The Russia House

The Russia House

I have been curious about The Russia House for a long time.  When I was younger, it seemed like my dream movie, starring two of my favorite actors at the time, Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer, written by Tom Stoppard (who wrote the amazing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead) and based on a book by superb novelist John Le Carre.  Plus, the production stills (like the one above) looked super cool.  How could this not be a great movie?

So then I graduated college and I found out my brother owned it on DVD.  I asked if I could borrow it and he said, "Sure, but watch out.  It's boring."  I was taken aback, my enthusiasm instantly waning.  After all, I trust my brother's opinion almost completely.  I put The Russia House on my shelf and said, "Maybe I'll watch you next week.  No, maybe the next week."

...Ten years later, I finally sat down and watched The Russia House, almost just to prove to myself that I could do it.  And sure enough, it's boring.  The tricky part is finding out why.  My expectations were not crazy.  I knew Le Carre didn't write action flicks and that his novels are realistic and slow, more about research, talking and bluffing than they are about sneaking about and shooting bad guys.  And the story of The Russia House is interesting.  Katya (Pfeiffer), acting on behalf of Soviet nuclear scientist Dante (Klaus Maria Brandauer) smuggles a complete portrait of the Soviet strategic situation to book publisher Barley Blair (Sean Connery) in hopes that he will publish it.  The manuscript raises a lot of questions.  Is it real or a plant?  More importantly, since it paints a pretty pathetic picture of the Soviet military, how will the West react?  You would think they would be happy about their enemy's weakness, but then again, how can they now justify their own defense spending?  Naturally, British secret service (represented by James Fox) and the CIA (represented by Roy Scheider) get involved.

Done right, this is all pretty interesting stuff.  But things are rocky from the very beginning, with much leaping back and forth in time in an attempt to be clever about the exposition.  The result isn't clever at all, but is confusing, badly edited, and bizarre.  The playing around with the timeline isn't even necessary and sticks out even more considering that they don't do anything like that again until the very end (and no, that's not a spoiler).  This opening isn't helped by an overacting Connery, who seems to be trying way too hard to distance himself from his reputation for awesomeness.

The confusion isn't intriguing; it is bothersome and lethargic and made me sleepy.  But things do brighten up a bit when Barley meets Katya.  Despite the age difference, their blossoming romance is very believable.  And Connery calms down a little bit and starts to really gel with the movie.  By the end of it, I was really enjoying his take on Barley.  In fact, I would even say the scene where he declares his love for Katya features some of the most honest acting of his career.

But for the most part, the movie just drags.  The fate of nations is at stake, lives are threatened, and I never once felt any sort of suspense or danger.  The movie just glides along, trying to coast on a fine cast that is unable to save the sinking ship.  Perhaps that is a bit harsh.  There is one scene, a really long scene, where the CIA question Barley at a small cabin.  With so much at stake, they need to know if Barley can be trusted.  It's a fascinating look at the questioning process, with good writing, acting, and directing.  Oh, if only the whole movie had been like this scene!  Pity.  And it is too little too late.  For the most part, the movie is just deadly dull.  And with the talent involved, it was a big disappointment.

MVP:

I am going to go with the fine English actor James Fox (Sherlock Holmes) as Barley's handler.  Perfectly affable and polite, he doesn't look or act like a spymaster.  And yet, he seems to understand what is happening before any other character in the movie because he is busy observing and not showboating.  His reactions to the CIA, especially the foul-mouthed Russell played by Scheider, are priceless: "Russell's metaphors are becoming rather scatological."  It was a big laugh, and it sealed the MVP award for him.  

BEST LINE:

Russell: How the fuck do you peddle an arms race when the only asshole you have to race against is yourself?

TRIVIA:  

The Russia House was the first major film production from the West to be filmed in the Soviet Union with full permission of the Soviet government.

Drive

Drive

Do you know the old fable about the scorpion and the frog?  The scorpion comes to a river and asks the frog if he will ferry him across on his back.  Despite the fact that scorpions are dangerous, the frog agrees.  So the scorpion hops on the frog's back and the two begin to go across the river.  Halfway across, the scorpion stings the frog, paralyzing him.  Sinking, the frog cries out, "why did you do that?  Now we'll both die!"  And the scorpion just replies, "It's my nature."

