The 15th Annual Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Film Awards together with Yahoo! Movies are pleased to announce the nominees for the 2011 "Hollywood Movie Awards" competition.
The ten nominees in alphabetical order are "Captain America: The First Avenger," "Cowboys & Aliens," "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2," "The Help," "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," "Rango," "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," "Super 8," "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," "X-Men: First Class."
The Hollywood Movie Awards® are presented by Yahoo! Movies and cover the public's favorites of the year. The voting takes place at the Yahoo! Movies site at http://cts.vresp.com/c/?HollywoodNetwork/21bfd04b36/5c5b76e819/b6ccdd304a
"We are very excited that once again the Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Film Awards, together with Yahoo! Movies, will continue their tradition of providing the public at large with the opportunity to vote for their favorite movie," said Founder and Executive Director, Carlos de Abreu.
"The Hollywood Movie Awards sets the early tone for the upcoming movie awards season, and Yahoo! Movies is delighted to once again be the destination where film fans can vote for their favorite movie of the year," said Sean Phillips, executive producer Yahoo! Movies. The Hollywood Movie Awards winner by popular vote will receive the award at the Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony on Monday evening, October 24, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
The 2011 Hollywood Film Festival has also announced that they will honor five-time Oscar nominee Glenn Close with the "Hollywood Career Achievement Award," Academy Award-nominated actress Michelle Williams with the "Hollywood Actress Award" for "My Week with Marilyn," Academy Award-nominated actor Christopher Plummer with the "Hollywood Supporting Actor Award" for "Beginners," actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt with the "Hollywood Breakthrough Actor Award" for "50/50,"and actress Felicity Jones with the "New Hollywood Award" for "Like Crazy."
Other honorees include the cast of "The Help" (Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Allison Janney, Chris Lowell, Ahna O'Reilly, Octavia Spencer, Emma Stone, Sissy Spacek, Mary Steenburgen, Cicely Tyson, and Mike Vogel), Director Michel Hazanavicius, Producer Letty Aronson, Screenwriter Diablo Cody, Film Composer Alberto Iglesias, Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, Editor Stephen Mirrione, Production Designer James Murakami, and Visual Effects Supervisor Scott Farrar at their annual Awards Gala. In addition, Gore Verbinski's "Rango" will be honored at the Hollywood Film Awards Gala Ceremony, along with additional honorees to be announced in the coming weeks.
The festival and awards will mark their return on October 20 for a weeklong series of screenings and awards. The Hollywood Film Festival will take place at the ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood.
YAHOO! MOVIES:
Yahoo! Movies is one of the leading websites for movie trailers, news and information.
ABOUT STARZ ENTERTAINMENT, LLC:
The Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Film Awards presenter is Starz Entertainment, LLC, a premium movie and original programming entertainment service provider operating in the United States. The company offers 17 premium channels including the flagship STARZ® and ENCORE® brands with approximately 19 million and 32.9 million subscribers respectively. Starz Entertainment airs in total more than 1,000 movies and original series every month across its pay TV channels. Starz Entertainment is recognized as a pay TV leader in providing HD, On Demand, HD On Demand and online advanced services for its STARZ, ENCORE and MOVIEPLEX brands. Starz Entertainment (http://www.starz.com/) is an operating unit of Starz, LLC, which is a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation and is attributed to the Liberty Starz tracking stock group (NASDAQ: LSTZA).
Showing posts with label Christopher Plummer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christopher Plummer. Show all posts
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Review: "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" Gets Better with Age (Happy B'day, Star Trek)
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Running time: 109 minutes (1 hour, 49 minutes)
MPAA – PG
DIRECTOR: Nicholas Meyer
WRITERS: Nicholas Meyer and Denny Martin Flinn; from a story by Leonard Nimoy and Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal (based upon the TV series “Star Trek” created by Gene Roddenberry)
PRODUCERS: Steven-Charles Jaffe and Ralph Winter
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Hiro Narita
EDITORS: Ronald Roose with William Hoy
Academy Award nominee
SCI-FI/ACTION/ADVENTURE/MYSTERY
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Kim Cattrall, Mark Lenard, Grace Lee Whitney, Brock Peters, Leon Russom, Kurtwood Smith, Christopher Plummer, Rosanna DeSoto, David Warner, Michael Dorn, Iman, and Christian Slater
The cast of the original “Star Trek” (1966-69) returned for its sixth and final feature film, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (also known as TUC).
After the explosion of its moon, Praxis, the Klingon Homeworld has only a 50-year supply of oxygen left. The subsequent economic and environmental instabilities mean that the Klingons won’t be able to continue their long-running hostilities with the Federation, so they sue for peace. Starfleet, the diplomatic, exploration, military defense, and research arm of the Federation, sends the U.S.S. Enterprise to meet the Klingon ship Kronos One, which is carrying Klingon Chancellor Gorkon (David Warner) to Earth for negotiations. The Enterprise’s Capt. James T. Kirk (William Shatner) is not only upset about escorting a Klingon ship, but also about peace with them because it was a Klingon officer that murdered his son.
While en route to Earth, the Enterprise appears to fire on Kronos One, and assassins, apparently from the Enterprise, murder Gorkon. The Klingons arrest Kirk and Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelley) for the death of Gorkon and imprison them on the penal mining colony, Rura Penthe. Gorkon’s daughter, Azetbur (Rosanna DeSoto), becomes the new chancellor, and she vows to continue negotiations with the Federation.
