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Saturday, February 9, 2013

Trade of Innocents (2012)

Image Source: MovieInsider

VERDICT: Despite the sometimes middling road it takes to invoke emotion, Trade of Innocents is made to inform, not to entertain, and should thus be critiqued with this in mind. It has many flaws, but many more subtle truths, poignant symbols, and heartbreaking realities. It's one of those that takes a little while to sink in before you may find yourself shedding tears over the world's injustice.

I'm back! Sorry for the wait. My computer is up and running now.

This week I am reviewing a film that has remained virtually unknown this year due to low budget. But it is very much worth the discussion. I think if I hadn't seen this movie I would have just gone back to my normal review of something mainstream. But I'm changing it up this time. It'll just be quite a bit shorter, because it's a shorter movie and I don't have a whole lot to say about it.

Written and directed by Christopher Bessette, Trade of Innocents tells a story of a married couple, Alex (Dermot Mulroney) and Claire (Mira Sorvino). Broken by the loss of their young daughter and wanting to fix the strain on their marriage, they go to Cambodia to try and rescue girls from the sex slave trade, becoming fixated on one particularly widespread offender (Trieu Tran).

My college was actually screening this movie when I saw it, and Christopher Bessette himself came to our screening (how cool is that, right?). We have to get a certain number of chapel credits throughout each semester and this screening was worth two credits. So of course a few of us went. I plopped down next to one of my girlfriends and the premiere got started.

It's a shocking movie from the start. It's not comfortable to sit through, at all. But it isn't supposed to be. The idea is to disturb you enough about a very real situation to make you feel prompted to do something about it. The first scene where Alex plays rock-paper-scissors with a young girl who automatically reaches to take off her clothes before he stops her plays pretty well on the theme of stolen innocence, and this thread continues throughout the rest of the film.

It is a little strickening to see this young girl start to unbutton her shirt almost immediately.

Image Source: Amazon

The emotional subplot fell a little flat in my opinion, though it had its moments. It was certainly easy to see why both Alex and Claire quest to save these children; they themselves had their daughter kidnapped and killed when she was eight. It was saddening, certainly, and the writing isn't totally mediocre. Bits of light shine through the cracks in its dullness. But you don't have enough characterization to really care about these characters. Then again, they never ask you to. Because again, this movie was made to inform, not entertain.

They tried. Mulroney and Sorvino are decent actors. It's just that you aren't given enough time to care about them.

Image Source: ReleaseMovies

On the informative side, you may be surprised how well this problem has managed to stay hidden in our exposed modern times. The figures presented are startling, and even more disturbing is the fact that they are presented to be entirely truthful. I would list the figures, but it's much more jolting to hear them yourself.

One thing that this movie was good at doing, especially for me and my friend (nameless for privacy's sake), who was sitting next to me, was making us feel revolted at the flagrant pedophilia the movie brings to light. The brutal and vile language used to describe the young virgin girls that the main customer, Adderly, wants for himself is enough to make your skin crawl (describing them as "fresh flowers"). I appreciated how unflinching the movie was in terms of its honesty, because that kept me from completely writing it off for its low-budget look and mediocre emotional subplot.

This scene, as mentioned by the director, actually happened. It's easy to believe that it did, due to the way it makes your skin crawl and blood boil through every sickening minute.

Images Source: IMDb

I waited for about twenty minutes after the Q&A with the director had ended to speak to him. I had to tell him that I appreciated what he had done; the symbolism he used was striking and beautiful and I believe that was part of what disturbed me so much about the movie. My favorite motif was at the very end, when Adderly has not been given the girls he asked for. He packs his things and prepares to leave his hotel room, when he spies the white ribbon on the table that he periodically smells throughout the movie. He hesitates, then goes to the table, grabs it, and then leaves, becoming a lurking shadow.

A young man in the audience at the showing stood up at the Q&A and openly expressed his disappointment that Mr. Bessette had not resolved anything by the end of the movie. As a writer, screenwriter, and film enthusiast, I was a little angered by that comment. So, when I talked to Christopher Bessette, I told him that I flatly disagreed with that comment, that I liked that the issue was unresolved. Because it is unresolved. That kind of open ending leaves the audience wanting to do something about it.

I gushed compliments in his face, utterly impressed and amazed with what God had done through him in this movie and how beautiful and brave the message was to me.

He chuckled. "Well, bless your heart!"

Needless to say, my friend and I were both shaken emotionally by this movie for personal reasons. In the movie, Adderly asserts many times that he wants seven-year-old girls. After the movie was over and I went down to my friend's dorm (because if I didn't talk/cry about what we had just seen then I wouldn't sleep), she looked at me, her eyes rimmed with tears, and said "I was seven." My friend had been sexually assaulted at that age, and although she was never in any sort of sex slave trade, she looked haunted by the reminder of her own traumatic experience. Part of me was thinking about her and the other part of me was thinking about these poor girls in the movie and all over the world. Either way, the movie brought me to tears. And I'm a stone in movies. I rarely cry. It was a weird sort of relief, though, to know that I still could cry at movies. I figured then it must have had some kind of impact that touched me very deeply. Another reason why I can't write off this movie completely.

