Alright guys, I promised you all to deliver my Academy Award predictions this weekend and here they are. I will run through the single categories and kind of explain my choice - please bear with me...sometimes my choices are not based on the knowledge or something just on thoughts!
Best Picture : After all the hype we got about The Social Network earlier this year, going into the beginning of the Award Season and cleaning the house at the Golden Globes, the buzz settled a bit and they were caught by The King's Speech. Quiet frankly I don't know what will change about this here. I would love to see The Social Network win, but I predict The King's Speech to win here.
Leading Roles : I don't split the leading roles, nor the supporting roles up. In both categories my choices are very clear. Natalie Portman and Colin Firth are going to take home those awards for their great performance in Black Swan and The King's Speech. I have no doubt here.
Supporting Roles : This one is a bit more tricky than the leading role category. I think, that the Globe Winners Christian Bale and Melissa Leo have a pretty good chance of repeating their success here - both also winning the Actors Guild Award, but they also have to fear competition like Hailee Steinfeld (Why the hell is she nominated in Supporting Roles?) and Geoffrey Rush. Still I think The Fighter will get both of these awards.
Best Director : The Director Guild of America made their presence felt and awarded Tom Hooper their award for his direction in The King's Speech. 90 percent of the GDA winner have moved on to winning the Oscar in that exact same year. It's risky betting against those odds, but I am a gambler and I think, that David Fincher will get this award here. 10 percent is still a chance!
Best Writers : I don't split those up either and so we have Aaron Sorkin and Christopher Nolan winning in my book. Sorkins Award seems to be pretty save, but Nolan is a shot in the dark. A lot of experts are saying, that it is "The royal year" but when I look at the ideas that Nolan put in Inception I think that is the better script!
Animated : Toy Story hands down!
Best Foreign : That one is a bit tricky as well. The Globes saw the danish film In a better world winning, but something tells me, that Biutiful will win this one.
Cinematography : True Grit was shoot so well with such a great atmosphere, that I think it will win this award...probably the best chances for True Grit of winning an Oscar this year.
Editing : In my book two movies would be fighting for this Award, Inception and The Social Network. Both had to rely on perfect editing, because there were several plots and strings and locations that had to be brought into a fitting structure, and both movies succeeded in that point. Since Inception isn't nominated The Social Network will take this one home.
Art Director : Tom Burton for Alice in Wonderland is the obvious choice here. It is a colorful movie that is playing in a dream world, and that dreamworld is portayed in a great way by the Art that Tom Burton put into it.
Costume Design : Same as Art Director. Alice in Wonderland wouldn't work without the costumes that are introduced in the movie.
Make Up: I don't know about that category. I believe that the voters are not really watch every movie closely enough to get every bit of Make Up and the way it is used, so I go with Wolfman coz you can't miss the Make Up there!
Original Score : I believe that Social Network will take this one home as well, cause I really like the flow of that Score, always in the back, never really in the face but always there and supporting the vibe. I fear, that The King's Speech will get this one at the end of the day, but my prediction is The Social Network!
Song : Don't heared every song nominated but I go with Randy Newman and his song for Toy Story 3 here.
Sound Mixing : Did a little research about this category and my sources are telling me, that the Sound Mixing craft is about the way dialogues and the environment are presented. So my choice here The Social Network because so many scenes are taking place in different environments, and the atmosphere there is always pin point accurate delivered!
Sound Editing : When a movie and it's sound are supporting the story and concept of a movie in the way it is achieved in Inception it's gotta win the Oscar.
Visual Effects : Freakin spinning fight in the Hallway! Inception
Documentary : This might be a political choice and so my vote is on Inside Job. Speaking of politics...war documentary Restrepo about the Afghanistan War could be the political choice as well!
Documentary Short : Don`t know lot about those movies. Just read a few synopsis and again from a political standpoint I think Killing in the Name is having good chances of taking this one home!
Short Animated : Also only read a few thinks about those movies and Day and Night was attached to the screenings of Toy Story 3. So I guess it has pretty decent chances!
Short Film : This category I am really having no ideas what the movies are about so I just randomly pick a movie and the winner will be...Wish 143.
