Review: I Can't Help But Love "Her"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 40 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

Her (2013)
Running time:  126 minutes (2 hours, 6 minutes)
MPAA – R for language, sexual content and brief graphic nudity
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Spike Jonze
PRODUCERS:  Megan Ellison, Spike Jonze, and Vincent Landay
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Hoyte Van Hoytema (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Jeff Buchanan and Eric Zumbrunnen
COMPOSER:  Will Butler and Owen Pallett
MUSIC:  Arcade Fire
Academy Award winner

SCI-FI/DRAMA/ROMANCE

Starring:  Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson (voice), Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Chris Pratt, Matt Letscher, Olivia Wilde, Gracie Prewitt, Laura Kai Chen, and Brian Cox (voice)

Her is a 2013 romantic drama and science fiction film from writer-director Spike Jonze.  The film focus on a lonely writer who develops an unlikely relationship with the new operating system he bought for his computer and hand-held device.

Her is set in an indeterminate near-future and focuses on Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), a lonely, introverted man.  Theodore works for BeautifulHandwrittenLetters.com, a business that writes heartfelt, intimate, and deeply personal letters for people who cannot write such letters.  Theodore is struggling with an impending divorce from his wife, Catherine Klausen (Rooney Mara), who was his childhood sweetheart.

To help get his life in order, Theodore buys a new operating system (OS) from Element Software.  This OS is an artificially intelligent operating system that is designed to adapt and evolve.  Taking on the persona of a human female, the OS names itself “Samantha” (Scarlett Johansson).  [Of note: actress Samantha Morton originally provided the voice of the OS, before Jonze replaced her, with her consent.]  Her ability to learn and to grow psychologically fascinates Theodore.  Samantha and Theodore bond over discussions about love and life, and Samantha is constantly available and is designed to meet his every need.  She is always curious about Theodore and is interested in him and his life; she is supportive and does not make demands... at least for a while.  Theodore is in love with her, but, as she changes, can Theodore sustain this relationship?

Her is one of the best movies of 2013, and, after watching it, I can certainly see why some thought it was the best picture of 2013.  I think what Her does best is to evoke feelings in the viewer; it is as if director Spike Jonze wants viewers to feel his movie.  I did.

There is a lot that goes into making a special movie, and several people made this movie one of the best.  In Her,  Joaquin Phoenix does not give one of his best or most adventurous performances, but his subtle and nuanced take on a puppy-love struck, lonely man is endearing.  He carries this picture, as well as the viewers' expectations, so his performance is so good that even if it isn't his best, it is still better than most by other actors.

The film's score by Will Butler and Owen Pallett is oddly compelling and queerly futuristic without feeling too far-flung.  The score was apparently performed by the Grammy-winning band, Arcade Fire, of which Butler is a member.  Hoyte Van Hoytema's gorgeous cinematography is curiously in sync with the score, and it also seems like it belongs to another day.  In fact, the art direction and set decoration helps to maintain that almost futuristic, edge-of-tomorrow vibe.

The foundation of Her is Spike Jonze's screenplay, which earned him an Academy Award.  It is deeply romantic, heartfelt, and sentimental; it is like a romance novel without melodrama and schmaltz.  The writing is thoughtful and provocative, one of the best examples of a screenplay that takes on science fiction without being taken over by sci-fi genre trappings.

I often wonder if science fiction is still relevant; some of it seemed clueless about the lives that many people lived in the late 20th century.  I don't know how much science fiction can address pertinent issues in the early 21st century, but I know one science fiction film that did.  I think that by plot, by the issues it tackles, and by what it depicts, Her is relevant now and will be in the future.  With Her, Spike Jonze does not do science fiction prediction.  Instead, he addresses the unchanging aspects of humanity as it grapples with a changing world and evolving environment.  What a way to bring new life to the love story.

9 of 10
A+

Wednesday, September 3, 2014


NOTES:
 2014 Academy Awards, USA:  1 win: “Best Writing, Original Screenplay” (Spike Jonze); 4 nominations: “Best Motion Picture of the Year (Megan Ellison, Spike Jonze, and Vincent Landay), “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score” (Will Butler and Owen Pallett), “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song” (Karen O-music and lyrics and Spike Jonze-lyrics for "The Moon Song"), and “Best Achievement in Production Design) “K.K. Barrett-production design and Gene Serdena-set decoration)

2014 Golden Globes, USA:  1 win “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Spike Jonze); 2 nominations: “Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” and “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” (Joaquin Phoenix)

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

2014 Primetime Emmy Awards - Complete Winners List

by Leroy Douresseaux

AMC's much-loved crime drama, “Breaking Bad” (which ended last year) won five awards at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards, including for best drama series and lead actor.  “Modern Family” won its fifth consecutive award for best comedy series, one of three awards its won.  Other multiple winners included “Fargo,” Sherlock: His Last Vow, and “American Horror Story: Coven.”

To me, the entire ceremony seemed stuck in a loop that began three or four years ago.  Television is supposed to be in a new golden age.  However, all the buzzed-about shows like Game of Thrones, House of Cards, and Orange is the New Black lose to the same shows and performers who have been winning again and again for what seems like ages.  And “The Walking Dead” doesn't even get nominations in the major categories.  Oh, well...

The 66th Primetime Emmy Awards took place on Monday, August 25, 2014.  The ceremony aired on NBC and was hosted by Seth Meyers.

For a complete list of winners and nominees, go here: http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners

2014 / 66th Primetime Emmy Awards winners:

Drama Series
Breaking Bad

Comedy Series
Modern Family

Lead Actor in a Drama
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad

Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: His Last Vow

Lead Actress in a Drama
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife

Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Coven

Lead Actor in a Comedy
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Lead Actress in a Comedy
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Reality Competition Program
The Amazing Race

Variety Series
The Colbert Report

Miniseries
Fargo

Television Movie
The Normal Heart

Supporting Actor in a Drama
Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad

Supporting Actress in a Drama
Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad

Writing for a Drama
Moira Walley-Beckett, Breaking Bad

Directing for a Drama
Cary Joji Fukunaga, True Detective

Supporting Actor in a Comedy
Ty Burrell, Modern Family

Supporting Actress in a Comedy
Allison Janney, Mom

Writing for a Comedy
Louis C.K., Louie

Directing for a Comedy
Gail Mancuso, Modern Family

Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Martin Freeman, Sherlock: His Last Vow

Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Kathy Bates, American Horror Story: Coven

Writing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special
Steven Moffat, Sherlock: His Last Vow

Directing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special
Colin Bucksey, Fargo

Writing for a Variety Special
Sarah Silverman: We Are Miracles

Directing for a Variety Special
Glenn Weiss, 67th Annual Tony Awards

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2014 Primetime Emmy Awards - Nominations List

The Emmy Award (or simply “Emmy”) recognizes excellence in the television industry.  It corresponds to the Academy Award (for film), the Grammy Award (for music), and the Tony Award (for theatre).  The best known Emmy Awards are the Primetime Emmys and Daytime Emmys.  However, Emmys are awarded for sports programming, for national news and documentaries, and for regional and international television, among others.

The 66th Primetime Emmy Awards will take place on Monday, August 25, 2014 and will air at 8 PM EST/5 PM PST on NBC.  The ceremony will be hosted by Seth Meyers.

