The Cove: Review

Documentaries bore me. March of The Penguins was total borefest, Taxi To The Darkside made me sleep. Only Fahrenheit 9/11 was able to hold my interest, mainly because it was a Bush bashing narrated by a crazy fat dude. But damn... I loved The Cove. And when I mean love.. I mean really really really love to the point where I wanna save dolphins now.

 

The Cove follows a group of activists and filmmakers in their attempts to infiltrate a well guarded cove in Taiji, Japan to film and expose the shocking dolphin killing tradition that has been kept secret for many years.

 

It's basically an insight look at the Japanese annual activity of whale and dolphin killing which what was initially said to be a cultural tradition which, through the film, unravels to be a a terrible act of animal violence that hass been happening in this heavily guarded cove in Taiji, which is both unknown to the mass Japanese public and the world and what also could cause a serious health problem all around the world.

 

What makes The Cove such a kick ass documentary is because of it was made like it was a heist film. They storied the documentary around the premise of a thriller Oceans Eleven kind of movie. Every minute as the filmmakers are trying to break into this well guarded cove in attempts to capture the animal cruelty on film gets you on the edge of you're seat. You keep thinking are they gonna get caught or not? What's gonna happen next? It really keeps you immersed in the whole operation.

 

 

The night scenes where the filmmakers dive into dark waters and swimming into the cove to plant cameras are exceptionally terrifying. So kudos to the filmmakers on that for being able to get across a very important message and doing it with high levels of suspense that is really entertaining to watch.

 

The film builds and builds on the suspense towards the big finale and when it happens, the film totally snaps you back into reality. You suddenly realize that you weren't watching a movie at all. This is all real. And it is scary. When the film shows the dolphin killings in the cove you just want to turn the TV off. My God it was so sickening. I'm never eating sushi again. The killing scenes will leave you speechless.

One scene in particular that was incredibly horrifying was a shot taken from an underwater camera. At first it shows an underwater view from inside the cove and as time goes by the water begins to turn blood red to the point where you can't see anything but red anymore as dolphin screeching is heard. And you know.. anything sounds scary underwater so imagine how scary it is when 23,000 dolphins are screeching like crazy.

I personally found The Cove to be very moving, very heartbreaking and very entertaining. It's a call to arms to do something about this disgusting tradition that is still taking place annually despite worldwide condemnation. What we need now is a version of Inglourios Basterds where a group of soldiers get dropped in Japan and doing one thing.. and one thing only. Killing Japanese fisherman. Muahahahahaha.

RATING: 8/10

Forgotten Characters 2:3

Comic relief is usually a good way of becoming a remembered in films, but comic relief in a comedy that’s already funny is no guarantee that you’ll be remembered. I’m not sure if I’m the only one who remembers this entry, but I know quite a few who don’t. Unfortunately so, since she’s a top notch comedienne. So, here’s a look at a funny lady who’s become forgotten:

                     

Amy Poehler in Mean Girls

As Mrs. George

                

Amy Poehler is too young for the role of Rachel McAdams’ mother; that much is obvious. However, in Mean Girls with the aid of a fake breasts and a plastic-like makeup we have her transformed - kind of. We first meet her on our visit to Regina’s house where she brings drinks to the Plastics and Cady. An apprehensive Cady asks if any liquour is involved to which Poehler deadpans: No. What kind of mother do you think I am? Do you want some though? Because if you’re going to drink, I’d rather you do it in the house. Cady smiles dubiously and we can’t help but laugh. As an SNL stalwart Amy is notorious for her comedic timing. However, her speaking lines are not what sell me on her character - it's her expressions. At the Christmas concert as the Plastics do their annual dance of Jingle Bell Rock, the camera alternately cuts to Amy in the aisle dancing in tandem – every gyration, every twist of the hip. It is one of the funniest moments of Mean Girls and it works because we completely believe that this woman is living vicariously through her daughter and friends. It’s as she tells them, You keep me young.

               

Do you remember Amy? Or did all the funniness in Mean Girls obscure her

Previously Forgotten...

2010 ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEES!

 

Yayy! Oscar season has officially begun! I stayed up all bloody night o that I can be one of the first on the net to get the full list muahaha. So here you guys are, the nomination list of the 82nd Annual Academy Awards!