Meanwhile, Captain Spock (Leonard Nimoy) assumes command of the Enterprise. Spock must discover how or if the Enterprise fired on Kronos One when the ship’s computer says it did, but no weapons were expended, and he must clear Capt. Kirk of Gorkon’s murder. With the aid of the U.S.S. Excelsior, commanded by former Enterprise crewman, Captain Hikaru Sulu (George Takei), Spock must also rescue Kirk and Dr. McCoy from their imprisonment. The heroic Enterprise crew is running out of time to discover the identities of the Gorkon’s assassins and of the traitors aboard the Enterprise before they strike again to stop peace negotiations between the Federation and Klingon Empire.
An allegory for the fall of communism in Eastern Europe (which had occurred around 1990, just before this film went into production), Star Trek VI is a poignant expression of the need to end cold wars, constant hostilities, and old grudges. It emphasizes letting go of yearnings to avenge personal and painful losses that come about because of war (the death of Kirk’s son).
The film also has a melancholy edge because the Enterprise is to be decommissioned after this adventure, and this is the last time the original crew would be together. The performances, all of which are good (especially Christopher Plummer as Klingon General Chang), portray the essence of something grand coming to an end. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is not the best Star Trek feature film, but its sense of purpose and determination, and the engaging mystery that hangs over the narrative make this a nice farewell.
7 of 10
B+
NOTES:
1992 Academy Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing” (George Watters II and F. Hudson Miller) and “Best Makeup” (Michael Mills, Ed French, and Richard Snell)
---------------------------
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Review: "Priest" Wants to Be a Cowboy
Priest (2011)
Running time: 87 minutes (1 hour, 27 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, disturbing images and brief strong language
DIRECTOR: Scott Stewart
WRITER: Cory Goodman (based on the graphic novel series Priest by Min-Woo Hyung)
PRODUCERS: Michael De Luca, Joshua Donen, and Mitchell Peck
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Don Burgess
EDITORS: Lisa Zeno Churgin and Rebecca Weigold
COMPOSER: Christopher Young
ANIMATION STUDIO: Viking Animation Studios
SCI-FI/FANTASY/HORROR/ACTION
Starring: Paul Bettany, Karl Urban, Cam Gigandet, Maggie Q, Lily Collins, Christopher Plummer, Brad Dourif, Stephen Moyer, Madchen Amick, and Alan Dale
Priest is a 2011 post-apocalyptic, vampire action movie. The film is based on the Korean comic book, Priest, by Min-Woo Hyung, which was published in the U.S. by American manga and graphic novel publisher, TOKYOPOP. The film follows a vampire-killing priest who disobeys orders to track down his niece and the vampire that kidnapped her.
Priest takes place on a world where for centuries, humans and vampires (who are bestial and don’t have eyes) have been at war. The Church (similar to the Roman Catholic Church) created an elite group of warriors called “Priests” who are blessed with special powers that allowed them to slay vampires. Humans won the war, killing most of the vampires and placing the rest in reservations. The Church built giant walled cities to protect mankind and to better control people.
The movie opens in Cathedral City and focuses on the character known only as Priest (Paul Bettany), and like other Priests, he has lived as an outcast since the end of the war. Hicks (Cam Gigandet), the sheriff of the nearby small town of Augustine, arrives to tell the Priest that his brother’s family was attacked by a pack of vampires and that Priest’s niece, Lucy Pace (Lily Collins), has been kidnapped by the vampires. Black Hat (Karl Urban), a mysterious vampire leader with a connection to Priest, now has Lucy. Disobeying the Church’s demand for him to stay in Cathedral City, Priest sets out into the Wastelands with Hicks, Lucy’s boyfriend, to recover her. Along the way, they are joined by a talented warrior, Priestess (Maggie Q), who helps them uncover a shocking vampire plot.
Although it may not be as obvious as Cowboys and Aliens, Priest is basically a post-apocalyptic, science fiction Western film. The Priests are something like sheriff’s deputies, with Paul Bettany’s Priest being a renegade Western gunslinger as hero. Of course, Karl Urban’s Black Hat is the villain in a black hat. Sadly, the film does not really do much with the very talented Karl Urban, who has terrific screen chops. By the end of this movie, I couldn’t help but think that Urban was vastly under-utilized.
In fact, Priest is a concept with a lot of good ideas, and the film under-utilizes most of them. Priest’s version of the vampire is wickedly good and the environment in which they live is cool, creepy, and scary, but this film never seems to do enough with that. Luckily, the story does make good use of Hicks, the Priestess, and even Lucy.
Priest does make great use of its lead character, Priest, and of the film’s lead actor, Paul Bettany. Priest is the strong, silent type – part Wesley Snipes’ Blade and part Clint Eastwood’s the Man with no Name. Bettany is a talented actor with movie star looks and skills, and he also has a great speaking voice. Director Scott Stewart, who worked with Bettany on the recent horror movie, Legion, recognizes this and makes great use of his star. Bettany makes the journey through Priest’s kooky world of gruesome vampires and creepy Church officials an entertaining road trip. Priest could have been a B-movie hot mess; instead, Stewart and Bettany make it hot stuff.
5 of 10
B-
Saturday, August 27, 2011
-------------------------
Friday, May 27, 2011
Terrence Malick's "The New World" Poetic and Spiritual
The New World (2005)
Running time: 135 minutes (2 hour, 15 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for some intense battle sequences
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Terrence Malick
PRODUCER: Sarah Green
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Emmanuel Lubezki
EDITORS: Richard Chew, A.C.E., Hank Corwin, A.C.E., Saar Klein, and Mark Yoshikawa
Academy Award nominee
DRAMA/HISTORICAL/ROMANCE
Starring: Colin Farrell, Q’orianka Kilcher, Christopher Plummer, Christian Bale, August Schellenberg, Wes Studi, David Thewlis, Yorick van Wageningen, Raoul Trujillo, Michael Greyeyes, Kalani Queypo, Ben Mendelsohn, Noah Taylor, Ben Chaplin, John Savage, Janine Duvitski, Irene Bedard, Eddie Marsan, Roger Rees, Myrton Running Wolf, Jonathan Pryce, and Jesse Borrego
Director Terrence Malick’s (The Thin Red Line) shot over 1 million feet of film for his most recent movie, The New World. Originally released on Christmas Day 2005 with a run time of 150 minutes, Malick pulled the film and edited it down to 135 minutes for re-release. This is the definitive version – reportedly the version Malick prefers.
