Tag Archives: Shame

10 Oscar Snubs From The 2010s

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

And now, we reach the present day!  A lot has changed over the past few decades but one thing has remained consistent.  No matter how hard the Academy tries, some good movies and performances are always going to get snubbed.  Here are ten snubs from the previous decade.

2011: Shame Is Totally Ignored

Despite being critically acclaimed and receiving nominations from other groups, Steve McQueen’s Shame was totally ignored by the Academy.  My theory is a lot of people looked at Michael Fassbender playing an emotionally detached, self-destructive sex addict and they basically saw aspects of themselves that they didn’t want to acknowledge.  Shame caused too much shame amongst the voters.

2012: The Master Is Not Nominates For Best Picture

When The Master was first released, a lot of people didn’t really know what to make of Paul Thomas Anderson’s barely disguised portrait of Scientology.  The film received only three nominations, for Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams.  It deserved quite a bit more but, in 2012, I imagine the film’s portrait of a charismatic cult leader taking advantage of his wealthy followers seemed a bit too familiar to some voters.

2013: Tom Hanks Is Not Nominated For Best Actor For Captain Phillips

Looking over today’s list of snubs, a recurring theme seems to be actors who were not nominated because the Academy took them and their talent for granted.  That’s the only possible reason that I can come up with for the Academy to have not nominated Tom Hanks for his outstanding lead performance in Captain Phillips.  Just consider the scene at the end of the film, when the shellshocked and exhausted Captain Phillips is examined by a nurse and he can’t stop talking about the blood on his clothes.  It’s a devastating scene, largely because the audience doesn’t feel as if they’re watching Tom Hanks give a performance.  At that moment, they feel that they are watching a man who has just been through the worst experience of his life and who, even though he is now safe, will be forever haunted by what he has witnessed.

2014: Guardians of the Galaxy Is Not Nominated For Best Picture

Seriously, if any MCU film deserved to be nominated for Best Picture, it was Guardians of the Galaxy.  It was a fun movie with a charismatic cast and, despite what some critics claimed, it actually did have something to say about the importance of tolerance and individual freedom.  It even holds up well to repeat viewings, which is not exactly something that you can say about a few of the other MCU film.

2016: Amy Adams Is Not Nominated For Best Actress For Arrival

Much as they did with Tom Hanks and his performance in Captain Phillips, the Academy took Amy Adams for granted and failed to nominate her for Arrival, despite the fact that it was her best performance to date.  At this point, if I’m Amy Adams, I would be wondering just what it is that I’m going to have to do to finally get my Oscar.

2017: Ethan Hawke Is Not Nominates For Best Actor For First Reformed

This is another snub that I can’t get my head around.  Ethan Hawke has been nominated in the past.  The Academy is obviously not resistant to honoring Ethan Hawke.  So how was it that one of his best performances went unnominated?  For that matter, how is it that First Reformed itself only received one Oscar nomination?

2019: The Souvenir Is Ignored

Despite being one of the best films of the past ten years, The Souvenir was ignored by Academy.  The things that made the film work, like its low-key but honest performances and its refusal to pass easy judgment on its characters, are probably the same things that caused the Academy to overlook it.

2020: The Assistant Is Ignored

This was a powerful film and it featured an award-worthy performance from Julia Garner.  It was also about Harvey Weinstein so I guess I shouldn’t be too shocked that the Academy snubbed it.  The Assistant is a film that probably hit too close to home for many members of the Academy.

2021: Val Is Not Nominated For Best Documentary Feature

Val is one of the most affecting documentaries that I’ve ever seen but the Documentary Branch failed to even give it a nomination.  Maybe, like The Assistant, Val just hit too close to home for some of the voters.

2021: Mass Is Ignored

Again, I will never understand how the Academy can fail to give even one nomination to a film as good as Mass.  As with The Souvenir, I can only guess that the Academy did not know how to react to Mass’s honest approach to its subject matter.  Mass worked because it avoided easy judgments and solutions.  That’s probably the same thing that led to the Academy ignoring both the film and its outstanding cast.

Agree?  Disagree?  Do you have any bigger Oscar snub that you’d like to mention?  Let us know in the comments!

And now, get ready to enjoy the show!  And, if you don’t care about the Oscars, fear not!  My review of The Black Godfather will be posting in an hour.

Music Video of the Day: Shame by Stabbing Westward (1996, directed by Paul Cunningham)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

“Who was the girl in Stabbing Westward’s video for Shame?”

For those of us who grew up in the 90s, that is question that we’ve been asking ourselves for 22 years.  Who played Julie, the leggy brunette who found herself threatened by her ex-boyfriend while the band ate popcorn and watched from the couch?

It only took me a minute of research to discover that Nick was played by an actor named Clint Curtis.  If he seems familiar, you may have seen him in movies like Deep Rising, The Mexican, or Splatter: Love, Honor, and Paintball.  But no one seems to know who played Julie, though a lot of people still wonder.  I’ve seen speculation that she was a model or maybe she was dating a member of the band.  On one message board, someone even thought that she may have been played by the actress, Alana Urbach.  (She’s wasn’t.)

Even if we don’t know who played Julie, Shame is a smart video from an underrated band.  It was directed by Paul Cunningham, who is probably best known for directing the video for Radiohead’s High & Dry.

Scenes I Love: Shame

Posted on by Arleigh

Shame

Sometimes a scene in a film doesn’t need any dialogue to be able to convey emotion and character development the story requires. One such film that does a great job of using wordless sequences to let the audience in on the characters motivations and agendas is Steve McQueen’s Shame.

