Post-Oscar Thoughts

Well since I last posted the major awards came down.

First and foremost, I am beyond pumped that Natalie Portman took home Best Actress for “Black Swan.”

I sound like a broken record but it’s true; Portman was head an shoulders above anyone who was nominated in her category. Portman transformed herself, you want to talk about “method-actors/actress” she was the epitome of the title.

When I finished watching “Black Swan” I made the comparison of Portman to Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight.” In the past couple months as Oscar speculation began, many critics, most notably Richard Roeper echoed the sentiments I much opposed.

He said his pick for Best Actress was Annette Bening, for “The Kids are Alright” but not because she played the best role, but because “the Academy owed her one for ‘American Beauty’,” that’s not right is it?

When I asked Roeper why he felt this way when it was pretty obvious Portman should win, he said that’s just the way the Academy thinks.

Well low and behold, Natalie, pregnant and all, won the Oscar, and I let out a big “YES!” and was satisfied.

By the way, Roeper changed his pick a couple days ago, but I didn’t forget your original pick, and you defending it when I asked you about it…I didn’t forget!

Anyway…

Anne Hathaway and James Franco were the hosts and the general consensus says they didn’t like what they saw.

Acclaimed movie critic Roger Ebert said this…

“The worst Oscarcast I’ve seen, and I go back awhile. Some great winners, a nice distribution of awards, but the show? Dead. In. The. Water.”

Yikes…Franco, duck for cover.

And or duck under the cloud of smoke backstage because you must have been stoned. Often times he stammered and seemed out of it. Nothing seemed genuine or naturally funny coming out of his mouth.

The worst part was I predicted James would bomb, take a hike you pompous, self-righteous know-it-all.

Now lets focus on the positive.

“The Kings Speech” won four Oscars, (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay.)

The biggest shock at-least to me came when Tom Hooper won Best Director for “The Kings Speech.” It seemed like “The Social Network” and David Fincher were locks for that award, but once we heard Hooper win, Best Picture was sure to follow, and it did. Hooper did give a nice speech where he mentioned his mother gave him the idea for the film and then capped off his words with

“…the lesson, listen to your mother”

“The Social Network” which I felt should have won Best Picture, although originally I wanted The Kings Speech to win (you can look back at my picks from January) although after re-watching TSN I choose it to win, but to no avail. The film however did win Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Score, and Best Editing.

The other big winner was “Inception” as it took home the “smaller” awards. The Christopher Nolan directed blockbuster snatched up Oscars for Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, and best Cinematography.

Christian Bale, “The Fighter,” who was the favorite to win Best Supporting Actor, did just that. As he beat out Geoffery Rush his speech raised some eyebrows. Some people thought he forgot his wife’s name but he just got choked up, or it was just more good acting. We also saw Bale smile, a rarity.

Melissa Leo, who played the controlling mother in “The Fighter” nabbed the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress and gave the most humble, heartfelt and genuine speech. Her interaction with the legendary Kirk Douglas was great as well.

Speaking of Kirk Douglas, he was hilarious, had everyone in stitches, and even at his advanced age of 94, he was a hit.

Other noteable observations…

– Jessie Eisenberg was sitting front row, first seat, dead middle, I was taken aback by his prime location.

– There was a Standing Ovation for Billy Crystal, not surprising, and based on the overall reaction after-wards, people want Billy back or to stay for that matter.

– Oprah looked awful.

– For the first time in 10 years there was no African-American nominated.

– Still can’t get over how good Mila Kunis and Jennifer Lawrence looked tonight, gorgeous.

Well that’s a wrap for Oscar night, hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading, I welcome all your comments.

Back to the normal Hollywood world.

“The Kings Speech” See’s Boom and Renovation

On Tuesday, the Oscar nominee’s were released and “The Kings Speech” lead the way with 10 nominations.

Today, we found out that this was a cash cow for the film, as the internet ticket distributor Fandago.com stated that there has been a major boom for the film.

