Thoughts on a ground-breaking Oscars ceremony (82nd Academy Awards)

Thoughts on a ground-breaking Oscars ceremony (82nd Academy Awards)

Mar 08

It used to be that I’d have to endure a media blockout through an entire Monday so I could enjoy the Oscars telecast. As it happens live on a Sunday night in the States, it’s actually around 10AM Monday morning in Australia, and in the past the TV network screening the event wouldn’t do so until the prime time slot later that evening, usually 8 or 9 pm. This meant having to avoid all computers, internet, radio, TV — even friendly text messages from some clueless friends– lest the surprise of who won what be spoiled before I could actually sit down and watch the show.

This year, thankfully, the 82nd Academy Awards were beamed to our shores live in the morning and I was able to kick back on the couch with some hot coffee and toast for breakfast and enjoy the show.

It was tough explaining to my two year old son that he couldn’t watch his cartoons today because Daddy was watching a special show about movies winning awards. My 11 month old was clueless and used the opportunity of me being distracted to get into anything he wasn’t supposed to– drawers, kitchen cupboards, the fridge… you name it. The Oscars are a completely different experience when you’re also running around after two little ones. But there was no way I was missing this telecast!

Neil Patrick Harris opening the show with a surprise musical number did nothing for me. I don’t like that guy much– but he did do an okay job.

I have been looking forward to Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin hosting the show since it was announced last year. No doubting they would deliver some great comedy, they certainly delivered, albeit with the occasional misstep along the way. Steve Martin won the night with his perfectly timed wise-cracks, and Baldwin’s stare-down with George Clooney was a nice touch. Made me think how great it would be to have Clooney guest-appear on 30 Rock.

Speaking of 30 Rock, the best presenters by far were Tina Fey and Robert Downey Jr. who presented the award for Best Original Screenplay. Their comical bit about writers -vs- actors is definitely a keeper. Great pairing. If only they had read out the correct name for the winner — I feel it should have gone to Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds. But hey, it was a Hurt Locker night.

‘Basterds’ did at least pick up one award and was probably the most deserving award of all the categories. Christoph Waltz winning Best Supporting Actor for his role as The Jew Hunter was a great way to start the show, and ignited a small feeling of victory inside me… perhaps bcause deep-down I somehow knew that would be all the awards ‘Basterds’ was getting. Christoph’s speech was equally winning, but it wasn’t the best of the night. That recognition arguably went to Mo’Nique after winning the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in Precious. “I’d like to thank the Academy for awarding the performance and not the politics.” Take that.

I normally enjoy the In Memoriam section of the show and get a little teary when I think about the great talent that has come and gone. Especially as an old-school Michael Jackson fan, it was great seeing him be represented for his small work with motion pictures. This year the section seemed hurried and under-done. Patrick Swayze was the first Actor shown on the screens while James Taylor sang live beneath the images, but there was hardly enough time to take it in and reflect before the montage hurried on. I didn’t notice the absence of Farrah Fawcett personally, I only read about it afterwards. But that is one pretty horrible oversight by the Academy (that is, unless the family opted for the recognition to be omitted.)

There was a fantastic video package that paid homage to horror movies. Unfortunately I only got several clips into it before I realised my boy was watching and I needed to get him out the room or change channel real quick.  I’ll have to find it online at a later date (or watch the delayed replay). From what I saw, it looked great. Nice to see horror as a genre getting a mention at the Oscars, and nice to see The Exorcist get a couple of nods in there, too — I sure hope An American Werewolf In London was featured.

Like last year, the stage was lined with fellow actors (in this case, co-stars) who briefly spoke personally about each nominee in the Best Actor and Actress categories before the winners were announced (Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart and Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side). I’m a fan of this format. I like that it helps the categories stand out from the rest I like how it’s more formal and often insightful. Yes, it takes longer, but it’s worth it– plus the building of tension never hurts.

I hope next year Pixar don’t win Best Animated Feature. You know, just to mix it up and keep them on their toes. UP was okay and all, but hardly top-shelf Pixar stuff.

