2013 Oscars: Who Will Win?

Overall I was happy with who was nominated this year. There were a few surprises though. For example, Ben Affleck not getting nominated for Best Director. He did a fantastic job with Argo. At least the movie is nominated for Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor. Another surprise was no Best Actor nomination for John Hawkes. I thought he gave a very touching performance in The Sessions.

I could talk for hours about this so let’s move on. Below I’ve listed the main categories. Just to let you know, it’ll be who I think WILL win, not necessarily who I WANT to win.

Best Picture:

·        Zero Dark Thirty

·        Silver Linings Playbook

·        Les Miserables

·        Lincoln

·        Life of Pi

·        Beasts of the Southern Wild

·        Django Unchained

·        Argo

·        Amour

Best Actress:

·        Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty

·        Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook

·        Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

·        Emmanuele Rina, Amour

·        Naomi Watts, The Impossible

Best Actor:

·        Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

·        Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook

·        Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables

·        Joaquin Phoenix, The Master

·        Denzel Washington, Flight

Best Supporting Actress:

·        Amy Adams, The Master

·        Sally Field, Lincoln

·        Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables

·        Helen Hunt, The Sessions

·        Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook

Best Supporting Actor:

·        Alan Arkin, Argo

·        Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook

·        Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master

·        Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln

·        Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained

Best Director:

·        Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

·        David O’Russell, Silver Linings Playbook

·        Stephen Spielberg, Lincoln

·        Ang Lee, Life of Pi

·        Michael Haneke, Amour

Best Original Screenplay:

·        Amour

·        Django Unchained

·        Flight

·        Moonrise Kingdom

·        Zero Dark Thirty

Best Adapted Screenplay:

·        Argo

·        Beasts of the Southern Wild

·        Silver Linings Playbook

·        Life of Pi

·        Lincoln

Best Animated Feature:

·        Brave

·        Frankenweenie

·        ParaNorman

·        The Pirates! Band of Misfits

·        Wreck-It Ralph

My Top 10 Favorite Movies of 2012

It’s that time of the year again! 2012 was a year full of good movies and a few not so good ones. Here’s my list of my favorite movies from this year. Some may agree with me while others may not. We’re all entitled to our own opinions. Anyway, here we go…

 

10. Breaking Dawn Part 2

·         The final film in the Twilight saga is easily the best of the five, not that that’s saying much. Yes, the visual effects are bad at times (especially the cgi baby Renesmee, which is so bad it’s creepy) and yes the dialog is still terrible. But the kick ass battle scene at the end more than makes up for it. Plus, Kristen Stewart actually shows some emotion as Vampire Bella. As I said in my review, Edward should have changed her into a vampire much sooner.

 9. The Hunger Games

·         Aside from the god awful shaky cam, this movie was very good. Jennifer Lawrence was perfectly cast as Katniss. Plenty of action and drama. Hell, I even shed a few tears. Wasn’t crazy about Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, but hopefully I’ll get used to it. Can’t wait til Catching Fire comes out next year.

8. Skyfall

·         By far the best Bond movie in recent years. Daniel Craig was amazing as always. The action scenes were very well choreographed and looked incredible on an IMAX screen. Supporting cast was really good too, especially Javier Bardem as the villain (even if his performance was a little over the top at times).

7. Man on a Ledge

·         C’mon, you guys know I had to include some Sam Worthington movies on this list ;) I saw this one back in January. Had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Sam was very believable as an ex-cop trying to prove his innocence.

6. Wrath of the Titans

·         As much as I loved the first movie, I actually thought this one was better in some ways. The focused more on the characters and the 3D was really good this time around. I know it got panned by most critics, but I loved it. It’s Sam running around in a skirt killing monsters for an hour and a half. Plus Liam Neeson is Zeus for crying out loud! What more could you want?

5. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

·         Peter Jackson has done it again! He really brings Middle Earth to life in this. Beautiful cinematography. Martin Freeman was amazing as Bilbo. My favorite scene was the riddles in the dark one with Gollum. Major props to Andy Serkis and the visual effects team, Gollum looked incredible! The 48 fps took some getting used to, but it shouldn’t keep you from seeing this wonderful movie.

4. The Avengers

·         The amazing superhero movie we’ve waited years for and Joss Whedon delivered. It had something for everyone. I didn’t think it could work having so many characters in one movie, but they did it. My favorite scene was the Hulk/Loki one towards the end. It was epic and had me laughing so hard my stomach hurt.

