Sicario (2015)

Nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Original Score and Best Sound Editing    I don't think Denis Villeneuve even knows how to make a happy movie.  All his shit is depressing.  Beautifully executed, but depressing.

Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) is slogging along in the Kidnap Recovery Team of the FBI when she is recruited to a black bag operation targeting high-level Mexican cartel leaders.  The task force is led by shady consultant Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) and his equally murky companion, Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro).  The further they delve, the more Kate realizes that the rules of engagement are not as cut-and-dry as she had previously imagined.

This was a good, taut thriller but man was it heavy to watch.  You do not get a sense of catharsis here.  I'm not going to say you shouldn't watch it, because it is gripping all the way through, but I want you to be forewarned.  Roger Deacons brings his artist's eye to the camera and there are some shots that are just stunning.  The best part is that they don't feel jarringly out of place like in a Terence Malick film.  It's just like my brain sent up little flares every once in a while to tell the rest of me that the input from my eyes was top-notch.  Emily Blunt is also excellent here.

I would not own this film and I don't think I'll have to buy it.  I think this is going to be one of those movies that just sticks in my head whether I want it to or not.

Next (2007)

  Another day, another shitty Nicolas Cage movie on the server.  I don't know what Rob's fascination with them was but I am not under the same delusions.

Las Vegas stage magician Cris Johnson (Nicolas Cage) has a secret.  He really can see the future up to two minutes ahead.  An FBI agent (Julianne Moore) wants to use that gift to have Cris locate a stolen nuclear device before it detonates but Cris just wants to find the girl (Jessica Biel) that's been haunting his visions.

Where to even begin with this movie?  Hopefully the key words "Nicolas Cage" and "clairvoyant" are enough to make you run screaming in the opposite direction.  It's just dumb from start to finish, not even good for a hate watch.  Avoid like you would a fire ant enema.

What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015)

Nominated for Best Documentary    Now this is a music documentary. 

Nina Simone trained to be a classical pianist since the age of four, but after being rejected from a prestigious music school because of her race, she took odd jobs as a nightclub singer in Atlantic City. Her career as a jazz singer flourished but she didn't really feel fulfilled until she got heavily involved with the Civil Rights movement.  Her increasing militancy strained her personal relationships and also damaged her mainstream career.

This is a poignant inside look at a life damaged by mental illness.  Nina Simone wasn't diagnosed with bipolar disorder until the late 1980's but the mood swings, fits of violence, and instability were prevalent long before.  This added up to a very volatile performer, capable of rendering soaring notes or stony silences during concerts.

I've never had the ear for jazz.  Of all the music styles, it may be the most cerebral with its deconstructions and improvisations.  I'm not musical and can't fully appreciate all the intricacies but even I can recognize that Nina Simone was an incredible talent.  But more, she really tried to leverage her fame to make a difference in the lives of others.  It's admirable and even more sad to see her intentions ruined by her personal demons.

Amy (2015)

Nominated for Best Documentary    I hate to say it but I don't think Amy Winehouse has been dead long enough to warrant a full-length documentary.  It's only been five years. 

Told completely through personal footage, this documentary stitches together a patchwork of privately shot film and voiceover interviews of friends and family of singer Amy Winehouse from her early successes through her disastrous dependency on drugs and alcohol to her untimely death in 2011.

What it gets right:  conveying the joie de vivre of young Amy, as well as her alarming prescience about the dangers of fame.

What it gets wrong:  conveying any sense of a structure or narrative.

This basically functions as a public eulogy from her friends and family, which makes it sad but not Oscar-worthy.  That probably sounds super-harsh but when I think of all the timely, informative docs released this year that didn't get a shot at wider recognition because this took a nomination billet, I can't help but be critical.

Yes, it is tragic that a talented musician died so young.  People will always lament what might have been.  But it's not like she was murdered by a crazed fan or killed fighting against oppression in some way.  At this stage, we don't even know for sure if she'll leave a permanent legacy like Kurt Cobain or simply be a footnote in music history.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)

I finally got through 220 episodes of Naruto.  I know it's considered a beloved staple of anime but fuck, what a slog.  Then, as if that weren't enough, I subjected my poor brain to the following film.    I was pretty sure I had seen it before but I couldn't remember a single thing about it.  That should tell you all you need to know about this sequel.

Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage) is after another historical mystery, this time trying to prove that his ancestor was not part of the plot to assassinate Lincoln.  To clear his hundred+ years dead family member's good name, Gates attempts to unlock an encrypted message on a page from John Wilkes Booth's (Christian Camargo) diary.  This leads him to the Statue of Liberty, Buckingham Palace, and Mt. Rushmore where the clues add up to indicate the location of a fabled City of Gold, sought after by Spanish explorers in the 16th century.

Okay.  I know this is supposed to be fun and cute and family-friendly, but I shudder at the thought that the writers cheerfully lumped Zuni, Olmec, and Lakota traditions together as if they were not separate indigenous tribes from completely different geographical regions and eras.  It's lazy as well as culturally insensitive.  At least make your blatant grab for cash plausible.

Cartel Land (2015)

Nominated for Best Documentary    I was underwhelmed by this documentary.  I think it lacked a clear focus and a definitive message other than "cartels are dangerous".

Two extralegal groups, one made of Americans in Arizona and one made of Mexicans in Michoacan, fight to limit the power of cartels in drug and human trafficking.  They are self-funded and exist primarily because they believe that their respective governments are incompetent and corrupt in dealing with this matter.  It does not go well.

