Les Miserables

Les Miserables, 2012
Directed by Tom Hooper
Nominated for 8 Oscars

Les Miserables is one of the most popular, beloved and well-known stage musicals. It tells the story, starting and ending, with Jean Valjean, a prisoner for 19 years in the galleys for stealing a loaf of bread. Finally, he is released on parole, but breaks it so to make a better life for himself. Years later, he has achieved this "better life", and when he learns one of the workers at his factory was let go, and has a child she is trying to look after, Valjean decides to rescue this child after the woman (Fantine) dies. Valjean, while still hunted, rescues the child, Cosette, and both their lives are changed forever.

I must confess something. Being the bookaholic I am, I decided to read Les Miserables before ever having seen the full musical (I've seen 45 minutes of the 10th anniversary a year before reading). Yes, you read that correctly. I read Les Miserables. Unabridged, and I skipped no pages. And once I read the final page of the book, I realized I`d screwed myself over for watching the musical or the movie. No play or film could ever accurately portray how beautifully written this book had been; how complex, how heartbreaking, and how glorious it was told. Yes, there were many parts that were drawn out or unnecessary, but when you got to the meat of the story, it was so incredible. And once I read the entire summary of the musical, I knew I was in for a let down. Because translating a 1200 page novel into a 3 hour musical meant that many things were going to be changed, and many would be simplified.

The problems I had with this movie were not the films fault (unless we're talking costume inaccuracies, or historical inaccuracies, but that's different), but that it was over-simplified from how the book had told it. Cosette and Marius did not take one look at each other and were in love. Eponine was not really a main character at all. The Thenardiers were not funny, but were incredibly evil people (and had more children than just Eponine). But I digress.

The first half of the film was incredibly done. Hugh Jackman is the powerhouse of the film, and carries it all on his shoulders. His performance is constantly great, and his singing is really quite good. The live singing, I thought, was incredibly well done. The group numbers were all my favourites and sounded so so good. Anne Hathaway, on the other hand, completely and utterly broke my heart. Her portrayal as Fantine was so emotional, and raw, and broken, that I believed her completely every second. Her rendition of I Dreamed a Dream was heartbreaking, and had me in tears (like everyone else in the theater). For only being in the film a short period of time, her character was properly fleshed out and had the right amount of development (something that the second half of the film lacked).

Everything, right up to where Marius, Eponine, etc come in, this film was really, really good. I had thought I wouldn't like the film whatsoever because of the book, but was surprised I liked the movie so much. Until then. Whether this is how it goes in the stage musical, or if this is just the film, I'm not sure, but everything felt very rushed and under-developed at that point. While Marius was my absolute favourite (Jean Valjean a very close runner up) in the book, his character was extremely diminished. We didn't get to know him on a deeper level like we had Fantine and Valjean. Same goes with Eponine. I felt like I hardly knew her at all before she dies. Which was such a shame. Had there been more time to flesh out these 2 characters, and the other revolutionaries, this would have been much better, but it felt too rushed, and too shallow for me to really care.

Overall, it's very hard to come to a conclusion of what I thought of the film overall. The first half was incredible, well paced and heartbreaking. The second half felt a little more rushed, less character development happening. It makes it very hard to decide what you thought overall.

So overall, I know that the live singing was well executed, and brought a lot more emotional, and a lot more acting in to the film. It made things seem a lot more real. I feel like I Dreamed a Dream would not have been nearly as heart-wrenching had it not been sung live. It would've sounded too perfect and not broken enough. The acting was all superb. Jackman, Hathaway were great. And I adored Eddie Redmayne as Marius. Russell Crowe was not nearly as bad a singer as I'd kept hearing he was (he was decent, ok people?). The visuals were stunning and the makeup for Jean Valjean was excellent. But there were pacing issues, lack of character development, etc.

I'd say Rotten Tomatoes hits it right when it gives it a 70%. It wasn't anything fantastic, but wasn't horrible either. It was a decent movie.

7/10

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Beasts of the Southern Wild, 2012
Directed by Benh Zeitlin
Nominated for 4 Oscars

Going into this movie a week ago, I really had no idea what to expect since every summary I kept reading was extremely vague, and I couldn't understand why they couldn't be more descriptive. After watching the movie, I understood. If someone asked me what Beasts of the Southern Wild was about, the only reply I could really give is "A girl named Hushpuppy lives with her dad in The Bathtub, and are dealing with the polar ice caps melting". And most people would deem this as extremely unhelpful. Which it kind of is. But it is really what the movie is about.

Hushpuppy is 6 years old. She lives in a community called the Bathtub, a community which she loves. They have more holidays, more parties and are much friendlier. It's a community unlike any of us have ever lived in, nor could imagine living in. Her father, an angry man is dealing with health issues, and Hushpuppy is starting to wonder what is wrong with him. She lost her mother along time ago, and even though her father is harsh, she doesn't want to lose him either. As the polar ice caps are melting, and a storm comes brewing, the Bathtub floods, due to a levy the neighboring city has built to keep the water out, which means the Bathtub is constantly"filling up". While many people fled the Bathtub community before the storm hit, many stuck it out and are now dealing with the consequences of living in a flooded community.

