fanbloomingtastic

Tempest's 2012 Oscars Watchalong - Roundup and Predictions

 

 

So I started this year's watching the Oscars with high hopes and a goal of watching at least 30 of the 61 films with one or more nominations. And then Mr D got taken off a plane by paramedics, spent a week stranded in pain in Chicago, then surgery and time recovering, several health scares and I found out I had a huge dental infection that resulted in an extraction and lots of days fighting the pain of having a hole scraped out in my jaw.

And yet, I managed to meet my goal on watchings, even without (unfortunately) getting to see all the Best Movie nominees or getting to a cinema. I'm sad that I still haven't seen The Artist or Hugo (yeah, I know, this is why I feel a bit of a failure) but on the other hand, I'm glad the roadblocks along the way made me watch some movies I'd never have thought about seeing otherwise.

 

 

Also although I've seen 32 of the 61 movies (for a full list of the 61 movies with nominations click here), unfortunately because life got in the way and frantic sewing for the Sew Weekly challenges, I've only managed to blog reviews for 16 of them. Could do better on this one next year Tempest...

My favourite movies of those watched were A Better Life (I loved this movie, it was difficult to watch at times but Demián Bichir and his co-star José Julián were absolutely outstanding. I would say this movie was easily better than the 3 films up for Best Movie that I watched - The Help, Midnight in Paris and Moneyball), Drive, Tuba Atlantic, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Hell & Back Again.

But these are my hopes for wins tonight (not necessarily my predictions, because many of those would disagree with who I'd want to win):

Best Picture: now I have to admit I haven't seen The Artist (I reckon I'm the only person in the world not to have seen it....but I am worried that it might be like Mamma Mia for me, everybody saw that before me and raved about it, I absolutely loathe it, it ruined Abba for me!) but I'm going to be rooting for Hugo simply because I love Asa Butterfield as Mordred in Merlin. I know, not a fantastic reason....next year I will make sure I watch all the Nest Movie nominees like I did last year.

Leading Actor: Now, had I not watched A Better Life, I'd have been rooting for Gary Oldman....but now I'm torn as Demián Bichir was absolutely outstanding. So I think I'm going to have to hope against hope for Demián Bichir.

Supporting Actor: Without a doubt, I shall be crossing my fingers for Christopher Plummer in Beginners....he was sooooooo good, but I suspect I'll be thwarted.

Leading Actress: I reckon Meryl Streep will get this for her Iron Lady but as I couldn't support anything to do with Thatcher I'll be hoping blindly for Viola Davis in The Help (though I loved Michelle Williams in Drive, for which she didn't getting a Supporting Actress nomination, but she did get a Leading Actress nod for My Week With Marilyn).

Supporting Actress: It's quite interesting, I found so many things wrong with The Help as a movie and didn't really enjoy it except for the fabulous fashions, but I did think that the acting from Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer was pretty special.....so I'll be wanting Octavia Spencer to get the Oscar here.....and can't wait to see what she's wearing on the red carpet.

Animated Feature: I am a little torn between Kung Fu Panda 2 and Rango, but for it's slightly more surreal and cerebral slant I'll cheer for Rango.

Art Direction: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt 2 - surely Harry Potter should get something at this last ditch attempt, a total crime that Alan Rickman didn't get a Best Supporting Actor nomination.

Cinematography: Hugo

Costume Design: The costumes in Anonymous were absolutely gorgeous. I have to admit I took quite a few screen caps of the costumes worn by Elizabeth 1 and the Earl of Oxford's wife and these may well inspire some of my Sew Weekly challenges later in the year, particularly this jacket:

 

 

Directing: Hugo

Documentary Feature: Hell and Back Again, although Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory should possibly get it too for a sort of lifetime achievement award type thing.

Documentary Short: Incident in New Bagdad (yes I'm a biased Brit)

Film Editing: The Artist

Foreign Language Film: A Separation

Makeup: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 2 (hope against hope and even in spite of Ron and Draco's middle-aged beer bellies at the end) but I suspect The Iron Lady grr will win.

