The Big Short

The Big Short (Adam McKay, 2015)

Four denizens in the world of high-finance predict the credit and housing bubble collapse of the mid-2000s, and decide to take on the big banks for their greed and lack of foresight.

As Hollywood is telling financing success (see The Wolf Of Wall Street) and crisis (The Big Short), we are propulsed in a world that is as unclear who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. A bit like we you are watching a gangster flick and the cops are as full of shit as the bad guys. In Adam McKay’s The Big Short, almost every person wants his piece of the pie and everyone is at some time a bad guy.

Spotlight

Spotlight (Tom McCarthy, 2015)

The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.

How Green Was My Valley

Editor’s note : this review is a translation of one of the first reviews to ever appear on this blog back in 2009. Those were less than a 150 words long and were written immediately after the viewing of each film. This is as aforementioned a translation and a longer edit of this original film review.

How Green Was My Valley (John Ford, 1941)

At the turn of the century in a Welsh mining village, the Morgans, he stern, she gentle, raise coal-mining sons and hope their youngest will find a better life.

Oft maligned as the greatest steal of all time at the Academy Awards, wining Best Picture and Best Director over Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane, John Ford’s How Green Was My Valley, that was supposed to be William Wyler’s film, is part of one of the most prolific era of Ford’s career. Along Stagecoach, The Long Voyage Home, Young Mr. Lincoln, The Grapes of Wrath, Tobacco Road, and Drums Along the Mohawk were all made between the time span of 1939 and 1941. This is almost as many films as Stanley Kubrick did in his entire career. Joking aside, Ford’s How Green Was My Valley is quite unique and personal in his career.

88th Oscars Predictions: The Results

In a ceremony hosted by Chris Rock's master hands filled with more humor and gags than before and with a nice pace between the awards and performances and presentations I had a pretty good run at predicting most of the awards. The only half-surprise is the win of Spotlight over The Revenant. 

The big talk today is Leonardo DiCaprio's win a performance as bad as The Aviator. This says a lot about the young man who uses his upper face too much and gets way too intense to play his parts in full restraint and subtlety. The win of DiCaprio for The Revenant is a steal as big as the year Russell Crowe won for Gladiator or the year Henry Fonda won for On Golden Pond over Burt Lancaster for Atlantic City.
However, I could go on and on about this and he still would have his Oscar and I would be still writing my miserable opinion on this modest blog. 

88th Oscars Predictions

Even if I haven't been that much active lately on Le Mot du Cinephiliaque I wanted to bring my two cents into the ocean of Oscars predictions lists going on all around. Of all the nominees, I only watched Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant, and The Martian. Each film I enjoyed at different levels. I invite you to click on the links of the films to read my reviews of each film.

Enough of this already, let's get on with my actual predictions and my personal picks in every category. Oh, I won't be listing every nominees so if you don't know them please consult this list for the whole damn thing: http://oscar.go.com/nominees

The Martian

The Martian (Ridley Scott, 2015)

During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.

Titanic

Titanic (James Cameron, 1997)

A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind, but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.

The Revenant

The Revenant (Alejandro G. Inarittu, 2016)

A frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team.

Mad Max : Fury Road

Mad Max : Fury Road (George Miller, 2015)

A woman rebels against a tyrannical ruler in post apocalyptic Australia in search for her homeland with the help of a group of female prisoners, a psychotic worshiper, and a drifter named Max.

Whiplash

Whiplash (Damien Chazelle, 2014)

A promising young drummer enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student's potential.

It is important to immediately inform you the reader that before we get into this film review of Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash, I own and play on a drum occasionally and I even introduced the instrument to my daughter when she was six months old. So music and drumming are important to me and a strong interest for me. So in a way, this review might be tainted with other than a simple movie review.

Staring off with the mention of the tremendous performance by J.K. Simmons as Fletcher the tyrannical mentor is not an understatement to say that he steals every scene he is in. As his opposite, young Miles Teller plays the greatness driven Andrew who wants to become one of the best jazz drummer of his generation. It is a bit of a surprise that Teller was not nominated for an Oscar for his performance. The chemistry between the two actors works because the manipulative Fletcher works like a chameleonic presence of building and destroying to build better artists than they ever dream of.

My reading of Whiplash is a Freudian one with Andrew in the middle of his biological father who wants the best for his only child that he raised by himself having to be his father and his mother. While Andrew prefers Fletcher’s hard love father figure of a despotist dictator conductor. While he sees his father as weak and too soft for him he goes to Fletcher to get the kick and beat himself to become great. He is relegating his biological father as a figure of moral support but not a life guidance one. Feeling that his father has failed him and does not understand his drive and aspirations.