Since the announcements, there has been a 76% increase in customers buying tickets to see Colin Firth as King George VI. As I stated in my predictions post, this is the film I feel should win Best Picture and Firth should easily take down Best Actor.

Now the other interesting news surrounding the film is the major editing job Harvey Weinstein is set to make.

Weinstein has said that he is looking to edit the film to make it more family friendly and have it appeal to a wider audience. Weinstein is currently talking with Director Tom Hooper to take out a majority of the profanity and reduce the MPAA rating from “R” to “PG-13.”

This is a rather risky idea as the cursing by King George VI was rather hilarious and made the movie lighter during tense moments. Regardless, I’ve seen the original version and it was a masterpiece, therefore we should have confidence in Hooper to deliver.

My Oscar Predictions

The 83rd annual Academy Awards will take place on February 26th, hosted by Anne Hathaway and James Franco, the nominations were streamed live at 8:30am ET this morning.

When it comes to these predictions there are two factors. Taking into consideration the Golden Globes as they serve as a premeditated guideline and second being the Academy and their previous “voting history.” Immediately following the nominations, the first thing that caught my eye after reading the critics initial reactions was a lot of talks of “we-owe-you” Oscars.

Mainly in the category of Actress in a Leading Role. It is my belief that this award belongs to Natalie Portman and there is not an ounce of an argument one can make to sway my opinion. Portman delivers the performance of her career, and I’ve said it multiple times now, she delivers the female acting equivalent of Heath Ledger as The Joker in “The Dark Knight,” it was that type of transformation.

That being said, many feel the Academy will give the award to Annette Bening for her performance in “The Kids are Alright” and frankly this is a load of bull. Bening’s performance was good but not Oscar worthy, I don’t even know if it deserves a nomination, but the whole “playing a lesbian in a movie but you are straight in real life” could be getting her added kudos. The Academy may give her the award for not giving it to her when she was nominated for “American Beauty,”  like I said, this is Portman’s award, end of story.

————- ON TO THE PREDICTIONS

Actor in a Leading Role = Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech”

Actor in a Supporting Role = Christian Bale in “The Fighter”

Actress in a Leading Role = Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”

Actress in a Supporting Role = Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”

Best Picture = “The King’s Speech” Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin

Music (Original Score) = “The Social Network” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Animated Feature Film = “Toy Story 3” Lee Unkrich

Art Direction = “Inception” Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat

Cinematography = “Inception” Wally Pfister

Costume Design = “The Tempest” Sandy Powell

Directing = “Black Swan” Darren Aronofsky

Documentary (Feature) = “Restrepo” Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger

Film Editing = “The Social Network” Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

Foreign Language Film = “Biutiful” Mexico

Makeup = “Barney’s Version” Adrien Morot

Sound Editing = “Inception” Richard King

Sound Mixing = “Inception” Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick

Visual Effects = “Inception” Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb

Writing (Adapted Screenplay) =“The Social Network” Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin

Writing (Original Screenplay) = “The King’s Speech” Screenplay by David Seidler

Some Explanations

– There is a difference with voting on who you think will win, and who you think SHOULD win. I voted with my heart two times, in which I believe an award should go to someone who deserves it more than who I believe really WILL win.

– Actor in a leading role is a no contest. Colin Firth who was robbed last year for “A Single Man” will get his Oscar this year as he played the stammering King George VI brilliantly.

– How did Ryan Gosling who was unreal in “Blue Valentine” not get a nomination for Best Actor? Terrible snub.

– Actor in Supporting Role is a two horse race. If Bale doesn’t win, Rush will. Be weary of the Academy giving the edge to the older actor like they seemingly always do, plus they love British time pieces.

