' minds a lot more than some awards season slump.


Best Director

(X)(O)  Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity)
             Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave)
             David O. Russell (American Hustle)
             Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street)
             Alexander Payne (Nebraska)

The directing category this year read more like a Hall of Fame wall than a nominee list, making this one an interesting category to watch.  Most people believe that this is where Gravity gets its final award of the night, giving us a Best Director/Best Picture split for the second year in a row (insert Ben Affleck reference here).  And that's fine with me.  I've always felt that epics like Gravity are a lot harder to direct than smaller scale pictures like Nebraska or 12 Years a Slave.  Sometimes the Academy has agreed with me, but other times it has not (see most notably, James Cameron and Avatar losing to Kathryn Bigelow and The Hurt Locker).  Here, however, the voters are going to get it right.  If my predictions are correct, that's going to give Gravity seven awards, which is a fairly hefty number.  Unfortunately, this is going to seem like only a consolation prize...


BEST PICTURE

             American Hustle
             Captain Phillips
             Dallas Buyers Club
             Gravity
             Her
             Nebraska
             Philomena
(X)(O)  12 Years a Slave
             The Wolf of Wall Street

All along I've mentioned that 12 Years a Slave may only get two awards tonight, and that could very well be true.  But it's not going to be this category that knocks it down from a potential three.  12 Years a Slave has been the frontrunner for Best Picture since it was first declared a masterpiece by critics in September.  Gravity has been hot on its heels ever since (it was declared a masterpiece exactly one day later), but has never been able to quite catch up.  As you might have seen on TV the last few weeks, the Oscars have been running promos saying that this is the most tightly contested race in years.  But even tightly contested races end up with a clear winner, and this year, that winner is going to be 12 Years a Slave.

So there you have it!  Go and fill out your brackets exactly like this, and you'll be almost guaranteed to win your Oscar pool.  Or, you know, don't fill it out like this and try to prove me wrong.  Either way, I'm looking forward to a fun night.  I hope you are too.

Top 10 Of 2013

It has been a little over a year since I kicked off this blog with a Top 10 post that was supposed to signify the start of regular blogging about movies and such.  Whoops.  Now that another year is gone, it's time to rededicate myself to this entire process (or so I say now).  And what better way to begin than with another recap of the top movies of the last year?

It may be hard to remember, but 2013 started off extremely slow for movies.  Throughout the first half of the year, big budget films continued to miss the mark, and it seemed like the filmmaking momentum created in 2012 might already be lost.  But for those paying attention to film festivals, we were told that quality films were on their way.  Thankfully, the movies released in the back half of 2013 were good enough to make us forget almost everything released from January through July, and by the end of December, this year looked like another strong year in movies.

But who cares what I think about the trends of Hollywood?  If you're reading this, you want a list and you want it now!  Let's get a few important facts out there before we begin: in the last year, I saw 40 new theatrical releases (up from 36 the year before), so the movies listed below represent what I found to be the top 1/4 of the movies I saw this year.  I'd also like to reiterate what I said last year: this list represents merely the movies that I enjoyed the most.  It is not swayed by any awards show voting or critics choice list (though many of those films appear).  Furthermore, the movies I've seen this year do not nearly encompass all the movies that were released, so there will probably be some movies left out that could have made the list (I've seen all Best Picture nominees, but other films that have received attention such as Inside Llewyn Davis and even Frozen are still on a list to catch up on later).  My hope for this list is that it gives a sufficient picture of the year in movies while also giving some suggestions of good films for others.  So here we go!  The top movies of 2013!


First, Honorable Mentions:

• Side Effects
• The World's End
• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

10:  The Way Way Back

The best movies to be released this summer weren't giant studio productions, but rather small indie films (special mention should also go to Kings of Summer and Drinking Buddies as well), and no movie proved that more than The Way Way Back.  The plot itself covers a single summer in the life of Duncan, an introverted kid being forced to stay in a beach house with his mom and her new boyfriend Trent (played with extreme douchiness by Steve Carrel).  After being told by Trent that he's only a 3 out of 10, Duncan sets out on a summer's worth of growth, eventually making friends with a water park manager named Owen (hilariously played by Sam Rockwell) and the girl who lives next door (AnnaSophia Robb), all while learning that he's worth way more than he's been led to believe.  The movie was written and directed by Nat Faxon (Ben and Kate) and Jim Rash (Community), the same team that wrote The Descendants in 2011.  This movie has a similar feel to that Oscar-winning effort, but is even funnier and more heartfelt (with especially great work by Allison Janney, who gives an effort worthy of a Supporting Actress nomination).  Like Duncan, this movie was quiet, but deserved more attention than it was given.  If you're holding out for a hero of the summer (those who have seen the movie will understand), look no further than here.


