OSCAR Predictions

HE STILL SCARES ME!










You Heard It Here First

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Actor in a Leading Role: Sean Penn: Milk

Actor in a Supporting Role: Heath Ledger: The Dark Knight

Actress in a Leading Role: Kate Winslett: The Reader

Actress in a Supporting Role: Penelope Cruz: Vicky Christina Barcelona

But why the Oscars? And why is the show always so shitty? WHy have I historically had to fall asleep before Best Picture? Shouldn’t people who are putting on a show about the movies that entertained us do a better job of entertaining us?
I have not watched it in years. Does Tom Hanks still host?

My selections above were based on my limited viewing of the nominees and the little buzz I have heard. The Dark Knight should have at least been nominated for Best Picture.

This was posted at 3:45 CST the day of the Oscars. I will make a typical 60% on my choices above, That is a Diner Review Guaranty.

"I Want My Phone Call"

RETURN OF THE DARK KNIGHT!








I am not a movie guy. Do not get me wrong. I love movies. There are movies I like to see over and over again. I like to tell people that all of life’s important lessons can be learned by watching The Godfather I and II very closely... and taking notes. So I see a lot of movies, especially on cable channels, sometimes years after they come out but i like movies, I just do not know shit about them. I understand enough to be pretentious about books and popular music (how limited is that in my quest to be a renaissance man?) but movies I cannot really hold up my end of a snotty conversation.


Soooo.... I snuck out of work the other day (DO NOT TELL MY PARTNERS) and saw “Batman, Return of The Dark Knight”. Now to be clear I have NEVER been a Batman fan. The TV series was an intentional bad joke and as gay as a picnic basket. The movies (and I have never even seen “Batman Begins” have been from my perspective awful. All of them. No matter who was playing Batman. Even the much revered comic book left me cold during my comics obsession phase (roughly 1974-1982 ending directly before my marriage) batman and indeed all of DC Comics left me cold. I was a Marvel Comics fan liking the brooding Thor, Silver Surfer and Conan The Barbarian. These were heroes with SERIOUS personality problems confused not only by the world as they new it but also by their own weaknesses. DC’s characters, at least their main ones, Superman and Batman were vacuous and gave me nothing.

Only later did I discover Will Eisners earlier Detective Comics versions of Batman. What a twisted guy he was, full of angst and rage and human weakness. Frank Miller took over the comic series at one point and there is a great discussion of the importance of “The Dark Knight” at:

http://www.sequart.com/articles/index.php?article=780

The Dark Knight franchise seems to bring that all home, at least in the newest movie. And lets get down to it. WHAT A MOVIE! This is the bets movie of the year and Heath Ledger will either win for Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor (how about both), whichever he gets nominated for. He is awesome. It is a tour de force of talent. I always like heath Ledger. My homophobia kept me out of Brokeback Mountain but that was supposed to be awesome but to be honest, he had me at “10 things I Hate About You”. He was just an incredibly gifted guy but this...

This “Joker” puts to shame every other incantation. I mean Caesar Romero was joke in the series but the whole series was a joke. You would have expected a more nuanced performance by Jack Nicholson but... nothing. But Ledger... ledger is a truly frightening, amoral, soul-less, frightening beast. He IS the Joker. Watching him you think the same thing in every scene which is OH SHIT he is here again! His performance, right from the start of the movie would be enough but the rest of the film is pretty excellent as well. Christian Baal (who allegedly beat up his wife and sister last night in London) is a little heavy with his scowling, tight lipped lines. Some of them are very hard to take but in almost every other way the movie is awesome. If I am going to be a jerk I also have to say that Maggie Gyllenhaal is not nearly hot enough to play the leading woman but Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent (and later an unneeded “Two Face”), Michael Caine as Alfred and Morgan Freeman as Lucien Fox make an impressively talented cast for a movie you would expect to be a special effect throw away. Even Gary Oldman, a great actor and a survivor from an earlier Batman movie gives us a great Comissioner Gordon. For an interesting discussion on who is a bigger problem, The Joker or Voldemort see:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hoSCGb5fJRs

Lets be clear. the special effects are awesome. The chase scenes, the explosions (so many explosions) and every other effect are awesome. The movie is lovingly filmed and there is always something happening in the background. The plot is solid though it extends too long and adds some unneeded twists BUT, I come here not to bury the Dark Knight but to praise it.
best Movie of the year and Ledger is best actor of the year. Scary and believable but even more the movie, and his Joker, along with batman, Harvey Dent, Commissioner Gordon and all the rest (including Alfred) are always asking some very dark questions about what we are willing to sacrifice.... what trade offs are we willing to rationalize so we can wake up in the morning? And these questions are not just for us and the characters but for all of society. Really troubling questions about what we are willing to risk. What are we willing to lose... and how fickle all of us are in our thought process and yet how predictable we all act when the violence and/or the spotlight is turned on...US. And they return to that theme, over and over again and they do it really well.