I mention this because the fable of the scorpion and the frog has a deep thematic tie to Drive, one of the best movies of last year.  And no, the fable does not ruin anything about the movie, so don't think I spoiled anything.  I would never do that to you!  But I do think knowing the fable increases your enjoyment of the film and allows you to see it on another level.

Our frog is the unnamed character played by Ryan Gosling (The Ides of March).  In the credits, he is called the Driver, so we'll call him that, too.  During the day, he is a movie stunt driver and a mechanic at a garage owned by Shannon (Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad).  In his spare time, he is a getaway driver for bank robbers and gangsters.  He is the frog ferrying these bad men to safety.  And as if there were any doubt about the symbolism, he also wears a jacket that literally has a scorpion on its back.

There is a difference between Driver and the frog in the fable.  When the scorpion tries to sting Driver, he fights back.  And damn, can he fight.  When one of the heists goes horribly wrong, Driver finds himself a target of local gangsters Bernie and Nino, played by Albert Brooks (Finding Nemo) and Ron Perlman (Hellboy).  But he's not gonna go down easy, and things are gonna get bloody.

But don't let this description fool you.  Drive is not an action film.  The violent scenes, though gruesome, are few and far between.  This is more of a character study of the Driver.  More time is spent on his relationship with his neighbor, Irene, played gracefully by Carey Mulligan (An Education).  But even these scenes are slow - the Driver and Irene spend more time looking at each other and smiling than they do talking.  And it's actually kind of sweet.

I do not want to imply that this slow pace is a negative thing.  It's not.  But I do think people should be warned before getting into it - this isn't The Fast and The Furious.  The pace works for the mostly silent character of the Driver and is an important element of the film.  If they had sped the pace up, then it probably would not have worked as well as it did.

While I want to make sure people know what they are getting into, let me be clear when I say Drive was one of the better films of 2011.  Superb direction, writing, and acting all combine to make one helluva movie.  I consider this one of the big snubs of the 2011 Oscars.  How the poorly reviewed Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close got nominated and Drive didn't...sigh, I don't get it.

MVP:

Ryan Gosling, easily.  In three different movies in 2011 (Drive, The Ides of March and Crazy Stupid Love) and with three very different performances, Gosling showed how truly versatile he really is.  With his smaller frame and cherub face, Gosling didn't really seem like a badass to me, but he totally owns this performance and is a truly powerful force of violence when he is unleashed.  But his performance is even more remarkable because it is mostly silent.  He has so few lines, and focuses on his body language and eyes to sell the emotion.  It's great work, making him an easy MVP.

BEST LINE:

Driver: You tell me where we start, where we're going, where we're going afterwards.  I give you a five minute window.  Anything happens in that five minutes, I'm yours.  No matter what.  Anything happens a minute either side of that and you're on your own.  I don't sit in the car while you're running it down.  I don't carry a gun.  I drive.

TRIVIA:

Drive was originally going to star Hugh Jackman and be directed by Neil Marshall (Centurion).  That would have been interesting, but probably would have been more of a straight action movie.  It certainly would have not have hit the cult classic status that Drive has already claimed.



 

Random Ramblings about the Oscars 2012

The 2012 Oscars

Sorry I am getting this post out a bit late.  I know I should written it up for yesterday, but better late than never.

Overall, the show was a big improvement over last year when Anne Hathaway and James Franco, despite Hathaway's valiant efforts, just didn't work out as hosts.  And since the Academy's flirtation with the next generation bombed, they turned back to one of their most reliable hosts ever: Billy Crystal.  Crystal, returning for his ninth stint, put in a solid job as host.  He was not as good as he has been in the past, but he was still fun and efficient.  He had a couple of stinkers, but also some real winners.  All in all, it was nice to have him back, but I still think Hugh Jackman is my favorite host of recent years.

The awards went pretty much where I expected, with a few big surprises - the biggest being Meryl Streep's win over Viola Davis.  I have not seen The Iron Lady, but I am not sure she could have been better than Davis, who put in a superb and complicated performance in The Help.  Then again, it is Meryl Streep and she can pretty much do anything, so who knows...

Anyway, I should stop the complete rambling...instead here are some lists!!


