Zero Dark Thirty

I’m surprised by the society I live in more often than I’d like. Having gotten to the theater earlier than usual this time around, I had a chance to catch the “preshow.” There was an advertisement for a TV movie about the case to convict Casey Anthony, and I found myself amazed at our culture’s desire, perhaps need even, to regurgitate current events so quickly. Despite that, there I was, buying a ticket for a movie about an event that, for all intents and purposes, just happened. Having really enjoyed The Hurt Locker (despite being a little bit bitter about its Oscar win at the expense of Avatar!), I was willing to give Kathryn Bigelow the benefit of the doubt with Zero Dark Thirty, particularly given that she was working with the government to do everything that she could to get the story “right.”

Where The Hurt Locker really shines is in how tightly focused it is. Rather than bogging down on the justifications or lack thereof for the Iraqi conflict like so many other films of the past decade do, it manages to avoid the political in order to stay focused on the personal. It’s much more about Renner’s William and his addiction to a certain kind of lifestyle, and just how strange that lifestyle is. By that comparison, Zero Dark Thirty is, by necessity given its subject, unavoidably a child of its environment. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but in this case, I think that it’s not quite as strong as it might have been.

Essentially, the first half of Zero Dark Thirty is a procedural, and whenever I think of procedurals, All The President’s Men comes to mind as the gold standard. That film does an incredible job of keeping the audience grounded in the facts (and there are a LOT of facts) without ever losing its dramatic impetus. Whenever I watch the film, I’m always impressed by how well the writers explain everything to the audience. If some of it goes over their heads at first, that’s understandable, but it’s all there. That’s often one of the hardest things about films dealing with historic events. You’ve got to stay grounded in the facts and you’ve also got to keep things interesting. If we’re going to use that standard, Zero Dark Thirty doesn’t quite measure up. There’s a lot that goes on that doesn’t all connect quite as organically as it could have. There are times when another Arabic name I’m not familiar with is uttered, and I find myself saying “who’s that again?” Still though, it’s not as bad as watching a Lord of the Rings movie.

Zero Dark Thirty is very much a film of two halves. The first half is the aforementioned procedural where they tackle the logistics of the manhunt. It’s solid, and manages to pull the rug out right when you’re starting to get settled. There’s one moment where something BIG happens unexpectedly, and it was one of the biggest surprises I’ve experienced in a movie theater in a long, long time. I was expecting a similar event that happened later, having seen the event in the trailer and being relatively good at those matching card games when I was a kid, but the earlier one comes without warning.

The last hour or so feels very different from what’s come before, as the focus shifts entirely to the manhunt to kill Bin Laden. Fortunately, it’s not an inorganic shift. If the film’s accurate, then the administration took a huge risk in going in, because the evidence really is incredibly sparse.

Essentially, there’s this guy. He takes messages to Bin Laden. He lives in this house, and we can tell that there are a lot of women and children inside the house. We can tell all of this from surveillance video that’s really, helpful. There’s an extra woman inside the house. There shouldn’t be an extra woman inside the house. The guy who must be her husband NEVER COMES OUT OF THE HOUSE, so he’s probably Bin Laden. It’s striking that Zero Dark Thirty billed as being about the “largest manhunt in history” and, in spite of all of our society’s technological advances, they go into battle on a hunch.

In the movie, other folks are a bit unsure about whether or not the guy is Bin Laden, most leaning toward “probably.” On the other hand, Jessica Chastain’s Maya is completely convinced. I don’t know entirely why. She would certainly like for it to be true, but that doesn’t mean that it is. That’s one thing that I would have liked more of in the script: motivational factors for Maya. I don’t know exactly why she did her job, aside from the fact that she cared a LOT about doing it. It almost seemed to be a means to an end, as opposed to a reason to fully develop the character in a three-dimensional way. As much as I have lamented scenes where a filmmaker has the obligatory “so this happened to me when I was a child, and that’s why I’ll never get married” scene, this is one case where it would have been a welcome addition. Toward the end, I figured that she was doing it (at least partially) for reasons of vengeance, but it’s still a bit murky. She’s purported to be a “killer” and yet she tells someone late in the film that she hasn’t actually done anything special for the CIA except for look for Bin Laden. It seems strange to me that she would be made a major part of a team in a field that intense, much less part of the unit trying to track down Bin Laden, on such a scant record. Chastain herself is solid, but the lack of information about her character’s motivation make it a little bit harder than it should be to empathize with her.

Back to the second half . . . the raid itself is easily the most exciting part of the film, even if there are a few logical inconsistencies. I didn’t know that one of the helicopters actually crashed! That’s not something that I had expected, and it certainly provides for a fly in the ointment. There are a few other bits that come across as a bit strange, particularly when the soldiers’ natural human instincts come to bear on some innocents that have just witnessed them kill some people they loved dearly.

I’d wondered how much of the raid would actually be depicted. A few of us had thought that perhaps the team would show the team going in, and then the team coming out. Nope. There’s a fair amount of detail in the way they go in, what happens inside, and how they leave. It’s exciting stuff. I had no idea that the compound was so large. On that front, I think that Bigelow and Boal could have made things a bit more clear. It’s insinuated that there are only 2 choppers, but then there are clearly more than that, as soldiers that seem to be stranded are back at base later, and an endless numbers of doors are blown off by an ever-increasing group of soldiers.