Seeing Cameron’s face sitting behind ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow as The Hurt Locker picked up it’s six awards was priceless. Especially as it beat Avatar to the ‘big ones’– Best Picture, Best Director and Best Editing. The time was right for Bigelow to be the first woman in Oscar history to win Best Director. It wasn’t a consolation prize. It wasn’t awarded ‘just because’. The Hurt Locker truly deserves the kudos it received from the Academy and Bigelow certainly deserves her Oscar. On a night where the art of motion pictures is honoured, I feel like they got it right. If Most Box Office Takings were a category, we know what would have won– and Avatar already has won in the ‘real world’, like it or not. But those cracking a sook over how the Academy could overlook a film that is the highest grossing of all time need to back away and look at the whole picture. It’s not just about which films the public likes best — it’s about which films have artistic merit and honour the craft of filmmaking accordingly. Avatar may look spectacular, but in terms of raw performance and honesty on the screen, The Hurt Locker is your winner. And now, that’s a fact.

Here’s a list of all the winners on the night:

Actor in a Leading Role
** Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
George Clooney in Up in the Air
Colin Firth in A Single Man
Morgan Freeman in Invictus
Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker

Actor in a Supporting Role
Matt Damon in Invictus
Woody Harrelson in The Messenger
Christopher Plummer in The Last Station
Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones
** Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds

Actress in a Leading Role
** Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side
Helen Mirren in The Last Station
Carey Mulligan in An Education
Gabourey Sidibe in Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia

Actress in a Supporting Role
Penélope Cruz in Nine
Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick in Up in the Air
** Mo’Nique in Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire

Animated Feature Film
Coraline Henry Selick
Fantastic Mr. Fox Wes Anderson
The Princess and the Frog John Musker and Ron Clements
The Secret of Kells Tomm Moore
** Up Pete Docter

Art Direction
** Avatar Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
Nine Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
Sherlock Holmes Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
The Young Victoria Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Cinematography
** Avatar Mauro Fiore
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Bruno Delbonnel
The Hurt Locker Barry Ackroyd
Inglourious Basterds Robert Richardson
The White Ribbon Christian Berger

Costume Design
Bright Star Janet Patterson
Coco before Chanel Catherine Leterrier
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Monique Prudhomme
Nine Colleen Atwood
** The Young Victoria Sandy Powell

Directing
Avatar James Cameron
** The Hurt Locker Kathryn Bigelow
Inglourious Basterds Quentin Tarantino
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire Lee Daniels
Up in the Air Jason Reitman

Documentary (Feature)
Burma VJ Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
** The Cove Louie Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens
Food, Inc. Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
Which Way Home Rebecca Cammisa

Documentary (Short Subject)
China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
** Music by Prudence Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
Rabbit à la Berlin Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Film Editing
Avatar Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
District 9 Julian Clarke
** The Hurt Locker Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
Inglourious Basterds Sally Menke
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire Joe Klotz

Foreign Language Film
Ajami Israel
The Milk of Sorrow (La Teta Asustada) Peru
A Prophet (Un Prophète) France
** The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos) Argentina
The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band) Germany

Music (Original Score)
Avatar James Horner
Fantastic Mr. Fox Alexandre Desplat
The Hurt Locker Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
Sherlock Holmes Hans Zimmer
** Up Michael Giacchino

Music (Original Song)
Almost There from The Princess and the Frog Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
Down in New Orleans from The Princess and the Frog Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
Loin de Paname from Paris 36 Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
Take It All from Nine Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
** The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart) from Crazy Heart Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best Picture
Avatar James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
The Blind Side Gil Netter, Andrew A. Kosove and Broderick Johnson, Producers
District 9 Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
An Education Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
** The Hurt Locker Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro, Producers
Inglourious Basterds Lawrence Bender, Producer
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
A Serious Man Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
Up Jonas Rivera, Producer
Up in the Air Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Short Film (Animated)
French Roast Fabrice O. Joubert
Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte) Javier Recio Gracia
** Logorama Nicolas Schmerkin
A Matter of Loaf and Death Nick Park

Short Film (Live Action)
The Door Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
Instead of Abracadabra Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
Kavi Gregg Helvey
Miracle Fish Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
** The New Tenants Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Sound Editing
Avatar Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
** The Hurt Locker Paul N.J. Ottosson
Inglourious Basterds Wylie Stateman
Star Trek Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
Up Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Sound Mixing
Avatar Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
** The Hurt Locker Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
Inglourious Basterds Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
Star Trek Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Visual Effects
** Avatar Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
District 9 Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
Star Trek Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
District 9 Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
An Education Screenplay by Nick Hornby
In the Loop Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
** Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
Up in the Air Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Writing (Original Screenplay)
** The Hurt Locker Written by Mark Boal
Inglourious Basterds Written by Quentin Tarantino
The Messenger Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
A Serious Man Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Up Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarth

Summer review round-up: the good, the bad and the ugly

Summer review round-up: the good, the bad and the ugly

Mar 01

Way back in the beginning of December, in our first week of existence, I posted a list of the five most anticipated films of the summer. Now that it is officially autumn (even if the weather obstinately refuses to accept this incontravertible truth), it’s the perfect time to look back over the past three months and put the summer releases in perspective. There were a few surprises, some hits and some misses, and more than the usual number of disappointments.