I watched this movie with my parents, my sister and my sister's boyfriend. Watching movies with them is never a good idea. They talk and talk and poke fun and make comments and it's distracting when trying to watch a movie you honestly want to get a hold of and understand. And when the people around you aren't so keen on a movie and are verbal about it, it sways your opinion a little bit.

To sum it up, this movie was extremely odd. In this years awards race, I had this film and Moonrise Kingdom on a similar plain- they're both indie movies, with their main characters being children. While Moonrise Kingdom was quirky and funny, this movie was just different and odd. Intertwined with the story of Hushpuppy and her father is the aurochs, an extinct creature from the ice age. But when the ice caps melt, the aurochs are released from cryogenic sleep and are on the loose again, heading straight for the Bathtub. I think I would've enjoyed the film a lot more had the storyline of the aurochs not been included. It was strange and unnecessary and gave a slightly confusing end to the film (and also slightly anti-climatic, though it was supposed to be more symbolic than anything. Whatever).

But Quvenzhane Wallis was fantastic. She truly was. She was funny, and heartbreaking, and just so so good.  Its pretty unbelievable that she was only 5 when she filmed this. She was utterly believable, and so powerful. If I liked anything about this film, it was her performance.

Other than Wallis's performance, I was overall not too enthralled with the film. It was interesting, but the aurochs storyline made it pretty unrealistic, and distracted from the overall story. The score was also really good, and thought it was super cool that Zeitlin, the director, was the co-composer! I've never really seen that before and thought that was really neat. But overall, the film was just okay for me, with Wallis being the total standout of the film. I really hope she's able to build a fantastic career as she's already very talented (and next up she's starring with Brad Pitt and Michael Fassbender in Twelve Years a Slave. Nice move up in the world!). While it was an alright film, I'd have still rather seen Affleck up for director rather than Zeitlin, and Moonrise Kingdom up for picture over this, but that's just my opinion it seems!

7/10

85th Oscar Nominees

Wow, this year was definitely interesting! Every year the Oscar love to mess us up, throw in surprises, and throw in a ton of snubs, this year not excluding. I had attempted to guess the nominees, but it looks like my guesses weren't too accurate.

Best Picture
Amour
Life of Pi
Argo
Lincoln
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Silver Linings Playbook
Django Unchained
Zero Dark Thirty
Les Miserables

Out of these 9 (again, 9! I had been thinking it would be a smaller batch this year but hey), the "for sure 6" I had predicted are all in there, while Django and Beasts were the next in line. However, I did not predicted Amour being nominated, which was surprising for me! (8/9)

Best Director
Michael Haneke- Amour
Benh Zeitlin- Beasts of the Southern Wild
Ang Lee- Life of Pi
Steven Spielburg- Lincoln
David O. Russell- Silver linings Playbook

Now here's the category where everything kind of went out the window for me. I had though Bigelow, Lee, Spielburg, Affleck were sure things, with Russell and Hooper vying for the last spot. How wrong I was. Haneke and Zeitlin were able to sneak in here. The Academy obviously has huge support behind these 2 films that I wasn't expecting. The biggest, most obvious snub here is poor Ben Affleck. I had been rooting for Argo since I watched it back in October, and thought of everyone Spielburg and Affleck were locks in this category. Well, snubbed before, snubbed again I guess. (2/5)

Best Actor
Bradley Cooper- Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis- Lincoln
Hugh Jackman- Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix- The Master
Denzel Washington- Flight

We all knew Phoenix had a better chance of getting in here than anywhere else, but with his exclamation of awards being stupid, and the fact he'd been snubbed many other places, many overlooked him for nomination. However Phoenix made it in. All the other 4 nominees were expected. I'm very pleased to see Cooper in here. While I was skeptical of him before I saw SLP, he was definitely a standout for the whole movie. Very excited! (4/5)

Best Actress
Jessica Chastain- Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence- Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva- Amour
Quevenzhane Wallis- Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts- the Impossible

The biggest surprise here is the exclusion of Marion Cotillard. She had racked up a lot of nominations for her work in Rust and Bone, and while she wasn't a lock for a nomination, she was the most likely of the bunch vying for spots. And again, we see more support for Amour (I really should've taken this films possibilities more seriously, am I the only one who didn't see any of this coming?). And interestingly, we have both the youngest ever nominee and oldest ever nominee for Best Actress, which is always interesting. Either way, it's a two horse race between Chastain and Lawrence at this point. (4/5)

Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin- Argo
Robert De Niro- Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman- The Master
Tommy Lee Jones- Lincoln
Christoph Waltz- Django Unchained