Zero Dark Thirty has quickly become one of the most controversial films of the last year, perhaps even last several years, and I’m not quite sure why that is. A lot of folks seem to think that the film supports the use of torture as an acceptable interrogation tactic. Personally, I don’t really think that the film is advocating a course of action so much as it’s depicting actual events. In the case of these operatives, it’s apparent that they’re willing to do just about anything for their cause, and Chastain’s transformation is quick and complete. Even though she’s not comfortable with it at first, she’s more than willing to keep things moving if it means that she gets more information and shifts from uneasy observer to willing participant very quickly. Even as they realize that the rest of the world won’t like it, these people see this course of action as completely necessary. Fortunately, the film doesn’t shy away from explicitly depicting the horrible things that many American operatives did to those in their charge. At first, I thought that the filmmakers weren’t going to actually show anybody being waterboarded, as the start of the process is seen in a long shot with soldiers blocking the audience’s view of what’s happening. Fortunately, they get up close and personal with the nasty business, which I think is necessary, given the horrible price that these poor guys had to pay.

It’s a tough sequence to watch too, because your feelings as a moviegoer bump up against your feelings as a human being. It’s only natural to want the protagonists of whatever film you’re watching to succeed, or, in this case, to get the information that they need. Given the nature of the process they’re using, at first I was surprised to find myself on their “side.” That changed, partially because of how explicit the scene is. You see a poor man screaming and struggling when he knows that he’s going to be waterboarded. You see his face, completely drenched, spitting water up in the desperate struggle to breathe. You see him fighting to keep from being put in a box. The POV shot that’s used when he’s shut in is perfect.

I think it’s pivotal to realize that Bigelow and Boal are not shying away from the horror of what happened. If they were trying to advocate the use of torture, it wouldn’t have been hard to frame the scene in such a way that might make it easier on the eyes. It’s because of how explicit it is that you realize the terrible price that comes from stripping away another person’s human dignity so completely that you’re walking around with that person on a leash. And this is AFTER he’s been just been released from the restraints that kept him on his feet all night long with his arms outstretched.

It’s also important that the prisoner starts shouting random days of the week as he’s screaming in an attempt to stay out of the box. How reliable is information given in these circumstances? Khalid Sheik Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times. It’s been determined since that a victim is willing to say just about anything just to get people to stop hurting him. The only time that I think that the film solidifies any kind of pro-torture stance is in a meeting that the National Security Advisor has with the task force’s leader. After the leader is asked if they can get any proof that Bin Laden is actually in the house in question, he responds, “by asking who? The detainee program’s shut down.” That’s the only occasion in the film where I felt that the use of torture was being supported in any other world except the crazy one that these operatives live in.

In Zero Dark Thirty, I was surprised to be reminded of an age-old question. “What hath god wrought?” Perhaps that’s the real debate that should be had here. There is something wrong with a group of people doing terrible things in the name of their god and another group of people responding by saying that their god has told them what they must do in retaliation. We’re not talking about that part anymore, are we?

4 stars (out of 5)

Pocket Thoughts: Hobbits and Mad Hatters

• A few days ago, it was announced that Guillermo Del Toro had stepped down from his position as the director of the two Hobbit films. Apparently, the delays in obtaining a start date for the shoot was adding on too much time to his already considerable commitment. He’d promised 3 years, but the project was starting to look like it would take double that to complete. I really can’t say that I blame him for moving on because we’re not exactly talking in days or months, are we? I’m sure that he’s undoubtedly got the next several years worth of projects lined up, which isn’t surprising, given Del Toro’s creative capacity. An extra 3 years just isn’t something that he’s willing to give, nor should it be.
  
  That said, I’m a bit apprehensive as to who’s going to take over the ship. GDT has agreed to take the next 6 months or so to finish the screenplays with Peter Jackson, Phillipa Boyens, and Fran Walsh, for which I’m grateful. That said, the future of the project seems to be doubt. From the start, I’ve always thought that Peter Jackson should be the one to do it, which isn’t exactly the most original thought, although it’s one that I still believe makes the most sense. He’s the single most experienced filmmaker in the world when it comes to how to make a movie in Middle-Earth. When he made it clear that he wasn’t interested in directing these films and GDT was announced as the primary creative wunderkind behind them, I was pleased. Sure, he wasn’t my first choice, but if Jackson wasn’t up for it, the guy who brought the terrifyingly wonderful world of Pan’s Labyrinth to life was the next best thing. Now, I can only hope that Peter Jackson decides to take the reigns himself. I’m not optimistic, but I’ll hope against hope that it happens until it’s set in stone that it’ll be someone else. If things aren’t resolved soon, I think we might be looking at the release dates being pushed back even further.
  
  

• Is it just me, or has Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland made the quietest billion dollars a film’s ever made? Think about it. When Titanic, any of the Lord of the Rings films, The Dark Knight, or Avatar were headed for 9 zeroes, it was blatantly obvious that they were on track for big money, right? Usually, these types of movies have multiple weekends at #1, people won’t shut up about them, and folks go back to the theater time and time again for repeat viewings. Now, Alice in Wonderland did spend 3 weeks in the top spot, but last week when someone said, “did you know that Alice in Wonderland hit a billion dollars?” it just seemed like it wasn’t possible. I liked the movie well enough, even though I thought that the fairly standard fantasy action movie of the last 20 minutes or so didn’t fit with the wonderfully atmospheric first two acts.
  
