DVD - Welcome to the Rileys

People have been unfair to Kristen Stewart. Yes, she is diabolically bad in Twilight (and she gets worse with every movie), with the ever-present hair pulling and eye twitching that drive me to distraction. But, to be honest, everyone in those movies is on auto-pilot, because 1) the screenplay's are so bad it makes it impossible for any actor to try and work their way out of the muck, and 2) the main fanbase simply don't care what the acting is like, as long as Taylor Lautner has his shirt off and Robert Pattinson is being the most 'romantic' vampire ever. Kristen Stewart in everything but these vampire...uh...things? Brilliant. If I was impressed with her performance as rocker Joan Jett in The Runaways, her performance as runaway 16 year old prostitute in Welcome to the Rileys completely blew that out of the water.

To say that Kristen is the best thing about this movie is a huge stake to claim. She is supported by two strong performances from James Gandolfini and recent Oscar winner Melissa Leo, who is particularly good. Kristen, however, is fearless in this movie, but at the same time, she is playing a tough girl on the exterior who is probably more out of her depth than anyone else, and even though she think she can, she really can't cope with it. However, she isn't the only one out of their depth. James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo play a couple who have been married for just about 30 years, but they don't appear to be the happy, homely couple that people would like to think they are. This is mostly due to the fact that thier daughter died in a car accident at the age of 15, and since then Lois (Leo) has refused to leave the house and naturally, Doug (Gandolfini) feels a lot of guilt towards what had happened. Enter Allison (Stewart), who is known as 'Mallory' when she's at work, who meets Doug at the club which she works at. She lost her mother and has since been living in a crappy house trying to pay her way by selling herself. Doug offers to help her become a better person, as she appears to be far beyond her years, but needs reeling in before she loses herself completely. In Allison, Doug sees the chance to have a substitute for his daughter, and feels like he is of use trying to help her, even though Allison isn't interested in being anyone's "little girl".

Doug, Lois and Allison aren't related, but their story makes for a very interesting family drama. The base of this movie is guilt: the guilt that Doug and Lois feel for their loss and the guilt that Allison doesn't know that she has building up inside of her until Doug comes along. Allison was very happy living a life so messed up that it's hard to imagine her as being someone my age. You can't say that Welcome to the Rileys treads unfamiliar ground, as one person trying to help another wayward person is hardly original. But the relationship between Doug and Allison, is one that quickly forms to be something similar to a simple father-daughter relationship, even if it really all comes down to guilt. What is more beautiful, though, is the relationship that forms between Lois and Allison. Lois is probably the most guilt-ridden out of the two, since she believes that her daughter's death was absolutely all her fault. At first, she doesn't buy into Doug forming a bond with Allison, but instead of bursting in demanding change like he did, Lois very gradually warms to Allison. Where Doug saw Allison more as a project, Lois saw Allison as a daughter. In all honesty, it was the conflicting interests between the two which I really connected with, and probably why I loved this film so much (though, my weakness for an indie drama probably contributes greatly).

I imagine that many people would find this meddling material, as it does tend to take it's time and it has a few unintentional awkward silences. Other than that, this is actually a little gem of a film. It's obviously made with love, and it's just a very genuine film. The performances are, of course, the highlight, because if they weren't so good, this film would have had trouble getting off the ground like it did. James Gandolfini is a great father figure, taking no nonsense from anyone else, but being very lenient towards himself. He has a commanding, yet quite cheeky, showcase, which is nothing short of heartfelt and human. Melissa Leo was particularly impressive. She was so shaky, insecure and confused that it was painful to watch her sometimes, but you could really see the points she was trying to make. She was the beautiful mother figure to Gandolfini's father figure, yet she was just so shaken by even the slightest knock against her. But, as I said at the beginning of the review, Kristen Stewart is the stand-out performer in this. She just had a presence of someone who appeared beyond her years, but she was still very much a child underneath it all. If you want proof that Kristen Stewart can indeed act, very well, look no further than Welcome to the Rileys.

THE VERDICT: The heartfelt and electrifying performances from Gandolfini, Leo and Stewart elevate Welcome to the Rileys from the meddling material it could have been, and make it an family drama that's not to be missed.

What I hoped for:

What I got:

AAN: And thus, my life goes back to normal again (Oscar talk)

This morning I said "By the end of the day I will either hate The King's Speech or start liking it again." Now the end of the day has come, I have gotten over my hating and started remembering small parts of it which were Oscar worthy. Unfortunately, I still can't see how it won. But it had it's time to shine, and it's no skin off my teeth.

I got 16 out of 21 predictions right. My last period at school was filled with happiness whenever I saw Inception winning anything and a huge gasp which stopped the whole class when I found that Melissa Leo won. Now my life is going back to normal, these films aren't feeling as relevant as they used to and I'm just waiting for the next lot of awards...and Christopher Nolan's upcoming win for The Dark Knight Rises (early prediction, bite me).

Anyway, thoughts on the awards given out:

-Best Picture went to The King's Speech. Thought having that movie be the most dominant in that little montage was a dead giveaway. While I'm not the only one bitter, and I still commend their achievements, it was so 'safe'. And there were so many films better than that one in the race. I still think, at the bottom of my heart, that Inception should have been the one that won. But of course, the nature of that film stopped it. The nature of The Social Network and it's youngness stopped it. While I'm happy for The King's Speech, this award simply should have gone to someone else.

-Despite the fact that he got the award for The King's Speech, I will forever think that the Oscar Colin Firth got this year was really for his performance in A Single Man. Bravo to that man. Can't say I didn't see it coming, though.

-Thank goodness Natalie Portman won Best Actress. Phenomenal work, phenomenal actress. God bless her.

-Unfortunately, Jesus Bale didn't trim his beard for his big moment. But how the fuck is this the first time he has gotten a win, let alone a nomination?! All I know is that I'm glad that he's finally got what he deserves.
-Okay so I knew Melissa Leo was going to win, so it wasn't much of a surprise. I suppose I was just angry that Jacki Weaver didn't win. Or Amy Adams. Or Hailee Steinfeld. Or Helena Bonham Carter. So much talent here, not enough Oscar to go around!

-Jeez, I nearly cried when Tom Hooper won Best Director. Academy, first you snub Christopher 'God' Nolan, then you give away David Fincher's Oscar to someone who didn't really need it yet in the first place. Yes, Tom Hooper has a lot of talent, but nothing compared to the talent and repertoire David Fincher has built up for himself. Oh well, the Oscars love new blood, and that is a damn fine achievement for Hooper. Damn fine.
-JESUS CHRIST OSCAR WHY DID YOU NOT GIVE THE AWARD FOR 'BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY' TO THE MOST ORIGINAL OUT OF THE LOT OF THEM?! Oh right, coz you hate Christopher Nolan. I still don't get how David Seidler's The King's Speech screenplay is original, since I saw some books called 'The King's Speech' and those words 'Now a major motion picture' floating around, but meh, it was obvious that they were going to go with the safe choice. And now everyone in NZ is going crazy over this win coz Seidler wants to come back to NZ and go tramping. Yeah thats great...we can move on now.
-Adapted Screenplay to The Social Network. Aaron Sorkin, you are still so amazing. If only your fucking awesome film could have won more, y'know?
-Best Animated Feature to Toy Story 3. That's how it should be.
-Best Foreign Film to In a Better World. I predicted it even though I haven't seen it!
-Same case for Best Doc. I predicted Inside Job without seeing it, and it won!

-Even though I'm eternally sad that Hans Zimmer didn't win anything for the most beautiful score I have ever heard in my life, I'm happy that The Social Network got this one. Absolutely genius score. But I'll still be playing 'Time' everyday and having the same chills everytime I hear it.
-I loved the song from Tangled, but of course Toy Story 3's 'We Belong Together' had to win. Surprisingly, out of 20 nominations, Randy Newman has only won twice.

-WALLY PFISTER FINALLY GOT AN OSCAR! He had been nominated four times, all for Chris Nolan masterpieces (Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight and Inception) and finally won. Feeling kinda sad for Roger Deakins and Matthew Libatique though, since they've gone home empty handed even though there work in True Grit and Black Swan was amazing, but Wally Pfister rules! Especially when he thanks his 'master'. Yes, Nolan has incredible vision.
-Art Direction to Alice in Wonderland? What?!
-Costume Design to Alice in Wonderland? It still kills me to say that this film won more Oscars than True Grit, which was nominated 10 times but didn't get any return.
-Visual effects to Inception! Yeah, like it had any competition.
-The Wolfman got an Oscar...just for makeup. I heard about Cate Blanchett's 'thats gross' comment. Must have been more priceless than the movie.
-Sound editing to Inception! Wooo!
-Sound mixing to Inception! Woooo! It got 4 Oscars!

I didn't really watch much of the awards, only from about Best Song onwards. I wept over The King's Speech, but that's all in the past now. James Franco was a pretty dead end host, but Anne Hathaway was gorgeous...in the million dresses she wore.
Speaking of gorgeous, I'll just post my three most favourite and three least favourite dresses:

Best dressed-

Jeez, Natalie Portman is glowing. She could have worn a brown paper bag and she would have looked amazing. That colour is so cool. Like, it's my new favourite shade of purple.
All through the awards season, the Black Swan ladies have been the best dressed. Lilac is a risky colour, but Mila Kunis is so beautiful that she could pull this look off. Sure, it's a lot of lace just draped in weird ways, but it is beautiful. Definitely my favourite of the night.
The only thing that could have made Hailee Steinfeld's dress better would be making it go all the way down to the ground. But having it cut like that is cute and young. She's so gorgeous. I just hope we get to see more of her around these awards in the future.

Worst dressed-

Yeah, I know that Scarlett Johansson is supposed to be the sexiest woman in the world but this dress? Table cloth made pink and wrapped around 100 times until it fits averagely. Boring and pretty ugly.
Marisa Tomei's dress looks as dull as anything. That thing forming on the bottom sure doesn't work.
Jeez, Jennifer Hudson has lost a lot of weight. Unfortunately, the weird squeezing and colour of this dress makes her look a little less than special.

So, that's my first Annual Awards Nerdism done for 2010/2011 (sob). Feeling a little less than satisfied with this years outcome, I will go on with my life waiting for 2011's version of Inception or The Social Network to come out. Was Annual Awards Nerdism a 'yay' or 'nay' for you? What about the awards? I love comments :)
Thanks for reading this, everyone! Now back to normal reviews and everything...

AAN: Oscar predictions - Acting

Welcome to Part Four of my Oscar predictions, the big one that Annual Awards Nerdism for 2011 has been leading up to.


Key:
My Leo – The actor who I want to win
My Zuck – The actor who my predictions want to win
My Steve – The actor who will go home empty handed

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

James Franco lost an arm,
Jeff Bridges lost an eye,
Colin Firth lost his ability to speak,
Javier Bardem probably dies,
Jesse Eisenberg lost his friend,
As you see in the end,
All these men lost something,
But one of them is sure to gain,
A little reward for all their suffering and pain,
It probably won’t go to the Zuck,
Bardem, Bridges and Franco are all out of luck,
Colin Firth will be the one they choose,
As there simply ain’t a way for him to lose.

Last year, Colin Firth was nominated for his first time for his career defining, breathtaking performance in A Single Man. Jeff Bridges won the award, as he was ‘overdue’. This year, Bridges is nominated, but won’t win, because now Firth is nominated, and it would seem that he is ‘overdue’ thanks to what happened last year. Previous winner Javier Bardem doesn’t stand a chance, either.
If I had a vote, it would have to go with either Jesse Eisenberg or James Franco. I feel like Eisenberg won’t have another chance like this, because his performance in The Social Network was like one of those once off kinda deals. I would like Franco to win, simply because he was given a D for an acting class assignment because he was filming 127 Hours. It would be like the ultimate shame if he won (for the marker, that is). But he should worry about hosting the show more.

My Leo: Jesse Eisenberg
My Zuck: Colin Firth
My Steve: Javier Bardem

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

A grieving mother in Rabbit Hole,
Nicole Kidman had the Academy sold,
A crumbling marriage in Blue Valentine,
Michelle Williams’ NC-17 rated film nearly crossed the line,
A girl trying to find her father in Winter’s Bone,
Jennifer Lawrence rose above the films dark tone,
A lesbian meeting her baby daddy in The Kids Are All Right,
Annette Bening may put up the fair fight,
A prima ballerina and the new swan queen,
Probably more famous for that lesbian scene,
Natalie Portman will win for Black Swan,
Unless the voters sanity has gone.

I’ve heard a lot of people saying ‘Natalie Portman won’t win!’ this week. Where is this coming from? Not only has she won like every award, she has the most amazing performance out of the lot of them. The only reasons I can think of that will see her not winning are she’s either too young or an ‘overdue’ Annette Bening could win. I don’t want Annette Bening to win. Her character is just too bitchy.
Jennifer Lawrence is awesome in Winter’s Bone, so I can’t exactly write her off. Having not seen Blue Valentine or Rabbit Hole, I can’t really comment on Michelle Williams and Nicole Kidman being nominated. I respect them both as actresses, and I wish them well. If Natalie Portman doesn’t win? The voters have gone as insane as Nina.

My Leo: Natalie Portman
My Zuck: Natalie Portman
My Steve: Nicole Kidman

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Jeremy Renner got the sole nomination for The Town,
In Winter’s Bone John Hawkes liked to frown,
Mark Ruffalo donated sperm,
Geoffrey Rush’s voice techniques helped the King learn,
But did any of these actors lose lots of weight?
Christian Bale’s nomination has come a tad late,
There’s no way that he can’t win,
Even if this isn’t the best film he’s ever been in.

Yeah so, Christian Bale will win. The only competition he has is Geoffrey Rush, who won the BAFTA. But that can’t really taint his chances, surely?
I may have doubted John Hawkes before, but since seeing the film I thought he rocked. Though, I could have replaced him for an Andrew Garfield nomination. I haven’t seen The Town, but I’m glad that Jeremy Renner got another nomination for the second year in a row. He’s such a brilliant actor. Mark Ruffalo is awesome, too, but I’m more surprised that this is his first nomination. Maybe I overrate his brilliance, but the guy could be classed as ‘overdue’ too.
Christian Bale deserves it most, though.

My Leo: Christian Bale
My Zuck: Christian Bale
My Steve: Jeremy Renner

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

I’m Team Jacki Weaver, all the way,
But an Amy Adams win shouldn’t be far away?
Helena Bonham Carter is an amazing royal,
Melissa Leo plays a mum tough and loyal,
Hailee Steinfeld is cute and sweet,
Even though she plays the lead,
But who could win, I don’t know?
Melissa Leo will probably steal the show,
Unless the photo controversy hurts her odds,
So, Academy...you know I love you lots,
Leo and Carter are good, but don’t pick either,
Go for the underdog, JACKI WEAVER!

It’s the same everywhere. Anyone who has seen Animal Kingdom will agree that Jacki Weaver delivers the best performance out of all of these lovely ladies, but the size of the project and perhaps the country it hails from hurts her chances. My next choice would have to be Amy Adams. She has been nominated three times, in this very category, without any luck. With this being her best performance, surely they would give her the gong? Well, I hope they do. But her costar Melissa Leo will get it, as she has got everything else, unless her self-advertising controversy stalls her.
Hailee Steinfeld is becoming a likelier choice by the day. The problem is, she is essentially the lead role, so she should have been nominated there, and it just won’t seem fair if she wins. Helena Bonham Carter is also likely, after her BAFTA win. She could have the ‘overdue’ cloud hanging over her, which could get her the votes that Melissa Leo lost. Maybe I just don’t want Leo to win.

My Leo: Jacki Weaver
My Zuck: Melissa Leo
My Steve: Jacki Weaver

There's todays lot...the second time I've written it (stupid Blogger deleting it all as soon as I published it). Tomorrow I will rank the Best Pic nominees. See you then!

Cinema--The Fighter

or: Life outside the ring.

One word to sum it up: Interesting.

Hollywood has this strange infatuation with sport. I mean, look at it this way: this years Oscar race couldn't have gone without a sport movie. Last year, a football drama of sorts, The Blind Side, got it's sticky beak in there, much to the dismay of many film buffs. This year, the sport movie at the Oscars comes in the form of The Fighter, which is obviously better than The Blind Side, but still has the same predictability that most movies of it's kind have. One of the things that The Fighter has over most sporty films? Great, great performances across the board. And it has a long hard look into relationships, too.

One of the trailers, I remember, showed very few scenes but seemed to capitalize on the films main marketing hook: 'BASED ON A TRUE STORY'. And hey, when it's 'BASED ON A TRUE STORY', you don't argue. The Fighter is a sport film, yes, as it follows the early parts of famed boxer "Irish" Micky Ward (played here by Mark Wahlberg), but at its heart, it is really a movie which examines the relationships between people and the road to becoming the big one. Of course, at the centre of this film is Micky, who at the beginning is trying to box his way to glory, with his crackhead ex-boxer brother Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale) showing the ropes. During this time, there is a camera crew following Dicky around chronicling his life now it has been destroyed by drugs. Micky fights on, undoubtedly tired of being pushed by his mother Alice (Melissa Leo) and father George (Jack McGee). He becomes distracted by fiery barmaid Charlene (Amy Adams), and as their relationship progresses, Micky becomes increasingly disinterested in his world of fighting, but soon realizes that it is never too late for a comeback.

Thank God this movie wasn't like The Karate Kid. I thought I may have to wallow through a solid hour and a half of meaningless flat scenes that are supposed to show power and the will to rise again...but luckily, it didn't. Instead, The Fighter moves at a comfortable pace, blending scenes of inspiration, romance, (drug) addiction, disenchantment with the world and of course, boxing. It goes without saying that the script is frequently funny, thanks to the colourful characters it pulls in and out of the movie, but sometimes its a little too wrapped up in being a great character piece, and felt a little wayward for me at some points. However, the rest of the movie is exhilarating and indeed very interesting to watch. From Micky's relationship with Charlene (and Charlene's relationship with everyone else) to Dicky's drug addiction and want for a comeback, there are some delightful components which elevate this film from the average, disposable popcorn fluff it could have been.

While it wasn't exactly the 'triumph' for me that many people said it was, but there was more than enough for me to like. David O. Russell may have taken Christopher Nolan's spot in the Best Director category this year, and even though I hold a grudge towards him, there is a great deal of creativity in his work. I particularly liked how he opted to use cameras from 1990's-era HBO to capture both the fighting sequences and the interview scenes with Dicky and Micky. Russell's direction seems to breathe life into this movie. On a minor note, the soundtrack for this film is frickin awesome too. Rock music, especially 'How You Like Me Now' from the start of the movie, makes it particularly kick-ass.

But hey, we all know that most of The Fighter's greatness comes from the performances. The brilliant, brilliant, brilliant performances. Mark Wahlberg is so underrated. While he was the one who trained for years and basically got this film off the ground, he was unfortunately missed from all the awards shows in favour of his other castmates. Which is understandable, in a way, but it certainly doesn't make it right. Melissa Leo, the front runner to win the Best Supporting Actress award at the Oscars this weekend, was amazing. Well, to be frank, she was a little frightening, but watching the way she interacted with the other characters (and not to mention the way she handled all those daughters) was admirable to watch. Christian Bale, the front runner to win the Best Supporting Actor award at the Oscars, is simply the best ever. How the hell hasn't this guy been nominated before? Reduced down to his small weight and a haggard looking figure, Bale steals the show by being a cocky and arrogant character who you also can't help but feel for. If he doesn't win, I'll sense conspiracy. However, though they're all great, my favourite out of the lot was Amy Adams. It was so nice to see my favourite actress - for playing sweet and innocent roles - swearing her head off, getting into a fight, standing up for what she believes in and pulling off scrunchies of all things. She was terrific. If only she could win the Oscar.

THE VERDICT: Though not as amazing as I thought it would be, The Fighter has a lot of heart that won me over in the end. It also is a great piece of master acting.

What I hoped for:

What I got: