9 of My Favourite Scenes with Horses

This post is inspired by Ruth, who posted her seven favourite scenes to do with horses earlier this week as part of a Horse-a-Thon, which I totally missed the deadline for. However, I couldn't let this opportunity slip. As you may know, I'm really a horse girl deep down. No, it wasn't one of those phases that every girl has. I couldn't help but love horses because, well, my family trained racehorses. I mean, I've been riding horses since before I was born (seriously). Here's a chance to put my two greatest loves together. Here are my favourite scenes that have horses in them - in no particular order:

The opening scene of The Fall.

The opening scene of Tarsem's wildly underseen and underrated beauty is pretty much the most amazing opening sequence I've ever seen. Okay, so there isn't a lot of horsey action for the large majority of the scene, but with that black and white and dripping slow motion, it manages to make the horses look even more amazing. Just watch it - I don't know how any words could possibly do it justice.

Top 10 Oscar fails in 2011

The Oscars decided that they wouldn’t be the same as everyone else, and decided to snub deserving people left right and centre. You know what the number one snub is going to be here, but there are nine more reasons as to why the Oscars got it wrooooong.


10. Best Actor: Ryan Gosling – Blue Valentine

I haven’t seen Blue Valentine, but I find it extremely disappointing that the Academy decided not to nominate Ryan Gosling for his performance or for anything other than Michelle Williams in the Best Actress category. I would have thought that it was one of those ‘nominate one, nominate the other’ kind of deals, but not to be. His spot was taken by Javier Bardem for his turn in Biutiful, which was a bit of a surprise, seeing as he hadn’t been nominated anywhere else but the BAFTAs.

9. Best Original Screenplay: Animal Kingdom – David Michôd

So this wasn’t nominated in many other places, but in my opinion, it should have been somewhere. It’s just a little sad that this film only came away with one nomination, seeing at it is one of the best reviewed movies of the years. Must be a case of ‘it’s Australian, who cares’. Hey, I’m a New Zealander, and I rustled up the energy to care about this movie. The screenplay for this movie was pretty darn good with its structure and plot, especially considering the fact that this was a debut feature for Michôd.

8. Best Animated Feature: Tangled

I guess this one goes for Despicable Me as well. Just because they aren’t as great as Toy Story 3 doesn’t mean they should have been forgotten. Tangled is the standard in animation, and it should at least be recognized for the amazing visuals and happiness it provides. Then again, with Toy Story 3 shaping up to be The Social Network of the animated feature category, it doesn’t really matter what else is nominated.

7. Best Supporting Actress: Barbara Hershey – Black Swan

I think anyone who has seen Black Swan would agree with me: Barbara Hershey is one scary mamma. Did anyone think that she was like Margaret White in Carrie? Black Swan is such a well acted film, so it is a little strange that it only got one acting nom (which will probably win). Hershey deserved the nomination, even if she only got a BAFTA nom along the way. No wonder Nina was such a damaged soul.

6. Best Visual Effects: TRON: Legacy

Didn’t this seem like a no-brainer? The effects were pretty much the only things that made TRON: Legacy worth sitting through, and to be honest, they were pretty darn good visual effects. Somehow, Iron Man 2 managed to sneak through (what the hell?). A movie which houses a young Jeff Bridges and an old Jeff Bridges (neither of which actually look like normal Jeff Bridges), more lights than the world knowingly has and some amazing set pieces surely deserves an Oscar nomination in this category, no?

5. Best Editing: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

You know how hard it is to put up a sign saying that Salt is ‘nominated for an Oscar’ but end up putting nothing by Scott Pilgrim vs. the World? Take a second to imagine the poor editor who had to go through that movie. They had to add all of those extra effects on screen making the movie as kick-ass as it was. Yet, no recognition. Jeez, if I had it my way I would nominate this movie in every bloody category. But I guess the Academy aren’t ‘cool’ enough for this movie. Prepare to die, obviously.

