i've loved you so long (2008)

many have referred to sean penn winning the academy award for best actor as an "upset". many referred to the exclusion of ''the dark knight'' from this years big awards as an "upset". i myself deemed the lack of a nomination for bruce springsteen and his eponymously titled theme to "the wrestler" as an ''upset". alas, ladies and gentlemen, i introduce to you the biggest academy award "upset" of 2009; philippe claudel's "i've loved you so long". now im not simply suggesting that "i've loved you so long deserved a shot at "best foreign picture", i think it should have been in the running for "best actress", "best adapted screenplay", "best director" and "best picture" too. its just a magnificent film, absolutely beautiful and tender, yet raw and unreliable in mood at the same time. iv never been a fan of kristen scott thomas, in fact im not sure if i have actually ever seen her in anything, but she just owns the role in this film, moreso than either sean penn, katie winslet or mickey rourke in their respective roles.

this film is outstanding and perhaps the greatest oscar snub in recent history.

the hunt for red october (1990)

not my usual sort of film, but interesting none the less. alec baldwin is great in the part that harrison ford and ben affleck (and perhaps ryan gosling?) would later go onto portray, but sean connery plays the same role he plays in everything and just comes across as lazy. the technique used to control the use of language and accent is very interesting though. i had to watch this for my studies, so will be checking out the follow-up jack ryan films over the next few weeks.

oss 117 : cairo nest of spies (2008)

this gallic pseudo-satire of the james bond genre proved to be a great experience. the film combined all out spoof with drama and action to create a film that i enjoyed thoroughly.

strangely, the oss 117 series predates the bond series by some years, hence the tag of pseudo-satire. jean dujardin, a former french talent show contestant, proves formidible in the title role, with bérénice bejo great as the archetypal bond girl. the quality of the film is impressive, its high concept and a blockbuster in the visual sense of the word. knowing nods to the production techniques of the time that the film is set (1960's), with the use of back projection and limited camerawork prevailant. in turn the film reminds of the early bond films, albeit with a great deal of modern political allusions and references. the film is incredibly funny too, with the scene involving the prayer leader a particular standout. comparisons to inspector cluseau and the pink panther films will no doubt attach themselves to this, but personally i have never been a fan of those films.

not only is "oss 117 : cairo nest of spies" a great satire, but its a great film too, and much more interesting than the actual films that its spoofing.

the pianist (2003)

roman polanski's oscar winning film boasts perhaps my favourite oscar winning performance of modern times, in the shape of adrian brody. having not seen the film for quite some time, it was with the recent oscars in mind that i looked to ''the pianist'' again. as iv grown older the attrocities on display have grown to shock me even moreso than they did when i was younger, and some scenes in "the pianist" feel genuinely hard to stomach. and while brody's performance is a tour-de-force, some of the supporting performances fall fairly flat (the early scenes within the family home feel like something out of an enid blyton tale). all in all though, it is a great film, with adrian brody genuinely affecting in his role and a deserved winner of the best actor oscar.

the young victoria (2009)

emily blunt stars as queen victoria in this martin scorsese produced pseudo-biopic. french filmmaker jean-marc vallée helms a competent enough picture, that is pleasingly enough while it lasts, but leaves little in the way of after effect. emily blunt and paul bettany both provide great performances, with rupert friend as prince albert being the key performance. he brings genuine sense of emotion towards the relationship between albert and victoria, with the final moments proving incredibly touching.

post oscar 2009 report

well our predictions werent too bad (although i am aware that beth beat me in best director!). in hindsight sean penn was a much safer bet than expected, with him taking the SAG award and whatnot, but it was still a shock to see roure lose out. i did love penn in ''milk'' though, and if i could be so bold as to quote my own review of the film from january 12th -

for me the oscar race has heated up. i didnt really consider milk to be much of a contender, but after tonight i find it difficult to believe that there has been a better performance this year than that of sean penn as harvey milk.

it would have been great to see rourke take it tho, if not for some academy recognition for aronofsky's "the wrestler".

winslet's win came as no surprise to anyone, although i do think the win being for "the reader" was undeserved when compared to her turn in "revolutionary road". i would have been pleased to see her take it for that, but "the reader" winning just reaks of hollywood politics in action (with the vile harvey weinstein back to his manipulative ways of old).