For a complete list of nominees, go here: http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/2014

2014 / 66th Primetime Emmy Awards nominations in select categories:

Drama Series
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
House of Cards
Mad Men
True Detective

Comedy Series
The Big Bang Theory
Louie
Modern Family
Orange Is the New Black
Silicon Valley
Veep

Lead Actor in a Drama
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Woody Harrelson, True Detective
Matthew McConaughey, True Detective
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Dancing on the Edge
Martin Freeman, Fargo
Billy Bob Thornton, Fargo
Idris Elba, Luther
Mark Ruffalo, The Normal Heart
Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: His Last Vow

Lead Actress in a Drama
Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Claire Danes, Homeland
Robin Wright, House of Cards
Lizzy Caplan, Masters of Sex
Kerry Washington, Scandal

Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Coven
Sarah Paulson, American Horror Story: Coven
Helena Bonham Carter, Burton and Taylor
Minnie Driver, Return to Zero
Kristen Wiig, The Spoils of Babylon
Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful

Lead Actor in a Comedy
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Ricky Gervais, Derek
Matt LeBlanc,, Episodes
Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Louis C.K., Louie
William H. Macy, Shameless

Lead Actress in a Comedy
Lena Dunham, Girls
Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Taylor Schilling, Orange Is the New Black
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Reality Competition Program
The Amazing Race
Dancing With the Stars
Project Runway
So You Think You Can Dance
Top Chef
The Voice

Variety Series
The Colbert Report
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Real Time With Bill Maher
Saturday Night Live
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Miniseries
American Horror Story: Coven
Bonnie & Clyde
Fargo
Luther
Treme
The White Queen

Television Movie
Killing Kennedy
Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight
The Normal Heart
Sherlock: His Las Vow
The Trip to Bountiful

Supporting Actor in a Drama
Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
Jim Carter, Downton Abbey
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Josh Charles, The Good Wife
Mandy Patinkin, Homeland
Jon Voight, Ray Donovan

Supporting Actress in a Drama
Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey
Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men

Writing for a Drama
Moira Walley-Beckett, Breaking Bad
Vince Gilligan, Breaking Bad
David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, Game of Thrones
Beau Willimon, House of Cards
Nic Pizzolatto, True Detective

Directing for a Drama
Tim Van Patten, Boardwalk Empire
Vince Gilligan, Breaking Bad
David Evans, Downton Abbey
Neil Marshall, Game of Thrones
Carl Franklin, House of Cards
Cary Joji Fukunaga, True Detective

Supporting Actor in a Comedy
Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Adam Driver, Girls
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Fred Armisen, Portlandia
Tony Hale, Veep

Supporting Actress in a Comedy
Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory
Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Allison Janney, Mom
Kate Mulgrew, Orange Is the New Black
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Anna Chlumsky, Veep

Writing for a Comedy
David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik, Episodes
Louis C.K., Louie
Liz Friedman and Jenji Kohan, Orange Is the New Black
Alec Berg, Silicon Valley
Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche, and Armando Iannucci, Veep

Directing for a Comedy
Iain B. MacDonald, Episodes
Paris Barclay, Glee
Louis C.K., Louie
Gail Mancuso, Modern Family
Jodie Foster, Orange Is the New Black
Mike Judge, Silicon Valley

Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Colin Hanks, Fargo
Jim Parsons, The Normal Heart
Joe Mantello, The Normal Heart
Alfred Molina, The Normal Heart
Matt Bomer, The Normal Heart
Martin Freeman, Sherlock: His Last Vow

Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Frances Conroy, American Horror Story: Coven
Kathy Bates, American Horror Story: Coven
Angela Bassett, American Horror Story: Coven
Allison Tolman, Fargo
Ellen Burstyn, Flowers in the Attic
Julia Roberts, The Normal Heart

Writing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special
Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, American Horror Story: Coven
Noah Hawley, Fargo
Neil Cross, Luther
Larry Kramer, The Normal Heart
Steven Moffat, Sherlock: His Last Vow
David Simon and Eric Overmyer, Treme

Directing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, American Horror Story: Coven
Adam Bernstein, Fargo
Colin Bucksey, Fargo
Stephen Frears, Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight
Ryan Murphy, The Normal Heart
Nick Hurran, Sherlock: His Last Vow

Writing for a Variety Special

The Beatles: The Night That Changed America

Billy Crystal: 700 Sundays

The 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards

Sarah Silverman: We Are Miracles

67th Annual Tony Awards

Directing for a Variety Special

Gregg Gelfand, The Beatles: The Night That Changed America

Louis J. Horvitz, The Kennedy Center Honors

Hamish Hamilton, The Oscars

James Lapine, Six by Sondheim

Beth McCarthy Miller and Rob Ashford, The Sound of Music Live!

Glenn Weiss, 67th Annual Tony Awards

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Review: McConaughey Super Sells "Dallas Buyers Club"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 36 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
Running time:  117 minutes (1 hour, 57 minutes)
MPAA – R for pervasive language, some strong sexual content, nudity and drug use
DIRECTOR:  Jean-Marc Vallée
WRITERS:  Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack
PRODUCERS:  Robbie Brenner and Rachel Winter
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Yves Bélanger (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Martin Pensa and John Mac McMurphy (Jean-Marc Vallée)
Academy Award winner

DRAMA/BIOPIC with elements of a historical

Starring:  Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Jared Leto, Denis O’Hare, Steve Zahn, Michael O’Neill, Dallas Roberts, Griffin Dunne, Kevin Rankin, Donna Duplantier, Deneen D. Tyler, J.D. Evermore, and Bradford Cox

Dallas Buyers Club is a 2013 biographical drama from director Jean-Marc Vallée.  The film is a dramatization about real-life AIDS patient, Ron Woodroof.  He discovered unapproved pharmaceutical drugs that would help his disease symptoms and then, later smuggled those drugs into Texas to help fellow AIDS patients.  The film was critically acclaimed and won three Oscars, including a best actor win for Matthew McConaughey and a best supporting actor win for Jared Leto.

Dallas Buyers Club opens in 1985 in Dallas.  Electrician, hustler, and rodeo cowboy, Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) falls ill and is diagnosed with HIV.  He is given 30 days to live.  Ron initially refuses to accept the diagnosis, but quickly finds himself ostracized by friends and coworkers.  Ron learns from the kindly Dr. Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner) about the experimental drug AZT, which is supposed to help with symptoms of AIDS.  Ron is able to obtain some without having a prescription.  However, he not only abuses AZT, but he also continues to abuse illegal narcotics.

Ron develops full-blown AIDS.  As he fights to live, he begins to study and research AIDS and learns that outside the United States there are pharmaceutical drugs used to fight the symptoms of AIDS.  However, they are unapproved for use in the U.S. by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration).  Ron begins to smuggle large quantities of these drugs into Dallas.  With the help of Rayon (Jared Leto), a sassy cross-dressing man/transgender, Ron opens the “Dallas Buyers Club” to sell these unapproved drugs to HIV-positive and AIDS patients, but Ron’s efforts draw the attention of people who want to shut him down.

I have seen many films that are elevated by a great performance.  Raging Bull is memorable for Robert De Niro’s legendary turn as boxer Jake La Motta.  Russell Crowe gives the most nuanced performance of his career in A Beautiful Mind.  Helen Mirren rules The Queen.  In fact, all three of these movies would be little more than made-for-television films without the celebrated performances given by their respective lead actors.

Dallas Buyers Club tells a story that needed to be told and needs to be remembered, but without Matthew McConaughey’s performance, this film would be a well-meaning TV movie or an indie film that would have been lost in the art film ghetto.  McConaughey risked his health in order to lose weight to play the emaciated Ron Woodroof, but what really makes his performance so distinguished is that McConaughey takes on Woodruff’s cause and suffering as if his own life depended upon it.

McConaughey is a good actor and has given some excellent performance.  However, in recent years, he has finally showcased his talent and skill in character study films that require putting out the effort to create fully-realized fictional characters.  Anyone who is a fan of McConaughey or has seen some of his films must see Dallas Buyers Club.

Both Jared Leto’s transformation into Rayon and his performance are impressive.  Leto was indeed Oscar worthy, but Rayon is mostly unnecessary to this story.  Although Rayon was not a real-life figure and was created specifically for this movie, he could have been replaced with just about any other character.  Leto is magnificent in a film in which the filmmakers didn’t seem to know what to do with his character other than to play him as a stereotype – the tragic mulatto version of drag queen.  Jennifer Garner’s Dr. Saks is also wasted, although not nearly as badly as Rayon is.

However, Matthew McConaughey is so good that he makes you overlook Dallas Buyers Club’s warts.  His character, Ron Woodroof, is a charming rogue with electrifying swagger.  It is as if McConaughey and Woodroof are two separate beings occupying the same space, and they are why Dallas Buyers Club earned a best picture Oscar nomination.  And that best picture Oscar nod made what would have been just an AIDS movie into something special.