I could’ve picked from so many different scenes this film had to offer. Yet, it was the wordless scene of flirting, attraction and seduction between Michael Fassbender’s Brandon and an unnamed woman sitting across from him in the subway car. With Harry Escott’s score setting up the scene, McQueen allows the two players (Brandon and the unnamed woman) to use furtive glances and flirtatious looks to convey the attraction between these two beautiful individuals.

Even how the woman’s seemingly brief acceptance of what Brandon’s unspoken invitation suddenly turned into something of regret spoke volume in the scene. While Brandon’s sexual addiction has made him a sort of junkie looking to find his next fix wherever he can find it, the woman realizes in the end that maybe, maybe Brandon’s invitation is something she shouldn’t accept on a whim.

It’s later in the film that we find out the woman is now engage (or has been) and the tables has been turned with her now more confident in what she wants and Brandon now the one hesitating.

I know that many people probably have other scenes from Shame they would consider their favorite, but this one definitely is mine.

Arleigh’s 13 Favorite Films of 2011

Posted on by Arleigh

2011 was a year that wasn’t spectacular by any stretch of the imagination. From January right up to December there were not many films which I would consider event films. This is surprising considering all the superhero blockbusters which arrived during the summer and the final film in the Harry Potter film franchise. Even the prestige films which came out during the holidays never truly captured everyone’s imagination (though one film was very close to achieving it due to one Michael Fassbender).

What 2011 did have was a solid slate of titles which ranged from the pulpy to the cerebral. We even got films which were able to combine the two to come up with something very special. Not every film resonated with everyone and some even split audiences down the extreme middle with half hating it and the other half loving it.

The list below catalogs the films which I consider my favorites of 2011. Some titles on this list I consider some of the best of 2011 while some didn’t make that particular list but were entertaining enough for me to make this favorite list. Once again, the list is not ranked from top to bottom, but only numbered to keep things organized….