Original Score: The Artist

Original Song: Controversial but I think I preferred Real in Rio though The Muppets was a far superior film to RIO.

Animated Short Film: Slightly weird that all but Pixar's La Luna have actually been available for the general public to see (La Luna won't be in cinemas until June as a short before Brave), so of the 4 I was able to watch I adore The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.

Live Action Short Film: Without a doubt Tuba Atlantic. Though I suspect The Shore might get it.

Sound Editing: Drive

Sound Mixing: Moneyball

Visual Effects: No contest for me (though I suspect there is for others) Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and the fact that Andy Serkis didn't get an Oscar nomination himself is a crime.

Adapted Screenplay: I'm torn between Ides of March and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy but will probably be British and plump for John Le Carre's original adapted by Bridget O'Connor, who sadly died in 2010.

Original Screenplay: Midnight in Paris

Right need to go now, Live on the Red Carpet is about to start on E! and I need to get ready with my pencil and sketchpad to make copious fashion inspiration notes :)

Oscar Nominated Short Films - Live Action (Tempest's 2012 Oscars Watchalong)

 

The Oscar Nominated Shorts came online this morning. I say came online, I mean that some of them became available to watch On Demand through my digital tv provider. They were supposed to be added to iTunes today but I haven't spotted that happening yet. They've been showing for about the last week in around 200 cinemas in the USA (and 2 in the UK, in London and Bristol and that was only for limited screenings). And you'll see when I get to my post on the Animated Shorts, not all of them are available for the general public to watch.

But still.

I love the Shorts. They're fun to watch. Especially as usually I know nothing about them. And I like watching films that I nothing about beforehand.

Last year had some classics. Here's my post about the 2011 live action shorts. I found it pretty difficult to choose between God of Love and The Crush...and The Confession and Wish 143 were pretty good too.

This year, hmmm, I don't think overall they were quite as good. Don't get me wrong, there was great acting, great plots, well written dialogue, a few surprises, good filming.....but never all together at once in most of the films.

Pentecost

An Irish film. 11 mins long. About Damian, an altar boy and his passion in life - Liverpool FC.

I really liked this. It was charming. A clever story, quirky and funny. I love the football allusions. But it didn't sweep me off my feet like any of last year's contenders.

Raju

Made in and by Germany and India. 24 mins long. Slightly more polished than Pentecost, it stirred me with a feeling of foreboding but I felt the ending was slightly ruined by the start....I'm trying not to do spoilers, but you'll spot what happens in the first few seconds and it spoils the rest of the 23 and bit minutes without you having to think to hard about it.

There's good acting and I particularly liked the filming of real India (unlike the sanitised version we saw in Outsourced....a series I particularly hate)...and I like that the like challenges you and makes you think. Closer but still no cigar on a complete live action short of perfection.

The Shore

I thought this might be the one. Made in Ireland and I'm sure the Irish Tourist Board are very thankful, some beautiful shots of the green and pleasant island. At 31 mins this is the longest of all the Live Action Shorts and though it has some very good bits to commend it, it still didn't seem the full package to me.

Helped by Ciarán Hinds (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, The Debt, The Road to Perdition, The Mayor of Casterbridge....oh you'll know him when you see him) and Conleth Hill (Game of Thrones - Lord Varys). Hindered by Kerry Condon's non-American accent, ok, that's probably just my issue, but I found it distracting. it felt to me a wooly around a small visual joke and nice backstory....but didn't feel strong enough as a whole. Bits were flimsy and holey. OK, I'm a rubbish critic, but I know what I like and each to their own.

Time Freak

This was probably the weakest of the bunch for me. It was a slick American short of 11 mins, but not half as slick or clever as God of Love was last year. In its favour is that it wasn't wooly around a small but clever idea. I think for me it was the standard of acting that let it down against some of the other shorts.

Tuba Atlantic

OK, I was hoping against hope as this one started that it would make up for the rest and it did. A 25 min short from Norway and it's definitely my favourite (by which you can guarantee it won't win). The actors in it are spot on, it's quirky, funny, slightly surreal and managed to surprise me. And I love Oskar and Inger. I'm definitely going to have to watch it again to learn how to swear in Norwegian!