First of all I’ll deal with the aforelinked list. Here movies I was looking forward to the most:

Sherlock Holmes: 83/100

Holmes turned out to be better than expected. Downey, Jr’s ludic performance combined with Guy Ritchie’s gritty direction made for a fun, fresh and interesting reboot of the old super-sleuth franchise.

The Lovely Bones: 18/100

Peter Jackson’s saggy, bloated, boring fantasy was mired in CGI quicksand, lacked any engaging characters, and failed to entertain for its lengthy 150-minute running time. Here’s hoping that Tintin doesn’t also suck.

Shutter Island: 27/100

Martin Scorsese manages to achieve the impossible and make a terrible film out of an interesting premise. The cast is great, the locations are fun, and the direction is snappy and engaging– but the plot is none of these, hamstringing the film beyond any reasonable semblance of entertainment.

Avatar: 48/100

Eye-popping visual effects can’t help a mind-bogglingly asinine story, nor can competent action scenes undo hours of misanthropic preachery. The movie is too long by half, a bit too silly for its own good, and far too blue. Oh, and it failed to sell the premise of 3D, too.

It’s Complicated: 52/100

It’s Complicated was indeed on my list of summer movies, but it was filed under “Top 5 summer movies that will almost certainly suck.” Irony kicked down the door, waltzed into the room and force-fed us all humble pie when the Meryl Streep / Steve Martin / Alec Baldwin rom-com got a better score than nearly all of the movies that were supposed to be good. Oh dear. Sure, 52/100 is nothing to be proud of, but I’d rather watch a mediocre movie than a downright awful one. 

The Hurt Locker: 80/100

If The Hurt Locker had had a solid release date at the time of writing, it surely would have made an appearance in the above article. As it stands, Hurt Locker is in my mind the best of the season, by a long way. I only caught it last night, but even on the last day of summer it’s still summer, so it counts. Contrary to Captain Howdy’s review of the flick, I didn’t find the script overly American in its discussion of warfare and the nature of humanity in the (typical of us) throes of violence and destruction; to me it was just a movie that pursues that most noble of enterprises in attempting to grapple that slippery thing somewhere in our skulls that apparently accounts for our bizarre cultural identity and unpredictable and oftentimes silly behaviour. The Hurt Locker was a wrenching, personal discussion of who we are framed with some of the most brutal, white-knuckle rollercoaster action scenes I’ve ever endured in a cinema, and for that it gets top nod from me: I’d give it 93/100, putting it right at the top of the two-dozen-odd movies of the past three months. If The Hurt Locker doesn’t win every single award at the Oscars, I will cry for days.

As you can see, I was wrong on nearly every count. This goes to show just how treacherous and misleading film advertising and critical hype can be, not to mention how terrible my skills at predetermination must be, but bear in mind that The Lovely Bones, Shutter Island, and Avatar should have been good — great directors were in charge of all three, and early trailers were promising – but they faltered on the home stretch and flopped lifeless and dull into cinemas.

Now that we’ve got the article recap out of the way, here’s a rundown of the films of the season, from worst to best (or at least the ones we managed to review):

New Moon: 01/100

Paranormal Activity: 12/100

The Lovely Bones: 18/100

Shutter Island: 27/100

Up In The Air: 28/100

The Wolf Man: 37/100

From Paris With Love: 39/100

Where The Wild Things Are: 46/100

Avatar: 48/100

Julie & Julia: (average)

It’s Complicated: 52/100

Bran Nue Dae: 55/100

2012: 62/100

The Road: 63/100

The Princess And The Frog: 70/100

Zombieland: 78/100

The Hurt Locker: 80/100

Sherlock Holmes: 83/100

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs: 84/100

Of course this list doesn’t include all of the other many, varied reviews we’ve been ransacking our DVD collections to write, or the hefty number of news article’s we’ve produced over the weeks.