Thats it for the Academy Award Predictions...I am sure I won't get 24 out of 24 but I hope I have at least half of the movies right!
Summary:
The Social Network : 5 Awards
Inception : 3 Awards
The King's Speech : 2 Awards
Toy Story 3 : 2 Awards
The Fighter : 2 Awards
Black Swan : 1 Award
True Grit : 1 Award
Follow me on twitter: twitter.com/fanthaiza for all updates about this blog!
Sonntag, 20. Februar 2011
Samstag, 19. Februar 2011
The Kids are all right : A modern comedy
The recent years have brought us a totally new way of thinking about the "modern" way of having a family - a heterosexual family that is. Apparently this topic is most suited to a comedic approach with the hit series „Modern Family“ and now the comedic romance „The Kids are all right“ nominated for several Oscars like Best Picture, Best Lead Actress and Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Script. And deservedly so. The movie moves in a fresh and unapproached area of family with a lesbian couple, two kids and the sperm donator who gets mixed into the occasion and spices things up in many ways.
The story is lacking a bit focus and that is a good thing. We jump from one story angle to another which gives this movie a good pace to go with. The story starts with a general overview about the dynamics in the family. We have the bride young girl – Joni, the bit out of control boy – Laser, and of course Mom and…mom Nic and Jules. And later the sperm donator Paul is mixed into the occasion. He wants to get to know his kids better and so he becomes a part of the family, he participates at dinners, is doing sports with the kids and gives the unemployed part of the parents a job in his garden. From there on this entire movie is turning upside down and I can’t progress with the synopsis here without getting any spoilers away!
The story is lacking a bit focus and that is a good thing. We jump from one story angle to another which gives this movie a good pace to go with. The story starts with a general overview about the dynamics in the family. We have the bride young girl – Joni, the bit out of control boy – Laser, and of course Mom and…mom Nic and Jules. And later the sperm donator Paul is mixed into the occasion. He wants to get to know his kids better and so he becomes a part of the family, he participates at dinners, is doing sports with the kids and gives the unemployed part of the parents a job in his garden. From there on this entire movie is turning upside down and I can’t progress with the synopsis here without getting any spoilers away!
The thing with those romantic comedies is, that they are almost predictable from the get go. The Kids are all right is no difference in this, if you have seen a couple of those genre movies you pretty much know what’s gonna happen, that there is gonna be a twist were one member of the family gets turned away from the rest and so on. The refreshing part in this movie whatsoever is, that no stereotype can be entered here. With this total new way of presenting the family it is a new situation for movies in a different way. Usually the boy is cheating and then is crawling back in regrets and is doing something romantic for an hour on the screen to get back to the love of his life. It is in The Kids are all right but in a totally different way and not with all the drama and scenes that you know out of other movies.
The fact that one family member betrays the others is presented different here in the movie, no yelling, no screaming, not so many tears and no “I don´t want to see your FACE ever again!”. It´s all settled and quite which is a great way of showing a conflict like that. And in a bizarre way the betrayal is totally new as well. In a gay relationship, a straight betrayal gotta be something new.
But that’s not what drives this movie and makes it watchable. The best thing about this movie is the relationship and the acting. And in a way those two aspects are pulling together. Pretty much every conversation seemed authentic and real in a great way. Mark Ruffalo made a great job delivering the sperm donator who is really unsure of his role in this family, but understands the responsibility that he is taking by getting to know his kids better. Annette Benning is delivering big time as the working mother and the “core” of the family, the institution of the family. Julianne Moore is doing her share as well as the more “hippy” mother, that is really playing the betrayal down to earth. Even in the situations and conversations were the lesbians are talking to each other after the betrayal no tearjerkers are applied, just a down to earth bitterness and remorse that is coming from both ends in those conversations. Last but not least is Mia Wasikowska as Joni, the smart 18 year old girl. She is in a way the center piece and driving factor in this comedy. Her progression is the leading way through the movie, because the troubles are starting with her calling the donor and the movie ends – almost an open end – with her getting out of her parents’ house and moving in to a college flat. And what she is doing in her role is good. She is good in the conversations with her lines, her pronunciation is appropriate and most of all she plays a “changing” character with her –at first- being the protected child with no troubles in live and ending up drunk and yelling at her parents. That’s a twist that is not delivered well by every actor in Hollywood!