If nothing else, see this movie for its symbolism and its brutal honesty. Because this movie does something special despite its mediocrity; it values its message more than its image.

GRADE: B

RATING: N/A

Trade of Innocents (Trailer)

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Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Hiatus

Sorry, everybody, I have reviews ready for when my computer is back up and running. My charger's busted so I have to wait until this weekend before I can publish anything. Thank you for your patience.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

The Descendants (2011)

Image Source: Starometer

VERDICT: Painfully funny and poignantly moving, The Descendants is a quiet and tropical work of art, with George Clooney never failing in character.

So this is a new little series I'm going to start here on this blog. Every so often, I'm going to review a movie that deserves to be rented/bought/watched illegally (kidding!) if the theater's output is unsatisfying or inconvenient. No one sees every movie that comes out every year, right? But there are so, so many that deserve your time and attention. Thus, this little series of mine is born.

Directed and written by Oscar winner Alexander Payne, The Descendants takes us into the life of indifferent businessman Matt King (George Clooney), whose life is turned upside down in every way after his wife suffers a boating accident. While dealing with the knowledge that his wife's coma is permanent and that she was having an affair before her accident, he also tries to figure out how he's going to raise his two daughters: Alexandra (Shailene Woodley), a foul-mouthed, brutally honest seventeen-year-old, and Scottie (Amara Miller), a rowdy yet naive ten-year-old whose innocence is in danger of being shattered with the truth. On top of everything, Matt has to make a decision about their descendants' land: whether he will decide to keep and preserve it, or sell it to some hopeful buyers and allow himself and the rest of his numerous family members to reap the financial benefits.

OTHER CAST MEMBERS: Nick Krause, Patricia Hastie, Beau Bridges

I scan Rotten Tomatoes pretty regularly for recommendations on what movies they think I would like based on the movie preferences I have expressed on their website. The Descendants was one I came across in this way. I hadn't heard very much about it; I didn't follow awards shows for 2011/2012 nearly as much as I've been this year. It wasn't a huge winner but it was a decent-sized nominee at the Oscars and the Golden Globes. So, I figured, it can't be that bad.

You might find yourself deeply moved by The Descendants.

Most of the plot is the stuff soap operas usually tend to derive from, except Alexander Payne chooses to tackle the situations with honesty and grace. We've all seen the "somebody's in the hospital" type of story where everyone's life falls apart while that someone is in the hospital and then they magically become closer after that death or whatever happens and then bittersweet ending and then credits. And I'm not saying that kind of thing doesn't happen every day. It sure does. But what I admire about Payne's work here is that he takes the soapy stuff out of it and gives it the weight and eloquence it deserves. He rather brilliantly captures the emotions surrounding a dying loved one without passing them off as a saint. When someone is dying, we don't want to look at them in a negative way. We don't want to feel like their life was a waste or a shame. Death is the point in which all humans are equal, so admitting that the dying person has faults feels like we are bashing on humanity as they die. And that feels uncomfortable and disrespectful. Mrs. Elizabeth King was far from saintly, as we learn throughout the story, and we watch as Matt and Alexandra struggle with that harsh truth. And at no point does Payne assert what we should believe about any one of these people. He does not condescend to his audience. He tells it like it is. That kind of honesty really resonates with people, I think, which is one of the reasons this film can be identified as moving. It felt much more realistic, and thus touched on levels that we do connect with deep down, whether or not we'd like to admit it.

I knew George Clooney would be amazing. That's a given. He's George freakin' Clooney. But Shailene Woodley has literally come out of nowhere in recent years and she rocked this role. Kudos.

Image Source: The Moving Arts

It 's definitely a sad movie, given the subject matter, but it isn't a giant sobfest. There's a theme of poignant, albeit painful, humor that is present through most of the film. It keeps your attention because it's clever humor that doesn't resort to vulgarity (despite colorful language here and there), and that feels more respectful towards the audience. It is to the credit of all great filmmakers when things can be funny without also being disgusting. That says to the audience that they can handle smarter humor.
What I also loved was the unique dynamic between Matt and Alexandra. It reminds me of my relationship with my own father (except I am much less foul-mouthed), in that we are also friends as well as family. At several points in the journey do they connect, a lot of times over their frustration and anger with Elizabeth and their mutual want to protect Scottie's innocence for as long as they can before they have to tell her that her mother is going to die. They both carry on their secret operation of finding the man Elizabeth had an affair with before her accident behind the backs of everyone in their family, including Scottie. At any given point in time Matt and Alexandra have a huge weight on their shoulders. But they carry it because it is important.

