VoucherCodes Oscars Competition

Whassup ya'll! So last week I got this email from a guy from VoucherCodes who's running this Oscar competition and has put up some promo codes on Amazon that will help people purchase the nominated movies from this year's Oscars for a cheaper price.

And all I have to do is take a guess at which movies I think are going to win on March 7. The more I get right, the more money I win. Muahahahah. And you know me, I'll never pass up a chance to stock up on some DVD's since the DVDs we get here are complete crap.

So bear with me on this post people, it's more of something I'm doing for myself and the movies I pick here aren't necessarily the movies I want to see win, but the movies I think the Academy will pick. Wish me luck!

BEST PICTURE
•The Hurt Locker

BEST DIRECTOR
•Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
•Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
•Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
•Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
•Mo'Nique - Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
•Jason Reitman - Up in the Air

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
•Mark Boal - The Hurt Locker

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
•The White Ribbon

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
•Up

BEST ART DIRECTION
•Nine

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
•The Hurt Locker

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
•The Young Victoria

BEST FILM EDITING
•District 9

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
•The Cove

BEST MAKEUP
•Star Trek

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
•Up, Michael Giacchino

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
•The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart) from Crazy Heart

BEST SOUND MIXING
•Avatar

BEST SOUND EDITING
•Avatar

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
•Avatar

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
•China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
•Logorama

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
•Kavi

Now all of ya'll go to your respective houses of religion, get down on your knees, burn some josticks, pierce your mouth, meditate for 3 hours, break bread and drink wine and pray I'll beat the other guys in the competition!

Performances of the Decade (Male)

Julianne Moore is often singled out as an unfortunate actress. The woman has been nominated four times and lost each. What's interesting though is that on each occasion Moore was probably not even the top 3 when it came to the voters. I'd have easily voted for her in 1997 and probably 2002 and she was a close runner up in 1999. The reason I mention Julianne, is that if I had to think about a male counterpart to Julianne the person that I'd immediately refer to is Ed Harris. Like Julianne, he too has had four losing nominations with never a chance at winning; and like Julianne he gave a performance of a lifetime - as far as I'm concerned anyway - in 2002. This performance is often regarded as the ultimate hambone, but I don't agree. Obviously. It's a performance I persist should have won an Oscar.

            

#12 Ed Harris in The Hours (2003)

The Hours is a woman's story, we know that: yet I really love it. The men never really get the chance to shine as the ought - even though John C. Reilly is fine and Stephen Dillane is subtly moving. Still, with all the crutches thrown his way Ed Harris carves an outstanding performance, in my opinion at least. Richard is Clarissa's friend - though I hesitate at the connotations of the word. They once had a relationship - a tenuous one by the looks of it - and though he has changed his preference the two remain friends, lovers even (without sex). The time of the film is indeterminate, mid nineties we can assume; and Richard is an AIDS victim collecting a prestigious award. 

It's difficult to write about Ed without mentioning Meryl because his performance is in some ways a subset of hers, which I've mentioned recently. I mentioned that each segment has its similarities, but it's all really pronounced - saturated almost - in Clarissa's arc. Richard represents the husband figure the two previous woman share, but Harris' Richard is just a bit smarter the rest. Perhaps it's his illness, but the strange clairvoyance he possesses never fails to unnerve me. It is he after all who gave Clarissa her title of Mrs. Dalloway. Richard loves to tease Clarissa, it's obvious, and in that first scene it's difficult to feel any sympathy for Ed - despite his plight. But no one can do line readings like Ed. I love when Clarissa asks him if he's eaten: Well can you see it? Is it here? Do you see any breakfast lying around? I must have eaten it, mustn't I? Ed is appropriately macabre, almost comical as Richard.

                

But then, I think about how difficult a role to pull of this is - which makes me love it even more. It's not difficult to write this off as the typical histrionic diva-esque role. Richard exists almost as a character in a Greek tragedy, and in some ways he's similar to Kidman's Virginia. He just doesn't fit in his surroundings, and it's obvious. He's almost ridiculous opposite the subtlety of Meryl's Clarissa, but that's why I respect Ed so much. He makes it work. That clairvoyance is a key to Clarissa and to the entire film, since The Hours really is all about diving Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway over and over. He has the power lines and he doesn't undersell them, but he doesn't over sell them either. Oh, Mrs. Dalloway...always giving parties...to cover the silence... It's not a line to take for granted.

             

Ed has it hard because he's an important character with little screen time and he needs to make the little screen time work for him. That longing look as he looks at a photo of his mother is pathetic...as is his suicide. Isn't it strange that he and Streep shine in reading a line that's almost the same. She tells Louis Don't touch me. He tells her Don't come near me. We know what's coming, but we can't look away. But I still have to face the hours... It's not my favourite arc, but that moment is one of the most striking for me. Streep's harrowed face and Ed's expressionless one. Absolute perfection.

