Oscars: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good

-Kirk Douglas stole the show as he basically acted like a troll on an internet forum (It turns out that is quite funny when an old man does it)

-Anne Hathaway was a very good host (She sang, she made jokes, she changed costumes many times, she flirted with Kirk Douglas)

-The acting winners were all great choices (Bale and Portman had the best performances of the year, Firth was the best in his field and Leo was the second best in her field)

-Wally Pfister (Inception) getting the overdue win (even though Deakins was more overdue and Libatuque did better work)

The Bad

-In 10 years, The Social Network will be one of the most critically acclaimed films in history, Inception will be a religion and The King’ Speech will be forgotten (The King’s Speech was a poor choice for Best Picture)

-Where was the big upset?  The biggest upset of the night was Pfister winning cinematography and even he won the precursor award for that category and always had a chance at winning.  Maybe they really should move the ceremony up if this is going to happen again

-Predicting wise, I did not have a good year (neither did anyone else which is surprising because there were no major upsets).  I ended up going 17/24 (all though I impressively went 8/8 in the major categories)

The Ugly

-James Franco seemed like he didn’t even want to be there and his performance as a host suffered from that

-Those film history transitions were a distraction and served no real purpose

All in all, it was not a good ceremony (just okay).  It was far better than last year but not as good as Hugh Jackman’s year.

So this is the end of the 2010-2011 Oscar season (or almost).  I will do a wrap up on the season this Saturday with the new episode of the Lord of the Films podcast.  Tomorrow I will do my first post about the 2011-2012 Oscar season with my Year in Advance Predictions.  After this week, the word Oscar probably won’t be returning on this blog until May.  It was a good season and I thank everyone who followed my coverage.  Now onto regular movie reviews and the television season.

If I had an Oscar Ballot

This is how I would vote:

Best Picture:
1. Inception
2. Black Swan
3. Toy Story 3
4. The Kids Are All Right
5. The Social Network
6. 127 Hours
7. True Grit
8. The King's Speech
9. Winter's Bone
10. The Fighter

Best Director: Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan

Best Lead Actor: Colin Firth, The King's Speech

Best Lead Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, Black Swan

Best Supporting Actress: Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

Best Adapted Screenplay: Toy Story 3

Best Original Screenplay: Inception

Best Foreign Language Film: I would not have voted in this category as I have only seen Dogtooth which is not deserving of a win.

Best Documentary Feature: Restrepo

Best Live Action Short: God of Love

Best Documentary Short: I would not have voted in this category as I have not seen any of the nominees.

Best Animated Film: Let's Pollute

Best Original Score: Inception

Best Original Song: "We Belong Together", Toy Story 3

Best Film Editing: Black Swan

Best Cinematography: Black Swan

Best Art Direction: Inception

Best Costume Design: Alice in Wonderland

Best Makeup: I would not have voted in this category as I have not seen any of the nominees.

Best Visual Effects: Inception

Best Sound Mixing: Inception

Best Sound Editing: TRON: Legacy

Best Picture Nominee Review: Inception

About 9 years ago Christopher Nolan began working on his dream project (and I mean that in more one way).  His dream project, in the form of Inception, finally came to the big screen in 2010 and definitely lived up to the long wait and all of the hype.  In essence, Inception is the culmination of Christopher Nolan's entire career.  Inception may star Leonardo DiCaprio but even the pre-release posters and trailers knew this was the Christopher Nolan movie.

Inception follows Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), a dream thief who is on the run after he is blamed for his wife's death.  He is offered by a business head the chance to have his crimes erased if he is able to pull off inception (planting an idea in someone's mind).  So Cobb, of course, agrees and finds a team that will be able to pull off the impossible.

Christopher Nolan single-handedly directed and wrote this film (he even co-produced the film).  His presence oozes from every single second of the film.  Inception has the perfect use of an un-reliable narrator that Nolan used in his breakthrough film, Memento.  It has the twists and turns of Nolan's debut film, Following.  It has the great acting of Nolan's first studio film, Insomnia.  It has the amazing action sequences of Nolan's Batman series.  However, most importantly Nolan takes from The Prestige, the unique and memorable ending.  In The Prestige (a film about magicians), Nolan creates an ending that involves misdirection.  He is acting just like one of the characters in his film, a magician.  In Inception, Nolan takes this same technique an adapts it to his dream thieves by literally pulling off inception on the audience in the film's ending.  This is Nolan's best film to date, a culmination of a career, and a true director's tour de force (what I am really saying is the Academy members should resign for their stupidity in snubbing Nolan).