Another painfully funny scene here - these two play off each other extremely well.

Image Source: The Movie Waffler

The supporting cast only adds to the chaos that poor Matt has to handle; Elizabeth's father, who refused to see Elizabeth as anything else but a perfect girl who deserved more in her life. It pains you a little to hear his tirades at Matt about how she was "a faithful and devoted wife," especially when you know now that this is far from the truth. Alexander Payne captures the concept of lying for the sake of painful truth in a way that really moved me; when Elizabeth's father says Elizabeth deserved better, Matt says quietly "You're right, she deserved better." You can tell that the real story is fighting to burst from him, but for the sake of Elizabeth's father already hurting a lot, he can't bring himself to make it worse. So then when Alexandra and her friend Sid (a pretty minor comic relief character, for the most part) jump up and defend Matt, you feel a sense of satisfaction, because you care about Matt so much by this point that you kind of hate Elizabeth's father for relentlessly ragging on him about everything he is doing wrong.

Which brings me to Matt's character. It's really to George Clooney's credit that this character was pulled off so well. All of the acting in this movie was spectacular, but Clooney really steals the show. I expect he's somewhat used to doing this by now, but I was continually impressed by how much he was able to make me feel just in his facial expressions and voice. And honestly, you so believe the character. He is doing the best he can under an entire world of weight on his shoulders. A feeling that I'm sure many adults can relate to.

But seriously, George Clooney.

Image Source: Tumblr

If you are curious about a good drama film to rent/buy/watch illegally (again, kidding), then I highly recommend this one. Watch it when you're in a mellow mood, for sure. But do watch it.

RATING: R for language including some sexual references

GRADE: A

AWARDS

Since it's getting really tedious to copy down every award all of my reviewed films are honored for, I will provide a link so you can look for yourself. I would continue to type them all out myself, but I am in college and have limited time. Thank you for your patience.

The Descendants (Trailer)

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Tuesday, January 15, 2013

The Hunger Games (2012)

VERDICT: It has some phenomenal acting, particularly from Jennifer Lawrence, and the visuals are stunning. The emotional core that is so essential to include in these films was not only there, but rather beautifully and painfully so. It is and will always be one of the best book-to-movie adaptations I have ever seen.

I am starting a new semester here at college, and I have had nary a minute or two to sit down and write another review (as my father correctly predicted) since I already have a crap ton of reading to do. So today, while I had a little time to myself, I thought I'd go ahead and post another one in honor of Jennifer Lawrence winning her very first Golden Globe earlier this week.

Directed by Gary Ross and written in part by him, Suzanne Collins, and Billy Ray, The Hunger Games is set in a post-apocalyptic North America now called Panem, in which Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers to take her sister Primrose's (Willow Shields) place in what is called the Hunger Games, a deadly reality show in which twenty-four kids between the ages of twelve and eighteen are chosen from each of the twelve districts (one boy and girl from each) to fight to the death in a televised and highly manipulated arena. This is a control tactic used by the Capitol, the central ruling force of Panem, headed by President Snow (Donald Sutherland) in order to keep the districts under their power. But when fiery Katniss enters the scene, along with Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), a boy who has loved her from afar, and their mentor, Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson), sparks begin to fly. If Katniss ever hopes to get home, she must make difficult choices that pit survival against humanity and life against love.

OTHER CAST MEMBERS: Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Paula Malcomson, Stanley Tucci, Wes Bentley, Toby Jones, Lenny Kravitz, Amandla Stenberg, Alexander Ludwig, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jackie Emerson, Dayo Okeniyi, Leven Rambin, Jack Quaid.

I was only just starting to hear about this movie in January 2012, only two months before it came out. I hadn't read the books because I was afraid it was going to be another Twilight saga: poorly written, flat characters, the huge bandwagon of mindless fans, the whole awful shebang. And I never do anything where I am jumping on a bandwagon. I either like it or I don't. But after I watched the trailer, I couldn't deny my interest any longer. So I sat down and opened up The Hunger Games and was finished in six hours. I couldn't put it down. It made my heart pound. There has not been a book to do that since the Harry Potter series. So naturally, I hastened to get ahold of the other two books. I finished Catching Fire the next day, only setting it down to go to work and then returning from work later that night, sitting right back down, picking up my book, and continuing to read it. I was completely hooked. Mockingjay took a while for me to get, only because someone as hungry for these books as I was already had it. After a few days, Mockingjay found its way into my hands, and I finished the series in roughly three days (give or take the day or two I waited for Mockingjay). I was blown away; I couldn't believe how wrong I'd been about these books.
So then, I became a fan, and eagerly awaited the movie's release.

The Hunger Games is one of the best book-to-movie adaptations I have ever seen.

