Real (Reel) People Win Oscars: 2007 Analysis

Last year I did a 19 post series called Real (Reel) People Win Oscars. This series was inspired by the fact that 9 of the 14 best lead actor and actress winners of the 2000's were won by actors portraying real people in bio-pics.

With this past years winners of Marion Cottilard (portraying the real-person Edith Piaf) and Daniel Day Lewis (a non-bio-pic character), the new stat is 10 out of the last 16 winners won for playing real people...still a high stat.

Yet the effort to write these various post about the life of those depicted in bio-pics wasn't just awards prognostication, rather it was a deeper interest.

A good bio-pic has the ability to illuminate someone's story. It's a way of bringing real life history alive. Suddently, Frank "superfly" Lucas the heroin dealer or Jean-Dominique Bauby the former French Elle editor with locked-in syndrome become people that we know much more about.

And while some people might have already carved out their place in history (like Queen Elizabeth I) others get a unique chance in the spotlight (like Melvin B. Tolsin).

A bio-pic is up to far more criticism that a generic historical film. Just think how much slack Mel Gibson got in regards to Braveheart. And as a result think how much people learned about 13th century Scotland as a result of his film.

And while every Real (Real) Person post did not lend itself to becoming a 2007 hit (say Becoming Jane for instance) and many failed to have a traditional release in 2007 (Savage Grace, Chapter 27, An American Crime, The Christmas Cottage, Death Defying Acts, Manolete) these opportunity to learn about this different characters lives and the choice to make films on these people are perhaps interesting studies in themselves.

I've arranged the pictures above in the montage in the chronological time period of the real life people the characters portrayed. You will notice that even in bio-pics the emphasis was primarily on characters from this past century in 2007, that too is interesting to me.

While I have enjoyed the 2007 Real (Reel) People series, I am uncertain as to whether I want to repeat it in 2008. There are a ton of bio-pics coming out this year, and I am sure that again the Academy will chose to honor at least one bio-pic actor or actress in the lead categories this year.

Yet, I am uncertain to the popularity of these post as I posted them the early part of last year. Relative to many of my post, the Reel People post received few comments and seemed on my end to spark little interest (with the exception of those who couldn't believe Thomas Kinkaid would get the bio-pic treatment).

As blog readers, did you enjoy the Real People series?

Quality 80s? Part V

In a search to find timeless, non-quirky 80s films (inspired by my viewing of The Accidental Tourist) I have begun my movie viewing. Here are some 1980s films I've just watched for the first time and my thoughts on whether they're any good 20-or-so years post-release.


Also check out: Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV.

The Color Purple (1985)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Recommended by Oscar (11 noms, 0 wins), Fox, Will, and jeremy.

This movie is good, yet very depressing. I found the adaptation of Alice Walkers story to make for a more interesting screenplay than Spielburg's Empire of the Sun. Yet, at the same time the story of Celie Johnson (Whoopi Goldberg) and the other characters who make up this story, are sad and depressing tales, especially at over 2 and a half hours long. The amount of sexual abuse and confusion that Celie goes through is incredibly horrific. This movie's dealing with rape, incest, domestic sexual, verbal, and physical abuse and same-gender sexual interest makes for a challenging film where you can definitely do with out the popcorn.

It's a lot of fun to see Oprah Winfrey play the role as the strong willed Sofia! She certainly was worthy of her Oscar nominations (as were Goldberg and Margaret Avery). This movie certainly stands apart from many of the "quirky" 80s films, but as discussed previously, as a period piece it has that advantage. Spielburg is great at making "important" films, but many of those "important" films, simply are the type that you only need watch once. This is one of those.

The Mosquito Coast (1986)
Directed by Peter Weir
Recommended by Jeremy R.

This film could have been good. The story of a Utopian dreamer-inventor who uproots his family to central America to rough it and carve out a new life is incredibly interesting. Combining elements of Swiss Family Robinson, Lord of the Flies, Apocolypse Now, and Nutty Professor, it all just doesn't collide together quiet right. I don't blame it on the premise, but I do blame it on the screenplay.