Apart from the great tension of the story and its acting performances, the cinematography and editing of the musical sequences are warm and well executed. Lighting is very dark but gives the right atmosphere for jazz music and how the conservatory seems to be taking its students into a close set of isolation and obsessive study.

Whiplash is a strong film and having never heard of its director, Chazelle, I’m looking forward to discover his next projects. It is a film that makes me want to grab the sticks and jam on my set during long hours. This is the kind of film that inspires and also understands how creative teachers can be pain in the ass but also just want to get the best out of everything. Personally, I had a father like that and it was difficult when I was a child and a teenager but today I would not be the man I am.

Birdman : Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Birdman : Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, 2014)

A washed-up actor, who once played an iconic superhero, battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career and himself in the days leading up to the opening of his Broadway play.

Strong from its four wins at the 2015 Academy Awards, Birdman, the latest film from the Mexican New Wave director Alejandro G. Inarritu, this cynical view of the comeback of a has been of the show business sure has its moments but does it delivers has much as the noise surrounding it?

Winning for best picture, best director (Inarritu), best original screenplay (Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo), and best cinematography (Emmanuel Lubezki) in other words two of the major awards (picture and director) and two technical important ones (original screenplay and cinematography) Birdman is sure an impressive movie. Technically and visually this is the act of masters especially Lubezki with his superb camera movements following the protagonists and dancing like the interior voice of Riggan (Michael Keaton). It doesn’t take long to understand that we are in the point of view of the Birdman and we are gravitating around the production of this stage show. Lubezki who worked on two of the most beautiful film on the last five years The Tree of Life and Gravity has almost surpassed his wonderful camera work of Tree of Life with Birdman. However, the Terrence Malick vehicule is a masterpiece and Birdman is not.

With actors as talented as Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts and other wonderful surprises like Zack Galifianakis, Andrea Riseborough, Amy Ryan and obviously Michael Keaton starring in a major motion picture and giving the performance of a life time as the man behind the birdman. Sure everyone gives an outstanding performance and no one is afraid to be vulnerable or a complete looser. In fact, this is almost a tale on losers and the need to humiliate yourself to grow up and achieve something.

As mentioned before this is a visually stunning film and its concept or gimmick gives him a unique feel and touch but its story doesn’t elevate to the next level. The film relies on its technical aspects a bit too much and its characters as outstandingly portrayed by every actors, are a bit one sided and might have needed more flesh and feathers around the bones from the writing department.

Finally, to answer my previous interrogation, as a whole the film delivers a refreshing tale of popularity, stardom, egocentrism but on the storyline and content I was left a bit disappointed. The icing on the cake is more appealing to watch but after the first bite the whole thing seems to be one note and we feel it was maybe prettier if left untouched.

Results: Final Oscar Predictions

 

Here are my picks (in bold) (winners in green and my incorrect picks in red) for the 2014 Academy Awards:

Final Oscars Predictions

 It is this time of the year when we, film lovers, get a little wet and try predicting the winners of the night of the films.

Having seen more than the half of the movies nominated I can say that it is an average year and that I'm expecting no real surprise for the night of March 2nd. Before sending my final picks for the Oscars here's my personal ranking of all the films nominated I've seen.

1. Her

2. Before Midnight

3. Dallas Buyers Club

4. Gravity

5. American Hustle

6. The Grandmaster

7. 12 Years a Slave

 

Here are my picks (in bold) for the 2014 Academy Awards:

85th Oscars Predictions

by Olly Moss as seen on tdylf.com,
Click on the Image for Higher Resolution

As I'm taking the time to post my mandatory Oscar Predictions I have to confess that I was not very active on this Blog since the debut of 2013. Let's take the Oscars Predictions and get a big push into 2013 movies and films cirtics.

Argo

Argo (Ben Affleck, 2012)

A dramatization of the 1980 joint CIA-Canadian secret operation to extract six fugitive American diplomatic personnel out of revolutionary Iran.

As History goes the common people like you and me are more and more aware of international issues around the world with the democratization of the medias and the spread of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. In past years, many revolts in the Middle East have been fueled with the social networks. Sometimes it's for the best. In the case of Argo we are transported in 1979-1980's uprising of Iran with the Ayatollah and the Political refuge of the Shah in the USA. The Shah, being funded by the Americans against the wide spread of Communism of the Soviet Union and in the not so secret issue of keeping the access to petrol, has been declared an enemy of his land. During the uprisings, a group of 44 Americans of the Embassy were kept by the Islamic Republic of Iran. A small group of 6 escaped to the Canadian Embassy and were secretly living there waiting to escape the country.