  I may not the guru of all things moviemoneymagic, but the fifth highest-grossing film of all time? Really? How did this happen?

Well, it happened, that.

Reader, sometimes I wonder what you must think of us. The team behind this blog so often comes across as being of 2-3 different minds on almost every topic that comes up on the radar screen. I'm grateful that you take the time to read, whoever you are. The culture in which we find ourselves puts somewhat of an unfair premium on time and efficiency, and a web page that isn't interesting tends to be ignored or, even worse, skimmed.

I'm guilty of doing that myself all too often, but I wish that I didn't. It's almost as though I'm denying myself the opportunity to gain as much knowledge as I could just because something isn't eye-grabbing at first, or because it's long. Oooooh. Isn't that horrible? Something's LONG. Wow, I might just learn something if I read it. Billy Shakespeare probably said it best, "Lord, what fools these mortals be!"

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How about them Oscars? To be honest, I am/was disappointed in the show. The opening musical number was out of place, although Neil Patrick Harris has a good set of pipes. I must admit that I felt some of its "appeal" was misplaced. Is it supposed to be incredibly ironic that a gay man is dancing between a couple of showgirls? Come on, it's not like no one's ever tried that kind of subtext before! I'd rather that we stop treating people like novelty acts over stuff like that. He's a talented actor and entertainer. Period. Let's stop treating folks any different. Why not take a page from Ellen's book when she hosted the show? Oh, wait, she was forced to cut a significant portion of her material because she was ticked off at the way she'd been treated after her coming-out episode and planned to come out of the gate guns blazing. Maybe we better not follow her example if we're going for "moving past the past."

As far as the opening dialogue went, Martin and Baldwin had some good material (loved Steve's bit about Christoph Waltz having hit the motherlode of Jews), but the way that they pitched to various things was incredibly stilted. Set-up, joke . . . "and here's so-and-so over here from such-and-such-a-film." (campy grin + forced applause = LAME) I heard someone say that the material would have worked better if it'd been performed as a monologue, and I have to agree. When one person is throwing the spotlight around the room at various people, you go with it. When two guys are trying to go back and forth and come across as strangely under-rehearsed, it's just too bad.

The awards themselves were a mixed bag. The major awards were incredibly anticlimatic. Every single one of the acting awards went the way I predicted. The Hurt Locker picked up Best Director and Best Picture. Yawn. This didn't exactly make for an incredibly exciting show. I'm not terribly upset about THL's victory, although I still think that Avatar was a more significant achievement. As for Bigelow being the first woman to win Best Director? Good for her. I would have voted for Cameron, but she did a fine job and it's a step up from recognizing Danny Boyle last year. I almost still can't believe that actually happened! I did feel sorry for her standing up there. She looked so nervous that she seemed like she might faint before it was all said and done.

I did find Mo'Nique's comments a bit strange in which she said she didn't want to make her speech a political one, and then promptly thanked Hattie McDaniels. I'm all for her thanking those that came before her and paved the way for her to stand there, but to say she wasn't going to do something and then do it anyway seemed strange. Personally, I'm a bit tired of all the talk of race at the Oscars. A few years ago, when Denzel and Halle won, it was a big deal. 2 years later, Jaime Foxx and Morgan Freeman dominated their respective races from top to bottom, and was their ethnicity mentioned once? Nope. It seems that we've moved past certain things now. Why must we keep bringing it up?

That said, there were a number of upsets in other categories that I wasn't prepared for. Both writing awards went to films I wasn't expecting, although I had started to get an inkling that THL might use its momentum to snag that one too. I was pretty ticked off that The Hurt Locker won in the Original category, instead of Inglourious Basterds. COME ON! Tarantino's script was virtuosic in its ability to accomplish so many different goals, sometimes at once, that it's a crying shame that he didn't pick up little gold man #2. As for the winner in the other Screenplay category, while I haven't seen the movie, having to hear "Precious . . . . . . Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" forty-five thousand times proved tiresome. Please, next time, find a better title! (or at least one that doesn't sound like a drag queen's lamaze class play)

Another BIG surprise was The Secret In Their Eyes beating out both Un Prophete AND The White Ribbon for Best Foreign Language film. Does the Palme d'Or mean nothing in America, people? Forget that. Did the Academy voters not realize that Michael Haneke is the guy who directed The White Ribbon? Have they never seen one of his films before? Did they not know about the crazy/twisted/sick stuff he thinks up for characters to do to each other in his movies? Have they installed new security systems and hired armed guards to stand watch outside their homes to protect themselves? Let's hope so.

Finally, I can't let the direction of the actual telecast off the hook. It was HORRIBLE with a capital AWFUL. If I was made to count each questionable choice . . . man, I'd run out of fingers real quick. Worst gaffe (besides all of the times the viewer saw stuff that we were never supposed to see): cutting to a super wide angle shot right after Bigelow won. Come on, she was sitting right in front of Cameron. Everyone wanted to see the two of them. Would he shake her hand? Would they hug? Would they speak at all? Instead, I was left to yell at the screen, calling out instructions to the guy at the switchboard who, sadly, couldn't hear me from so many miles away.