9:  Captain Phillips

Can anyone make a time-ticking drama better than Paul Greengrass?  The director of the Bourne sequels and United 93 is in top form here, telling the mostly true story of the takeover of the Maersk Alabama cargo ship by Somali pirates, the capture of Captain Richard Phillips, and the subsequent efforts by the US Navy to get him back.  The movie is intense throughout, especially in the stand off between the pirates in the small life pod and the multiple US destroyers trailing behind them.  Credit Greengrass for not just telling a story about how far the US will go to save one of its own, but also giving humanity to the Somali pirates as well (specifically Barkhad Abdi in his first acting gig).  And let's not forget about Tom Hanks.  Hanks gives a subdued performance for most of the movie, but the last five minutes may be the best five minutes of his storied career.  It's in the final scene that Captain Phillips crosses over from good to great, and it's all thanks to Greengrass finally stepping aside from his stylized directing and letting Hanks work his magic.


8:  Rush

In 2005, Ron Howard directed what I consider to be the best sports movie of the 2000's (Cinderella Man).  With Rush, Howard returns to the genre and proves that lightning can strike twice.  Rush is a true story about Formula One racing: a sport that the majority of people (including myself) don't really care about.  So it is a testament to Howard's directing, Peter Morgan's screenwriting, and the acting of Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl that this movie works so well.  Rush is about the rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda, two racers with different reasons for wanting to be the best.  Hunt races for the fame and the women; Lauda for the championships.  They are engaged in a sport that requires precision and fearlessness, and one which could take their lives at any turn.  But the movie is more than just an experiment in masochistic filmmaking--there is also a lot to be said about the importance of rivals.  Though these two competitors may detest each other, they are both blessed with someone who drives them to be better.  It's a truism that isn't normally discussed in sports or sport films.  We all need rivals, if only to give us someone to compete and measure up against.  And in that vein, this film measures up just fine against the best sport films ever made.


7:  Her

Original films always have a special place in my heart, and Her is about as original as it gets.  In this movie, Spike Jonze engages in world-building of the finest order.  The not-so-distant future includes holographic video games, high-waisted hipster jeans, and of course, an artificially intelligent operating system named Samantha.  A premise that could have been laughable becomes realistic all thanks to the dedication by the actors.  Joaquin Phoenix does great work essentially acting alone for most of the film, but the real credit here has to go to Scarlett Johansson.  In exactly zero minutes of screen time, Johansson makes Phoenix and the audience fall in love with nothing more than her voice.  Seriously...watch that trailer.  Don't you find yourself already becoming friends with that sultry computer?  This melancholy film explores many questions about the nature of relationships, and ends up giving some interesting answers.  Though it's not quite perfect, it might actually be the most relatable film of the year.


6:  Dallas Buyers Club

Go ahead and give all of the acting awards to this movie right now.  No one should beat it.  Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto had to have been dangerously close to real health problems with the amount of weight that they dropped to play their respective characters.  McConaughey is Ron Woodruff, a former rodeo cowboy who was diagnosed with AIDS in a time that the disease was vastly misunderstood.  In this true story, Woodruff attempts to overcome his personal tragedy (and extreme homophobia) to help other AIDS patients get unapproved medication to treat this deadly disease.  Though McConaughey is extremely good, it's Leto that steals the show.  Leto completely loses himself in the role of a transgender woman who befriends Woodruff and helps him with his business.  The movie is a challenge: a challenge to stereotypes, to the FDA, and to everyone unwilling to accept those who are different.  Give this one a chance...it's all any of the characters are asking for.


5:  The Wolf of Wall Street

If there was a guidebook for how to be successful at being a terrible person, it would be The Wolf of Wall Street.  This movie is loud, obnoxious, rude, and devilishly humorous.  Since its release, this movie has dealt with plenty of controversy for being too lude and too long.  In fact, when it was screened on Wall Street, the audience cheered the debauchery.  But if all of that sounds scathing, it's not.  The point of Wolf of Wall Street is to make us hate Jordan Belfort while also making us realize just how easy it would be to get sucked into the lifestyle that he has.  The movie is supposed to be reprehensible, and it relies on us to understand that it is not condoning this type of behavior.  Scorsese leaves it to Leonardo DiCaprio to take us on this crazy ride, and boy does he deliver.  Leo doesn't often get to play characters we should despise, but when he does (as he also did in Django Unchained) it's often his best work.  Here, he gets to show a physical comedy side that no one knew was in his repertoire, and he produces maybe the funniest scene of the year with one particular quaalude trip.  All of this being said, Wolf of Wall Street is clearly not for everyone.  Proceed with caution: your perception of Leo, Jonah Hill, Martin Scorsese, and even Wall Street as a whole may never be the same.