Harrison Ford does an exceptional job as the crazy father, and he has some great lines. But at the same time, the story to me lost a lot of believability in the over-emphasis of the father-son relationship between Harrison Ford and River Phoenix. Ford's film wife played by Helen Mirren, really gets one of the most under developed main character roles I've seen. When Ford decides on a whim to move the family to Honduras, Mirren simply looks at the pile of dishes in the sink, shrugs her shoulders and goes along for the ride. Yet, later in the film she is ready to leave the jungle, but in her devotion to her husband feel unable to, she has some cinematic weeping and screaming moments, but that come out of no development.

I wish this film were better, like many of Weir's films they lend themselves to discussion, and I wish this film was better so that I could recommend it, watch it and discuss it with others. It contains topics of Americanism, utopianism, world development, religion, freedom, family, world trade, and commercialism. Yet the film lacks a completeness that keeps it from being great, all the pieces are there...yet the film is not. It's a shame.


Raising Arizona (1987)
Directed by Joel (and Ethan) Coen
Recommended by Will, and Kat.

I'd seen so many clips from this film, but have failed to ever sit down and watch it from start to finish. Similar to Moonstruck, Nicolas Cage again is forced to have a bad 80s hair cut (all in the name of comedy...or perhaps this is a Coen brother secret that was again used on Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men). Like many other Coen films, the foiled kidnapping plot is perfect ground for comedy, fantastical scenes, and hilarious character monologues from various social classes. I think Holly Hunter is a great comic actress as well, and would love to see her reappear in another Coen film.

20 years later, Raising Arizona, quirky to the 'nth degree, managers to rises above the status of quirky-80s films, and becomes a part of the story of American cinema.

"LOL" worthy: Stuff White People Like

I hate the term LOL, maybe because it's overdone. But probably also because few things cause me to honestly "Laugh out Loud." But today my wife and I were LOLing over and over as we were reading aloud entries on the blog...Stuff White People Like.

(Thanks Brown Shane and White Ando, for finding and posting about this blog)

Stuff White People Like's is funny, but in a very "it's funny because it's true" sort of way.

Today we totally busted up reading post covering how white people like: co-ed sports, multi-lingual children, knowing what's best for poor people.

But by and far our favorite post we've read so far are about how white people like: Vintage and Living By The Water.

I think we found new bedtime stories for our child when she's born, because this stuff is golden!

Mike Tyson Says Jamie Foxx Is Gonna Play Him

Apparently Mike Tyson recently said at a youth correctional facility in North Las Vegas: "Me and Jamie Foxx are going to do a collaboration. He's going to play me in my life story. We've talked about it many times."

Now, the thought of a Mike Tyson big screen treatman is interesting in itself, BUT even more interesting with the thought of Foxx playing Tyson.

Granted, Foxx does do bio-pics and do them well, but I also remember reporting that Jamie Foxx was going to play Bob Marley, but then I had to report it as a false rumor (which was sad because I had made a cool graphic).

So while I'm curious in seeing if this Foxx as Tyson film plays out...but I'm going to certainly wait before I spend time in photoshop merging a Tyson and Foxx picture. Instead you get the unmerged pictures. Imagine them merged together, with Jamie Foxx in the front and the scene of Mike Tyson feathered in the background.

Don't forget, Foxx also has bio-pic about Nathaniel Ayers coming out later this year in the music and award baity film The Soloist.

Stay tuned for the rumor next month that Jamie Foxx will be playing Senator Barack Obama.

Quality 80s? Part IV

In a search to find timeless, non-quirky 80s films (inspired by my viewing of The Accidental Tourist) I have begun my movie viewing. Here are some 1980s films I've just watched for the first time and my thoughts on whether they're any good 20-or-so years post-release.

Also check out: Part I, Part II, and Part III.

The Untouchables (1987)
Directed by Brian De Palma
Recommended by Oscar (1 win, Sean Connery, 3 add'l noms), Ando, Jandy, Fox, Adam

It's weird to watch Kevin Costner films and take Costner series. It's crazy to think what a big actor he used to be. Sean Connery of course, is amazing and the story is a lot of fun. You can see how a lot of movies since the Untouchables have taken it's cue from this film. There's some memorable lines and Robert De Niro is a great Al Capone.

There of course are those "big scenes" like the one where the gun fight is going on while the baby carriage is going down the stairs. It's cinematic, but watch the film 20 years later, it also comes off as a little over the top, especially the slow motion moments.


Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Directed by Woody Allen
Recommended by Oscar (3 wins with 7 noms), Jandy, Will, Jeremy

This film's screenplay is pure literature. It's exceptional.

