Dipping My Toes in Horror: The Blair Witch Project and Sweeney Todd

Giving you a break from the literal stories of my life, it is time to dip my toes into horror some more. The two films I have got on tap tonight are a couple which I've always been meaning to see, but have never quite got around to it. They've always been there, but I've just never bothered to pick them up. You may not see Sweeney Todd as a quintessential horror film. Mind you, it isn't a quintessential musical, either. I've been telling everyone that I was going to see it for ages, but when it stared back at me on that horror shelf, I saw that there was no time like the present. Same goes for The Blair Witch Project. So let's get to it!

So, if I'm getting my stories straight, The Blair Witch Project started this whole found footage phenomenon. I'm not big on that phenomenon, especially because now everyone is trying their hand at it and it is losing its sheen. Paranormal Activity was okay, but Paranormal Activity 2 was one of the more boring films I've ever seen. It was kinda just an excuse to watch surveillance footage for ages and then we get some people getting dragged around for like, five seconds. And that's the template that most of these found footage films follow. The Blair Witch Project, however, was quite effective even though it had so little going on. I guess it just kinda taps into your fears - and that fear happens to be getting lost in the woods. Even if there wasn't some creepy witchcraft stuff going on, then I would still be terrified. Mainly because I'd be frustrated beyond all recognition. That's where The Blair Witch Project wins over Paranormal Activity - these people are trapped in this foreign land with no hope of getting out, whereas the people in Paranormal Activity are within the confines of their own home. There's just that extra air of unpredictability about the whole thing.

My 10 Favourite Male Performances of 2011.

After checking out my favourite directors and ladies of 2011, it is time to look at the lovely men that impressed me on screen. Tomorrow, it'll be time to unveil my favourite films of 2011 - finally! However, back to the men of 2011: wasn't last year really a 'year for actors'? There were so many great performances that it made it hard for me to cut my list down to ten. Hence the fact that I have a rather long list of honourable mentions, who in a perfect world, would have all been in my top ten. Seriously, all of them just missed out on a place.

Honourable mentions: Ezra Miller - We Need to Talk About Kevin, Max von Sydow - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Ewan McGregor - Beginners, Christopher Plummer - Beginners, Colin Firth - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Mark Strong - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Tom Hardy - Warrior, Joel Edgerton - Warrior, Patton Oswalt - Young Adult, Leonardo DiCaprio - J. Edgar, Rhys Ifans - Anonymous, Antonio Banderas - The Skin I Live In, Ben Kingsley - Hugo, Ralph Fiennes - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Kenneth Branagh - My Week with Marilyn, Ryan Gosling - The Ides of March, Ryan Gosling - Drive, Albert Brooks - Drive, Jonah Hill - Moneyball, John Hawkes - Martha Marcy May Marlene, Peyman Moadi - A Separation, Andy Serkis - Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Hunter McCracken - The Tree of Life, Brad Pitt - The Tree of Life, Michael Fassbender - X-Men: First Class, Adrien Brody - Midnight in Paris, Corey Stoll - Midnight in Paris, Tom Hiddleston - Thor, Anton Yelchin - Like Crazy, Matthew McConaughey - The Lincoln Lawyer, Michael Fassbender - Jane Eyre, Christian McKay - I Melt with You, Peter Mullan - Tyrannosaur, Paul Rudd - Our Idiot Brother, Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Hesher.

10. Michael Shannon as Curtis LaForche in Take Shelter.

Michael Shannon has always been a great actor who has taken supporting roles and stolen the entire film within a few minutes. Revolutionary Road was a classic example of that. In Take Shelter, Shannon gets the lead role, and totally rocks the entire film. Curtis is a rather difficult character who is on the cusp of madness, constantly trying to make everyone believe that there's an apocalypse coming. Shannon's performance is a study of paranoia, instability and weakness. If it hadn't been Shannon playing him, I doubt that I would have felt so connected to Curtis. Instead of viewing his actions as irrational, I definitely felt as if I should get a shovel and pitch in with his plans.
Key scene: "There's a storm coming!"