8 of 10
A

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

NOTES:
2014 Academy Awards, USA:  3 wins: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role” (Matthew McConaughey), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Jared Leto), “Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling” (Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews); 3 nominations: “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Robbie Brenner and Rachel Winter), “Best Achievement in Film Editing” (Jean-Marc Vallée and Martin Pensa), “Best Writing, Original Screenplay” (Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack)

2014 Golden Globes, USA:  2 wins: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Matthew McConaughey) and “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Jared Leto)

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "Blue Jasmine" Filled with Superb Performances

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 35 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

Blue Jasmine (2013)
Running time:  98 minutes (1 hour, 38 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for mature thematic material, language and sexual content
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Woody Allen
PRODUCERS:  Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum, and Edward Walson
CINEMATOGRAPHERS:  Javier Aguirresarobe
EDITOR:  Alisa Lepselter
Academy Award winner

DRAMA

Starring:  Cate Blanchett, Sally Hawkins, Alec Baldwin, Andrew Dice Clay, Bobby Cannavale, Louis C.K., Peter Sarsgaard, Daniel Jenks, Max Rutherford, Max Casella, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Alden Ehren

Blue Jasmine is a 2013 drama written and directed by Woody Allen.  The film follows a rich Manhattan socialite, fallen on hard times, who moves to San Francisco to live with her sister, with her troubles in tow.

Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) was a New York socialite, married to hugely successful real estate developer, Hal Francis (Alec Baldwin).  Jasmine, whose real name is Jeanette, leads a life of luxury and leisure, but Hal’s business is based on fraud.  After Hal is sent to prison, she loses everything (home, money, status, etc.).  Jasmine travels to San Francisco where she will move in with her sister, Ginger (Sally Hawkins), a single mother of two boys, Matthew (Daniel) and Johnny (Max).

Jasmine’s arrival is an imposition, as Ginger had planned to allow her fiancé, Chili (Bobby Cannavale), to move in with her.  Hal’s fraudulent dealings also cost Ginger and her ex-husband, Augie (Andrew Dice Clay), a lot of money and financially ruined them.  Deeply troubled and in denial about the past, Jasmine looks fabulous, but her looks hide the fact that she isn’t bringing anything good to her new home.

Blue Jasmine is not only one of Woody Allen’s best screenplays of the last decade, but it also features some of his best characters ever.  In a way, their motivations and emotions are so obvious that they could be described as wearing their hearts on their sleeves.  On the other side of that, each character is also inscrutable, because what goes on inside their heads (thinking and thought processes) is largely a mystery.

Jeanette “Jasmine” Francis is the most inscrutable of all, and as Jasmine, Cate Blanchett gives what may be the best performance of her career.  That says a lot in a career full of incredible performances.  Jasmine is that rare instance when an actor brings to life a fully realized character that seems to devour everything that the actor is.  Blanchett also makes sure that there are no easy answers to Jasmine, who denies the past, but is inexorably trapped in it.

Sally Hawkins as Ginger manages to keep up with Blanchett, and in every scene that Ginger shares with Jasmine, Hawkins makes her character just as compelling.  Prepare to be surprised by the multi-dimensional performance by Andrew Dice Clay as Ginger’s ex-husband, Augie.  I was a huge fan of Clay when he was a blazing, red-hot, stand-up comic in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but his heartbreaking turn as the deeply wounded Augie is still a surprise to me.

I have read that some critics see Blue Jasmine as Woody Allen’s take on Tennessee William’s legendary play, A Streetcar Named Desire, as they share similar elements.  If this is true, Allen made Blue Jasmine worthy of being compared to the masterwork that is William’s play.  Even movie audiences who are not usually fans of Allen’s films should see the exceptional Blue Jasmine.

8 of 10
A

Friday, July 18, 2014

NOTES:
2014 Academy Awards, USA:  1 win: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Cate Blanchett); 2 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Sally Hawkins) and “Best Writing, Original Screenplay” (Woody Allen)

2014 Golden Globes, USA:  1 win: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Cate Blanchett); 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Sally Hawkins)

2014 BAFTA Awards:  1 win: “Best Leading Actress” (Cate Blanchett); 2 nominations: “Best Original Screenplay” (Woody Allen) and “Best Supporting Actress” (Sally Hawkins)

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "Fruitvale Station" Heartbreakingly Beautiful and Beautifully Heartbreaking

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 30 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

Fruitvale Station (2013)
Running time:  85 minutes (1 hour, 25 minutes)
MPAA – R for some violence, language throughout and some drug use
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Ryan Coogler
PRODUCERS:  Nina Yang Bongiovi and Forest Whitaker
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Rachel Morrison (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Claudia S. Castello and Michael P. Shawver
COMPOSER:  Ludwig Girabsson

DRAMA/HISTORICAL

Starring:  Michael B. Jordan, Melonie Diaz, Octavia Spencer, Ariana Neal, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray, Anha O’Reilly, Kenan Coogler, and Trestin George

Fruitvale Station is a 2013 drama from writer-director Ryan Coogler.  A docu-drama and quasi-historical film, Fruitvale Station is a dramatization of the last day in the life of Oscar Louis Grant III, a real-life African-American man who was shot to death by a police officer.  Actor Forest Whitaker is one of the film’s producer (although he does not appear in the film), and Harvey Weinstein is one the film’s executive producers, although he does receive a screen credit in the film as such.

Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old San Francisco Bay Area resident, and his friends were traveling on a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train during the early hours of New Year’s Day 2009.  After a fight on the train, Grant and his friends were detained by BART Police officers at Fruitvale Station in Oakland, California.  While being restrained Grant, who was lying face down and allegedly resisting arrest, was fatally shot by BART Police officer Johannes Mehserle.  Grant was pronounced dead around 9 a.m. that morning at Highland Hospital in Oakland.

The incident at the train station is the basis of Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station.  The film follows Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan) from the early morning of New Year’s Eve 2008 to his death.  The film examines his relationship with his girlfriend, Sophina (Melonie Diaz), who is the mother of his child, Tatiana (Ariana Neal).  The film also pays particular attention to Grant’s close relationship with Tatiana and his relationship with his mother, Wanda (Octavia Spencer), which had improved since Oscar’s stint in jail.  By illustrating the energy he brought to life, the film celebrates how much Oscar meant to his family and friends.

I often dread watching films based on real-life events when I know that the lead character died or was killed.  It took me three days to watch Fruitvale Station because I knew the heartbreak that was coming, and this film is indeed poignant and heartbreaking.  It eulogizes Oscar Grant, while simultaneously mourning a unique soul lost through senseless death.  By portraying Oscar’s relationships, Coogler emphasizes what a tragic loss Oscar was for his friends and family.  However, Coogler makes that sense of loss feel genuine in ways that films about real life people often do not.  Some movies about the senseless killing of person can make the viewer feel outrage.  Fruitvale Station simply cause hurt deep in the soul.

Michael B. Jordan as Oscar and Octavia Spencer as his mother, Wanda, give tremendous performances.  Spencer (who is one of the co-executive producers of this film) shows that she can build characters that seem real right down to their souls.  I can see why many thought that she would get an Oscar nod for her work here, which she ultimately did not.