                 

But what do you think? Yay or nay for Harris' Richard?

Words...

Hello people. I'm still having the most annoying internet problems so posts may be slow within the forthcoming few days. Apologies. However, tomorrow one of the greatest Oscar traditions (no joke) is occurring. StinkyLulu is hosting his 2009 Supporting Actress Smacdown...I may not be online to post the link but REMEMBER to head over to his site and take part!!!!!
             
Okay, as you were.

Performances of the Decade (Female)

Not to rehash the obvious, but my thoughts on Meryl Streep are not a secret to you. Still, it’s not like I hate the woman and I do appreciate those moments when she impresses me. She has always had a knack for showing the utmost vulnerability and I do like her when her voice is unaccented. This performance marks my favourite of hers since her 1985 Karen in Out of Africa.

       

#13 Meryl Streep in The Hours (2003)

It’s no coincidence that her character’s name is Clarissa Vaughn; the similarities to Virginia Woolf’s Mrs (Clarissa) Dalloway are not accidental. With the exception of the resplendent Redgrave, Streep seems to be the perfect person to illustrate Clarissa (Vaughn’s and Dalloway’s) sereneness and composure even if that shot of her in front of the mirror is anything but serene. One of Streep’s selling points has always been the astute way she uses her face and I love that meeting she has with Eileen Atkins in the flower shop. She twists her face into an almost imperceptible scowl as Atkins speaks of Richard’s book. Subtlety at its best. But of course she really starts “acting” when she meets Richard’s flat. Strange that I say “acting” though, because the very reason I am so enamoured with this performance is because of Meryl’s fluidity here. When I look at her, I don’t see Streep in makeup or with an accent “acting” – I see Clarissa Vaughn – a real woman, through and through. From the most subtle of looks – like that look as she travels up the elevator, Clarissa is an enigma but still completely real.

Streep and Harris really do shine opposite each. It’s easy to write off the chemistry that the two share; a bit too much like the gay man and the straight woman (Will & Grace) but it’s not a cliché and seeing as thus ruins the beauteous rapport between the two. Like the entire ensemble, none are just saying lines to the other. Each word from Richard elicits a response – sometimes palpable, sometimes downplayed – from Streep and it’s all completely real. Clarissa’s motives do cause me to wonder though. What is the drive behind her devotion to him? Guilt? Love? Friendship? What makes the film so good is that the drive behind it is unimportant because whatever *it* is, it’s absolutely moving.

As autonomous as each story is, The Hours thrives on the similarities between each segment and the commonality of the visitor is potent in each. Virginia has Vanessa, Laura has Kitty and Clarissa is thrown by Louis. It’s hard to judge a performance so saturated with emotion, but this meeting is one of Streep’s strongest. She is so thrown by Jeff that we can’t help but sympathise with her, that moment of extreme vulnerability – uncommon for someone so composed – is especially moving. I love her reading of the line “Don't touch me.”. It’s this moment that throws her portion of the narrative in a different direction. The scars from this meeting are almost visible as she returns to Richard’s for that fateful final visit: which my favourite moment of hers and she sells it, completely.

         

She is already frazzled as she enters the room, and it’s difficult to remain indifferent to the obvious change in Richard. This doesn’t even seem to be the same man we saw earlier and Clarissa knows this. Her pleas with Richard are so profound and watching Harris’ gaunt figure at the window is all too ominous and the subsequent fall never fails to throw me. As I said, Streep’s Clarissa depends on reactions and Streep’s reaction is key here. Simply sublime. It is (of course) the peak of her performance, not in the literal sense but emotionally. She’s broken afterwards and continues the rest of the film dejectedly; only her portion has a twist the others don’t. She has a second visitor. It is Julianne’s moment but Meryl never takes the bait to be non responsive (but she never goes out of the way to make it too much) and that’s why her Clarissa works.

         

I can’t share the general love for Streep, though I continue to respect her for continued productivity and even though it’s rare that I adore a performance of hers, the one rare Clarissa Vaughn makes up for the Julia Childs and Sister Aloysius.

      

What were your thoughts on Meryl here? Is it a favourite of yours or do your prefer her other work?

Wallace and Gromit- A Matter of Loaf and Death: Review

Wallace and Gromit are back ya'll! And their nominated for Best Animated Short this time! 

So in this movie, Wallace and Gromit are bakers and have their very own bread delivery service. Although business is good, there is a murder mystery going on at the same time where all the famous bakers in London are being killed. And then in comes this lady, Piella who's a local beauty queen and she and Wallace hits things off with a nice little romance. But Gromit suspects something very fishy about Peilla and must uncover her secrets before it's too late.

It's nice seeing Wallace and Gromit back doing short films where they started out. To be honest I'm not so crazy about the last film they did which was really kinda meh. But in this movie though, they fit the same amount of story, comedy, action, characters and charm as The Curse of the Were-Rabbit into a cool 29 minutes.