  1. Shame (dir. by Steve McQueen) – This character-driven film starring Michael Fassbender and Cary Mulligan was one of those film which got close to becoming the one film everyone ended up talking about as the year wound down. It’s an exercise in minimalist filmmaking as Steve McQueen doesn’t allow too much dialogue to get in the way of telling the visual story of sex-addict Brandon and his downward spiral from addiction to self-hate. Much have been said of how much Fassbender’s penis in full display was a reason why people flocked to see this little existential film, but I rather thought that was probably just a bonus for some and instead it was Fassbender’s uncompromising performance in the role of Brandon which made Shame one of my favorites for 2011.
  2. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (dir. by Rupert Wyatt) – this film was one which didn’t garner too much high-anticipation from genre fans leading up to it’s release. People had been burned by Tim Burton’s reboot of the franchise and saw this second attempt to reboot the series as a failure in the making. So, it was to o everyone’s surprise that Rupert Wyatt’s film managed to not just bring new life to a stagnating franchise but do so in such a way that it became one of the best films of 2011. Sure, there was some flaws in how the human character were written, but in the end it was the performance-capture work by Andy Serkis and the digital wizardry of WETA Digital which made Rise of the Planet of the Apes not just a wonderful and fun film this past summer, but also one which laid the groundwork for more stories in what is a franchise reborn with fresh blood and life.
  3. I Saw the Devil (dir. by Kim Ji-woon) – this little revenge thriller from South Korea was one which I happened to catch just before it left the theaters this part spring. It had played in one of the few arthouse theaters in the Bay Area that hadn’t closed down. I was glad to have seen this film on the big screen instead of on Netflix Instant the way most have seen it. It’s a brutal cat-and-mouse story of a South Korean secret agent who stalks and hunts the serial killer (played by Oldboy‘s Choi Min-sik) who kidnapped and brutally murdered his fiancee. The film is not for the timid and weak of stomach as we see through the eyes of not just Agent Soo-hyun (played by Lee Byung-hun) but that of serial killer Kyung-chul the dark corners of South Korea where hunter has become prey and vice versa.  South Korea has always been good for one great film that I feel personally attached to and for 2011 it was this film.
  4. Cave of the Forgotten Dreams (dir. by Werner Herzog) – I don’t think I could ever make a year’s favorite list of any year that had a Herzog release and not have it as a favorite of mine for the year. It happens that Herzog had two films come out in 2011 and both of them excellent documentaries. It would be his earlier documentary for 2011 that became a favorite of mine. It also happened to be his first (and according to him the only time) foray into 3D-filmmaking. Herzog makes great use of 3D filmmaking’s added epth of field to make the cave paintings in the Chauvet Cave come to life. If this was going to be Herzog’s only film shot in 3D then he made one for the ages and it’s a travesty that those who vote for documentaries to be nominated for the Academy Awards failed to even list this film.
  5. Attack the Block (dir. by Joe Cornish) – this scifi-action film from the UK became the darling for genre fans everywhere. It had everything which bigger-budgeted films of the same stripe failed to accomplish. It was fun, thrilling and, most important of all, had characters which the audience would get to know and care for. John Boyega as the gang leader and, ultimately, the reluctant savior of the block which has become under siege by an alien force is just one of the highlights of the film which boasts one of the best screenplays of 2011. Joe Cornish joins the likes of Neill Blomkamp as a filmmaker whose first feature-length film hits on all cylinders.
  6. Captain America: The First Avenger (dir. by Joe Johnston) – this film was to be the last leg of the Marvel Films before 2012’s highly-anticipated The Avengers film. It introduced the film’s title character and his origins for those not familiar with the name Captain America. This film could easily have been a throwaway one. A film to set-up this year’s The Avengers. Instead what we got was one of the most fun blockbusters in the summer of 2011. Joe Johnston goes back to his Rocketeer days and creates an action film that’s full of genuine nostalgia but not burdened by it. Any doubts fans might have had of Chris Evans in the role as Captain America had them wiped clean with his pitch-perfect performance as the title character. The film also had one of the most romantic relationships on-screen in quite awhile with Evan’s Steve Rogers and Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter.
  7. Drive (dir. by Nicolas Winding Refn) – In my opinion, Refn’s existential take on the pulp genre with Drive is also one of the best films of 2011, if not the best of them all. Refn, with Ryan Gosling in the role of  the Driver, has created a film that mashes up so many different genres and does it so well that it’s hard to be sympathetic to those who felt they were misled by the fim’s trailer that it would be a nonstop action film similar to Fast Five. The film is not an action film, but a film which just happens to have some action in it. Action that comes sudden and brutal and none of the whiz-bangs other action films rely heavily on. It’s another film where Refn explores duality of the male persona. It helps Refn’s film that Gosling is so great as the Driver that the film never slows down too much before things revs up once more. The rest of the ensemble cast also does stand-out work with Albert Brooks as an aging, cynical Hollywood gangster leading the pack.
  8. Fast Five (dir. by Justin Lin) – Speaking of Fast Five…this was a film that surprised me in so many ways. It’s the fifth installment in a series that seemed to have evolved from being an action series whose main goal was to highlight the street-racing community and the ridiculous lengths people in it would go to in order to trick out their cars. This latest installment in the franchise has put the street-racing aspect of the series on the back burner and instead has remade the franchise into an action-heist series that just happens to have fast cars in it. This film was loud, fast and fun and despite some major leaps in logic in the storyline it never stopped being entertaining. It also brought back Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in an action film role that he had stopped doing these past five or so years.
  9. Hanna (dir. by Tom Hooper) – If someone had come to me and said that little Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones, Atonement) would turn out to be kickass action-hero directed by a British filmmaker not known for action films then I would dismiss such a thing as crazy talk. But crazy talk it wasn’t and all that came to pass with Tom Hopper’s excellent modern fairy tale in Hanna. Ronan as the title character was asuch a find in a role that didn’t just need for her to act like the little lost babe in the woods, but to also turn on a dime and kick ass with the best of action heroes past. It helped that everyone else around her were up to the task of supporting her performance whether it was Eric Bana in the role father (huntsman in fable lore) to Cate Blanchett as the cold-hearted CIA chief (evil queen) whose connection to Hanna drives the film’s narrative from beginning to end.
  10. Kung Fu Panda 2 (dir. by Jennifer Yuh Nelson) – in a year where Pixar had one of it’s rare misses (Cars 2 really was awful and such a blatant cash grab for the studio) it was there for the taking for top animated film of the year for everyone else to fight over. There was Rango and there was The Adventures of TinTin, but my favorite animated film of 2011 has to be Kung Fu Panda 2. It continues to adventures of the Dragon Warrior and panda kung master Po and his compatriots, the Furious Five. With the first film having done with him becoming the Dragon Warrior, this sequel was free to explore more aspects of Po’s life and personality such as his true origins and the tragic circumstances which led him to be adopted by his noddle-making goose of a father. The film is much darker than the previous one with it’s storyline exploring such themes as genocide and the destructive march of technology over nature’s harmony. It also had one of the best villains to come out in 2011 with Gary Oldman as the evil peacock, Lord Shen. Plus, it had scenes of Po as a baby Panda…A BABY PANDA.
  11. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (dir. by Tomas Alfredson) – a feature-length film remake of the BBC miniseries of the same name (adapted from a John LeCarre novel), this spy thriller/procedural was Tomas Alfredson’s follow-up to his coming-of-age vampire film, Let the Right One In. Once again he has taken a well-worn genre and infused it with his own unique style of storytelling which valued characters and how they all interacted with each other over action and thrilling sequences. With a cast that’s a who’s who of British cinema the film was able to condense many hours of the miniseries into just a couple and still not lose the complex and layered plot involving political intrigue and betrayal. This film also had one of the best performances by any male actor for 2011 with Gary Oldman in the role of George Smiley. With Fassbender being passed over and not nominated for Best Actor for the upcoming Academy Awards I would be very perturbed if anyone else other than Oldman took home the statue.
  12. Kill List (dir. by Ben Wheatley) – I’m not well-versed on the work by Ben Wheatley so I saw this film on the recommendation of many whose opinions I trust when it comes to genre films. To say that I was thoroughly surprised by just how well this filmed turned out would be an understatement. Kill List is one of those films which turns so many horror and thriller conventions right on its head, but do so to serve the film’s narrative instead of a filmmaker trying to show his/her audience just how clever they can be. The film moves at a gradual pace that leads to a surprising ending that has split audiences down the middle. Some have loved the ending and other have hated it. I, for one, thought the ending was the only way the film could end. This was a film that was able to balance the different aspects of what makes a thriller and what makes a horror film. The moment when the film transitions from the former to the latter was so seamless that it takes several viewings to find just where it occurred. The best horror film of 2011, bar none.
  13. 13 Assassins (dir. by Miike Takashi) – many will be saying that I’m cheating with this final entry since the film was released in 2010. I would agree with them, but then again this film wasn’t released in the US until early 2011 so in my own honest opinion it qualifies as a 2011 film. This latest from Japan’s eclectic and prolific filmmaker, Miike Takashi, is his own take on the Japanese jidaigeki and a remake of the 1963 film of the same name. If there was ever a best action film of 2011 then this film would be it. Miike would pull back from his more over-the-top visuals (though he still manages to insert some very disturbing imagery early on in the film) for a much more linear and traditional action filmmaking. It’s a men-on-a-mission film that pits the 13 assassins of the title against 200 or more bodyguards of a sadistic lord who must be killed for the sake of the country. The first 45 minutes or so of the film shows the film gathering the assassins and planning their ambush. It’s that final hour or so of the film with it’s nonstop action which qualified this film not just one of my favorite for 2011, but that year’s best action film. No other film could even get to it’s level.

