Water for Links

The holidays are upon me, and of course that means I have more time to earn some cash down at Blockbuster. Today, I managed to clean the entire new release wall without going completely crazy...no mean feat. It was hard work, and after that and walking home in the pouring rain, I think it's a good time to have a Tuesday Movie Night with three movies. On the agenda for tonight is Agora (which I just finished watching), Water for Elephants and The Company Men (it came out last week, but I missed it last Tuesday). I'm kinda peeved that Trust didn't arrive today with all of the other DVDs, because I was really looking forward to that. (NOTE: I'll respond to your comments tomorrow, I just haven't been around my computer an awful lot at the moment!)

Anyway, while I watch astronomy come to life, Christoph Waltz being evil, and those corporate down-sizers, check out these posts...

Max does a fantastic list of the best female characters in the movies over at Anomalous Material. There are some goodies!

There's some love for Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves at Surrender to the Void. Such a brilliant movie, definitely one of my favourites.

As the year has gone on, we have seen many superhero movies. Nikhat at Being Norma Jeane breaks down her favourites from the year.

I always love an inspirational post, and the brilliant Kid in the Front Row tells us all to tone down our inner critic. I'm trying this out at the moment!

Nine more days until I can finally see Midnight in Paris. Only nine more days. Andy Buckle and his Film Emporium makes me even more excited for this movie. It sounds like a real treat!

Is it weird that I really want to see Shame, even though I'm aware that most of the content in this movie may not be suitable for my young eyes? There's an intriguing review at The Film Experience, along with plenty of good coverage of the New York Film Festival (I should be in NY right now).

You may know that Olivia Williams is one of my favourite actresses. Turns out she is one of my favourite people, too, with her description of what she sees in the mirror. What a darling.

Turns out I inspired someone with my review on The Virgin Suicides. Tyler, master of strange lists, does a list of the best movies that deal with suicide.

A film which I feel like never got enough love is The Messenger. Dan at Top 10 Films loved it too.

There you go. Have a good week!

"We would never be sure of the sequence of events."

Film: The Virgin Suicides
Year: 1999
Writer/Director: Sofia Coppola
Starring: James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst, Josh Hartnett, Scott Glenn, Danny DeVito, A.J. Cook, Hanna Hall, Leslie Hayman, Chelse Swain.
Running time: 97 min.

Teenage girls. These two words are likely to have people feeling scared. Honestly, most teenage girls do nothing to break out of their largely negative stereotype. Some are overly melodramatic, moody and needlessly melancholic. Others go from one extreme to the next faster than the speed of light, like going from vegetarianism to hating the world and everything in it just like that. It would appear that all they care about are boys, their body image and their social status. Yes, we teenage girls can be very annoying. So I guess that Sofia Coppola's debut feature The Virgin Suicides, which revolves around five teenage sisters, may sound annoying. Luckily, it's not. I, as a teenage girl, found a lot to connect to. I'm not sure about anyone else, but there's plenty to love about Coppola's true masterpiece.

What About the 'Animated Feature' Category at the Oscars?

It may be only October. But let's face it, we're getting some glimpses of the films which are sure to be nominated at the Oscars, and awards season will kick off in less than two months. So, it's never too early to start predicting...or get excited. Personally, awards season is my favourite part of the year.

Now everybody has been predicting the Best Pictures and Actors and Actresses, particularly because there have been some really good films coming through the several film festivals. But what about the animated feature category? Naturally, we'd expect a PIXAR flick to take it out, but they will probably be having a break this year since Cars 2 didn't exactly fare too well with the critics. In fact, there haven't been any real 'stand-out' animated features this year...just some good ones, and quite a few terrible ones. Then again, not every year can have a Toy Story 3.

Let's look at our possibilities:

The ones that definitely deserve a chance:

The Adventures of Tintin - Now, for some reason, I keep thinking that this movie isn't going to be eligible for the category. I don't really know why this is, and there's this sneaking feeling that I really can't lock this film in as the winner. I mean, what if this movie isn't really that great? What if, for whatever reason, the film isn't eligible? Gosh...I don't know. I still can't see this movie in that particular category, but it doesn't seem to have that much competition keeping it out. You're probably thinking now that I wrote this post for no reason at all, considering that, y'know, this one seems like 'the one', but I'm not convinced. And even if I were convinced, there isn't really the 'competition' to back it up, like we had last year with How to Train Your Dragon and The Illusionist. I'm not crazy...yet.