On the one hand, I am always gladdened to see people standing up for what they believe.  On the other, there is a reason we have historically stamped out mob justice.  The leader of the Arizona Border Recon, Tim "Nailer" Foley, talks about how it's the Wild West around the border, with government patrols stretched too thin and hampered by too much bureaucracy to be effective.  Dr. Jose Mireles of the Autodefensas sees his work more like the ultimate expression of patriotism, striking back for the common man.  What both groups fail to realize is that they are not starring in The Magnificent Seven and these are not disparate groups of bandits but a highly organized, well-funded, ruthless assembly.

If showing the inherent futility of these efforts was the goal of this documentary, then I take back my statement about lacking a clear focus.  Otherwise, I think this lost the plot about halfway through.

Straight Outta Compton (2015)

Nominated for Best Original Screenplay     I am shocked this did not get more nominations.  It is easily one of the best movies I saw from last year and definitely one of the best in this crop of nominees.

In 1986, five young men got together to express their thoughts on what growing up black in Compton, California really meant.  And the world exploded.  Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell) brings the street cred and the money, Ice Cube (O'Shea Jackson Jr.) brings powerfully resonant lyrics and Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins) handles the musical arrangement and production.  After the success of their first independent album, Eazy-E is approached by music manager Jerry Heller (Paul Giamatti) and a deal is formed.  The group N.W.A. creates the classic rap album Straight Outta Compton and the real success starts to come.  Unfortunately, it is accompanied by suspicion, double-dealing, and betrayal.

I didn't hear of N.W.A until I was well into my 20's.  It may be a shock to some of you, but rap music wasn't often played in rural Alabama in the 1990's.  Plus, I was like six-years-old when this album dropped.  That being said, there was a lot about this movie and its accompanying soundtrack that resonated with me.  No, I don't know what it's like to be harassed by cops just for standing on a street.  But I do know what it is like to stare down an institution intent on crushing your will, to be a lone voice protesting, and the rage of feeling powerless.  Honestly, I can't praise this movie highly enough.

I know it's taken me all damn day just to get one post up but I'm going to try to counter my tardiness with volume.  Bear with me.

Ex Machina (2015)

Nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Best Visual Effects     Some of you may have heard of the winter storm that bitch-slapped the East Coast this past weekend.  I have not suffered unduly but my cable/Internet connection has been in and out.  Since I kind of need the Internet to watch Netflix and I need cable for On Demand, I have not been able to see as many nominees this weekend as I would have liked.  I barely got my Fifty Shades review out yesterday.  Obviously, I will continue to try because I have no life outside of this hobby.

Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is a code monkey who thinks he's won the lottery when he is invited to spend a week in Alaska with his reclusive billionaire boss, Nate (Oscar Isaac).  Nate has brought Caleb for a very specific purpose, however.  He is to be the administrator of a Turing test for Nate's artificial intelligence robot, Ava (Alicia Vikander).  Over the course of the week and after several sessions with Ava, Caleb finds himself wondering what game is actually being played and who --or what-- is really in control.

This was a very solid sci-fi/psychological thriller.  I had heard rave reviews back when it premiered on the festival circuit and while I wasn't blown away, I think most of them were on the money.  It's certainly not the same old retread.  There is a sense of inevitability about it, however, especially once the meaning behind the company name is revealed.  I can't go into a lot of details because I think it would spoil the actual film.  Just watch it and see for yourself.

Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)

Nominated for Best Original Song     I had done so well avoiding this movie.  I managed to distract Christy from making it one of her monthly picks, I never even caught so much of a clip on TV, and then the fucking Academy nominated it for Best Original Song.  It's like a conspiracy.

Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) is a billionaire inexplicably interested in a vacuous undergrad named Anastasia Steel (Dakota Johnson).  He offers to make her his mistress, providing she signs a non-disclosure and a contract agreeing to be his submissive.  She is hampered by a lack of basic reasoning and intellectual skills.

Let's set aside the implications of stalking/emotional abuse.  Let's even table the discussion of how this is nowhere near an accurate depiction of BDSM.  Let's just focus on the fact that what this story boils down to is a college girl agreeing to prostitute herself for a rich businessman but being turned off by his predilections.  How in the actual fuck did this become a "worldwide phenomenon"?  It's not interesting.  It's not well-written.  It's not well-acted.  The sex scenes are tepid.  The leads have no chemistry.  Frankly, it's not even an assault on good taste.  It's just boring.  They spend more time gazing across rooms at each other than they do with their clothes off.  Then there are scenes where they meet each others' parents.  What does that have to do with her signing a contract agreeing to let him use nipple clamps?

What bothers me the most about this is the idea that what he is asking for is somehow shameful or indecent.  I don't care what your kink is.  You like being spanked?  Good for you.  You like being chained to a hot stove while someone throws ripe tomatoes at you and screams at you in German?  Okay.  You like pure vanilla missionary-position heterosexual intercourse?  Fine.  Whatever makes you feel comfortable.  No one has the right to dictate to you what you should or should not like in bed.  Making someone feel bad for enjoying something that you do not reflects on YOU, not them.

There are seven billion people on this planet.  If you enjoy a particular thing (latex, medical instruments, animal costumes) I guarantee there are dozens, if not hundreds, probably thousands of people who also enjoy that thing.  Be safe, be smart, and be true to who you are.

Army of Shadows (1969)

  Holy Christ, this movie was bleak.  I mean I wasn't expecting kittens and rainbows but damn.

I've seen a number of films depicting wars of all kinds.  Modern, historical, narrative, documentary, they all vary and very few really capture what it is like to be in a combat zone.  This film understands the deep and abiding paranoia and exhaustion that come from not ever knowing what is around the next corner.  It is a drain on the mind and on the soul that saps the strength of even the bravest human beings.