The acting, although not the strength of the film, is pretty good.  Leonardo DiCaprio is a good lead for the film.  He makes the film less confusing by making the audience able to invest in him.  He is able to nail his few emotional scenes, but the role is not as good as his other performance from the year, Shutter Island.  Cillian Murphy and Marion Cotillard are the best of the supporting players.  Murphy doesn't have much screen time in the film but nails his final scene where he gets emotional with his dying father.  Cotillard, on the otherhand, is an always looming presence.  She is required to be scary at some points and princess-like in others.  Cotillard absolutely nails this mix and easily becomes the emotional center of the film.  Other good supporting performers include Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe and Michael Caine in a very short cameo (but when is he not awesome?).  Levitt and Hardy create a great chemistry and their banter quickly steals every scene.  Levitt gets extra credit for all of the insane stunt work he pulled off.  Ellen Page is only okay but the role doesn't allow her to be any better.  It is also nice to see Tom Berenger and the late Pete Postlethwaite in cameos.

The behind the camera aspects of the film may be the best of any film this year.  Let's start off with the shamefully Oscar-snubbed editor, Lee Smith.  How does the film work without Lee Smith's contributions?  Easy answer, it doesn't.  Lee Smith makes all of the crazy things that happen in the heist part of the film comprehensible when they should not be at all.  Wally Pfister (as always in Nolan films) makes some spectacular imagery come to life with his cinematography.  The art direction and (surprisingly) the costume design (because contemporary costumes don't normally catch my eye) are also top notch.  Of special note is the hotel art direction as in one of those sequences the art directors built a set that could defy gravity (an amazing accomplishment).  The visual effects and the sound design are also the best of any Nolan film to date (He normally does not rely on this but is forced to with this film because of the complex ideas presented in it.)  However, most impressive is Hans Zimmer's score, which actually is built into the plot of the film.  It is easily the best score in a film since The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

Christopher Nolan creates a true masterpiece with Inception.  The film features Nolan at his best and the greatest ending in film history.

10/10

Inception is nominated for 8 Academy Awards including:
-Best Picture
-Best Original Screenplay
-Best Original Score
-Best Cinematography
-Best Art Direction
-Best Visual Effects
-Best Sound Mixing
-Best Sound Editing 

Oscar Predictions

My predictions for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards.  Spoiler: The Americans are doomed!

Most Anticipated Films of 2011

A Discussion of my top 10 most anticipated films of 2011.  Included on this list is a bit of Abrams and Malick with a lot of Spielberg and Daniel Craig.

Best Picture Nominee Review: Toy Story 3

With Toy Story 3 we have this decade's Return of the King and we are only one year into it.  Toy Story 3 is a more than satisfying conclusion to one of the best trilogies in film history.  The film is also (and frequently brought up by anyone who sees the film) a very emotional one.  There is an article out on the web that makes silly titles on posters for all of the Best Picture nominees.  The title for Toy Story 3 on the poster was "You Will Cry", and it is so true.  The film is just so good (from the voice work all the way to Lee Unkrich's superb directing).

Toy Story 3 picks up with Andy getting ready to leave for college.  The toys become very nervous that they are going to be left in the attic (or even worse thrown out).  The adventure picks up when Woody has to rescue the toys, at first, from the garbage truck and, then, from a day care center run by some too-good-to-be-true toys.

Lee Unkrich, as mentioned above, is the film's director and the screenplay is from the Pixar regulars with help from Academy Award winner Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine).  Both the direction and screenwriting is some of the best work in any film this year.  The screenplay creates a perfect conclusion to the series.  However, this is not the only trick it has up its sleeve.  The screenplay (with ease) creates a perfect balance between thrilling action scenes, dramatic moments, and laugh out loud comedic scenes.  It somehow is able to combine so many genres in one film without feeling like it has gone overboard.  This, however, cannot be credited to the writers alone.  Lee Unkrich is just as integral to the success of everything this film does.  I have for a long time said that animated film directors should not be taken seriously as they don't have to put in as much work as live-action directors (A thinking I now realize to be very naive).  Lee Unkrich not only created an amazing film but pulled off the difficult task of changing my mind on animated film directors.  Lee Unkrich was definitely deserving of an Oscar nomination for directing.  He took the challenge of filming the last movie in a much beloved series (that is a huge responsibility and he would have assuredly received a lot of ill will if he messed up the ending) and succeeded.