The only weak link in the cast is Josh Hutcherson. He is not getting the great exposure either but the scenes he is in he looks shallow and is overshadowed by every other actor that is in those scenes.
Nevertheless this movie is a perfectly enjoyable movie, with the only exception that it is pretty much a romantic comedy genre movie with no real inventive ideas that are turning the genre upside down. Still the modern family aspect is getting some laughts out and is creating some awkward situations, but it is not used in a way, that it could reinvent romantic comedies.
Rating : 8 out of 10
The fact that one family member betrays the others is presented different here in the movie, no yelling, no screaming, not so many tears and no “I don´t want to see your FACE ever again!”. It´s all settled and quite which is a great way of showing a conflict like that. And in a bizarre way the betrayal is totally new as well. In a gay relationship, a straight betrayal gotta be something new.
But that’s not what drives this movie and makes it watchable. The best thing about this movie is the relationship and the acting. And in a way those two aspects are pulling together. Pretty much every conversation seemed authentic and real in a great way. Mark Ruffalo made a great job delivering the sperm donator who is really unsure of his role in this family, but understands the responsibility that he is taking by getting to know his kids better. Annette Benning is delivering big time as the working mother and the “core” of the family, the institution of the family. Julianne Moore is doing her share as well as the more “hippy” mother, that is really playing the betrayal down to earth. Even in the situations and conversations were the lesbians are talking to each other after the betrayal no tearjerkers are applied, just a down to earth bitterness and remorse that is coming from both ends in those conversations. Last but not least is Mia Wasikowska as Joni, the smart 18 year old girl. She is in a way the center piece and driving factor in this comedy. Her progression is the leading way through the movie, because the troubles are starting with her calling the donor and the movie ends – almost an open end – with her getting out of her parents’ house and moving in to a college flat. And what she is doing in her role is good. She is good in the conversations with her lines, her pronunciation is appropriate and most of all she plays a “changing” character with her –at first- being the protected child with no troubles in live and ending up drunk and yelling at her parents. That’s a twist that is not delivered well by every actor in Hollywood!
The only weak link in the cast is Josh Hutcherson. He is not getting the great exposure either but the scenes he is in he looks shallow and is overshadowed by every other actor that is in those scenes.
Nevertheless this movie is a perfectly enjoyable movie, with the only exception that it is pretty much a romantic comedy genre movie with no real inventive ideas that are turning the genre upside down. Still the modern family aspect is getting some laughts out and is creating some awkward situations, but it is not used in a way, that it could reinvent romantic comedies.
Rating : 8 out of 10
Follow me on twitter twitter.com/fanthaiza for all the updates on my blog!
Sonntag, 13. Februar 2011
Top Five Lists! Football Movies
Here we go folks, first Sunday after the football season...so I am going to "keep" up the season once again with my top 5 football movies of all time!
1. Remember the Titans - Not only good as a football movie, but also good as a movie about ethnical difficulties in the early years in America. This movie shows how hard it was for black people to get into the spotlight, and look at the NFL now! Directed by Boaz Yakin starring Denzel Washington and Will Patton.
2. Any given Sunday - A true football movie. It´s about the game and the game behind the game. Stars are born, stars are dropping, injuries are happening, money is tight and success is the best argument you can have on your side for a coach. Directed by Oliver Stone starring Al Pacino, Jamie Foxx, Dennis Quiad, Aaron Eckhard and Cameron Diaz.
3. Jerry Maguire - I covered the life of a coach and the life of an entire team with my first two choices, now I am heading for the agent. Jerry Maguire is showing what success and money are capable of doing, but still a human component has to exist in order to accomplish your goals and dreams. And my team the CARDINALS are featured :) Directed by Cameron Crowe starring Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Renee Zellweger.