Philippe Gerbier (Lino Ventura) is a former electrical engineer and member of the Resistance in Nazi-occupied France.  His team try every method to harass their parasitic invaders while avoiding capture by the Gestapo.  Whenever possible, they kill the enemy.  Whenever necessary, they kill their own.  It is a cold, dark time with death an ever-present specter.

It sounds so stupid to say that Nazis are bad.  It's like saying water is wet.  Everyone knows that Nazis were bad news and the Gestapo were fucking evil.  It should not be a surprise.  They're practically the only group of bad guys that no one gets offended if you mow them down.  Yet, somehow, seeing the off-handed banality of their torture methods, like forcing condemned prisoners to run to the end of a firing range so it's a little more sporting for the machine gunner, still makes my blood run cold.  That's probably a good sign.  If I ever become inured to man's inhumanity to man I might as well just hang it all up.

I don't even know how to categorize this.  I can't say I liked it, because I did not enjoy watching this film.  But I didn't hate it.  It's very well done, almost too well.  I'm going to have to come up with a new tag.

Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom (2015)

Nominated for Best Documentary    Remember The Square from 2013?  This is Netflix's new flavor of internal revolution, except less warm and fuzzy.

The Ukrainian people were mostly in favor of joining the European Union in 2014.  Unfortunately, their democratically-elected President chose to make a back-alley deal with Russia instead.  Hundreds of students took to Maidan Square in Kiev to protest.  The President doubled down, sending a paramilitary-style police force to break up the people by any means, including violence.  Rookie mistake.  This reprisal turned a bunch of peaceful protesters into an occupying revolution.  Think Les Miserables on the set of Doctor Zhivago.

I'm being flippant because it's funnier and this is the Internet but the actual footage is anything but mirthful.  The police brutality against unarmed civilians, aid workers, and religious personnel is sickening.  The solidarity of those same civilians, people of all strata, faiths, and creeds, is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

Based on precedent, I don't think this has a chance of winning since it's up against two biographies of tragically deceased musicians, one about a drug war, and a follow-up to The Act of Killing.  You should still watch it, though.

The Martian (2015)

Nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Production Design, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects    This is my favorite of the Oscar nominees so far.  I'm definitely buying this one.

Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is part of the Ares III mission to gather samples from Mars.  An unexpected storm brings a mission abort and the Commander (Jessica Chastain) orders all crew back into the rocket.  Watney is struck by a piece of debris and lost.  The Commander, believing him dead, gets the rest of the crew safely back to space.  What they don't know is that the piece of debris was not fatal and Watney wakes up the only living thing on the planet Mars.  He knows that help is coming in the form of a planned supply drop but he'll have to survive for four years before that occurs.  Scientists at NASA frantically bounce back ideas with scientists at the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) to come up with any ways to bring him home alive, no matter how insane they may be.

Best use of soundtrack in any nominee I've seen so far, especially the end credit song.  Super obvious but no less perfect for that.  Matt Damon is funny and charming, bringing an inherent good cheer to the character.  I don't know if anybody else could have played it as well, but I was still conscious of watching Matt Damon.  He didn't disappear so I don't know that I would give him Best Actor.  Looks like this is DiCaprio's race to lose.

World of Tomorrow (2015)

Nominated for Best Animated Short
  Holy fuckballs, this might have been the weirdest short I've ever seen.  I'm just grateful at least one of them is on Netflix.

Emily (Winona Mae) is a little girl who gets a video call from her third-generation clone (Julia Potts) 227 years into the future.  Clone Emily wants to reach out and show Emily Prime what her world will look like and what will become of humanity.

At turns funny, disturbing, surreal, psychotic, and deeply insightful, there is a lot to pack in sixteen minutes.  I'm not entirely sure I caught everything.  I think my brain melted at some point for my own health.  I feel like it was brilliant but it also makes my eye twitch if I think about it too much.

Cinderella (2015)

Nominated for Best Costume Design    The costumes in this movie were gooooooorgeous.  I don't know if it will bring home a statuette, however, because it is up against three period films and one futuristic film.  I think it might come down to a question of personal taste for the Academy voters.  Or cronyism.  There's always that.

Young Ella (Lily James) is dealt a hand of tragedies when her beloved mother (Hayley Atwill) dies and her father (Ben Chaplin) marries the beautiful but cold-hearted Lady Tremaine (Cate Blanchett) before dying himself.  Left with her stepmother and two wretched step-sisters (Holliday Grainger and Sophie McShera), Ella tries to make the best of things.  By chance, she meets a handsome man (Richard Madden) in the woods.  She doesn't know it but he is the Prince of her country and is holding a ball to determine who he should marry.  Smitten at first sight, he arranges to have the invitation open to all young women, regardless of social status.  Ella's stepmother has no intention of letting the pretty blonde pull focus from her last attempt to secure her daughters' futures and forbids her to go.  Fortunately, help arrives in the form of a fairy godmother (Helena Bonham-Carter) but of course comes with a time limit.

As a re-telling of the Disney version of the fairy tale (the actual printed version is much more gruesome), it is very nice, very pretty, and continues the trend of live-action reboots.  It wasn't as soupy or saccharine as I was privately expecting.  I think that's because the performances weren't over-the-top.  Cate Blanchett was riveting and has the most evil laugh I've heard in a while.  Lily James had a much harder role, being the perpetually good-natured Cinderella, but managed to pull off wide-eyed innocence without looking like she'd been lobotomized.

I might end up buying this one.  I'm not 100% yet, but I could be persuaded.

Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015)

Nominated for Best Animated Feature    I don't think this stands a snowball's chance of winning Best Animated.  Maybe if it was a short.  It's cute, don't get me wrong, but it's insubstantial.