The voice work (as in any Pixar film) is phenomenal.  Tom Hanks and Tim Allen continue their iconic work as Woody and Buzz.  Great work is done from the entire cast (including Jodi Benson as Barbie), but the true standout is Michael Keaton in a hilarious role as a Ken doll.  His voice work steals every scene he is in and he is completely unrecognizable.

Behind the camera aspects are top notch too.  The sound design and editing is good, maybe not as good as the stellar work done in How to Train Your Dragon (the other big animated film from this year), but still good.  Randy Newman, as usual, as at the top of his game when it comes to the score.  His original song for this film "We Belong Together" is a little too simplistic to be completely enjoyable (and is definitely not in the same category of greatness as his songs from the first film).  The animated art direction is also pretty effective for an animated film.  Scenes in a junkyard are some of the most memorable scenes in the film (and some of that has to do with the setting).  The editing and cinematography are also phenomenal (especially during the opening action sequence).  I saw the film in 3-D and while it wasn't anything revolutionary it was still worth the few extra bucks for the upgrade.

Toy Story 3 solidifies the Toy Story franchise as one of the greatest in film history.  Hopefully, future generations are able to appreciate this film as we do now as it deserves to be.

9/10

This film has been nominated for 5 Academy Awards including:
-Best Picture
-Best Adapted Screenplay
-Best Animated Film
-Best Original Song-"We Belong Together"
-Best Sound Editing

Final 83rd Academy Award Predictions

BEST PICTURE=The King’s Speech

The King’s Speech will easily win here as it is one of the more locked up categories of the night.  Some may say that The Social Network has gained momentum in the last week and could upset.  However, they have quickly forgotten that last year Avatar had much more momentum going down the stretch (because of the producer email controversy) and still was not able to conjure up a win.

BEST DIRECTOR=Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech

This is a 50-50 category where Hooper and David Fincher of The Social Network have equal chances of winning.  I am going with Hooper as his film is the Best Picture favorite and he won the most important precursor for this category, the DGA.  However, you can just as easily make the case for Fincher winning because tv directors (who will not be voting for the Oscars) won the vote for Hooper at the DGAs and Fincher won the BAFTAS director award.  Hooper should have easily won that one and has since caused a minor surge for The Social Network.

BEST LEAD ACTOR=Colin Firth, The King’s Speech

This is the biggest lock of the night.  There are no challengers to Firth.

BEST LEAD ACTRESS=Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Maybe the Bening will upset theory is just an idea created by boredness from Oscar bloggers.  However, I sensed a Bening upset coming over a month ago when we were still in the thick of the Oscar race and Oscar fatigue did not exist.  Bening has been completely charming down the stretch while Portman has been barely noticeable.  Sadly, if Bening does win it will be for all the wrong reasons (the campaign and being Hollywood royalty rather than for the best performance) and let’s not kid ourselves that is the truth of it.
Update: I am now going with Natalie Portman.  After seeing her win at the Independent Spirit Awards I just cannot see her losing the Oscar (even though these awards have nothing to do with eachother).  It's things like this that can change perception of such a close race.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR=Christian Bale, The Fighter

Bale has won all of the precursors except for the BAFTA (which went to Geoffrey Rush).  Geoffrey Rush could still upset but it would only happen in a The King’s Speech sweep.  Luckily, if that were to happen we would figure out pretty early (the first two categories are Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography).  If The King’s Speech wins both of those Rush will be pulling off an upset later in the night.  If The King’s Speech loses one or both Bale will win.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS=Melissa Leo, The Fighter

This is a three-way race.  Hailee Steinfeld was seen as a huge contender for the win from the beginning.  Her problem was getting nominated first (which she did).  However, will the academy really give an Oscar this year to a 14 year old (with overdue veterans in her category)?  I don’t think so.  The next contender is Helena Bonham Carter (one of the overdue veterans).  Her big win on the precursor circuit was the BAFTA award.  However, it appears other Oscar bloggers are putting too much stock into the BAFTA awards for their predictions.  There is some overlap between the BAFTAS and Oscars in voters but not enough to change the tide in 3 of the major categories (Director, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress).  So I don’t think she wins here either.  That leaves Melissa Leo for the win.  Leo won all of the precursor awards (with the exception of the BAFTA which she wasn’t even nominated for).  Then her lead derailed when she started her own personal campaign.  There have been mixed reports if the personal campaign even got to Oscar voters so, therefore, I don’t think it has enough of an effect to prevent her from winning.  Then again there is always the chance these three split the vote and Jacki Weaver wins.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY=The Social Network

