V for Vendetta

Well, after a short vacation, I'm ready to review my first feature of 2006. It came in the form of V for Vendetta, a new film from the the Wachowski Brothers, creators of the Matrix Trilogy. Now, obviously I wasn't expecting it to live up to the quality of the first Matrix film, but I was hoping it might flare with the same blazing originality. Sadly, not only did it disappoint The Matrix' legacy, it barely lands among the sequels' level. A good way of summarizing the plot of this movie is to mix Batman and 1984. The idea behind the comic book source really isn't a bad one, and the movie does have an assortment of good and bad elements. However, the flawed aspects severely weigh it down. A few things in the film were commendable, however. Natalie Portman, forever proving herself to be one of the greatest actresses working in Hollywood, does not fail to impress, here. Hugo Weaving was also perfect for the masked avenger. His voice is already historic and it is put to good use here. Certain scenes also impressed me, in particular the domino montage. Overall the film had the right intentions and raised some very serious questions. The problem is that the film gets bogged down in this. It can't decide if this is an action film or a political drama. This complication culminates during a ridiculously put together fight scene near the end of the film, complete with huge amounts of splashing blood and cartoonish trails left by the flying sais. When I viewed this scene, I knew that the only purpose it served, and therefore, the only reason it was in the film, was for the Wachowskis to have a cool Matrixesque fight scene. Overall, the film presents a cool vision of the future, and an impressive notion of what it would be like if a modern day, superpower overthrew itself like the days of old. Problems also lie within the character, V. Now, no one's denying that he's hardcore and hot-blooded in his will to bring down the government. We are meant to believe that it is out of revenge for the harsh way it has of oppressing its citizens. However, throughout the film, it flirts with flashbacks of the hero in evil experimentation and extermination facilities (complete with a ridiculously tacky shot of him, naked, climbing out of the fire, like Bruce Banner on a bad day), as well as many scenes of V killing off all the people who made him the way he was, one by one. Therefore, I beg to ask, is V really as righteous as he is meant to come off as. Is he really fighting injustice, or is he just fighting for his own personal selfishness.

One more problem I encountered was the real lack of emotional connection to the relationship between Portman and Weaving. I understand that he wears a mask which puts a little difficulty in the situation, but I honestly couldn't even pick up on the fact that they were potentially an item until near the end. In going with that, I believe the story could have gone a lot better without any romance between the two characters. It begins on the right track, when both characters are seen getting ready to head out simultaneously, showing that there is a connection between them through their intentions and prospects for freedom, but this connection was enough. It did not have to go all the way to romance, for that concept ultimately fails for it.

At the same time, I find any scenario in which Portman could actually forgive V that fast for everything he did to her very unlikely.

In the end, V is not a bad movie, but it is the overreaching tendencies that really do keep it from being good. Could have been done a lot better.

It's also worth mentioning that the shot of V climbing naked out of the fire, shown over and over again, is probably one of the worst shots I've seen all year and made me laugh every time it happened.

My Rating: * *1/2 out of * * * * *

HIATUS

Sorry, everybody. Due to exams, major drama in my life and all kinds of other shit, I have been on a long break. Should be back within the next few days with some new reviews and other stuff. Peace out till then.

"How Do You Fuck That Up?"

Well, it took 8 months, but it's finally here. A History of Violence was released on DVD on Tuesday and I bought it that very morning. I only had a chance to catch it once in theaters, and I really enjoyed it. However, I had a few problems with it, all the while. All of those misgivings have been discarded after my latest viewings.

The film is perfectly crafted and realized from beginning to end. David Cronenberg truly did get the shaft worse than anyone else with this year's Oscar noms becuase this truly is his masterpiece, in my opinion. The mood of the film, as the characters' lives change from normal and almost corny to terrifying and upside down, is incredible.

Maria Bello is very good, however, I'm not on board that she deserved a nomination. At least I think she deserved one for "The Cooler" so much more. Viggo Mortenson and Ed Harris are both extraordinary. However, I have to say that never have I ever witnessed an actor completely steal an entire film which such a short-lived part as William Hurt does in the rol of Richie. He is beyond phenomenal. Every one of his lines was delivered perfectly. A well-deserved nomination.