Shaun the sheep just wants a day off from the routine of the farm but an accident sends the sleeping farmer into the big city, where a head injury gives him temporary memory loss.  Shaun and his wooly pals must locate and retrieve their erstwhile master to restore order, but they are chased by a psychotic animal control officer.

You have seen this story in pretty much every movie to do with animals in a city.  The only things that could set it apart are the details and overall charm.  While there are a few really cute ones, including a stellar homage to Silence of the Lambs, it is mostly lackluster.  There's no intelligible dialogue and I think that works against this film.  I would say this is only suitable for very small children.

The Call of Cthulhu (2005)

  This is not an Oscar nominee.  It was the disc I already had at home when the nominations were announced.

An unnamed narrator (Matt Foyer) recounts how he became an unwitting chronicler of the actions of a cult designed to raise one of the Elder Gods from his sleep in 1925.

This is actually kind of a brilliant film.  It's presented as having been made in 1925, so it's silent and black and white with some very nice Expressionist-inspired backdrops.  It gets very hard to tell that this was actually made in 2005.  It was obviously a labor of love for the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society.  I'm not personally big on Lovecraft; I find him a bit overwrought.  I can't fault this production in any way, however.

Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)

Nominated for Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Visual Effects
  I had not intended to see the new Star Wars film until it came out on DVD.  I've never been a huge Star Wars person.  I like the original trilogy but the prequels pretty much ruined this franchise for me.

The Empire is no more.  In its place, the First Order has set about on Empire business.  The first task is to locate a resistance fighter named Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) who has found a map said to lead to legendary Jedi Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill).  Sith apprentice Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) tracks the map to the planet Jakku and captures Dameron.  However, the snarky pilot has already secreted it in his droid, a BB-8 unit that winds up wandering the desert until it meets a local parts scavenger named Rey (Daisy Ridley).  Meanwhile, a Stormtrooper (John Boyega) violates his programming by rescuing Dameron and returning to the planet.  After crashing and separating from Dameron, the stormtrooper runs into Rey and convinces her he is part of the Resistance.  They steal a beat up old ship, which is subsequently recovered by its original pilot:  a cranky old smuggler and his Wookie co-pilot.  Han Solo (Harrison Ford) sees something special in the two youngsters and takes them down the path to their destiny.

This is a much more worthy successor to the Star Wars name.  There are no pointlessly annoying sidekicks, it doesn't focus too much on only one character arc, and it leaves the mysteries of the Force intact.  It does its job as an opening salvo to a new series of movies.  Not being particularly original in how it achieves this is balanced by strongly acted performances from all the main characters.

The Hobbit: the Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

This concludes my Hobbit-watching experience.  It took me the better part of a week to get these watched.  I have to say, it was a much better experience to see them all together.  It felt much more cohesive.  Apparently, the fifth army consists of the deus ex machina eagles that show up near the end of all these movies, thanks to Tolkien's lazy ass.

This will most likely be the last of my personal movies for a while, since I am going to be focusing primarily on the Oscar nominees.  I should be getting the first one from Netflix today and hopefully, going to see one of the bunch that's still in theaters this afternoon.  Stay tuned!  Originally posted 28 Dec 2014.    My mom was so excited to see this because the previous movie, The Desolation of Smaug, ended on a cliffhanger and it pissed her off.  I was interested but not overly invested.  She, on the other hand, was determined to see this movie through.

When last we left Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), he had woken up the dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) and watched in horror as the great beast headed out to burn the fuck out of the island town of Laketown.  Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans) was locked up for being a troublemaker and his family, a handful of dwarves, and Tauriel the elf (Evangeline Lily) were in town.  Meanwhile, Gandalf (Ian McKellan) was a prisoner of the ring-wraiths because he went in the stupid haunted castle even after the wizard with bird shit on his face told him not to, and Thorin (Richard Armitage) started searching for the magic rock that was his birthright among the tons of gold Smaug had accumulated.

Ok.

Bard breaks out, gets the iron arrow, and kills the dragon.  Yay.  He starts gathering the surviving humans and marching them towards the dwarf mountain to get the money they were promised so he can rebuild the town.  Tauriel and Legolas (Orlando Bloom) start investigating where precisely all these goddamn orcs are coming from and the dwarves rejoin their main company.  Things seem to be looking up, except now Thorin has gone all paranoid and kinda murder-y over finding the Arkenstone, which Bilbo grabbed and held onto.  When the humans come calling, Thorin essentially tells them to go fuck themselves, giving the Elf King, Theranduil (Lee Heart-Meltingly-Beautiful Pace) an excuse to round up an army and set it at the dwarves' gate.  Undaunted, Thorin sends a raven to call up an army of his own, led by his cousin Dain (Billy Connolly), to defend his new throne.  The orcs meanwhile have two fucking armies to wipe everybody out.  Where's the fifth army?  Who the fuck knows.  I only counted four, and really only three, because the orc army was just technically two divisions under one general.  So I have no idea why they called it the Battle of the Five Armies.

It's a Hobbit movie.  At this point, it's the sixth Hobbit movie.  If you don't know by now whether they are for you or not, I can't help you.  These three are really only about the shameless cash grab and holding on to the character rights so they can inevitably remake them in about ten years.  It does have some good moments in it and, of course, the special effects are top-notch.  Gun to my head, I'd say wait until it's on video and then watch all of them together so you remember everything.  Early on I was struggling to recall why the characters were in some of the places they were in this film because it's been a year since the second one.

Stand-out moment for me:  Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) makes an appearance and is a total badass.  That is one scary bitch, you guys.  Also, shout out to Christopher Lee who is 90-years-old and still metal as fuck.

Oscar Nominations 2016

Let's just jump in, shall we?