"slumdog millionaire" winning everything else also proved to be no surprise. im pleased that the film won so much, and the internet backlash is beyond annoying. sure there are films that i would have prefered had beaten it to best picture, but i am still really pleased to see danny boyle's film take home so much praise. the genuine happiness that everyone involved displays is refreshing when compared to the stoic nature usually associated with this sort of thing. "wall-e" really should have taken the sound awards tho.

one final thing, the obituaries were incredibly moving this year, due in no small part to the inclusion of paul newman. the way in which the lights all fell upon his moment, and the quote rang out amongst the auditorium was just perfect.

firefox (1982)

a surprisingly successful attempt at post-star wars casual science fiction for clint eastwood, with the film boasting a much more experimental element than one would have expected. eastwood fuses casual sci-fi with the espionage thrillers he was familiar with at the time of the films production to combine a winning formula. the advertised notion of a plot revolving around a super-fi jetplane takes a back seat for the first hour, as we see eastwood's vietnam vet attempt to infiltrate the russian military. the latter half of the film takes place on and around the plight aboard the plane, in a vein that is perhaps the direct opposite of similiar fare like "top gun". "firefox" is to be commended as a very different piece of work to the usual clint eastwood film, and it succeeds much better than expected.

the shining (1980)

another jack nicholson performance, and another tour de force. the scale of madness on display in kubrick's stephen king adaptation is awe-inspiring. i looked to "the shining" for academic reasons on this occasion, im looking at symetrical screening, and this is a great example of it. the camerawork, the framing and the editing of this film are incredible examples of the language of cinema, and display why kubrick was such a great filmmaker. the use of steadicam is especially of note, with kubrick being one of the earliest advocates of the device.

oscar predictions 2009

with it being the oscars this weekend, my girlfriend and i decided to do a bit of a sweepstakes as to the results. she hasnt seen most of the films so we kept to the big categories. we also employed the will/should/should have been nominated rule too.


best actor -

bethan;
should- mickey rourke- the wrestler
will- mickey rourke- the wrestler
nom- benicio del toro- che

adam;
should- mickey rourke- the wrestler
will- mickey rourke- the wrestler
nom- leonardo dicaprio- revolutionary road


actor in a supporting role -

bethan;
should- heath ledger- the dark knight (tis the only one she's seen)
will- heath ledger- the dark knight
nom- michael kelly- changeling

adam;
should- philip seymour hoffman
will- heath ledger- the dark knight
nom- jason butler harner- changeling


best actress-

bethan;
should- meryl streep- doubt
will- kate winslet- the reader

adam;
should- angelina jolie- changeling
will- kate winslet- the reader
nom- cate blanchett- the curious case of benjamin button

best supporting actress-

bethan;
should- marisa tomei- the wrestler
will- amy adams- doubt

adam;
should- marisa tomei- the wrestler
will- amy adams- doubt
nom- kate winslett- the reader (i still stand by the fact that this was a supporting role, in context if not length)


animated film -

bethan;
wall-e

adam;
wall-e

best foreign film

bethan;
the baader meinhoff complex

adam;
will- the class
nom-gomorrah

direction-

bethan;
should- danny boyle-slumdog millionaire
will- danny boyle-slumdog millionaire
nom- darren aranofsky- the wrestler/ steven soderberg-che


adam;
should- david fincher- the curious case of benjamin button
will- david fincher- the curious case of benjamin button
nom- darren aranofsky- the wrestler/ clint eastwood-changeling


film-

bethan;
should- the curious case of benjamin button
will-slumdog millionaire
nom- changeling/the wrestler

adam;
should- the curious case of benjamin button
will- slumdog millionaire
nom- changeling/the wrestler/doubt/revolutionary road

capturing the friedmans (2003)

for a long time in the years following its release ''capturing the friedmans'', andrew jerecki's film charting the disintegration of a seemingly normal middle class family held the honour of being my favourite documentary of all time. alas that isnt necessarily true, having not seen the film for a while its importance had flailed in my mind. with that i decided to give the film a spin late at night. in doing so i was reminded just how great a film it is, and although i dont hold it in as high regard as i once did, it still has a magnificent grasp over its viewing with its intriguing, interpretative and downright shocking story.