I often have mixed feelings about Woody Allen films, and yet this one is absolutely great, and he really offers unique roles for the various women (Barbara Hershey, Mia Farrow, Dianne Wiest, Carrie Fisher). I thought the story line and the story telling where so inventive.

Aliens (1986)
Directed by James Cameron
Recommended by Oscar (2 wins with 7 noms), imdb (#4 80s film), Joe Valdez, Chris

This sequel had far less of the suspense element that Ridley Scott's initial film had, yet it moved with much more action. Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is such an interesting film/sci-fi leading lady, and I am so glad she received an Oscar nod for this genre performance.

It's interesting that this is the only film credit for young girl "Newt" (Carrie Henn), she's fantastic in this film...her ability to be cute and scream horrifically reminds me of Dakota Fanning. I also had fun drawing comparison's to Aliens and Titanic (namely the running around between different rooms on a transportation vessel moving away from inescapable danger. Some make it, some don't).

Diablo Cody Goes To Hollywood

After writing blog posts during a year as a stripper in Minneapolis, writing a book about the experience, writing a exceptional smash-hit screenplay (Juno), and catching a lot of attention dressed up as the long lost sister of Barney Rubble, Diablo Cody has caught tons of attention.

Few writers have risen in star power so quick. While some may call her crazy, I'm starting to wonder if Diablo Cody is really a very very smart person who knows how to use the Hollywood machine to generate all the press she needs to be a hot commodity, and as a writer no doubt. In fact, she is using techniques that musicians and actors have used. Allowing the press to create all the buzz you need.

The question is whether or not Diablo Cody's screenwriting will continue to keep people interested.

Diablo Cody has to named upcoming projects a television series called The United States of Tara and a film called Jennifer's Body.

Of the two projects, one sounds great, the other sounds like a bust...but I've learned not to judge a project by it's title or it's premise.

But, of the two projects the most intriguing is The United States of Tara. The US of T is a Showtime TV series, created by Steven Spielburg with Dreamworks. The TV show is about a mom with split personalities trying to hold her family together. The premise, sounds a little like the Ali Larter storyline in Heroes, but what makes this even cooler is Toni Collette's playing the Split-Personality mom. Has there been better casting?

Yet, the movie Jennifer's Body sounds a little Scream/Faculty/I Know What you Did Last Summer-ish. Of course I could be wrong but the story is apparently about a cheerleader who starts killing her male classmates. The movie is directed by Karyn Kusama (Girl Fight) and stars Megan Fox (Transformers). This doesn't quiet sound like the next big hit, but who knows?

There's also supposed to be a script floating around called "Girly Style" that I believe has been picked up by Universal.

Who knows if Diablo Cody will stay in the game, and if the Diablo Cody franchise will former, similar to other fan-favorite screen writers like Charlie Kaufman or Tarantino.

And I'm still interested in Cody writing Juno 2, even if it's 20 years from now.

Initial Thoughts on the 80th Annual Academy Awards & Telecast

1. For starters, with my predictions I got 13 out of 24 nominees correct. Certainly not excellent, that's the same number I got right as last year. I did get 6 of the big 8 (picture, director, actor, supporting actor, supporting actress, & original screenplay).

2. I thought Jon Stewart did an excellent job with the award show, being funny, adaptive, timely, and relavent. In 2006 I made a comment about how I didn't think he was that great, I think Stewart was exceptional this year. Favorite Jon moment was probably when he accepted the baby on behalf of Angelina Jolie who was unable to attend because she couldn't get a baby-sitter.

3. I was in the Julie Christie camp pre-award show, but am excited that Marion Cotillard won. She was beautiful in her mermaid dress (somehow she pulled it off, unlike Bjork and the Swan Dress). I hope her career continues to blossom. Her speech and attitude from red carpet to stage was classy and touching.

4. I probably should have chosen Cottilard to win, after all I've been posting all year about how "Real (Reel) People win Oscars." And this year Cottilard and Blanchett were the only leads performing in bio-pics, so what was I doing predicting Julie Christie to win?

5. Bourne Ultimatum wins each of the 3 Oscars it was nominated for...now that really threw off my predictions (I only had it down to win Editing). Pretty impressive feat since the first two films in the trilogy failed to even score a nod.