4. Invincible - After three fictional football movies here comes the true story of a unemployed football fan in Philadelphia. Due to the recent lack of success the Eagles are looking for new members and are hosting an open casting and only one can step it up and earn the spot in the team - Vince Papale. Directed by Ericson Core starring Mark Wahlberg, Elisabeth Banks and Greg Kinnear.
5. The Blind Side - Another true story about the OL Michael Oher, who comes from a crack addicted familyhood and is trying to be just a part of the society. After he is growing into a family he is showing his impressive strenght on the football field becoming the First Round Draft Pick in the NFL Draft 2009. Directed by John Lee Hancock starring Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron and Jae Head.
And as usual the films that I know that could make it into the Top 5 : Friday Night Lights, Brian´s Song, Rudy, We are Marshall!
Next lists topic is still pending...I am looking for a topic currently. If you have any advises or suggestions just follow me on twitter twitter.com/fanthaiza and let me know what I should write about!
1. Remember the Titans - Not only good as a football movie, but also good as a movie about ethnical difficulties in the early years in America. This movie shows how hard it was for black people to get into the spotlight, and look at the NFL now! Directed by Boaz Yakin starring Denzel Washington and Will Patton.
2. Any given Sunday - A true football movie. It´s about the game and the game behind the game. Stars are born, stars are dropping, injuries are happening, money is tight and success is the best argument you can have on your side for a coach. Directed by Oliver Stone starring Al Pacino, Jamie Foxx, Dennis Quiad, Aaron Eckhard and Cameron Diaz.
3. Jerry Maguire - I covered the life of a coach and the life of an entire team with my first two choices, now I am heading for the agent. Jerry Maguire is showing what success and money are capable of doing, but still a human component has to exist in order to accomplish your goals and dreams. And my team the CARDINALS are featured :) Directed by Cameron Crowe starring Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Renee Zellweger.
4. Invincible - After three fictional football movies here comes the true story of a unemployed football fan in Philadelphia. Due to the recent lack of success the Eagles are looking for new members and are hosting an open casting and only one can step it up and earn the spot in the team - Vince Papale. Directed by Ericson Core starring Mark Wahlberg, Elisabeth Banks and Greg Kinnear.
5. The Blind Side - Another true story about the OL Michael Oher, who comes from a crack addicted familyhood and is trying to be just a part of the society. After he is growing into a family he is showing his impressive strenght on the football field becoming the First Round Draft Pick in the NFL Draft 2009. Directed by John Lee Hancock starring Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron and Jae Head.
And as usual the films that I know that could make it into the Top 5 : Friday Night Lights, Brian´s Song, Rudy, We are Marshall!
Next lists topic is still pending...I am looking for a topic currently. If you have any advises or suggestions just follow me on twitter twitter.com/fanthaiza and let me know what I should write about!
Freitag, 11. Februar 2011
Inception: An unexpected dream movie
The headline might surprise a few of you because the movie created some buzz and offers a great cast so why was this unexpected to be a great movie? Because for a summer blockbuster this movie features so many great innovative ideas both in visual and in storytelling and plot that it separated big time from the usual summer blockbuster, that are mostly all a repetition of action movies, with a lot of stunts, a lot of explosions and a sexy female!
It´s great to get something new and actually groundbreaking in the summer, were most studios are not releasing their great prospects for the award season. So it´s great to see that guys like Christopher Nolan are not bound to the season in which their film is released but more dedicated to their own prospect and their own project and ideas. The creative plot that is behind the whole story of Inception is both creative and groundbreaking, and the way it is shown in a film is even better.
Don Cobb and his team are traveling to the dreams of men to steal information out of their minds to use them in their favors or to just fulfill a job. Most of the time that information they are stealing are thinks that can be used to create a disadvantage for the one it was stolen from. Their most recent job failed whatsoever and so they need to job together with Mr. Saito, a business man that they formally tried to steal from. The major purpose of that collaboration is to perform the act of “inception” on the mind of Robert Fischer, the young son of a business owner who is going head-to-head with Mr. Saito´s Company. And with that the fun part starts!
