SOME NOTES.....

A few things have happened in the last few days:

*J. EDGAR was screened several times in the last week. The word on the street is mixed. Reviews for the movie as a whole haven't been great, but Leonardo Dicaprios performance is thought to be worthy of a Best Actor nomination and pssibly a win. Some are questioning the quality of "aging" make-up". Clint Eastwood did not want to CGI the older Edgar, but used mak-up to age him. I am not a fan of aging make-up it always looks fake. I will judge for myself when I see it.

*HUGO was screened with mostly positive reviews, but I am not ssure that will be enough for a Best Picture nomination, but maybe some techincal awards.

*Bret Ratner continues to put his foot in his mouth. As this years Producer of the very conservative Oscar group he better calm down. He had to apologize for saying that "rehearsals are for fags". He had to clear up a story he told about Micheal Jackson taunting a homeless man when they were hanging out. He recently did an interview on Howard Stern discussing his sexual experiences, how big his balls are, were he likes to ejaculate, etc. None of this is a big deal unless you are producing the Oscars! Many are asking for his resignation from the job.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

18 animated films will compete for Best animated feature this year. According to The Academy the number of nominees depends on the number of submissions:

All submissions sent to the Academy will be screened by the Animated Feature Film Award Screening Committee(s). After the screenings, the committee(s) will vote by secret ballot to nominate from 2 to 5 motion pictures for this award. In any year in which 8 to 12 animated features are released in Los Angeles County, either 2 or 3 motion pictures may be nominated. In any year in which 13 to 15 films are released, a maximum of 4 motion pictures may be nominated. In any year in which 16 or more animated features are released, a maximum of 5 motion pictures may be nominated.  

With that being said there are 18 submissions this year, so there will be 5 Beast animated feature nominations. Here is a list of the submitted animated movies:                   

The Adventures of Tintin
Alois Nebel
Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
Arthur Christmas
Cars 2
A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Gnomeo & Juliet
Happy Feet Two
Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil
Kung Fu Panda 2
Mars Needs Moms
Puss in Boots
Rango
Rio
The Smurfs
Winnie the Pooh
Wrinkles

I think in the end it will come down to RIO or RANGO.

WAR HORSE REVIEW

As mentioned in the previous post I attended a screening of WAR HORSE on Wednesday night. This has been one of the most anticipated movies of the year. You really can't get a feel for how a film will preform during awards season until critics and bloggers review the movie.

Going in I did not have any preconceived notions about the story of WAR HORSE. I knew that it was a huge hit on Broadway and I had seen the movie trailer.  The trailer pretty much tells us that a lovable horse runs through some war stuff. During the first 30 minutes of the movie I wanted to hang myself.  The first act looked like some of the worst "green screen" I have ever seen. The lighting was harsh and uneven.  I am pretty sure Helen Keller edited the first part. There is a weird zoom into the mother' hands while she is knitting that dissolves to a running horse. The effect is so cheesy that I think I heard a few people chuckle. I will toss this up to the possibility that this was not the final cut and hopefully it will be cleaned up before it's release. Also, the story line and script in the first act are so predictable I readied myself for a big disappointment. But then it all changed. After the agonizing story of WAR HORSE being raised we begin to meet other characters who lives cross with this horse. It is here that we see the real Spielberg. We see various stories about people that have come into contact with this horse. One of the stories involving two brothers fighting in the war is way too long and goes off in an odd direction, but the others are very well done. The scenes from the war are Spielberg at his best.

In summary WAR HORSE is a very good film. With some cleaning up it can even be a great film. Yes there are some flaws in the story and some of them may be it's down fall. Sure it is text book "Oscar bait" which could turn off some people but, if the audience goes in with an open mind they will feel like they just witnessed a classic. Look for it December 25th.

MY GRADE: A-

WAR HORSE SCREENING

Thanks to Sasha Stone at Awards Daily I was tipped off to an early screening of WAR HORSE in my area. WAR HORSE has been the most anticipated movie of the year and nobody had seen it yet. Everyone had WAR HORSE in their Best Picture top 10 due to nothing other than the Spielberg factor. In other words you don't have to see it to know Spielberg will make an Oscar movie. WAR HORSE has not been shown to critics or screened at any film festivals, so many have been waiting to see how this movies rates.

