Philomena – Review

philomena-poster

Out of all the movies nominated for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards, Philomena may be the most charming. At first look, you might not expect that. Philomena is the real life story of an Irish woman forced by nuns to give up her infant son to adoption, and her quest 50 years later to find him. It’s a story full of heartbreak, but screenwriters  Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope encase that story in a screenplay full of wit and wry humor. The seriousness of the subject matter is never in doubt, but Pope and Coogan’s humor provides a much needed pressure valve on a heart-wrenching story that could sink into despair in the hands of less capable writers.  Philomena is my pick for Best Adapted Screenplay at this year’s Academy Awards.

Philomena travelling through the airport in style with "Martin Sixsmith - News at 10."

Philomena travelling through the airport in style with “Martin Sixsmith – News at 10.”

Coogan also stars in the movie as Martin Sixsmith, the real life BBC journalist who reported the story that this movie is base on, “The Lost Child on Philomena Lee”. Sixsmith is flawed, but he’s driven. And when it comes time for a reconciliation between the protagonists and the church, it’s Sixsmith that boils over with the outrage felt by probably everyone in the audience over Philomena’s plight. Hint: Forcibly taking her baby and putting him up for adoption is just the first in a list of trespasses by the church against Philomena.

philomena sixsmith and coogan

The real-life and the on-screen Martin Sixsmith.

Dame Judi Dench plays Philomena with a subtle grace. Philomena comes across the way your grandmother probably would if they made a movie about her. As Sixsmith describes her in one scene, she’s like a walking issue of Reader’s Digest. She comes across both intentionally and unintentionally funny, and I can’t decide which scenes I like better. But it’s Philomena’s grace that really comes through when it’s time for a confrontation with the church. The woman has all the reason in the world to be justified in wrath, but instead meets them with compassion.

philomena and coogan

The real-life Philomena Lee and Philomena screenwriter/star Steve Coogan.

When I walked into the theater, I was afraid I was walking into a Hotel Rwanda-like assault on my emotions. While parts of Philomena were definitely trying on my emotions, I left the theater with a smile, and the thought that EVERYONE should see this movie. Philomena shines, and is definitely one of the best movies in this year’s class of Oscar nominees.

Oscars 2013 Predictions

The Oscars are only about an hour away. Need some help winning your party’s pool? Here are my predictions.If you win, feel free to treat me to a movie! 

Best Picture – Argo. I’m going with my head this year instead of my heart for my picks, but I’m glad they match up here. I think the Academy feels like they made a mistake for not bothering to nominate Ben Affleck for Best Director and will give Argo the best picture as retribution.
Leading Actor – Daniel Day Lewis. If you pick anyone else, don’t even both reading the rest of this post. You’re losing your pool.
Supporting Actor – Christoph Waltz. Waltz and Tommy Lee Jones are in a dead heat according to the Vegas odds. I’d like to think Waltz’s performance in Django can beat out Tommy Lee Jones playing Tommy Lee Jones in a wig.
Leading Actress – Jennifer Lawrence. But Jessica Chastain deserves it.
Supporting Actress – Anne Hathaway
Animated Feature – Wreck-It-Ralph
Cinematography – Life of Pi
Costume Design – Anna Karenina
Directing – Stephen Speilberg – Lincoln
Documentary Feature – Searching for Sugarman
Documentary Short – Open Heart
Film Editing – Zero Dark Thirty
Foreign Language Film – Amour
Makeup and Hairstyling – Les Miserables
Original Score – Life of Pi (Toss up between this and Lincoln)
Original Song – Skyfall
Production Design – Les Miserables
Animated Short Film – Paperman
Liver Action Short Film – Curfew
Sound Editing – Life of Pi
Sound Mixing – Skyfall
Visual Effects – Life of Pi
Adapted Screenplay – Argo
Original Screenplay – Argo
Good luck! 

Zero Dark Thirty – Review

5/5 – Zero Dark Thirty should be on your Must See list!

I didn’t think it would happen, but I might now like a movie from 2012 more than Argo. I loved Argo and am glad that Ben Affleck has been taking a bunch of awards home for it, but wow, Zero Dark Thirty, you are amazing.

To be honest, I wasn’t too excited for Zero Dark Thirty. I thought Hurt Locker was great, but it was so emotionally draining that I wasn’t sure if I could sit through another Kathryn Bigelow military movie. I had a feeling I would probably respect ZDT more than I would actually like it. Still, I wanted to see as many Best Picture nominees as I could before the Oscars, so I went with my Billy and Bryan Show co-host and frequent commenter on this blog, Bryan, to see it at at Cobble Hill Cinemas.

First, a little about Cobble Hill Cinemas before I get into the movie. I was pleasantly surprised to find that our Saturday screening qualified for the discount rate. Their discount calendar is little complex. Tuesday and Thursday movies are discounted all day. Monday and Wednesday are discounted before 5 PM. The first screening of a movie is discounted on Saturdays, but only if it is before 1 PM. And I think the fifth screening of a movie is discounted on Ash Wednesday if the date ends in a vowel.