Jordan is so good; it is as if he disappeared and then, reappeared as the real Oscar Grant.  After such a performance, people will obviously think that the sky is the limit for this bright and talented young actor.  Because of his performance, I don’t think I could watch Fruitvale Station again.  I cannot let Jordan, Spencer, and Coogler break my heart and make me cry again.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2014 Black Reel Awards:  9 nominations:  “Outstanding Motion Picture” (Forest Whitaker-producer and Nina Yang Bongiovi-producer – The Weinstein Company), “Outstanding Actor, Motion Picture,” (Michael B. Jordan), “Outstanding Supporting Actress, Motion Picture” (Melonie Diaz), “Outstanding Supporting Actress, Motion Picture” (Octavia Spencer), “Outstanding Director, Motion Picture” (Ryan Coogler), “Outstanding Screenplay-Adapted or Original, Motion Picture” (Ryan Coogler), “Outstanding Ensemble” (Nina Henninger-Casting Director), “Outstanding Score” (Ludwig Göransson), and “Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Female” (Melonie Diaz)

2014 Image Awards:  1 win: “Outstanding Independent Motion Picture;” 4 nominations: “Outstanding Motion Picture,” “Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture” (Michael B. Jordan), “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Octavia Spencer), and “Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture - Theatrical or Television” (Ryan Coogler)

Thursday, July 03, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "47 Ronin" Lacks Magic

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 29 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

47 Ronin (2013)
Running time:  119 minutes (1 hour, 59 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some disturbing images, and thematic elements
DIRECTOR:  Carl Rinsch  
WRITERS:  Chris Morgan and Hossein Amini; from a screen story by Chris Morgan and Walter Hamada
PRODUCERS:  Pamela Abdy, Eric McLeod, and Scott Stuber
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  John Mathieson  
EDITOR:  Stuart Baird
COMPOSER:  Ilan Eshkeri

HISTORICAL/MARTIAL ARTS/DRAMA/FANTASY

Starring:  Keanu Reeves, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ko Shibasaki, Tadanobu Asano, Rinko Kikuchi, Min Tanaka, Jin Akanishi, Masayoshi Haneda, Hiroshi Sogabe, Takato Yonemoto, Shu Nakajima, and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa

47 Ronin is a 2013 samurai action movie and historical fantasy.  The film is a fantasy-based, fictional account of the legendary “forty-seven Ronin” and an incident in which they were involved that took place in the early 1700s in Japan.

47 Ronin tells the story through Kai (Keanu Reeves), a half-Japanese, half-English outcast.  He lives in the domain of Ako, which is ruled by the benevolent daimyo (lord), Takumi no Kami Asano Naganori (Min Tanaka).  Lord Asano found Kai, when he was a child, lost in the forest.  Despite being scorned by most people in Ako, including Asano’s samurai, Kai finds deep kinship with Asano’s daughter, Mika (Ko Shibasaki), who loves the half-breed.

Asano is tasked with hosting the Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa).  Lord Kira Yoshinaka (Tadanobu Asano) is also invited, but Kira wants Ako to be merged with his domain, Nagato.  Joined by a conniving Witch (Rinko Kikuchi), Kira masterminds a series of events that ruins Asano.  The Shogun orders Asano to die with honor though seppuku (ritual suicide).

Lord Asano’s samurai are cast out and become Ronin (samurai without a master).  Oishi (Hiroyuki Sanada), the leader of Asano’s men, finds Kai, whom he once despised, and together they plot revenge against Lord Kira.  The duo gathers Asano’s former samurai, and soon there are 47 Ronin on a mission to kill Kira.  But the ruthless daimyo is more crafty and cunning than these Ronin imagine.

47 Ronin was not exactly a box office bomb, but it reportedly was a money-loser for Universal Pictures.  I think Universal Pictures spent around $175 million on a movie that does not know what it wants to be.  47 Ronin looks like an American version of an epic samurai period drama (a “jidaigeki”).  At the same time, the film is filled with fantasy and supernatural elements such as yokai (creatures of Japanese folklore) and magic.

I think that at one point, Universal wanted to make 47 Ronin a kind of epic fantasy franchise like the Lord of the Rings films.  What the movie studio ended up with was a samurai movie with supernatural elements awkwardly tacked onto it.

47 Ronin is not a bad movie, nor is it a particularly good movie.  There are characters, scenes, and sections of the plot that I really enjoyed and even found riveting.  One actor I really liked was Hiroyuki Sanada who played Oishi, Lord Asano’s chief counselor.  This is really Oishi’s movie; Sanada gives a nice performance filled with delicacy and grace.  Keanu Reeves is Keanu Reeves – intense presence, but wooden delivery of dialogue.  So I can recommend 47 Ronin to people who like samurai films, knowing that viewers may have a mixed reaction towards it.

5 of 10
B-

Thursday, June 05, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 26 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013) – straight-to-video
Running minutes: 81 minutes (1 hour, 21 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sci-fi violence and action throughout
DIRECTOR:  Jay Oliva with Yoshiharu Ashino (animation director)
WRITER:  James Krieg (from a comic book by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert)
EDITOR:  Christopher D. Lozinski
COMPOSER:  Frederik Wiedmann
ANIMATION STUDIO:  Studio 4ºC

ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/ACTION/SCI-FI

Starring:  (voices) Justin Chambers, C. Thomas Howell, Michael B. Jordan, Kevin McKidd, Kevin Conroy, Dana Delany, Cary Elwes, Vanessa Marshall, Dee Bradley Baker, Grey DeLisle, Danny Huston, Danny Jacobs, Ron Perlman, Kevin Michael Richardson, Andrea Romano, and Nathan Fillion

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox is a 2013 direct-to-video superhero animated film from Warner Bros. Animation.  Starring DC Comics’ ultimate superhero team, the Justice League, this is also the 17th feature in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line.  The Flashpoint Paradox is based on the 2011 DC Comics’ crossover publishing event, “Flashpoint.”

Barry Allen (Justin Chambers), who is also known as the superhero the Flash, visits the grave of his mother, Nora Allen (Grey DeLisle).  A day after an adventure with his Justice League teammates, Barry awakens to discover that his mother is alive, but that is not the only thing that has changed.  The entire world is different.  Some superheroes no longer exist.  Aquaman (Cary Elwes) and the military forces of Atlantis are engaged in a terrible war against Wonder Woman (Vanessa Marshall) and the Amazons.

Flash believes that his archenemy, Eobard Thawne a/k/a Professor Zoom (C. Thomas Howell), has done something to change time.  Now, he finds himself teaming up with an even darker version of Batman (Kevin McKidd) and a young superhero named Cyborg (Michael B. Jordan) to stop a war that will destroy the world.

In 2011, DC Comics used their Flashpoint publishing event to relaunch practically its entire line of superhero comic books.  As an adaptation of that event, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox is going to be a fresh start for the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line.  I imagine, however, that might not mean much to many viewers of these animated superhero movies.  Is Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox any good?

Well, the first 20 minutes or so are a disaster.  At 81 minutes, it’s one of the longer DC Comics animated films, and I initially thought that there was no way I could make it through the entire thing.  Once I settled into the concept and understood the players, central plot, and various conflicts and rivalries, I started to enjoy The Flashpoint Paradox.

After all, it is pure superhero fun, and the filmmakers really play up the idea of what it means to be a superhero.  Themes of sacrifice and redemption run throughout the movie.  The belief that selflessness and togetherness can get mankind through the worst of the worst situations proudly permeates this film.  At a time when so many politicians and public figures smugly and shamelessly preach nihilistic individualism and naked self-interest, it is good to see classic superheroes giving life and limb to right wrongs and even to correct themselves.

I don’t like this film’s character design, because much of it is unimaginative.  The Flashpoint Paradox also offers some of the stiffest character animation I’ve seen in some time.  But watching these superheroes being genuinely heroic makes me like Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox in spite of many reservations.

7 of 10
B+

Wednesday, May 21, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: Emma Thompson Saves "Saving Mr. Banks"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 21 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
Running time:  125 minutes (2 hours, 5 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for thematic elements including some unsettling images
DIRECTOR:  John Lee Hancock
WRITERS:  Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith
PRODUCERS:  Ian Collie, Alison Owen, and Philip Steuer
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  John Schwartzman (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Mark Livolsi
COMPOSER:  Thomas Newman
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA/HISTORICAL with elements of a biopic and comedy

Starring:  Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Annie Rose Buckley, Colin Farrell, Ruth Wilson, Paul Giamatti, Bradley Whitford, B.J. Novak, Jason Schwartzman, Lily Bigham, Melanie Paxson, Ronan Vibert, Rachel Griffiths, and Kathy Baker

Saving Mr. Banks is a 2013 drama from director John Lee Hancock and is an American, British, and Australian co-production.  The film is a fictional account of author P.L. Travers’ trip to America, as she considers selling the film rights to her Mary Poppins books to Walt Disney.

Walt Disney is really a supporting character in Saving Mr. Banks, as the movie focuses on Travers as she reflects on her childhood and on her relationship with her troubled father.  The parts of the film that focus on Travers’ childhood are melancholy.  The parts of the film that take place in the film’s present (1961) are lively and colorful, and I wish all of the movie were set at Walt Disney Studios.