For my second and last finally, I have to point out the sheer strangeness of the so-called "tribute" to the nominated scores. Who on earth thought it would be a good idea to have a bunch of performers do an interpretive dance to the music? Oh yeah, whenever I hear the music from Up, I immediately think "Hey! Let's get a guy to do the robot!" Oh no. What is this? Are we back to the tap dance tribute to Saving Private Ryan? Some things are better left alone.

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As for our scatterbrainededness and hornswaggling over everything that we write about . . . well, we like it that way. Besides that, we've done pretty well up to this point. That's just how it goes. Besides, every so often, it just so happens that we all think the same way, and that always ends up feeling so good.

This year, I think I'm going to read more thoroughly when I'm online. How about it? I think I'll watch Redacted before the year is up, and then read Zanzie's blog. ALL of it.

Bigelow Wins, the Red Carpet & the Dude Abides

I am immensely happy with last night’s Academy Awards. I think people like to pick everything about the actual ceremony apart and try to make it into something it’s not (The Grammy’s), but I for one thought Baldwin and Martin were great hosts, the changes were entertaining and while I didn’t agree with some of the presenters, I agree with the films and people that were honored.

Instead of giving you a recap of what I thought about the whole 3+ hour affair I thought I’d give you the highlights of the day for me, from red carpet to credits rolling. These are the things that caught my eye and made the night memorable for me.

• George Clooney got out of his limo early & proved that he is the man everyone says he is. Instead of running through security to get on the red carpet he ran up and down the street greeting the fans that couldn’t even get in the bleachers.
  
• I loved Zoe Saldana’s dress. I may be in the minority here, but it was fun, different and very youthful. I couldn’t wear it but I would want to.
  
• I’ve decided that I don’t just want to meet Robert Downey Jr, I want to meet Susan Downey too. They were adorable on the red carpet and played off each other so well while being interviewed. I would love to work with Susan!
  
• Jake Gyllenhaal talked to Ryan Seacrest on the red carpet and when asked about his sister’s nomination gushed so much that he admitted the pocket square would be used by him if his sister ended up on stage that night.
  
• Neil Patrick Harris proved that he can pull off anything and he stole the show with an amazing opening number. I loved it right down to his glittery tux jacket.
  
• John Hughes affected an entire generation, so much so the Oscars actually did a solo tribute to him and the most memorable stars from his most memorable films took part in it.
  
• Sam Worthington wasn’t just cool enough to sit in the audience with his glasses on, he whipped them out on stage to read the teleprompter. Tell me how many other actors would be that unself-conscious?
  
• Perhaps it was unrelated, unfortunate cutting but Monique won her Oscar then they cut to Samuel L. Jackson making a not complementary face. Hmmm…
  
• Kristen Stewart proved she is completely uncomfortable with her career. She can’t do a red carpet or present without seeming angry and uncomfortable. It’s the Oscar’s honey, act like you’re glad to be there.
  
• Sandy Powell won yet another Oscar for costume and gave a shout out to all the costume designers that the Academy doesn’t recognize because they don’t see their genres or time periods as challenging.
  
• The crazy lady that interrupted the documentary short director because it was the “classy thing” for him to let her talk. The only thing classy about that was that he handled it with poise and didn’t shove her away from the mic.
  
• Ben Stiller I love you. Dressing as a Nav’i was hysterical and I loved it. Especially when he admitted that Avatar couldn’t even have been nominated for best makeup.
  
• Roger Corman won a lifetime achievement award. I could name 5-10 giant people off the top of my head that he helped start and the fact that the Academy found a way to honor Corman is huge.
  
• Robert Downey Jr. & Tina Fey presented an award together and had some of the best banter of the night – especially if you’ve ever worked with actors or writers.
  
• Jeff Bridges accepted the Oscar and proved that the Coen brothers may have helped along what was already there, but Bridges is inherently “The Dude”.
  
• Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win the Oscar for directing. Not only could it not have gone to a better female director, but her reaction was priceless. I missed most of what she was saying and what happened because I was in as much shock as she was. I will be writing about this in depth once I pull my thoughts together and re-watch the moment online.
  
• The Hurt Locker won best picture and Jeremy Renner and actors ran on stage and stole the moment in a great way. The three linked arms, shouted and basically grinned and laughed with joy the entire time the acceptance speech went on. Priceless.
  
• After almost looking like she was going to pass out from both her acceptance speeches Kathryn Bigelow tried to exit the stage and Steve Martin & Alec Baldwin grabbed her and kept her on stage with them to extend her moment while closing the show.
  

You thought Superbowl Sunday was in February? Really?

I'm BACK. After sleeping through the Oscars last year in a hotel bed in London, I am so glad to be back on American soil gearing up for the big night.

That said, I am an somewhat unhappy Yank. After last year's totally predictable set of winners, I'm sad to say that this year isn't shaping up to be much better. No less than 3 out of the 4 Acting categories are sure things, and I wouldn't be surprised to find myself 6 for 6 in the major categories. I realize that, if a film/nominee deserves the award, then it doesn't matter if it makes the show predictable. That said, I like it a little better when there's more variety.


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

Predicted winner: The Hurt Locker
If I was voting: Avatar
Possible upsets: Avatar

Analysis: 10 nominees means that the field is spread for a greater chance of an upset, right? Not even close. This race is between 2 films, folks. From a personal standpoint, while I admired The Hurt Locker, in the end, it seemed to me to be a really well-made war film, but nothing that terribly revolutionary or groundbreaking. On the other hand, Avatar was an accomplishment the likes of which I've never seen before. After its victory at the Golden Globes, I think Avatar seemed like a much stronger contender than it does now. The Hurt Locker has picked up a lot of momentum with major victories at the Producer's Guild Awards and BAFTA's. All of the signs right now point to a victory for The Hurt Locker, but Avatar is definitely lurking on the horizon.


