Movie Review: A Single Man

A Single Man is so-far, my favorite movie from this Oscar Season. Not just because it's written & directed by Tom Ford, yes, he of Gucci fame, or because it's beautifully acted by Colin Firth & Matthew Goode & Julianne Moore.

This movie is really, really good. It's well shot, the music score is haunting, the slow-cut scenes are well-thought, and as-expected, there is great attention to detail. For a first-time Writer, Producer & Director, this is an awesome accomplishment from Tom Ford.

Movie Review: Nine

Nine is an ok movie, but not great...and not really that good.

Daniel Day Lewis, how i HATE to say this, but you were not the right pick for this role. Even Antonio Banderas would have been better. Marion Cotillard got very little screen time except to look pathetic and sorry, even though she's stunningly beautiful. Penelope Cruz was fantastic as the mistress, but quickly got dissolved into dribble.

The two bright spots - Fergie, who's number "Be Italian" is THE highlight of the movie and what any number of sorry moviegoers will remember. Second only to Kate Hudson, surprisingly really really good as an extremely flirty reporter for Vogue, and her rendition of "Cinema Italiano" has people moving and dancing in their seats.

But that's it, the two highlights. Judi Dench, Sophia Loren, others...sadly misused. There was a good, maybe great, movie in here somewhere, but it didn't make it to the cutting floor. Ugh, here's hoping Rob Marshall does better next time.

Movie Review: The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker: Easily Kathryn Bigelow's best work to-date. Although be warned, if you are not a fan of the hand-held camera movie, this is prob not for you.

The tension is high with this bomb-defusing crew in post-Iraqi-invasion occupied Baghdad, but the undercut drama is actually quite good. The "adrenaline-junky" syndrome, the razor-like focus required by the bomb squad, the un-release of dramatic tensions, it's all here.

This is a great example of and "inside the war" film, which are usually done very badly - meaning they make the soldiers look bad and do nothing to explain how they arrived at a point. Bigelow is great in this aspect making it a much more thought-provoking, if still-disturbing film.

Great lead in Jeremy Renner as the leader of the Bomb Unit. He's been a standout in most of his action films, this is no exception. The cameo appearances in the movie from Guy Pierce and Ralph Fiennes are unexpected but a nice treat for movie goers.

Enjoy this one, it might be a few more years again before we get more Bigelow on the big screen.

Movie Review: Up In The Air

Up In The Air: It's everything we've come to expect from a Jason Reitman film - witty, funny, insightful, sometimes hitting right below the gut in the way that relationships can do...

It helps that George Clooney turns in one of the best performances of his career, and is supported by a great cast including Vera Farmiga, his female equivalent in the movie, and Anna Kendrick, mostly known for her smaller Twilight/New Moon roles, gets a huge step forward here.

In the end, Clooney learns that it's not about the end of the 10 million miles flown to get the big card, but the sucking that happens when you get to the end and have no one to share it with.

Movie Review: Brothers

Brothers is an adaptation of a Dutch film by the same name. Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal & Natalie Portman all deliver fantastic performances, supported by Sam Shepard & Mare Winningham. Tobey's ordeal in Afghanistan including some gruesome torture scenes, followed by his return home, and trouble in returning to a home where he was presumed dead, is torture on the souls watching.

Tommy, played by Jake, is the bad boy everyone loves, and watching he and Natalie Portman together is actually very enjoyable and believable. The trouble starts when the presumed-dead Sam (Maguire) returns home 4 months later.

The untold sleeper hit in this movie is not any of the principal actors, but Bailee Madison who played Isabelle Cahill. For a child actor of her age (9 at film time) to display such a range of emotion and depth, it's un-nverving. She more than any of the dramatic performances in the move, steals every scene for me. Here's hoping we get to see more of her in future dramas!

Loved the movie, and this after I was genuinely afraid it might just be a Lifetime-movie put on the big screen. But the powerful performances by every actor in the movie, good script, and able direction by Jim Sheridan proved me wrong and left me wanting more.

Movie Review: The Road

Warning to the faint-hearted, beware when you see The Road, it's not for sissies.

Viggo Mortensen is his usual, commanding self as a loving father willing to do anything for his son. John Hillcoat & crew do a fan-freaking-tastic job of painting the most realistic, post-apocalypse landscape I've ever seen in any recent movie. This is no bubble gum, post-war movie. The Road makes you sit-up and pay attention, because you have a scary, deep-gut feeling that you are getting a glimpse of one very-possible future of our planet...and it's terrifying and awe-inspiring at the same time.

What I love most about the Road's intense scenes has nothing to do with what it actually shown to you, but what you think, what you know, is just above the horizon, out the window, lurking in a shadow, or waiting around the corner...fascinating and deeply terrifying.

The breakthrough here is Kodi Smit-McPhee, who is a scene-stealer with his big eyes and all-to-human touch in a bleak world.

This movie may be the reverse of most, it makes me want to go buy the book and read it!

2009 Awards Predictions

For me the Golden Globes are usually Round 1 leading up to the Oscars. Here's my early predictions for what I think are likely and not so likely nominations:

Best Supporting Actor:

Jake Gyllenhaal - Brothers

Matt Damon - Invictus

Woody Harralson - The Messenger

Steve Martin - It's Complicated

Rupert Friend - Young Victoria

Best Supporting Actress:

Amy Adams - Julie & Julia

Penelope Cruz - Nine

Natalie Portman - Brothers

Mo'Nique - Precious

Julianne Moore - A Single Man

Best Cinematography:

The Road

Red Cliff

Best Special Effects:

District 9

Avatar

Best Animated:

Up

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

The Princess & The Frog

Planet 51

A Christmas Carol

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Best Documentary (Long):

Michael Jackson's This Is It

Capitalism: A Love Story

Best Original Screenplay:

Quentin Tarantino - Inglorious Bastards

Jon Lucas & Scott Moore - The Hangover

Judd Apatow - Funny People

Joel Coen & Ethan Coen - A Serious Man

Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman - The Messenger

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Julie & Julia

The Lovely Bones

The Road

The Blind Side

Precious

Best Costume:

Nine

Coco Before Chanel

Best Foreign Language Film:

Red Cliff

The White Ribbon

Best Actor:

Colin Firth - A Single Man

George Clooney - Up In The Air

Johnny Depp - Public Enemies

Morgan Freeman - Invictus

Vigo Mortensen - The Road

Brad Pitt - Inglorious Bastards

Best Actress:

Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side

Gabourey Sidibe - Precious

Emily Blunt - Young Victoria

Very Famiga - Up In the Air

Best Director:

Clint Eastwood - Invictus

Tom Ford - A Simple Man

Best Picture: *note that the Oscars are upping the number of nominees to 10 for Best Picture, the way they used to do it back in the day*

Invictus

Star Trek

Nine

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Avatar

The Messenger

The Blind Side

The Hangover