The film opens in the year 1961 in London, where it finds author, Pamela “P.L.” Travers (Emma Thompson), experiencing financial troubles.  Travers does have a way out of her money woes.  She can sell the film rights to her Mary Poppins books to Walt Disney (Tom Hanks), who has been pursuing Travers for the rights to the books for 20 years.  Travers travels to Los Angeles, where she is whisked to the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank.

In America, Travers meets a kind limo driver, Ralph (Paul Giamatti). She meets Mr. Disney.  She meets the creative team assigned to adapt Mary Poppins to the screen:  screenwriter, Don DaGradi (Bradley Whitford); and musical composing brothers, Richard and Robert Sherman (Jason Schwartzman and B.J. Novak, respectively).  For two weeks, Travers plans on working with the team to get Mary right – at she sees it.

However, everything about her Mary Poppins book may be too personal for her to accept anyone else’s vision of Mary Poppins, especially Walt Disney’s version of Mary Poppins.  As she works on the film, Travers’ mind goes back to her life in Australia as a girl (Annie Rose Buckley) and she recollects her relationship with her troubled father (Colin Farrell).

I have to admit that I like Saving Mr. Banks because of its fanciful and real-life complication-free look at Walt Disney, his employees, and life at Walt Disney Studios.

I will grant that Emma Thompson gives a fantastic performance, one that is worthy of the Oscar nomination Thompson did not receive.  I will also grant that the story of Travers’ past is heartbreaking and fairly well-executed by director John Lee Hancock and his collaborators.  I will finally admit that I don’t think Hanks deserved an Oscar nomination for his performance as Walt Disney, especially not as a lead actor.  His Disney is clearly a supporting character in this story… and this is not close to being one of Hanks’ better or memorable performances.

Mostly, I think Saving Mr. Banks is a soapy television movie with big name actors trying to be a prestige motion picture.  I think the film sometimes portrays P.L. Travers as a contrary old kook and also glosses over her legitimate concerns about how her characters will be translated to film.  After all, she clearly knew that more people would see a Mary Poppins movie than would ever read her Mary Poppins books.  Because of that, many people would know Mary Poppins only through the film, so she had right to be concerned that the screen Mary Poppins be as close as possible to her Mary Poppins.

After all that granting, I am back to what I like about this movie. Saving Mr. Banks presents a… well… Disney-fied version of some of the events surrounding the production of the 1964 Mary Poppins film.  That is okay by me, but I realize that there is much more to the real story than is in Saving Mr. Banks.

6 of 10
B

Monday, May 05, 2014


NOTES:
2014 Academy Awards:  1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score” (Thomas Newman)

2010 Golden Globe:  1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Emma Thompson)

2014 BAFTA Awards:  5 nominations:  “Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film” (John Lee Hancock, Alison Owen, Ian Collie, Philip Steuer, Kelly Marcel, and Sue Smith), “Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music” (Thomas Newman), “Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer” (Kelly Marcel), “Best Leading Actress” (Emma Thompson), and “Best Costume Design” (Daniel Orlandi)

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: Disney's "Frozen" is Pixar Good

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 20 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

Frozen (2013)
Running time:  102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)
MPAA – PG for some action and mild rude humor
DIRECTORS:  Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee
WRITERS:  Jennifer Lee; from a story by Jennifer Lee, Chris Buck, and Shane Morris (based on the story “The Snow Queen” by Hans Christian Andersen)
PRODUCER:  Peter Del Vecho
EDITOR:  Jeff Draheim
COMPOSER:  Christophe Beck
SONGS:  Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
Academy Award winner

ANIMATION/FANTASY/ADVENTURE and COMEDY/FAMILY

Starring:  (voices) Kristin Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Santino Fontana, Alan Tudyk, Ciaran Hinds, Chris Williams, Stephen J. Anderson, Eva Bell, Spencer Lacey Ganus, Tyree Brown, and June Christopher

Frozen is a 2013 computer-animated musical, comedy, and fantasy film directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee.  Produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Frozen was released theatrically in 3D.  Frozen is based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, “The Snow Queen,” which was first published in 1844.  Frozen focuses on a young woman trying to break the curse of eternal winter, a curse started by the Snow Queen, who is her sister.

In the kingdom of Arendelle, the King and Queen have two daughters.  The older sister, Elsa, has the magical ability to create ice and snow.  The younger daughter, Anna, accidentally becomes a victim of her older sister’s power, causing a rift between the two formerly close siblings.  Years later, Elsa (Idina Menzel), is about to be crowned Queen of Arendelle.  Anna (Kristin Bell) is excited about her sister’s coronation, which will open the castle to the outside world for the first time in years.  At the coronation, a dispute between the sisters leads to Elsa loosing control of her now immense powers.  She inadvertently puts Arendelle in a deep freeze, before running away.

Anna is determined to find Elsa, now known as the “Snow Queen,” and to reconcile their relationship.  She befriends Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), a mountain man, and his reindeer, Sven, who decide to help her find the reclusive Elsa.  They are eventually joined by Olaf (Josh Gad), a joyous snowman.  Their journey is epic, but if Anna cannot reach Elsa, Arendelle will be cursed to suffer an eternal winter.

Frozen is one of the truly great animated films from Walt Disney Pictures.  It is the first computer-animated film from Walt Disney Animation Studios that is artistically and technically equal to the best computer-animated films from Pixar Animation Studios (now a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company).  In fact, Pixar’s John Lasseter was an executive producer on and a guiding hand behind Frozen.  Everything fantastic, wonderful, magical, joyous, and poignant that people expect of the best Disney and Pixar films is more than plentiful in Frozen, one of the finest films of 2013.

The voice cast, top to bottom, is excellent.  Honestly, every voice performance seems to be superb.  Kristin Bell and Idina Menzel give bravura performances individually and together; they have the kind of screen chemistry of which many casts can only dream of having.  Of course, Menzel is a standout singing Frozen’s signature song, the Oscar-winning “Let It Go.”  Josh Gad is scene-stealing gold as the comic-relief snowman, Olaf.  I have to admit that I’d like to see Olaf again.

Frozen’s song and musical score also make it the best Disney animated musical film since The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin.  Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez’s songs for Frozen recall both the Broadway-styled numbers in Beauty and the Beast and the comic fantasy tunes of Aladdin.

Once upon a time, Walt Disney’s animated films were called “instant classics;” Frozen is an instant classic.  Also, the resolution of Elsa and Anna’s relationship separates Frozen from Disney’s other female-centric animated features.  For me, Frozen is now a personal favorite that I plan to watch repeatedly.

10 of 10

Monday, April 21, 2014


NOTES:
2014 Academy Awards, USA:  2 wins: “Best Animated Feature Film of the Year” (Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, and Peter Del Vecho) and “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song” (Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez for the song “Let It Go”)

2014 Golden Globes, USA:  1 win: “Best Animated Feature Film” and 1 nomination: “Best Original Song - Motion Picture” (Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez for the song, “Let It Go”)

2014 BAFTA Awards:  1 win: “Best Animated Film” (Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee)

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

"The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" Leads 2014 MTV Movie Award Winners (Complete List)

by Amos Semien

The nominations for the 2014 MTV Movie Awards were revealed on Thursday, March 6, 2014. The 2014 MTV Movie Awards ceremony was held on Sunday, April 13, 2014 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.  The ceremony was hosted by Conan O'Brien.