Initially some people have been understandably shocked about the film's positive response. "It's about kids killing kids, why would you want to watch something like that?" But like most people, these naysayers didn't bother to look under the surface of the film to the moral message it gives; you by no means are supposed to agree with the idea of kids killing the crap out of each other on TV. It's supposed to startle you, because you may have looked even deeper and realized that our society gets its entertainment sources from things very much like that; exploiting and ruining people for the sake of a joke or a story. The Hunger Games does not point a finger at its audience, though -- it merely puts its characters in that kind of situation bumped up to the extreme (physical disregard for human life rather than emotional, though both are equally terrible) to send the message of how many lives and people we destroy in that process. Maybe open our eyes a little. The film does this rather beautifully, examining the raw emotions of the characters that must endure such things.
Which brings us to our main protagonist, Katniss Everdeen. Her mother has been grief-stricken into inaction to take care of her two daughters, in which case Katniss does what any firstborn child would do and assumes parent responsibility over her little sister, Prim. This was something I related to my own life, since my parents' divorce I have felt like I've had to be a third parent to my sisters at times. I, of course, have it nowhere near as terrible as Katniss does. I thank God for that.
The thing that draws people to Katniss, I think, is that she is very much an unlikely hero figure. She is put in a position to be heroic and she never once wanted to be. And Katniss is not one of the most likable characters you'll ever come across. She's abrasive, selfish, cold, stubborn, and manipulative. In real life, I don't think I'd have liked her much at all upon first impression. But this is Katniss' shell to protect herself, because inside that shell is a fiercely loving and strong young woman. The movie, from beginning to end, does well to demonstrate this. In one scene, Katniss is out hunting, about to try and shoot down a full-grown buck for food. A few scenes later has her volunteering to take Prim's place in the Hunger Games, a scene that brought tears to my eyes; if it were my sister I would have done exactly the same. But the morally disturbing thing that the movie is trying to express is that things like that shouldn't have to happen, which is why it is so heartwrenching to watch Prim and Katniss being pried away from each other.

All characters need something that forces them to quest. For Katniss, it is Prim.

Before this film, there was much discussion as to what kind of film it needed to be, and as a fan, I was worried that the general consensus would not capture the message that is so essential to the entire thing. This film could have easily become an action movie, devoid of all of the emotional components of the book and instead glorifying all of the brutal violence and forced romance that goes on.

That said, the movie's writers really hit the nail on the head with this film. It was exactly how I'd pictured it from the book. It probably helped that Suzanne Collins helped write the script, but so much more of the message could have been lost beyond the writing. Gary Ross made sure that the message stayed in as much as he could. And it worked. It really worked.
Going back to the parallelism between our society's idea of entertainment and the Hunger Games themselves, it might interest some to know that the Games don't actually begin until a little more than halfway through the film. It spends the first half spiffing up its tributes; dressing them up in pretty clothes, painting them up with makeup, and displaying them like trophies for their entire society to look at and admire despite the irony that they are sending these same celebrities to their televised deaths. I thought this worked very well to emphasize the pedestals we as a society put our own celebrities on. We glamorize and gloss the entire affair, so that it seems much more glorious than it actually is. There might be interviews and odds to bet on and evaluations and so forth, but in the end, there is nothing very glorious about going into an arena and either being brutally murdered within the first ten minutes or spend days trying to avoid the same fate. In the end, they are just children that are delivered to a society that wishes to keep its citizens stupid and scared. They become pawns. Numbers. And that is a big part of where Katniss' conflict with the Capitol resides, especially when she loses Rue, a young tribute who reminded her of her little sister. Which (SPOILER ALERT) is massive foreshadowing for the last book, even if the audience doesn't know it yet.

At least three people were sobbing in the theater when Rue died, and this occurred all five times I saw the movie.

I will diverge slightly here to talk about the acting, because it was phenomenal. This film was brilliantly cast. Since most of the main cast were kids and the majority of them newcomers, it was smart of the casting directors to ground the film with seasoned actors, so the novices didn't have the weight of the entire film on their shoulders. And the veteran actors did their job well; Stanley Tucci was a very winning Caesar and Donald Sutherland was a sufficiently scary President Snow. Elizabeth Banks was as silly and ditzy as I had imagined Effie to be. Woody Harrelson was something of a perfect Haymitch. Downgrade a little and there's Josh Hutcherson, who was great as Peeta and better in said role than most others he has played. Liam Hemsworth, who is more of a newcomer, impressed me with his nuance

But of course, this film would have suffered greatly without the star work of Jennifer Lawrence.