One hell of a compelling and exciting film. It has moved from #11 to #7 on the list, with possibly more room to go.

Stay tuned later for a review of "V for Vendetta"!

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

I was finally able to catch this film for the first time a few days ago, and ever since then I have tried over and over in my head to come up with a civilized way to write about it, but I can't. I can't put it into words except to say that it is easily the most unrealized film of the year with some of the most ridiculous and incredulous characters I've ever seen. With Arriaga's other work, the audience is able to relate or sympathize with the characters, but here, all I could do was either dislike them or just not care about them at all (more likely the latter). A true disappointment by writer Guillermo Arriaga (21 Grams). I really feel that throughout the entire script he just dipped his creative talent in, but pulled out without finishing. The film has a very original premise, but beyond that, it's horrible. I walked out of the theater, confused, bewildered and cheated. The film's only saving graces were fairly wonderful performances by Tommy Lee Jones and Barry Pepper. However, their work is truly wasted here.

Best Actress: Beyonce Knowles....wait, WHAT?

Well, despite the huge disappointment that this Oscar season turned out to be, it's best we just put it behind us, and move on to what's next....the new oscar season!!!

The first thing I'd like to get into is the fact that people are actually predicting Beyonce Knowles to be in the Best Actress race. I'm really confused. From what I've seen, Beyonce is not even a good actress. She's been in two films so far, and niether of them show off her mad acting skills. Do people thing that just because she's in an Oscarish type movie that she'll suddenly just become one of the best actresses in Hollywood. It certainly hasn't happened for Ice Cube yet. The only thing we can really guarantee from her performance is that she will sing well, but what is that? I don't know where this support is coming from.

This Year's Oscar Reading Has Begun!

At the beginning of last season, I started a new technique of reading some of the source material from the potential Adapted Screenplay nominees. Last time, I got through "Jarhead", "See No Evil" (even though "Syriana" turned out to be Original), "Brokeback Mountain", "Memoirs of a Geisha" and some of "The Constant Gardener". This year, I will continue on that tradition. I bought "Flags of Our Fathers" a few months ago, but still haven't really gotten into it yet. First on the list, however, is my most anticipated film of the year, "Little Children". 40 pages in, I can already tell that this film has the potential of greatness, almost on the level of "American Beauty" in terms of taking a look at average American family life. This could very well finally earn Kate Winslet her first Oscar win, as well as bring about nominations for Supporting Actress, Screenplay, and possibly Picture. I'll keep reading and let you know what I think when I'm done.

DVD News

I have thus far bought 2 DVDs in the last week, each of them from my Top 5 of 2005: "Walk the Line" and "Jarhead", the special editions of both, of course. Both DVD collector's editions are magnificent and totally worth the buy. As for the movies themselves:

"Walk the Line" seems to get better and better every time I see it. Joaquin and Reese just absolutely blow me away. It will remain at #5 on my list, if not rise up a notch or two. Definitely snubbed of a BP nomination.

I just finished watching "Jarhead" a few minutes ago, and I'm sad to say that my love for that film seems to be fading. The cinematography which I had originally proclaimed to be the best I'd ever seen does not hold up nearly as well on the small screen as it did in theaters. Also, the film seems to move too rapidly though certain events and doesn't come off as profound with its message as it could have. I don't know, perhaps I'm just overanalyzing a good thing (as I found myself doing during "King Kong"). It may also be that I had already seen it 4 times in theaters and the effect is kind of wearing off. Anyway, I have not yet decided whether it will stay at my #3 spot, or if it will fall back at all.

Stay tuned for more DVD updates, as they will be released in full over the next few weeks.