Best Director

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

Predicted winner: Kathryn Bigelow
If I was voting: James Cameron
Possible upsets: James Cameron

Analysis: Imagine this. The only two nominees with a chance in this category used to be married. Who would have thought we'd see that? Kathryn Bigelow has all the momentum right now, and, most importantly, the Director's Guild Award. Sadly, gender is playing a big role in this race, when it shouldn't even be an issue. The Academy has only nominated 4 women for this award in its history, with none of them walking off with Oscar. The pressure is on the Academy right now to change that. That said, I still believe that James Cameron's achievement is much more significant than Bigelow's, despite the fact that she definitely deserves her nomination.

Best Actor

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

Predicted winner: Jeff Bridges
If I was voting: Jeff Bridges
Possible upsets: None.

Analysis: Jeff Bridges has won almost every major award leading up to Oscar night, and I think that tonight will be no different. There are some strong performances in this category, but I don't see anyone beating The Dude.

Best Actress

• 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
  

Predicted winner: Sandra Bullock
If I was voting: Carey Mulligan
Possible upsets: Meryl Streep

Analyis: If you would have told me last year that Sandra Bullock would be the favorite to win any major Best Actress award, I would have thought you were nuts. I don't think she's really got a ton of range to work with. That said, I think she's clearly the front-runner here. Ordinarily, I'm a big Streep fan, but don't think her performance as Julia Child is nearly as good as it's getting credit for. There were a number of times that I felt that it drifted into caricature, which is certainly not what she was going for. One question: what happend to Abbie Cornish? How did her work in Bright Star manage to fall off the Oscar map?


Best Supporting Actor:

• Matt Damon - Invictus
• Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
• Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
• Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
• Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

Predicted winner: Christoph Waltz
If I was voting: Christoph Waltz
Possible upsets: None.

Analysis: This category is closed. No one else stands a chance. In a year defined by sure things, this is the surest of them all.

Best Supporting Actress

• Penélope 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

Predicted winner: Mo'Nique
If I was voting: Vera Farmiga
Possible upsets: None

Analysis: Mo'Nique is the heavy favorite here, and has won nearly every major award of the season. Personally, I absolutely loved Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air. Her presence in the film was effortlessly nuanced and confident in its maturity. That said, she has no chance here, as any opportunity that she might have had is undercut by the nomination of co-star Anna Kendrick, who is the winner of my own award for Least Deserving Nominee. I have no idea what people saw in her performance. Oh well. Congrats, Mo'Nique.

In closing, here are a few more picks for you. Quentin Tarantino/Inglourious Basterds for Best Original Screenplay. Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner/Up in the Air for Best Adapted Screenplay. The White Ribbon for Best Foreign Language Film, with a possible upset coming from A Prophet. Up for Best Animated Film. "The Weary Kind" for Best Original Song.

Here's hoping that Steve Martin (one of my favorite Oscar hosts) and Alec Baldwin ROCK the HOUSE.

Enjoy the show.

FotM: Adam's vote goes to . . .

Look, I still don’t like the idea of 10 nominees for best picture. I never have, and probably never will. That said, choosing who I would vote for if I were a member of the Academy was surprisingly simple.

Currently, I’ve seen 7 out of the 10 nominees. There are at least 4 or 5 pretty good films in the bunch, with 2 that I’d say come the closest to being “great.” I’ll come right back to that . . .

I guess that you could say I’m an intellectual sort when it comes to films. I like films that try to tackle big themes, cover new ground, and communicate that elusive something. While I love being entertained, I don’t consider the having of a good time to be the ultimate goal of a film, or the chief sign of its quality. There have been a number of films (Fight Club, anyone?) I’ve seen that I didn’t necessarily enjoy that I consider to be examples of true craftsmanship, and I’m glad I watched them. Now, I’m certainly not suggesting that my way of looking at films is the “right” way of doing it, and that other approaches are wrong.

That would be stupid.

My point is this. I don’t normally go for the popular choice. When people were proclaiming The Dark Knight the single greatest thing since the dot got put before the com, I was one of the few pointing out what I thought were flaws. When people went nuts over Star Trek, I . . . well, you remember.

So, having said all of that, making my choice for what I would vote for as the Best Picture of 2009 was surprisingly simple.

Avatar.

Nothing I saw in 2009 equals the experience I had with James Cameron’s juggernaut. The only other film that I considered for this slot was Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, but, as great as IB is, (and it is one of the best films an already venerable filmmaker has ever made) I don’t think that anything released between 01/01/2009 and 12/31/2009 comes close to the monumental achievement that is Avatar.

I’m astounded at the fact that almost everything I saw at key points on the screen was created by a computer. Watching it for the first time, I was skeptical of the idea that the incredibly lush world of Pandora was digitally generated. I mean, come on, obviously those blue guys were fake, but what about that tree? The water in the lake? The wind from the helicopter blades moving through the grass? Surely that had to have been real. No computer can make something look that good, and that authentic. There’s no way it could have been left up to processors and microchips.