BEST PICTURE

Spotlight

The Revenant

Room

Brooklyn

Bridge of Spies

The Martian

Mad Max:  Fury Road

The Big Short

BEST ACTOR

Bryan Cranston for Trumbo

Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant

Michael Fassbender for Steve Jobs

Eddie Redmayne for The Danish Girl

Matt Damon for The Martian

BEST ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett for Carol

Brie Larson for Room

Saoirse Ronan for Brooklyn

Jennifer Lawrence for Joy

Charlotte Rampling for 45 Years

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies

Sylvester Stallone for Creed

Tom Hardy for The Revenant

Mark Ruffalo for Spotlight

Christian Bale for The Big Short

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Jennifer Jason Leigh for The Hateful Eight

Alicia Vikander for The Danish Girl

Kate Winslet for Steve Jobs

Rachel McAdams for Spotlight

Rooney Mara for Carol

BEST DIRECTOR

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for The Revenant

Tom McCarthy for Spotlight

George Miller for Mad Max:  Fury Road

Lenny Abrahamson for Room

Adam McKay for The Big Short

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Bridge of Spies

Ex Machina

Inside Out

Spotlight

Straight Outta Compton

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Big Short

Brooklyn

The Martian

Room

Carol

BEST ANIMATED FILM

Anomalisa

Inside Out

Shaun the Sheep Movie

When Marnie was There (Omoide no Mani)

Boy & the World (O Menino e o Mundo)

BEST FOREIGN FILM

Embrace of the Serpent (El abrazo de la serpiente)

A War (Krigen)

Mustang

Son of Saul (Saul fia)

Theeb

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Carol

The Hateful Eight

Mad Max:  Fury Road

The Revenant

Sicario

BEST FILM EDITING

Mad Max:  Fury Road

The Big Short

Spotlight

The Revenant

Star Wars:  The Force Awakens

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Bridge of Spies

Mad Max:  Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

The Danish Girl

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Carol

Cinderella

The Danish Girl

Mad Max:  Fury Road

The Revenant

BEST HAIR & MAKEUP

Mad Max:  Fury Road

The 100 Year-Old Man

The Revenant

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Carol

The Hateful Eight

Sicario

Star Wars:  The Force Awakens

Bridge of Spies

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

"Writing's on the Wall" from Spectre

"Simple Song #3" from Youth

"Earned It" from Fifty Shades of Grey

"Til It Happens to You" from The Hunting Ground

"Manta Ray" from Racing Extinction

BEST SOUND MIXING

Mad Max:  Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Star Wars:  The Force Awakens

Bridge of Spies

BEST SOUND EDITING

Mad Max:  Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Sicario

Star Wars:  The Force Awakens

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Ex Machina

Mad Max:  Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Star Wars:  The Force Awakens

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Amy

Cartel Land

The Look of Silence

What Happened, Miss Simone?

Winter on Fire

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Body Team 12

War Within the Walls

Claude Lanzmann:  Specters of the Shoah

A Girl in the River:  The Price of Forgiveness

Last Day of Freedom

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

Historia de un oso

Mi ne mozhem zhit bez kosmosa

Prologue

Sanjay's Super Team

World of Tomorrow

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

Ave Maria

Day One

Alles wird gut

Shok

Stutterer

Well, those are mostly what I expected to see after the Golden Globes.  I was not expecting to see Star Wars pulled out five nominations.  I also cannot fucking believe that I'm going to have to watch Fifty Shades of Grey after managing to avoid having Christy pick it for her Movie of the Month for an entire year.  It was nominated for a Golden Globe for Ellie Goulding's contribution to the soundtrack and now an Oscar for The Weeknd.  I guess that means that pretty much everyone in Hollywood agrees the movie is dogshit but the soundtrack is awesome.  

All in all, there are 53 movies that I will be trying to watch before the ceremony on Feb 28.  

Golden Globes Winners

Another Golden Globes ceremony has come and gone.  Ricky Gervais was back, though significantly toned down.  I still think he did a better job than Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

The worst presenters of the night were definitely Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, who apparently decided to test the NBC censors during the live broadcast and were subsequently muted, making whatever they had to say lost to all the viewers at home.  Judging by the look on Jane Fonda's face, it wasn't funny anyway.

The best presenter was Tom Hanks who gave out a beautiful introduction to the night's Cecile B. DeMille Award winner, Denzel Washington.  It was touching and genuine.

Best awardee was probably Alejandro Inarritu.  Maybe it's because he's foreign, but he practically radiated joy and goodwill.

Worst awardee was Taraji P. Henson.  She came off as a total bitch, after screaming at no less than two people for stepping on the train of her gown and then demanding more time to give her acceptance speech.

Here are the actual winners:

BEST MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA  -- The Revenant

BEST ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA -- Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant

BEST ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA  -- Brie Larsen in Room

BEST MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY -- The Martian

BEST ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY -- Matt Damon in The Martian

BEST ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY -- Jennifer Lawrence in Joy

BEST DIRECTOR - MOTION PICTURE -- Alejandro G. Inarritu for The Revenant

BEST ORIGINAL SONG - MOTION PICTURE -- "Writing's on the Wall" from Spectre

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - MOTION PICTURE -- Ennio Morricone for The Hateful Eight

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM -- Son of Saul

BEST ANIMATED FILM -- Inside Out

BEST SCREENPLAY - MOTION PICTURE -- Aaron Sorkin for Steve Jobs

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE -- Sylvester Stallone for Creed

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE -- Kate Winslet in Steve Jobs

BEST TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA -- Mr. Robot

BEST ACTOR IN A TV SHOW - DRAMA -- Jon Hamm in Mad Men

BEST ACTRESS IN A TV SHOW - DRAMA -- Taraji P. Henson in Empire

BEST MINI-SERIES OR MADE FOR TV MOVIE -- Wolf Hall

BEST ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR MADE FOR TV MOVIE -- Oscar Isaac in Show Me a Hero