So, three months in, how is our driving? We are vaguely aware of a regular audience of sorts that pops up to check out our posts, and we would very much like to hear from you. Do you enjoy current reviews, do you like chuckling at the hilarious witticisms we scribe while revealing new trailers or posters, or do you prefer the random old movies we dredge out to give a reel good inspection? Any and all feedback is appreciated, even if it boils down to “you are an idiot” or “my crippled blind dog with alzheimer’s can write better reviews than you.” As much as we love the sound of our own voices, we love the sound of our own voices yelling back at people in heated argument even better, so let fly your opinions and comments! What were your favourite movies of the past three months, summer or winter, depending on where you live? Were you disappointed by something you were sure would be awesome, or pleasantly surprised by something you thought would be awful? Let us know!

BAFTA awards snub AVATAR, earn my respect

BAFTA awards snub AVATAR, earn my respect

Feb 23

Ah, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts: Britain’s answer to the Academy Awards. I don’t think I know any people who speak of the BAFTAs (or the Golden Globes, for that matter) when comparing the calibre and critical worth of films; it’s always the Oscars that everyone talks about ten years after the fact. But the Oscars are weird and unpredictable, especially when it comes to Best Picture and Best Director, where the Academy feels obliged to honour a director because he “deserves it after all these years,” not necessarily because his latest movie is the best of the year (see Scorsese’s 2006 win for The Departed). I don’t know how the BAFTAs are decided, but the results make sense to me, so I’m starting to warm up to these weird little golden faces.

The fact that Avatar was even nominated for Best Picture and Best Director for the BAFTAs made me roll my eyes; it’s like these awards are obliged to recognise James Cameron regardless of what he’s putting out, since the mammoth awards haul he pulled in for Titanic back in the day. Sure it’s nice that dull period dramas and depressing character studies aren’t dominating the awards this year, but it makes you wonder if academies like BAFTA aren’t just bowing to public demand rather than recognising genuine critical worth.

But what’s this? The results of the BAFTAs rolled around on my birthday, and Britain’s gift to me was to snub Cameron’s juggernaut jungle-smurf epic in favour of the taut and brutal war flick The Hurt Locker. Thanks, mate, this definitely beats the socks you sent me last year! I don’t know how the BAFTA awards are decided, but it seems like there are seem free-thinking people on the panel, that’s for sure.

The Hurt Locker snatched Best Picture from Avatar and Up In The Air (thank god), while Best Director was given to Kathryn Bigelow over James Cameron and Quentin Tarantino (for his Inglorious Basterds). I hope Bigelow’s sex wasn’t an important criterion to the panel of judges — it would be condescending to give it to her just because she made a good movie despite being a woman (like that’s some kind of artistic handicap). Sure the industry is dominated by men, and it’s great to see a lady show the blokes how it’s done, but I’d prefer the woman to be honoured for her work, not for the fact that she’s “up there” with the men.

The winning streak didn’t end there, though. The Hurt Locker also waltzed away with Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound, going against Avatar and District 9 in all three categories. Inglourious Basterds was also in the running for Cinematography and Editing, but Quentin Tarantino’s latest love-it-or-hate-it love letter to film didn’t go home empty handed: Christoph Waltz nabbed Best Supporting Actor for his charming / chilling portrayal of Nazi nutjob Hans Landa, a role for which he truly deserves such recognition.

A little focus was put on the British industry, too. A movie called “Fish Tank” won Outsanding British Film, but I’d never heard of the flick till I read the BAFTAs results. An Education was all over the nominations, and won Best Lead Actress for Carey Mulligan’s performance in the film. Duncan Jones won Outsanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer for his brilliant Moon. I reckon Moon should have been up there in the Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and at the very least Best Lead Actor categories, especially as Avatar and District 9 got noms in these directions. Sam Rockwell’s performance(s) in Moon is brilliant and integral to the film as a whole, indicative of the genius involved at all levels — script, direction and production. But I guess the movie was too indie, too “genre” to be recognised in such a way.

Avatar didn’t leave without its candy: Best Production Design and Best Special Visual Effects are probably the two awards Avatar most deserves. The fact that Avatar was even in the running for Best Cinematography bugs me a little, though. Sure the tech is new and boundaries were pushed, but the movie’s 90% cartoon; you may as well nominate Up and The Fantastic Mr Fox if you’re going to play that game. Up In The Air got the Best Adapted Screenplay gong, which is a shame, because the writers will now be encouraged to rest on their laurels and continue to put out flabby, faux-sophisticated scripts, rather than pushing themselves in new, challenging directions.

So anyway, those are my rambling thoughts on the BAFTAs. I think, by and large, the awards have been delivered to the right doorsteps. I wish Moon and District 9 had gotten some wins, but I’m glad something serious but fun won the big gongs. This also gets my hopes up for the Oscars. I really hope Avatar doesn’t sweep them like it did the Globes, and if the yanks’ Academy is anything like the poms’, we might actually see some justice come March 7.