Arkin, De Niro, Hoffman, and Jones were all expected nominees. And it was a definite race for the last spot between the guys from Django (Waltz, DiCaprio), Javier Bardem, and anyone from Les Miserables. While I had predicted DiCaprio to get nominated (and earlier in the year to win!) it seems his co-star Christoph Waltz has decided to nab his second Oscar nomination. (4/5)

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams- The Master
Sally Field- Lincoln
Anne Hathaway- Les Miserables
Helent Hunt- The Sessions
Jacki Weaver- Silver Linings Playbook

No huge surprised here. The 5th spot had been up for grabs for a while and while names like Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Nicole Kidman, and Jacki Weaver were thrown around, Weaver stole it. (4/5)

Best Adapted Screenplay
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook

Not a huge surprise, but Beasts of the Southern Wild took the spot of Les Miserables. All the others were predicted and no surprises here. (4/5)

Best Original Screenplay
Amour
Django Unchained
Flight
Moonrise Kingdom
Zero Dark Thirty

Flight was able to sneak in here and steal the spot from The Master, which seemed a likely nomination given how they recieved acting nominations in 3 categories. Alas, Flight being nominated is not hugely surprisingly. (4/5)

Best Animated Feature
Brave
Frankenweenie
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Wreck-It-Ralph

Personally, I didn't see The Pirates! making it in over Rise of the Guardians, but hey, what do I know about Animated Movies? (4/5)

Best Cinematography
Anna Karenina
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall

Honestly, to me, the technical awards are pretty much up for grabs. Though, 4/5 of these nominees were also up for the American Society of Cinematographers Awards, and Django also managed to get a nomination. (3/5)

Best Film Editing
Argo
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

I got this whole category right! And honestly, this is what Best Director should've looked like, but anyway...
(5/5)

Best Original Score
Anna Karenina- Dario Marianelli
Argo- Alexandre Desplat
Life of Pi- Mychael Danna
Lincoln- John Williams
Skyfall- Thomas Newman

I had been hoping for a Dark Knight Rises score win from the beginning but I guess it wasn't to be so. Also, I knew Desplat would be in, but whether it was for Argo and Zero Dark Thirty I was unsure. Glad to see him in either way. The surprise here (ish) is for Thomas Newman for Skyfall. Newman is no stranger to this category, but chances are he won't win (again). (3/5)

Best Original Song
"Before My Time"- Chasing Ice
"Everybody Needs a Best Friend"- Ted
"Pi's Lullaby" Life of Pi
"Skyfall"- Skyfall
"Suddenly"- Les Miserables

I had no idea what I was doing for this one other than "Suddenly" and "Skyfall". I'm really happy to see Pi's Lullaby in here. It really is lovely and I thought it was a longshot adding it in to my nominees. Nominations for Ted and Chasing Ice were unexpected. Brave and Django were shut out of this category. (3/5)

Best Sound Mixing 
Argo
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall

Academy decided to go with already recognized films rather than blockbuster films. Though the exclusion of Zero Dark Thirty is interesting. Same with Flight. However, I'm not complainig. The more nominations for Argo the better! (2/5)

Best Sound Editing
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Skyfall
Zero Dark Thirty

This year, only 3 films match up between Mixing and Editing. Usually its 4, or 5. Nice to see a little variety, though I still feel like these categories are so similar. (2/5)

Best Production Design
Anna Karenina
The Hobbit
Les Miserables
Lifeof Pi
Lincoln

The Hobbit managed to sneak in here, which is great, because the production design truly was so good. Anything technical for the Hobbit is definitely deserved! (4/5)

Best Visual Effects
The Hobbit
Life of Pi
The Avengers
Prometheus
Snow White and the Huntsmen

The biggest omission here is Cloud Atlas, which I heard had very good visual effects. However, Snow White and the Huntsmen had pretty good effects. But Life of Pi is the overall winner here so it doesn't even matter. (4/5)

Best Costume Design
Anna Karenina
Les Miserables
Lincoln
Mirror, Mirror
Snow White and the Huntsmen

I was really hoping to see more Moonrise Kingdom love, but sadly there's barely any. Though it is interesting to see both Snow White films competing against each other. However I'd love to see Anna Karenina take this one. The costumes are divine in that film. (4/5)

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Hitchcock
The Hobbit
Les Miserables

The biggest surprise here is no nomination for Lincoln! With all the nominations it had, I'm surprised it wasn't included in here! This category could really go to anyone at this point! (1/3)

Well, overall, the only real big surprises/snubs for me was in Best Director. And with Affleck and Bigelow out on that category, it looks like Lincoln will definitely be the movie to compete against. I'm still hoping something like Silver Linings Playbook or Life of Pi will win (I liked these 2 films infinitely better), but we'll see. I scored pretty well this year, getting 4/5 on most categories and an overall score of 69/97, meaning I got 70% of the nominees right, which is definitely a lot better from last year.