Underrated Supporting Performances of 2011

I'm still a good few months away from releasing my official list of favourite 2011 films (I still need to see The Artist, Shame, 50/50, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy etc etc etc), but I may as well start getting nostalgic now. I was watching Melancholia last weekend and I was thinking about how underrated everyone's performances were in that particular movie. Which prompted me to look back at all of the performances that were severely underrated for some reason or another. So instead of showcasing one underrated film, let me showcase ten underrated supporting performances in 2011, ranked...

10. Hayley Atwell in Captain America: The First Avenger.

Chances are that I won't have too many people queueing up to agree with me - this is a choice that comes straight from an extremely mainstream blockbuster. However, I've always been a fan of Hayley Atwell, and I found her to be the most awesome thing about an already awesome movie. While her character may be written as a typical tough girl, Atwell brings her an edge that makes her the perfect companion to Cap - actually, she seems a lot stronger inside than he is. If only she could somehow not age and go on that date with Cap in The Avengers...that would make me happy.

10 Oscar Fails in 2012

Every year, we get a set of Oscar nominations and there's always something to complain about. This year might just be a prime example of that. I did this post at the same time last year, so I figured I could do it again. So here are the snubs in top 10 order, the way I see them...

10. Best Original Score: The Chemical Brothers - Hanna

I may not have been the biggest fan of Hanna, but that score has been on replay on my iPod ever since I bought it in October. It is filled with so many strange sounds that take you to this fantastical place worlds away from here. It really is an out of this world score. Perhaps it is the absence of violins or other orchestral instruments that don't make it an obvious choice, but it was truly the best thing I'd heard since The Social Network's score. And how about 'Container Park'? That song makes me wish I was chasing down some evil people and beating the crap out of them. But then I've got to remember that I'm walking down the main street of Dannevirke.

9. Best Original Screenplay: Mike Mills - Beginners

I must admit, while I liked Beginners, I wasn't the hugest fan of it when I first saw it. Then I bought the DVD and I was completely taken away with it. While the performances at the front are all brilliant (it is so sad that Ewan McGregor is going unnoticed for his work), it is the somewhat personal script by writer/director Mike Mills shines through. It is raw and realistic - in many ways, what The Descendants ultimately failed to do for me. I particularly loved the "this is what .... looks like", and the fractured timeline. Not to mention the dialogue that Arthur got!

8. Best Animated Feature: The Adventures of Tintin

Don't quote me, but I thought that The Adventures of Tintin was all cleared to be eligible for this award. And hey, motion capture is the way of the future, so why wouldn't this be eligible? It may not have been perfect, but it was a bloody fun ride and I'd definitely pick this over Puss in Boots any day. The snub hurts...and it particularly hurts NZ, too. While everyone was crying foul over the more obvious snubs like Fassy, every news program in NZ kept going on about the Tintin snub. It's okay, we in NZ are used to being pushed aside and forgotten...

7. Best Picture: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II

There were many deserving films that missed out on a Best Picture nomination - Drive, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo etc etc etc, but no snub hurts as bad as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II. Say what you will about the series, but there have been some great films that have come out of it and they sure have a huge fanbase. This film was particularly good, becoming the highest grossing film of the year and one of the most critically acclaimed, too. But the reason that this film should have been nominated is the fact that it is literally the end of an era. The Harry Potter films have had their fair share of technical nominations, but this was the last chance it ever had to be nominated for something more. It seems like such a waste and a little offensive that they wouldn't give this last film an award that the series genuinely deserved. Oh well, the Academy are going to regret it in a few years.

6. Best Original Score: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Sure, they may have won last year and sure, this score isn't as good as The Social Network's, but their just about three hour long score is a beast. Literally. Starting with a cover of 'Immigrant Song' and ending with a brilliant vocal song called 'Is Your Love Strong Enough?', with plenty of dark ambient tones in between, this has the power to be at times either relaxing or terrifying. In some of the songs, I feel like I should be wearing a leather jacket and chasing after an Enya enthusiast, and in others, I feel like walking around like a badass. But just like The Social Network, the soundtrack makes me feel like a total badass when I'm typing. I definitely would have shafted both of the John Williams scores for this one and Hanna. Because with the War Horse one, if I played that whilst walking across a lush green field I wouldn't feel like a badass.