Yes, I am rather biased because I am a huge fan of hers. But when I look at her acting as objectively as I can, I am still amazed. She carries the entire film, and sometimes without even saying a word. What she can say with her eyes pulls the audience in. She has such power and such emotion in this role, and she embodies Katniss to the letter. She got a People's Choice Award and a Critic's Choice Award for this role, and very rightfully so. If this movie had managed to squeeze into Oscar favor, if it were not for all of the other fantastic movies that have been released this year, Jennifer probably should have gotten some kind of Oscar nod for this role. Although I guess it wouldn't be possible for Jennifer to get two Oscar nominations in one year. :)

Katniss isn't necessarily likable, but that's kind of why you like her anyway. She's a strong woman character who isn't twig-skinny but healthy-looking, and it's incredibly refreshing to see both of those things in a film. She's got a lot of fire in her, and that fire is fueled by love and by strength.

This scene particularly is great; Jennifer correctly portrays Katniss' love and strength, as well as the weariness in her eyes.

Another comforting thing about Katniss' character is that despite being in an inevitable love triangle, that doesn't become the focus of Katniss' quest. She doesn't have any time for boys; she has a family to protect and a Hunger Games to win. The movie very much tries to emphasize this, and according to the book, it does a pretty decent job. Katniss hasn't figured out how she feels about Peeta or Gale, and it's barely ever at the top of her list of things to think about. When she and Peeta are forced to pretend being in love (although it's clear Peeta never pretends) so they will get sponsors, she still doesn't know what to feel about it. In the book, Katniss asserts many times that she hates to owe other people. She owes Peeta her life and her family's life. She is so confused because she does perhaps feel something for him, but then she remembers Gale and feels guilty for leading both of them on.

Some critics have mentioned the underdevelopment of Katniss and Peeta's relationship as the worst part about the film, but as someone who's read the book, I can say that the romance is supposed to be underdeveloped, because Katniss does not make boys the center of her life (a virtue that young girls of today should examine closely). The kiss between them was so Katniss would get Peeta medicine or food or anything that would keep him from dying. They sleep closely together to get sponsors. In the midst of that is when Katniss thinks she might feel something for Peeta. It is difficult to express that kind of inner turmoil on a screen, but the actors and director did the absolute best they could with that. Towards the end of the film I believe the filmmakers tried to assert that Katniss was working Peeta as an angle to get them both through the Games, but unless you'd read the book it might have been difficult to figure that out. In any case, you love Peeta so much by then that you sort of hate Katniss for a few scenes. But it's only the first film. Katniss and Peeta have three more movies to develop their relationship, so there is no rush.

Though there really should have been more here if we were to think they were actually going to die.

Now this film did have its flaws. No film is ever perfect, and there were certain things that I didn't particularly like about it. For one, the camera work. I understand Gary Ross wanting to use it so the violence was horrible enough without being gratuitous. It worked more or less for that purpose. But the camera waving around while Katniss is walking to the forest wasn't particularly necessary, and it was making my head spin to the point where I would go "Thank goodness, a still frame," every time one appeared. It does work to put you in the moment of the film, one of those "feels like you're there" kind of things, and I'm not saying it didn't succeed there. It just didn't always succeed, period.

Most of the other little things I had an issue with resided in me wanting every single aspect of the book to come to life because I am a nerd that way. That's purely opinion. But then, this post is just that.

I would definitely recommend this movie if you want your heart to pound and break and hope all at the same time. It's not the best movie of the year, but it is pretty far from the worst one and one of my favorite movies ever. And as far as book adaptations go, it did the best job it could with its source material.

All images courtesy of Tumblr.

GRADE: A-

RATING: PG-13 for intense violent thematic material and disturbing images - all involving teens

AWARDS

The Hunger Games (Trailer)

MORE IMFORMATION

Thursday, January 10, 2013

2013 Academy Award Nominees

So to make up for not posting in a little bit, I am going to post the Oscar nominations for 2013.

In bold are the ones from the major categories I believe have a good fighting chance at the title.

2013 ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEES

BEST PICTURE
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

BEST ACTOR

Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)
Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)
Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)
Denzel Washington (Flight)

BEST ACTRESS
Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)
Naomi Watts (The Impossible)
Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin (Argo)
Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)
Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)
Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams (The Master)
Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
Helen Hunt (The Sessions)
Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook)
Sally Field (Lincoln)

BEST DIRECTOR
Michael Haneke for Amour
Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild
Ang Lee for Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg for Lincoln
David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook

BEST WRITING - ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Michael Haneke for Amour
Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained
John Gatins for Flight
Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola for Moonrise Kingdom
Mark Boal for Zero Dark Thirty

BEST FOREIGN FILM

Amour
Kon-Tiki
No
A Royal Affair
War Witch

BEST DOCUMENTARY - FEATURE

Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi for 5 Broken Cameras
Nominees to be determined for The Gatekeepers
Nominees to be determined for How to Survive a Plague
Nominees to be determined for Searching for Sugar Man
Nominees to be determined for The Invisible War