Highlights:

1. The Joker in prison... “I want my phone call” should be the new catch phrase.
2. The Ferry Thing
3. The opening bank robbery all the dead Jokers.
4.Harvey Dent's Fundraiser... "You remind me of my father..."
5. Every crackling moment Ledger is on camera.

I mean seriously... who cares about the Joker. I went to see this because i thought it would be a smile. I do not like Batman. I do not like the Joker but this movie and this performance make it an easy call for best Movie and best Actor. You heard it here first. “Word” says the Diner Review.

9.9 Slingers on a 10 scale.

The Oscars

Michael Clayton and
No Country For Old Men
Juno

Sooooo... it is almost Oscar time. I think. Or at least Screen Actors Guild or Golden Globes or some-such. Normally I cannot be expected to pay attention to these things since my taste is... well... so much better then everyone else's. But this year... with the actors strike...why not?
So I went to see three of the movies that have received a lot of nominations. In fact they re-released “Michael Clayton” just for the nominations. I saw that one along with “Juno” and “No Country For Old Men”. Here are the best picture nominations for Best Picture: ''Atonement,'' ''Juno,'' ''Michael Clayton,'' ''No Country for Old Men,'' ''There Will Be Blood.'' I did not see “Atonement” or “There Will Be Blood” but I got the other three. All three were good but some thoughts:

“Juno” is just squeamish fun. Ellen Page kills as the too smart, too cool, too nice daughter that all of us are grateful that we do not have. Go see “Juno” but do not go to see it with your 15 year old daughter and one of her friends whose parents are somewhat circumspect about what movies their daughter goes to see. When the movie begins with Juno saying “It all begins in the chair”... pans to a picture of the chair sitting on the lawn and then flashes back to her mounting the dorky boy it is... well... awkward. Anyway, they march you through it and you do not see the not so happy ending that approaches but it is one of those movies that helps add perspective to life.

“No Country For Old Men” is deeply disturbing and forgetting about the devastatingly devastating performance Javier Bardem it is a tour de force of darkness. The adaptation of Cormac Mc Carthy’s book is so spot on and relentless in it’s brooding, graphic violence that it is hard to take. The violence builds slow and hits again and again but it is unavoidable and ultimately sends a strong message regarding the lack of goodness, sanity and perhaps ultimately God. See this one alone. I did. Do not take the wife. The movie is so stark, lovingly filmed, well scripted and well cast, that it is hard to take it all in... even when nothing is happening. Tommy Lee Jones is perfect as he narrates and wanders through (second hand) all the violence and forsees awful things happening that neither the victims or even his own deputy can understand. If you are watching it and you think the good guys might win... bet on the villian and take the points.

“Michael Clayton” is edgy and asks some hard questions about life and Tom Wilkinson plays the truest and scariest bipolar guy ever seen in the movies and even more unfortunately is a spot on trial lawyer. Hmmm. The movie is kind of annoying because: 1. George Clooney is in it and I hate him like cancer. 2. He plays a fixer and hustler who knows everyone’s secrets at a huge NYC Law firm but has to scramble for 75k to fix a debt for a failed restaurant he and his brother tanked. 3. The good guys win in the end... kind of. The main message is that “truth” is kind of a mallable concept and as a lawyer, sadly, I agree. The good guys are never so good and the bad guys never so bad. Go see it, you will be entertained and it will provoke some thoughts but do not expect to have your life changed..

These three are worth seeing. “No Country For Old Men” has the possibility of being one of the great all time films. I need to see it another time or perhaps another 10 times but it might... just might be like... “The Godfather” and that is high praise indeed. I think it sweeps best picture and Javier wins for best supporting actor. He also would make a good successor to Dick Cheney as Vice-President.