AAN: It Is All Over. And This is My 800th Post.

I only watched half of the Oscars. I decided not to go home 'sick' after all and I managed to not get my phone taken off me in class even though I checked it at least 20 times for winners. In fact, today has been an exciting day. In my English class, the teacher decided to ask the class for the 24 categories at the Oscars. Me being me, I knew all of them. As soon as the bell rung, I bolted out the door - and then the fire alarm went off, which was weird. I got home, found an online stream, but that got taken down. Luckily, a link I'd saved for last year's show worked this year. My life does not get more exciting than this.

All in all, even though I wasn't as excited this year, I was still jumping for joy all day at school. I'm sad it is over. I cried during the montage, because I'm going to miss the films like War Horse breaking my heart. Now, I will go through my year catching up on all of the films I missed - The Artist, A Separation, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy...I can't wait until May when they start rolling out all of the awards season movies on DVD. While I felt that last year was better, at least it wasn't The King's Speech fronting this year of film.

My thoughts on the winners:

-We all knew that The Artist was going to win Best Picture. But I was doubtful, considering how strong Hugo was at the start of the show. Hopefully the win will speed up The Artist's expansion in NZ.

-I AM SO UNBELIEVABLY PISSED THAT VIOLA DAVIS DID NOT WIN BEST ACTRESS. I wanted Rooney Mara to win (and what a clip they showed of her), but this was the year for Viola. Anyway, Meryl Streep is a goddess. I loved what Colin Firth said to her. I miss him winning things.
-Even though I haven't seen The Artist, I am so glad that Jean Dujardin won. Anyone but George Clooney. I loved Jean's speech, too, I learned a thing or two from that.

AAN: Oscar Predictions - Acting

Welcome to part four of my official Oscar predictions, which 2012's Annual Awards Nerdism has been coming down to. Tonight I'll take a look at the four acting categories, in poetic form again, of course.
PAST PREDICTIONS: Writing and Directing, the 'Bests' and Visuals, Sound and Design.

Just in case:
Happy Fassy - Who I really want to win.
Lowkey Loki - Who will really win.
Overwhelmed Owen - Who really won't win.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Demián Bichir - A Better Life / George Clooney - The Descendants / Jean Dujardin - The Artist / Gary Oldman - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy / Brad Pitt - Moneyball

Having no Fassy caused a bit of strife,
there was a surprise nomination for A Better Life,
Gary Oldman finally got his first big nom,
and Brad Pitt was indeed the bomb,
the race comes down to two that are slick,
George Clooney or Jean Dujardin are everyone's pick,
but the Cloon has been awarded before,
and I can't say his work deserves an award,
so give it to the Frenchman, whose words are few,
even though I feel like Brad Pitt is probably due.

Only seeing two performances out of this category - Brad Pitt's and George Clooney's - it is a bit hard to properly pick a winner, but my money is definitely on Jean Dujardin. And to think I left him out of my initial predictions. I'm gunning for Brad Pitt, though, because he was fantastic in Moneyball...and you all know how I feel about The Descendants. It would be nice, and totally unsurprising, if Gary Oldman took this award, though.

AAN: Where the Guild Awards Leave the Rest of the Season

With the Screen Actors Guild awards today, all of the guild awards have been given out and now we have a pretty good idea of who is going to win big at the Oscars. Let's start with the Producers Guild Awards, which were held over a week ago...

The Artist took the top award here, over Bridesmaids, The Descendants, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Help, Hugo, The Ides of March, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball and War Horse. The Producers Guild Awards are essentially what Best Picture is, just with better taste (no Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close here). So I guess you could say that The Artist has Best Picture all locked down. Which is fine. I remember how last year it was this set of awards that took The Social Network's Best Picture chances and shoved them down the toilet. I kinda resent them because of that, but the only Oscar chances that this award is shoving down the toilet is Hugo's, as that is also a front-runner to get the prize. But I doubt it can beat The Artist, because the force has grown too strong behind that one.