5. Best Actress: Kirsten Dunst - Melancholia

It is a little weird to think that Melancholia didn't get any Oscar recognition (but I think Lars von Trier kinda ruined that for himself), because it did deserve it. Especially deserving was Kirsten Dunst, who delivered my second favourite female performance of the year (the first being Rooney Mara, say what you will, she was amazing) as the depressive Justine who is out to destroy herself and everyone around her. Considering that Dunst went through a similar type of depression not so long ago, you have to praise her for revisiting what was probably a horrible time in her life in crippling fashion. Her performance was absolutely heart-breaking while making me hate her because of her nihilistic views of the world and how she ruins everything. I thought that her Cannes win would have given her some momentum, but alas, a truly great performance is forgotten in favour of mimicry from Meryl Streep.

4. Best Actor: Michael Fassbender - Shame

No, I haven't seen Shame. But I know enough. Michael Fassbender should have been nominated, goddamit. What pisses me off the most about this snub though, is the reason that an Academy voter gave to the LA Times: "He's a guy who's unfamiliar to a lot of people and did a movie that's really intimate. That was a super-brave performance but…perhaps it inspired people to fantasize, and not actually vote." All I have to say is fuck you. That is a bullshit excuse for not voting someone in. You're just too scared to nominate something so explicit and you're jealous because Michael Fassbender's penis is bigger than yours. Assholes.

3. Best Supporting Actor: Alan Rickman - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II

I would have loved to have seen either Ralph Fiennes or Alan Rickman nominated for their brilliant work in the Harry Potter movies, but if we were going for just this one film, Alan Rickman deserved some recognition. He was one of the only actors who found consistency in his character right throughout the series. But it is in this particular film where he is given his time to shine (somewhat briefly, though), and he is absolutely heart-breaking. He is beyond amazing as Severus Snape that it makes me wonder why, in such a weak field, he didn't come forth as a proper competitor. Rickman's voice gives me the chills, too.

2. Best Director: Nicolas Winding Refn - Drive 

Give Refn a few years and a few more films like Drive, and I think he'll emerge as one of the best modern directors. Before Drive I saw Bronson, which I really disliked, but I LOVED his directorial style. With Drive, this is more of a Hollywood film with half of the budget, and he delivers with style. Calm, fresh style. The car chases aren't edited to incomprehensibility, and the really violent scenes are directed in slow-mo so they get under your skin. Add in the hand-picked 80s style soundtrack and you have so much badassery it is criminal. I look forward to what Refn has in store for us...he is awesome.

1. Best Editing: Senna

Okay, so it was never going to happen. And I'm still fuming that it didn't make to the Best Documentary shortlist. But let's look at it this way: the films nominated had a few hours of footage to edit into the story from the screenplay and add a bit of style. And for all we know, they did that well. Senna, however? That had footage from a man's entire LIFE to edit down. What it got edited down to was something pretty close to a normal looking narrative, and it doesn't even use interviews from the present day, just archival footage. It features some of the most phenomenal editing I've ever seen, and it would run rings around any of the other films and their editing released in 2011.

What are your Oscar fails of 2012?

Day 8: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Welcome to the last day of my eight-day long Harry Potter marathon. This is purely because I have not seen any of the Harry Potter's and I promised a whole lot of people that I'd watch 'em all when the last DVD came out. That was over a month ago, so I have to do it now. I will be blogging about my journey through Hogwarts...and such.