The 2013 MTV Movie Awards winners:

MOVIE OF THE YEAR
• "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE
• Jennifer Lawrence — "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE
• Josh Hutcherson — "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
• Will Poulter— "We're the Millers"

BEST KISS
• Emma Roberts, Jennifer Aniston and Will Poulter — "We're the Millers"

BEST FIGHT
• "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" — Orlando Bloom and Evangeline Lilly vs. Orcs

BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE
• Jonah Hill — "The Wolf of Wall Street"

BEST SCARED-AS-S**T PERFORMANCE
• Brad Pitt — "World War Z"

BEST ON-SCREEN DUO
• Vin Diesel and Paul Walker — "Fast & Furious 6"

BEST SHIRTLESS PERFORMANCE
• Zac Efron — "That Awkward Moment"

#WTF MOMENT
• The Lude Scene — "The Wolf of Wall Street"

BEST VILLAIN
• Mila Kunis — "Oz The Great and Powerful"

BEST ON-SCREEN TRANSFORMATION
• Jared Leto — "Dallas Buyers Club"

BEST MUSICAL MOMENT
• Backstreet Boys, Jay Baruchel, Seth Rogen and Craig Robinson Peform in Heaven — "This is the End"

BEST CAMEO PERFORMANCE
• Rihanna — "This is the End"

BEST HERO
• Henry Cavill as Clark Kent — "Man of Steel"

FAVORITE CHARACTER:
Tris from the film "Divergent" and performed by Shailene Woodley

MTV GENERATION AWARD:
Mark Wahlberg

MTV TRAILBLAZER AWARD:
Channing Tatum

-----------------

Review: "Anchorman 2" is Enough... Really

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 19 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013)
Running time:  112 minutes; MPAA – PG-13 for crude and sexual content, drug use, language and comic violence
DIRECTOR:  Adam McKay
WRITERS:  Will Ferrell and Adam McKay (based on characters created by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay)
PRODUCERS:  Judd Apatow, Will Ferrell, and Adam McKay
CINEMATOGRAPHERS:  Patrick Capone and Oliver Wood (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Brent White and Melissa Bretherton
COMPOSERS:  Andrew Feltenstein and John Nau

COMEDY

Starring:  Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steven Carell, David Koechner, Christina Applegate, Dylan Baker, Meagan Good, Judah Nelson, James Marsden, Greg Kinnear, Josh Lawson, Kristen Wiig, Fred Willard, Chris Parnell, Bill Curtis (narrator) and Harrison Ford with Will Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Kirsten Dunst, Marion Cotillard, and Joe Washington

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues is a 2013 comedy directed by Adam McKay and written by McKay and actor Will Ferrell.  The film is a sequel to Anchorman:  The Legend of Ron Burgundy.  Anchorman 2 finds Ron Burgundy putting the 70s behind him and returning to New York City to take a 24-hour news channel by storm.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues begins in New York City where Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) and Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) are the husband and wife co-anchors of WBC News.  Then, Veronica is promoted, while Ron is fired.  Ron returns to San Diego, but soon gets an offer to return to NYC.  GNN – Global News Network – is the world’s first 24-hour news network, and they offer Ron a job.

Ron gets to form his own news team, so he reassembles his old gang:  lecherous beat reporter, Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd); Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), the mentally challenged weatherman; and Champ Kind (David Koechner), the chauvinist, racist, and dude-cowboy sports reporter.  Back in NYC, Ron discovers that Veronica has moved on from their relationship, and he struggles to connect with his son, Walter (Judah Nelson).  GNN also proves to be filled with people that don’t like Ron and are determined to keep him from becoming a star in the big city.

However it worked out, having nine years pass between the first Anchorman movie and the sequel, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, is a good thing.  If the sequel had been released even as late as five years after the original, I think it would have been too soon.  Nine years later, audiences are again ready for more of the utterly ridiculous antics of Ron Burgundy and his three clownish amigos plus one chick.  Yes, there are new characters, but the sequel is more of the same.

The noticeable difference is that Will Ferrell and Adam McKay gleefully poke fun at and mock cable news networks and the non-news, infotainment media junk food that these networks have elevated to top story status over the last two decades.  This includes car chases, celebrity scandals, missing white girls, and other lurid news.  Without being named, FOX News takes the biggest hits from Anchorman 2.

A lot of Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues made me laugh out loud, but I found that the film was too long at almost two hours of runtime.  I was ready for it to be over, even with all the movie star and celebrity cameos that fill the last act like sparkly roaches.  Do I want more Ron Burgundy?  Ask me in another nine years.

6 of 10
B

Friday, April 11, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Oscar Nominee Review: "The Wolf of Wall Street" is a Howler

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 18 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Running time:  180 minutes (3 hours)
MPAA – R for sequences of strong sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and language throughout, and for some violence
DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese
WRITER: Terence Winter (based on the book by Jordan Belfort)
PRODUCERS: Riza Aziz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Joey McFarland, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, and Martin Scorsese
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Rodrigo Prieto (D.o.P)
EDITOR: Thelma Schoonmaker
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA/COMEDY/BIOFILM

Starring:  Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey, Kyle Chandler, Rob Reiner, Jon Bernthal, Jon Favreau, Jean Dujardin, Joanna Lumley, Cristin Milioti, Shea Whigham, P.J. Byrne, Kenneth Choi, Brian Sacca, Henry Zebrowski, Ethan Suplee, Bo Dietl, and Johnnie Mae

The Wolf of Wall Street is a 2013 drama, bio-film, and black comedy from director Martin Scorsese and writer Terence Winter.  The film stars actor Leonardo DiCaprio and is the fifth collaboration between Scorsese and DiCaprio.

The Wolf of Wall Street is based on the memoirs of Jordan Belfort (the 2007 book, The Wolf of Wall Street).  The Wolf of Wall Street the film dramatizes the true story of Belfort:  how he rose to become a wealthy stockbroker, how he lived the high-life, and how he fell into the clutches of the FBI.

Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) breaks the fourth wall of the movie screen and narrates The Wolf of Wall Street.  He gives a tour of his incredible financial wealth, which includes a lavish house on Long Island’s Gold Coast and his trophy wife, Naomi Lapaglia (Margot Robbie).  He then goes back to the beginning of his career in a low-level job at an established Wall Street firm.  Although he soon moves into a job as a real stock broker, the firm soon goes bankrupt.

Belfort then tells us of his less glamorous job selling penny stocks.  However, his aggressive pitching style makes him a huge success in penny stocks.  Eventually, Belfort opens his own brokerage firm, Stratton Oakmont, Inc., and hires his low-rent pals to be his first employees.  His controversial style earns him the moniker, the “Wolf of Wall Street.”  Belfort makes more money than he can spend, and he leads a decadent lifestyle of sex-filled, drug-fueled parties.  However, all that money and his reputation earn Belfort the attention of the FBI and an ambitious agent, Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler), who begins investigating Belfort and Stratton Oakmont.

The Wolf of Wall Street is a box office success and earned many accolades, including five Oscar nominations and a Golden Globe award win for Leonardo DiCaprio.  Still, the film is controversial, mostly for its moral ambiguity, sexual content, the presence of drugs, and/or its vulgarity, among many complaints.

I don’t see the film as morally ambiguous.  The filmmakers are clear in the storytelling and the depiction of the characters and their actions that Jordan Belfort and his cohorts are crooks and scam artists, and they are certainly depraved and lecherous.  Belfort may be a sociopath, and he is at least self-centered and narcissistic.  Wall Street did not make him the way he is; it is simply the perfect place for Belfort to be what he is.

Director Martin Scorsese, writer Terence Winter, and lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio offer a black comedy that is timeless in its focus.  They hold the mirror up to us and make it clear that people never change and they never learn.  People chase money and some money chasers prey on other money chasers.  They are the predators that clean up and rake in the dough every time.  As this kind of predator – this wolf of Wall Street, DiCaprio gives a performance that deserves to be described as a tour de force.

Some predators live it up on their ill-gotten gains.  The Wolf of Wall Street shows us the ribaldry and depravity of those who live it up to the extreme.  And this film is a blast because of that.  If you stop yourself from thinking about the real-life Jordan Belfort’s victims, you might find this film dynamic and irreverent.  Scorsese isn’t glorifying Belfort’s excessive lifestyle.  Instead, the director offers a great character study of a larger-than-life American archetype; this is a randy version of that archetype.  This version simply spends more time with his pants down and blow up his nose than most.

You can hate both the player and the game, but it is hard to hate The Wolf of Wall Street, at least it is for me.  This fifth Marty and Leo film makes me eager for the sixth.