Honorable Mentions: Warrior, Super 8, Batman: Year One, Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, Sucker Punch, A Dangerous Method, The Adventures of TinTin, The Skin I Live In, Bunraku, The Guard, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Hugo, Tyrannosaur, Thor, The Interrupters, X-Men: First Class, Contagion, Battle: Los Angeles, Project Nim

If Lisa Marie Determined The Oscar Nominees….

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Oscar nominations are due to be announced on Tuesday morning so I figured now would be a good time to play a little game that I like to call: “What if Lisa had all the power?”  Below, you will find my personal Oscar nominations.  These are the films and the performers that would be nominated if I was solely responsible for selecting the nominees and the winners. 

For those who are interested, you can check out my picks for last year by clicking on this sentence.

Please understand, as you look over this lengthy list of deserving films and performers, that these are not necessarily the films I expect to see nominated on Tuesday morning.  In fact, I would be hard pressed to think of a year in which I have disagreed more with the critical establishment than I have this year.  For whatever reason, the films that truly touched and moved me in 2011 appear to be the films that are totally and completely off the Academy’s radar.  These are not my predictions.  Instead, they are my personal choices and they should not be interpreted as representing the opinion on anyone else affiliated with this site.  So, if you’re angry that David Fincher’s Girl With The Dragon Tattoo didn’t receive a single imaginary nomination, direct your anger at me and me alone. 

Best Picture

The Artist

Bridesmaids

The Guard

Hanna

Higher Ground

Hugo

Shame

Sucker Punch

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Young Adult

Best Actor

Michael Fassbender for Shame

Brendan Gleeson for The Guard

Gary Oldman for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Michael Shannon for Take Shelter

Rainn Wilson for Super

Best Actress

Kirsten Dunst for Melancholia

Vera Farmiga for Higher Ground

Elizabeth Olsen for Martha Marcy May Marlene

Saoirse Ronan for Hanna

Charlize Theron for Young Adult

Best Supporting Actor

Albert Brooks for Drive

Bobby Cannivale for Win Win

Jonah Hill for Moneyball

Patton Oswalt for Young Adult

Andy Serkis for Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Best Supporting Actress

Anna Kendrick for 50/50

Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids

Carey Mulligan for Shame

Ellen Page for Super

Amy Ryan for Win Win

Best Director

Vera Farminga for Higher Ground

Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist

Steve McQueen for Shame

Martin Scorsese for Hugo

Joe Wright for Hanna

Best Original Sreenplay

Bridesmaids

The Guard

Hanna

Shame

Young Adult

Best Adapted Screenplay

Higher Ground

Hugo

Incendies

One Day

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Best Animated Feature

Kung Fu Panda 2

Puss in Boots

Rango

Rio

Winnie the Pooh

Best Foreign Language Film

(Please note that I do this category a bit differently than the Academy.  Whereas the Academy asks nations across the world to submit a nominee, I’m simply nominating the best foreign language films that I saw in a theater last year.  Those who follow the Oscars will note that I’ve both nominated and awarded the brilliant Canadian films Incendies, which actually was nominated for a real Oscar in this same category last year.)

The Double Hour

Incendies

Of Gods and Men

The Skin I Live In

13 Assassins

Best Documentary Feature

Bill Cunningham New York

Buck

The Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Jig

Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles

Best Original Score

The Artist

A Better Life

The Guard

Hanna

The Tree Of Life

Best Original Song

“The Star-Spangled Man” from Captain America: The First Avenger

“Mujhe Chod Ke” from DAM999

“The Keeper” from Machine Gun Preacher

“Man or Muppet” from The Muppets

“Pop” from White Irish Drinkers

Best Sound Editing

Drive

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

Hugo

Sucker Punch

The Tree of Life

Best Sound Mixing

Drive

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

Hugo

Sucker Punch

The Tree of Life

Best Art Direction

Bunraku

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

Hugo

Sucker Punch

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Best Cinematography

The Artist

Hugo

Melancholia

Shame

The Tree of Life

Best Makeup

Beastly

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

Insidious

Sucker Punch

X-Men: First Class

Best Costume Design

Bunraku

The Help

Hugo

Sucker Punch

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Best Editing

The Artist

The Guard

Hanna

Hugo

Shame

Best Visual Effects

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

Hugo

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Sucker Punch

The Tree of Life

List of Films By Number of Nominations:

10 Nominations – Hugo

7 Nominations – Shame, Sucker Punch

6 Nominations – Hanna

5 Nominations – The Artist; The Guard; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2; Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy; The Tree of Life