The Directors Guild Awards

Held yesterday, Michel Hazanavicius got this award for The Artist. Basically unknown to US audiences, Hazanavicius won over big-hitters Alexander Payne (The Descendants), David Fincher (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Martin Scorsese (Hugo) and Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris). Isn't it a little bit like Tom Hooper winning last year for The King's Speech, over the likes of Christopher Nolan, Fincher, Darren Aronofsky and David O. Russell? Oh well, it is nice that they are rewarding foreign talent. However, I don't think that Hazanavicius has the Oscar under his beret just yet (I assume all French people wear berets, haha). After Scorsese's Golden Globe win, I wouldn't be too surprised if he took the award for his 'kids film'. His direction is pretty darn good (but what could we expect?) and he actually makes sense of the whole 3D thing. I think it will be a race between Hazanavicius and Scorsese down to the wire, and whoever gets the BAFTA will have the award locked down. But right now, I couldn't possibly pick a winner between them.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards

The first awards show (and probably the only show) I've watched this season in it's entirety provided a couple of fist-pumping moments for me. The first was when Jean Dujardin won Best Actor. No, I haven't yet seen The Artist, but anyone winning over George Clooney is good enough for me. I feel a bit mean for saying that, but in all honesty his performance in The Descendants wasn't what I would consider worthy of winning the awards. Getting nominated, sure, but winning? No. The second was when The Help won Best Ensemble. Unlike everyone else, I actually loved The Help, and thought that the performances in that film were wonderful. Outside of Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain, there were more performances that could have been nominated, like Bryce Dallas Howard's or Sissy Spacek's especially. Apparently it is naive or uneducated to say this, but that film definitely did have the best ensemble of the year, without a doubt.

Anyway, this set of awards have put a couple of things in perspective, but the rest still has a bit of a 'two-horse race' about it. We all know that Christopher Plummer and Octavia Spencer are going to get the Oscar. About the latter I'm feeling like there might be an upset - if The Artist hits big at the Oscars (which is will), then Berenice Bejo might be in with a chance. I would love to see Jessica Chastain getting something this season, though (just to see her perfect self up on that stage), but she has many years and awards ahead of her so I don't think she'll get much. However, I'm fairly sure that Spencer has it locked down. The leading categories, though, don't have a clear winner yet. Viola Davis may have won the award (as expected), but Meryl Streep could indeed still win - she's overdue for that third Oscar. Jean Dujardin has won a Golden Globe and this award, but let's not forget that George Clooney has got his Golden Globe and the Critics Choice Award. So they're basically neck and neck. I can definitely see Dujardin pulling the win over Clooney, given how much the Academy love The Artist and all. Which would be nice, for me. And let me just reiterate that The Help will not be winning Best Picture after the Ensemble win. Remember, they're rewarding the actors, not the film as a whole. So stop getting so touchy. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close still has the award locked down.

As for the awards show itself, it was just okay, pretty boring. I don't really know how you 'critique' awards show. But here are my favourite moments:

-The clip they showed of Maggie Smith for Downton Abbey (my life at the moment) was perfect. Best example of the Dowager Countess of Grantham.

-Any time in which Jessica Chastain was shown, particularly when Octavia won and when she was 'holding' Cicely Tyson onstage. She is a goddess.
-Owen Wilson's face when The Help won. I think I might have to change my 'Overwhelmed Owen' picture to that one, haha (someone GET ME A PHOTO OF THIS!!!)

-Armie Hammer's photobombing when Meryl Streep was on screen. He is such a loveable goofball, even if he did get arrested.

-The best of the best was when Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Melissa McCarthy came onstage to present Bridesmaids and their Scorsese drinking game. And then when Tina Fey took part with Steve Buscemi's wine. It is times like those when I wish I was an actor.

Otherwise, only one thing has changed for me today: I've become even further convinced that my life is inadequate because I am not Jessica Chastain.

What say you? Where do the guild awards leave the Oscar race?

Evil Shall with Evil be Expelled.

Film: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Year: 2011
Director: David Fincher
Written by: Steve Zallian
Starring: Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård, Robin Wright, Joely Richardson, Yorick van Wageningen, Goran Visnjic, Steven Berkoff, Geraldine James. 
Running time: 158 min.
This is out in New Zealand cinemas on January 26th.

It is a tough life being a remake. Moreso if it is a Hollywood remake. There are the endless comparisons to the original. Then there are the differences between the two: if it is too different, people hate it; if it is shot for shot, people also hate it. And if Hollywood remakes a foreign film, then the makers get slammed for encouraging the lazy people who can’t be bothered reading subtitles. Yes, usually remakes don’t fare too well, but there is the occasional exception. David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is one such example of that. However, there is an exception to that exception: Fincher has made it very clear that his version isn’t a remake of the 2009 Swedish hit. Instead, it is an adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s wildly popular posthumous novel. A novel which has sold more copies than The Very Hungry Caterpillar. When you put things into perspective, a lot of people would like to adapt this book, but I’m glad that Fincher was the one to do it.