9 of 10
A+

Friday, April 04, 2014


NOTES:
2014 Academy Awards, USA:  5 nominations: “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Leonardo DiCaprio, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Joey McFarland, and Martin Scorsese), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role” (Leonardo DiCaprio), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Jonah Hill), “Best Achievement in Directing” (Martin Scorsese), “Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay” (Terence Winter)

2014 Golden Globes, USA:  1 win: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” (Leonardo DiCaprio); 1 nomination: “Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical)”

2014 BAFTA Awards:  4 nominations: “Best Adapted Screenplay” (Terence Winter), “Best Leading Actor” (Leonardo DiCaprio), “Best Editing” (Thelma Schoonmaker), and “David Lean Award for Direction” (Martin Scorsese)

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Oscar Nominee Review: "American Hustle"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 15 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

American Hustle (2013)
Running time:  138 minutes (2 hours, 18 minutes)
MPAA – R for pervasive language, some sexual content and brief violence
DIRECTOR:  David O. Russell
WRITERS:  David O. Russell and Eric Warren Singer
PRODUCERS:  Megan Ellison, Jonathan Gordon, Charles Roven, and Richard Suckle
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Linus Sandgren (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Alan Baumgarten, Jay Cassidy, and Crispin Struthers
COMPOSER:  Danny Elfman
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA/COMEDY/HISTORICAL

Starring:  Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Lawrence, Shea Whigham, Louis C.K., Paul Herman, Jack Huston, Alessandro Nivola, and Michael Peña with Robert De Niro (no screen credit)

American Hustle is a 2013 historical comedic drama from director David O. Russell.  The film focuses on a con man and his seductive partner, both forced to work for an eccentric FBI agent, who forces them to help expose political corruption.

Like Russell’s previous film, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle has two distinctions.  It received Oscar nominations in the “Big Five” categories:  best picture, director, actor, actress, and screenplay (original or adapted – original in this case).  American Hustle also received Oscar nominations in all four acting categories, and before Silver Linings Playbook, no film had received nominations in all four acting categories since 1981.  And like Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle is a damn good movie.  It is an outstanding American film about the American hustle to get what you want, by hook or by crook, the way Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas was and still is a great film about America.

American Hustle opens in 1978 and introduces Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale), a successful conman.  While attending a friend’s party, Irving meets Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams), a woman whose beauty and intelligence attracts him, and he falls hard for her.  Surprisingly, Sydney is excited about becoming Irving’s partner in his con jobs, and she takes on the identity of Lady Edith Greensly to assist Irving in tricking prospective marks/victims in their schemes.

They eventually attract the unwanted attention of a wild and odd FBI agent, Richard “Richie” DiMaso (Bradley Cooper).  Richie forces Irving and Sydney into helping him in a sting operation to expose corruption among several members of Congress in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  Irving does not trust Richie, especially because the G-Man flirts with Sydney.  Irving’s young wife, Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence), isn’t too crazy about any of what they are doing and plots to play a part in a dangerous game of backstabbers, crooked politicians, and mobsters.

American Hustle is a fictional version of the Abscam (or ABSCAM) scandal of the late 1970s and early 1980s.  Abscam was a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) sting operation in which the Bureau was aided by a convicted con-man in videotaping politicians.  These politicians were offered bribes by a fake Middle Eastern sheik in return for various political favors, which some accepted.  The investigation ultimately led to several people being convicted, including members of Congress and elected officials in both New Jersey and Philadelphia.

And you don’t need to know that to enjoy American Hustle.  I barely remember Abscam, and I probably wouldn’t, if not for the name (a codename which combined the words “Arab” and “scam”).  It is no scam that co-writer and director David O. Russell has once again delivered a film with an ensemble cast that is just plain good.  I won’t go into the details, except to say that the five main stars:  Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Jennifer Lawrence are every bit as good as you have probably heard and certainly deserve the awards, nominations, and accolades they received.  It’s true.  Jennifer Lawrence is not a fluke; she’s the real deal.

Audiences that like good acting and like to see superb actors come together to love and hate, to support and challenge, and plays scenes together will want to hustle up a way to see American Hustle – immediately.  Spoiler alert:  Robert De Niro makes a cameo in American Hustle as the mobster, Victor Tellegio, but he does not receive a screen credit.  Of course, De Niro is good.  He exudes such murderous intentions as Tellegio that I almost ran away from my television set the first time he appeared on screen.

As I also said of Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle is a great movie, and I want to see it again.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2013 Academy Awards, USA:  10 nominations: “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Megan Ellison, and Jonathan Gordon), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role” (Christian Bale), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Amy Adams), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Bradley Cooper), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Jennifer Lawrence), “Best Achievement in Costume Design” (Michael Wilkinson), “Best Achievement in Directing” (David O. Russell), “Best Achievement in Film Editing” (Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers, and Alan Baumgarten), “Best Achievement in Production Design” (Judy Becker-production design and Heather Loeffler-set decoration)” and “Best Writing, Original Screenplay” (Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell)

2013 BAFTA Awards:  3 wins: “Best Original Screenplay” (Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell), “Best Supporting Actress” (Jennifer Lawrence), and “Best Make Up/Hair” (Evelyne Noraz and Lori McCoy-Bell); 7 nominations: “Best Film” (Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Megan Ellison and Jonathan Gordon), “Best Leading Actor” (Christian Bale), “Best Leading Actress” (Amy Adams), “Best Supporting Actor” (Bradley Cooper), “Best Production Design” (Judy Becker and Heather Loeffler), “Best Costume Design” (Michael Wilkinson), and “David Lean Award for Direction” (David O. Russell)

2013 Golden Globes, USA:  3 wins: “Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical,” “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” (Amy Adams), and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Jennifer Lawrence); 4 nominations: “Golden Globe  Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” (Christian Bale), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Bradley Cooper), and “Best Director - Motion Picture” (David O. Russell), and “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell)

Sunday, March 30, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Oscar Nominee Review: "Captain Phillips"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 14 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

Captain Phillips (2013)
Running time:  134 minutes (2 hours, 14 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sustained intense sequences of menace, some violence with bloody images, and for substance use
DIRECTOR:  Paul Greengrass
WRITER:  Billy Ray (A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea by Richard Phillips and Stephan Talty)
PRODUCERS:  Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca, and Scott Rudin
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Barry Ackroyd (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Christopher Rouse
COMPOSER:  Henry Jackman
Academy Award nominee

THRILLER/DRAMA

Starring:  Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Catherine Keener, Barkhad Abdirahman, Faysal Ahmed, Mahat M. Ali, Michael Chernus, David Warshofsky, Corey Johnson, Chris Mulkey, and Issak Farah Samatar

Captain Phillips is a 2013 thriller and drama from director Paul Greengrass.  The film is an adaptation of A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea by Richard Phillips and Stephan Talty.  The movie dramatizes the 2009 hijacking of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama by Somali pirates, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.  Academy Award-winning actor Kevin Spacey is one of the film’s executive producers.

The film begins with Captain Richard “Rich” Phillips (Tom Hanks) taking command of the MV Maersk Alabama.  This unarmed container ship is scheduled to sail from the Port of Salalah (in the city of Salalah, Oman) through the Gulf of Aden to Mombasa, Kenya.  After an alert concerning pirate activity around the Horn of Africa, Captain Phillips orders strict security precautions on the vessel and carries out practice drills.  In fact, during those drills, two skiffs containing Somali pirates chase the Alabama.

One group of pirates is eventually successful and actually boards and takes control of the Alabama.  The skiff’s captain, Abduwali Muse (Barkhad Abdi), and his cohorts:  Adan Bilal (Barkhad Abdirahman), Walid Elmi (Mahat M. Ali), and Nour Najee (Faysal Ahmed), plan to ransom the ship and its crew for millions of dollars.  Captain Phillips has called for help, but can he stall the pirates before they start killing his crew?

Audiences can practically always count on director Paul Greengrass to deliver a riveting film and an edge-of-your-seat thriller with each of his movies.  Greengrass’ films aren’t the average run-of-the-mill action thrillers; they’re smart and filled with strong characters facing real-world dilemmas.  Captain Phillips is Greengrass’ best film since his Jason Bourne movies.  Greengrass gets a championship effort from his editor Christopher Rouse, who delivers a film that gets better and better, more engaging, more entrancing with each minute.