The story begins in North America in the early years of the 17th century. The continent is as it has been for the previous five thousand years – a vast land of seemingly endless primeval wilderness with the only inhabitants being an intricate network of tribal cultures (Native American who speak Algonquin). In April of 1607, three small seagoing vessels from England sail into this Eden. On board one of the ships is John Smith (Colin Farrell), a once-promising young officer and soldier of fortune, now chained below decks and destined to be hanged for insubordination. Captain Christopher Newport (Christopher Plummer), however, pardons Smith because he realizes that he will need every able-bodied man he has in this new world, and Smith, in particular.
Newport and his men have landed (in what is now Virginia) in the midst of a sophisticated Native American empire ruled by the powerful chieftain, Powhatan (August Schellenberg). While this is the new world to the Englishmen, North America is an ancient world to Powhatan, and he and his people are wary of the Englishmen, believing they intend to stay. The Englishmen struggle to survive in their new home, so John Smith seeks assistance from the local tribes. During this trip, he encounters a young native woman who at first seems like a woodland sprite or perhaps something not real. However, this willful and impetuous creature is real, and she is Powhatan’s daughter (Q’orianka Kilcher), known as Pocahontas (although she is never called that in the film). Smith and the young woman form a bond that transcends ordinary love, and it tests the strength of their bonds with their respective people. However, their love story would become one of the best-known American legends.
The New World is really two stories. One is a character driven narrative about the relationship between John Smith and Pocahontas, and the other is an entirely visually conveyed story about North America as it was just as the English settlers were arriving. The former is internally driven. Smith and Pocahontas speak mostly in voiceovers, and the film leaves the audience to guess at what thoughts and images run through their minds as the two bond. It’s a poetic courtship based on shared feelings, in which the audience might understand the spiritual connection, but is often left yearning to share the obviously intense physical connection. Malick takes an odd approach to filming romance and love in this movie; it is impressionistic – at least from the point of the view of the audience. However, it can intrigue, can make the viewer interested in understanding why these two people from vastly different worlds are so in love with one another.
The latter tale is visually driven. Malick and his cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki (who earned an Oscar nod for his work), present the new world as an expansive verdant forest of fertile, intensely green plant life; wide-open, deep blue skies; and dreamlike waterways. Shot almost entirely with available (natural) light, the film has an ethereal quality like something trying and almost succeeding at being real, although it isn’t. Malick stages the battles between natives and newcomers with a sense of poetry that could pass for a kind of violent ballet or interpretive dance in the right light. In the end, Malick presents these confrontations as a sort of pastoral, historical recreation, and it has a natural feel to it – verisimilitude, perhaps.
The performances are excellent. Colin Farrell and Q’orianka Kilcher have magical screen chemistry, and Kilcher is quite a find, giving one of the best performances by an actress in 2005. Farrell takes his bad boy attitude and quality and transforms himself into a thoughtful man who has lived a life of adventure and enormous responsibility – a rebel who also understands consequence and responsibility. Christian Bale also makes a nice turn with a small role in the last third of the film. Malick, one of the few American directors not only totally dedicated to the idea that film is art, but also dedicated to making film that is actually high art, does make a few missteps (too many voiceovers, a few abrupt jumps in narrative, some dry spots, etc.). However, he brings his talented cast and crew together and creates in The New World an outstanding poetic, visual feast that speaks softly to our souls.
8 of 10
A
Friday, June 02, 2006
NOTES:
2006 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Cinematography” (Emmanuel Lubezki)
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Review: "Up" as Good as it Gets (and Belated Happy B'Day, Ed Asner)
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 7 (of 2009) by Leroy Douresseaux
Up (2009)
Running time: 96 minutes (1 hour, 36 minutes)
MPAA – PG for some peril and action
DIRECTORS: Pete Docter and Bob Peterson
WRITERS: Pete Docter and Bob Peterson; from a story by Thomas McCarthy and Pete Doctor and Bob Peterson
PRODUCER: Jonas Rivera
COMPOSER: Michael Giacchino
Academy Award winner
ANIMATION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY/DRAMA/FANTASY
Starring: (voices) Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai, Bob Peterson, Delroy Lindo, Jerome Ranft, John Ratzenberger, and Donald Fullilove
Pixar Animation Studios’ 10th computer-animated feature-length film is entitled Up. This visually and emotionally beautiful film is also the 10th example of how a group of animators and filmmakers can use their tools and workstations to create fully rounded stories with depth of character and storytelling. And Pixar does it better and more consistently than live action film studios. Up tells the story of a sour old man, a lonely boy, and an old house that sails through the air powered by thousands of balloons tied to the structure.
The story centers on a grouchy widower, Carl Fredricksen (voiced by Ed Asner), a squat old fellow with a box-shaped head and square glasses parked on his bulb of a nose. A retired balloon salesman in his 70s, Carl mourns the loss of his wife, Ellie. Once upon a time, the couple dreamed of traveling to the mysterious South American locale of Paradise Falls. At age 78, life seems to have passed Carl; that is until it delivers two twists of fate.