6. Who would have guessed Katherine Heigl would have been the most nervous person on stage? And she was just presenting the award for best makeup. Not only was her body and voice shaking, she apologizes to the audience for her nervousness and looked like she was about to cry.

7. I realize that Joel and Ethan Coen were co-nominated for 4 awards and have previously won an Oscar for their Fargo Screenplay...yet, I felt like their acceptance speechs were so lame and cocky, especially their writing award. Sure, they might have been confident about their opportunity to step up on stage again later in the evening, but at least take it seriously. Joel Coen did better during the award for best director with a fun anecdote, but come on act like you care.

8. Amy Adams did such an fantastic job singing "Happy Working Song" at the beginning of the telecast. No props, fancy sets, flashy costumes or lighting shows, just Amy singing the fun Alan Menken/Stephen Schwartz song with all of the energy and talent that made Enchanted an exceptional film. I think the Academy really missed the boat by not nominating Adams for best lead Actress for her role.

9. Speaking of best song, it was really great that Markéta Irglová was able to come back on stage to give her great little speech upon winning the award with Glen Hansard for best Original Song for "Falling Slowly" from Once.

10. The most akward moment of the award show was when Oscar winner Diablo Cody (Original Screenplay, Juno) in her very unique Award-show-get-up ended her speech saying "I want to thank my parents for loving me just the way I am." And then in an emotional huff walks away from the microphone. It was an oddly personal moment that you just weren't sure how to react too.

11. I thought it was pretty neat when the soldiers where helping announce the documentary short awards. Yet, there was a really weird moment when Tom Hanks was reading and briefly describing the documentary feature nominees. Once he finally mentioned the fifth nominee (War Dance) he made a comment about it being a movie about hope, and then he says, "finally hope." I agree that between 2006's hopeless films and 2007's violent films, he's right to be thankful for films about hope, but this was just a strong added little comment that surprised me.

12. It was interesting how many non-American winners there truly were this year. Marion Cotillard (French), Javier Bardem (Spanish), Tilda Swinton (English), Sweeney Todd Art Director (Italian), Dario Marianelli (Italian), Hansard (Irish) & Irglova (Czech), etc.

13. I know I'm interested in having the opportunity to see the Oscar winning documentary (Taxi to the Dark Side) and foreign language film (Austria's The Counterfitters) as soon as they are made available to me. It's always too bad when these nominated films, especially the foreign films, do not have wide screenings prior to the awards telecast.

14. The funniest presenters were certainly Jonah Hill and Seth Rogan as they tried to decide who was most like Halle Berry and who would be left pretending to be Dame Judi Dench.

If Box Office Strongly Correlated With Academy Award Nods

Last year I entertained the tought, "what if Academy Award nominees for best Actor strongly correlated with the domestic box office."

That led last year's best actor nominees based on box-office stats something like...

Johnny Depp (Pirates 2), Ben Stiller (Night at The Museum), Hugh Jackman (X-Men: The Last Stand, unless he was campaigned supporting), Brandon Routh (Superman Returns), and Tom Hanks (Da Vinci Code).

2007's box office leads would place the following men in the top 5 best lead actors:

• Tobey Maguire, Spider Man 3
• Shia Lebouf, Transformers
• Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean at World End
• Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix
• Will Smith, I Am Legend

Interestingly enough Depp has scored a real nod, but for Sweeney Todd...but I imagine people will of course make complaints tonight during the Academy Awards and for all eternity that nominated actors aren't from "popular movies," or "real movies," or "movies that any one on the planet earth really cares about." And frankly that's crazy. This year had some excellent movies and some excellent stars.

I can understand, but do not endorse the complaint. This year's best Actor nominees do come from movies with weaker box offices, and the Women nominee's have even weaker box offices (but you can't blame the women...there simply were so few strong quality roles for women in 2007). The highest grossing movie that stars an academy nominated male is Sweeney Todd (currently at $52 million, the lowest Tommy Lee Jones' in the Valley of Elah with $6 million...Michael Clayton, Eastern Promises, and There Will Be Blood all fall between those two pics in box office grosses)

But the better question at hand is which of the following 5 top male movie leaders deserve credit for their acting and pushing these films to box office success? While Depp and Smith have received academy nods before will these other three guys ever receive Academy recognition, or will they only show the heat in the big box-office?

Keeping Journals???