Here's a clip:

 

Tuba Atlantic Trailer from Hallvar Witzø on Vimeo.

You can learn before about the short films nominated in the 3 different categories (live action, animated and documentary) here on the Oscar Shorts website, plus see short clips from each. As I say they should be up for download on iTunes today, are available in the USA on VOD on digital tv and in certain art cinemas.

But my fingers will be crossed for Tuba Atlantic on Sunday night!

The Muppets (Tempest's 2012 Oscars Watchalong)

I thought I'd better do The Muppets alongside RIO as they feature the two songs nominated for Best Original Song Oscar.

Here's Man or Muppet, the actual song:

 

 

I think I might be about to say something controversial here. Obviously, The Muppets as a movie (not to be confused as The Muppet Movie) is a far superior film to RIO....and I did like Man or Muppet when it featured in the middle of the film.....but without the clips and the joke of Jim Parsons (actually he was probably there as Sheldon wasn't he?) appearing as the human version of Walter.....I possibly think as a song to listen to, Real in Rio might be better. OK, no stop, wait a minute....I've just remembered Jesse Eisenberg's singing on it....ok, Man or Muppet wins my vote.

I do like the silliness of the lyrics in Man or Muppet. It's very muppety. And possibly more catchy than Real in Rio. But it doesn't have Sergio Mendes and the drum beat. Oh I don't know.

As for The Muppets, I love it. I was a little concerned that it wouldn't be up to the standard of the original Muppet Shows and the first few Muppet movies (they did lose their way slightly, although The Muppet Christmas Carol stormed back on form, possibly one of my favourite Christmas movies). I was also concerned that the human stars, Amy Adams and Jason Segal might get too much screentime in place of some of my favourite Muppets.....but as soon as Fozzie and Gonzo showed up, and Fozzie put his fart shoes on I was as happy as my 8 year old self again.

And more importantly, I converted two others to the way of the Muppet. Goth Child and Melchett were vaguely aware of the Muppets.....I've played them enough clips from the original Muppet Shows and they've watched The Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island with me. But seeing a Muppet movie in a cinema blew them away. They came away wanting to devour everything muppety....to the extent that, that night Melchett made me do her fingernails like this:

 

Yes, we liked The Muppets movie. And The Muppet Movie.

 

My scoring:

Would I recommend it to others to watch?  YES!

Would I watch it again?  YES!

What did I think about the song Man or Muppet? Liked it, especially as part of the movie. As a song that I might hear on the radio it isn't quite as appealing without the visuals.

What score would I give the movie out of 10?  9

 

And if you want a full list of the 61 movies up for Oscars in 2012, including their categories, I've made a list you can print off using Google docs: Tempest's 2012 Oscars Watchalong

RIO (Tempest's 2012 Oscars Watchalong)

Last year for the Oscar nominees for Best Original Song I have to admit I only listened to the actual songs on Youtube and didn't watch them in context of their movies. But this year with Mr D's kidney emergencies, my tooth infection/extraction, and Goth Child being ill as well......I've needed distractions that were easily watchable at home (or in waiting rooms), mainly on my ipad.

So here's the nominated song first:

 

 

It's very catchy. Anything that Sergio Mendes has an involvement in is magic. Whether it can beat the phenomenon that is Man or Muppet is another matter though.

And what can I say about RIO the movie?

Melchett (9) saw it months before I did. I asked her the other day what she thought of it. Now bear in mind that most movies that 9 year olds watch (ok, maybe its only Melchett) they come out of saying they are the BEST. MOVIE. EVER! She's does this about all the Shreks, Toy Storys, Star Wars, Spongebob, Chipmunks (are you getting the picture?)

Her verdict on RIO? "S'alright".

And I think I agree with her.

I've watched A LOT worse in my role as devoted mother going to movies with her children that she wouldn't otherwise touch with a bargepole (the movies that is, not the children...I'm very close to my children....even when they're smelly). And RIO is......s'alright.