The Top Categories

Let's finish off the rest of them:

Best Foreign Film
Winner: Tsotsi
My Prediction: Tsotsi

I really can't give that much input on this category, because, I'm not gonna lie: I haven't seen any of the nominees. I was too lazy to see "Paradise Now" when it was out and "Tsotsi" won't be released near me until late this month. However, I would rather have seen "Paradise Now" or "Joyeux Noel" win this award, but can't say for sure. Oh well. At least I was right on my prediction.

Best Documentary Feature
Winner: March of the Penguins
My Prediction: March of the Penguins
Should Have Won: Murderball
Should Have Been Nominated: Grizzly Man

This win was kind of inevitable at this point of the race. No other nominee had the strength to beat it. But let's not kid ourselves. This is a film about Penguins that just won an Academy Award. Wow. My personal pick, by far, for this category would be "Grizzly Man", a truly remarkable film. Now, I know the reasons as to why this wasn't eligible, but I don't care. It is still one of the best documentaries I have ever seen.

Best Animated Feature
Winner: Wallace and Gromit
My Prediction: Wallace and Gromit
Should Have Won: Wallace and Gromit
Should Have Been Nominated: No Complaints

Wallace and Gromit had it from the start. And it deserved it, so no argument here.

Best Supporting Actor
Winner: George Clooney - Syriana
My Prediction: George Clooney - Syriana
Should Have Won: Jake Gyllenhaal - Brokeback Mountain
Should Have Been Nominated: Peter Sarsgaard - Jarhead and Clifton Collins Jr. - Capote and Mathieu Amalric - Munich

The absolutely tighest race of the year was the first one of the night to be resolved. And while I am ecstatic that my prediction proved correct, I can't be happy about the winner. Probably my least favorite out of all of the nominees, George does give a career best in "Syriana", but it is in no way deserving of an Academy Award. Out of these nominees, it definitely should have gone to old Jakey. He was flawless in his role and is truly becoming one of the finest young actors in Hollywood. Still, the Academy should have recognized the best supporting performance of the year which was Peter Sarsgaard in Jarhead. He continues to constantly remind me with every one of his roles what great acting really looks like, and this was his best work thus far. The Academy can't avoid him for much longer.

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Rachel Weisz - The Constant Gardener
My Prediction: Rachel Weisz - The Constant Gardener
Should Have Won: Michelle Williams - Brokeback Mountain
Should Have Been Nominated: No Complaints

It's hard to go up against both a SAG and Golden Globe victory, so I didn't. It proved effective. So Rachel Weisz went home with the award. Now lately, I have grown a new love for the film "The Constant Gardener", I have grown no such love for Rachel Weisz. Her performance was nomination-worthy at best. Ralph Fiennes was by far the best in that movie (even though with such competition, I wouldn't be able to put him on my ballot either). This award, far and away should have gone to Michelle Williams who gave a performance for the ages, possibly the best in "Brokeback", and that's saying a lot. As for the nominees, they're exactly the way I would have picked them. The women of Munich, including Ayelet Zurer, Marie Josee Croze and Lynn Cohen were all amazing, but none were big enough parts to warrant nominations.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: Brokeback Mountain
My Prediction: Brokeback Mountain
Should Have Won: Brokeback Mountain
Should Have Been Nominated: Jarhead

Despite my overwhelming love for "Munich" I can't be more happy for Ossana and McMurtry's win here. I read the short story back in April, and I can say I have never seen a film so faithfully adapt the source that it's based on. An absolutely, no, OVERWHELMINGLY deserved win. Had it not been for this remarkable script, however, Munich would have gotten my vote, easily. And while "Jarhead" was a remarkable film, the script doesn't always work exactly the way it's supposed to. Therefore, I'm fairly content with this group of nominees.

Best Original Screenplay
Winnner: Crash
My Prediction: Crash
Should Have Won: Crash
Should Have Been Nominated: The Family Stone

As much as it doesn't make sense to some people, I truly believe that "Crash" did deserve this award. Despite a few flaws, it is very well written, and does do a flawless job of interweaving the stories. With another half-hour of character development, it could have reached the point of greatness. "The Squid and the Whale" would have been my second choice. And while the "GNAGL" nomination bothers me a bit, I don't have any problems with these selections, either.