The ride through several layers of dreams only to implant on specific thought into the mind of Robert Fischer, which will change his actions forever. This film is a great mixture of spy, sci-fi and a little bit of an action movie, with no part of those elements dominating each other. It´s a perfectly balanced movie, that offers more and more in each layer you get. The most recognitions (at least at the Oscars) this movie is receiving from the technical standpoint with both visuals and sound editing being front runners for the Academy Awards, and rightfully so. The great sound with all the effects and the score by the great Hans Zimmer are delivering an experience that is just awesome. Watching this movie in a cinema with huge speakers is an experience you should not pass on! The other parts are the visuals and they are innovative and awesome in so many ways. I could jump on the obvious great spinning hallway, where Joseph Gordon-Levitt fights of an armed guard and the entire room is spinning and turning and they are flying around trading punches without gravity, but it´s not only this! Right from the get go the visuals are awesome with the new architect Ariadne trying out her skills and turning an entire city upside down, those shots were awesome as well!
Next thing you will notice after the visuals and sounds is the amazing cast that Christopher Nolan has put together for this movie. With Leonardo DiCaprio and Marion Cotillard pretty much carrying the movie you get great performances out of them. In addition you have Ken Watanabe who is delivering a great performance and you have Jospeh Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy, who are not carrying the movie in any way, but providing great scenes and action in their scenes. And don’t count out Ellen Page in their performance as a young and curious architect that is discovering more and more about the life and past of DiCaprio´s Character.
So we got the visuals and the cast…what´s missing there? The story! And that story is spot on great. What Christopher Nolan did with this script that he wrote is one of the greatest jobs I have EVER seen. He is not only coming up with a creative idea, creative characters and an unusual topic but he has created a separated world with were different rules are applying and were you can do certain things. All his layers and dream levels are separate from each other both in the design and the way you move in it. He has created an entire new dimension within his movie and the greatest thing is, that the movie is never falling out of his own structure. Everything the cast does in the certain levels is plausible, every blow and everything is explained and it sounds logical. It´s just a great piece of writing that Nolan accomplished.
Now to my favorite part of the movie. I am usually not a big fan of love stories that are woven into a serious plot but in this case it´s so great to see. With Mal who lost her mind inside a dream and killed herself being all around this love story is not only shallow scratched but deeply analyzed within the movie. Everything is perfectly explained and the use of symbols within a movie is something I absolutely love. He love story is evolving inside the movie without being annoying or slipping to deep into romance or whatever. Just a great example of a sci-fi movie or a action movie or whatever, that is featuring a love story without even getting close to the typical romance clichés.
With all that being said I have only one last thing to say about Inception. It´s GREAT. You have to pay attention to the screen all the time in order to get the content and the rules and systems that are working on each layer, but it´s fairly easy to get if you following the movie. And you SHOULD follow the movie just because this movie is a really really fun and entertaining watch, that features some of the greatest and most innovative writing that I have ever seen.
Rating: 10 out of 10
Montag, 7. Februar 2011
Whats next?
I have a bit of troubles taking a look at some movies recently course of my college exams and stuff like that, but this will get fixed in a week, when I have time again. Just wanted to give you a little heads up on the reviews and stuff that is awaiting you in February!
I will definitly post reviews of the final missing nominees for best picture in the upcoming Academy Awards which are Inception, The Kids are all right and Winter´s Bone. Probably Inception goes first, then The Kids are all right and after that Winter´s Bone.
Then as we move closer to the Academy Awards, I will announce my predictions for the Academy Awards in every category! Maybe I will devide it into several post to keep the tension...lets see about that. And of course I invite EVERY reader to post his own thoughts in the comments!
Then of course the Top List will stay a feature on the Blog, next topic is pending, but I guess I will make it about football since the SuperBowl is only a few days ago, when the list hits the board!
If there is any huge topic I need to focus on I will of course write something in the Column category, but this feature will not occur weekly on the blog!
And with a little bit more time on my schedule I will try to establish two new categories to the Blog as a weekly feature. One is the DVD Shelf where I will write a review about one movie, that I recently rewatched out of my own DVD collection. The second being the weekly classic, where I will pick one classic and legendary movie, which will get a review on my blog as well!