Rango - This film seems to be loved by most film bloggers, mainly because of the many references to pop culture and Western films. Rango was a cool film, but I haven't really heard a lot of love from people outside 'film world'. I think it's a film that has a very specific audience: the kids will find it funny because of how ridiculous it is (in a good way) and some adults who know their stuff will get a lot of the jokes. This might hurt it's chances, but come on. The technical side of the movie is almost flawless, since the vocal acting was done so realistically and the attention to detail in the animation was so good. If Tintin doesn't get a look in, then this will probably be the one that wins.

Rio - While this film performed well critically and financially, I still feel like this movie just 'slipped by'. It was a cool movie, very colourful and funky, but perhaps it was a little too simple. There was this feeling that everything about this movie was 'just there'. It was good, but not excellent. Perfectly adequate, really. A couple of impressive musical numbers, nice vocal acting and an excessive amount of colour should pull this movie in. I just hope that voters haven't forgotten about it by the time awards season really gets going.

Winnie the Pooh - There are unfortunately so many things riding against this otherwise excellent little film that may see it not get a nomination. The film failed to earn it's (exceptionally high) budget back in America, so it didn't perform as well as it should have. It got brilliant reviews (a 91% Tomatometer), but the reviews weren't amazingly raving. The fact that it's only 52 minutes long (excluding the credits) makes it a lot shorter than your average film. But hey, this movie is nostalgic, simple and whimsical...it's truly old-fashioned Disney at it's best. If, for anything, the voters choose this film, then it should be for the glorious hand-drawn work. 3D is so over-rated.

Kung Fu Panda 2 - The first was nominated in this category back in 2009, and this one is apparently just as good. But I'd probably put this one behind the other four, so I doubt that it will get a nomination unless they open the category up to five nominations. Yet, I wouldn't dismiss it, because it's sheer popularity could see it coming out over Winnie the Pooh or Rio.

They haven't been released yet, but they may have a chance:

Puss in Boots - Considering the last couple of Shrek's weren't that fantastic, dear old Puss in Boots may have lost a bit of traction and this movie could totally flop. But I doubt it, since Puss in Boots was definitely the awesomest character in the Shrek series after Donkey. I just don't see it getting a nomination. I'm sure the box office won't be a problem for it, but the critics might. We don't have long to find out, though!

Happy Feet Two - Well, my cat is named after Mumble, so this will have to get nominated! Haha. The first won the award in this category, but the movie itself received mixed reactions from what I can remember. I doubt this will get a nomination...and I doubt that it will be that great. Mind you, I was one of the ones who absolutely loved the first one. It must be just my shaky attitude towards sequels.

Arthur Christmas - Jeez, didn't the trailer for this come out last Christmas? I don't know how well Christmas movies fare at the Oscars. And for that, I'm willing to leave this out of my predictions. Unless, of course, there's some miracle and it gets rave reviews. Even then, I doubt it has enough pull to get nominated.

The Wildcard:

Cars 2 - Yes, it didn't get the best reviews. But I'm sensing that there will be some sort of sympathy towards PIXAR's only failure. And hey, Cars got nominated back in 2007, even though it wasn't the best of films. I wouldn't completely dismiss the film. Oscar is known for being unpredictable. Maybe that's a bit too unpredictable, but not too out of the ordinary.

They're never gonna get a nomination:

There has been a surprising amount of bad animated movies coming out this year. At the very start of the year, there was Gnomeo & Juliet. Shakespeare wasn't always meant to be adapted into an animated flick with garden gnomes playing his famed star-crossed lovers. Mars Needs Moms was a huge flop, despite it's cool motion-capture animation style. But come on, after it was made for $120 million, and it only earned just over $21 million at the USA box office, can you really expect it to get nominated? Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil is unlikely to get a nomination, as the first one wasn't even that great and the animation looks scarily cheap. Plus, Anne Hathaway didn't even wanna come back for it.

My final prediction, as of 09/10/11:

If Tintin is eligible/good, then I'd be inclined to pick that, Rango and Rio. Excluding Tintin, I'd go for Winnie the Pooh to take the final spot. I think Rango is a definite lock, and I'd be surprised if it didn't get nominated.

So what do you think will get nominated? And what have you thought of 2011's animated feature selection?