Anyway, Happy Oscar Season everyone! And may the Academy be ever in your favour!

85th Academy Award Nomination Predictions

With the Academy Award nominations out on Thursday, I thought I'd release my final predictions! So here goes:

Best Picture
Lincoln
Argo
Les Miserables
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
Life of Pi

(if more than 6, in order)
Django Unchainced
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Moonrise Kingdom
The Master

Best Director
Steven Spielburg
Ben Affleck
Kathryn Bigelow
Ang Lee
Tom Hooper

Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis
Bradley Cooper
Hugh Jackman
Denzel Washington
John Hawkes

Best Actress
Jessica Chastain
Jennifer Lawrence
Marion Cotillard
Naomi Watts
Quvenzhane Wallis

Best Supporting Actor
Tommy Lee Jones
Robert De Niro
Leonardo Di Caprio
Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Alan Arkin

Best Supporting Actress
Anne Hathaway
Sally Field
Helen Hunt
Amy Adams
Maggie Smith

Best Adapted Screenplay
Lincoln
Argo
Life of Pi
Silver Linings Playbook
Les Miserables

Best Original Screenplay
Django Unchained
Zero Dark Thirty
The Master
Moonrise Kingdom
Amour

Best Animated Feature
Wreck-it Ralph
ParaNorman
Frankenweenie
Brave
Rise of the Guardians

Best Cinematography
Anna Karenina
Life of Pi
Skyfall
Zero Dark Thirty
The Master

Best Film Editing
Argo
Zero Dark Thirty
Lincoln
Life of Pi
Silver Linings Playbook

Best Original Score
Life of Pi
Anna Karenina
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty
The Dark Knight Rises

Best Original Song
Skyfall (Skyfall)
Suddenly (Les Miserables)
Learn Me Right (Brave)
Freedom (Django Unchained)
Pi's Lullaby (Life of Pi)

Best Sound Mixing
Zero Dark Thirty
Les Miserables
Flight
The Dark Knight Rises
Skyfall


Best Sound Editing
Zero Dark Thirty
Les Miserables
Flight
Skyfall
The Dark Knight Rises

Best Production Design
Anna Karenina
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Les Miserables
The Master

Best Visual Effects
Life of Pi
The Hobbit
The Avengers
Cloud Atlas
Prometheus

Best Costume Design
Anna Karenina
Lincoln
Les Miserables
Mirror Mirror
Moonrise Kingdom

Best Makeup & Hairstyling
Lincoln
The Hobbit
Cloud Atlas

Well, we'll see how well I do come Thursday morning. I probably won't do that well, but it's always fun making predictions and doing research!

The Sound of Music

The Sound of Music, 1965
Directed by Robert Wise
Nominated for 10 Oscars, Won 5
Up Against: Darling, Doctor Zhivago, Ship of Fools, A Thousand Clowns

Set in the "last Golden Days" of the 1930's in Austria, Maria is a troublesome young woman, attempting to become a nun, but her fellow nuns aren't her biggest fans. She's too outspoken, adventurous and she sings too much. So the head nun, Mother Abbess, decides to assign Maria the task of becoming a governess to the 7 children of Georg Von Trapp, a Navy captain who is a single parent and has written to the abbey for someone to look after his children. Maria is hesitant at first but decides to go since this must be the Lord's will. What she finds there breaks her heart. The children are treated as though they are on a naval ship, called by whistles, are on strict schedules with no time to play. Meanwhile, the children have been through several governess's, having played pranks on them all, trying to get their fathers attention. But Maria is determined to give the children what they never get from their father, laughter, fun and playtime, while Captain Von Trapp goes away to Vienna to meet a lady he's courting. And during that time, and when the Captain returns, everything changes. 

The Sound of Music is one of the most iconic and beloved musicals of all-time. It was a box-office smash when it was released and replaced Gone With the Wind as the highest grossing film. Adjusting to prices now, it is the 3rd highest grossing film of all time, right behind Gone with the Wind and Star Wars. While the Sound of Music had been a Broadway Musical before a film, the film added much popularity to the musical, and helped make Julie Andrews a huge star. 

Like Oliver!, this is a film I grew up on. And again, like Oliver!, we never really watched the whole thing, because it was so long, and both got so serious at the end that it bored me when I was younger. But The Sound of Music is a movie I couldn't say too many negative things about. Sure, it's not a brilliant, deep, or even accurate story. But it has so many iconic songs, and scenes, and it really is a nice family movie. And I'm definitely not adverse to family movies (much less ones that become classics) winning Best Picture. 

This film is a very beautiful film. The Austrian scenery is gorgeous, the set design and costumes are lovely, and overall it is a beautiful looking film. The child actors are really very good, and adorably cute. Julie Andrews was fantastic as Maria, and Christopher Plummer was great as Captain Von Trapp. 