3. Lawless

·         Based on the true story of three brothers who were moonshiners in the 30’s. Very well acted, especially by Tom Hardy and Jessica Chastain, who had amazing chemistry. Hell even Shia LaBeouf was pretty good. This shows you how good the director was if he can make you tolerate Shia.

2. Silver Linings Playbook

·         Had a chance to see this back in October at the local film festival and it was by far my favorite movie I saw there. Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Robert DeNiro give Oscar worthy performances. The rest of the cast was great too. What I loved the most was that it had the perfect amount of comedy, drama and romance. There’s something for everyone in this movie. I think it’s going to do well this awards season.

 

1. The Dark Knight Rises

• Christopher Nolan is a genius! He created an epic movie to conclude his Dark Knight trilogy. I’ve always been a huge Batman fan and this movie is one of my favorites. Yes, you do see more of Bruce Wayne than you do Batman, but it didn’t bother me at all. Christian Bale gave a great performance as always. And Tom Hardy… wow! He was the perfect choice to play Bane.  Truly terrifying and also unrecognizable. Honestly if I hadn’t known ahead of time I never would have guessed it was him. I loved all the scenes between him and Christian. You really felt like Batman might not make it. I could go on for hours about how perfect this movie is. Everything from the action to the musical score was well done. It’s sad that this is all over L In a way I feel sorry for whoever directs the eventual reboot. There’s no way they’ll come close to the amazing movies Christopher Nolan created.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (IMAX 3D)

Peter Jackson has done it again! I’ve been waiting for this movie for years and he sure didn’t disappoint. The Hobbit will always have a special spot in my heart since it was one of the first books I remember reading on my own.

The movie takes place 60 years before the events of LOTR. Gandalf (played by the always amazing Sir Ian McKellen) recruits Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) to aid a group of dwarves, led by Thorin (Richard Armitage, who gives an incredible performance) to reclaim their homeland from the dragon Smaug. The dwarves are skeptical, mainly Thorin, that Bilbo can help them. Even Bilbo questions himself. But eventually Bilbo says yes and off they go on their amazing adventure.

First of all, let’s talk about the whole 48 fps issue. There aren’t too many theaters playing it this way, but I happened to be at one of the ones that had it. What did I think? Well I must admit it did look a little strange at first. But after a while I got use to it. I certainly don’t think it’s as bad as some are making it out to be.

The cinematography was gorgeous as I knew it would be. You can tell Peter Jackson loves this world and does everything he can to bring it to life. I highly recommend watching this on an IMAX screen if you can. That along with the 3D (which was pretty good overall) makes you really feel like you’re in Middle Earth. I was completely geeing out the whole time I was watching this.

The visual effects were good. My only issue was the use of cgi in certain instances, mainly the Orcs. I preferred some of the practical effects they used in the LOTR movies. Don’t get me wrong, the cgi looked just fine. It’s more of a personal preference. Some may feel differently.

The acting was incredible! I think Martin Freeman was the perfect choice to play Bilbo. He’s just how I imagined Bilbo in the books. I was surprised how much I liked Thorin. I found his backstory really interesting. I know his character has changed a bit in this movie compared to the book, but I didn’t mind at all. Of course, the character I most looked forward to seeing was Gollum. It really is a crime that Andy Serkis doesn’t have an Oscar yet. The whole scene with him and Bilbo was my favorite part of the movie as well as the book.  

Speaking of the book, it’s only 300+ pages long. When they first said they were splitting it up into two movies, I wasn’t crazy about it but I thought maybe they just want to take the time to really develop the characters. Then they announced The Hobbit would be a trilogy. My first thought was, really? There’s no way they can stretch it out that far. But I guess they’re including additional material that Tolkien wrote as well as sort of bridging the gap between this and LOTR. I know in this movie, which is nearly three hours long but didn’t feel that long to me, there was this whole subplot that wasn’t in the book at all. But I found it really interesting and look forward to seeing where they go with it. I’m still not crazy about the idea of this being a trilogy, but Peter Jackson is an incredible director so if he thinks he can do it, then so be it.

Howard Shore is back composing the musical score, which was really beautiful. A must have on your iPod. I especially enjoyed the Song of the Lonely Mountain. I got goose bumps went the dwarves sang it. It was better than I ever imagined.

So was The Hobbit better then LOTR? Well, there are still two movies to go so I can’t say for sure. But I will say it’s just as good. And honestly, I’m really loving Bilbo a lot more than Frodo at the moment.

I think if you enjoyed the LOTR trilogy, then you’ll love this as well. And even if you didn’t, give The Hobbit a chance. It’s a lot of fun. Certainly one of my favorite movies this year.