After six days of watching the Harry Potter series, I am finally at the end. Yes, it is sad to end the series, because I had a lot of fun. But when a series ends with a film like Deathly Hallows Part 2, I couldn't help but feel the happiness/sadness/whatever that true Harry Potter fans felt. And this was another 2011 film to check off my list. Now I can say that I have seen the entire Harry Potter series, so to whoever it was that said I don't deserve a movie blog for not seeing it, I've just earned my ownership of Cinematic Paradox. Yay. Anyway, the final movie from an outsider's perspective:

-I admit, I was pretty sceptical over this movie. As I'd spent the past two weeks of my life (not every day, mind you) cleaning shelves at work, and the trailer for this played on the loop disc every hour and a half. Basically, while the trailer is quite good, how many times did they have to have Voldemort saying "NNNNYYAAAAAAHH" in it? Like, seriously. As soon as I heard a "NNNNYYAAAAAAHH" I wanted to shoot myself (or maybe that was just the messy shelves making me feel that way), even if it was my main man Ralph Fiennes' voice.
-Then again, everyone went crazy over this movie. I don't know whether this was because it was the end of the series and it was a given that people would go crazy over it, or whether this was just a really good movie. I tend to go with the latter, but let's not forget that it would work better as a conclusion to a really epic series rather than a stand-alone movie.
-Anyways, I loved how Hermione disguised herself as Bellatrix. No-one could be as convincing as Helena Bonham Carter, as that clearly shows.
-It never fails to amaze me how many British actors have been in this series. It's particularly cool that Ciarán Hinds shows up in this one.

-It's interesting how Neville Longbottom gets a lot of screen time in this movie. He seemed really under-used in the series, to me.
-I loved the scene where McGonagall fought Snape. I always knew she was a complete badass.
-That shield around Hogwarts was pretty epic. This film definitely has to be nominated for Best Visual Effects, no doubt about it.
-Okay, so this whole series was made when we learned the truth about Snape and Dumbledore. Like, I just felt like that was the best moment of the series. And I always knew that Snape was a good guy (he's my favourite character for a reason). Except, my friend hasn't seen this film, so I was having a very hard time telling her why Snape was my favourite character.

-And a big WOW to learning the truth about our Harry Potter. Poor guy.
-Jesus, the Draco/Voldemort hug. Funniest thing I've ever seen. Mind you, I wouldn't say no to a hug from Ralph Fiennes.
-**SPOILER ALERT** I almost died when Molly killed Bellatrix. The Weasley's really are a family filled with badassery.
-This film's version of Heaven was pretty interesting. Looks like my kind of place.
-The final act of this movie is the definition of EPIC. I can see why so many people are trying to get this nominated for Best Picture. Unfortunately, I don't think it stands a chance, particularly because it has been missing from all of the awards so far.
-The ending was of course sad because we have to leave everyone behind now, but I didn't really like how it ended. Let's just say, the actors involved didn't look old enough, and it was a tad cheesy. But I imagine that there were a few tears being wept in the cinemas.
-If anyone deserves Oscar nominations for this movie, it would be either Alan Rickman or Ralph Fiennes. They both play their characters consistently well, and with a finesse that isn't seen in many of the other cast members. Because the Best Supporting Actor race is so weak this year, they have every reason to get in, but I think voters will forget them and they will remain as two of the most underrated performances of all time.

-Speaking of the actors, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint do tremendous work here. They really did come a long way since 2001.
-In fact, the whole series came a long way since 2001. To think that this series started out with a very tame kids movie...
-This movie remains a highlight of 2011. All of the posters say "the movie event of a generation". I couldn't possibly thing of anything more true.

So, there you have it. I have now watched all of the Harry Potter films, and before the end of 2011, no less. Many of you have suggested that I read the books, which is something I'll start right after I read War Horse (which I keep putting off because it makes me miss my horses so much), and I'll try to finish before the end of 2012. Otherwise, I had a lot of fun watching these films. Some were better than others, but I can't deny how much I enjoyed watching them! I'll definitely be going back to them every now and again.

What I got for Deathly Hallows Part 2 (going to the lower end of this rating):

Day 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Welcome to the sixth day of my eight-day long Harry Potter marathon. This is purely because I have not seen any of the Harry Potter's and I promised a whole lot of people that I'd watch 'em all when the last DVD came out. That was over a month ago, so I have to do it now. I will be blogging about my journey through Hogwarts...and such.