What's Happening Where I Am: Cinema and DVD releases here, 07/10/11

Cinema Releases

Footloose - Gosh, I remember the original of this movie. My mother must have tried to make me watch it at least 500 times when I was a kid and on the 501st try I finally caved in and watched it in it's entirety. I could start with the 'why remake this?' argument, but I won't. Mainly because that argument has come up a few times in the past while and it's becoming a little old, don't you think?

Johnny English Reborn - I haven't actually seen the first one, but from what I hear, it wasn't so great. Which made me wonder why they'd make a sequel to it. Apparently, this sequel is quite good. And who has been missing Rowan Atkinson? Make another Mr Bean movie! Just not like Mr Bean's Holiday! (oh yeah, and Rosamund Pike is in it...absolutely love her)

Real Steel - Why does everybody think the idea behind this movie is really stupid? Okay, so boxing robots may sound a little strange but I'm sure the movie is fun! I just want Hugh Jackman to do something better, though. I mean, he hasn't really done that much since Australia.

Spy Kids: All the Time in the World 4D - Okay, Robert Rodriguez, you can stop now. We do not need 4D 'Aromascope' in our lives (I may stand corrected, but you need cards or something for the 'smell'?), nor do we need any more of your lame attempts at kids movies. Good lord.

The Orator - I think it's just worth mentioning that the island nation of Samoa just made their first feature film. There we go, another country added to the world of cinema!

The Smurfs - School holidays movies. You gotta love 'em.

DVD Releases

All Good Things - Oh, Ryan Gosling. You were creepy in this movie. Really, really, really creepy. Kirsten Dunst, why are you so beautiful? It's so unfair! I think you two should make another movie together, coz this one was a bit of a clunker.

Biutiful - Everyone, rush down to the DVD store for the feel good movie of the year! LOL JK, this movie will probably make you wanna take a knife to your wrists. Okay, maybe not so extreme, but it certainly does kill any form of buzz you have in your life.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules - Hahaha, this will forever be remembered as the film that more people wanted to see over Sucker Punch. More people wanted to see snotty kids over babes with guns. Fair call, America, fair call.

Insidious - You know what was exciting? There was a trailer for The Tree of Life on the Blu-Ray for this. Yes, I get excited by little things like that. The movie itself wasn't that bad, especially for a horror. I don't like horrors, but I kinda liked this one. Way better than Paranormal Activity, that's for sure.

The Company Men - So this just popped up on DVD, even though I'm sure that it was supposed to come out next week. Oh well, I'll get it out next week. I love you, holidays.

Thor - Ha, I remember how this was the first 2011 movie I saw, right at the end of April. Oh gosh, I think this was the one that I had to watch in 3D and there was a really heavy breather sitting behind me. Still, the movie was really cool. "Get me a horse!" "We don't have horses. Just dogs, cats, birds." "Then get me one of those large enough to ride!" 

Winnie the Pooh - This movie was only 52 minutes long (excluding the credits). Yet, these 52 minutes were glorious, old-fashioned Disney and it was the Winnie the Pooh that I knew, from my childhood. There was none of this 3D crap, with over-the-top musical numbers and whatnot. This was the kind of Pooh that I would get up every morning to watch. Seriously, if you consider yourself an animated fan, you need to see this movie. Pronto.

Sorry this post is a day late, I had to go to the talent quest last night and it finished way later than expected. So, what do you think of these films? Any tickle your fancy?

Why I'm Looking Forward to Steven Spielberg's WAR HORSE...

Okay, so if you've been around this blog for a little while, you'll know one key fact about me: my family used to train racehorses, so I am a very horsey person. Obviously, I quite like horse movies too. War Horse looks like a particularly special one. Why?

Well, allow me to tell you all a personal story about me and my horse Katie. Why am I telling this story? Because, I've heard a lot of people saying that it is quite implausible for a man and his horse who have been separated to go to the ends of the Earth to find each other. Or quite implausible that a horse would ever be a humans best friend. It happens. While my story might not involve a war of any kind, I just wanted to tell it because sometimes I miss Katie more than I can bear. And us teenagers always go on about out problems on the internet, don't we?

So mine and Katie's story began sometime in late 2003, when I was eight and she was one. We leased her off someone about an hour away so we could train her. She took a while to mature, so we didn't really get her up to racing speed for quite some time. I honestly thought that Katie was the prettiest horse I've ever seen, and also the kindest. She left our land for a little while in 2006, but she returned soon after, which I was really happy about.