Where the Wild Things Are trailer

Movies that Define Cinema: The Lord of the Rings trilogy by Peter Jackson

My choice to do a movie, or movies, so recently made as a movie that defines cinema might be controversial to some, thought not like many read my blog. Regardless of the date of the making of these movies I feel it cannot be denied that this trilogy alone has defined visual storytelling as well as the Hollywood epic. Most of you know the story of the one ring by now and the quest of Frodo the hobbit to destroy it if not from the movie than from the books. So I will not focus on the narrative but rather on the filmmaking itself. Our introduction to Middle-earth comes to us in the first film through a narrative by Galadriel of the woodland elves. The narrative is brief, beautiful, and haunting. It is filled with images of grandeur and terror as the ring controls Isuldur and we see his dead body floating. From there we are given beautiful scenery in the land of the hobbits, the Shire, a heretofore unprecedentedly real, lush, and believable habitat for the curiously delightful hobbits. We go on to see the waterfall paradise of Rivendell, the eyepopping splendor of Galadriel's kingdom. We see giant statues from an older age of men. We see ruins from past ages. The grand fortress of Helm's Deep, the white city of Minas Tirith, the desolation of Osgiliath, the spire of Isengard, the entire land of Mordor is spectacle to behold. The key here, the dominating factor is that these places do not feel like sets, but instead feel like lands that have been walked and lived in by men who cease to exist which even the best true historical epics fail to do. Notice in Gladiator how false the Colosseum and all of Rome feel compared to the raw feel of Edoras or even Minas Tirith, the cities and lands feel real, feel old, feel as enchanted as we are led to believe. Outside of the mere sets are the effects used in the movie, how wise Jackson was in his use of effects. Here is a director who has used special effects in total aid of the film and medium of visual storytelling. We never feel as though we are watching a ton of CGI creatures, but rather a living breathing world. Consider for instance the Battle of Helm's Deep, a huge setpiece battle in the movie filled to the brim with CGI but tell me where it is, tell me where for sure you literally see it. Beautiful. And then there is the spectacle. Lord of the Rings is full of moments of such sheer awe as to have never been seen before in movies such as the moment at the end of the aforementioned battle as the sun rises and Gandalf appears at the top of the mountain, his white robe and stallion glowing. Listen as the music turns and Gandalf rides as hundreds of troops follow him. This is perhaps one of the most visually glorious scenes ever put to the screen, tell me your hair didn't stand on the back of your neck or that your eyes didn't water. There are many moments like that, but the real balance is the movie never feels heavy handed in its need for the spectacle, it fits right in. Now let us talk a small bit about the characters. Here is truly a battle of good and evil, the good guys are noble and just and the bad guys have no reason to deserve life. While in some regards this is a simplstic view of the world, it works as a powerful allegory of light versus the darkness and good versus evil. I cannot recall a character more noble than Aragorn, more wise and merciful than Gandalf, more spirited and full of good than the hobbits. On the other hand the orcs are driven by nothing but evil, there is no good in them. Not even the most terrible murderer can be said to be as evil as these creatures are; watch as they kill and eat one of their own. Then we have Sam, Frodo, and Gollum. These three characters represent the emotional weight. Yes the other parts are emotional and beautiful and grand, but without knowing the war that wages in Frodo there wouldn't be as much worth in the story being told. Frodo rests in the only gray area of the movie. He is a hobbit driven by his desire to do what will save all of middle-earth, but the ring he bears is killing him, tearing him down. On one side of him is Sam who no one could ask for a better friend, and on the other Gollum who is not evil, but is controlled by it no matter how far he seems to free himself from it. There is a seen of tenderness that is one of the most beautiful exchanges of friendship when Sam asks Frodo is he will ever be in books and little hobbits will ask "can we hear the story of Frodo and the ring?" To which Frodo responds "I wanna hear about Sam, Frodo wouldn't have made it far without Sam." You know the moment. There is so much to write about why this movie defines cinema, but I think you get the picture.

The No Holds Barred March Madness Oscar Predictions

These are my predictions that have absolutely no real predictive ability for the Oscars which are almost a full year from now so these are little bit my hopes for movies and a little of what I expect.

BEST PICTURE and DIRECTOR
Nine by Rob Marshall
The Lovely Bones by Peter Jackson
Taking Woodstock by Ang Lee
The Human Factor by Clint Eastwood
The Road by John Hillcoat

The Alternatives:
(500) Days of Summer by Marc Webb
Away We Go by Sam Mendes
Where the Wild Things Are by Spike Jonze
Shutter Island by Martin Scorcese
The Boat that Rocked by Richard Curtis

BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis- Nine
Viggo Mortensen- The Road
Joseph Gordon-Levitt- (500) Days of Summer
Peter Sarsgaard- An Education
Leonard DiCaprio-Shutter Island

BEST ACTRESS
Michelle Pfeiffer- Cheri
Meryl Streep- Julie and Julia
Hilary Swank- Amelia
Someone from the cast of Nine
Maya Rudolph- Away We Go

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jackie Earle Haley-Watchmen
Bill Nighy- The Boat That Rocked
Jude Law- Sherlock Holmes
Phillip Baker Hall- All Good Things
Christian Bale-Public Enemies

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams- Julie and Julia
Someone from Nine
Mo'Nique- Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
Rachel Weisz-The Lovely Bones
Someone else from Nine

SCREENPLAY: ORIGINAL
Away We Go
(500) Days of Summer
The Boat That Rocked
An Education
Up

SCREENPLAY: ADAPTED
Taking Woodstock
The Lovely Bones
The Road
Where the Wild Things Are
Nine

There it is, have fun.