burn after reading (2008)

the coen brother's most recent film is more in the vein of "the ladykillers'' than it is "no country for old men", which is hardly a good thing. at times i felt like screaming at the tv, and while it was fairly inoffensive and fairly free-wheeling, one cant help but be of the attitude that the talent on screen would have been better utilised in an alternative film. brad pitt is great tho, as is richard jenkins in a supporting role. frances mcdormand is beyond annoying tho, and while i understand that this was the intention she still grates beyond belief. john malkovich once again proves that no one can do angry quite as well as him, with tilda swinton great as his wife and george clooney as affable as usual as her lover.

all in all it was ok, but ok isnt really expected or downright good enough coming off of the back of "no country for old men".

true lies (1994)

james cameron and arnold schwarzenegger's third collaboration is probably their most downright entertaining. "true lies", a remake of a french film, basically turns the conventions and expectations of the spy genre on its head, creating a film that comes off like james bond crossed with a sitcom. the film also has the unique selling point of tom arnolds finest moment, as arnie's wingman. sure the film is ridiculously over the top, but its a significantly more entertaining film than any of the pre-daniel craig bond flicks. interestingly i noticed the use of scope and depth that cameron seems to be keen on. perhaps this was an indication of the 3D-obsessed direction he would undertake in the years after.

the exorcist (1973)

watching william friedkin's seminal adaptation of william peter blatty's novel for the first time since i was a teenager, and off of the back of a screening of ''doubt'' proved a very positive experience. as a boy it was the overtly shocking moments of the film that i was attracted to, but as i have grown (and hopefully developed!) it is the thematic notions that strike the most fear. as an exploration into the themes of questioning ones faith rather bizarrely brought to mind scorsese's ''mean streets''.

i have every intention of returning to this review at some point, in the vain of a proper analysis.

gone baby, gone (2007)

i first came across ben affleck's impressive directorial outing on region 1 dvd several months before it saw release in british theatres, due to the similiarities between the madeline mccann case and the one in the film. when attempting to 'sell' the concept of a ben affleck picture to my friends (most people still associating the guy with the whole ''bennifer'' circus) i used the notion that ''gone baby, gone'' felt like a big screen spin off of the television show ''the wire'', which i feel to be the greatest television show in the history of the medium. thats not to say that ''gone baby, gone" is as good a film as ''the wire'' is a television show, but the similiarities in tone and style are definately there. michael k. williams, ''the wire's'' 'omar' manages to make an appearance too.

on second viewing, some years after my initial one, the film held up greatly. casey affleck, ben's brother, shines in the role of a local private detective, employed by the family of a missing girl. while the ending of the film almost jarres with what has gone before, its not enough to distract from what is an all round great piece of film.

pale rider (1985)

it amazes me just how much variation clint eastwood brought to the western genre. from the days of "rawhide", through the european revisionist time of the dollars trilogy (wherein he learnt his craft), the late 70's revisionist period he kickstarted with "the outlaw josey wales" and the 90's post-modern of "unforgiven", he has continually managed to update what is considered by many to be an overly familiar genre. "pale rider" fell between "the outlaw josey wales" and "unforgiven", with eastwood starring as a mysterious preacher with a mysterious past.

as is to be expected with the later work of eastwood, we are given the topics of fidelity and authoritarian abuse to deal with. the anti-corporate message underlying the plight of the gold miners is clearly a reaction to the politics and business ethics pf the 1980's.