Overall, this is a film I'll continue to like very much. Its a nice movie, with a nice ending. Predictable, yes, but an adorable film with great music altogether. 

Acting- 8/10 

Directing- 7/10 
Screenplay- 7.5/10 
Visuals- 8.5/10 

Music- 9.5/10 Emotional Connection- 7.5/10 
Entertainment- 8/10 

Rewatchability- 8/10 
Overall Enjoyment- 8/10 

Overall Package- 7.5/10     

Total: 79.5/100

Midnight Cowboy

Midnight Cowboy, 1969
Directed by John Schlesinger
Nominated for 7 Oscars, Won 3
Up against: Anne of the Thousand Days, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Hello Dolly!, Z

Joe Buck has left his life in Texas behind and come to New York City to become a "hustler", a freelance sex stud. But things are harder than he'd imagine it to be. The streets are meaner, and Joe has his demons to fight. But then he meets Ratso, a down-and-out crook but outcast. Ratso and Joe form an unlikely friendship, and end up both needing each other if they are to survive life in New York City. Especially since Ratso's health isn't very good and Joe is a naive country boy.

Midnight Cowboy's claim to fame is that it is the only Best Picture winner to be rated X. While it has since been bumped down to an R rating, it was very interesting that it won. It was also released a year after the Hays Code (a code set out by MPAA of what was appropriate and not appropriate to be in films). It was also a slightly controversial film. It contained scenes of homosexuality, and a lot of sex and nudity. Interestingly, the film that won the year before was Oliver!, a movie was a G rating. Shows how different movies are that the Academy awards Best Picture.

This film was definitely not a favourite Best Picture winner of mine. While I adore Dustin Hoffman, and he was really very good in this film, I found the picture rather dull. Sure, it was sad, and Joe was wildly messed up, but I found it a bit of a bore most of the time. The story was slow-moving, and while the acting was good, it wasn't my cup of tea.

It was definitely a well made film. It looked great. Hoffman and Voight made a good team and had great chemistry, and the costumes were good. I can appreciate the movie for that, but, similar to this years Lincoln, it just wasn't the movie for me.

While they gave Joe a very troubled past, and made Ratso a mysterious person, someone we never truly get to know or understand, they seemed a little flat to me. The constant flashbacks at the beginning of Joe's life, and his visions of what he wished he could do in certain situations were a little much. Though I guess the flashbacks at Joe's worst memory was very meaningful to the story and added a lot.

While this film is remembered as the X-rated film that won Best Picture, I feel like there wasn't much more to it. It was unnecessarily explicit, and was very slow moving.


Acting- 8/10 
Directing- 7.5/10 
Screenplay- 7.5/10 
Visuals- 8/10 
Music- 7/10 Emotional Connection- 6/10 
Entertainment- 6/10 
Rewatchability- 3/10 
Overall Enjoyment- 6/10 
Overall Package- 7/10     
Total: 66/100

Life of Pi

Life of Pi, 2012
Directed by Ang Lee

Life of Pi is that book, up here in Canada, that you read in high school. Or at least in my high school you did. I remember my friends constantly complaining about this book, and how it's about a boy named Pi and he's on a raft with a hyena, zebra, Orangutan , and a tiger named Richard Parker. I also heard about how it was boring, and they were over-analyzing it way too much. This was back 5 years ago. Since then, when I was seeing what all movies were coming out this year, I heard once again about Life of Pi. My boyfriend, his brother and father really enjoyed the book, and since I was aiming to read a lot of the books that were to become films this year (I read Silver Linings Playbook, Anna Karenina, The Hobbit), I decided to pick up Life of Pi.

Life of Pi tells the story about a young boy named Pi. He was raised in India by his family. His family owned a zoo, and Pi loved the animals. He also loved religion, and he finds himself practicing Islam, Christianity, and Hinduism. He is chastized for following several religions, people telling him that you "if you believe in everything, you believe in nothing". But Pi stuck to his love for God (in whichever religion that happened to be in). When Pi is older, times are hard for his family and the zoo. They end up packing up themselves and the animals so they can move to Winnipeg, Canada and start a new life, and sell of the animals in North America, where they will go for more money. They head off on a large boat, a Japanese boat, and head for Canada. But along the way, the ship sinks. And it's only survivors are Pi, and a few of the animals, stuck in the life raft. And soon, it's only Pi, and the tiger he's been afraid of since he was a child, Richard Parker.

I was so skeptical when I heard this movie was coming out, and while I was reading the book. And I was even more skeptical when I heard it would be released in 3D. So many movies are coming out where 3D is unnecessary (Twilight, etc). And after I finished the book, I didn't  really know how they'd do it to make it that interesting. And then the trailer came out not too long after, and all of a sudden, I knew it would be a movie to watch out for. It looked incredible.