This is another lock even though at one point this category looked ripe for an upset (It was in this category last year that the upset of the ceremony occurred when Precious’ screenplay beat the runaway frontrunner Up in the Air).  In the past few weeks, however, The Social Network has claimed back enough momentum to stop an upset here.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY=The King’s Speech

David Seidler’s story (He like the main character in his script was a stutterer) is just the type of thing Oscar voters have dreams of voting for.  It would be nice if Christopher Nolan would win here but it is not happening.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM=In a Better World

This category never goes for the most mainstream nominee (so Biutiful is out).  I am going for the Golden Globe winner here.

BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY=Inside Job

Exit Through the Gift Shop has gained a lot of publicity during the Oscar voting period as officials debate whether Banksy should be allowed to attend the ceremony, but I think Inside Job is too far up the Oscar voters alley for them not to go for it.

BEST ANIMATED FILM=Toy Story 3

How to Train Your Dragon has done better on the precursor circuit but Toy Story 3 is so ingrained into Pixar that the Oscars would not allow the company’s flagship franchise to end without a single Oscar.

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT=The Confession

I have not seen the frontrunner in this category (Na Wewe) but The Confession is so far into the Oscar’s cup of tea that I don’t see how they don’t go for it.

BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY=Warriors of Quigang

I have not seen any of the contenders in this category but before Warriors of Quigang was even nominated I thought it would win because of its subject matter (environmental change in China).

BEST ANIMATED SHORT=Day & Night

This is a race between Day & Night and The Gruffalo.  Anyone who is predicting anything else is pulling at straws.  I am going with the idea that Pixar is overdue in this category (The studio hasn’t won here in 10 years).

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE=The King’s Speech

This category appears to be wide open to me.  I just can’t picture The King’s Speech winning here.  Desplat’s score was not memorable at all.  However, I also cannot picture The Social Network’s score (the presumed runner up) winning.  It was a score that was great on its own but did not fit the film.  Then we get to the most deserving score, Inception, but I cannot see it beating the first two.  So I guess I am sticking with The King’s Speech.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG=”We Belong Together”, Toy Story 3

This is the most wide open category of the year.  Any of the 4 nominees can win.  I am going with the logic that Best Picture nominees usually win the tech categories.  That whittles it down to “We Belong Together” and “If I Rise” from 127 Hours.  A.R. Rahman won just 2 years ago so I am going with Randy Newman’s song from Toy Story 3.

BEST FILM EDITING=The Social Network

The Social Network is the favorite here but if The King’s Speech is to win Best Picture it has to win here or in directing.  These 2 categories will definitely be split between these 2 films.  The question is which film is winning what.  I am sticking with the favorite here (and as mentioned above Hooper wins director).

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY=True Grit

Roger Deakins is overdue (plain and simple).  Some people have brought up the fact that since everyone votes on cinematography (and not just cinematographers) being overdue will not play a factor.  However, these people fail to remember that the Academy loves True Grit (It got 10 nominations).  So this is happening.

BEST ART DIRECTION=The King’s Speech

Many people have been saying this race is open (They say Inception and Alice in Wonderland can challenge).  They, unfortunately, are using the counter logic of the previous category.  Everyone votes on art direction so they will pick the best film (in their minds at least).

BEST COSTUME DESIGN=The King’s Speech

Same reasoning as Best Art Direction.

BEST MAKEUP=The Wolfman

This is the second most open category of the night.  All 3 films can win so I am going to go with the film with the most makeup.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS=Inception

This is a lock.

BEST SOUND MIXING=Inception

Inception is the frontrunner but True Grit and The Social Network are more loved within the Academy.  They can definitely pull of an upset here.  And if The King’s Speech wins (unlikely but still possible), the sweep is coming.

BEST SOUND EDITING=Inception

This is a lock.

Best Picture Nominee Review: The Kids Are All Right

Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo have all at points in their careers been considered great actors.  Bening and Ruffalo are even Oscar nominees here.  With some help from up-and-comers Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson they form the best ensemble of the year in The Kids Are All Right. 

The Kids Are All Right follows a son and daughter (Josh Hutcherson and Mia Wasikowska) of a lesbian couple (Annette Bening and Julianne Moore) as they try to find their father through sperm donation (Mark Ruffalo).  The film then follows how the dynamic of the family shifts when the father comes into their lives.