Watchmen by Zack Snyder

Anyone who has ever seen a superhero movie, wanted to be a superhero, thought about the word superhero, and or heard words "super" or "hero" in the same vicinity needs to see this movie. Watchmen directed by Zach Snyder of 300 fame is a glorious celebration of the visual medium of film and storytelling. I believe Snyder is one of the people who remembers that while film should tell a story it is also a visual medium for a reason. So with that let us contemplate the entire rain drenched world that the heroes of Watchmen inhabit. Every store front and lot was created by set designers, the owl ship an entirely real object crafted by the set designers, all the costume storage areas, the comedian's apartment, the arctic base at the end, everything was a real set. Very little green screen here. Many like to criticize Snyder's use of the slo-mo but it is truly used with consideration here, the color palette is purposeful and spot on. A visual feast some might consider this movie.
In terms of the story and the characters we see each one of them on their own terms, each character is so skillfully and lovingly crafted into individuals, not like X-men where we only get smatterings of origins and individuality over three films. The story is intact and relevant to today when the country rallies behind a heroic leader like the people of this alternate history rallied around Nixon who won Vietnam with the utilization of Dr. Manhattan. Dr. Manhattan is given perhaps the best part of the movie, his origin story is one of great power and sadness, a man who has become a god no longer relates to the world that he was once so much a part of. Nite Owl is a pudgy man out of work too long who cannot get an erection with a costume on, he is played perfectly by Patrick Wilson and then there is Malin Akerman who plays Laurie aka Silk Spectre is great in her role as a woman defined by her sexuality and her mother. Matthew Goode is good, not spectacular, but good and cold in his role as Ozymandias the world's smartest man. Then there is Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian, these two men run the show along with Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan. Haley embodies an anger and hurt so deep in his character it is an astounding performance from the oscar nominee and Morgan solidifies his ability to rule the screen every time he is present.
This movie is a movie of extreme intelligence, moments of humor, great action, and a lot of ideas. Who gives these people the power to decide justice, what does being a superhero do to you and your sexuality, what happens to the mistakes me make, are doomed people, what is a miracle, is life such a phenomenon as we think?
I could write so much, but I have tried to filter my barrage of thoughts into something hopefully coherent. This is the best superhero movie ever made, and unlike batman which seems ashamed of its comic origins Watchmen wears it proud only to kill the idea of the superhero. Thank you Zach Snyder.

Y Tu Mama Tambien by Alfonso Cuaron

From The Little Princess to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to Children of Men Alfonso Cuaron has proved time and again he is a visionary that knows no bounds and here in Y Tu Mama Tambien, considered by many his masterpiece, he paints an picture of such electric eroticism and beauty it is hard not to envy his vision. Y Tu Mama Tambien is about two boys Julio and Tenoch who during a summer when their girlfriends went to Italy decided to take a road trip with the beautiful but older and married Luisa. Luisa has decided to go on this trip because her husband is cheating on her. What happens in the consequent time is a lot of talk of sex, acting on sexual impulses, and learning about sexuality. There is a lot of graphic sex so viewer discretion is advised, but as in all movies that use sex well the sex is portrayed as part of a broken world in the broken minds of two very sexual teenage boys. Yet the movie, for all it's sex, is not about sex, it is about growing up, finding life, and finding freedom. How, you ask, does this come from a whole bunch of sex? I cannot explain it, but it does happen and beautifully so. The ending is one of great power and great sadness, a good ending is the sign of a good movie in most cases, and here it is the sign of a unique one, one that dares to go where you never dream it can. As a quick end note I still believe Children of Men to be his best and one of the most important movies of the past 5-10 years.

Movies That Define Cinema: Francois Truffaut's The 400 Blows

In 1959 a man by the name of Francois Truffaut was paving the way for the future of filmmaking with this masterpiece. The 400 Blows is about a boy name Antoine Doinel who has been put upon by society. He is a young boy who is trapped in the machine with two parents who can't handle him, teachers who hate their students, and no direction but to become another cog. Yet Doinel wants out and he sure tries. The triumph of the movie is that it is mostly improv scripting, Truffaut set up the scene but let the actors create the dialogue. They create people who are real because they aren't confined by someone else's words, they are the characters they portray. The camera moves and tells as much of the story as the characters do which is a sign of the french new wave of filmmaking. The camera casts everyone in shadow except Doinel, the only one who seems to know what he is doing. It is a movie of great experimentation and while there isn't really a driving force in the plot, it is one of the most engaging films because of its ingenuity right down to the ending. The ending is very much a part of the new wave, and ending with no resolution, at least not in the normal sense. It is an ending of poetry and beauty that hadn't even been seen prior. Since then we've seen this style of ending in such films as The Squid and the Whale by Noah Baumbach or The Graduate or Children of Men, all are variations of the ending but in the same vein. Truly a landmark film any aficionado must see.

Best Picture

Slumdog Millionaire WOOT!!!!