And indeed, upon seeing the movie in theatres last weekend, it did indeed look incredible. There were several times during the film where I would just utter "wow" to myself because there were so many incredible scenes. Shots like Pi under the water after the ship has sank, and he see's the boat, the lights flickering and dying. Or just being on the raft, a shot of the raft from above, and the water is so still it reflects the morning sky so it looks like they're floating in the sky. So many trippy, yet incredible shots. And it was so interesting to see how packed out the theater was. Though when I thought about it, it wasn't surprising. I live in an area in Ontario where there's a very high population of Indian families, many of them immigrants (or at least the parents are). So needless to say, a movie about a boy raised in India, coming to Canada (and playing at a theater where we show Bollywood films, and the snack stand is offered in English and in another Indian language), it wasn't surprising the film was packed out.

And what I loved overall about the film, was that it felt like I was watching the book being literally translated to the screen. Sure, there were a few differences for sure, like Pi having a girlfriend, and the part with the whale, but overall, I have never seen a more closely adapted book-movie translation (or not that I can remember). Ang Lee stayed incredibly close to the source material, and the movie benefits so much from that. The book is chock full of religion, and I'm very happy that Lee kept it all in.

It was also a thinking mans movie. It makes you think about God, and the way we look at religion. And while Pi's point is that it doesn't matter what religion you practice, it's about loving God, and all religions bring you to God (which is something I don't quite agree with), but makes you think about where God fits in in this world. Many people dismiss him altogether. Or many people try to exclude him from things like movies, or from being upfront. And Life of Pi brought it front and center, which was very brave.

The acting by first time actor, Suraj Sharma, was very good. Nothing was incredibly overacted, nor could you tell that this was Sharma's first ever film. He was able to carry the film on his shoulders so well. He was wild and crazy as Pi, but also scared and heartbroken, yet hopeful. A very hard mix, but I found Sharma played it all very well.

And the graphics, of course, were incredible. The cinematography is just gorgeous, and this is one of those movies you really have to see on the big screen to really appreciate what it looks like. And of course, this movie is almost this year's Hugo in a way. An acclaimed director making their first dip into a family movie, and into 3D, both which are acclaimed movies, and the 3D is highly praised. While I wasn't a fan of the 3D in Hugo (I felt it was overdone and made everything look like an animated film almost), the 3D in this film really added to the movie, but didn't overly stand out. And of course, this will be the year's frontrunner for visual effects. My only complaint was that the animals acted a little too human, but, reaching the end of the movie and hearing it's conclusion, that may have been the point.

As for Oscar chances, I'd be upset if it wasn't up for Best Picture, though I don't expect it to win. It was a very well made film, and while I don't quite see Ang Lee sneaking in for Director, it wouldn't be a surprise if he did. It's a packed year for main actors, so I don't see Suraj Sharma making it in, but I can hope it'll make it in to adapted screenplay (up against Argo, Silver Linings Playbook, Lincoln, and Les Mis). And of course, cinematography, art direction, visual effects, and I could see it sneaking in for Best Score. Overall, this is definitely the best family-oriented film of the year (it's the only movie this year that's getting awards attention and is only rated PG).

Overall, I was extremely satisfied with this film in a number of ways. It took chances, it did things differently, and it turned out incredibly well despite people claiming that this book is "unfilmable", which I had definitely agreed with at first until I saw the director Lee took with the film.

8.75/10

Lincoln

Lincoln, 2012
Directed by Steven Spielburg

Lincoln tells the story of, well, Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, and the most well known (and loved) president. The film is set during 1865, as the Civil War is winding down. Lincoln is endeavoring to abolish slavery through passing a 16th amendment to the Constitution. However, he needs to do this before peace is reached in the Civil War before the Southern States would return and any slaves that had been freed may be re-enslaved, and the amendment would never pass. Should it pass, slavery would be banned in the United States and the Southern States So Lincoln must do everything he can to get enough votes for it to pass. However, having an early peace would mean saving hundreds of lives. So Lincoln must decide what is best for his country.

I'm just going to say this outright that I'm not an American, nor am I interested in history (much less American history at that). I'm a Canadian, and my country didn't exist during the time of the Civil War (though it became a country only 2 years after the Civil War). This movie was, obviously, very political-heavy. It was a lot, a lot of talk, and then some more talking. And while I'm not into history and I'm not American, it made it somewhat difficult to be overly interested in this film. Canada as a country has never had slavery, as before we were Canada we were a British colony and slavery was abolished roughly 60 years before it was in American. Not being someone who is into history, nor is into politics, much of the movie went over my head a little bit. After doing some research into the movie for this review (and talking to my fiancee about exactly what happened and why the amendment needed to pass before the end of the war) I came to appreciate a bit more of who Lincoln was as a person and a politician, how he was pressed against time to ban something that would never have passed had the Southern States been in the vote, and how, once they rejoined them as a country when peace was made, they would be forced to free their slaves. Clever guy, really. However the film didn't get me overly interested in history, and it felt a little too "rah-rah America" at some points for me as a Canadian to get into. (Yes I realize this movie is about America's most beloved-President, and about a turning point in American history, but you know what I mean. You can only take so much of "rah-rah" any country that isn't your own.)