But it was, and, while it was beautiful, there was even so much more to it than that.
See, Avatar is the kind of thing that George Lucas wanted to make with his Star Wars prequel trilogy. What he didn’t seem to realize is that mere visual trickery isn’t enough to make an audience invest in something. Our brains may enjoy the sight of a superbly created digital world, but our hearts want something to hang their proverbial hats on. I was sold on this thing, man. I wanted to see the Na’Vi triumph over the invading human scum, and I wanted Jake and Neytiri to end up together so desperately.

What Cameron’s done here is truly remarkable. He didn’t just demonstrate a mastery of CGI that no one to date has equaled. He made a film in which, even as your mind is marveling at what it’s watching, you partially (even totally) forget that what you’re seeing is created by a computer. Your heart simply sees a man and a woman standing side by side in a gorgeous place that’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.

So, with respect to Quentin Tarantino & Kathryn Bigelow, on Sunday night, Best Picture (and for my money, Best Director) should go to James Cameron for Avatar.

FOTM: Megan's Vote Is For...

Let me tell you I am a fan of having ten nominees for best picture. Instead of devaluing the award, I think it almost means more – your film had to fight it’s way past nine other great films to pull out the top honor. In fact, this blog has been really hard for me to write because I am so excited about the films that received nominations this year that as underwhelmed as I was by last year’s nominees, I seem to be making up for it this year by being beyond excited to see who will win and what surprises are in store.

When I sat down to finally write this post I actually surprised myself. Instead of going with my immediate gut instinct I decided to take the list of the ten nominees and come up with reasons why each one of them would deserve my vote (if I had one) for best picture; my factors were qualities like acting, technique, craftsmanship, enjoyment, aesthetics, and even my own drive to see the film in the theatre – basically I wanted the film that I thought had the greatest artistic merit and compelling draw to it. I thought for sure when I put it all on paper that my initial gut reaction would be correct and I would be writing about Up In The Air which is the film that probably moved me the most out of any film I saw this year. While Up In The Air did score higher on my criteria than The Hurt Locker & Inglorious Basterds there was one film that I scored high above all of them…one I didn’t think I’d vote for despite my love of the film.

So I sat. I thought about all of my qualities as a director, as a lover of films and as a critic and what I think the best picture Oscar is for. It’s then I realized if I truly wanted to award the film that I think will do the most for the craft of filmmaking, the art of storytelling and last with audiences for years to come I would have to cast my vote for Avatar.

Why Avatar? I’m going to start with the obvious – technology & innovation. I have a quote on my wall from James Cameron which he received from Stan Winston before his death: “…once you’ve shown something is possible everybody can do it.” James Cameron likes to try the impossible and for some reason he usually succeeds. For Avatar he ignored the naysayers and decided he wanted to create an entire alien planet and nine foot tall blue aliens that would actually be played by real actors and he did it – he even re-imagined how 3-D works for the film. Because Cameron was able to accomplish this we are now seeing an even larger influx of 3-D films and I guarantee you people will be using and pushing the technology Cameron used for Pandora & the Nav’ii for years to come. He made something new.

However, technology isn’t enough. They have the sci-tech awards for that. This leads me to another quote on my desk, this one from Spielberg that reads “We try to understand as filmmakers through empathy…because you can’t understand the human motivation without empathy.” Arguably the most powerful & well respected filmmaker of our time, the point Spielberg is making is that if you can’t feel your characters motivations & emotions and effectively put those on screen then the audience has no hope of connecting with your characters or your story. Think about it carefully – it’s hard enough for us to find some humans in films as empathetic, likable characters, but somehow in Avatar we are caught in the emotional journey of Jake Sully, Neytiri and an entire race of giant blue aliens. That is commendable and brilliant, a sign of true talent and a great story.

I’m also not one that tends to put a lot of stock in box office numbers, but with Avatar you can’t ignore the fact that the film smashed records worldwide and was in the top spot on the box office charts for almost two months. That tells me that Avatar is a film that managed to draw in an audience and do the most important thing – keep them. Unlike most of the best picture nominees almost everyone I’ve spoken to has seen Avatar and out of those the majority of them adored it. I have myself seen Avatar in the theatre three times – I haven’t seen any of the other films more than once. That tells me the film has a massive draw and appeal, and the sheer span of its reign in the box office tells me it’s not just because it had a budget behind it, an advantage the smaller films didn’t have to reach their audience. It is much more typical for a large budget film to have a huge opening week and then have a 40-70% drop for every week thereafter, but Avatar broke that model. In the U.S. alone box office actually went up after the first weekend.

There are even more things I could pull out about Avatar but I’ll wrap it up with something personal. Up In The Air may have been the film that connected with me on an emotional level I didn’t expect, but Avatar connected with me emotionally too. Avatar reminded me why making films is my passion. It reminded me about the powers of imagination, the exhilaration a great film can provide and what it looks like to produce something that no one has ever seen before. It reminded me that no matter what story you are telling there is always a unique and fresh way to tell it and if you have a passion for the story you are telling that passion will show up on screen. James Cameron is a master of his craft and with Avatar he managed to reinvigorate the cinema lover inside me again, which is quite the feat as I am already an enthusiastic lover of cinema. Cameron proved that he has a supreme talent to work with actors, artists and transfer a story to the screen.