Best Actress
Winner: Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line
My Prediction: Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line
Should Have Won: Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line
Should Have Been Nominated: Joan Allen - The Upside of Anger

After viewing "Walk the Line" for the fourth time the other day (second time since I bought the Special Edition, a very nice DVD), Reese absolutely captured my heart and my vote. The vibrant and personable energy that she presented absolutely brought June Carter back to life. A deserved win. And while I loved Charlize in "North Country", I think the only actress who was strong enough to truly challenge Reese for the win in my mind was the magnificent Joan Allen. Horrendous snub. And in her place they put KEIRA KNIGHTLEY??? What a hideous world this is.

Best Actor
Winner: Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote
My Prediction: Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote
Should Have Won: Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote
Should Have Been Nominated: Eric Bana - Munich

Without a doubt, one of the most redeeming moments of this night was when they called out Philip Seymour Hoffman's name. I am so absolutely thrilled that the great PSH is now an Academy Award winner. His portrayal of Truman Capote far surpasses last year's locked winner, and yes, you can compare them. The best award of the night. And while all of the other nominees were absolutely phenomenal, it is still an shame that Eric Bana's name was not on that list. Definitely my second favorite perf of the year, he carried "Munich" from beginning to end.
Hopefully, in the least, this will improve his chances in years to come.

Best Director
Winner: Ang Lee - Brokeback Mountain
My Prediction: Ang Lee - Brokeback Mountain
Should Have Won: Ang Lee - Brokeback Mountain or Steven Spielberg - Munich
Should Have Been Nominated: David Cronenberg - A History of Violence

The strongest lock going into the night turned into one very deserving award winner. Ang went above and beyond making his personal masterpiece, "Brokeback Mountain", and I could not be more happy for him. Even though I think Spielberg did a bit better job on "Munich", he's already got 3 Oscars on his mantel. It was Ang's year to shine.

Best Picture
Winner: Crash
My Prediction: Brokeback Mountain
Should Have Won: Brokeback Mountain or Munich
Should Have Been Nominated: Jarhead

No words can describe the absolute scorn I have for this win. possibly the most disgusting moment in Oscar history. The Academy actually had the chance to award a truly amazing, original, revolutionary, breath-taking and ground-breaking film its highest honor. Instead, they hand it down to Crash, which I actually am a fan of. However, even I can see that it nowhere near reaches the potential that the Academy claims that it does. HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED??? Well, there are many obvious reasons as to why, but I can't even fathom that the Academy could stoop this low. They should honestly be ashamed of themselves for this. And as I've been saying for the last three days: It is a dark time for cinema.

Be back later with more updates, news or anything else I feel like typing up.

The Design and Music Categories

Best Original Song
Winner: "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp"
My Prediction: "Travelin' Thru"
Should have Won: "In the Deep"
Should have been nominated: Anything from Brokeback Mountain

This category was truly all over the place for me. I really thought that Dolly Parton's snub potential would get her the win, but I was wrong. The Academy decdided that it wanted to make itself seem even more hip and give it to the 36 Mafia (not that it isn't a good song. "Pimp" is definitely the best tune from that film). The song that truly deserved it was "In the Deep". It was the only song that played an absolutely integral part of its film and truly captured its essence. And I would have loved to see Kathleen York win, who is not only an amazing singer, but an above-average actress as well.

Best Original Score
Winner: Brokeback Mountain
My Prediction: Memoirs of a Geisha
Should have Won: Munich
Should have been Nominated: King Kong

Well, we have officially learned to never underestimate the power of split-voting. I thought for sure that the Academy was gonna give Williams the Oscar, a well-deserving one, considering he's done more and better work than any 3 other composers, but his votes officially got siphoned between his two scores, giving the Oscar to "Brokeback". And despite how much I love Santaolalla's haunting theme, the gut-wrenchingly emoitonal music of "Munich" should have gotten the prize. well, it's not a perfect world.