– This could be the strongest year ever for Actress in a Leading Role. Portman wins in my book, but I rank them Michelle Williams 2nd for her mesmerizing performance in “Blue Valentine,”  Jennifer Lawrence 3rd for “Winters Bone” the other two are interchangeable. (as you can see I don’t believe Bening should win, at all. But the movie was great)

– Actress in a Supporting Role, Leo took the award down at the Golden Globes, but it wouldn’t shock me if the Academy throws the world a curveball and gives it to the 14 year old Hailee Steinfeld who carried “True Grit” on her little back, that’s right…eat that Jeff Bridges. (This 99.9% won’t happen)

– Best Picture, “The Social Network” took this at the Globes, but I don’t see how the Academy gives it to them again over “The Kings Speech” it doesn’t make much sense. Both were great films, though.

– Directing – HOW IN THE WORLD WAS CHRISTOPHER NOLAN LEFT OUT OF THIS CATEGORY?!!?

**********

Well there you have it, I hope I’m right. Can’t wait for February 26th!

Review: The Kings Speech

Lionel: Why should I waste my time listening to you?

King George VI: Because I have a Voice!

The potential odds on favorite for the Best Picture Oscar at the 83rd Academy Awards, The Kings Speech is a masterpiece.

The story is simple and delightful, on the surface it looks like another boring period piece but once the film begins it becomes something much more.

Based on the remarkable true story, King George VI is set to take the throne after his brother King Edward VIII steps down, but has a major issue with his terrible stuttering problem. Knowing the people he would have to represent would not take him seriously with this embarrassing problem, his wife, Queen Elizabeth takes the initiative and seeks out the help of a speech therapist. In comes the therapist and what unfolds is the trying relationship between two men, as the king must push aside his ego in order to better himself.

Colin Firth who plays King George VI, is nothing short of perfection. Already winning the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, Firth is likely to walk away with the Oscar as well. It really is remarkable to see how authentic Firth made the stammering. His demeanor, anger, and passion directed at Lionel Louge, the speech therapist, played excellently by Geoffrey Rush, is effortless. I went to see this with my family and it was unanimous that Firth’s performance was jaw dropping, clap at the end of the movie good.

Geoffrey Rush was hilarious. His supporting effort will rival only that of Christian Bale in “The Fighter” and whoever will win, I can’t be angry. But Rush carried this film right along side Firth. The interesting thing to note about Rush was that he almost didn’t make this film. The script was secretly delivered to him at his home, which is not allowed by the movie association, and Rush’s initial reaction was no one is going to see this. He thought why would people want to to the movies to see two old men try to develop a friendship? But the film was made and I think he made the right choice because he was stellar as the antagonist always testing the king.

As great as the acting was in this film, and as smoothly as the story was told without boring the audience, there was more to it. I mentioned how funny I found Rush but the movie is filled with knee slapping one liners that can leave you laughing for a good amount of time. Rush as Lionel has sarcasm down to a T and King George VI anger problem makes things even more amusing.

One scene that stands out in particular was when King George VI is in a therapy session and Lionel asks him if he uses profanity. What ensues is a couple minutes laced with a hilarious repetitive string of curses as King George VI paces around the room yelling. We later see, as a coping mechanism when King George VI is delivering his speech, Lionel blurts silent expletives in between pauses in order to calm down the king.

The other performance to note in the film was Queen Elizabeth’s, played by Helena Bonham Carter. While Carter plays the strong arming wife of the most powerful man, I felt like we didn’t seen enough of her in the film. She was good but the talks of awards for her are rather misplaced.

The Film is very aesthetically pleasing, amazing visuals of the churches, buildings, houses…everything was dripping with elegance and prestige.

“The Kings Speech” is a top five movie of 2010 for me with brilliant performances from Firth and Rush. The worst thing you could probably say about the film is that from the early trailers it gave off the vibe of a costume period piece that wouldn’t attract an audience. It took a long time for the film to catch on and the buzz for it certainly hasn’t garnered enough steam it deserves. There are too many people out there still unaware of this film, and that is a darn shame.

Director Tom Hooper did a wonderful job in a film that may get overlooked by some and mainly the Academy. The buzz after the Golden Globes for “The Social Network” has people thinking it will beat out “The Kings Speech” for best picture. If I had a vote this wins best picture for sure, it has all the elements needed, just a brilliant film.

Rating: 9/10