We're getting down to the big stuff. Half-Blood Prince is the last step to Deathly Hallows Parts 1 & 2, so this one really had to make it count. And it sure did. From an outsider's perspective:

-My, have things gotten dark around here. Except I felt like this movie waffled about a little bit, but I guess it had to.
-It is very jarring to show how happy everyone acts even though they might die or something. Then again, if they acted how I imagined they'd act, then this would be the most depressing thing since Requiem for a Dream. Okay, maybe not that far...
-Okay, so I did like that there was a bit of a love square/triangle/pentagon/however many people were involved in the film. I felt sorry for Hermione because Ron was too busy with Lavender Brown. At first I didn't understand the relationship between Ginny and Harry but I came around to it in the end. But I think Hermione and Harry should be together. Just saying.
-Is it just me, or did Malfoy's hair get whiter? He's a very interesting villain. I don't know whether to hate him or not, because it's like he doesn't want to be horrible. But he just is.

-Speaking of villains, let's talk about Tom Riddle. Did you know that he is played by Hero Fiennes-Tiffin, who is Ralph Fiennes' sister Martha's middle child (I'm not a stalker, I just did my homework). I see talent runs in the family (and with a family name like Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, I wouldn't expect anything less). Despite his age and limited screen time, he managed to capture the darkness that I'm sure someone like Tom Riddle was going through. Colour me impressed.
-Jim Broadbent was awesome as Horace Slughorn. But he is also awesome, so that isn't saying much.
-I'm glad that the three principal actors have finally come to the party together. Usually one is better than the other, or one let's the team down, but now they're all on equal footing and it is cool to watch.
-The emotional strain of the movie is also in check. I usually found the emotional tone extremely inconsistent, but it is a lot better here.
-Helena Bonham Carter is eeeeeeeeeevil in this movie. But she is so devilishly good at it.

-Then again, she did set fire to Hagrid's hut. Bitch, nobody sets fire to my main man Hagrid's hut.
-Snape. Even though your character is technically the best that the series has, I hate you.
-How dare you kill Dumbledore?
-Wait, how dare anyone kill Dumbledore?
-If Malfoy couldn't do it, then why couldn't you?
-Dumbledore was awesome.
-That was actually a very sad moment. Which is why I feel like this movie was more emotionally in check than the other ones. Not because somebody died, but because it felt much more genuine in it's emotions than it did when Cedric died in Goblet of Fire.
-While the end showed the familiar shot of the river going out of Hogwarts, it wasn't a glorious moment like it has been in the other films. The music was dark, the place was dark, we know that even more dark times lie ahead. Which is something that is crucial to this series.

While I felt that this wasn't better than Order of the Phoenix, it is still an extremely good instalment. A very good build up to the final films, indeed.

What I got:

Day 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Welcome to the third day of my eight-day long Harry Potter marathon. This is purely because I have not seen any of the Harry Potter's and I promised a whole lot of people that I'd watch 'em all when the last DVD came out. That was just about a month ago, so I have to do it now. I will be blogging about my journey through Hogwarts...and such.

I'd been told that Prisoner of Azkaban was a huge improvement on Chamber of Secrets. They weren't wrong. From an outsider's perspective:

-That bus ride was pretty cool. It was really fast and magical. I found myself like Alfonso Cuaron's direction already.
-I couldn't help but laugh about the ballooning aunt. I wish I was a wizard so I could do that to some people (wow, that sounds horrible).
-If I could live with any family, it would be the Weasley family. They're so cute! They get a bad wrap for being a family who uses hand-me-downs and stuff, but seriously? A family full of gingers? Count me in. They look like a good family who's fun to be around.
-Well, thank goodness. Tom Felton's hair is no longer melting into his head. In fact, everyone's hair looks better in this one. Apart from Snape's. He is good with his hairstyle for all intensive purposes.
-This one was a little shorter (135 mins). It was a good run-time, and definitely stayed entertaining for the whole thing.