Best Costume Design
Winner: Memoirs of a Geisha
My Prediction: Memoirs of a Geisha
Should have Won: Memoirs of a Geisha
Should have been Nominated: Kingdom of Heaven

I do believe this may have been the one category that has been absolutely sewn up since the day after last year's Oscars (much like it seems to be, for me, with "Marie Antoinette") and it is the one award that "Memoirs" truly deserved. Anyone would have had to be a fool not to predict this (cough, EBERT!).

Best Art Direction
Winner: Memoirs of a Geisha
My Prediction: Memoirs of a Geisha
Should Have Won: King Kong
Should Have been Nominated: Kingdom of Heaven

The final nail in the coffin was "Memoirs" winning the ADG. It was sort of a race before then between it and "King Kong", but after the guild made it's pick, it was all over. "King Kong" was the rightful winner, with its incredible work on the wall of Skull Island, as well as its portrayal of 1930s New York. However, the two LOTRers won just 2 years ago so I don't feel that bad.

Best Editing
Winner: Crash
My Prediction: Crash
Should Have Won: Munich
Should Have been Nominated: Jarhead

What was a few weeks ago, one of the closest post-nomination races turned into a fairly boring semi-lock that was "Crash". While Winsborne's inter-cutting of the stories was extraordinary work, Kahn should have taken home his 4th Oscar tonight for his absolutely flawless work on Munich. The work on the little girl scene or the final terrorism/sex scene sequence alone should have made him a lock.

Best Cinematography
Winner: Memoirs of a Geisha
My Prediction: Brokeback Mountain
Should Have Won: Brokeback Mountain
Should Have been Nominated: Jarhead and Munich

Give me a minute... Okay, let's get right past the point that this is one of the sorriest groups of nominees ever to graze my favorite award at the Oscars, since only "Brokeback" and "GNAGL" even deserved to be there (although "Batman Begins" work was notable) and the award should have hands-down gone to either Kaminski for "Munich" or Deakins for "Jarhead". Now the real problem. How in the Lord's name does the Academy award such un-original, unsatisfying and boring work like that in "Memoirs of a Geisha". Next to BP, this is the most disgusting event of the night. God, I really feel the Academy owes me one next year.

Be back with Foreign, Animated, Documentary amd the Top 8 later.

Last Night's Techs

Let's start with some of the tech awards:

Best Make-Up
Winner: The Chronicles of Narnia
My Prediction: The Chronicles of Narnia
Should Have Won: Revenge of the Sith
Should Have been Nominated: Sin City

This pretty much went the way people expected it to. The sheer quantity of make-up in Narnia won over Star Wars. I thought that a sentimental vote for Revenge of the Sith might stage an upset, but it didn't happen. Glad I stuck to the likely winner. I am kind of mad that all Star Wars' introduction looked at was the work on Emperor Palpatine, when the truly astonishing work was Anakin's scorched body.

Best Sound Mixing
Winner: King Kong
My Prediction: King Kong
Should Have Won: War of the Worlds
Should Have Been Nominated: Munich

So, after going with musicals 2 out of the last 3 years, they decided to go with Kong's big roar. An acceptable win, even though the work on War of the Worlds was far superior.

Best Sound Editing
Winner: King Kong
My Prediction: War of the Worlds
Should Have Won: War of the Worlds
Should Have Been Nominated: Jarhead

I decided to stick to my guns on this one and ended up biting the bullet. I figured that the Academy would have enough sense to give at least one sound category to the deserving film, but it didn't happen. Well, it's not the first time I've been wrong and it won't be the last.

Best Visual Effects
Winner: King Kong
My Prediction: King Kong
Should Have Won: King Kong
Should Have Been Nominated: Revenge of the Sith

Not even worth discussion. It's been a lock since the day of its release, and possibly long before that.

Welcome to The Days of Oscar!

Hey everybody! I'm Tom, or better known in the Oscarwatch Forums as Rollo Tomasi, and I'm happy to unveil my new blog site, "The Days of Oscar". I hope everyone joins me in heralding one hell of a good new year for movies. I'll return later with my review of this year's awards (Be prepared for some severe venting).