BEST ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR MADE FOR TV MOVIE -- Lady Gaga in American Horror Story:  Hotel

BEST TV SHOW - MUSICAL OR COMEDY -- Mozart in the Jungle

BEST ACTOR IN A TV SHOW - MUSICAL OR COMEDY -- Gael Garcia Bernal in Mozart in the Jungle

BEST ACTRESS IN A TV SHOW - MUSICAL OR COMEDY -- Rachel Bloom in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A TV SHOW, MINI-SERIES, OR MADE FOR TV MOVIE -- Christian Slater in Mr. Robot

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A TV SHOW, MINI-SERIES, OR MADE FOR TV MOVIE -- Maura Tierney in The Affair

Although it is by no means a lock, odds are good that the frontrunners for Best Actor at the Oscars this year are Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio.  Stallone may get a nom for Creed.  Jennifer Lawrence and Brie Larsen are definitely getting nominated for Best Actress.  Best Director might get an upset from Danny Boyle, since Steve Jobs did better than I thought it would.  It's definitely going to get a nom for one of the screenplay categories.  The Martian will probably lock down Best Adapted Screenplay, though.

Those are my predictions at this stage.  The Oscar nominations drop on Thursday the 14th, so tune in back here to see if I'm on track.  As always, I have given myself from the day of the nominations until the evening of the ceremony to watch as many as I possibly can.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

  This is the Christy pick for January and it's a wildly different beast than her usual fare.

Charlie (Logan Lerman) is a very troubled freshman.  He wants to be liked but has no idea how to go about talking to people.  Finally, he strikes up a conversation with an outgoing senior, Patrick (Ezra Miller), who introduces him to the outside world and more importantly to his step-sister, Sam (Emma Watson).  Charlie falls head-over-heels for Sam but is unable to show her the depths of his feelings without bringing up his past trauma.

This is an excellent film about depression and broken people.  As a coming-of-age tale, I'm not sure that it's totally relevant.  That could be because my high school experience was completely different.  Ezra Miller was the stand-out performance here.  He showed a lot of versatility that will serve him well as his career progresses.

This is a thoughtful film that gently peels back the layers of hurt surrounding a damaged psyche.  At its heart, this is a movie about pain.  The pain of loneliness, of long-festered wrongs that can never be righted, of injustice, of frustration in seeing another suffer knowing that you can do nothing, even the pain of freedom for to be truly free is to face the world without a safety net.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

Second movie down.  I think this might be my favorite out of the trilogy.  And not just because of the elves.

Ok, yes, it's totally because of the elves.  And that badass barrel sequence with the dwarves and the orcs and the elves.  Between Orlando Bloom, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, and Evangeline Lilly's cheekbones, this movie had enough sharpness to cut diamonds.  I also finally noticed Stephen Colbert's cameo in Laketown this time.
Originally posted 23 Dec 13.  Nominated for:  Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects    There was a lot going on in this movie.  There were dwarves and elves and orcs and giant spiders, a room full of gold, iron arrows, and Stephen Fry.  No wonder they needed two and a half hours.

Bilbo (Martin Freeman), Gandalf (Ian McKellan) and the dwarves are still trying to get to the Lonely Mountain.  The secret door will only be revealed on the last day of autumn so they have to hustle.  They are on the run from a pack of orcs and decide to cross through the Mirkwood Forest.  Gandalf suddenly remembers some urgent business he has to take care of with Radegast (Sylvester McCoy) and trusts the rest to stay on the Elf Road, the only safe path through the woods.  Unfortunately, the landscapers have not been by recently and the dwarves wander into the webs of giant spiders.  Bilbo uses the handy-dandy gold ring he found in the goblin tunnels to turn invisible and save the others.  Then the elves show up, led by Legolas (Orlando Bloom) who hates dwarves, and Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) who might make an exception for Kili (Aiden Turner).  After all, he is tall for a dwarf.  Legolas' father, Thranduil (Lee Pace /dreamy sigh) is willing to make a deal with Thorin (Richard Armitage) for the elves' assistance in return for a cut of the dragon's treasure but Thorin is still mad Thranduil turned his back when they asked for help years ago and says no.  Bilbo breaks them out of elf prison in barrels and they sail down to the human settlement of Laketown. 

With me so far?  Ok.

Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans) thinks helping the dwarves will only bring down destruction upon their city, but the Master of Laketown (Stephen Fry) can't see past the dollar signs (or whatever the hell currency Middle Earth uses) when Thorin offers to make their town a trading center again.  This is where the party starts to break up, however, as Kili took a poisoned arrow to the leg during their escape and can't go on.  Three of the other dwarves stay behind to look after him.  The rest head up to the mountain.  Bilbo discovers that trying to walk across a sea of gold coins quietly is damn near impossible, even if you are invisible, which doesn't mean as much to a creature that uses its nose as much as it uses its eyes, like a dragon.  Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) is less than enthused that there is a hairy-footed thief running around his bed, even if he is impeccably mannered. 

For a middle entry, it's solid.  It may have even been better than the first film.  It ends quite abruptly in order to have something left for the third movie, but as long as you're expecting it it's not too jarring.  There are still too many dwarves to keep up with, although I rather liked Aiden Turner getting more of a part this time around.  Plus, any scene with Orlando Bloom or Lee Pace is automatically going to be a winner.  When they had one together I nearly swooned out of my chair.  I just want to braid their hair.  Is that weird?  I want to say that's weird.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Told you it was a Martin Freeman weekend.  I decided to go ahead and re-watch the entire trilogy since I hadn't seen each since they were in theaters and never all together.  I had forgotten exactly how intricate all the action scenes are.  This first movie has a spectacular set-piece where the dwarves are running through a goblin mine and the coordination between each actor is fantastic.  I still couldn't tell you which ones all the dwarves are, but I focused more on Bilbo this time around.  It really is his story, even if it's about dwarves reclaiming their homeland.