BEST PICTURE
•Avatar
•The Blind Side
•District 9
•An Education
•The Hurt Locker
•Inglourious Basterds
•Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
•A Serious Man
•Up
•Up in the Air

BEST DIRECTOR
•Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
•James Cameron – Avatar
•Lee Daniels - Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
•Jason Reitman - Up in the Air
•Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
•Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
•George Clooney - Up in the Air
•Colin Firth - A Single Man
•Morgan Freeman - Invictus
•Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
•Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
•Helen Mirren - The Last Station
•Carey Mulligan - An Education
•Gabourey Sidibe - Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
•Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
•Matt Damon – Invictus
•Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
•Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
•Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
•Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
•Penelope Cruz - Nine
•Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
•Maggie Gyllenhaal - Crazy Heart
•Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
•Mo'Nique - Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
•Neill Blomkamp and - District 9
•Nick Hornby - An Education
•Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche - In the Loop
•Geoffrey Fletcher - Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
•Jason Reitman - Up in the Air

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
•Mark Boal - The Hurt Locker
•Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds
•Oren Moverman and Alessandro Camon - The Messenger
•Joel and Ethan Coen - A Serious Man
•Pete Docter and Bob Peterson – Up

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
•Ajami
•El Secreto de sus Ojos
•The Milk of Sorrow
•Une Prophéte
•The White Ribbon

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
•Coraline
•Fantastic Mr. Fox
•The Princess and the Frog
•The Secret of the Kells
•Up

BEST ART DIRECTION
•Avatar
•The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
•Nine
•Sherlock Holmes
•The Young Victoria

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
•Avatar
•Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
•The Hurt Locker
•Inglourious Basterds
•The White Ribbon

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
•Bright Star
•Coco Before Chanel
•The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
•The Young Victoria

BEST FILM EDITING
•Avatar
•District 9
•The Hurt Locker
•Inglourious Basterds
•Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
•Burma VJ
•The Cove
•Food, Inc.
•The Most Dangerous Man in America
•Which Way Home

BEST MAKEUP
•Il Divo
•Star Trek
•The Young Victoria

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
•Avatar, James Horner
•Fantastic Mr. Fox, Alexandre Desplat
•The Hurt Locker, Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
•Sherlock Holmes, Hans Zimmer
•Up, Michael Giacchino

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
•Almost There from The Princess and the Frog
•Down in New Orleans from The Princess and the Frog
•Loin de Paname from Paris 36
•Take It All from Nine
•The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart) from Crazy Heart

BEST SOUND MIXING
•Avatar
•The Hurt Locker
•Inglourious Basterds
•Star Trek
•Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

BEST SOUND EDITING
•Avatar
•The Hurt Locker
•Inglourious Basterds
•Star Trek
•Up

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
•Avatar
•District 9
•Star Trek

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
•China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
•The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
•The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
•Music by Prudence
•Rabbit à la Berlin

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
•French Roast
•Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty
•The Lady and the Reaper
•Logorama
•A Matter of Loaf and Death

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
•The Door
•Instead of Abracadabra
•Kavi
•Miracle Fish
•The New Tenants

This year's nominations are kinda epic. Obscure movies like In The Loop and Ajami got nominated! And one particular nominee, Secret of Kells, a film that I've only seen through a trailer but I am absolutely in love with that movie already. Just goes to show the Oscars still have integrity left in them unlike the shitty Grammys.

Avatar and The Hurt Locker lead off the nominations with 9 Oscar nods each. Inglorious Basterds is second with 8 nominations and Precious and Up In The Air have 6 noms each.

I never thought they'd have the guts to do it but for the first time in a long time the Academy is recognizing kick ass movies like District muthafuckin 9!! And Up makes history by being the 2nd animated film being nominated for both Best Picture and Best Animated Feature since Beauty and the Beast.

Rounding off the Best Picture category, An Education which I feel is quite deserving and A Serious Man which I have yet to watch.

A few things I don't like about the list of nominees... Why isn't 500 Days Of Summer nominated at all? Same goes for Moon, why isn't Sam Rockwell nominated for Best Actor? And what's that turd called The Blind Side doing in the Best Picture category when movies like 500 Days of Summer and Moon are completely shut out of the awards list?