In an effort to get ready for the previously-mentioned Baby...part of the day has been dedicated to going through the guest bedroom closet since the little girl due on June 24th will certainly need some space for her clothes, etc.

This process involved listing multiple items on ebay (2 items), amazon.com (3 items), and craig's list (4 items), and throwing away Boxes (multiple, multiple boxes of papers, old college stuff, very old financial information, and things belonging to the class of VHS tapes and breadmakeres).

One of the hardest things to contend with are the journals. When I was in college some diffrent people really encouraged the discipline of journaling. A discipling I tried to pick up again and again with different successful times, and other less successful times.

People always said I'd enjoy reflecting on who I was, what I learned, etc.

Despite the personal and day-to-day keepsake value of these journals, I really just want to throw them away...what value will they continue to have. I long thought someday I would be famous and they'd use these journal post-mortum to construct autobiogrophies and tv specials, but really again...are these so keepable.

They don't really take up space, but I just feel like there's no real value of keeping them.

In the flurry of listing and photographing items for online sale I've thought...I wonder if I could sell these journals online for some wierd voyeristic nature of people that are simply just endlessly courious.

Who know's...I think I will make a final conclusion soon on the issue of "too keep or not too keep" but I have a feeling they're trash bound. (Unless someone wants to make an offer.)

...And I predict the Award Goes to...

Certain awards seem like sure things at this point...Daniel Day-Lewis, Javier Bardem and the Coen Bros. all seem very likely to be adding an academy statuet (or in the case of Joel and Ethan Coen, as many as 4 statuettes) to their awards collections.

But some Oscar races, especially best lead and supporting actress, still leave room for surprises.

Here's my Academy Awards predictions...

Best Picture: No Country For Old Men
Best Director: Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men (I'd love to see Schanebel win)
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Best Actress: Julie Christie, Away From Here
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Best Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
Best Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody, Juno
Best Adapted Screenplay: P.T. Anderson, There Will Be Blood
Best Animated Feature: Ratatouille
Best Documentary Feature: No End in Sight
Best Foreign Language Film: The Counterfitters (Austria)
Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins, No Country For Old Men (as I predicted in July, otherwise I might've gone with Robert Elswit's work in There Will Be Blood)
Best Editing: Christopher Rouse, The Bourne Ultimatum
Art Direction: Atonement
Costume Design: Atonement (a.k.a. The Green Dress)
Makeup: La Vie En Rose
Original Song: "Falling Slowly," Once (Enchanted canceling itself out???)
Original Score: Dario Marianelli, Atonement (the type-writer! although Kite Runner or Ratatoille seem like better choices)
Visual Effects: Transformers
Sound Mixing: Transformers
Sound Editing: Transformers

and even though I don't care...
Best Animated Short: I Met The Walrus
Best Live Action Short: The Mozart of Pickpockets
Best Documentary Short: Sari's Mother

I Was Wrong: Pre-Award Season Mis-thoughts.

Prior to last years Academy Award show I tracked through my previous post and found around 20 "predictions" of sort that were in accurate. That post can be found here. This year I've tried to be more careful. And my the time September rolesd around my predictions and thoughts really did make sense.

Here's my biggest blunders from 2007's film season.

February 20, 2007
Will Peter Morgan write another winner in 2007?
"I imagine than center stage actresses Portman and Johannson will be noticed for their work in this film, especially if 2007 is as weak for actresses as 2006 was, but I have to wonder if even more so Eric Bana will get a huge amount of buzz for his role as King Henry VIII."
This film being moved to a February 2008 release date, seems to suggest that Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johannson and Eric Bana are all excluded from any sort of winners circle in regards to this film.

February 23, 2007
The Golin Touch?
"Could [Steve] Golin help another international director [Gavin Hood] and his unique film [Rendition]?"
I also refered to Rendition in this post as "major critical award contenders." Having won no major awards, Rendition was not the film I had positioned it to be.

March 6, 2007 (and through out the year)
Real (Reel) People win Oscars
I loved writing the Real(Reel) People series, let me know if you would like to continue to see this series in 2008. But, this years awards have been highly literary, and many of these releases did not come out or barely made a splash. Of the 18 Real(Reel) Profiles I wrote, only Cate Blanchett and Marion Cotillard scored bio-pic nods this year in lead catagories.