Originally posted 24 Dec 12.  Nominated for:  Best Make-up, Best Production Design, and Best Visual Effects 
  Dammit, Peter Jackson.  You couldn't be happy with the Tolkein resurgence you created with your first massive, immersive trilogy, could you?  No, you had to go ahead and suck me into another one.  Now I'm going to have to wait something like four years for this story to be told completely.

I had read some of the early reviews which complained of pacing problems, that the first hour zipped along and the second hour dragged, but I didn't notice any of that. I felt like the film moved along at a fairly even clip, with plenty of action to balance out the extended dialogue.

Rob and I didn't get to see it in IMAX but we did see the high frame rate (HFR) 3D.  It didn't bother me like I thought it might.  There were parts, especially crowd shots, that did look very much like a soap opera but it wasn't so jarring as to take me out of the scene.  I find 3D glasses to darken the overall look of a film and that may have actually worked to advantage here. 

The dwarves of Erebor are driven from their home and forced to become nomads by the dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch), who turns their mountain into his hoard.  The king-in-exile, Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) puts together a band of merry men --sorry, dwarves-- to go back and kill the dragon.  The wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellan) thinks they need a little extra help and strongarms Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) into joining the company.  Along their way, they are harried by orcs, aided by elves, and almost eaten by trolls. 

As far as criticism goes, I really only have two issues. 1) I could not tell those motherfucking dwarves apart. Seriously, 13 is way too many to keep track of. There's the hot one (Fili), the blond one (Kili), the leader (Thorin), and the funny one (Bofur). I have no idea which ones the others are.

2) No blood in the battle scenes. This PG-13 nonsense has to stop. It is a battle with swords and axes. If there is no blood, what is the point of carrying sharp things? If you're worried about the effect on young minds, make the blood a different color. It's a goblin, how do I know its blood isn't green? But no blood at all? That's retarded.

Overall, the tone is very light but with a lot of foreshadowing.  There are a slew of cameos from Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Andy Serkis, Elijah Wood and Ian Holm representing the cross-over from the Lord of the Rings cycle.  For movies to come, they tease you with glimpses of the dragon and of Thranduil, the High King of the elves (played by Lee Pace!)

It's definitely worth a watch, even for people (like me) who aren't gigantic Tolkein nerds. 

Peacock (2010)

  This is one of those movies that makes you want to take a long shower, possibly with bleach or steel wool.  The ick factor is that high, though you see nothing.  It reminded me of some of William Faulkner's short stories.

John (Cillian Murphy) leads a quiet life in small town Peacock, Nebraska until a train derails in his backyard.  Responders to the scene see a frazzled woman going into John's house.  They assume he married and just didn't tell anyone.  What they don't know is that John created "Emma" after the death of his tyrannical, abusive mother.  With his secret dangerously close to being revealed, John is visibly on edge.  Emma, however, sees her opportunity to finally achieve the dreams she's always had.

If you're thinking Psycho in the Midwest, you're not wrong.  This goes much further into the dissociative identity, pulling the viewer along into the deepening web.  Murphy is breathtakingly good in this double role, which goes far beyond just playing drag.  Emma is a totally separate character who just happens to share a body with John.  It's a phenomenal performance and I am shocked it didn't get more recognition.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

  It's shaping up to be a Martin Freeman kind of weekend.

Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) is just a normal guy living in England when he discovers that his house is set to be demolished.  Coincidentally, that same day his entire planet is also set to be destroyed by an alien race of bureaucrats called Vogons.  Arthur's friend Ford Prefect (Mos Def) saves him moments before the Earth is disintegrated by jumping them onto a passing spaceship.  The ship has been stolen by Galactic President Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell) and his human girlfriend Trillian (Zooey Deschanel).  With the Vogons close behind, the four adventurers travel across the galaxy, searching for the question to the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything.

The first time I saw this movie I didn't really like it, despite having read all the books in the Hitchhiker series and enjoying them.  I don't remember what I was expecting but I didn't get it.  This time, however, I had a much better time with it.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

  I'd been wanting to see this for a while but I didn't get around to it until this weekend.  It was cute, even if it didn't quite live up to my expectations.

Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) is the CIA's top agent in 1960's East Berlin.  Ilya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) is the KGB's top agent.  The two opposing sides are forced to work together to find a missing nuclear scientist, Udo Teller (Christian Berkel), believed to be hiding in Rome, before he can complete production on a warhead.  They have his daughter, Gaby (Alicia Vikander), as bait but it soon appears that at least one agent is falling for the beautiful mechanic.

Like I said, it's cute.  Like a lighter, fluffier version of Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes.  This might even be the only time I've ever liked Henry Cavill.  I always like Armie Hammer, but I would have loved to see him be a lot more violent.  It really felt like they were holding back on this production.

The Big Short (2015)

Nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing  This was the most depressed I have ever been after seeing a comedy.  I came out of the theater actually despairing over the fate of the world.  Mother of God, what have we done to ourselves?  To our planet?

In 2008, the United States housing market collapsed, sparking a global recession.  In 2006, a handful of people only saw the writing on the wall and instituted measures to essentially profit off of the death of the American economy.  And they are the good guys.  Dr. Michael Burry (Christian Bale) was the first to come up with the idea to short mortgage bonds and was roundly laughed at for doing something -- at the time -- so unheard of.  Mark Baum (Steve Carrell) and his team answered a wrong number and got wind of the idea from a trader named Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling).  Two amateurs with a hedge fund saw Vennett's market proposal and talked a former market-savvy analyst turned paranoid anti-establishment nutcase (Brad Pitt) into using his clout to get them a seat at the table.