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman for Brave
Tim Burton for Frankenweenie
Sam Fell and Chris Butler for ParaNorman
Peter Lord for The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Rich Moore for Wreck-It Ralph

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Seamus McGarvey for Anna Karenina
Robert Richardson for Django Unchained
Claudio Miranda for Life of Pi
Janusz Kaminski for Lincoln
Roger Deakins for Skyfall

BEST FILM EDITING
William Goldenberg for Argo
Michael Kahn for Lincoln
Tim Squyres for Life of Pi
Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers for Silver Linings Playbook
Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg for Zero Dark Thirty

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Dario Marianelli for Anna Karenina
Alexandre Desplat for Argo
Mychael Danna for Life of Pi
John Williams for Lincoln
Thomas Newman for Skyfall

BEST MUSIC - ORIGINAL SONG

"Suddenly" from Les Miserables
"Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from Ted
"Pi's Lullaby" from Life of Pi
"Before My Time" from Chasing Ice
"Skyfall" from Skyfall

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Sarah Greenwood (Production Design); Katie Spencer (Set Decoration) for Anna Karenina
Eve Stewart (Production Design); Anna Lynch-Robinson (Set Decoration) for Les Misérables
David Gropman (Production Design); Anna Pinnock (Set Decoration) for Life of Pi
Rick Carter (Production Design); Jim Erickson (Set Decoration) for Lincoln
Dan Hennah (Production Design); Ra Vincent and Simon Bright (Set Decoration) for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Jacqueline Durran for Anna Karenina
Eiko Ishioka for Mirror Mirror
Paco Delgado for Les Misérables
Joanna Johnston for Lincoln
Colleen Atwood for Snow White and the Huntsman

BEST SOUND EDITING

Wylie Stateman for Django Unchained
Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn for Argo
Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton for Zero Dark Thirty
Paul N.J. Ottosson for Life of Pi
Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers for Skyfall

BEST SOUND MIXING

John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Jose Antonio Garcia for Argo
Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Ronald Judkins for Lincoln
Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes for Les Misérables
Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill and Drew Kunin for Life of Pi
Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell and Stuart Wilson for Skyfall

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson for Snow White and the Huntsman
Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott for Life of Pi
Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick for Marvel Avengers Assemble
Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill for Prometheus

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Martin Samuel for Hitchcock
Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell for Les Misérables

BEST SHORT FILM - LIVE ACTION

Asad
Buzkashi Boys
Curfew
Death of a Shadow
Henry

BEST SHORT FILM - ANIMATED

Adam and Dog
Fresh Guacamole
Head Over Heels
Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare"

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Inocente
Kings Point
Mondays at Racine
Open Heart
Redemption

SOURCE: Rotten Tomatoes

Friday, January 4, 2013

so here's how I've decided this is going to work.

Since college starts back up for me on January 9th, I'm going to be forced to limit my movie reviews to once a week. It'll allow me more time to devote to my studies. I'll stick to fairly recent movies, but I'm also going to review movies I've recently just seen, movies that are probably dated a couple of years. My blog will be half recommendation of what movies you should go see at the theater, and half recommendation of what movies would be great to rent/buy on a night when you are looking for something to watch.

Whoever takes the time to read my blog, my sincerest thanks to you. I appreciate anyone who believes my opinions are worth something, and I would like to emphasize that yours are just as valuable as mine.

May God bless you and yours.

Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Image Source: KeepItClassic

VERDICT: Silver Linings Playbook is a heartfelt, hilarious, high anxiety, and ultimately redemptive film that expressed mental illness more honestly than I've ever seen it displayed in cinema. Jennifer Lawrence is a powerhouse; she and Bradley Cooper dominate and electrify the screen. The supporting cast only strengthened the intrigue. Such talent, combined with the story's heart, caused me to leave the theater grinning a mile wide all the way into next week.

I have got to get my sleep schedule back on track. I restart my college classes soon, I need to be awake for my nine-o-clock Christian Trad. class. Yes, I am taking Bible classes, because yes, I am studying for an undergrad degree in pastoral ministry. My master's degree will be counseling. I am going to write and be a counselor at the same time. Just a small tidbit about myself. :) To confirm, I am a Christian who watches non-Christian movies for their stories and I am not bothered by language or anything. I never understand when Christians limit themselves like that, because there are so many beautiful things that people have created that deserve exploring. Just because it doesn't have a Jesus label on it doesn't mean it's necessarily bad.
I understand that there are certain things I shouldn't expose myself to as a Christian, and I do limit myself moderately, but I also understand that I need to know how things really are in life and work with that. If I dwell on how things should be rather than how they are, I will always be miserable.