My Rating: 9/10

My 2013 Oscar Predictions

Since I won't have any new reviews for you until I see The Hobbit this weekend (yay!!!) I thought I'd post my list of Oscar predictions. Because there's so many categories, I only did the main ones. Of course, these are just who I think will get nominated, based on the movies I've seen this year and who I think the Academy will go for. These are just my opinions. I have no say in who gets nominated. Beleive me if I did, Sam Worthington and Tom Hardy would get nominated for just about everything lol. Anyway, here it goes. I'd love to hear what you guys think. Feel free to leave me a comment about who you think will get nominated. Once the actual nominations are out (in early January I beleive) and it gets closer to the actual ceremony, I'll post my list of who I think is going to win.


Best Picture:

Silver Linings Playbook

Zero Dark Thirty

Argo

Life Of Pi

The Master

The Sessions

Beasts Of The Southern Wild

Django Unchained

Les Miserables

Lincoln

Best Actor:

Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook

Daniel Day Lewis, Lincoln

John Hawkes, The Sessions

Denzel Washington, Flight

Joaquin Pheonix, The Master

Best Actress:

Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook

Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty

Marion Cotillard, Rust & Bone

Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Helen Mirren, Hitchcock

Best Director:

Ben Affleck, Argo

David O Russel, Silver Linings Playbook

Tom Hooper, Les Miserables

Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty

Stephen Spielberg, Lincoln

 

Best Supporting Actor:

Robert DeNiro, Silver Linings Playbook

William H. Macy, The Sessions

Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master

Jason Clarke, Zero Dark Thirty

Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln

 

Best Supporting Actress:

Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables

Helen Hunt, The Sessions

Judi Dench, Skyfall

Sally Field, Lincoln

Amy Adams, The Master

 

Best Animated Feature:

Brave

Wreck It Ralph

ParaNorman

Frankenweenie

Rise of the Guardians

 

Best Original Score:

Howard Shore, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Alexandre Desplat, Argo

Reinhold Hell, Johnny Kilmek, & Tom Tyker, Cloud Atlas

Thomas Newman, Skyfall

John Williams, Lincoln

Breaking Dawn part 2

Well, here we are. After four books, and five movies, the Twilight saga has officially come to an end. So how was this last movie? Really good :) Infact I'd say it's the best out of all of them.

So part 2 starts off right where part 2 ended. Bella (Kristen Stewart) wakes up as a vampire and begins her happily ever after with Edward (Robert Pattinson) and their 1/2 human/1/2 vampire daughter Renesmee (Mackenzie Foy). Everything couldn't be better. That is, until someone makes a false allegation to the Volturi that Renesmee is an immortal child (A human child that was bitten by a vampire. Which is apparently a big no no in the vampire world). The Volturi decide to come and destroy Renesmee and anyone who protects her. In order to try and prevent this, the Cullens gather their vampire friends from all over the world to convince the Volturi to listen to the truth.

This movie feels a lot different than the previous films. There's more humor and action. I give a lot of credit to director Bill Condon for taking that mess of a book and turning it into something really enjoyable.

Kristen Stewart even showed emotion in this one. It's a miracle! She does a great job as a vampire. Edward should have changed Bella long ago lol.

The rest of the cast was really good too. I thought Mackenzie Foy was perfect as Renesmee. Really adorable. If Rob and Kristen ever have a daughter I swear this is what she would look like.

What I really enjoyed was seeing the vampires they brought in from all over the world. Especially Garrett (Lee Pace). He's always been a favorite of mine since I first read Breaking Dawn. I would love for Stephenie Meyer to write a book just about him.

I wish they had made the movie a bit longer in order to develop the new vampires more.

Then there's the Volturi, Despite the hideous hair styles, it's always fun seeing them on screen. Especially Aro. I can't imagine anyone other than Michael Sheen playing him. He just went all out and looked like he was having a blast filming this. At one point though, he lets out this crazy laugh (those who have seen the movie already know what I'm talking about) and I swear, half the people in the theater, myself included, were like "What the hell?"

The cinematography was well done overall. I especially enjoyed the opening title sequence. Very creative.

The musical score was once again done by Carter Burwell. I knew he'd be great at the romantic stuff, but I was worried about how he would score the action sequences. I'm happy to say that it came out well. During those action moments, my heart was pounding and I was on the edge of my seat. My favorite though was Renesmee's Lullaby. What a beautiful piece of music. What makes it even better is there's a small scene where Edward is playing the song for Renesmee on the piano. So sweet :)

People have been asking about the big twist ending. All I can say is I almost had a heart attack. Wow!