THINGS I DID NOT LIKE:

I did not like Billy Crystal's song in the beginning.  I know a lot of people think the songs are cute, but I find them to be a bit goofy.  I much preferred the opening skit where Crystal inserts himself into the Oscar nominated pictures.

The audio for the whole show was screwy.  I don't know if it was the microphones or the signal, but something was wonky.  And despite a friend of mine insisting it was my TV, I was relieved to read online after the show that a lot of people experienced this.

I was disappointed that the In Memoriam missed Bob Anderson, certainly one of those most influential sword fight specialists in Hollywood history.  Here was a guy who worked with Errol Flynn, who was responsible for the fights in the original Star Wars trilogy, Princess Bride, Mask of Zorro and Lord of the Rings.  That's quite a resume.  And they couldn't find a slot for him?  Shame, Hollywood.  Technically, he died in 2012, so maybe they will put him in next year...they better...

Hugo winning Special Effects.  Nothing against Hugo, which is a superb movie and a true piece of wizardry, but this was the last movie I expected to win this category.  Plus, it kept me from getting an even 20 right in my Oscar pool.

The Bridesmaids.  Okay, I liked the Scorsese drinking game joke (and I especially liked Scorsese's reaction to it!), but for the most part I did not find their appearance to be funny.  It was forced and not very funny.  Maybe they should have Kristin Wiig write her own material next time!

It's not that Rango is a bad movie.  But I would never have given it an Oscar.  I guess the competition was not that great this year in Animated Film.  Just wait until next year, when Pixar comes roaring back with The Brave.  I expect it to take us all by storm!

THINGS I DID LIKE:

Billy Crystal doing the "what are they thinking" bit was cute - especially his spot-on impression of Nick Nolte.

Speaking of Nolte, I like that if he gained about 20 pounds, he would make an awesome Santa Claus.  Probably in an action movie where Santa has to kick some serious butt.

I really liked the Wizard of Oz focus group, featuring the usual cast from Christopher Guest' mockumentaries like Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman.  This skit, which I think was mostly improvised, was probably the funniest bit of the night, an inspired piece of madness featuring some brilliant comic performers complaining about hatchet faces and that annoying rainbow song, and extolling the virtues of flying monkeys.  These guys should host the show next year.  That would be awesome.

Cirque du Soleil...I am not sure I buy the tenuous link that connected their performance to movies, but I know I did not care.  I love Cirque du Soleil, and they did not disappoint.  Their acrobatics were accompanied by music by Danny Elfman - it was old school Elfman, sounding more like Edward Scissorhands than Wanted.  That is the Elfman I love.  I want him back.

I loved Christopher Plummer's speech.  Funny and charming, it was my favorite speech of the night.  Actually, kudos to everyone's speeches this year.  They kept them short and efficient.  Special speech shoutouts to Octavia Spencer, Jean Dujardin, and Meryl Streep, as well.

I really liked Emma Stone's over-enthusiastic presenter bit, especially when coupled with Ben Stiller's jaded 'been there-done that' vibe.  It was fun, and showcased both of their comic timing.  I especially liked when she tried to get Jonah Hill on stage to dance and his "hell no" reaction.  Good stuff.

I liked that Jean Dujardin won Best Actor and that The Artist won Best Picture.  This movie was fantastic.  I'm glad there wasn't an Artist backlash before the ceremony, though I can smell one approaching.  It's a pity, because this really is a charming, little movie - one with flawless execution that deserved every award it received.

Bret McKenzie winning the Best Song Oscar for "Man or Muppet."  While I think The Muppet's "Life's a Happy Song" should have been nominated, this was still a worthy winner.  And as a big Flight of the Conchords fan, I am super thrilled with this win.

Stacy Keibler.  See picture below.  Do I need to say anything else about that?

Well, I'm sure I will think of more things I liked and did not like as the next few days go by.  But this is what I got for now.  They certainly represent the things that made the most immediate impact.

What did you guys think?  What were your favorite or least favorite moments?

Easy A

Easy A

There is no real reason I should have enjoyed Easy A as much as I did.  It is a teen comedy, the likes of which I usually tend to avoid.  But if nothing else, I suppose Easy A should teach us a very important lesson: casting can be everything.