Even with all the support and adoration I’ve laid out for Avatar (and I could keep going) I still think that awarding one film over another is as futile as choosing your favorite shade of blue, but what I do believe in is supporting good work. All of the nominated films this year were great works and each deserved the best picture award for very different reasons – I will enjoy it no matter who wins and have reasons to think each deserved it. However, I think if I ever do get a vote in the Academy I might just have to pull out this technique again and cast my vote that way.

And out of winter's dark night, there came a light . . .

It's no secret that the beginning of each new year is usually filled with many of what will become the year's worst films. After the usual surge in quality that occurs at year's end as studios rush to release their films in the Academy's extremely short memory span, the well seems to go dry and, come January 1st, we don't get anything that good for far too long.

So, it's with great surprise that this pessimist reports to you that 2010 looks like it might be an exception to that time honored tradition.

Shutter Island (3/19) - FilmNinja and I were talking the other day about just how long this one had been on the backburner, and, believe you me, it's been far too long. The mind-bending thriller formerly known as Ashecliffe has been delayed again and again, and it's TIME to put this one out! Scorsese. DiCaprio. De Niro. Enough said.

Alice In Wonderland (3/5) - I'm not normally a Tim Burton guy, but for some reason, this one is a must-see for me. The idea of making a sequel of sorts to the original story is a very interesting one that, perhaps, might be the best possible scenario. We all know the original story well enough that a re-imagining, complete with familiar characters in new situations, is a really exciting idea. I'm thinking of seeing it in 2D, and then, if it's good enough, maybe seeing it again in 3D. Who knows? I did that for Avatar, but that was AVATAR. Itty bitty difference.

The Ghost Writer (?/?) - Roman Polanski was working on this film at the time of his arrest, and continued to do so confined in his home. This certainly isn't the first time he's been compelled to be absent from his own set, and it'll be fascinating to see how well The Ghost Writer works, given the tenuous conditions surrounding its creation. I'm inclined to think that, if anyone can, Roman Polanski is that guy.

I may never have told you this before, but I just love the movies!!!

Crosses fingers, hopes for the best

It's almost 1 AM and the Academy Award nominations are about 6 1/2 hours away. For some reason, I felt like an 11th hour post to make some predictions. Here's what I think you can expect in the Best Picture and Best Director categories.

Best Picture: Avatar, District 9, An Education, The Hangover, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, Star Trek, Up, & Up in the Air. Possible dark horse(s): Invictus and maybe even The Blind Side.

Best Director: James Cameron, Kathryn Bigelow, Quentin Tarantino, Lee Daniels, & Jason Reitman. You can bet money on those picks.

I think there's a definite possibility Zoe Saldana (Avatar) might get the very first acting nomination for a character created entirely using VFX. Here's hoping that Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air) gets a nod too.

Now, let's see what happens . . .

"I'll take one for 'Mindless,' please."

Roger Ebert is back at the Sundance Film Festival after a 3 year absence. Because he's there and we're not, I'd highly recommend you keep an eye on his blog for updates direct from Colorado, unless you've already discovered it for yourself. Roger Ebert's Journal is one of the finest blogs I've found on the web, and his readers are the type of insightful, intelligent folks that should be the envy of any publication, web-based or otherwise.

This is something he wrote in his first entry from Sundance. It rang true, and I wanted to share it with you.

"When you're here it's easy to lose sight of the real world of "Avatar" and "Sherlock Holmes." The town is jammed. The screenings are packed. The Park Record observes that parking has become as hard to find as tickets. It's said that financing has dried up. That audiences don't hunger for intelligent films. And yet all these films got made. They will all get seen. The word will go forth from this time and place that some of them were wonderful. And in all but a few cases, the market won't care. Average American moviegoers cheerfully buy tickets to movies they expect will be junk. But confront them with something that might be great and they start looking all alarmed."

This is terribly sad and, unfortunately, far too true.

A Cinematic Public Service Announcement

In the 17 months that we’ve written about the movies for this blog, the four of us have seen countless films, arguing over many, partly seeing eye-to-eye over some, and agreeing unequivocally on a few.

This is one of those few.

The hype over James Cameron’s Avatar has been building up steadily over the past several years, reaching fever pitch over the past few months. Avatar has been touted as an event movie of epic proportions, and the “one” that will change the way that films are made in the future. Now that we’ve all had a chance to see it, we wanted to share our excitement with you as a group, because the four of us feel so strongly about Avatar that we feel that it’s one of THOSE movies that anyone who considers himself/herself a fan of the movies really ought to go see.

Below, you’ll find our individual comments on the film.

“Twelve years is a long time to wait for anything, but James Cameron has made it more than worth the wait. AVATAR is unlike anything you have ever seen before. It’ll dazzle your senses, melt your eyeballs and pin you to your seat. It immerses you in a world up until now you only thought you could see in your dreams. In short, AVATAR is the reason they make movie theatres. If you want to see the future of film making converge with the best that modern story telling has to offer, get your butt to a theatre NOW!”
--Chris W.

“My girlfriend didn't want to see it. This isn't anything new when it comes to her feelings on movies involving fantasy. But she was adamant that it looked stupid. Fortunately, I had a coupon that was a gift from her, stating she'd go to a movie she didn't want to see. I knew we were in for a treat, and wanted her to experience it too. By the end of the movie, she was on the edge of her seat, gripping my arm with suspense and enjoyment all in one. I simply ate my popcorn, grinned with satisfaction, and enjoyed the rest of my Christmas present.