Intouchables

Intouchables (Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, 2011)

A seriously handicaped rich man (François Cluzet) seeks for an aidant, but the task is very hard and even if it is well paid the number of people who occupied the position is huge. This goes on until he meets a young black man (Omar Sy) from a poor milieu with a great heart and a lot of pragmatism.

This comedy had every ingredient to fall into the easy path of melodramas and the victimization of wheelchair handicaped people. However, the angle of approach of the two directors (Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano) brought an encounter of two improbable person becoming best buds. It is the overused concept of the Odd Couple, where two very different kind of characters get along in a way that only buddy flicks can, that can be one of the most obvious elements of the plot. Mostly because of the many times the same story has been done over and over again, I was expecting something very convetional and obvious. And even if the story is inspired by true events and characters, we feel that the plot hasn’t been that much romanced.

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin, 2012)

In the Bathtub, somewhere in Louisiana, we discover the little six year old girl Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) and her father Wink (Dwight Henry). They live together in the bayou full of waste, dirt, and trash. With the openning shot we understand that their state of living is like animals and they are surrounded by them. The chemistry between the girl and the father is brutish and he raises her to become strong and survive. Paralleled with the global warming of the entire planet and the revival of prehistoric creatures that were caught in the ice thousands of years ago, we are confronted with Hushpuppy’s vision of her world and her survival. This is clearly a child’s vision of her surroundings and her life. At some point, there are so many plot elements thrown in the air that it is possible to have an endless number of readings of the movie.

This is not a visually appealing film and except the little Hushpuppy it is very hard to actually care for the characters of the story. On the other hand, knowing that the filmmakers got on location to places where the Hurricane Katrina destroyed the homes of many people is gut renching to watch that some lost everything. However, I did not particuarly excited about the directing of Benh Zeitlin especially knowing that he earned a Best Director Academy Awards nomination. Having not seen a lot of 2012 releases may play against me but I could name some other more worth deserving works by directors. With that said, one must not pass under the radar the presence of first timer Quvenzhané Wallis as the six years old Hushpuppy. She does not play Hushpuppy, she is this little girl. Her voice over is one of the best use of the technique even if it’s normally more annoying than helping a film her natural narration and naive perceptions carries the film. Actually, without Wallis there is no film.

Given that the movie earned that much recognition at the Oscars nominations I must admire its audacity and the fact that it is the first film by director Benh Zeitlin who made an overall good job and had a superb cast to support his beast of a film. It is a complex story and it might have had it’s faults here and there, and here again but it surely creates a reaction to its viewers and believe me it is always a good thing.

Silver Linings Playbook

Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell, 2012)

After a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own.

Taking more seriously my new years' resolutions brought me to watch most of the films nominated for Best Picture at the 2013 Academy Awards. Having seen the highly praised Django Unchained I had to head for the other nominated movies. Back in 2010, David O. Russell directed The Fighter, a sports movie filled with outstanding performances by Amy Adams, Christian Bale, and Mark Wahlberg. This past year Russell comes back with another solid contender to the Oscars once again filled with memorable performances.

Moonrise Kingdom

Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012)

A pair of young lovers flee their New England town, which causes a local search party to fan out and find them.

Just like Quentin Tarantino’s films, Wes Anderson’s cinema and universe is one that connects with me in a way that few other filmmakers can do. Possibly Martin Scorsese, Akira Kurosawa, François Truffaut, and Stanley Kubrick made films that I could easily relate to and get into with only the opening credits. Wes’ films are like a visual feast for a cinephile’s eyes. Just like the films of let’s say Max Ophüls, Anderson plays on the widescreen framing of his epic filmmaking and storytelling. This other coming of age story, that could easily be a bore if handle by anyone else, is quite unique and very quirky in its presentation. 

Django Unchained

Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino, 2012)

With the help of his mentor, a slave-turned-bounty hunter sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner. 

 First off, my relationship with Quentin Tarantino's films began when I was around twelve and I watched Pulp Fiction. It was a complete revelation since I did not knew that movies could be so much fun, so original, and quick witted. This first viewing of QT's most celebrated film opened the gates for me to Cinema and many of its genres: gangster films, film noir, Samurai flicks, Western Spaghetti, and many more. A game changer it was, and oh boy did that made a monster? Then I took Cinema classes in College, began collecting movies that I would watch for my movie eduction and moreover my pleasure. And around August 2009 approx., when Inglourious Basterds came out I started this little modest blog that helps me to express myself freely from my thoughts and dreams of Cinema.

Some of the regulars of LMdC know that I've been hitting the nail about Django Unchained and was waiting more or less patiently for its Christmas release. About two weeks ago I was granted to receive free entries for Quebec City's premiere of the movie I was waiting like it was my cinephile Christmas gift. Well, Santa was earlier this year. Enough with the digression here and let's get the proper review going.