Emma Stone (The Help) plays Olive, a slightly nerdy and quiet high school student.  In order to get out of hanging out with her best friend's weird family, she lies about going out on a date with a college kid.  The next day, she then also lies about sleeping with that college kid just to get her friend off her back.  As I am sure we all painfully remember, news travels like wild fire in high school, and Olive is quickly branded as a slut.  Coincidentally, they are reading "The Scarlet Letter" in English class, and Olive is inspired.  Though she is not quite ostracized the same way Hester Prynne is in the classic novel, Olive still faces a similar social stigma and begins to ironically wear a scarlet A on her outfits, just to mess with people.  This...just kind of makes things worse.  Lies continue to spiral out of control and beyond anything that Olive can manage.  Hilarity ensues.

As I mentioned, the key to Easy A's success is the cast.  Emma Stone is fiery, biting, and quirky (without using the quirkiness as a gimmick) and she absolutely carries the film.  The rest of the cast is equally good.  Her very peculiar parents are played by seasoned pros Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada) and Patricia Clarkson (Pieces of April), and this pair tends to steal many of the scenes they are in.  The school's personnel includes Thomas Haden Church (Sideways) as her English teacher, Lisa Kudrow (Friends) as her counselor, and good ol' Malcolm McDowall (Clockwork Orange) as the principal. The fellow students, often the weak link in these movies, all put in pretty funny performances, especially the love interest played by Penn Badgley, who shows way more charm and comic timing here than he ever has on that piece of crap Gossip Girl show he stars in (I HATE THAT SHOW).

The movie does have some issues.  Sometimes the script is a little too clever for its own good, calling attention to its own strangeness.  This can get distracting in some scenes, especially the ones without Stone, who manages to make all of her odd lines completely believable.  Another thing that bothered me is that they resort to the stock, judgmental and overly religious group as the high school bad guys.  I understand that judgmental and hypocritical prudes are a huge part of "The Scarlet Letter," so I get what they are trying to do.  But I don't think it works as presented here.  And with all the entertaining characters floating around everywhere else, I wish they had been more creative here than just resorting to the old cardboard cutouts.  Basically, in all these high school movies, if you are religious at all, you're automatically bad, and that annoys me.  Sometimes this type of character works really well (like Mandy Moore in 2004's Saved), but here it is just a bothersome cliche.    

Anyway, that is really a small complaint in what is otherwise a very entertaining film.  I would absolutely check it out if you get a chance.  It may surprise you!  

MVP:

No doubt in my mind.  Emma Stone, for sure.  Of the young actors moving up the ladder these days, she might be my favorite.  She has terrific comic timing and is able to equally sell edgy and nerdy.  In the case of Easy A, she takes a movie that might have been merely amusing and lifts it into something way more entertaining (and picking up a well-deserved Golden Globe nomination in the process).  With Crazy Stupid Love and The Help, this has been a great year for her, and I think her star is just gonna keep rising.  

BEST LINE:

Mom: No judgement, but you kind of look like a stripper.
Olive: Mom!!!
Dad (trying to calm her down): A high end stripper, for governors or athletes. 

TRIVIA:

All the members of Olive's family are named after food.  Her parents are Dill and Rosemary.  Her brothers are Chip and Kale.  That is, uh, odd.  But interesting.

The Artist

The Artist

Throughout 2011, it seemed clear what the year's major Oscar players would be: Hugo, The Ides of March, The Descendants - hell, even J. Edgar was getting a slew of awards buzz.  And as I read my movie news and Oscar buzz online, I kept seeing this cool poster for some random movie called The Artist.  Seemed someone was making a black and white movie about old Hollywood.  Oh, wait, seemed like someone was making a silent film about old Hollywood.  That seemed interesting, but I wasn't going to rush out to see it.  I couldn't see that gimmick going anywhere.  But then something happened...the film started screening, audiences and critics went gaga, and that online poster started showing up everywhere!  I figured this must surely all be hype.  After all, critics probably liked it just because it was different.  It was black and white.  It was evoking the Golden Age of Hollywood back in the 1920s.  And in all probability, it was overrated.

But keeping an open mind, I went to go see the movie.  And sure enough, this is indeed a silent film, produced just like films a hundred years ago.  That doesn't just mean no talking; it means that other than the music, there is absolutely no audio at all.  Sounds we take for granted - the sound of my typing, doors opening and closing, cars driving by...all silent.  For the first ten minutes of the film, this was hard to get used to, and I remember thinking to myself, "I don't know if I can do this."