There’s also some new items on the menu at the snack counter: Mexican coffee, and the Abuelita which is Mexican coffee mixed with hot chocolate. Oooo, how worldly! One Abuelita, please! Unfortunately, the drink becomes a little less exciting and worldly when you realize it’s coming from a Nescafe machine.

Okay, enough about the snack counter.

The opening minute or two of Zero Dark Thirty is very intense. The screen is black and all you hear are news reports and 911 calls from September 11, 2001. It’s rough, because I was immediately taken back to that day. At the same time, I was wondering why Kathryn Bigelow decided to start the movie like that. My theory is that it primes the audience to identify with the US interrogators who were using enhanced interrogation techniques.  All I can say is that it worked, because I found myself very much rooting for Jason Clarke’s character Dan to get information from that first suspect.

Jason Clarke is great in Zero Dark Thirty. I’m surprised he wasn’t nominated for an Oscar. Maybe his role in the film was too short to qualify as a Best Supporting Actor?

The real shining star of the movie is Jessica Chastain. Her character, Maya, reminds me of Erin Brockovich era Julia Roberts, and not just because they both have fair skin and red hair. It’s because they’re both no-nonsense women on missions, who are sacrificing their personal lives and going to the breaking point for the greater good. Maya’s response to James Gandolfini, when he asks who she is, might be my favorite line in the entire movie.

I’m surprised that Jennifer Lawrence is favored to win the Oscar for Best Lead Actress over Jessica Chastain. I liked Silver Linings Playbook a lot, but outside of her scene-stealing speech in Pat’s house, I didn’t think Jennifer Lawrence’s character was Oscar favorite-worthy over Maya.

There were a surprising number of TV actors in this movie. Kyle Chandler, James Gandolfini, Harold Perrineau (who, surprisingly did not yell “WALLLLLLLLLLLLTTTTT!!!!!” even once), John Barrowman, Mark Duplass and Christ Pratt all have roles. Out of them, I knew only Chris Pratt was in ZDT. He’s not in the movie as much as the trailer suggests, but he gives a very good dramatic performance. I’m so used to him in the comedic role of Andy on Parks and Rec that I forgot I first saw him in the drama, Everwood.

I’d been on a Torchwood and Doctor Who binge right before I saw ZDT, so when John Barrowman appeared on screen, I giggled.

After seeing Kyle Chandler in both Argo and Zero Dark Thirty, I’m fairly convinced he is an actual CIA agent.

Coach Taylor is Agent Chandler’s cover story.

The odds on favorite for Best Picture going into Sunday’s Academy Awards is Argo, and I’m very happy for Ben Affleck. He was unduly snubbed by the Academy for Best Director, so I hope he walks away with Best Picture. But after seeing Zero Dark Thirty, my personal race for Best Picture is too close to call.

Silver Linings Playbook – Review

4/5 – The movie where you realize Bradley Cooper is a serious actor.

It has to stink having the movie where you show the world that you’re a really good dramatic actor comes out the same year that Daniel Day Lewis has a new movie. That’s exactly what happened to Bradley Cooper with Silver Linings Playbook. If Daniel Day Lewis wasn’t in Lincoln this year, I think Bradley Cooper would walk home with the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Lead Role.

I like Bradley Cooper a lot, but if you had told me this time last year that I thought he would be the runner up for the Best Lead Actor Oscar, I would have called you nutty. Before Silver Linings Playbook, Cooper has been known mostly for his very good comedic skills (Wedding Crashers, The Hangover) and movies that banked on his good looks (The A-Team, Valentine’s Day). 
Silver Linings Playbook is the movie that tells the world Bradley Cooper is one damn good actor. In the movie, he plays Pat, a guy who had to do a stint in a mental institution after having the worst day of his life. In Pat’s defense, I think everything he did to that teacher in his bathroom was justifiable.
Weird Tie-In Merchandise: Silver Linings Trash Bag Vests, exclusively at Target

Pat has issues: rage, insecurity, an obsession with his separated wife, and Cooper plays these issues brilliantly. His parents have issues in the movie too, and you can see how they’ve influenced Pat in how well Cooper plays him to be both a little like his mother and a little like his father. 
Speaking of Pat’s father, Robert De Niro turns in a great performance as Pat Sr. Robert De Niro in Silver Linings Playbook is the antithesis of Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln. In Lincoln, Tommy Lee Jones’s Thaddeus Stevens is Tommy Lee Jones in a wig. But Pat Sr. is not just Robert De Niro in an Eagles sweater. There were points in the movie where I found myself completely lost in the family dynamic of Pat’s family. I wasn’t seeing Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro on the screen. I was seeing Pat and Pat Sr.
I can relate to Frank Sr’s superstitions. My dad and I once banned my mother from 
the living room when we thought she was jinxing the Yankees during the World Series.