The Academy Award winners will be announced on March 7th!

New York, I Love You: Review

OMG OMG OMG OMG. I wanna go New York! I wanna go New York! I wanna go New York!

 

Okay so I'm sure not many of ya'll has heard of this series before. It's called the Cities of Love series. Each movie features 10 short films about love and is set in a world famous city. The series began with Paris, Je Taime which I loved. And now the love story has come to the greatest city in the world, New York.

 

New York, I Love You is a collaborative work of the industry's best directors, writers and actors banding together to make 10 short films of love and romance all taking place within the 5 boroughs of New York. The story weaves a tale of love as diverse as the very fabric of New York City.

Now this movie is an independent film so it's really going to be hard to find but my God I tell you will it be worth it when you do. Every short film portrays the beauty of New York City set inside a very cool short love film on it's own. It's funny. It's artistic. It's incredibly random. It's the very essence of New York.

 

And this film has a very impressive ensemble cast for a indie film. We got Natalie Portman, Julie Christie, Shia LaBeouf, Shu Qi, Ethan Hawke, Maggie Q, Orlando Bloom, Christina Ricci, hayden Christensen, Rachel Bilson, Andy Garcia, Bradley Cooper, Blake Lively, Olivia Thirlby, Anton Yelchin, Eli Wallach, Irfan Khan, James Caanand Drea De Matteo.

 

I love how all the actors were used. Each character has incredible amounts of depth and development in the short screen time their on. And the whole film is brilliantly written in a way that each character intertwines and effects the stories of another character in a different segment of the film. It depicts New Yorkers and how everyone is connected beautifully.

But there were some segments I didn't like. One being Shai LaBeouf's short film. There wasn't anything bad about it, it's just that the other 9 films were done as witty romantic comedies and all of a sudden we get one film in the middle of the story that's an incredibly depressing art film.

 

New York, I Love You is just one of those indie films that will never get much recognition and will stay completely unknown to mainstream moviegoers. It's a hidden gem that only true film lovers will appreciate. Hopefully this review will get some of ya'll interested to check it out.

RATING: 7/10

Moon: Review

Wow this was a very disturbing show. Moon kind of reminded me of Requiem For A Dream because right after the movie finished I was kind of depressed. But I liked this movie man. It was a really ballsy sci-fi drama and given the small budget it worked with, this film is almost as good as District 9. The only difference is, D9 was more of an action film.. Moon is more of a psychological drama.

 

Moon is a story of Sam Bell, a solitary man working on the moon for 3 years harvesting solar energy to be packaged and sent to Earth. Though he does have company in the form of GERTY, his robot assistant, the 3 years alone has taken a psychological toll on Sam. When Sam is 2 weeks from completing his working contract, strange things begin to happen that challenges the very fabric of his humanity and soul.

 

Sam Rockwell is fantastic in this movie playing multiple versions of his character who are slowly losing sanity and will to live after discovering terrible facts about his existence. I really wanna say what those facts are because it will make this review much easier to understand but I can't spoil it. It really is a shocker what goes down with his character in the movie and Rockwell is amazing in the role. He practically carries the weight of the film and he does it incredibly well. He should get nominated for an Oscar.

I liked Kevin Spacey as GERTY. A really nice homage to HAL 9000. What I thought would play out with his character didn't exactly happen here which was a nice surprise but I think Moon would have had much better suspense and tension if GERTY became like HAL and go all SkyNet on Sam Rockwell.

 

I love love love the art direction in Moon. The set pieces of the moon base is gorgeous, really well done and a great throwback to classic sci-fi films like 2001: A Space Odyssey. The cinematography and visual effects were impressive given the budget of the movie.

 

One thing I didn't like about Moon was that it took a bit too long to build up to the big reveal of the movie. So for a good 45 minutes I'm left thinking what on earth is going on and slightly bored. But damn, when it get's there it just blows you out of your seat.

 

Moon is going to be a cult classic I guarantee. It's just that not many people has seen this yet. It's going to get that same status as The Thing and The Fly which weren't popular movies but gained strong fan following after a few years. It's a very disturbing sci-fi drama with a fantastic performance by Sam Rockwell. Moon's worth checking out ya'll! I got the DVD who wants???

RATING: 8/10