And then...the magic of filmmaking took over.  Because The Artist isn't all hype.  Directed by Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist truly is a terrific film, both an homage to and a commentary on the Silent Era.  I liked it when I saw it, and I like it even more now as I have had time to reflect on it.

The film is about the transition of films to the "talkies," and is told through the eyes of movie star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin).  As studios stop making silent films, Valentin refuses to change with the times and finds both his career and personal life rapidly falling apart.  Dujardin is joined by a superb cast that includes John Goodman, Berenice Bejo, James Cromwell, and Penelope Ann Miller.  This cast jumps into the spirit of the whole experiment - they know that screen acting was different in 1929.  You can't rely on line delivery and subtleness.  You have to gesture, you have to mug for the camera, you have to be BIG.  And the cast delivers performances that would have been perfectly at home in any of D.W. Griffith's movies.

And I do think The Artist is more than a gimmick.  There is some real depth here.  Sound, and by that I mean communication, is the major theme of the film.  The sheer irony that a movie about the "talkies" is silent should tell you that.  George Valentin risks his career because he refuses to talk in films.  His marriage begins to unravel because he refuses to talk about his problems.  With the advent of sound in motion pictures, Valentin is ironically no longer able to communicate with his audience.  But most of all, The Artist proves that even the oldest ways of communicating through film are still effective.  Who needs dialogue?  All you need is some heart.

Not sure what else to say.  The film is full of simple pleasures.  Beautiful cinematography (filmed in a 4:3 aspect ratio, just like the silents), terrific set direction, and wonderful set pieces.  I will not soon forget Peppy Miller's flirtation with Valentin's coat, or the terrific dance sequence where Valentin and Peppy first begin to fall in love.  I am a big fan of this film and it deserves all the lavish praise it has gotten.  I guess it is true that sometimes what is old is new again...

MVP: 
I adore Berenice Bejo, who plays rising star Peppy Miller.  She is just so damn...peppy.  But we all know the true star of this show is French actor Jean Dujardin.  He carries this movie on his back.  With bold facial features, a slim moustache, and a million dollar Fairbacks grin, Dujardin looks like he was born to be silent films.  He understands that overacting does not mean bad acting, and that there can be no room for subtly in a silent performance because the audience might miss what you are doing.  And seeing the emotions Dujardin displays with a cocked eyebrow or even by the way he pets his dog...it's remarkable work.  He is the easy MVP.

TRIVIA: 
So apparently, there are more stupid people in the world than I thought.  With critical support and strong word of mouth, a lot of people have gone to see The Artist, only to come out a few minutes later to tell the theater managers that the film was broken and the audio was missing.

...sigh...

...people...

My Thoughts on the 2012 Golden Globes

Well, here we are again!  We all know that I love the Oscars.  They are like my Super Bowl.  And that would make the Golden Globes like the conference champion game, or something like that.

The Globes are always a fun precursor to the Academy Awards, and give me just as much to cheer and complain about.  So how about this year?  Here are my thoughts on the winners.  This is of course for movies only.  I really don't watch enough TV to speak intelligently about the TV awards, though I do love me some Modern Family and Game of Thrones!

BEST PICTURE - DRAMA

The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
War Horse

Winner:  The Descendants.  Unfortunately, I haven't seen this yet, but I have heard it is pretty good, though not as good as Payne's other films, Sideways and About Schmidt.  That said, out of this batch, I have heard that The Descendants was the frontrunner.

BEST ACTRESS - DRAMA

Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin

Winner:  Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady.  Wow, this might be the most difficult category I have seen.  Possibly ever.  Any other year, any of these roles would have won, and it is their misfortune to be running up against each other like this!  I guessed Meryl Streep, but have to admit that I am rooting for Glenn Close to win the Oscar, since she has been nominated several times and has never won.

BEST ACTOR - DRAMA

George Clooney, The Descendants
Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar
Michael Fassbender, Shame
Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Winner:  Clooney!  Playing against type, I heard he was excellent in The Descendants.  He is the frontrunner to win the Oscar, as well, though this makes me a liar since I have been saying this was Michael Fassbender or Ryan Gosling's year since between them, they seemed to be in every other movie this year...