4 Nominations – Higher Ground, Young Adult

3 Nominations – Bridesmaids, Drive

2 Nominations – Bunraku, Incendies, Melancholia, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Super, Win Win

1 Nomination – Beastly, A Better Life, Bill Cunningham New York, Buck, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Cave of Forgotten Dreams, DAM999, The Double Hour, 50/50, The Help, Insidious, Jig, Kung Fu Panda 2, Machine Gun Preacher, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Moneyball, The Muppets, Of Gods and Men, One Day, Puss in Boots, Rango, Ressurect Dead, Rio, The Skin I Live In, Take Shelter, 13 Assassins, X-Men: First Class, White Irish Drinkers, Winnie the Pooh

List of Films By Number of Oscars Won:

3 Oscars – Hanna

2 Oscars – Bunraku, Shame, Sucker Punch

1 Oscar – Beastly, Bridesmaids, The Cave of Forgotten Deams, Dam999, Higher Ground, Hugo Incendies, Melancholia, Puss in Boots, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Super, Young Adult

So, will the Academy agree with my picks?  Well, probably not.  Indeed, it’s probable that they won’t agree at all.  And to that, I say, “Oh well.” 

The Academy Award nominations will be announced Tuesday morning.

What Lisa Marie Watched Last Night: The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Last night, I watched the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards.  I also got on twitter and made a lot of snarky comments.  People seemed to enjoy it and for that reason, I say, “Yay!”

Why Was I Watching It?

Because I am an awards show junkie!  Seriously, those glue sniffers on Intervention don’t have anything on me when it comes to craving the excess, glamour, and foolishness of a big, silly Hollywood awards show!  Add to that, this is still a fairly wide open Oscar season and the Golden Globes are, as they always say on E!, a “precursor to the Oscars.”  Winning a Golden Globe usually guarantees at least an Oscar nomination.  Plus — Ricky Gervais was back to host and like a lot of people last night, I spent the minutes before the ceremony asking myself, “What ever will he say!?” in feverish anticipation.

What Was It About?

For the past 69 years, the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association have thrown a big banquet in January and given out a lot of awards to various TV and movie stars.  Nobody’s really sure who the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association are and, to be honest, the Golden Globes always have a slightly unsavory air to them.  There’s always more than a few nominations that mostly seem to be designed to get famous people to show up at the ceremony,  Last year, they nominated the Tourist, this year they nominated The Ides of March.  Anyway, the Golden Globes are distinguished by the Oscars by the fact that they serve alcohol during the show and, in the past, someone’s always ended up giving a drunken acceptance speech or launching into an incoherent political rant and, for the past few weeks, we’ve been told that with Ricky Gervais returning to host the 69th annual banquet, anything could happen and probably would!  Yay!

What Worked

Last night, I mentioned on twitter that if nothing interesting happened on the Globes or if Ricky somehow failed to deliver the expected amount of snark then I would devote this section of my review to talking about my boobs. 

With that in mind, what can I say except that they’re a little big and heavy and they pretty much ended my dreams of being a ballerina but I like my boobs, or as I call them Pride and Joy.  They go great with every outfit I own and I’m pretty sure that they’re also the reason why I’ve never had to pay a speeding ticket.  Plus, they allowed me to say stuff like, “I should be Ms. Golden Globes!” while I was watching the show last night…

Actually, I’m being a little bit unfair to the Golden Globes (the awards ceremony, not my boobs).  The tribute to Morgan Freeman was well-done and was probably the high point of the ceremony but then again, how can you go wrong with Morgan Freeman?  Seriously, when I’m on the verge of doing something silly (like using a review of the Golden Globes to show off my boobs) , I imagine Morgan Freeman saying, “Now, do you really think that’s a good idea?”

Fashion-wise, I saw a lot of red dresses last night and that made me happy because I look really good in red.

Among the winners, Christopher Plummer (Best Supporting Actor for Beginners), Jean Dujardin (Best Actor In A Comedy Motion Picture for The Artist), Martin Scorsese (Best Director for Hugo), and Claire Danes (Best Actress In A Dramatic TV Show for Homeland) all gave good and classy acceptance speeches that made me feel good to be alive.  And Uggie the dog was so adorable up there on stage when The Artist won Best Motion Picture Comedy.  Actually, speaking of The Artist, it was kinda nice to see so many French people accepting awards last night.  (Oh, stop it!  I love France!)

I enjoyed it when Madonna won for best song because she was so shocked that she forgot to speak in her fake accent. 

On an admittedly petty note, Rooney Mara did not win Best Actress for David Fincher’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and that amused me greatly because I knew that all the little AwardsDaily Fincherites were torn about how to whine about Mara losing with coming across as if they were criticizing Meryl Streep for winning.

What Did Not Work

So, let’s start with the main problem.  Last night’s Golden Globes ceremony was so respectable and predictable and slow that it might as well have just been the Oscars.  Ricky Gervais started out the ceremony by telling us that he had signed an agreement to not make any offensive or outrageous statements and then he did just that.  What’s especially annoying is that Ricky didn’t seem to be neutering himself as an act of protest or anything of the sort.  Instead, he just came across like he was too smug and sure-of-himself to realize that he was bombing.  It was as if he just expected his reputation to convince us that he was being funny and outrageous without actually being funny and outrageous.  Last year, Ricky Gervais skewered Hollywood phonies.  This year, Ricky Gervais was a Hollywood phony.  I sat there waiting for him to say just one thing that could potentially end his career and he refused to do it.

