The Oscars are today, so in this post I will be deconstructing the films up for best picture. As usual it's a mix of quality cinema and films that meet the academy formula.
"127 Hours" is based on the true story of Aron Ralston, a climbing accident left him pinned beneath a rock for just over five days. It's an amazing story. I understand why Hollywood would want to make this into a film, but James Franco isn't much of an actor and it lessens Aron's experience to have that clown depict him. Good story, Lousy actor. Moving on.
The only reason to see "The Fighter", is the performance of Christian Bale as Dicky Eklund, the crack addicted brother of Mickey Ward, played by Mark Wahlberg. Bale absolutely sizzles here and his performance is the best depiction of someone dealing with crack addiction ever on film. It seems Bale has finally redeemed himself from previous embarrassment. However I'd say this film is a lukewarm "Rocky" clone and isn't worth the watch overall, even taking into account Bale's performance.
"Inception" has so many things wrong with it I won't even begin to name them! Needless to say Hollywood spent alot of money making this film. My major point of contention was the whole idea of inception ,doesn't advertising utilize the same concept? Wouldn't it be cheaper to hire a modern day Donald Draper to dazzle you with adds, then to have Leo and his crew hack some poor slobs brain? This movie is an insult to intelligent people.
"The Kids Are All Right" at first glance seems to be a piece of utter fluff, but is in fact a Trojan horse of a film which has hidden within it, a serious drama. No wait, thats not right... it's still a work of utter fluff! The characters are two dimensional and offer no surprises. The film itself attempts to show alternative lifestyles , however it's blunted by the fact that almost everyone in the film is white and upper middle class . The one exception is the African American hostess the sperm-donor/father is sleeping with. The only ethnic person in the entire film she is decidedly muted and harmless. It's almost as if the director saddled with these alternate lifestyle choices felt the need to be extra politically correct. This movie has no teeth.
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"The Kings Speech", Is a great film. Colin firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush act up a storm. The dialogue is excellent and the sets and costumes impress as well. The buzz says, it may get best picture and that Colin Firth will win Best Actor for his performance here. The point I want to contend ,is that although Colin Firth does deserve this Oscar nod, his performance last year that earned him a nomination for "A Single Man", was even better. I remember watching with slight bemusement as Jeff Bridges won last year. I attribute the loss to the fact that the main character in, "A Single Man", who firth depicts, is homosexual and the academy doesn't generally give the Oscar to an actor depicting a homosexual character. Case in point examine what happened with "Brokeback Mountain" earning Oscars for best director, best adapted screenplay and best score, yet not a single actor won for a film which was arguably the best of 2005.
"The Social Network" was a movie of surprises. I more or less knew the story of the ascent of Facebook barring a few minor points. First the film has an incredible script, the dialogue is smart fast paced and razor-sharp. Second although this movie doesn't sport any brilliant actors they are very well utilized, take Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker, the creator of "Napster". I was certain I was going to hate his performance, but found myself doing an ideological U-turn very quickly.. Timberlake literally kills and I'm uncertain how much of it was him actually acting. Third the score by Trent Reznor is fantastic and perfectly suited to the film. Overall I'd say it was my favorite movie this year and it deserves to win best picture.
I swear, the only reason Disney has a film in the best picture category every year, is to appease the spirit of Walt Disney himself, and make certain he doesn't erupt out of his cryogenic sleep pod, like some Lovecraftian god of chaos! .......um, any way, moving on, if you have a young child in your life, they'll love it, otherwise "Toy Story 3" is a waste of the time spent viewing it.
"True Grit", is the remake of the 1969 movie of the same name. This remake is truer to the original novel the film was based upon. The characters in "True Grit" are rough dirty and hard as nails and the cinematography, costumes and makeup do an excellent job making them look it. This is not a glamorous western, but it is a very good one and Jeff Bridges as Rooster is memorable. I approve of this movie.
In The Film "Winters Bone" we see a true heroine at work, this is not a hero who just happens to be female as there are no male heroes in Ree's world. The men are in fact at best arbiters of vengeance and at worst capable of chilling evil. The behavior of the characters is determined by intricate feud law and a rejection of law enforcement. This movie could just as easily been set in ancient Sicily or Corsica, as the Ozarks. I think you'll like it this movie folks, I did.
Well that's it folks *phew* tune in next Friday for another installment of "The Critical Canadian".
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