James Cameron consistently delivers fascinating stories, classic characters, amazing worlds, and he does it while raising the standard for not only the technology that he's using, but also how those effects should be used. You are emotionally involved with the world and characters you are introduced to, as if you are in an Avatar yourself. It's Dances with Wolves with a little bit of The Matrix, and the hottest and most badass version of Pocahontas you will ever see. This movie has heart, and I love it. If you haven't seen it, you are crazy. If you haven't seen it twice, sell something so you can see it again. And if you haven't seen it in IMAX 3D, then you don't know Pandora. For those of you that have done all of the above, ‘I see you.’"
--FilmNinja

“Avatar is something not seen very often – a film that delivers on concept, story and craftsmanship. James Cameron promised that with Avatar we’d be visiting another planet and, while watching the film, we are. The astounding thing is that, in 2D, you are invested in the story of Jake Sully & the Na’vi people, but, in 3D, you are walking on Pandora with them. Avatar is a film that cannot be missed on the big screen, and, no matter what exhibition format you see it in, Cameron will take you into a story that you will cheer for.”
--Megan
“It’s no surprise that I’ve been somewhat skeptical about Avatar for the past several months. The first trailer was somewhat unimpressive, and while the second was better, my doubts still remained as I sat in the theater last weekend. Over the course of the next 2 hours and 40 minutes, my cinematic mind was blown. Sure, the script could have used another pass, but I found myself in a strange place. I just didn’t care. Cameron’s use of visual effects is second to none and Pandora is one of the most distinctive (and beautiful) environments I’ve ever seen in a movie. Look, I’ll just say it: if you miss seeing Avatar on the big screen, you might regret it for the rest of your life.”
--Adam

If you go to see only one movie the rest of the year, let that movie be Avatar.
-Chris W, FilmNinja, Megan, & Adam

2 trailers sometimes really are better than 1

Ah, brothers and sisters, the passing of time brings many changes. The second Avatar trailer has finally been released, and I'm happy to report that it looks infinitely more interesting than the teaser did. As you might remember, I took some flak for pointing out that the big blue guys just didn't look so realistic. Fortunately, while they still don't resemble the finest CGI these eyes have ever seen as Cameron may have hoped, they look pretty good.

The story seems to have legs too. Although seeming somewhat cliched (Star Trek: Insurrection, anyone?), Avatar seems to have a fairly compelling narrative conflict. This wasn't evident from the get go, and I know that Megan and I both expressed our concerns that the film would be all gimmick and no guts. However, that's kind of an inherent problem with teaser trailers in general. Unless the visuals are flat-out incredible/trippy/weirdly compelling, the teaser doesn't necessarily accomplish its main goal, which is namely to get your butt in a seat in the theater, preferably on opening weekend.

That said, I still have a few questions.

1. How does the blue girl know English? Pretty convenient, huh? Maybe they'll explain it with one of those "Oh, the avatar software comes with a universal translator so that you'll be able to talk to the natives."

2. Why don't the bad guys just unplug the machine Jake's hooked up to so that he can't control his avatar? That said, this'll probably be handled in one of two ways. Either he'll get the machine off the ship (Sigourney Weaver would probably help with this) or it'll turn into a subplot as the bad guys race to disconnect the machine. Or what about this: Sigourney Weaver might lock them out of the area of the ship where the machines are and it becomes a race-against-the-clock as they try to break through before he can lead the natives to victory on the planet surface.

All jokes aside, I just hope this movie is close to being as good as it wants to be. I'll be there opening weekend for sure. Cameron, if you're reading, please please PLEASE make it worth my while.

Oh, and keep your eye on a movie called An Education come Oscar time. Good stuff. The star, Carey Mulligan, is going to get a Best Actress nomination. Yep, that's my first Oscar prediction. We'll see how THAT goes.

Uh, ok . . .

I was starting to lose hope. After thinking that this summer might be end up being another big bust, I'm so glad to have finally seen a good film this summer. (although it was still kind of a bust anyway) Well, I should be honest. Make that THREE good films this summer. Oh, shoot. I just remembered Lorna's Silence too.

OK. Let me start over. I am glad to have seen a few good films this summer, even though some of them don't fall into the traditional "summer movie" category. I happily skipped a lot of those, .

I have a question for you. Am I the only one who is underwhelmed by the Avatar trailer? After hearing about the response from Con, I waited for the first real trailer eagerly. I watched it as soon as I could the first day it was up. . . and was pretty disappointed by the VFX. For all their supposed realism, the big blue people looked pretty fake, particularly in the footage when they're on board the ship or whatever it is. Maybe it'll be different in 3D, I don't know. It did look better when I saw it before Inglourious Basterds through a projector as opposed to seeing it in HD on my computer screen. Apparently, based on what I've heard from people that I know, the free footage played in IMAX a week and a half ago was pretty impressive. I'm not completely sure if I'll go see it in 2D or 3D. I do know that I'll be there opening weekend, because anything that purports to change the way movies are made should be taken seriously, particularly when it's being attempted by someone of Cameron's considerable talent.

The big blue guys still seemed fake. Who's with me?

---Also, I'm going to consider my review of Inglourious Basterds my contribution to this month's feature: Thoughts on Tarantino. I've tried to think of something new to contribute on the subject, but I put a lot of my thoughts on QT in that article and couldn't really think of something new that would be worth your time.