March 22, 2007
Is a spot reserved for Reservation Road?
"Many of the front-runners people are already buzzing about seem logical, Sweeney Todd, Charlies Wilson's War, American Gangster, The Kite Runner, etc"
In the post I was right to be critical of the early buzz that Reservation Road was receiving, but look at the other films I picked as frontrunners. Yea, so maybe I should have been critical of the whole list.

April 28, 2007
Predicting the Best Supporting Actress Nominations in April
"Catherine Keener - Synecdoche, New York, Samantha Morton - The Golden Age, Mena Suvari - The Mysteries of Pittsburg, Meryl Streep - Lions for Lambs, Vanessa Redgrave - Atonement"
0 for 5

May 1, 2007
Vanessa Redgrave Nominated With a Co-Self?
Winslet and Stuart both got nominated for playing Rose (Titanic), Winslet and Dench both got nominated for playing Iris (Iris), but only one Briony (Atonement) got nominated and it was Saoirse Ronan.

June 28, 2007
Oscar Best Picture Predictions (June 2007)
"Best Picture Prediction: American Gangster, Atonement, The Kite Runner, Rendition, In The Valley of Elah."
1 for 5

July 13, 2007
Paul Haggis and In the Valley of Elah
"Paul Haggis' success hasn't seemed to stall out yet, which makes me think that his upcoming project In The Valley of Elah cannot be overlooked. Paul Haggis' involvement on the project made it an easy film for me to include in my best picture predictions I prepared a couple weeks ago."
Low box office, and only 1 surprise nomination certainly doesn't compare to the success of Million Dollar Baby, Crash, Casino Royale, or Letters From Iwo Jima.

July 27, 2007
Meryl Streep's 15th Nomination in 2007?
"Meryl Streep in Rendition or Meryl Streep in Lions for Lambs?"
Neither.

January 2, 2008
State of 2008's Original Song Nominations & My Predictions
"That's How You Know - Enchanted, Grace is Gone - Grace is Gone, Come So Far (Got So Far to Go) - Hairspray, Guaranteed - Into The Wild, Falling Slowly - Once"
2 for 5. Who would've guessed Enchanted would score 3 noms.

An Amateur's Thoughts on La Vie en Rose

La Vie en Rose was, to me, like a car accident - chaotic and at times grotesque, but you just can't look away. Here are a few of my thoughts on the movie:

~Marion Cotillard definitely deserves her Oscar nod, as I found her believable playing all different ages as Edith Piaf. As Piaf was quite eccentric, this must have been a difficult role to play. She became Edith Piaf.

~The music in the film is fabulous. Even those who are not familiar with French music will recognize bits and pieces along the way.

~The movie focuses on the theme of loss throughout Piaf's life. I'm not sure why, but even though I came away overwhelming sad, I never cried or even teared up during the film. Her life was terribly sad, and yet she was not a sad person so you don't necessarily feel sorry for her.

~I think the movie made Edith Piaf seem much weirder than she really was. I came away from the movie almost weary because she seemed to be crazy and erratic for most of her life, but when I looked up some information on her it seemed that, while she did live on the wild side, she wasn't as insane, alcoholic, and drug-addicted as she seemed in the movie.

~The movie jumped around in time a lot. While that can be confusing, I generally enjoy it in a movie because it makes me think more. This was out of control, though. There were so many scenes that were never revisited and I kept waiting for the story to pick them up or tie them in. I get that they were there just to give an idea of the kind of life she was living, but I came away with a frustrated and vague idea of the chronology of her life.

~Finally, I don't mind foreign language films at all, but an entire movie in French is just annoying.

~Oh, and there is a TON of screaming in the movie (you know those crazy, passionate French people). It overwhelmed me a bit.

I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either.

Guest blogger AK's other writings can be found at Pulitzer Palavar.

Initial There Will Be Blood Post-Viewing Thoughts

Finally saw There Will Be Blood, a movie first mentioned briefly on StrangeCulture in April 2006, wondering if it had a chance of being an Academy Award winner.

Obviously, as a major nominated film it received some unique attention, especially for a P.T. Anderson film. Yet, the fact is, this doesn't feel at all like a P.T. Anderson film (Magnolia, Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Punch-Drunk-Love). It doesn't use any of his "typical cast" it doesn't have any of his "typical feel." And it's clear that Anderson was trying to create something different.

If I were to draw any time when I thought about P.T. Anderson and drew a connection to other films, it was in the Johnny Greenwood (Radiohead) score. It's far more of a sound score, than a "musical" one, and the sound creates an emotion, much like other Anderson films.

