25 Women of the Nineties

Here's Pt. 2 of my previous list. While everyone goes crazy for the aughts, I'm taking a look back at the nineties. Can you remember these women?
          
Angela Bassett in What's Love Got to Do With It
Angelina Jolie in Girl Interrupted
Annette Bening in American Beauty
Brenda Blethyn in Secrets & Lies
Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth

Diane Wiest in Bullets Over Broadway
Emma Thompson in Howards End
Emma Thompson in Sense & Senisbility
Emma Thompson in The Remains of the Day
Helena Bonham Carter in Fight Club

Helena Bonham Carter in Howards End
Helena Bonham Carter in The Wings of the Dove
Hilary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry
Holly Hunter in The Piano
Joan Allen in The Crucible

Julianne Moore in The End of the Affair
Juliette Binoche in The English Patient
Kate Winslet in Sense & Sensibility
Kristin Scott Thomas in The English Patient
Marianne Jean Baptiste in Secrets & Lies

Julia Roberts in My Best Friend's Wedding
Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns
Nicole Kidman in To Die For
Susan Sarandon in Dead Man Walking
Susan Sarandon in Thelma & Louise

          
Who'd you trade in and kick out?

Move Over Mamma Mia.. American Idiot The Musical Is Here!!

I'm sure you guys have been hearing this version of 21 Guns on the radio for sometime now.

First I thought it was a Leona Lewis cover or something.. Noooo.. it's from a brand new musical that's making it's way to Broadway called American Idiot based on songs by Green Day. ZOMG!!!

Here's some pics!

 

2001: The Men

I hope you're not getting tired of my year be year process of reviewing the decade. I care if you do. Honest, I do. No one? Good. So, on to the actors of 2002. I didn't see a few of the films with the outstanding males, and when I did I made some different choices. Oh well. Who wants generic picks?

               

Supporting Actor

Tier Two

Matt Damon in Ocean’s Eleven

Colin Firth in Bridget Jones' Diary

James Gandolfini in The Mexican

Ed Harris in A Beautiful Mind

Clive Owen in Gosford Park

Damon, Firth and Galdolfini rise above some incredibly stock characters and make magic. Damon especially is a hoot as Linus showing some incredible comedic skills. His rapport with the cast [especially Pitt] is delightful to watch and just makes Ocean's Eleven a success. Harris is good in A Beautiful Mind and Owen only just misses the mark as the enigmatic Parks in Gosford Park. 

                            

The Nominees

Sean Bean in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings

Jim Broadbent in Iris

Jim Broadbent in Moulin Rouge

Ian McKellen in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings

Ryan Philippe in Gosford Park

I suppose Philippe seems like a dud here, but if Gosford Park did anything it was proof that he could act. He had an oddly fascinating chemistry with Kristin Scott Thomas and lent a definite charm to the film. So in the battle of Gandalf vs Boromir, Gandalf is the winner. Obviously. Boromir is a mere human. And Jim Broadbent faces off against himself with his Zidler from Moulin Rouge prevailing.

                

Lead Actor

Tier Two

George Clooney in Ocean’s Eleven

Heath Ledger in A Knight’s Tale

Guy Pearce in Memento

Sean Penn in I Am Sam

Mekhi Phifer in O

Maybe I'm easy on him, but Heath Ledger was oddly charming in A Knight's Tale, and Clooney whom I usually despise works his charm with much aplomb in Ocean's Twelve. Though I never really got into Memento Pearce was fine, and Penn had a tough job with that hammy character in I Am Sam. I'm glad he was nominated at the Oscars actually. He and Phifer are the best of this bottom five.

                 

The Nominees

Russell Crow in A Beautiful Mind

Ethan Hawke in Training Day

Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge

Denzel Washington in Training Day

Tom Wilkinson in In the Bedroom

I suppose it is surprising that Crow is there, but I did feel he was one of the truly strong things about the film. Of the two Training Day guys I’ve already pledged my allegiance to Ethan Hawke who emerges as the winner [surprise, no?] with Tom Wilkinson close behind for heart wrenching turn in In the Bedroom. Ewan McGregor secures the bronze for an underrated and exceptional piece of acting in Moulin Rouge.

                 

So, surprised at Ethan Hawke, Sean Bean, Ryan Philippe? Who are your choices?

2001: Reviewing the Techs

Univarn remarked a few days ago in a podcast that 2001 was the beginning of the battle between two franchises – The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. I happen to like both, but I don’t really think it’s fair to compare the latter to the former. Other than the two blockbuster hits, 2001 was filled with some goodies. So, on to another year in the decade I’m looking at the technical categories.

                   

Original Song

“May It Be” from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

“If I Didn’t Have You” from Monsters’ Inc

“Come What May” from Moulin Rouge

I didn’t see Pearl Harbour so I can’t make Faith Hill’s “There You’ll Be” eligible. The Mad Hatter did say that I didn’t miss anything, but the song was fine. Schmaltzy, but fine. I wasn’t too keen on the song from Monsters’ Inc. It was good, but I didn’t see it as a winner. We all know about the controversy with song rules not allowing “Come What May” to be eligible. Enya’s “May It Be” was my favourite of the year.

                                     

Original Score

A Beautiful Mind

Gosford Park

Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings

The Others

              

Visual Effects

Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings

Moulin Rouge

Of course Moulin Rouge was not really that technical in the ostensible way, but it was something of a visual delight – which is why it ends up here. Harry Potter had some cool special effects but of course nothing could conquer The Lord of the Rings. Enough said.