What are your thoughts? Reckon Avatar should’ve got the gongs over The Hurt Locker? Has anyone even seen An Education or Precious? Can you vouch for their quality? We’d love to hear what you think!

Full list of categories, with winners in orange:

BEST FILM

• Avatar
• An Education
• The Hurt Locker
• Precious
• Up in the Air

LEADING ACTOR

• Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)
• George Clooney (Up in the Air)
• Colin Firth (A Single Man)
• Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker)
• Andy Serkis (Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll)

LEADING ACTRESS

• Carey Mulligan (An Education)
• Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones)
• Gabourey Sidibe (Precious)
• Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia)
• Audrey Tautou (Coco Before Chanel)

SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Alec Baldwin (It’s Complicated)
• Christian McKay (Me and Orson Welles)
• Alfred Molina (An Education)
• Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones)
• Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)

 SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Anne-Marie Duff (Nowhere Boy)
• Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air)
• Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air)
• Mo’Nique (Precious)
• Kristin Scott Thomas (Nowhere Boy)

OUTSANDING BRITISH FILM

• An Education
• Fish Tank
• In the Loop
• Moon
• Nowhere Boy

OUTSANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

• Lucy Bailey, Andrew Thompson, Elizabeth Morgan Hemlock, David Pearson (directors, producers – Mugabe And The White African)
• Eran Creevy (writer/director – Shifty)
• Stuart Hazeldine (writer/director – Exam)
• Duncan Jones (director – Moon)
• Sam Taylor-Wood (director – Nowhere Boy)

DIRECTOR

• James Cameron (Avatar)
• Neill Blomkamp (District 9)
• Lone Scherfig (An Education)
• Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)
• Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• The Hangover (Jon Lucas, Scott Moore)
• The Hurt Locker (Mark Boal)
• Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
• A Serious Man (Joel Coen, Ethan Coen)
• Up (Bob Peterson, Pete Docter)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• District 9 (Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell)
• An Education (Nick Hornby)
• In the Loop (Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche)
• Precious (Geoffrey Fletcher)
• Up in the Air (Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner)

 FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

• Broken Embraces
• Coco Before Chanel
• Let the Right One In
• A Prophet
• The White Ribbon

ANIMATED FILM

• Coraline
• Fantastic Mr Fox
• Up

 MUSIC

• Avatar (James Horner)
• Crazy Heart (T-Bone Burnett, Stephen Bruton)
• Fantastic Mr Fox (Alexandre Desplat)
• Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (Chaz Jankel)
• Up (Michael Giacchino)

 CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Avatar
• District 9
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• The Road

EDITING

• Avatar
• District 9
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• Up in the Air

PRODUCTION DESIGN

• Avatar
• District 9
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
• Inglourious Basterds

COSTUME DESIGN

• Bright Star
• Coco Before Chanel
• An Education
• A Single Man
• The Young Victoria

 SOUND

• Avatar
• District 9
• The Hurt Locker
• Star Trek
• Up

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

• Avatar
• District 9
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• The Hurt Locker
• Star Trek

MAKEUP & HAIR

• Coco Before Chanel
• An Education
• The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
• Nine
• The Young Victoria

 SHORT ANIMATION

• The Gruffalo
• The Happy Duckling
• Mother of Many

 SHORT FILM

• 14
• I Do Air
• Jade
• Mixtape
• Off Season

THE ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)

• Jesse Eisenberg
• Nicholas Hoult
• Carey Mulligan
• Tahar Rahim
• Kristen Stewart

IT’S COMPLICATED is anything but

IT’S COMPLICATED is anything but

Feb 02

Don’t let the title of this romantic comedy scare you, It’s Complicated is anything but. If you are to be scared of anything, I’d recommend caution for the (once again) unnecessary length you must endure to reach the end credits.

I hate to harp on the duration of films today (I have done so in a number of pieces now) but some really do feel like they are unnecessarily long. I have no doubt It’s Complicated would have benefited from a 94-minute runtime, as opposed to the 120-minutes which honestly starts to feel like 160 as the film grinds on. And on. If the frequency of the plain-obvious character arcs and slightly-funny comedy moments were squished into ninety-odd minutes, instead of spreading them over two hours, It’s Complicated may have sustained a more entertaining quality. As it stands, I could feel the length, and that shouldn’t be the case.