Other than that, I could see how incredibly well made this film was. While I genuinely loved War Horse, Spielburg almost seemed to have listened to what the complaints that people had against War Horse and made sure none of it was in this movie. The movie was not nearly as nostalgic, sentimental, and was a lot more talk and intelligent than WH was. People are saying it's Spielburg's best movie in the last 10 years, and I have to agree. The acting was incredible, the sets and cinematography were amazing, and the script was well done.

Daniel Day-Lewis, a man who already holds 2 Oscars in his hands may need to grow an extra arm so he can hold his third. He was simply incredible as Lincoln. While we have no actual footage of Lincoln (obviously), he is exactly as what I would imagine Lincoln to be like. But Spielburg also made him human. There's something about Lincoln, a man who is an icon, that seems almost non-human in a way. He's just an icon. But Spielburg gave Lincoln a sense of humor, a love of storytelling, charm, wit, and had him throw his feet up on the table while he was busy reading whatever. Things like that made him seem like a real person and not just the iconic guy you see in history textbooks. Day-Lewis captured this man so perfectly and also made him believable and human.

Sally Field, also someone who holds 2 Oscars, was fabulous as Mary Todd. She was able to balance the "putting on a face" for the public, and having her emotions all over the floor as Lincoln's wife. And another man, Tommy Lee Jones (he only has one Oscar :P), as Thaddeus Stevens, a fervent abolitionist, and a member of the United States House of Representatives. Jones was a radical and gave Stevens mystery. While you knew he was very much in favor of racial equality, you never knew what he was going to do or say next. He gave a wonderful performance, as the sharp, witty and funny man who had a dark and serious side to him.

The supporting cast (made up of actors like Joseph Gordon-Levitt, David Spader and Tim Blake Nelson) was quite fine. While JGL had a much smaller part than I thought he would, it was interesting side note to the history of Lincoln. And Spader and Nelson's part was some good humor, them almost pushing Senators to vote of the Amendment, but conspicuously handing out folders on the topic and following after them shouting for them to vote. Between these parts, and the ending vote, I enjoyed them and were something I could follow.

Overall, the film was well made. It was well-crafted and paid a lot of attention to detail. However, while I thought the voting scene was quite fun and brilliant, there were so many little stories going on (Lincoln and his son, Lincoln and his wife, Lincoln and the vote, etc) nothing seemed to have a "big" moment or wrap-up. And while these were all very important story lines, I didn't quite feel the importance of any of them. The movie seemed to simply touch on many things, but never really fully developed a lot of the smaller story lines. Even though they showed a little bit of the result of the ending of slavery, it wasn't quite enough to make a big enough impact.

Then again, I feel like if you're not into history, and not an American it would be a little difficult to quite appreciate what happened in the film. You can appreciate Lincoln as a politician and him being clever, but if you don't quite know the story, it may be hard to appreciate how the events turned out in the States, especially since many country abolished slavery (such as Britain) before the United States.

As for Oscar chances, this film has about a lock in every category, from Best Picture (many say it has a good chance at winning), director, Actor (current front-runner), Actress, Supporting Actor, Screenplay, and most things within the art and tech categories, this has the potential to sweep the Oscars. However it has big competition from films like Argo (another favourite to win picture and director) and Les Miserables which also has the potential to sweep the awards in every category (including all 4 acting categories). It's definitely a big year, and Lincoln will be a big contender.

7/10

Silver Linings Playbook

Silver Linings Playbook, 2012
Directed by David O. Russell

Pat has just been released from a mental ward after spending 8 months there. A full grown man, Pat is sent to live with his parents under court orders, and set to take medication and go to therapy. While Pat is happy to be out, all he wants to do is see Nikki, his wife. But no one will talk about her, or let Pat see her. Pat has become an optimist, a true believer in "silver linings". So he tries to better himself, physically and intellectually for Nikki. But then he meets Tiffany, another girl with problems. And when she offers to deliver a letter to Nikki, Pat ends up making a deal with her, to dance with her at a local dance competition, something she's always wanted to do.

I read the book, by the same name, by Matthew Quick back in the winter in anticipation for this film. Having only read the summary of the film IMDB gave me, it sounded funny, and tracked down the book at my local library. And of course, it was such a phenomenal book. It was hilarious, and real, slightly cliche, but original at the same time! The only hindrance to reading a book and falling in love with it as that you'll expect the movie to be the book and sit through it being like "why did they change that? what was the point of that?"

Thus is kind of what happened upon seeing Silver Linings Playbook over the weekend. However, I will not talk too much about the pointless changes they made, the movie was still incredibly well done and well acted and funny.