BEST PICTURE - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

50/50
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris
My Week with Marilyn

Winner:  The Artist.  As it should be.  This was a good category, though.  Midnight in Paris is easily Woody Allen's best in a decade.  Bridesmaids was a lot of fun (though I thought a tad overrated - sorry!).  And I have heard nothing but good things about 50/50 and My Week with Marilyn, though is the latter really a comedy?  But The Artist brought something new to the table, and by that I mean, something old.  It showed that the oldest storytelling techniques can still pull our heartstrings.  It is a remarkably clever film and I am glad it won.

BEST ACTRESS - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

Jodie Foster, Carnage
Charlize Theron, Young Adult
Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Kate Winslet, Carnage

Winner:  Michelle Williams.  While I still question My Week with Marilyn being a comedy, her performance as the iconic Monroe does look spot on.  Oh, well...

BEST ACTOR - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Brendan Gleeson, The Guard
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50
Ryan Gosling, Crazy, Stupid, Love
Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris

Winner:  Jean Dujardin is brilliant.  That he can tell a whole story with just his body language is superb.    I think Clooney is still the frontrunner for the Oscar, but I am rooting for Dujardin all the way.

BEST ANIMATED FILM

The Adventures of TinTin
Arthur Christmas
Cars 2
Puss in Boots
Rango

Winner:  Adventures of TinTin.  Thank heavens the overrated Rango didn't win.  I don't get what everyone sees in this film.  It's not bad, but why is it getting so much love?  And how did Cars 2, the only Pixar movie to ever get slammed by critics and audiences, even get nominated??

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

The Flowers of War (China)
In the Land of Blood and Honey (USA)
The Kid with a Bike (Belgium)
A Separation (Iran)
The Skin I Live In (Spain)

Winner:  A Separation.  I knew this would win.  With Iran being in the news so much, I just had a feeling it would be on voters' radars.  Which is not a knock against the movie at all, since I have heard nothing but good things.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help
Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

Winner:  Octavia Spencer was fine in The Help, so I don't hold this against her.  But I was kind of hoping Berenice Bejo would win.  She totally enchanted me with her enthusiasm and sheer peppy-ness in The Artist.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn
Albert Brooks, Drive
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Viggo Mortenson, A Dangerous Method
Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Winner:  Christopher Plummer.  I will always have a soft spot for Branagh, who I have been a big fan of ever since he launched onto the scene as "the next Olivier" back in 1989's Henry V.  And what more appropriate role to win for than by actually playing Oliver?  That said, Plummer is due.  A great performer with a long career of fine work, I'm glad Plummer took this home.  I will be hoping he wins the Oscar, too.

BEST DIRECTOR

Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
George Clooney, The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Winner:  Martin Scorsese.  Wow, this was a surprise.  I did not expect Hazanavicius to lose.  That said, Scorsese is the mastermind of why Hugo works so well.  I probably would have still voted for Hazanavicius, but Hugo is a wonderful film and I am okay with Scorsese winning.

BEST SCREENPLAY

Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, The Descendants
Stan Chervin, Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, Moneyball

Winner:  Woody Allen.  Well, here is the award that I am glad The Artist did not win for.  I'm not even sure why it was nominated, to be honest.  I expected Payne to win, but am fine with Woody Allen getting it.  The script was whimsical and creative and his take on Hemingway is downright brilliant.  

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Abel Korzenoiwski, W.E.
Trent Rezner, Atticus Ross, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Howard Shore, Hugo
John Williams, War Horse

Winner:  Ludovic Bource.  Despite relying on Bernard Hermann's brilliant Vertigo love theme for the climax of the film, Bource still produced an immense amount of music and was responsible for carrying the film forward.  He did a good job, so I think he deserved it.  For the record, as much as I love Williams, War Horse is way too sappy and I am tired of the atonal droning like that of Dragon Tattoo winning awards.  I don't care if it is effective in the movie...maybe that's just me being bitter.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG:

"Hello, Hello," Gnomeo and Juliet, Elton John and Bernie Taupin
"The Keeper," Machine Gun Preacher, Chris Cornell
"Lay Your Head Down," Albert Nobbs, Brian Byrne, Glenn Close
"The Living Proof," The Help, Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Harvey Mason, Damon Thomas,
"Masterpiece," W.E. Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry

Winner:  Madonna's "Masterpiece." It is better than her "Die Another Day," but that said, I don't think any of these songs are that memorable.  Where is "Muppet or Man" or "Life's a Happy Song," both terrific songs from The Muppets.  Those should have been nominated.  Where else would we get awesomely fun lyrics like, "If I am a muppet/then I'm a very manly muppet."