Although, Tom Hanks is the star and Rich Phillips is the title character and focus, in some way, Captain Phillips is also about Abduwali Muse.  First-time actor, Barkhad Abdi, delivers a superb performance.  Abdi’s acting is especially impressive as the film only focuses on Muse’s personality in the context of what comes out of his actions.  Since Muse does not get to show himself as a fully-developed human, Abdi has to sell him as a three-dimensional villain who only reveals his intentions (getting a ransom), and little beyond that.  I can see why Abdi earned such acclaim and an Oscar nomination to go with a BAFTA win as best supporting actor.

This is pretty much the same with Captain Phillips.  His motivation, conflicts, and dilemmas are seen only in the context of him being a captain of a ship and also a captain of a ship that is under duress.  Tom Hanks is known for playing characters that are totally or mostly open to the audience.  As Phillips, Hanks erects a wall that makes it only easy to feel sympathy, pity, and fear for Phillips.  However, Hanks is so good that he still manages to deliver some fantastic acting – something that is more performance art than it is performance of a character.

All of Captain Phillips is good, but the last forty minutes are a doozy.  The rescue operation makes a very good film a truly exceptional film.  I wish more thrillers were like Captain Phillips.

9 of 10
A

Tuesday, March 25, 2014


NOTES:
2014 Academy Awards, USA:  6 nominations: “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, and Michael De Luca), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Barkhad Abdi), “Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay” (Billy Ray), “Best Achievement in Film Editing” (Christopher Rouse), “Best Achievement in Sound Editing” (Oliver Tarney), and “Best Achievement in Sound Mixing” (Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith, and Chris Munro)

2014 Golden Globes, USA:  4 nominations: “Best Motion Picture – Drama,” “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Tom Hanks), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Barkhad Abdi), and “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Paul Greengrass)

2014 BAFTA Awards:  1 win: “Best Supporting Actor” (Barkhad Abdi); 8 nominations: “Best Film” (Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, and Michael De Luca), “David Lean Award for Direction” (Paul Greengrass), “Best Leading Actor” (Tom Hanks), “Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music” (Henry Jackman), “Best Adapted Screenplay” (Billy Ray), “Best Cinematography” (Barry Ackroyd), “Best Editing” (Christopher Rouse), “Best Sound” (Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith, Chris Munro, and Oliver Tarney)

2014 Black Reel Awards:  2 wins: “Outstanding Supporting Actor, Motion Picture” (Barkhad Abdi) and “Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Male” (Barkhad Abdi)


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

"Hustle" and "Wolf" Lead 2014 MTV Movie Award Nominations - Complete List

by Amos Semien

The MTV Movie Awards began in 1992.  I cared as much then as I do now, and that’s very little.  I have probably watched less than half an hour combined of all the award telecasts, although I might watch more this year.

The nominations for the 2014 MTV Movie Awards were revealed on Thursday, March 6, 2014.  The nominations feature a mix of the year’s biggest blockbusters (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and We’re the Millers) and the movie award season favorites (12 Years a Slave and Dallas Buyers Club).  American Hustle and The Wolf of Wall Street lead the nomination with eight apiece.

Fans can vote by going to the website: http://www.mtv.com/ontv/movieawards/

The 2014 MTV Movie Awards will be held on Sunday, April 13, 2014 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.  The ceremony will be hosted by Conan O'Brien.

The 2013 MTV Movie Awards complete list of nominees:

MOVIE OF THE YEAR
• "12 Years a Slave"
• "American Hustle"
• "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"
• "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"
• "The Wolf of Wall Street"

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE
• Amy Adams — "American Hustle"
• Jennifer Aniston — "We're the Millers"
• Sandra Bullock — "Gravity"
• Jennifer Lawrence — "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"
• Lupita Nyong'o — "12 Years a Slave"

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE
• Bradley Cooper — "American Hustle"
• Leonardo DiCaprio — "The Wolf of Wall Street"
• Chiwetel Ejiofor — "12 Years a Slave"
• Josh Hutcherson — "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"
• Matthew McConaughey — "Dallas Buyers Club"

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
• Liam James — "The Way Way Back"
• Michael B. Jordan — "Fruitvale Station"
• Will Poulter— "We're the Millers"
• Margot Robbie — "The Wolf of Wall Street"
• Miles Teller — "The Spectacular Now"

BEST KISS
• Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams — "American Hustle"
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Scarlett Johansson — "Don Jon"
• James Franco, Ashley Benson and Vanessa Hudgens — "Spring Breakers"
• Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller — "The Spectacular Now"
• Emma Roberts, Jennifer Aniston and Will Poulter — "We're the Millers"

BEST FIGHT
• "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues" — Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, David Koechner and Steve Carell vs. James Marsden vs. Sacha Baron Cohen vs. Kanye West vs. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler vs. Jim Carrey and Marion Cotillard vs. Will Smith vs. Liam Neeson and John C. Reilly vs. Greg Kinnear
• "Identity Thief" — Jason Bateman vs. Melissa McCarthy
• "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" — Orlando Bloom and Evangeline Lilly vs. Orcs
• "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" — Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Sam Claflin vs. Mutant Monkeys
• "This is the End" — Jonah Hill vs. James Franco and Seth Rogen

BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE
• Kevin Hart — "Ride Along"
• Jonah Hill — "The Wolf of Wall Street"
• Johnny Knoxville — "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa"
• Melissa McCarthy — "The Heat"
• Jason Sudeikis — "We're the Millers"

BEST SCARED-AS-S**T PERFORMANCE
• Rose Byrne — "Insidious: Chapter 2"
• Jessica Chastain — "Mama"
• Vera Farmiga — "The Conjuring"
• Ethan Hawke — "The Purge"
• Brad Pitt — "World War Z"

BEST ON-SCREEN DUO
• Amy Adams and Christian Bale — "American Hustle"
• Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto — "Dallas Buyers Club"
• Vin Diesel and Paul Walker — "Fast & Furious 6"
• Ice Cube and Kevin Hart — "Ride Along"
• Jonah Hill and Leonardo DiCaprio — "The Wolf of Wall Street"

BEST SHIRTLESS PERFORMANCE
• Jennifer Aniston — "We're the Millers"
• Sam Claflin — "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"
• Leonardo DiCaprio — "The Wolf of Wall Street"
• Zac Efron — "That Awkward Moment"
• Chris Hemsworth — "Thor: The Dark World"

#WTF MOMENT
• The RV Crash — "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues"
• The Beauty Pageant — "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa"
• Car Sex — "The Counselor"
• The Lude Scene — "The Wolf of Wall Street"
• Danny's New Pet — "This is the End"

BEST VILLAIN
• Barkhad Abdi — "Captain Phillips"
• Benedict Cumberbatch — "Star Trek into Darkness"
• Michael Fassbender — "12 Years a Slave"
• Mila Kunis — "Oz The Great and Powerful"
• Donald Sutherland — "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"

BEST ON-SCREEN TRANSFORMATION
• Christian Bale — "American Hustle"
• Elizabeth Banks — "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"
• Orlando Bloom — "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"
• Jared Leto — "Dallas Buyers Club"
• Matthew McConaughey — "Dallas Buyers Club"

BEST MUSICAL MOMENT
• Backstreet Boys, Jay Baruchel, Seth Rogen and Craig Robinson Peform in Heaven — "This is the End"
• Jennifer Lawrence Sings "Live & Let Die' — "American Hustle"
• Leonardo DiCaprio Pops and Locks — "The Wolf of Wall Street"
• Melissa McCarthy Sings "Barracuda" — "Identity Thief"
• Will Poulter Sing "Waterfalls" — "We're the Millers"

BEST CAMEO PERFORMANCE
• Robert De Niro — "American Hustle"
• Amy Poehler and Tina Fey — "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues"
• Kanye West — "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues"
• Joan Rivers — "Iron Man 3"
• Rihanna — "This is the End"

BEST HERO
• Henry Cavill as Clark Kent — "Man of Steel"
• Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man — "Iron Man 3"
• Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins — "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"
• Chris Hemsworth as Thor — "Thor: The Dark World"
• Channing Tatum as John Cale — "White House Down"


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