First, a misunderstood confrontation threatens Carl’s home and freedom. He decides that he will take his home to Paradise Falls by floating the house there with the help of thousands of colorful balloons tied to it. Life’s second surprise comes in the form of a persistent, 8-year-old Junior Wilderness Explorer named Russell (Jordan Nagai). Russell becomes an accidental stowaway on the floating house – one that is not welcomed as far as Carl is concerned. However, the lad – himself round, buoyant, and bouncy as a balloon – proves to be an invaluable, loyal, and trustworthy pal, especially once the house finally lands.
Shortly after landing, Carl and Russell encounter a large flightless, ostrich-like bird, which Russell names Kevin. Kevin is being hunted by a vicious pack of dogs, led by a Doberman named Alpha (Bob Peterson). However, one of the dogs, Dug (Bob Peterson), the nerd of the pack, befriends Carl and Russell. Dug, like the other dogs, can speak because of a translating collar on his neck. But things really get hairy when Carl meets his boyhood idol, famed explorer Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer), who is obsessed with the mystery bird, Kevin.
Pixar’s films are always grounded in real emotion – whether it is a desperate father searching for his lost son (Finding Nemo), a marooned star determined to win again (Cars), or, as in this film, a grieving husband lost without his wife. Of all those films, Up seems to be the one best established on substantive ideas and themes. That might sound strange when considering (1) that Up is about a house that travels across continents by balloon power and (2) that for most of the movie, an old man with a lame hip and an eight-year-old kid drag the still floating house across rough terrain as if it were no more than a large and troublesome kite.
Yes, as is usual for a movie from Pixar (the gold standard in 3D/computer animation), the animation is superb. The sense of space (to say nothing of the composition, movement, and storytelling) in this 3D animation is superb. I’m starting to believe that 3D is the high-tech replacement for stop-motion animation. High-quality computer-animation gives the viewer the sense of watching something taking place on a stage, which is similar to the visual illusion stop-motion creates.
Yes, as is usual for a Pixar movie, the characters are also great. Only Pixar could make a animated feature that has as it star a widower who is almost 80-years-old, walks with a limp, and looks like a cross between Spencer Tracy and Walter Matthau, a great lead. But one superb character isn’t enough for a Pixar film. Up also gives Russell, a misfit boy who is braver than he’d believe himself to be; Charles Muntz, a man made dangerous and pathetic by his obsessions; and Dug, an adorable canine who personifies all that is good in a loyal dog. Even the weird bird Kevin manages to be something we’ve never seen before.
As I stated earlier, however, Up is about substance and not just flights of fantasy. In Carl and his former idol Charles, Up posits that obsession can drain away the will to truly live, and before the obsessed knows it, he is old and alone. The creators of Up dare to deal with the issue of loved ones dying and loved ones leaving us, and the film implores its viewers to have an adventure with the ones we have – the people who are with us and the people who want to be with us. The impressive thing is that this movie is hugely entertaining, but the escapism can’t cloud Up’s strong and clear messages.
10 of 10
Sunday, July 05, 2009
NOTES:
2010 Academy Awards: 2 wins: “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score” (Michael Giacchino) and “Best Animated Feature Film of the Year” (Pete Docter); 3 nominations: “Best Achievement in Sound Editing” (Michael Silvers and Tom Myers), “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Jonas Rivera) and “Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen” (Bob Peterson-screenplay/story, Pete Docter-screenplay/story, and Thomas McCarthy-story)
2010 BAFTA Awards: 2 wins: “Best Animated Film” (Pete Docter) and “Best Music” (Michael Giacchino); 2 nominations: “Best Screenplay – Original” (Bob Peterson and Pete Docter) and “Best Sound” (Tom Myers, Michael Silvers, and Michael Semanick)
2010 Golden Globes: 2 wins: “Best Animated Feature Film” “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (Michael Giacchino)
2010 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Voice Performance” (Delroy Lindo)
Up (2009)
Running time: 96 minutes (1 hour, 36 minutes)
MPAA – PG for some peril and action
DIRECTORS: Pete Docter and Bob Peterson
WRITERS: Pete Docter and Bob Peterson; from a story by Thomas McCarthy and Pete Doctor and Bob Peterson
PRODUCER: Jonas Rivera
COMPOSER: Michael Giacchino
Academy Award winner
ANIMATION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY/DRAMA/FANTASY
Starring: (voices) Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai, Bob Peterson, Delroy Lindo, Jerome Ranft, John Ratzenberger, and Donald Fullilove
Pixar Animation Studios’ 10th computer-animated feature-length film is entitled Up. This visually and emotionally beautiful film is also the 10th example of how a group of animators and filmmakers can use their tools and workstations to create fully rounded stories with depth of character and storytelling. And Pixar does it better and more consistently than live action film studios. Up tells the story of a sour old man, a lonely boy, and an old house that sails through the air powered by thousands of balloons tied to the structure.
The story centers on a grouchy widower, Carl Fredricksen (voiced by Ed Asner), a squat old fellow with a box-shaped head and square glasses parked on his bulb of a nose. A retired balloon salesman in his 70s, Carl mourns the loss of his wife, Ellie. Once upon a time, the couple dreamed of traveling to the mysterious South American locale of Paradise Falls. At age 78, life seems to have passed Carl; that is until it delivers two twists of fate.
First, a misunderstood confrontation threatens Carl’s home and freedom. He decides that he will take his home to Paradise Falls by floating the house there with the help of thousands of colorful balloons tied to it. Life’s second surprise comes in the form of a persistent, 8-year-old Junior Wilderness Explorer named Russell (Jordan Nagai). Russell becomes an accidental stowaway on the floating house – one that is not welcomed as far as Carl is concerned. However, the lad – himself round, buoyant, and bouncy as a balloon – proves to be an invaluable, loyal, and trustworthy pal, especially once the house finally lands.
Shortly after landing, Carl and Russell encounter a large flightless, ostrich-like bird, which Russell names Kevin. Kevin is being hunted by a vicious pack of dogs, led by a Doberman named Alpha (Bob Peterson). However, one of the dogs, Dug (Bob Peterson), the nerd of the pack, befriends Carl and Russell. Dug, like the other dogs, can speak because of a translating collar on his neck. But things really get hairy when Carl meets his boyhood idol, famed explorer Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer), who is obsessed with the mystery bird, Kevin.
Pixar’s films are always grounded in real emotion – whether it is a desperate father searching for his lost son (Finding Nemo), a marooned star determined to win again (Cars), or, as in this film, a grieving husband lost without his wife. Of all those films, Up seems to be the one best established on substantive ideas and themes. That might sound strange when considering (1) that Up is about a house that travels across continents by balloon power and (2) that for most of the movie, an old man with a lame hip and an eight-year-old kid drag the still floating house across rough terrain as if it were no more than a large and troublesome kite.
Yes, as is usual for a movie from Pixar (the gold standard in 3D/computer animation), the animation is superb. The sense of space (to say nothing of the composition, movement, and storytelling) in this 3D animation is superb. I’m starting to believe that 3D is the high-tech replacement for stop-motion animation. High-quality computer-animation gives the viewer the sense of watching something taking place on a stage, which is similar to the visual illusion stop-motion creates.
Yes, as is usual for a Pixar movie, the characters are also great. Only Pixar could make a animated feature that has as it star a widower who is almost 80-years-old, walks with a limp, and looks like a cross between Spencer Tracy and Walter Matthau, a great lead. But one superb character isn’t enough for a Pixar film. Up also gives Russell, a misfit boy who is braver than he’d believe himself to be; Charles Muntz, a man made dangerous and pathetic by his obsessions; and Dug, an adorable canine who personifies all that is good in a loyal dog. Even the weird bird Kevin manages to be something we’ve never seen before.
As I stated earlier, however, Up is about substance and not just flights of fantasy. In Carl and his former idol Charles, Up posits that obsession can drain away the will to truly live, and before the obsessed knows it, he is old and alone. The creators of Up dare to deal with the issue of loved ones dying and loved ones leaving us, and the film implores its viewers to have an adventure with the ones we have – the people who are with us and the people who want to be with us. The impressive thing is that this movie is hugely entertaining, but the escapism can’t cloud Up’s strong and clear messages.
10 of 10
Sunday, July 05, 2009
NOTES:
2010 Academy Awards: 2 wins: “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score” (Michael Giacchino) and “Best Animated Feature Film of the Year” (Pete Docter); 3 nominations: “Best Achievement in Sound Editing” (Michael Silvers and Tom Myers), “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Jonas Rivera) and “Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen” (Bob Peterson-screenplay/story, Pete Docter-screenplay/story, and Thomas McCarthy-story)
2010 BAFTA Awards: 2 wins: “Best Animated Film” (Pete Docter) and “Best Music” (Michael Giacchino); 2 nominations: “Best Screenplay – Original” (Bob Peterson and Pete Docter) and “Best Sound” (Tom Myers, Michael Silvers, and Michael Semanick)
2010 Golden Globes: 2 wins: “Best Animated Feature Film” “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (Michael Giacchino)
2010 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Voice Performance” (Delroy Lindo)
-------------------------
Friday, September 3, 2010
Review: George Clooney, Jeffrey Wright Shine in "SYRIANA"
Syriana (2005)
Running time: 126 minutes (2 hours, 6 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence and language
DIRECTOR: Stephen Gaghan
WRITER: Stephen Gaghan (suggested by the book See No Evil by Robert Baer)
PRODUCERS: Jennifer Fox, Michael Nozik, and Georgia Kacand
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Elswit, A.S.C.
EDITOR: Tim Squyres
Academy Award winner
DRAMA/THRILLER
Starring: Starring: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Chris Cooper, William Hurt, Tim Blake Nelson, Amanda Peet, Christopher Plummer, Alexander Siddig, Mazhar Munir, Akbar Kurtha, Sonnell Dadral, Nadim Sawalha, and William C. Mitchell
In 2000, Stephen Gaghan won the “Best Adapted Screenplay” for the 1999 film, Traffic, which took a look at drug-trafficking through several different points of view, each one a sub-plot in the film, making Traffic not only one film, but a movie composed of several mini-movies. Gaghan, now as both writer and director, tries that method again with the film, Syriana, a politically-charged thriller about the international oil industry, oil trading, and the politics as seen through the eyes those personally involved in the business and politics and those affected by business and politics behind energy.
Syriana, even more so than Traffic, is a riveting, but cerebral political thriller that demands that the viewer pays attention, rather than “turn his brain off” as he or she would in a sit-back-and-enjoy, special effects-laden thriller. The film follows characters from the brokering rooms and halls of power in Washington D.C. to the oils fields of the Persian Gulf, and weaves multiple storylines that look at the human consequences of the decisions of the wealthy and powerful oil players.
A murder plot that he is initiating in Beirut, Lebanon goes bad for Bob Barnes (George Clooney), a career CIA operative. Suddenly, circumstances beyond his control mark him as a failure, and Barnes becomes the subject of an FBI investigation. Relegated to a desk job, he begins to wonder about the disturbing work to which he’s dedicated his life.
The target of Barnes’ assassination plot was the handsome and charismatic Prince Nasir Al-Subaai (Alexander Siddig). Nasir makes a deal with a Chinese company for his country’s natural gas drilling rights, a arrangement that will bring more money to the nation than a similar deal with an American oil company, Connex Killen. He finds a kindred spirit in Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon), an oil broker/energy analyst, who discovers that an horrifically painful family tragedy has given him a lucrative deal with the idealistic Gulf prince. Nasir is the apparent heir to the throne of his country, and his father, the Emir Hamad Al-Subaai (Nadim Sawalha) is ill. However, Nasir’s younger brother, the callow and not bright Prince Meshal (Akbar Kurtha), is more amenable to American interests, so the Americans, in particular Connex Killen, are angling to have the Emir (king) chose Meshal as his successor.
The American oil company Connex Killen is the result of a recent merger of two energy entities – Connex, a Texas energy giant, and Killen, a smaller Texas oil company. Killen and its owner, Jimmy Pope (Chris Cooper), also used shading dealings to land drilling rights to coveted oil fields in Kazakhstan, which also lands them under an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department. Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright) is a quiet, but highly ambitious Washington attorney at Sloan Whiting. It is his job to get the Connex Killen merger through the Justice Department. Holiday, subtle and very smart, must give the federal investigators enough material to make their case against Killeen for its shady dealings in Kazakhstan without jeopardizing either the deal or the merger with Connex.
Ultimately, the machinations of all these men play a part in the life of Wasim Kahn (Mazhar Munir), a young man from Pakistan who works in the Gulf oil fields with his father. After being laid off because of Nasir’s deal with the Chinese, he becomes angry and disillusioned. The Pakistani teenager and his friend Farooq (Sonnell Dadral) join a madrassa, where they fall under the sway of The Cleric (Omar Mostafa) a mysterious blue-eyed Egyptian. He is the same man who took possession of one of the Stinger missiles Bob Barnes sold to arms dealers in Tehran, Iran at the beginning of the film.
Syriana lacks the shaky camera work and rapid editing director Stephen Soderbergh used to give intensity to the Stephen Gaghan-penned Traffic. Gaghan’s film is subtle and eschews the documentary style atmosphere Traffic had. Syriana’s labyrinthine plot and convoluted script snake through a massive ensemble of players, of which very few are more important than others. Even someone with only a little screen time impacts the narrative, shaping the paths of other characters.
Although all the characters are interesting and the performances of them are nice, only two stood out to me. First, Alexander Siddig’s Prince Nasir is a driven man, and Siddig tells as much about the character through his face as he does through the script. Nasir is clearly a man of ideas, a leader and a charming and captivating one at that, but Gaghan only gives Nasir one scene in which he gets to show his ability to lead. That one scene, with generals and other leaders of his country, actually strikes as a bit hollow because there was never any indication prior to that that Nasir would go so far to assure his ascendancy to Emir. Nasir is essential to Syriana’s concept and more of him would have solidified the film’s ideology, but Gaghan ultimately leaves him bare (at least in this cut of the film, which apparently existed in a longer version before it hit U.S. theatres).
The other stand out character is Bennett Holiday, and in the role of Holiday, Jeffrey Wright gives Syriana’s best performance. Like the film, Wright’s Holiday is quiet, but determined. Delicately and with restraint, Holiday will achieve his means. Holiday is actually more successful in his venture than the film in which he exists. Wright makes Holiday Syriana’s focal point; basically, he is the point at which all sub-plots meet or he determines the resolution of others. Holiday, like Syriana, is pragmatic and not very judgmental. Clearly he knows right and wrong, and Syriana obviously believes that much of what people and nations do for the wealth and power that oil and natural gas gives them is harmful to their own long term interests and the immediate well being of many humans, but Holiday is pragmatic, and, to a lesser degree, so is Syriana though the creators might not admit that.
Still, Syriana is about how the world is than about how the world should be. Sometimes, the film’s tagline, “What is the price of oil?” seems like a rhetorical question. We can agree that the actions of many of the film’s players (and there real life counterparts) are selfish, harmful, and wrong, but things are what they are. Perhaps, Syriana is asking us to consider the ramifications of how we get our energy, but a lot of the film’s message and action are to the imagination. Gaghan is clearly sending his message to a more thoughtful film audience. He doesn’t expect the rank and file Joe Blow to give a hoot how the fuel gets to his four-wheeler, or what the ultimate cost of getting it there is. He does expect people who claim they care and are interested, regardless of their political affiliations and ideologies, to take this and create action. What that action is and how it benefits all of humanity is not answered, but I can guess it involves humans being less dependent on oil.
Sadly, the film is too short, sometimes oblique, and occasionally vague. The film’s star, George Clooney, is actually the star of a truncated sub-plot in Syriana. If given more screen time, Bob Barnes’ storyline would have been an edge-of-the-seat international thriller – the dessert portion of Syriana’s gourmet meal. I couldn’t help but leave the theatre wondering about what could have been. Still, what we do get is damn good.
7 of 10
B+
Saturday, December 10, 2005
NOTES:
2006 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (George Clooney); 1 nomination: “Best Writing, Original Screenplay” (Stephen Gaghan)
2006 BAFTA Awards: 1 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (George Clooney)
2006 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Supporting Actor” (Jeffrey Wright)
2006 Golden Globes: 1 win: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (George Clooney); 1 nomination: “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (Alexandre Desplat)
-------------------------------------
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Review: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)
Running time: 123 minutes (2 hours, 3 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for violent images, some sensuality, language and smoking
DIRECTOR: Terry Gilliam
WRITERS: Terry Gilliam and Charles McKeown
PRODUCERS: Amy Gilliam, Terry Gilliam, Samuel Hadida, and William Vince
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Nicola Pecorini
EDITOR: Mick Audsley
Academy Awards nominee
FANTASY/ADVENTURE/ART
Starring: Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Lily Cole, Andrew Garfield, Verne Troyer, Tom Waits, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell
In late January 2008, Terry Gilliam’s film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, although still in production, was thrust into the spotlight when one of its headliners died. When he died on January 22, 2008, Heath Ledger had only completed half his work on The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, performing the role of Tony. After filming resumed, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell assumed the role of Tony. Each actor portrays a different incarnation of Tony, who physically transforms whenever he travels into a dream world.
Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) is the leader of a traveling theatre troupe, which includes his sarcastic and cynical sidekick and confidant, Percy (Verne Troyer), a versatile young player and sleight of hand expert, Anton (Andrew Garfield), and Parnassus’ daughter, Valentina (Lily Cole). Parnassus has the gift of inspiring the imaginations of others, and his stage show is called, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. During the show, Parnassus offers audience members (what few there are) the chance to transcend their mundane reality. They do so by passing through a magical stage mirror that transports them into their imaginations (a kind of dream world), where they are offered two choices, and choosing one or the other determines their fate.
In reality, Parnassus is an immortal, and both his long life and magic came at a steep price. Over the years, he has made various deals with the devil, known as Mr. Nick (Tom Waits). Now, Mr. Nick has come to claim his ultimate prize, Valentina on her upcoming 16th birthday. Meanwhile, oblivious of her fate, Valentina adopts Tony (Heath Ledger), a charming outsider she rescues from dire circumstances, into the troupe. Tony joins the troupe as a barker and sets about to improve the troupe’s fortune. In order to save his daughter, Parnassus makes one final bet with Mr. Nick, and while the rest of the troupe tries to beat the devil, Tony’s motivations for helping come to light.
There is something inimitably romantic about a ragtag troupe of performers traveling about the land, performing on and living in their stage. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus captures the ramshackle romanticism of such a “wagon show,” and the performers, with their whimsical ways and odd charms, are winning, for some reason unknown to me. The narrative, however, is messy. Sometimes, the story comes across as a listless but thoughtful collection of scenes from a college art project. Other times, the film sparkles and brims with inventive imagery that is mesmerizing, especially when the characters jump through the stage mirror. This kind of visual ingenuity is what one can usually expect of a Terry Gilliam film/mind trip, and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus recalls Gilliam’s work as an animator and artist. Some of it reminded me of Gilliam’s short animations for Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
The performances are quite good. Christopher Plummer is brilliant as the tormented Parnassus, and Tom Waits practically matches him in one of my favorite renditions of the devil, Mr. Nick. I would be remiss in not commenting on Heath Ledger’s performance. Although this isn’t close to being his best work, especially since he never got to finish the role, Ledger is quite good as Tony, and the film is certainly livelier when he is onscreen. As for Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell, it is obvious why they are movie stars. They’re all good actors, and they give good performances here. The camera loves their stunningly handsome facial features, especially the magical Depp.
Thematically, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is about stories and the importance of imagination. In the film, characters must choose between their imaginations and their desires, presented as a dream, but they must be able to distinguish between a dream of imagination and a dream of desire. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is not perfect, but I was sad to see this colorful, visually overloaded movie end. That is a feeling I suspect many others also will have.
6 of 10
B
NOTES:
2010 Academy Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Achievement in Art Direction” (David Warren-art director, Anastasia Masaro-art director, and Caroline Smith-set decorator) and “Best Achievement in Costume Design” (Monique Prudhomme)
2010 BAFTA Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Make Up & Hair” (Sarah Monzani) and “Best Production Design” (David Warren, Anastasia Masaro, and Caroline Smith)
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Review: "Dracula 2000" is 2000 Times Bad
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 5 (of 2001) by Leroy Douresseaux
Dracula 2000 (2000)
Running time: 99 minutes; MPAA – R for violence/gore, language and some sexuality.
DIRECTOR: Patrick Lussier
WRITERS: Joel Soison, from a story by Joel Soison and Patrick Lussier
PRODUCERS: W.K. Border and Joe Soison
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Pau (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Peter Devaney Flanagan and Patrick Lussier
COMPOSER: Marco Beltrami
HORROR
Starring: Jonny Lee Miller, Justine Waddell, Gerard Butler, Danny Masterson, Jeri Ryan, Colleen Anne, Fitzpatrick, Jennifer Esposito, Lochlyn Munro, Sean Patrick Thomas, Omar Epps, Nathan Fillion, and Christopher Plummer
Patrick Lussier’s (a film editor on Mimic, Scream 2 and Scream 3) Dracula 2000 presents the fabled count as a young, handsome, curly-haired Adonis. Easily the sexiest Dracula since Christopher Lee, Gerard Butler’s vampire overwhelms the helpless screen with his stunningly good looks; no doubt, he’s got to get his props in the looks department. The problem is that his looks make it difficult to accept him as Dracula. Vampires dine on humans for Pete’s sake, and the idea of them as romance novel cover boys is pure silliness. Even Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, and Gary Oldman had nastiness about them. This vampire’s handsome appearance would have his female (and some male) victims at his neck before he even had a chance to bare his fangs.
In this nouveau version of the classic story, Abraham Van Helsing (Christopher Plummer) is an English antiques dealer. Sometime during the 19th century, Van Helsing successfully captured Dracula (Gerard Butler). He keeps him locked in a well-fortified crypt, and he draws the Count’s cursed blood and injects it into his body to make himself immortal. That way he will always be alive to recapture Dracula if (or when) he escapes, since by this movie’s logic, the Count cannot be killed, and Van Helsing must always be there to save the world.
A small band of thieves led by a man named Marcus (Omar Epps), breaks into the crypt, and later, unwittingly release Dracula as the thieves escape to America. Loose in New Orleans, Dracula tracks Van Helsing’s daughter Mary Heller (Justine Waddell) who shares a psychic connection to Dracula via the vampire blood her father passed to her. Van Helsing’s chases the count, while his own assistant Simon Sheppard (Jonny Lee Miller, Trainspotting) follows him.