The Kids Are All Right is directed and co-written by Lisa Cholodenko (Laurel Canyon).  Stuart Blumberg is Cholodenko's co-writer for the film.  Cholodenko works wonders for the film (both on the page and behind the camera).  She somehow makes a captivating family drama that is somehow able to pull a few laughs from the audience throughout its duration.  Cholodenko also pulls off the difficult task of not making the core relationship between two lesbians distracting.  The characters seem like any average family member when that is not really the case.  However, there is one more important aspect about Cholodenko's direction.  Some people say that the sign of a great director is that they can get a great performance out of any actor.  If this is the case, Cholodenko has to be one of the best as she is able to get stellar performances out of not only veteran actors but newcomers as well.

This truly is one of the best ensembles in years.  I will start off with the weakest main actor but she is by no means weak in this film (she is actually very good).  Annette Bening does an adequate job of pulling off the more mature parent role.  She is very good in her showy scenes, but, unfortunately, she does not make her more subtle scenes as good as they could be.  It is by no means an Oscar worthy role and would be a travesty if she were to win the Oscar.  Julianne Moore is a far better lead.  She makes a very sympathetic character out of one that does not make very good decisions during the course of the film.  She is also the comedic center of the film and handles that perfectly.  She is at her peak in the forgiveness scene late in the film.  She completely nails it.  Mark Ruffalo puts in a supporting performance worthy of the praise it has received so far.  It looks like it takes no effort on his part to capture the free-spirited personality that is so integral for not only his character but the plot.  Mia Wasikowska once again proves why she is one of the brightest new stars in the business with her best performance to date.  Here she is perfect in giving the audience a neutral character to look to when they need to decide who is right.  Finally, Josh Hutcherson is adequate as the son.  He isn't given any flashy material but is able to do everything the role requires.

Besides some stellar cinematography by Igor Jadue-Lilio there is nothing that stands out behind the camera-wise.  The score by Carter Burwell is interesting at points but nothing more than that.  The editing is good at times (especially during the dramatic scenes) but the film needed some cutting in the beginning and end.

The Kids Are All Right is a great and timely film about how life is like in the 21st century.  This is definitely more of a film of our times than The Social Network and is even better acted than The King's Speech.  Quite simply, it is easily one of the best films of the year.

This film has been nominated for 4 Academy Awards:
-Best Picture
-Best Lead Actress-Annette Bening
-Best Supporting Actor-Mark Ruffalo
-Best Original Screenplay

Best Picture Nominee Review: Winter's Bone

Winter's Bone is a decent independent film but because of the word "independent" has received a lot more acclaim than it should have.  It features competent directing, some strong acting and a good screenplay but nothing beyond that.  The critical acclaim for this one is a little misguided. Sure critics have a right to be excited about seeing something that they don't know (in this case life in the rural areas of Southern Midwest), but do they still have the right to be excited if what they are shown is an inaccurate portrayal?  With Winter's Bone I find that the type of lifestyle displayed is way too exaggerated to the point that I start laughing when almost every critic lauds the film for its realism.

The film takes place in a rural community in the Ozarks and follows Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence in her breakthrough role), a teenage girl left in charge of her family as her father is missing and her mother is not healthy enough to go about daily life.  Ree is told by the local sheriff that her father put up their house as collateral for his bail as he is to appear in court for a crime he committed.  Ree must now find her father to save her house and her family.  Unfortunately, her own family members are reluctant to help.

Debra Granik (A Sundance Film Festival favorite) directed and co-wrote the script (along with Anne Rosellini).  Both areas are only competent enough to get the film across the finish line.  Granik shows no skills in the level of greatness when it comes to directing.  However, she should be commended for pulling together this film on such a low budget and making it a film that most people could sit through.  With the script, I did complain earlier how the film portrays a not quite accurate depiction of life in the Ozarks, but I don't put the blame for this on the screenwriters.  This thinking was only brought up by critics and the script does not at any point say that it is trying to be an accurate depiction.  However, the script still has some problems.  It is a little clunky at points and its characters are only somewhat memorable because of the acting.  The supporting characters are not well written at all.

However, that doesn't mean the supporting characters are bad.  The acting does save them.  John Hawkes puts in some great work as Ree's stone cold uncle.  Dale Dickey has probably the worst written character in the film but is able to stop her character from being a liability for the film.  The always great Garret Dillahunt is in the film as well.  However, the actor of note in this film is the lead, Jennifer Lawrence.  Lawrence has a type of charisma that makes you instantly believe she really is a tough chick that will face off against anyone that gets in her way.  Lawrence is somehow also able to play all the vulnerabilities of the character perfectly.  This is hopefully the first of many memorable roles from this young actress.