Silver Linings Playbook first began as a best-selling book by Matthew Quick, then was adapted for the big screen and directed by David O. Russell. Following an eight month stint in a mental institution for beating up his (now ex) wife's lover, Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) is set on getting in shape, finding silver linings (hence the title), dealing with being bipolar, and reuniting with his estranged ex-wife, Nikki (Brea Bee), despite the restraining order she placed against him. In his household lives Pat Sr. (Robert De Niro), a severely superstitious and OCD Eagles fan, and Delores (Jacki Weaver), the supposedly sanest one in their family, who holds the entire dysfunctional household together. One day while Pat is out running and wearing a garbage bag ("to sweat"), his friend Ronnie (John Ortiz) invites him to dinner per his wife Veronica (Julia Stiles). Pat agrees, and this is where he meets (and has a rather intense initial staredown with) Veronica's younger sister Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence). Tiffany's got her own issues to deal with; her husband died recently (a fact Pat never fails to remind her of) and she battles depression. Together they form a rather explosive but obvious chemistry. Tiffany offers to contact Pat's ex-wife illegally for him if he participates in a dance contest with her. The rest, as they say, is history.

OTHER CAST MEMBERS: Chris Tucker, Anupam Kher, Shea Whigham, Paul Herman, Dash Mihok, Matthew Russell, Cheryl Williams, Patrick McDade

I had been holding off on writing a review of one of my all-time favorite actress' movies because I was afraid I would just gush over her, like I always do. I love Jennifer Lawrence. I think she's an amazing actress and she seems like a sweet and genuine person. Okay, I got it out of the way. For now. There will be more later.
Anyway, I heard about this movie because of her, and since I am a dedicated fangirl, I eagerly awaited the film's release. The limited release thing was frustrating, but once I finally managed to get to a theater, I saw the movie. And I enjoyed it so much, I saw it two more times.

Silver Linings Playbook is nothing like you might have expected.

It's about mental illness, which the trailers decided to leave out, probably due to the fact that it's a subject that Hollywood never really seems to know how to deal with. From the outside, it just looks like another one of those predictable and stupid little rom-coms with two down-on-their-luck people falling in love and living happily ever after and having babies and all that jazz. In Silver Linings, thankfully, none of this takes place.
This movie is about two very screwed up and hurting people falling in love while actively avoiding their feelings for each other and being as intimate as possible through all of the explosive conversations they have. It could be categorized as a romantic comedy except for two-thirds of the movie is actually rather dramatic. David O. Russell does something really wonderful here; mental illness isn't made out to be a fun little gimmick or a complete downer to the story. It is a very honest look at how mental illness affects its victims, as well as suggesting that we all have at least a little bit of crazy inside us. In this way, it sort of defies categorization.
It is really to Bradley Cooper's credit that he managed to play this character so well. Pat's bipolarity might seem like it's trying to be passed off as a comic moment (I always got uncomfortable when people were laughing during those parts), but for people who understand the nature of bipolar disorder, it's actually poignantly humorous. It's the same when it comes to Pat's delusions; you know that Nikki has completely deserted him. You know she's never coming back. Yet he tells everyone, time and time again, that he and Nikki will find their way back to each other and that they are very much in love. The most heartbreaking part of it is that Pat is a sweet character, and it's painful to watch him so hopeful in his terminal goals. Tiffany is a different case entirely, and I am not surprised that Jennifer Lawrence has been nominated or won going on ten awards for this role. Tiffany is unrestrained, volatile, feisty, foul-mouthed. Yet underneath all that is a very sensitive young woman who is just looking for some kind of stability. She loves Pat and you know it, but she challenges everything he believes and is always pushing every single one of his buttons. And it isn't made out to be all cute, like "aw, she pushes all his buttons, how adorable." Tiffany is borderline cruel in how she calls Pat out on his hypocrisy and lack of a filter. Coincidentally, Pat kind of does the same thing to Tiffany, if in a completely different way.

B-Coop and J-Law have electric chemistry, and as a result they are playing a married couple in a movie called The Falling, coming out later this year. "We'll have the divorce movie coming out afterward," joked Lawrence in an interview.

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It's a very high anxiety film. One minute two people will be talking normally, then one of them will say something tactless and everything that can go wrong does. And that doesn't just happen between Pat and Tiffany, though the majority of the explosive conversations do take place between these two. From their second encounter (he calls her a big slut) to the scene at the diner (it begins with Tiffany offering to get Nikki a letter from Pat and quickly progresses to Tiffany pushing everything off of their table, screaming obscenities and showing Pat her middle fingers through the window as she is leaving), and then to a surprisingly warm scene on the tail end of their diner fiasco (in which Tiffany stands there with him and calms him down before she apologizes for losing it), these two have very vehement chemistry. Right behind them are the interactions between Pat and his parents; waking them up to rant about Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms is definitely comic, whether or not it was necessarily meant to be, but waking them up to find his wedding video (and freaking out because they never find it) is anything but comic a few minutes in. It goes from Pat talking fast and searching feverishly to all three of them yelling, Pat getting beat up by his father, and a police officer coming into their house to stop the source of the commotion.