The colours are beautiful, fantastic, joy-making. The music is fab too.....though I actually prefer Nigel's song to Real in Rio, the nominated song. The story is ok. Again I've watched worse. The only thing I had a real issue with, which grew as the movie went on and I thought abut it more are the racial stereotypes. I didn't really notice it at first. Then the street urchin appears. He steals exotic birds to get money to live. Now this stereotyping of Brazil is no worse than we've seen on things like the Simpsons. But I found myself with a vague sense of unease. And when I started thinking about it more, because the story wasn't strong enough to distract me, I started noticing that the two central human characters were white.....that all the cooky, quirky comedy bird roles were voiced by people of colour, George Lopez, Jamie Foxx, Will.I.Am, Wanda Sykes, but again the central two birds of the movie are voiced by young, white stars Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg, definitely neither possessing accents that might indicate they were from South America.....and there's a distinct lack of black skin throughout Rio (except for the baddie smugglers....hmmm) when the one thing I know about Brazil from following their football team for decades (I need to support someone when England get knocked out of the World Cup) is that although there are lots of different shades of skin, it's predominately black.

Perhaps I'm over-reacting. Perhaps it's because the storyline wasn't compelling enough to totally hold my attention. But as I say, the movie caused a vague unease with me.

 

My scoring:

Would I recommend it to others to watch?  Possibly

Would I watch it again?  Probably not

What did I think about the original song Real in Rio? It's good. Very catchy. Probably better without Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg's bit though.

What score would I give it out of 10?  7

 

And if you want a full list of the 61 movies up for Oscars in 2012, including their categories, I've made a list you can print off using Google docs: Tempest's 2012 Oscars Watchalong

Drive (Tempest's 2012 Oscars Watchalong)

 

 

Wow. I did not expect this. I think Drive might be my film of 2011. I do like watching movies that I know absolutely nothing about, and being very pleasantly surprised.

I'm going to be very brief about this one, because:

1. I don't want to risk giving any plot spoilers, I loved it being totally ignorant about it...I wouldn't want to spoil that for anyone else.
2. I finally got the guts up to go and sign up with an American dentist last night after a year and a half (I actually went to see my British one whilst on holiday in the UK in 2010) and apparently I have the largest tooth/jaw infection they've ever seen (news to me, though now I've been told something's there I keep imagining I feel pain) and I have to make an appointment asap to go and see a oral surgeon to have a molar taken out and the infection dealt with.

So, Drive.

I LOVE the start, it's fantastic. The precision. The professionalism. The knowing a craft down to the minutest detail. The quiet confidence. I LOVE the silence, the awkwardness of the pauses for the viewer. I adore that the driver has no name and is just called the/your 'Driver'. I LOVE the surprises.

I will say as a warning that there is very graphic violence in this movie, that even made me have to look away at points.....and I'm a Kill Bill and Machete fan. It's not so much the unexpected violence, that I could cope with, but there are some moments of premeditated lingering violence. To think I was actually watching this to see if it was suitable for Goth Child to watch.....it most certainly isn't.

But the violence is just a teeny tiny part to the movie, which is so much more.

Ryan Gosling and the rest of the cast are quite superb. I liked his performance in The Ides of March but as the Driver he's superbly measured.

It reminded me of Taxi Driver, of El Mariachi/Desperado and there are bits of it that feel like 80's movie montages....you know like they have the musical interludes say in Pretty in Pink when you see Ducky riding around on his bike to Banarama's Cruel Summer....oh hang on, that's Karate Kid isn't it....well, there are bits of Drive like that too. You'll understand what I mean when you see it.

Anyway, Drive....I blooming loved it, and can't believe it's only been nominated for a Best Sound Editing Oscar.

Ok. Time to ring an oral surgeon....

 

My scoring:

Would I recommend it to others to watch?  Yes, but know that there is some extreme graphic violence in it

Would I watch it again?  Yes

What did I think about the sound editing? Haha, this is such a film about quiet brooding, uncomfortable silences...it's really difficult for me to judge without watching it again listening more carefully

What score would I give it out of 10?  9.5

 

And if you want a full list of the 61 movies up for Oscars in 2012, including their categories, I've made a list you can print off using Google docs: Tempest's 2012 Oscars Watchalong