I’m almost thirty years old, married with two kids– I can tolerate a decent romantic comedy. They’re not half as bad as the majority of the geeks in cybersapce make them out to be. They just don’t star Batman and do have girly romantic moments, is all.  I personally like that there are no superhero powers, space crusades or highly unbelievable action sequences required to guide me through. However, It’s Complicated fails to reach the status of ‘decent romantic comedy’, falling ever-so-short of fully delivering both the comedy and the romance. Instead, director Nancy Myers succeeds in bringing a lifelike melodrama to the screen with some seasoned comedy moments to bind it all together. It’s Complicated feels much more realistic and honest to today’s lifestyle trends than the typical catch-her-at-the-airport-before-she-boards romance.

I really don’t want to rip into It’s Complicated because I didn’t find it all that terrible, while at the same time I didn’t feel an immense connection with it at any stage. The film was merely tolerable and entertaining to sit through, albeit unnecessarily long. My wife absolutely loved it and I’m confident she’ll add it to our DVD shelf at some stage– and I’m sure that’s all it will ever be to me. A glossy paper sleeve pointing at me through a plastic spine. I can’t think that I’d ever bother sitting through it again. Very much been there, done that.

While perhaps obvious, it was a smart move to have Meryl Streep play lead character Jane and carry this film. I can’t think of many actresses who could bring the level of depth and believability to a character like she can. Meryl is always a joy to watch and, not surprisingly, this performance is no different. Despite the dragging plot, Meryl keeps Jane fresh, vibrant and, from what I can gather, extremely relevant. I can imagine any fifty-year-old divorcee relating to, and loving, every ounce of reality in Meryl’s performance… but I can only presume. Her performance does hit home the delicate fabric of marriage, love and friendship and I genuinely felt her loneliness while she desperately tried to centre herself. I was convinced, at least, and all I’ve got to relate with this situation is the separation of my own parents– a situation I’m (thankfully) rather distant from.

Steve Martin gets a rare opportunity to play things pretty straight as Adam, Jane’s architect who, of course, falls for her. Thank goodness he’s also recently divorced so he can relate with Jane’s feelings, allowing him to talk with her… (cue rolling of the eyes). Steve pads his usual comedy approach with a subtly dry undertone. I realise his comedy style is already defined as ‘dry’, but here there is no slapstick to back it up, and not many clever old-school-joke-style one-liners. Adam really is a straight-laced character who is perfectly humble and innocently in love. Surprisingly, Steve pulls it off convincingly and keeps it entertaining to boot. While that made it refreshingly interesting to sit through, anyone looking for a typical Steve Martin vehicle might be slightly disappointed.

Alec Baldwin plays Jane’s ex-husband Jack (yep, just like his character Jack on the television show 30 Rock…), who happens to still be in love with Jane and courts her back into a physical relationship. All the while Jane’s torn between letting Adam in and patching things up with Jack. Just like she says in the film, turns out Meryl is a real slut. While it’s a little bit ‘more of the same’ for Alec’s recent roles, he does play this kind of character well. It’s a shame we don’t get to see him excel beyond what we’ve already seen him do before, given that Meryl Streep and Steve Martin seemed to get that opportunity.

Ultimately I found John Krasinski, playing soon-to-be-son-in-law to Meryl’s Jane, stealing the laughs in It’s Complicated. He’s given the most meat when he discovers some truths about the secret relationship Jack and Jane are having behind their children’s back and it makes for some memorable, well-earned laughs… laughs one would have expected from the lead cast. Unfortunately it’s another case of all the best funny bits already being spent in the film’s trailer, even the worth-the-wait scenes that find Meryl Streep and Steve Martin high as kites on extremely good reefer are somewhat spoiled. Still, there’s no question it’s a universal highlight for the film, and probably the peak of it’s entertaining qualities.

There’s nothing hidden behind It’s Complicated. Everything Nancy Myers wants to portray with her script and direction is laid out, plain as day. The moral is evident from the conclusion of the first act and the journey is full of straight-forward plot points cleverly delivered against some quirky situations for a lead cast pushing sixty years of age. And what an impressive cast it is.

If you’re seeking a somewhat long, sometimes funny venture into the lonely soul of an aging woman who’s re-discovering herself via a bizarre love triangle, kick back to this. For its genre, It’s Complicated holds up, delivers what it needs and deserves respect for catering to that market so well. As a film amongst films, however, I found it didn’t have the legs to sustain my interest nor convince me to care beyond the often awkward sexual encounters. At least I got a chuckle out of it.

IT’S COMPLICATED
52/100