I have never had a lot of hope in Bradley Cooper. He's never acted in anything to really give me much confidence in him as a serious actor. When I saw he was cast in SLP, I was a little "meh" about it, but got over it. Having now seen the movie, I'll say for the first time something I didn't think I'd say: "Bradley Cooper really impressed me in this movie!" He really captured Pat so well. He gave him the right sensitivity, but balanced with enough wit and humor to make him real. His emotional scenes, mostly the ones with him having breakdowns and slowly descending into hysteria, where wonderfully done. I'm really impressed with him!

Also, Jennifer Lawrence was not someone who I'd have cast. Tiffany is supposed to be in her 30s in the book, and supposed to be (if I remember correctly) Veronica's older sister, not younger. However, upon seeing her acting in this film, it's so clear why Lawrence was cast. She really captured Tiffany. Tiffany could've easily been some sort of cliche character with not a lot of depth, but Jennifer Lawrence was able to give her depth and humor, but also that we were able to sympathize for her. Additionally, I had been nervous that the age difference between Lawrence and Cooper (15 years difference, by the way) would be really weird. But Cooper was able to seem much younger (I already didn't believe he was 37 when I just googled his age), and Lawrence seemed much older than her mere 22 years.

I could easily keep going on the acting in this film. Robert De Niro gave Pat's father depth, and played him so well. Jacki Weaver was also great and was a nice addition to the cast.

Overall, the movie was well made, the script was well written and it was cute, quirky and funny. It has bits for everyone. It has romance for rom-com fans, Jennifer Lawrence (for Hunger Games fans, and  for the guys), Bradley Cooper, football, dancing, and humor. It's an unconventional romantic comedy that David O. Russell only could've done.

While I need a second viewing to really believe in this film as a film, and not keep thinking about "why?" when they changed things from the book, it was a really great movie.

Jennifer Lawrence will definitely be big competition for Leading Actress, and seems to be the current front runner. Robert De Niro is also expected to make it into the top 5. While I'd love to see Bradley Cooper get some love for his role as Pat, we'll see whether this will happen. This film is almost gauranteed to make the Best Picture Nominations, having won the People's Choice Award at TIFF. Will also probably crack into the Adapted Screenplay nominations and could swipe into Director, anything else is really up in the air.

8/10

Moonrise Kingdom

Moonrise Kingdom, 2012
Directed by Wes Anderson

Again, it's been a while since I've posted! I watched this movie twice last week but was thrown up from writing this review until now because I got engaged over the weekend! Woohoo! I'd say thats a pretty legit excuse not to write up a review right away! Anyway, here is the review for Moonrise Kingdom!

Moonrise Kingdom is the story of a young girl and a young boy who fall in love and, hating the lives they have at home (or at khaki scouts in Sam's case), run away together, and the small island town scrambles to try and find them, throwing everything topsy-turvy.

Moonrise Kingdom is a quirk of a movie. While I had heard of it before, most of what I knew was that all the hipsters on their blogs and tumblr dressed up as Sam and Suzy for Halloween. And that all the gifs on tumblr told me was that Sam says "I love you but you don't know what you're talking about" to Suzy. And something about them being "married".

Overall, I was expecting something extremely quirky and hipster. Which is more or less what I got.

However, I found the movie extremely endearing, and extraordinarily cute. Sam Shakusky is an adorable little boy, Suzy such a pretty girl. Scout Master Ward was hilarious, and Bruce Willis's character was so un-Bruce Willis. Yes, the movie was highly quirky and weird, but it was my kind of humour and stuff I really appreciate. Dopey kind of humor.

This movie was also quite well acted. The boy playing Sam Shakusky was really great. And of course with the star-studded adult cast, you can't go wrong.

And what I appreciate is that Wes Anderson gave the two young kids depth, and problems. Suzy is being thought of as "a very troubled child" by her parents, lashes out at kids at school, and hates her parents. Sometimes she steals library books to make her feel better. Sam's parents died a long time ago so he's been in and out with foster homes, but never really fitting in with anybody. The movie was not simply artificial and shallow, but most of the characters had problems and they had a bit of depth to them, which is what makes this movie so good.

Upon first watch of this, I wasn't a huge fan. I found it a little dull, and not quite what I was expecting (though I wasn't sure what to expect either). I picked up the movie a second time 2 days later and watched it with my mum, and found I enjoyed it a lot more, knowing what was coming and what to expect.

While Moonrise Kingdom is a charming film, I don't see the potential of Best Picture in it. If it were nominated I'd probably do a fist pump and laugh a lot cause such a quirky hipster movie that not everyone likes is up, but I just don't see that happening. It's biggest category will be in Original Screenplay, in which I think this has a good chance of not only being nominated, but I wouldn't be surprised if it won (though does have the strong competition of Django Unchained).

8/10