And just like any Wallace and Gromit movie, Matter of Loaf and Death is one heck of a funny film. Whether it is the imaginative intricacies of the inventive devices in their house or the iconic facial expressions of it's clay face characters. And the writing of the film is charming and witty as always. Specially loved all the cheesy lovey dovey one-liners Wallace has in the movie which is so weird to hear him say.

Peter Sallis is wonderful as always playing the naive Wallace. I mean this guy has got to be the dumbest person alive if he has to depend on his dog to ave his ass every single time. Yet his character is such a lovable goofball of fun. And how fun was Sally Lindsay in this? Her character is such a funny psycho, i light up everytime she comes on screen. Plus she has a sexy Scottish accent. And I like how they took her real life big boobs and incorporated it into her character, Just a thought is all.

But with all these nice things to say about the film, there's just one thing that keeps me from supporting it at the Oscars. It's highly unoriginal story.

The plot is pretty much the same as any Wallace and Gromit movie. Wallace is stupid. Gromit is clever. Wallace gets himself attached to something with the bad guy and seems to be doing good at it. Gromit smells something fishy with the whole new thing Wallace has got going on. Gromit investigates and uncovers a diabolical plot that threatens Wallace's life. Gromit tries to smoke out the bad guy. Wallace doesn't believe Gromit and sends him away. The bad guy is about to kill Wallace. Gromit comes in and saves the day. Wallaca and Gromit are friends again.

The storyline of the film is so predictable. Which is something that I really can't stand about the Wallace and Gromit series, where they just take the same story and recycle it over and over again while framing the plot around a different scenario every time. For God sakes you're series is nearly 2 decades old. Do something new for crying out loud!

But with all this being said, there is still a good chance that this film could win the Oscar on the simplest of facts that this is a Wallace and Gromit movie. They have been around for a really long time, they pretty much pioneered the whole claymation and stop motion technique in animation and they haven't won an Oscar yet. So keeping my fingers crossed on this one.

RATING: 7/10

The Supporting Dilemma

If 2009 has offered nothing, it has given us a wide array of good, great and some excellent supporting performances. I’m not sure how I’d rank last year against the others of the decade, but it certainly wasn’t the horrid year it was made out to be by some – especially for the supporting women. I ended up singling out eleven excellent performances but there were so many more on the sidelines I wish I could have mentioned. So I’ll give them their moment. In another year any of these could have made my top 10. Here are 25 good supporting performances of 2009…in ascending order beginning with....

           

TIER FOUR

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

                      

TIER THREE

 

  

 
 

  

  

  

  

               

TIER TWO

 

  

 

  

  

  

  

  

 

 TIER ONE: My Nominees & Runners Up 

                 

What are your thoughts on 2009's Supporting Women? Do any of these 25 make your actual list of nominees?

The Lady and the Reaper: Review

No seriously, what the hell is up with the Academy Awards and their totally weird fetish for animated shorts with really old grandma's in them? Hahahaha.

So The Lady and the Reaper is a Spanish animated film by Javier Recio García. And it is one of the 5 nominees for Best Animated Short and while I do support this movie being nominated, I'm sure as hell know that this film has no shot whatsoever from winning the Oscar.

Lady and the Reaper is about a sweet old lady is living alone in her farm, patiently waiting for her time to die so that she will be reunited with her late husband again. So finally one night the Reaper appears before her and invites her to crossover to the afterlife. But just as she's about to, she is resuscitated by an arrogant doctor. The movie then becomes more of a power struggle comedy between the Reaper and the doctor for the lady's life.

Now if you saw the first 2 minutes of the film you're going to be thinking that this is a very dark animated drama about life and death and love. I thought that to and I was pretty down with that idea until the doctor comes in and the whole dynamics of the film switches from a slow serious style to a lighthearted whimsical pacing. And the moment it happened I was like, "Fuck it, I'm just gonna have me some mindless fun watching this!"

The remaining 6 minutes of the film is really really funny. You'll never think of the Reaper as something scary anymore cause the guy is juts one heck of a goofball in this. And whenever you do see a young doctor from now, you just want to punch that douches face off hahaha.

 And they did do some really creative funny ways to portray to final moment of an elderly person who's bordering between life and death.It was kind of like a Scooby Doo moments when the gang and the bad guy goes into the big chase scene around the haunted house and go through lotso doors and jokes like that? Well Lady and the Reaper takes that idea and perfects it with fantastic animation and a really funny score.

But similar to Granny O'Grimm, there really isn't much else to talk about in The Lady and the Reaper because it is what it is. A simple, funny animated short that doesn't go beyond anything else that just being pure entertainment. And while it did have me in stitches laughing the whole way through, it's not a movie I'm going to look back on and go, "Wow that was a really great Oscar nominee."

RATING: 7/10