Also, the other Anderson-esque thing that this film has is it has characters that exhist in a world of complicated morality, and when you watch the film, there are simply moments where you feel akward, as if the characters own complicate morality is exposed and you as the audience should not be looking.

Daniel Day-Lewis is incredible in this "almost over-the-top" role. He balances a part where it's often challenging to know whether to be horrified or laugh at his line delivery. Day-Lewis becomes Daniel Plainview in this movie, and Plainview is a very interesting character. After seeing the film, I fully support the many awards that have been lauded on him, and have no problem with Daniel Day-Lewis maintaining his front-runner status and winning the Oscar for best actor.

I was also impressed with Paul Dano. I expected after seeing the previews that I would grow tedious and annoyed with his character, but the fact of the matter is, his actual screentime is not that frequent, so when the film starts to drag and get boring, the scenes that pit Eli Sunday (Dano) vs. Daniel Plainview end up being quiet entertaining.

I can't decide if I really-liked or just sorta-liked this film. I certainly respected it, and am glad I saw it. Yet there simply were times I felt detatched, and while the narrative and theme of corruption are interesting, the movie really ended up being a character show piece for Daniel Day-Lewis, and a technically exceptional film (Robert Elswit' s cinemotography is excellent, as are the set designs and general art direction of the film).

I think in my mind, I'm still balancing out how I view all the best picture nominated films this year, and one thing is for certain in my mind - There Will Be Blood is a much better film than No Country For Old Men, and it is a shame that No Country For Old Men stole so much attention in the precursor race.

Quality 80s? Part III

In a search to find timeless, non-quirky 80s films (inspired by my viewing of The Accidental Tourist) I have begun my movie viewing. Here are some 1980s films I've just watched for the first time and my thoughts on whether they're any good 20-or-so years post-release.

Also enjoy: Part I and Part II.

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
Directed by Charles Crichton
Recommended by Oscar (winner best supporting actor + 2 noms, writing & directing), Will & Kat

I know I got some slack for some of my criticisms of Say Anything, particularly in how it aged. But with A Fish Called Wanda, despite it's definite 80s-ness, I found it to be one of the most laught-out-loud movies I have ever seen. The perfect combination of the multiple styles of comedy that come out of the 4 supporting-leads (Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, John Cleese, and Michael Palin) is perfect. While I found the situational comedy between Cleese and Curtis, I found Kline's role to be the early model of comedy that Will Ferrell has overdone.

This is a great comedy, and won that deserves recognition, not just in the cannon of great 80s films, but in the realm of great comedies, and great film...period. A very pleasant surprise.

Empire of the Sun (1987)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Recommended by Oscar (6 nominations), Fox, Darrell, & Will

Forget Shia LaBeouf - you want to talk about a young up-and-comer... Christian Bale was amazing as a child actor with the opportunity to carry this film. Spielberg's amazing talent to work with children certainly comes through her. Something about this film is highly respectable, in it's unique historical nature, excellent art direction, music, effects, and over all style. YET there is something in this film that was also tedious and uninteresting. I think many times films of this nature are more biographical in nature then literary, and that leads us to become more emotionally attached. I felt like this was Spielburg cutting his teeth and practicing some ideas that would help him create the masterpiece that is Shindler's List.

I love Christian Bale's character. John Malkovich is always wonderful. Ben Stiller suddenly seems mis-cast as a now famous actor. It's a beautiful respectable film, that is probably simply too long.

Do the Right Thing (1989)
Directed by Spike Lee
Recommend by Oscar (2 noms), Jandy, jeremy, joe valdez and Will

In 2006 MTV awarded Do The Right Thing the "Silver Bucket of Excellence" for a film from the past that has present-day resonance. While films about racial tension have been over played, it's clear that Do The Right Thing has film merit. Yet Spike Lee's stype, the over-acted characters and the bizarre mix of comedy and drama make this film unique as well as an easy film to love or hate.

I certainly wouldn't recommend it to a general viewer, but even as I've avoided this film, I've frequently seen and heard others reference it, so it's film value is unquestionable. My favorite actors in this ensemble where John Turturro (Pino), Ruby Dee (Mother Sister) and suprirsingly Samuel L. Jackson (Mister Señor Love Daddy).