That is the agenda for the next weeks, if you like my plans let me know and of course bookmark this blog! You can also follow me on twitter twitter.com/fanthaiza for the newest updates on the blog and the unfiltered thoughts that I have when I read something about movies or pretty much anything :)
I will definitly post reviews of the final missing nominees for best picture in the upcoming Academy Awards which are Inception, The Kids are all right and Winter´s Bone. Probably Inception goes first, then The Kids are all right and after that Winter´s Bone.
Then as we move closer to the Academy Awards, I will announce my predictions for the Academy Awards in every category! Maybe I will devide it into several post to keep the tension...lets see about that. And of course I invite EVERY reader to post his own thoughts in the comments!
Then of course the Top List will stay a feature on the Blog, next topic is pending, but I guess I will make it about football since the SuperBowl is only a few days ago, when the list hits the board!
If there is any huge topic I need to focus on I will of course write something in the Column category, but this feature will not occur weekly on the blog!
And with a little bit more time on my schedule I will try to establish two new categories to the Blog as a weekly feature. One is the DVD Shelf where I will write a review about one movie, that I recently rewatched out of my own DVD collection. The second being the weekly classic, where I will pick one classic and legendary movie, which will get a review on my blog as well!
That is the agenda for the next weeks, if you like my plans let me know and of course bookmark this blog! You can also follow me on twitter twitter.com/fanthaiza for the newest updates on the blog and the unfiltered thoughts that I have when I read something about movies or pretty much anything :)
Samstag, 5. Februar 2011
Top Ten List! Adapted Screenplay
So once again on the weekend a new Top-List hits the blog. This time it is an extended 10 film list because there are soooo many based on true story movies, just too hard to pick only 5 out of this list! Once again this list is based on my preferences in movies!
1. Goodfellas - No big suprise here. It was best gangster movie and it is the best adapted screenplay movie based on the life of Henry Hill and how he works his way up in the New York Mafia. Directed by the genius Martin Scorsese and starring Ray Liotta, Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci!
2. All the president´s men - In my opinion this is the best political thriller there is out there. The true story of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein that are fearlessly uncloaking the Watergate Affair with just good journalism. This project was made and directed by Robert Redford and is starring Robert Redford and a young Dustin Hoffmann.
3. Raging Bull - A boxing story. Just like basically every boxing movie this is a dramatic movie about the boxing career of Jake LaMotta, a middleweight boxer with a strive of getting hurt and enjoy it. This character is so great portrayed by Robert DeNiro that this is an all-time classic in this legendary career of DeNiro. Directed as well by Martin Scorsese and starring as mentioned above Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci.
4. Schindler´s List - The real and great story of the brave austrian industrialist Oskar Schindler who saved more than one thousand jews in the Third Reich by employing them in his industry. Great disturbing images and the story of one of the silent heroes in the Third Reich. Directed by Steven Spielberg starring Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley and Ralph Fiennes.
5. Apollo 13 - The story of a desastrous moon mission of the three astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert that are up above the earth with a lot of technical difficulties. The dramatic mission, that nobody cared about at the beginning and then turned out to be a media spectacle after they had to manage every difficulty to come back to earth. Directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise and Ed Harris.
6. Walk the Line - The great story of the country legend Johnny Cash and his loved one June Carter. The movie shows everything from the beginning of his life, to the starting country career, all the way to the drug addiction and the return to the stage. It´s so great to see Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon sing all those great songs. Directed by James Mangold and starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon!
7. The Social Network - Mark Zuckerbergs successful story of him founding facebook with a bunch of friends and then ending up in a mixture of success, money and betrail. A great story of friendship, loyalty and of course what money and success can make to you and your social life. Directed by David Fincher starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake.
8. Catch me if you can - A chasing cop and a smart criminal in an unbelievable real story of Frank Abagnale who impersonates a lot of different persons and jobs on his way to stealing more than 1 million dollars from his "employer". Only Carl Hanratty is interested in this kind of frauds and tries to hunt him down. Directed by Steven Spielberg starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks and Amy Adams.