Of course, the movie is not flaw free. I'm still not crazy about the whole Jacob/Renesmee thing. No matter how many times Stephenie tried to explain it, I still find it creepy. Thankfully Bill Condon plays this down a lot.

Yes, the dialog is still pretty terrible at times. But I've gotten use to that. As I've said before, you can't take these movies too seriously. Just enjoy them for what they are.

My biggest complaint would definitely have to be the CGI they used on Renesmee. Boy was it bad! As in, laughably bad. You see, Renesmee is suppose to age at this crazy rate. So what they did for most of the movie is they used babies and younger actresses and super imposed Mackenzie's face on them. It was really creepy and that's putting it mildly. Luckily Mackenzie appears as herself toward the end with no special effects.

I can't believe the Twilight Saga is officially over. I'm really sad but at the same time, I'm thrilled I won't have to deal with those screaming teenage girls anymore. At least not until the next Hunger Games movie comes out lol.

I probably can't recommend this to anyone other than Twilight fans. Still, even if you didn't like the other movies, you should give this one a chance. It's certainly not going to win any Oscars (especially in the special effects department) but so what. Breaking Dawn part 2 has something for everyone- action, romance, and even comedy.

Thank you Bill Condon for creating a fitting end to this great franchise. When I first read Breaking Dawn four years ago, I didn't think it would be possible. But you did it :)

My Rating: 9/10

Skyfall (IMAX)

I've never really been a big James Bond fan, but the reviews for this have been really good. Plus Daniel Craig is in it so I had to check it out. Well I'm happy to say that this movie is incredible. Easily one of the best Bond films yet.

In Skyfall, Bond (Daniel Craig) investigates an attack on MI6 and comes to find out that it also involves someone going after M (Judi Dench). That someone is Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), who has a connection to her past.

Sam Mendes is the director. His previous films include American Beauty and Road to Perdition. He does a great job all around, especially with the action sequences. The opening scene especially blew me away.

Major props go out to the cinematographers. The whole movie looked amazing.

The acting was top notch. I've always been a big fan of Daniel Craig. He makes such a great James Bond. Javier Bardem was really good as well. I think he's at his best when he's playing a villain. Even if this time around his character comes off as a little over the top. And his hair cut and color was hideous. Some people should never go blond.

There were a few other complaints that I had, which I can't really talk about without spoiling things. But they're very minor complaints.

The movie is almost two and a half hours long but it doesn't feel like it at all. I was completely entertained the whole time. It also looks great on an IMAX screen so if you can definitely see it in that format.

Loved the soundtrack as well. Especially the title theme song by Adele. She has such an amazing well.

I highly recommend Skyfall to anyone who's a James Bond fan or if you enjoy a good action/spy movie. I can't wait to see what happens in the next one :)

My Rating: 9/10

Flight

I hadn't really heard of this movie until seeing a trailer for it before Argo last week. (Yes, I know I still haven't posted my review of Argo. Last week was just crazy. I'll try to have it up by tomorrow) I thought I'd give it a chance since I'll watch almost anything with Denzel Washington in it.

Denzel plays Whip Whitaker, an airline pilot who's a severe alcoholic (and that's putting it mildly). During some rough weather, the plane he's piloting begins to crash, but because of some quick maneuvering, he's able to land the plane with very few casualties. Everyone is calling him a hero. However, during an investigation, which determines the crash was cause by mechanical issues with the plane, they discover that Whip was drunk and had cocaine in his system while he was flying. He could be facing some serious jail time.

Despite the movie dragging at times, overall I thought it was good. Denzel gives another Oscar worthy performance. Although I doubt he'll get nominated, only because there's just so many great performances in the Actor category this year that the Academy will overlook him. Which is a shame. Anyway, I can't imagine anyone else playing this character. I don't think the movie would have worked. He was very convincing as an alcoholic who's world is crumbling all around him.

Just a bit of a warning, the plane crash scene was super intense. It made many people in the theater I was in cringe and jump in their seats, myself included. Makes you never want to get on a plane again.

The supporting cast was good as well. Especially John Goodman. He plays Whip's friend/drug dealer, who provides some much needed comic relief. His scenes with Denzel were just priceless.

The ending was okay, but felt a little too preachy.

I would say definitely go see Flight if you're a fan of Denzel Washington or if you're into these types of movies.

My Rating: 8/10