"I don't want to be just theoretically gay. I want to do something about it."

Film: Beginners
Year: 2010
Writer/Director: Mike Mills
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic, Kai Lennox, Mary Page Keller, Keegan Boos, China Shavers, Melissa Tang. 
Running time: 105 min.

One thing I've always wondered about is how 'real' movies can be. Some aim to be as realistic as possible, and then end up being depressive bores. I've always thought that movies are meant to be more exciting than real life, but I do enjoy one of those 'realistic' movies every now and again. Beginners is a perfectly 'real' movie, which shows both the happy things in life and the sad things in life. The story is told through the eyes of Oliver Fields (Ewan McGregor), an artist who receives two big announcements from his father Hal (Christopher Plummer): he has terminal cancer, and he is also gay. The film zips back and forth between when Oliver was trying to deal with his father's illness, and after Hal has died, when Oliver meets French actress Anna (Mélanie Laurent). Peppered in between are moments from Oliver's childhood with his mother (played brilliantly by Mary Page Keller) which have seemingly shaped him as a man, and also some superbly edited scenes showing what life is like. While one may suspect that this is a film focusing on the relationship between Oliver and his dying father, it's not. Rather, it's a film examining all of the relationships that Oliver has with everyone.

DVD--The Last Station

or: War and Peace in marriage.

One word to sum it up: Dramatic.

Helen Mirren. How do I explain Helen Mirren? In 2006, she won an Oscar for her amazing performance in The Queen. Upon it's release, Hollywood started realizing that she was one of hottest people around...even though she was around 60 years old. Earlier this year, she got thrown into the Oscar race again for a small film called The Last Station, which was a British period film about the final year of writer Leo Tolstoy. If it wasn't for Dame Helen Mirren, I probably would have passed this on.

After almost fifty years of marriage, Sofya (Helen Mirren) – Leo Tolstoy's (Christopher Plummer) devoted wife, lover, muse and secretary – suddenly finds her world turned upside down. In the name of his newly created religion, the novelist has renounced his noble title, his property and even his family (including their 13 children) in favour of poverty, vegetarianism and celibacy. Sofya also discovers that Tolstoy's trusted disciple, Chertkov (Paul Giamatti) may have convinced her husband to change his will, leaving the rights to his iconic novels to the Russian people rather than his own family. Consumed by righteous outrage, Sofya fights fiercely for what she believes is rightfully hers. Into this minefield wanders Tolstoy's worshipful new assistant, the gullible Valentin (James McAvoy), who quickly becomes a pawn – first of the scheming Chertkov and then of the wounded, vengeful Sofya.

As promised, Helen Mirren delivers and makes this movie what it is. However, it's cast of brilliant British actors provide valuable support to her tour de force performance. Christopher Plummer has clearly studied his role of Leo Tolstoy, deserving his Oscar nomination for best supporting actor (though not quite as good as Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds). James McAvoy, who we haven't been seeing much of lately, gives a heartfelt yet very comedic performance, fitting for a young actor performing against such experienced stars like Mirren and Plummer. His wife, the lovely Anne-Marie Duff, last seen in Nowhere Boy, makes an appearance as the ungrateful daughter. She is definitely onto big things. Kerry Condon serves as a luminous love interest for McAvoy and their chemistry lights up the movie.

While it's premise sounds a little dramatic, The Last Station has some fine comedic moments which hels lighten the mood. Mirren and Plummer are a lovely married couple who have fair share of disagreements, making for a hilarious battle of the sexes reminiscent of early screwball comedies like Bringing Up Baby. It isn't a stuffy period piece, or the kind of historical drama you would expect. Instead, it's a charming romance story and a pretty funny movie. Even though the constant yelling and arguements get to be a bit tiresome, the performances got me through and I really enjoyed The Last Station. This is the perfect movie for a Saturday night in with a box of chocolates.

THE VERDICT: An enjoyable romp and comedic battle of the sexes, led by amazing performances from Oscar nominated Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer.

7/10