Okay, so that's what we got so far.  Stay tuned for when the Oscar nominations come out.  I'm ready to start complaining!

Legion

Legion

Full disclosure.  I enjoy apocalyptic movies.  Even when they aren't very good, I still think they are fun to watch.  There is something appealing about having a small band of would-be survivors wandering around as the world falls apart around them and as the audience tries to guess who is going to die in what order.  But sometimes, the concept just goes too far even for me.  So here is where we have Legion, the movie where God decides he wants to destroy sinful mankind, but instead of sending a flood he decides to send a bunch of monsters to attack a diner.

Oh, sure, it's technically more complicated than that - involving angels, prophecies, unborn saviors of humanity, blah blah blah.  Really this movie is about a bunch of monsters attacking a diner.  Inside the diner, we have a nice little cast led by Lucas Black, Dennis Quaid, Adrianne Palicki, Tyrese Gibson, and Charles S. Dutton.  They are protected by a fallen angel, Michael (played by Paul Bettany), who in the opening scene inexplicably cuts off his own wings and disgards his badass heavenly weapons in a misguided belief that a bunch of machine guns are more effective tools against the apocalypse.

I'll admit, I do admire one thing about the film; it tries to take its time in the beginning.  I like that they take time to slow build to the chaos.  We are introduced to everyone in the diner one at a time.  With a better script, that means we actually would have cared about these characters as they started dying.  I also enjoyed the one real good scene in the movie (and the scene that made the trailers so entertaining), when a little old demon grandma runs loose in the diner trying to kill everyone.  This scene had some over the top, Sam Raimi/Evil Dead-style silliness that made it really fun.  If only the whole movie had been like that...

...because after grandma's exit via the business end of a shotgun, the movie gets bad.  Really bad.  And fast.  All logic gets thrown out the window, characters die in the lamest possible ways, and actors wait around, grimly moping about because they can't wait to be killed off so they can get the heck out of this trashy movie.  Worst of all, the movie stops even pretending to have any sort of logic, especially when the archangel Gabriel shows up to wreak havoc and block bullets with his super wings.  While Kevin Durand makes for an imposing and a strangely sympathetic villain, this whole climactic battle is terrible, starting bad, getting worse, and then occasionally pausing between punches to make some bold, theological statements that befuddle me ("You gave him what he asked for; I gave him what he needed.").

SPOILER: For the second time in a row, I am reviewing a film where the ending makes no sense.  So if God changes his mind and decides that he no longer wants the apocalypse to happen, then why are our surviving heroes driving around in the last scene, armed to the teeth and ready to wage the war against the next wave of possessed monster angels?  I think it is because the producers wanted to rip off the powerful last scene of Terminator, where a pregnant Sarah Conner drives around in the desert, armed and ready for Judgment Day.  But in Terminator, it all makes sense; Judgement Day is coming.  In Legion, Judgement Day has come and gone and everything is now cool again...so what's the big deal?  This movie makes my head hurt.

MVP: 
I have to give Paul Bettany some credit.  Although he is better known for his dramatic work, and his slight frame doesn't seem very tough, Bettany throws himself into the role with gritty earnestness.  Bettany must have known that he was making a garbage film, but that doesn't stop him from giving the same professionalism as he would in one of his Oscar contenders like A Beautiful Mind or Master and Commander.  He's a good actor, and a surprisingly solid action lead. Let's give him something better than this.

BEST LINE:
Michael: "And yet, in the midst of all this darkness, I see some people who will not be bowed.  I see people who will not give up, even when they know all hope is lost.  Some people, who realize being lost is so close to being found.  I see you, Jeep."  Here's an example of a bad line made good by Bettany's performance. It ends up being one of the few nice moments in the movie...

TRIVIA:  
The tattoos on Michael are written in Enochian, the language of angels supposedly revealed to John Dee and Edward Kelley in the 16th Century.   I have to admit, that is a pretty cool detail.  I wish the rest of the movie had been this thought-out.