This is a comedy.  It reminded me very much of a documentary called Inside Job but this used big actors to dramatize the actual events.  It also used guests such as Margot Robbie and Selena Gomez to explain the more complicated financial terms.  Those parts were hilarious.  I wasn't in love with the editing, which seemed overly processed to feel like a documentary.  I didn't think that was necessary when coupled with the narration from Gosling's character.

This would have been a very funny movie if it wasn't about an actual event.  If this were purely fictional, I would have been fine.  But this happened.

People lost their homes.

People lost their jobs.

People around the world suffered.

And that just sucks all the humor right out for me.

Hercules (2014)

  This is a movie I probably never would have given a chance if Christy hadn't given me the DVD out of her combo pack.  It turned out to be pretty entertaining.

Myths abound concerning the warrior Hercules (Dwayne Johnson), most of them told with gleeful pride by his nephew, Iolaus (Reece Ritchie).  In truth, the "son of Zeus" is a mercenary with a loyal team, righting wrongs for profit.  When he is approached by Lady Ergenia (Rebecca Ferguson) to take sides in the Thracian civil war, he accepts but soon finds that Lord Cotys (John Hurt) is not what he appears.

This is a fun movie.  It's based on a graphic novel so it's very action-heavy and the characters have been stripped down to basic archetypes.  There's nothing stunningly original about it but it's decent enough to throw on for an evening.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

  It's been a long time since I've seen this movie.  It's one of the rare sequels I like better than the original.

Hellboy (Ron Perlman) and his team are called upon to stop Nuada (Luke Goss), a Prince of Faerie, from reclaiming a magical mechanical army and using it to wipe out all the humans.  Complicating matters are the addition of a new leader, Johann Krauss (Seth MacFarlane), and Abe's (Doug Jones) infatuation with the prince's twin sister, Nuala (Anna Walton).  To top it all off, Liz (Selma Blair) discovers she is pregnant with Hellboy's children.

This is much more signature Del Toro with fantastical creatures, lush visuals, and crazy over-the-top action.  Where the first film tended toward moody darkness, this is practically candy-colored.  I never read the Hellboy comics but I did see the two animated films.  I really wish there had been more interest in this world.  I would have liked to see more on the backgrounds of the secondary characters or even a third film where Hellboy finally confronts his birthright.

End of Year 2015

Well, another year has come and gone.  It was not a great year for me and the movies.  I only saw 15 new releases this whole year.  15 out of 221.  Then again, 221 movies in a year isn't terrible.  It's not my record, which is 287 in a year (2013) but I was unemployed for part of that and had nothing else to do.  But you probably don't care about any of that anyway.  Let's get to some movies!

10.  Mockingjay, Part 2 -- I was just really disappointed in this film.  I think it was a bad idea to split it into two parts.  Fully half of the movie is denouement and it just drags.  Not a good way to end a series.  If I had seen more movies, this might not have even made my top 10.

9.  Mission Impossible:  Rogue Nation -- I'm a little surprised this wasn't higher on the list but this year had too many good action movies.  I had to be really nit-picky.

8.  Kingsman:  The Secret Service -- This movie was a blast from start to finish and a welcome entry from the early part of the year.

7.  Pitch Perfect 2 -- Don't get me wrong, I love my Bellas.  Everything from here up was painful to rank.

6.  Ant-Man --  I didn't have high expectations for this movie and that may have been what made it so enjoyable.

5.  Inside Out -- Pixar's entry this year showed surprising depth and subtlety.

4.  Spectre -- It kills me this is so low.  I loved this movie.

3.  The Avengers:  Age of Ultron -- I thought for sure this was going to be my number one but when I was looking at them, I just couldn't do it.  I'm sorry, Quicksilver.

2.  Jurassic World -- I really loved this movie.  I had such a good time watching it and I feel like it's a worthy successor to the franchise.

1.  Mad Max:  Fury Road -- I had dreams about this movie.  It was amazing and weird and disgusting and balls out crazy with just enough of the sublime to render it as art.

So there you have it.  Comments and arguments are welcome.

And now, let's look ahead to what's coming in 2016.

Kung Fu Panda 3 got a release date!  Here's hoping that it continues the spirit of excellence it had in the second film.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a real thing.  But it's coming out in February, which means it'll probably suck.

Deadpool already has my money.  Ryan Reynolds was born to play this role.

The live-action Jungle Book is coming out in March.  I don't know how I feel about that.

I've avoided trailers for Captain America:  Civil War.  I already know I'm going to see it and I want every frame to be as fresh as possible.

Alice Through the Looking Glass could be good.  I enjoyed Alice in Wonderland more than I thought I would.

Of course I'm going to see X-Men:  Apocalypse.

I didn't even know there was going to be a sequel to The Conjuring.  But apparently, The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Poltergeist is a thing.

I'll probably see Finding Dory but I don't have high expectations.

Ugh.  I don't know how I feel about Star Trek Beyond.

Suicide Squad.  Yes, yes, yes.

They remade Pete's Dragon.  Right in the childhood.

They also remade The Magnificent Seven and I have no idea why.

Doctor Strange is coming in November.

Moana looks really cool.  It'll be nice to see Disney do something Polynesian.

Assassin's Creed is a video game adaptation and those typically do not do well.  This one has Michael Fassbender in it, however, and that's a huge endorsement.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is coming out on Christmas Day.  I haven't read the books but they come highly recommended.