            

Sound Effects

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings

Memento

Moulin Rouge

Shrek

Planet of the Apes

                          

Art Direction

Gosford Park

Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings

Moulin Rouge

Planet of the Apes

The Lord of the Rings trumps again here with Moulin Rouge as a close runner-up. Both films had some effective and sometimes outlandish set designs and both made them work to success. Gosford Park’s art direction was a little more subtle but no less impressive. Is Harry Potter a head-scratcher for you? I hope not. I’m not explaining it.

                 

Costume Design

Gosford Park

Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone

Legally Blonde

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings

Moulin Rouge

What a five. Legally Blonde isn’t in my top 3, but you have to admit Reese Witherspoon looked good in pink. The Lord of the Rings trumps here, but Gosford Park had some realistic, lived in and original costumes. Moulin Rouge is next.

              

Cinematography

Gosford Park

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings

Moulin Rouge

Mulholland Drive

The Others

Gosford Park wins here, easily. Camera movement here was just so effective, and of course it was. It was an Altman flick. The Lord of the Rings and Moulin Rouge battle it out for second and third respectively. The Others and Mulholland Drive both had formidable cinematography

                 

Editing

Gosford Park

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings

Memento

Moulin Rouge

The Others

          

PS. In case something momentous happens today on the blogosphere, I won't be here. I'm banning myself [just for today]. School opens tomorrow, I have to do some reading. Joy.

25 Men of the Nineties

Right now we’re entering into that time of year when everyone starts going wild with the lists. Some are fun, and some are not so much fun. And they all come so close together, it’s almost apocalyptic. I'm always interested in good performances as well as good films, so these two lists were delightful, and inspired me somewhat. The decade has come to end and we’ve been privy to lists’ galore – best of the decade, best of the year and on and on. I won’t be revealing my lists of either until the end of the month, but I thought I’d like to revisit the decade before that – the nineties. I’m a child of the nineties, and though I don’t think the aughts [as they’ve been proclaimed] were bad, the nineties were way better. So I’d like to take a look at my favourites of the nineties: year after year. No explanations. Certainly, I’ve not seen all the important films of that decade. But it’s the best of what I’ve seen obviously. So let me unveil my twenty five favourite men of the nineties.

          
Al Pacino in Donnie Brasco
Anthony Hopkins in The Remains of the Day
Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs
Brad Pitt in Fight Club
Daniel Day Lewis in In the Name of the Father

Ed Harris in The Truman Show
Ed Norton in Fight Club
Ian McKellen in Gods & Monsters
Jeff Bridges in The Fisher King
Joe Pesci in GoodFellas

Joseph Fiennes in Shakespeare in Love
Jude Law in The Talented Mr. Ripley
Kenneth Branagh in Hamlet
Kevin Spacey in American Beauty
Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects

Leonardo DiCaprio in What's Eating Gilbert Grape
Matt Damon in The Talented Mr. Ripley
Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption
Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List
Ralph Fiennes in The English Patient

Sean Penn in Dead Man Walking
Tim Robbins in The Shawshank Redemption
Warren Beatty in Bugsy
Warren Beatty in Dick Tracy
Wes Bentley in American Beauty

           
In case you're hungering for lists of the 2000s: check out
The Mad Hatter
Univarn
RC
Nick
Blake 
Bob

The Hurt Locker: Review

The Hurt Locker ya'll! This movie has been getting a lot of hype for the Oscars and it's been nominated for Best Picture in the Golden Globes. It is a really good movie, don't get me wrong.. but I still don't see what'sso great about it.

Hurt Locker is about a bomb defusing team in Iraq. Everyday, these people go to work and risk death on a regular basis. To make matters worst, their new team leader is an incredibly reckless soldier that makes their missions more dangerous.

One thing I liked about The Hurt Locker is the use of unknown casts against well established actors. Ralph Fiennes, David Morse and Guy Pearce make appearances in the film for a few minutes before being killed off. Just cause they're famous actors we expect them to be the main characters, so it was a nice surprise there. I like how this shows that in war, anyone is fair game.

The editing of the film is really good. It uses the same style as the Bourne movies where like it's all fast paced action, really terrifying sequences and then it slows down for a breather and a moment of lot development an then it throws you right back with more action and suspense. The cinematography of gritty war laden Iraq is actually quite a beauty with it's realism. And the slow motion action sequences is breathtaking.

I still don't get what's the deal with Jeremy Renner's apparent stellar performances. I thought he was just OK. I preferred Anthony Mackie as the helpless Sgt. who has to deal with all the shit Renner's character puts their team in.   

So with so many good things to say about Hurt Locker, why do I still think it shouldn't deserve top award nominations? Now please don't get me wrong, I really liked this movie but I just can't see what all the buzz about Hurt Locker is about?

This just isn't Best Picture material. It's more like Greengrass movies, the kind that will get nominated technical awards like editing and cinematography but not top prizes. Once again I wanna clarify, this is really good war movie worth checking out, it just isn't top award material.

RATING: 7/10

The Blind Side

I didn’t go into The Blind Side with any high expectations. It wasn’t the reviews, at least it wasn’t the reviews alone. It just did not look like my type of film. But I thought it would be a mildly entertaining, but unrewarding film. Sandra Bullock has fallen out of my esteem for quite some time. Still, with all the laurels being given to it and with all the buzz around Bullock. I did. To be honest, I’m sorry I did. Just thinking about the film leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth, which means I can’t review it properly. And I saw it three days ago. I’ll just say for now, if Sandra is nominated it will be my least favourite of the 50 Best Actress nominees this decade. Sure, she’s the best in the movie – but I just don’t find the movie to be very good. At. All.

D-