9. The Untouchables - The true story of Eliot Ness who tries to prove that Al Capone is acting against the law in the time of prohibition. Only problem is, that nobody wants to support Ness on this mission except a old officer, a italian youngster and a booky who tries to prove that Al Capone is acting against tax laws rather than against prohibition laws or even killing people! Directed by Brian De Palma starring Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Andy Garcia, Charles Martin Smith and Robert DeNiro.
10. American Gangster - Not a traditional mafia movie, more the story of how Frank Lucas builds his drug empire without the backup from a mob group. He smuggles Heroin into the states and sells it for an unbeatable price. That of course brings him competition in the drug scene and of course get him the attention of the police. Richie Roberts is the cop who tries to be honest in his job and not fall into corruption. Directed by Ridley Scott and starring Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe and in a supporting role Cuba Gooding Jr.
Other notable films in this category are : The Fighter, 127 Hours, Invictus, The Blind Side, 21, Kings Speech, Invincible, Donnie Brasco, Titanic, Saving Private Ryan and Casino!
1. Goodfellas - No big suprise here. It was best gangster movie and it is the best adapted screenplay movie based on the life of Henry Hill and how he works his way up in the New York Mafia. Directed by the genius Martin Scorsese and starring Ray Liotta, Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci!
2. All the president´s men - In my opinion this is the best political thriller there is out there. The true story of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein that are fearlessly uncloaking the Watergate Affair with just good journalism. This project was made and directed by Robert Redford and is starring Robert Redford and a young Dustin Hoffmann.
3. Raging Bull - A boxing story. Just like basically every boxing movie this is a dramatic movie about the boxing career of Jake LaMotta, a middleweight boxer with a strive of getting hurt and enjoy it. This character is so great portrayed by Robert DeNiro that this is an all-time classic in this legendary career of DeNiro. Directed as well by Martin Scorsese and starring as mentioned above Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci.
4. Schindler´s List - The real and great story of the brave austrian industrialist Oskar Schindler who saved more than one thousand jews in the Third Reich by employing them in his industry. Great disturbing images and the story of one of the silent heroes in the Third Reich. Directed by Steven Spielberg starring Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley and Ralph Fiennes.
5. Apollo 13 - The story of a desastrous moon mission of the three astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert that are up above the earth with a lot of technical difficulties. The dramatic mission, that nobody cared about at the beginning and then turned out to be a media spectacle after they had to manage every difficulty to come back to earth. Directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise and Ed Harris.
6. Walk the Line - The great story of the country legend Johnny Cash and his loved one June Carter. The movie shows everything from the beginning of his life, to the starting country career, all the way to the drug addiction and the return to the stage. It´s so great to see Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon sing all those great songs. Directed by James Mangold and starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon!
7. The Social Network - Mark Zuckerbergs successful story of him founding facebook with a bunch of friends and then ending up in a mixture of success, money and betrail. A great story of friendship, loyalty and of course what money and success can make to you and your social life. Directed by David Fincher starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake.
8. Catch me if you can - A chasing cop and a smart criminal in an unbelievable real story of Frank Abagnale who impersonates a lot of different persons and jobs on his way to stealing more than 1 million dollars from his "employer". Only Carl Hanratty is interested in this kind of frauds and tries to hunt him down. Directed by Steven Spielberg starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks and Amy Adams.
9. The Untouchables - The true story of Eliot Ness who tries to prove that Al Capone is acting against the law in the time of prohibition. Only problem is, that nobody wants to support Ness on this mission except a old officer, a italian youngster and a booky who tries to prove that Al Capone is acting against tax laws rather than against prohibition laws or even killing people! Directed by Brian De Palma starring Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Andy Garcia, Charles Martin Smith and Robert DeNiro.
10. American Gangster - Not a traditional mafia movie, more the story of how Frank Lucas builds his drug empire without the backup from a mob group. He smuggles Heroin into the states and sells it for an unbeatable price. That of course brings him competition in the drug scene and of course get him the attention of the police. Richie Roberts is the cop who tries to be honest in his job and not fall into corruption. Directed by Ridley Scott and starring Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe and in a supporting role Cuba Gooding Jr.