Jennifer Lawrence reminds you that she’s the same actress who excelled in Winter’s Bone, not just the face of Hunger Games. She has a scene-stealing scene confronting Pat and his family. This scene is definitely what has garnered her so many awards nominations. It’s definitely the second-best scene in the movie.
What’s the best scene? Without a doubt it’s a scene I don’t want to spoil, but one that comes near the very end of the film. I laughed hysterically, and then did so again a few moments later, and that’s all I’ll say on that.

David O. Russell once again created an excellent movie. His last movie, The Fighter, was my favorite movie of 2010. While Silver Linings Playbook is not my favorite movie of 2012, I definitely give it a very high recommendation. 

I fully expect their dance to be incorporated into many weddings.

Moonrise Kingdom – Review

5/5 – Super Cute! 

I feel like I am stuck in a strange cycle when it comes to Wes Anderson movie. A new Wes Anderson movie is released. I fail to see it in the movie theater. I see it on DVD. I love it and vow to catch the next Wes Anderson movie in the theater. A new Wes Anderson movie is released. I fail to see it in the movie theater…

Moonrise Kingdom is adoraballs. This is the movie you want to turn on when you’ve had a bad day at the office. It’s full of whimsy without being too twee. This is definitely one of my favorite movies that was released in 2012.

Suzy & Sam

Kara Heyward and Jared Gilman are terrific as the movie’s young lovers, Suzy and Sam, who flee the watchful eyes of their parents (or scout masters, in Sam’s case). It’s amazing that this is both of their first movies. They both did fantastic jobs in their lead roles here.

Scout Master Ward

Wes Anderson movies are known for their very memorable supporting characters and Moonrise Kingdom is no exception. Edward Norton is great as the very earnest Scout Master Ward. But if I had to pick a favorite character from the film, it would be Bob Balabin as The Narrator. I loved the way Anderson filmed him, addressing the camera in a variety of poses, like an older Ferris Bueller.

The Narrator

Moonrise Kingdom is nominated for Best Screenplay at this year’s Academy Awards. Will it win? I hope so. I think it should have been nominated for Best Costume Design as well. That would have been a harder category to win against the period pieces that tend to dominate that category, but it would have been nice to throw a nod in Moonrise Kingdom’s direction, as the outfits definitely helped make the movie.

At The Theater #8: A Single Man

A Single Man is a film about a man in mourning. It stars Colin Firth as George, a recently widowed gay college professor living in Los Angeles in the early 1960s. With the sudden death of his lover Jim, all the life seems to be taken out of George, both internally through his grief, and externally in that out of the two of them, Jim seems to have been the one with more fire in his soul. He ignited George, and now that he’s gone, George has gone cold.

A Single Man is a beautifully shot movie. Tom Ford utilizes color throughout the film to a very good effect. It’s easy to tell George’s emotional state regarding the world around him depending on how bright or muted the colors are in the scene. This really pops when George is in a good mood, providing some of the prettiest visuals in the film.

The problem with following a depressed man around for the course of a day is that it makes for at times a verrrrry slowwwwww moving movie. I didn’t fall asleep at any part during the movie, but if we had picked a later showtime, I might have been danger of fighting off some serious drowsiness.

I was a fan of the TV show Pushing Daisies, so it was a pleasant surprise to see a cameo from Lee Pace, who played Ned on the show. Here he is stodgy colleague of George who is obsessed with the cold war and impending nuclear holocaust. His scene is one of the two funniest scenes in the movie, when he explains to George why everyone needs a fallout shelter.

Ned!

The other big surprise about A Single Man was seeing Nicholas Hoult, the awkward kid from About a Boy, play Kenny in this movie. The surprise came from that he’s no longer awkward, has lost a lot of baby fat, and is, according to a couple of girls who also saw the movie, “very hot.” My date pointed out that this movie would be a lot more awkward if they cast the other guy from The Bridget Jones Diaries, Hugh Grant to play George. Because Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult starred together in About a Boy when Hoult was much younger, the two of them going skinny dipping here would have seemed especially weird.

For my female readership…enjoy.

The clothes in A Single Man are another big highlight of the movie. Everyone is dressed to the nines, even if they’re just in everyday clothes. But I guess if you have Tom Ford directing, that’s to be expected. I wish Tom Ford provided my clothes.

The main reason I went to see A Single Man is that it was nominated for Best Picture as this year’s Oscars, or so I thought. When I saw it, I thought “I don’t know if I would have nominated A Single Man for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards.” It looks like the Academy agreed with me, because it wasn’t A Single Man that was nominated for Best Picture, it was A Serious Man. Whoops.

Speaking of the Oscars, it doesn’t look like I’m going to see all the Best Picture contenders before tonight’s show. With only hours left until the broadcast, and The Hurt Locker, Blind Side, Precious and A Serious Man still to go, I think I may only have time for one. Since the battle for Best Picture seems to be between Avatar and The Hurt Locker, I think I’m going to go with that.