The behind the camera aspects are not really that impressive either.  The editing could have easily taken some of the clunky-ness out of the film but didn't.  There isn't anything impressive about the aural aspects of the film.  The visual aspects weren't impressive either (with one exception).  The cinematography perfectly captures the grittyness of the film but at the same time is able to catch the beauty of the Ozarks. 

Winter's Bone has been referred to as the critics darling of the year (at least if The Social Network didn't exist) and it probably is.  Unfortunately, the critics are seeing something that I am not.  This is just a basic crime drama that happened to be an independent film with a breakout performance by a hot actress.  I guess those are the perfect ingredients for an overrated critically acclaimed film.

6/10

This film has been nominated for 4 Academy Awards including:
-Best Picture
-Best Lead Actress-Jennifer Lawrence
-Best Supporting Actor-John Hawkes
-Best Adapted Screenplay

127 Hours Review

127 Hours may be about Aron Ralston and his struggle to free himself from a boulder, but the film really centers on two artists of the film industry, Danny Boyle (Oscar winning director of Slumdog Millionaire) and James Franco (doing everything nowadays including hosting the upcoming Oscar ceremony).  One completely succeeds with his contributions to the film while the film might have been a bit better without the contributions of the other.

127 Hours tells the real life story of Aron Ralston (played by James Franco in the film), who while hiking in Utah got his arm caught under a boulder.  Ralston eventually had to cut his arm off after staying in his situation for 127 hours (thus the title).

127 Hours is Danny Boyle's follow up to his Best Director winning work on Slumdog Millionaire and even reunites with the Best Adapted Screenplay winner for that film, Simon Beaufoy.  Both of their work on this film is only adequate.  I really don't understand the love these two are getting for this film (both received a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination for their work).  The screenplay is adequate but was not at all instrumental in the success of the film and don't even get me started on the direction.  Boyle's hyper directing style is way too distracting in this film to the point that it almost derails the film.  Too many times does Boyle try to use quick shots of hazy memories of Ralston, water bottles being emptied, and storage bags being filled with bodily fluids.  Martin Scorsese is known for his music video-like, hyper-kinetic directing style but Boyle's work here is that on ADD.  It just doesn't work.

Despite the problems with the directing and writing, the film is completely saved by a tour-de-force performance by James Franco.  James Franco has thus far been known for his work on the Spider-Man series and Pineapple Express, but this is by far his best performance.  He completely succeeds in a Tom Hanks in Cast Away type performance.  With the exception of the ending and some quick flashback scenes, James Franco is completely alone onscreen.  Somehow, Franco keeps you interested in the character and the film despite other parts of the production not working.  A Gollum/Smeagol like scene where Ralston interviews himself as a new anchor is the best scene of this film that could easily be considered a highlight reel of great acting.  He is simply brilliant.  The small parts from others in the film are not at all memorable and don't deserve to be recognized individually.

The behind the camera aspects of the film are a mixed bag.  The cinematography is phenomenal as I still don't know how Anthony Dod Mantle pulled off many of the shots (such as the inside the water bottle shots).  The score by A.R. Rahman is great and much better than his overrated work on Slumdog Millionaire.  Unfortunately, his song with Dido is nowhere near (in terms of quality) the songs from that film.  The editing was a huge issue as it contributed to that hyper-kinetic style that stopped the film from reaching greatness.  The sound was good but not great like many have been saying.

127 Hours is a good film almost derailed by Danny Boyle.  Luckily, James Franco is the film.  Aron Ralston had to cut his arm off but James Franco had to carry an entire film on his back to the finish line.

8/10

127 Hours was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including:
-Best Picture
-Best Lead Actor-James Franco
-Best Adapted Screenplay
-Best Original Score
-Best Original Song-"If I Rise"
-Best Film Editing

Top 5 Films of 2010

On this episode I discuss my top 5 films of 2010 (It was supposed to be top 10 but there were some technical difficulties).  What will be #1?  Some contenders are Black Swan, Inception and Toy Story 3.

Episode 3: Top 10 TV Series of 2010

I discuss my top 10 TV series of 2010. Which was my favorite new tv show of the season? Did I like the controversial Lost finale? Those questions and more answered here.