Other notable films in this category are : The Fighter, 127 Hours, Invictus, The Blind Side, 21, Kings Speech, Invincible, Donnie Brasco, Titanic, Saving Private Ryan and Casino!
Mittwoch, 2. Februar 2011
127 Hours : One-armed Slotmachine
Clearly "127 Hours" is a good film in general, but for everyone is gotta pay close attention to his likes and dislikes. Surely the performance of James Franco is great and it has to be because basically he is the only person you see on the screen for about 1 hour. Other than that performance the movie has no action and no dialogues. It´s one of those milestone films that are somewhat groundbreaking but are not accessible for the everyone in the audience, because let’s face it most people visit the cinema to get blown away by visuals or effects or whatever. This movie does nothing in that direction might not be the typical go-to big-screen movie but still it is a great movie with emotions, a great character and just plain and simple nice techniques to showcase the situation James Franco´s character is in.
(From here on to the end spoilers can be involved!)
The movie itself is about the true story of the climber Aron Ralston, who leaves his normal environment to discover a bit of a Utah desert landscape and ends up being trapped with one arm under a boulder in a small "canyon". What follows are the 127 hours he survives and tries to stay focused and positive and not losing himself because of the bad situation he is in.
The thing about this movie is that it is a one-man show by James Franco only mixed up with some hallucinations and some trips down memory lane while he is tripped under the boulder. Regardless of that is the great emotions that James Franco´s character shows throughout the movie, he is not going nuts, or cries all the time, he always manages to stay positive about his situation and even can joke about his dumb departure without leaving a note, and about dumb laws about missing people and so on. So the movie has a really serious tone just because he is about to die alone in a little canyon but still the film manages to mix it up with actual "funny" stuff.
Also the technique that is used to burst out of the silent film is actually a nice way. Aron has nothing but a camera in this cliff, so he talks to the camera, first of a bit desperate like when somebody finds this tape please send it to my mum and dad and stuff like that, but later he gets funny, or just talks about the fact that he has nothing left to eat or drink which makes the movie more accessible than a complete character study of Aron Ralston in silents. It´s comparable to "Buried" where Ryan Reynolds only talks to his cell-phone and drives the story through that otherwise it´s just him in a casket, breathing,snorring and moving. So both films use media access or so to burst out of the silent film structure to make it more enjoyable for the audience.
Whatsoever the film has some great use of silence in a way you wouldn´t expect it to be. First of it´s great to see, that they don´t tear jerk the fact that Aron is trapped, he doesn´t scream he holds his composure and just stays calm thinking of a way to get out of this situation.
In another scene, actually the last scene in the canyon, where he desperately cuts off his arm in order to free himself he needs to cut a ligament and he BURSTS in scream from the pain, and it is just an epic cinematic experience to see him scream but not hear it because monumental sounding music is hitting and his screams are silenced. Just an epic experience with the great use of music. This movie is not build around visuals or so, it´s build around a sound and emotion mix that is simply great.
The memories and hallucinations are sometimes a bit weird and seem out of place at some points. I mean he is just dreaming about parties, beer and stuff like that. It can be a possibility if you are thirsty as hell and you are lonely and stuff, but they just seemed to be a little bit out of place here. Also the Scooby-Doo reference was a bit weak, sure it was the dream or hallucination about the girls he met before the accident, the girls he obviously liked a lot, but those things seemed to be a bit forced every once in a while.
The thing with this movie is, that you have to really check your film-collection first before you decide to watch it. If you are an action fan stay away from it, but if you like the experience of a score that is used to perfection, a character that is simply inspiring because of his will to not give up and not lose control, and if you like great acting ability it´s definitely worth checking this one out!
For me the movie did quite good. I like character studies and I like more silent films without the big action pretty much. The scene that totally convinced me that I like this movie is the ending, with the score and the emotions and stuff like that it is just so powerful that you can really feel with Ralston and really dig this character, and in a way admire that character for what he sustained throughout those 127 hours!
Rating : 8,5 of 10
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