4:  American Hustle

This list would be nothing without a little Jennifer Lawrence, right?  Appearing in her second David O. Russell film in two years (along with the rest of the cast appearing in their second in three years), Lawrence once again steals every scene she's in.  But she's far from the only star in this con film.  Each of the lead actors received Oscar nominations for their roles, and all for good reason (this is the second Russell movie in two years to receive award nominations in all seven major categories).  Amy Adams plays a woman with a penchant for British accents, deep V-necks, and double-crosses.  Meanwhile, Christian Bale added 40 pounds and a bad combover to play a master con-artist while Bradley Cooper went with jheri curls and aviators to become an FBI agent ready to learn on the fly.  It all adds up to a crazy plot filled with back stabbing, political scandals, and maybe even a little bit of truth (though probably not much).  David O. Russell has stated before that he doesn't care about plots, only characters, and this movie is more a testament to that statement than either of his last two (The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook).  If you believe that watching movies is about seeing actors have fun, I can't think of many better movies to see.


3:  Fruitvale Station

Timing can be an important and incalculable element when it comes to releasing movies, whether good, bad, or just unfortunate.  For Fruitvale Station, a true story about an episode of racial profiling that occurred on New Year's Eve 2008, timing was tragically eerie.  Though the movie first appeared in January at Sundance (where it won the Audience Award and the Grand Jury award), the wide release occurred on the same weekend that George Zimmerman was acquitted of murder in the shooting of Trayvon Martin.  Regardless of timing or similarity to other tragedies, the movie version of what occurred to Oscar Grant III is remarkably well made.  First time director Ryan Coogler spends most of the movie following Oscar on the day leading up to the events that occurred at Fruitvale Station.  He portrays Oscar as a man who has had hard times in the past, but is trying to get his life together.  The credit here goes to Michael B. Jordan (of Friday Night Lights fame) for playing Oscar as a fully-embodied person.  Oscar has had a rough past, but certainly does not seem deserving of what we know is going to happen.  Through expert use of real cell phone footage and news reels, Fruitvale Station becomes a powerful dramatization of a terrible real event.  Any audience that sees it now will undoubtedly link it to the Trayvon Martin killing, but this movie would have had enough emotional weight to stand on its own no matter when it was released.


2:  Gravity

To anyone that thinks 3D filmmaking is a gimmick, go see Gravity in 3D on as big of a screen as you can.  It's ok...I'll wait.  See?  Told you it wasn't a gimmick.  This is heart-racing, pulse-pounding action at its finest.  The movie clocks in at only 90 minutes, but if it had lasted any longer, defibrillators probably would have been required on site.  Everything and everyone in this movie is in top form.  The directing challenge faced by Alfonso Cuarón of making the majority of this film look like zero gravity is unfathomable.  The cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki (an Alfonso Cuaron regular) is both complex and breathtaking (specifically the opening 12-minute shot).  And the acting by George Clooney and Sandra Bullock is arresting (has anyone ever heightened drama simply by breathing more than Bullock does in this movie?).  The screenplay is extremely simplistic, but it doesn't matter...Gravity is a technically wonderful film, and by far the best original film of the year.


1:  12 Years a Slave

When a movie is declared a masterpiece before it's even released to the public, there are two ways to react.  Skepticism seems fair, as it's difficult to trust anything being called a masterpiece when only so many people have seen it.  But if someone tells you that 12 Years a Slave is a masterpiece, I'm here to tell you to believe them.  12 Years a Slave is not meant to be an enjoyable experience.  It is meant to be difficult, troubling, and ultimately cathartic.  The movie tells the true story of Solomon Northup, a free black man living in New York in 1841, who was kidnapped and sold into slavery.  Throughout the movie, Steve McQueen does not hold back on the evils of slavery, nor should he.  Chiwetel Ejiofor is brilliant (he even learned to play the violin for this part), but praise should also be given to Michael Fassbender's villainous plantation owner and even more notably to Lupita Nyong'o (who deserves the Best Supporting Actress award whether she gets it or not).  The rest of the movie is full of incredible elements: the supporting cast, the cinematography (second only to Gravity), the score, and the screenplay are all mesmerizing.  Though I personally feel it takes years of debate and viewing to fully declare a movie a masterpiece, I have no doubt that 12 Years a Slave is no less than the best movie of 2013.


So there you have it...another stellar year in movies!  Hopefully I can improve on this current four-blogs-a-year pace, but for now I hope this Top 10 list is enough to show that I still care about this blog. Whether you agree or disagree with any films on this list, I hope this has at least been entertaining.  See you all in 2014!