-This Professor Lupin seemed like a good guy. Until the moon made him all crazy. But he was the kind of teacher that I would like to have. Plus, I've always like David Thewlis as an actor.
-Snape is awesome. The 'page 394' scene is so awesome. Well, he's kinda harsh, but you can tell he means well. And Alan Rickman does such a bloody good job of playing him it's no wonder that people are crying foul at his many snubs.
-The actors are slowly becoming more watchable. Like now, it's easier to believe in what they're doing. But boy, they did heaps of growing in a year. What is with that?
-I think I liked this movie because there was a lot going on, and also it was a lot more serious. The other films tried to be serious but they got too caught up in being like family films.
-Thank goodness Alfonso Cuaron came along. He really breathed life into the series. When I say that, I mean that his work in this film brought about the dark themes that the series is so famous for, leaving the first two in it's dust.
-But I highly doubt that this is the best of the series. It was good, but not that good. As the series gets darker I'll enjoy it a lot more.
-Gary Oldman is in it! Gotta love him. If only he could get that Oscar nomination this season.
-The werewolves in this movie are really creepy. If only Taylor Lautner could look like that and then Twilight wouldn't be so popular and the world could have nice things again.
-I wish Kenneth Branagh was still in the series.

-This movie really got me into the Christmas spirit. I wish I could have snow on Christmas.
-Hagrid is still my main man. He rocks.
-It was just awesome. I can't wait for the next one.

Three down, five to go. Sure, Prisoner of Azkaban was good, but it wasn't great. Still, it remains a high point in the series.

What I got:

Day 1: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Welcome to the first day of my eight-day long Harry Potter marathon. This is purely because I have not seen any of the Harry Potter's and I promised a whole lot of people that I'd watch 'em all when the last DVD came out. That was just about a month ago, so I have to do it now. I will be blogging about my journey through Hogwarts...and such.

One thing I realised while watching Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is that I am going to have an extremely difficult time trying to conjure up proper reviews on these films. I sat there trying to pick out things that were wrong with it, but I was really just having too much fun. Anyway, some thoughts from an outsider's perspective:

-I know that they will probably get better as the series goes on, but I thought that Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson were pretty terrible. Sure, they were good for their age. I just felt like they were trying too hard to remember their lines that nothing else mattered. Trust me, I know how they feel - that's exactly what I did when I picked up the lead role in a class play. I put on a fake French accent to hide that fact, but I think that everyone could tell that the eight-year-old me didn't have much of a future in acting.
-I honestly found the characters a little annoying. Like the actors, I'm sure they'll fill out as the series goes along, but Ron and Hermione were not the kinds of kids I'd like to babysit. Harry was okay, though.
-This movie seemed hell-bent on being a family film. I know that things get darker as the series go on (jeez, I'm starting to sound like a broken record), but this one just wanted to be a kid-friendly enjoyment-fest. Now, I didn't have a problem with this as such, it was just a bit jarring. Mainly because in the darker moments, it still wanted to be a family film, and everything was covered in a layer of kiddy sugar-coating.
-I've always been a fan of 'how the story began' films (if you know what I mean), so I had fun with this one. It was cool getting introduced to the world of Hogwarts and magic and stuff. I particularly liked the scene where Harry went to get his wand.
-There are a lot of characters - who I imagine will all fill out - and I think I'm slowly picking up who are my favourites. I'll reveal them later, just so I can make sure that they're actually cool or not.

-Snape has a very interesting hairstyle. Alan Rickman is pretty awesome in the role, too.
-All of these movies are so long! If I'd read the books than I'm sure that I'd understand the running times, but two and a half hours is a bit much for me!
-In saying that, the running time whizzed away for me. There was a lot of fun to be had.
-The flashback scenes were really bad.
-Can somebody please explain to me why Voldemort had a nose?
-And one last thing: the main theme for Harry Potter sounds to me like a slightly warped version of 'Swan Lake' by Tchaikovsky. I may be the only one who thinks this.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is a pretty good start. I was pretty entertained. It wasn't perfect, and it has a few teething problems, but things should even out. That's how much faith I have in the series already. Let's hope I am rewarded.

What I got: