Nic November: Ghost Rider and Adaptation

Here we are, back with some Nicolas Cage movies. I think I've already come to realise that the majority of his films aren't that bad - but then again, I am mixing the good with the bad: last week with Gone in 60 Seconds and the considerably better Lord of War, and this week with the awful Ghost Rider and the brilliant Adaptation. We can still have faith in good old Nicolas!

The Hairstyle: Get Me in a Boy Band/The Intense Ginger

I think that Nic should stay away from films that have him spending prolonged amounts of time in/on a vehicle. Gone in 60 Seconds was terrible. Ghost Rider was even worse. Basically, Nic is Johnny Blaze, a stunt man who likes to ride his motorcycle in dangerous ways and everyone resents him for it but he does it anyway. Oh, and he sold his soul to the devil. Mhm.

A Woman in Power, A Film Out of Control

Film: The Iron Lady
Year: 2011
Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Written by: Abi Morgan
Starring: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Olivia Colman, Alexandra Roach, Harry Lloyd, Richard E. Grant, Roger Allam, Julian Wadham.
Running time: 105 min.

The Avengers is receiving a lot of buzz lately, but what about all the films that came before it? Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, Iron Man 2...I've seen them all. Somehow, after all this time, Meryl Streep's entry into the saga, The Iron Lady totally slipped my attention. After seeing it, I realise how it fit in: it is an interesting prequel to Iron Man, as Meryl Streep plays a woman who could very well be Iron Man's mother. It could also work as a sequel to Captain America, where we find out what really happened to Steve Rogers after he crashed, and his brain was taken over by Alzheimer's which is why he didn't know that he was asleep for so long. And it totally fits in with Thor, because it used as many crooked angle shots as Kenneth Branagh did with his tale of the Norse God. So I'm shocked to see that Meryl isn't on the poster for The Avengers. Oh...wait. She plays a real life person who was the opposite of a superhero. I never would have guessed from the film.

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: The BAFTAs are Better than the Oscars.

There, I said it. I think I might just base my whole awards season around the BAFTAs and end it there. Because the Brits know where it is at. You won't find any Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close here.

I don't really have a tremendous amount of things to say about the BAFTAs since I didn't watch the show and they won't have a lot of impact on the Oscars at all. So just some sprawled thoughts on the winners - which may not make a lot of sense, since World War 3 is still going on in my head (okay, I think ever since I watched Trespass the excessive screaming from that movie has been stuck in my head wreaking all sorts of havoc).

-The Artist won Best Film. Can't say that was a surprise. Hopefully every cinema in NZ will take note so maybe it won't be playing in only nine cinemas and might actually come to Palmerston North before the Oscars. Just a thought.
-Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy for the Best British Film. I still need to see this movie...but no-one has found the kindness in their heart to drive me over to the cinemas. Eh.

-I'm going to change my name to Jean Dujardin. I like the way it rolls off my tongue...it sounds so sexy. I don't care if I'm a girl.
-So, I guess that means Jean Dujardin will win the Oscar? Anyone but George Clooney, baby. But I'm sad that Fassy didn't win, because I would have yelled 'SUCK ON THAT, OSCARS!' from the rooftops (...of Dannevirke, New Zealand).
-Oooh, Meryl Streep won Best Actress, just as I predicted it. I think the race is practically 50/50 between Davis and Streep...it'll be interesting to see who gets it. But you know me, my heart is with Rooney Mara all the way.
-Christopher Plummer got Best Supporting Actor. Usually I get sick of people sweeping all of the awards, but not Plummer. He was amazing in Beginners.

-I'm sorta surprised that Octavia Spencer won Best Supporting Actress, even though I'm not sure who else it could have gone to. Alas, my dream of seeing Jessica Chastain deliver an acceptance speech this season is quashed :'(

Rewind--Lions for Lambs

or: Just like going to college...

One word to sum it up: Tiring.

You know how when you are kinda obsessed with a certain actor and you feel obliged to watch a lot of their films? Well, yeah, my current obsession is Andrew Garfield, and there aren’t too many films out there with him in them...yet. But given the fact that Lions for Lambs was right there at my disposal, which happens to feature Andrew Garfield in one of his early American roles, of course I had to add it to my list of Andrew movies. Even though I had to be lectured for 87 minutes in order to do that.

Lions for Lambs begins after two determined students at a West Coast University, Arian (Derek Luke) and Ernest (Michael Pena), follow the inspiration of their idealistic professor, Dr. Malley (Robert Redford), and attempt to do something important with their lives. But when the two make the bold decision to join the battle in Afghanistan, Malley is both moved and distraught. Now, as Arian and Ernest fight for survival in the field, they become the string that binds together two disparate stories on opposite sides of America. In California, an anguished Dr. Malley attempts to reach a privileged but disaffected student (Andrew Garfield) who is the very opposite of Arian and Ernest. Meanwhile, in Washington D.C. the charismatic Presidential hopeful, Senator Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise), is about to give a bombshell story to a probing TV journalist (Meryl Streep) that may affect Arian and Ernest's fates.

I knew Lions for Lambs wasn’t going to be interesting from the very start, since it deals with the Iraq war...something which is overused in the film industry to an often dry and thoughtless extent. Lions for Lambs is no exception to that rule. It's an overly contrived set of stories which seem barely even connected right, and overall can't elevate from being like every other war movie: boring. It's the same every time when Hollywood tries to attack the government over something they aren't particularly proud of. Unfortunately, such elements can't be made into a piece of pop culture. Lions for Lambs tries to paint a bad picture of everyone involved, which contributes to some off-the-mark characterization through it's series of lectures. It too rarely feels like a film, and I kinda felt like I was being lectured by Robert Redford just the way that Todd did. Maybe this is a good film to show at college when talking about the subject this movie tries to tackle?

You usually can't go wrong with Meryl Streep, but her performance is a little bit bland, until the end when it turns a little desperate. Tom Cruise is, you know, Tom Cruise, except this time he is being all powerful and executive. Robert Redford takes on both the lead role and the direction duties, and does those both adequately well. Andrew Garfield, in his film debut (he also made his BAFTA winning TV-film Boy A in the same year), shows us some early signs of what he is truly made of. He's such an honest actor who deserves any accolades coming for him. I wouldn't exactly call him scene stealing in this movie, but I would say that he is possibly one of the better parts of it.


THE VERDICT: A dull stab at the US Government that feels like a series of lectures...and no film should be a series of lectures.

4/10