But Ricky wasn’t alone.  Seriously, where were the drunk winners launching into incoherent politically themed rants.  I mean, it’s an election year for God’s sake.  People on twitter were using the occasion to make all sorts of silly and naive political statements but the actual celebrities — the people who we depend on to act like a bunch of dumbasses — just sat there in this sort of placid anxiety like they were waiting for someone to show up for an intervention.

BLEH!

The majority of the night’s acceptance speeches were neither good nor bad.  They were just boring.  Listen, Meryl Streep is a great actress and I have no problem with her being recognized and awarded for her talent but oh my God, I nearly fell asleep trying to listen to her.  Now, if Meryl (or any other winner) had gotten up on stage and started slurring her words or making dirty jokes or something like that, it would have made for great television.  (Though I do have to give Meryl some credit for being the only winner to get bleeped.) 

The Descendants won Best Motion Picture Drama but seriously, it’s hard for me to accept that this well-made but essentially unchallenging and rather forgettable film is now the Oscar front-runner.  Seriously.  Much as with every other award it has won, The Descendants felt like something of a compromise choice and, considering that Scorsese won best director, it’s hard to gauge just how much momentum the Descendants is going to get from this victory. 

Oh!  And another thing that sucked — how did George Clooney win a Golden Globe for essentially playing the same character he always plays while Michael Fassbender’s brilliant work in Shame was ignored?  What type of game is that?

“Oh my God!  Just like me!” Moments

To quote Joan Crawford, “I’ll show you a pair of Golden Globes!”

Lessons Learned

This is shaping up to be one of the worst Oscar seasons in recent history.  Seriously, if just one deserving film or performance wins in February, I will be amazed.

Leonard’s Favorite Films for 2011

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

As we are all sharing our favorites films of 2011, here are some of my own off of the top of my head that stayed with me:

1.) Hugo (Directed by Martin Scorsese)

Of all of the films I’ve seen this year, Hugo was the only one that felt more like an Event than just watching a story. The story of a young boy who inherits an automaton from his father and is looking for a way to fix it, it’s simply a beautiful story of discovered paths, creative endeavors, and lost dreams. What makes the movie great is that the story centers on the birth of cinema. Any movie lover, once they see where the story moves is bound to end up with a smile on their faces. Strong performances by Ben Kingsley, Asa Butterfield and Chloe Grace Moretz help to move Scorsese’s film along, and the vibrant backgrounds are just beautiful. Hugo happens to be one of few live action motion pictures that really demands to be viewed in 3D. I’ve never seen a film use it better, and that statement actually includes James Cameron’s Avatar. Scorsese makes you believe he has a grasp of what the audience needs to see and it’s conveyed so well that I can imagine studios not making Hugo a Thanksgiving re-release next year. It truly is that good, and is my Best Picture Pick, though if Shame won, I wouldn’t be upset.

2.) Shame (Directed by Steve McQueen)

We all have our addictions (be it something that hurts or helps you) and it’s because of this that Shame hit a personal note with me. Sometimes you go into a film just expecting to see a story, only to find what you’re seeing has more to do with you than you previously thought. Last year, Black Swan was that film for me. Right now, with the exception of Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, I can’t think of a better Best Actor nomination than Michael Fassbender. His Brandon Sullivan is a tortured soul who on the surface appears to be “normal” in every way, but is driven by his desires. The life he’s built for himself is thrown into turmoil with the arrival of his sister, Sissy (Carey Mulligan, in an equally strong role), who suffers from issues of her own. Brandon’s sex addiction drives him to different avenues, and the hopes you have that he’ll somehow make it through are picked away by every instance where he falls. McQueen pulls no punches, as the NC-17 rating explicitly displays the life Brandon leads, doing so in such a way that the audience can’t feel any sort of amorous feelings over what’s on screen. Not since Requiem for a Dream have I felt so hurt by a film. Both films show just how far people can fall. Case in point: When the credits came up in the dark on my showing of the film, no one in the audience moved for nearly 3 minutes, and sit in silence. That was the impact it had. Long tracking shots carry the audience with the characters, and I find that McQueen didn’t care about lighting. There is one point where characters speak but the lighting is dim, but it comes across as just real. Other situations have locations that I’ve been to from time to time, so it was easy to relate to. You’re not even told how Brandon and Sissy got to where they are. It’s not necessary for this particular story. The movie basically says, “This is the important part, deal with it.” and damn if that’s not cool. Overall, it’s Fassbender who carries the film and I wouldn’t be surprised to see more films from this pair in the future (note that I haven’t seen Hunger, yet).

3.) Melancholia (Directed by Lars Von Trier)

I’m not sure how to describe Melancholia. I could say that it’s simply a beautiful story about a girl suffering from depression. I could also say that it’s an artful tale about the end of the world. When I really think about it, Melancholia is about reactions (to me, anyway). Kirsten Dunst’s Justine suffers from Melancholia and because of it, her wedding isn’t going as well as her family would like. On the surface, it appears that she is the one the biggest problems, but when a small planet (also named Melancholia) also threatens to collide with the planet, Justine becomes the grounding individual when everyone else around her appears to be losing it, and I found that to be mesmerizing. The one person who everyone seemed to have a problem with (save for her most patient sister and loving fiancée) becomes the person you’d want by your side at the end of all things. The opening of the film may seem a little off-putting with it’s slow motion overture, but these are the moments that as a viewer you should be paying the most attention to. Ironically, it isn’t until the end of the film that you may realize you want to remember what you saw in those opening moments. An easily recommended film that stays with you long after it’s ended. I saw it last week, and it’s still on my mind.