I printed my ticket from the website for a screening in Plymouth Meeting, PA which was one of seven cities hosting a showing. I had my doubts that it was real or that I would even be able to get in. I do nothing but read critics and other bloggers who get to see movies first. I thought maybe this would be my chance to be one of those people.  I drove the hour and twenty minutes to the theater not knowing what to expect. When I arrived there was a line forming in an otherwise empty movie theater lobby. So I guessed this was for real. We were all told that no recording devices were aloud and before entering everyone was wanded and their bags searched. I was lucky enough to get in before the theater filled up. Some audience members had notepads for note taking and you could spot the real critics because they all had novels with them to read. Obviously from years of waiting in line for a screening and passing the time with no cell phone.  Someone asked us to please gather at the end of the screening to tell them what we thought. The movie began promptly at 7:30 with a 146 minutes running time. I will post my review later today, but I am curious as to why Dreamworks decided to screen WAR HORSE this way. My ticket stated that it was a "word of mouth" screening. But was it because their confidence was low and didn't want the big critics to trash it yet or was it just a way to build momentum?  The movie definitely needs some trimming, so I am anxious to see if the movie is edited more before it's December 25th release date. My full review is coming today.

BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM NOMINATIONS

Some people may not care about the British Independent Film nomination, but for now it is all we have to help us narrow down Oscar nominations. All of the various film awards leading up to The Academy Awards show which movies have legs to continue on. A lot of movies that have Oscar potential now will fade away in the next few months. It is good to see WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN getting so many nominations. Many critics are skeptical about it getting any Oscar nominations. This nomination can only help. The same goes for SHAME. The winners will be announced December 4th.  Here is the list of British Independent Film nominations:

BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM
SENNA
SHAME
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
TYRANNOSAUR
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

BEST DIRECTOR
Ben Wheatley – KILL LIST
Steve McQueen – SHAME
Tomas Alfredson – TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Paddy Considine – TYRANNOSAUR
Lynne Ramsay – WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD [BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR]
Joe Cornish – ATTACK THE BLOCK
Ralph Fiennes – CORIOLANUS
John Michael McDonagh – THE GUARD
Richard Ayoade – SUBMARINE
Paddy Considine – TYRANNOSAUR

BEST SCREENPLAY
John Michael McDonagh – THE GUARD
Ben Wheatley, Amy Jump – KILL LIST
Abi Morgan, Steve McQueen – SHAME
Richard Ayoade – SUBMARINE
Lynne Ramsay, Rory Kinnear – WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

BEST ACTRESS
Rebecca Hall – THE AWAKENING
Mia Wasikowska – JANE EYRE
MyAnna Buring – KILL LIST
Olivia Colman – TYRANNOSAUR
Tilda Swinton – WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

BEST ACTOR
Brendan Gleeson – THE GUARD
Neil Maskell – KILL LIST
Michael Fassbender – SHAME
Gary Oldman – TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Peter Mullan – TYRANNOSAUR

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Felicity Jones – ALBATROSS
Vanessa Redgrave – CORIOLANUS
Carey Mulligan – SHAME
Sally Hawkins – SUBMARINE
Kathy Burke – TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Michael Smiley – KILL LIST
Tom Hardy – TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Benedict Cumberbatch – TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Eddie Marsan – TYRANNOSAUR
Ezra Miller – WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER
Jessica Brown Findlay – ALBATROSS
John Boyega – ATTACK THE BLOCK
Craig Roberts – SUBMARINE
Yasmin Paige – SUBMARINE
Tom Cullen – WEEKEND

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION
KILL LIST
TYRANNOSAUR
WEEKEND
WILD BILL
YOU INSTEAD

BEST TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
Chris King, Gregers Sall – Editing – SENNA
Sean Bobbitt – Cinematography – SHAME
Joe Walker – Editing – SHAME
Maria Djurkovic – Production Design – TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Seamus McGarvey – Cinematography – WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

BEST DOCUMENTARY
HELL AND BACK AGAIN
LIFE IN A DAY
PROJECT NIM
SENNA
TT3D: CLOSER TO THE EDGE

BEST BRITISH SHORT
0507
CHALK
LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT
RITE
ROUGH SKIN

BEST FOREIGN INDEPENDENT FILM
ANIMAL KINGDOM
DRIVE
PINA
A SEPARATION
THE SKIN I LIVE IN

THE RAINDANCE AWARD
ACTS OF GODFREY
BLACK POND
HOLLOW
LEAVING BAGHDAD
A THOUSAND KISSES DEEP