4. Best Supporting Actress: Mila Kunis – Black Swan

I was really disappointed when I saw that Mila Kunis wasn’t nominated. Come on, she totally owned on screen. While it was all Natalie Portman’s film, Mila too went through hell for this movie (dislocated shoulder, two torn calf ligaments...). She also got a Golden Globe and a SAG nomination. She’s also got a movie about a casual relationship coming out this year. So why no love for her, Academy? You disappoint me.

3. Best Editing: Inception

This really seemed like a no brainer. When you have to edit through all those different layers and put them together so they all make sense, then you should get some recognition. The editing in Inception should not have only been nominated, but it should have won. Anyone that edits a Nolan film should win.

2. Best Supporting Actor: Andrew Garfield – The Social Network

There was a small part of me that could see this coming (as the missing SAG nom probably harmed his chances), but ANDREW GARFIELD SHOULD HAVE BEEN BLOODY NOMINATED! In such a well-acted film, nominating just Jesse Eisenberg makes it seem like he is the only reason to go and watch the film. He is not. ANDREW GARFIELD IS THERE TOO! And, to be quite frank, Andrew has probably the biggest future ahead of him after this movie. He was the one that everyone put on their list as the ‘top rising star of 2010’. So why wasn’t he nominated? WHY?! I still love you, Andrew. Academy, you better lawyer up, assholes, because he's not coming back for just a nomination...he is coming back for everything!

1. Best Director: Christopher Nolan – Inception

WHAT. THE. HELL. So, you’ve probably read my rant or whatever, and now you probably think I’m crazy. But you don’t just not nominate Christopher Nolan and expect to get away with it. You don’t just nominate him in every other award show but not at the Oscars. You don’t just ignore him for The Dark Knight and then ignore him for Inception. You don’t just hate on Nolan, full stop. He is amazing (in my eyes, at least). To be honest, he doesn’t need a fancy Oscar nomination to prove that. It’s just a nice thought.

Cinema--Tangled

or: Rapunzel! Let down your hair!

One word to sum it up: Charming.

I have to wonder why not many people were wowed by Tangled. I went to go and see it with my eight year old niece and her friend, and I think I enjoyed it much more than they did. Sure, it isn't really Disney's best work, but it serves as a great reminder that Disney films have some masterful storytelling. Its a great movie to mark the 50th film from the studio, so why all the hate? People these days...

After receiving the healing powers from a magical flower, the baby Princess Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) is kidnapped from the palace in the middle of the night by Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy). Mother Gothel knows that the flower's magical powers are now growing within the golden hair of Rapunzel, and to stay young, she must lock Rapunzel in her hidden tower. Rapunzel is now a teenager and her hair has grown to a length of 70-feet. The beautiful Rapunzel has been in the tower her entire life, and she is curious of the outside world. One day, the bandit Flynn Ryder (Zachary Levi) scales the tower and is taken captive by Rapunzel. Rapunzel strikes a deal with the charming thief to act as her guide to travel to the place where the floating lights come from that she has seen every year on her birthday. Rapunzel is about to have the most exciting and magnificent journey of her life.

Its quite surprising that the Academy decided to go for only three nominations in the 'Best Animated Feature' category, meaning that this and Despicable Me missed out on a spot. However, Tangled managed to receive a well deserved Oscar nomination for Best Original Song-'I See the Light'. Last year, The Princess and the Frog served as a 2D animated musical spectacular, but this year, Tangled steps it up a notch by being a 3D animated musical spectacular. I never saw it in 3D, but the visuals were pretty amazing. Really, its the vocal talents of Mandy Moore and a surprising Zachary Levi which steal the show here. They're never too overreactive with their vocal acting, and their voices suit the songs perfectly, making this not become one of those phony-star-studded-animated-flicks.

The songs, written by Alan Menken, are spellbinding, even if some of them are particularly uninspired. They fit well with the story, which is masterfully told through several interesting characters. Of course, we see the usual suspect animal sidekick, but times two, with the cute chameleon Pascal and the scene stealing horse Maverick. Like I do in most animated films, I found myself in tears at the end, but that only came after lots of decent laughs. In short, I loved Tangled. It was a beautiful ode to the story of Rapunzel.


THE VERDICT: Tangled is a stunning example of why Disney animated films still rule, with great vocal talents to boot.

8/10