4.) Tinker Tailor Solder Spy (Directed by Tomas Alfredson)

Tomas Alfredson’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy teaches us that the spy game really isn’t full of the fancy James Bond gadgetry. It lacks the Jason Bourne Jujitsu and freerunning. During the Cold War, we knew who our enemies were, they knew us and everyone moved like pieces on a Chessboard. Not willing to risk a third World War (which would undoubtedly be atomic), moves were quiet. Taking place in the early ‘70s, a botched mission that has the potential to reveal a mole within the upper echelon of a British Spy Network brings former spy George Smiley (a remarkable Gary Oldman) into the fray to find out who among the top four members could be the mole. While the film doesn’t move at a great pace (and given the time period, it really shouldn’t), it really deserves a viewing. Although Oldman’s Oscar worthy performance is bound to be noticed, I think that Benedict Cumberbatch also did really well here. Cumberbatch, who I never heard of before until the recent announcement that he’ll be in the next Abrahms Star Trek film, carries his own with the likes of Toby Jones, Ciaran Hinds and Oscar Winner Colin Firth with ease, and I’m sure he’ll be a picking up an award or two somewhere down the line for a future role. The film itself is a great thriller, but requires a lot of patience to be really appreciated.

5.) 50 / 50 (Directed by Jonathan Levine)

I already wrote a review for this film. The only thing I’ll add to what I said there is that for as simple as the movie is filmed, 50/50 gets its message out to the audience. The actors keep the film moving forward and Joseph Gordon-Levitt will have you alternately smiling and maybe tearful at some of the emotions he goes through. There’s very little I can say on that. This was just a great film to see.

6.) Sucker Punch (Directed by Zack Snyder) 

Sucker Punch is one of those unfortunate films where for some, the hype for it exceeded what the film gave the audience. I believe that this is partially due to the nature of the story. I think perhaps the audience may have been expecting to see girls kicking ass 24/7 throughout the movie but never run into any actual problems. The real world problems that the women in this movie endure are why the fantasies are made. The near rape sequence in the beginning of the film bothered me to the point that I couldn’t effectively write a review, but scenes like that and others helped to drive home the dangers the characters faced. This (their handling of things) was one of the elements I also loved about Sucker Punch. Viktor Frankl once stated that regardless of what happens to a person, they can choose how they react to a given situation. You can choose to let something hurt you, or choose to hold on your happiness. In Sucker Punch, Baby Doll chooses to hold on to her strength by using her imagination to her advantage. That’s all the fantasy sequences are really about. If it were shown without them, you’d basically have Escape from Alcatraz. Sucker Punch is stylish and in your face. No complaints here with that.

7.) Drive (Directed by Nicholas Winding Refn)

Drive is another movie I reviewed, and while I stand why what I said in that review, I have to note that based on Valhalla Rising, Drive is a stronger film than I previously mentioned. I’ll admit that I’m excited to be able see it again, knowing the tone of the film.

8.) Captain America: The First Avenger (Directed by Joe Johnston)

If you told me that Captain America was worth seeing, especially after I just walked out of seeing The Wolfman, I’d have laughed in your face. Truth be told, I saw Captain America twice in the theatre, I liked it so much. It was a great popcorn movie that didn’t take itself too seriously, yet cemented itself in the Avengers storyline stronger than all of the previous films before it (and that includes Thor). Green Lantern could have definitely learned something from this film.

Lisa Marie’s Picks For The Best 26 Films of 2011

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Here’s the final post in my “Best of 2011” series, my picks for the best 26 films of 2011.  I’m just going to let this list stand for itself but I do want to make clear that these are MY picks and they do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the writers and editors on this site.  You can read Leon’s picks right here and I’m sure that my fellow writers will be posting their own picks over the upcoming weeks.  I’d also like to point out that I have limited my picks to films that I’ve actually seen this year — as opposed to just blindly jumping on the bandwagon of assumption as so many other film bloggers have done this year.* I have yet to see War Horse, Albert Nobbs, The Iron Lady, or We Need To Talk About Kevin, for instance.  However, I have seen both The Descendants and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and no, neither one of them is on my list because, regardless of what the jack-booted thugs of professional criticism may insist, I didn’t feel either one of them deserved to be listed as one of the best films of the year.  Ultimately, watching a movie is an individual experience and every individual opinion is legitimate.

(By the way, I’m doing a Top 26 list because Lisa doesn’t do odd numbers.)

Without further ado, here are my top 26 films of 2011:

1)      Hanna

2)      Higher Ground

3)      Shame

4)      Hugo

5)      The Artist

6)      The Guard

7)      Bridesmaids

8)      Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

9)      Young Adult

10)  Sucker Punch

11)  Incendies

12)  Melancholia

13)  Super

14)  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

15)  Win Win

16)  The Cave of Forgotten Dreams

17)  Martha Marcy May Marlene

18)  Jane Eyre

19)  Terri

20)  50/50

21)  Take Shelter

22)  Drive

23)  Soul Surfer

24)  Bunraku

25)  One Day

26)  Like Crazy

Hopefully, I should be posting reviews of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Incendies sometime next week.

—-

* You’d have to be made of Stone to claim to be a film critic and yet not realize how unethical that type of behavior is.

Film Review: Shame (dir. by Steve McQueen)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Earlier this month, Jeff and I saw the new film Shame.  Shame has gotten a lot of attention because 1) it’s rated NC-17 and 2) it stars a frequently naked Michael Fassbender (or, as me and my girlfriends call it, “the Full Fassbender.”)  I’m sure that some people out there will find Shame to be either too shocking or too disturbing or too explict for its own good but you know what?  Those people are idiots.  Shame is one of the best films of 2011.

(An extra benefit of Shame being rated NC-17 is that I was asked to show ID before I was allowed to enter the theater.  Usually, this is where I would do one of my patented “Don’t Tell Me What I Can’t See!” rants but, honestly, I had just recently “celebrated” my birthday and being mistaken for 16 made my day.)

In Shame, Michael Fassbender plays a succesful, outwardly confident New Yorker named Brandon.  Though the film never offers up a clinical diagnosis, Brandon is a sex addict who spends his time having anonymous sex with prostitutes, watching pornography on his computer, and apparently masturbating every chance he gets.  We discover this via an opening montage which quickly establishes both the pattern of Brandon’s life and that sex for Brandon is more about maintaining order than getting any sort of pleasure.  We watch as Brandon awkwardly flirts with an attractive co-worker and reluctantly goes out drinking with his boss and it quickly becomes obvious that Brandon is incapable of maintaining any sort of “real” relationship. 

Eventually, Brandon’s life is disrupted when his self-destructive sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan) shows up at his apartment and proceeds to move in with him.  Though Sissy and Brandon are obviously close, it also becomes apparent that Sissy is everything that Brandon isn’t.  Whereas Brandon is rigidly controlled and closed-off, Sissy is erratic and demanding.  With Sissy’s arrival, Brandon quickly starts to spiral as his own behavior lurches out of his control, leading to one harrowing night that forces both Mulligan and Fassbender to confront who they are, each in their own individual way.

Obviously, for Shame to work, it has to strike a perfect balance.  With this material, it’s very easy to go overboard and come up with something that feels histrionic and false.  Fortunately, director Steve McQueen finds that perfect balance.  McQueen mixes scenes of clinic observation with almost lyrical montages in a style that reminds one of some of David Cronenberg’s better film. 

McQueen’s direction is matched by the performances of Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan.  Playing the role of Brandon, Fassbender finds the perfect balance between self-loathing and narcissism and he makes blatant self-destruction both scary and compelling.  It’s impossible to imagine this movie working with anyone but Fassbender in the lead role.  He has more than enough talent and charisma to keep us watching even when we want to look away.  (And, let’s be honest, the fact that he’s naked for most of the film helps too.)  As Sissy, Mulligan runs the risk of being overshadowed by Fassbender’s performance but she more than holds her own while paying a character that will probably inspire mixed feelings in most viewers.  Debatably, Mulligan gives an even braver performance than Fassbender.  It takes guts to be this potentially unlikable on-screen and it takes talent to make us still care about the character and, fortunately, Mulligan has both.

I’ve heard a few people complain about the fact that McQueen declines to spell out any easy motivation for why Fassbender and Mulligan behave the way that they do.  I would argue that this is the film’s greatest strength.  Any possible explanation that McQueen could have offered would have just served to render what happens on screen simplistic.  Ultimately, the characters played by Fassbender and Mulligan are mysteries to themselves as well as to the audience.  That said, McQueen does offer up several clues.  To his credit as a director, McQueen has faith in the ability of his audience to notice those clues without having to have things spelled out.

After watching Shame, all I can say is that perhaps, in the future, all movies should be rated NC-17.

Lisa Marie Is Kinda Mad At The Screen Actors Guild

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Screen Actors Guild nominations were announced on Wednesday morning and I’m just going to be honest.  I am not happy.  The SAG nominations have a pretty good track record as an Oscar precursor, largely because the Actors’ Branch is the largest branch of the Academy.  The Actors Branch, of course, is totally made up of members of the SAG though not every member of SAG is in the Actors’ Branch.  As such, there’s usually one or two SAG nominations who don’t get an Oscar nomination but, on the whole, SAG is a pretty good precursor of who is ultimately going to receive an Oscar nomination next January.

So, why am I upset?

Well, the SAG nominated some very good and deserving performers this year but somehow, they did not nominate Michael Shannon for Take Shelter.  They did not nominate Carey Mulligan for Shame.  They did not nominate Andy Serkis for Rise of the Planet of the Apes.  They did not nominate The Guard’s Brendan Gleeson. And, worst of all, they did not nominate Michael Fassbender for Shame.

My personal theory is that Fassbender’s brave performance left the other members of the SAG feeling small, in more ways than one.

Here’s what did get nominated:

Outstanding Performance By A Cast In A Motion Picture
Bridesmaids
The Artist
The Descendants
The Help
Midnight in Paris

Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Leading Role
George Clooney, The Descendants
Demian Bichir, A Better Life
Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Leading Role
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin

Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Supporting Role
Nick Nolte, Warrior
Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Armie Hammer, J. Edgar
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Supporting Role
Octavia Spencer, The Help
Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs

On the plus side, the SAG showed absolutely no love for David Fincher’s rip-off of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.  Also, it’s nice to see Jonah Hill’s performance in Moneyball hasn’t been totally overshadowed by Brad Pitt’s more showy performance.  Also, it’s looking more and more like Bridesmaids is going to be a factor in this year’s Oscar race and the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of that.