Props to the Academy for nominating them both, because they truly deserve it.

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The supporting cast have their own quirks; Ronnie feels suffocated by his job, his newborn baby daughter, and his icy wife Veronica, who seems to always need to control every aspect of her husband's life as well as her own. Pat's friend Danny (aka "Holy crap! Chris Tucker can act! Who would have guessed?") has ADD, anxiety, and was institutionalized for combining meth and alcohol. In short, they all collide and bounce off of each other's energy like pinballs in a life machine. In a particularly crazy scene, Pat faces Pat Sr. and his wrath when the Eagles lose and he loses a lot of money, only for Tiffany to arrive in the middle of his tirade and scream in Pat's face about him missing dance practice. And when Pat Sr. starts talking about how Pat hanging out with "that Tiffany Maxwell" has ruined the Eagles' chances, Tiffany turns right around and names every single time she and Pat were together as another victory for the Eagles, listing off teams and scores like she has studied ESPN. Pat Sr. quickly changes his mind about Tiffany, which is only a springboard into another ridiculous bet that Pat Sr. agrees to, betting double or nothing on the big game and making it into a parlay by also betting that Pat and Tiffany can get at least a five in their dance contest.

Props to Matthew Quick for creating two characters that need patience and forgiveness, and props to David O. Russell for not losing that on the way to the book adaptation like a lot of other book adaptations seem to do.

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It sounds, at this point, as if the film is about to lapse into formulaic romantic comedy, but thankfully it doesn't become boring or stupid in doing so. Because by this point, you want these characters to win. You love them so much because of how endearingly human they are, how much they have gone through, how much you might identify with them. But of course, it isn't all peaches and gravy. This movie is consistent with its instability, if that makes any sense. Everything that can go wrong does. Nikki shows up. Tiffany freaks out. Ronnie and Veronica try to calm her down by telling her that Pat has said no one should ever throw a marriage down the drain. Tiffany goes and drinks, ready to fall back into the way in which she deals with her pain by hitting on a guy while knocking back two vodkas. She insults Pat to his face. And then they go out onto the floor and dance. And you still don't know how Pat feels about Nikki being there. His facial expression is unreadable. There's a lot riding on this dance, and you feel it. But you also are completely in love with the both of them as they perform their dance, which is far from perfect (it is particularly hilarious to see Bradley Cooper's face in Jennifer Lawrence's crotch as a result of the lift they had been trying to perfect, mostly because of how sexual and non-sexual it is at the same time). The honesty feels so much less condescending to the audience, and you love them even more for that. And when they score an exact 5.0 (okay Hollywood, we know you had some input on that one), it feels completely deserved.

Apparently Bradley Cooper is "a natural" when it comes to dancing, while apparently Jennifer Lawrence "dances like a baby deer." To be fair, it completely worked that neither of them were true experts. It just made you love them more.

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I identified with this movie in a lot of ways; the dysfunctional family, the whole thing about meds, the struggle with trying to be normal when everything in your body and brain chemistry strongly encourages you to be otherwise. It's uncomfortably honest, absolutely it is. But it's also hopeful. The happy ending Pat and Tiffany get feels like they have earned it, and they both love each other so very much and are willing to love each other's flaws too. And the difference between this and standard rom-coms is that their flaws are real and ugly and need to be accepted, by themselves and by each other. When Pat tells Tiffany he loves her, tears roll down her cheeks, and their kiss is intense and passionate and real. A few other people have said that the ending is rounded off a little too neatly, which does have a grain of truth in it, but as someone who battles mental illness herself, I have every reason to believe that Tiffany sitting on Pat's lap as they smile and touch noses and kiss and cuddle would happen in real life. You would be amazed how much mental healing can come from being loved. I have yet to find my Pat, but this movie gave me a lot of hope that I would.

That might sound like a weird statement for me to make. You want to find some guy who's bipolar and delusional? No, that isn't my point. I have learned from my own experience that your illnesses or even just your flaws do not have to define who you are. And sooner or later, you'll find that person who will accept you for better or worse. My hope is that I find a guy one day who knows that I am sweet and smart and funny but also knows that some days I have trouble getting out of bed due to the heaviness that sets into my bones on my bad days. And he will be okay with that because he loves me. I watched that kind of thing happen in this movie, and for the three times I saw it I always felt my spirits lift. I know it's a movie, but darn it if the actors don't make it seem completely real.

This movie is fantastic. Please go see it if you can. It is about forgiveness, love, but ultimately acceptance, and it is one of the best movies I have seen this year, as well as a refreshing entry into the rom-com genre.

RATING: R for language and sexual content/nudity

GRADE: A

AWARDS

Silver Linings Playbook (Trailer)

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