Dracula 2000 is by no means special, and the movie proudly revels in being dumb. The filmmakers never seem to aspire to give anything above the ordinary. The movie looks ordinary, and the acting outside of Plummer is poor. One can find in this movie things that one can find in many vampire movies that predate it. This story is so familiar that changing the locale to New Orleans simply isn’t enough to inject something new into the story. The movie doesn’t even try to take advantage of the wealth of stereotypes that setting a story in New Orleans offers: voodoo, Cajuns, jazz, organized crime, Harry Connick, Sr. under investigation again, Mardi Gras, etc. Apparently, the makers assumed that if they simply hiring a young, hot, photogenic cast would be enough to draw in the 18 to 35 set to watch an old story they’ve seen before. Granted that it worked to make American Pie from Porky’s, it just doesn’t work all the time.
And the little jerky “fastmo” camera thing that Stephen Norrington used in Blade to show the high speed at which vampires moved is an old idea beaten to death in Dracula 2000. Omar Epps (The Wood, Love and Basketball) is wasted. No less talented than Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Heath Ledger, etc., only the color of his skin keeps him from getting the good roles and keeps him slumming in crap like this.
Poor Justine Waddell’s character spends so much time swooning in and out of visions; one would swear it was because of drunkenness rather than because she shares a link with a vampire. Her psychic connection with Dracula is more annoying than informative here. Unable to stop, catch her breath, and act because she’s often running away from this Fabio version of Dracula, her potential is wasted. And her romps with Dracula’s buxom crew of vampire sex kittens, led by Jeri Ryan (the Borg erection enhancer late of Star Trek: Voyager), is not as exciting as one would think. Doe-eyed and confused, Mary Heller is a sympathetic figure in a pathetic movie; character and audience are cheated.
2 of 10
D
Dracula 2000 (2000)
Running time: 99 minutes; MPAA – R for violence/gore, language and some sexuality.
DIRECTOR: Patrick Lussier
WRITERS: Joel Soison, from a story by Joel Soison and Patrick Lussier
PRODUCERS: W.K. Border and Joe Soison
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Pau (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Peter Devaney Flanagan and Patrick Lussier
COMPOSER: Marco Beltrami
HORROR
Starring: Jonny Lee Miller, Justine Waddell, Gerard Butler, Danny Masterson, Jeri Ryan, Colleen Anne, Fitzpatrick, Jennifer Esposito, Lochlyn Munro, Sean Patrick Thomas, Omar Epps, Nathan Fillion, and Christopher Plummer
Patrick Lussier’s (a film editor on Mimic, Scream 2 and Scream 3) Dracula 2000 presents the fabled count as a young, handsome, curly-haired Adonis. Easily the sexiest Dracula since Christopher Lee, Gerard Butler’s vampire overwhelms the helpless screen with his stunningly good looks; no doubt, he’s got to get his props in the looks department. The problem is that his looks make it difficult to accept him as Dracula. Vampires dine on humans for Pete’s sake, and the idea of them as romance novel cover boys is pure silliness. Even Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, and Gary Oldman had nastiness about them. This vampire’s handsome appearance would have his female (and some male) victims at his neck before he even had a chance to bare his fangs.
In this nouveau version of the classic story, Abraham Van Helsing (Christopher Plummer) is an English antiques dealer. Sometime during the 19th century, Van Helsing successfully captured Dracula (Gerard Butler). He keeps him locked in a well-fortified crypt, and he draws the Count’s cursed blood and injects it into his body to make himself immortal. That way he will always be alive to recapture Dracula if (or when) he escapes, since by this movie’s logic, the Count cannot be killed, and Van Helsing must always be there to save the world.
A small band of thieves led by a man named Marcus (Omar Epps), breaks into the crypt, and later, unwittingly release Dracula as the thieves escape to America. Loose in New Orleans, Dracula tracks Van Helsing’s daughter Mary Heller (Justine Waddell) who shares a psychic connection to Dracula via the vampire blood her father passed to her. Van Helsing’s chases the count, while his own assistant Simon Sheppard (Jonny Lee Miller, Trainspotting) follows him.
Dracula 2000 is by no means special, and the movie proudly revels in being dumb. The filmmakers never seem to aspire to give anything above the ordinary. The movie looks ordinary, and the acting outside of Plummer is poor. One can find in this movie things that one can find in many vampire movies that predate it. This story is so familiar that changing the locale to New Orleans simply isn’t enough to inject something new into the story. The movie doesn’t even try to take advantage of the wealth of stereotypes that setting a story in New Orleans offers: voodoo, Cajuns, jazz, organized crime, Harry Connick, Sr. under investigation again, Mardi Gras, etc. Apparently, the makers assumed that if they simply hiring a young, hot, photogenic cast would be enough to draw in the 18 to 35 set to watch an old story they’ve seen before. Granted that it worked to make American Pie from Porky’s, it just doesn’t work all the time.
And the little jerky “fastmo” camera thing that Stephen Norrington used in Blade to show the high speed at which vampires moved is an old idea beaten to death in Dracula 2000. Omar Epps (The Wood, Love and Basketball) is wasted. No less talented than Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett, Heath Ledger, etc., only the color of his skin keeps him from getting the good roles and keeps him slumming in crap like this.
Poor Justine Waddell’s character spends so much time swooning in and out of visions; one would swear it was because of drunkenness rather than because she shares a link with a vampire. Her psychic connection with Dracula is more annoying than informative here. Unable to stop, catch her breath, and act because she’s often running away from this Fabio version of Dracula, her potential is wasted. And her romps with Dracula’s buxom crew of vampire sex kittens, led by Jeri Ryan (the Borg erection enhancer late of Star Trek: Voyager), is not as exciting as one would think. Doe-eyed and confused, Mary Heller is a sympathetic figure in a pathetic movie; character and audience are cheated.
2 of 10
D
--------------------------
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)