Movie Bummys 2012

It’s awards season, and it’s time for the brand new Movie Bummys to make their debut.  The Movie Bummys are a prestigious new award given to movies, actors, actresses, and directors for outstanding achievement in their respective fields.  The Bummys are highly coveted, and campaigning this year has reached a new level of nastiness as everyone jockeys for a historic position in the Bummy record books.  People from Michelle Williams’s camp have accused Meryl Streep of “not actually being British,” which Streep’s camp has vigorously denied.  Rooney Mara’s people slipped a quote into the New York Times yesterday claiming that Viola Davis is white, but Viola Davis’s people responded, “We’re 98% sure that’s not true.”  George Clooney and Brad Pitt have been overheard arguing over whose significant other is more attractive (George Clooney eventually conceded,  but only out of fear that Angelina would drink his blood or something).

I love the Oscars, but honestly, they don’t mean anything outside the industry.  What matters is getting good movies seen, so I want to highlight movies that I loved that came out this year.  Ideally, I would have seen every movie that came out (actually, that doesn’t sound too ideal- no one wants to be have to see Zookeeper), but I’ll make do with what I have seen.  The last one in each category is my pick for the best.  Also, I’ll throw in my predictions for who’s gonna win tonight.

Best Supporting Actress:

Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life: The Academy nominated her for The Help, and she’s flashy and fun in that movie, but her full-of-life mother in Malick’s masterpiece was her best performance of the year.

Elle Fanning, Super 8: As good if not better than any of her older sister’s childhood roles, Elle makes her own mark in this sci-fi thriller as a natural actress.

Mélanie Laurent, Beginners: She’s part of what makes this movie more than just a quirky vehicle for Christopher Plummer.  Half of this movie is about Ewan McGregor’s Oliver’s newfound relationship with Laurent’s Anna, and she makes it romantic and real.

Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids: The best comedic performance of the year, even if it completely grossed me out.

Winner — Octavia Spencer, The Help: No actress showed the range in a supporting performance that Spencer showed.  If Aibileen was the heart of The Help, then Spencer was the soul.  The humor and the  gravity behind her performance solidified The Help as a standout movie of the year in terms of great casts.
Key performances I haven’t seen: Berenice Bejo, The Artist; Keira Knightley, A Dangerous Method; Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs; Carey Mulligan, Drive, Shame; Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

Best Supporting Actor:

George Clooney, The Ides of March: Clooney’s charming, idealistic politician has condemning secrets, and Clooney’s performance is perhaps more convincing than any American citizen would like to admit.

Jonah Hill, Moneyball: Jonah Hill is usually annoying (outside of Superbad), but he plays it straight here for a homerun (goodness I hate sports puns, don’t you?).  It’s a natural performance, lending brilliant support to Brad Pitt.

Brad Pitt, The Tree of Life: Speaking of Pitt, his stern father in this movie shows his versatility and natural ability.

Kevin Spacey, Margin Call: In a great cast, Spacey stands out as a world-weary corporate executive who is tired of the moral ambivalence of his job.

Winner — Christopher Plummer, Beginners: Plummer seems poised to run away with the Oscar tonight, and you won’t hear me complaining.  His out-and-proud father walks the line between finally accepting who you thought you always were and coming to terms with your impending death.

Key performances I haven’t seen: Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn; Albert Brooks, Drive; Armie Hammer, J. Edgar; John Hawkes, Martha Marcy May Marlene; Nick Nolte, Warrior; Patton Oswalt, Young Adult

Best Actress:

Winner — Viola Davis, The Help: I didn’t see another performance last year that was even worth nominating, but even if I have, I doubt they would have taken Davis’s place at the top of this list.  Hers was the best performance in 2011 by any actor, not just the female ones.  The scene where she confronts Bryce Dallas Howard’s Hilly is the best-performed scene I’ve seen in a long time.

Key performances I haven’t seen: Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs; Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia; Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene; Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady; Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin; Charlize Theron, Young Adult; Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn

Best Actor:

Demian Bichir, A Better Life: If this doesn’t get Bichir some bigger, meatier roles, I don’t know what else will.  Bichir plays a Mexican father trying to raise his son in America.  He doesn’t have any papers, and the desperation Bichir conveys is enough to make even the staunchest Republican empathize with him.

Michael Fassbender, X-Men: First Class: A great actor in a comic book movie?  Before Heath Ledger and Robert Downy, Jr., no one would have heard of it.  But Fassbender continues the tradition, giving a conflicted performance as Erik Lensherr (aka Magneto).

Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March: Gosling has been a great actor ever since he got into movies, and he keeps getting better.  He goes from idealistic politico to conniving desperation, lending equal weight and intensity to both ends.

Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Someone has to give him credit at some point for his string of great, motion-capture performances.  His ape, Ceasar, is believable as a character precisely because Serkis is the performer behind the computer-generated mask.

Winner — Brad Pitt, Moneyball: The movie star performance of the year.  Pitt and Clooney may be the only true, old-school stars left at their age who can actually act.  Pitt’s performance is the peak of a great career.  See: his scene at the end, driving in the car, listening to his daughter sing.  Hold those tears in.

Key performances I haven’t seen: George Clooney, The Descendants; Leonardo Dicaprio, J. Edgar; Jean Dujardin, The Artist; Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50; Ryan Gosling, Drive; Gary Oldman, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; Michael Shannon, Take Shelter

Best Picture:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2: The best of the series.

Midnight in Paris: Magical, funny, and romantic.

Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol: The best action movie of the year.

Moneyball: More than just a baseball movie, Brad Pitt’s passion project was a great character study of Billy Beane.

Super 8: More than just an E.T. clone, J.J. Abrams created an ode to childhood imagination.

The Tree of Life: Complex and challenging, ultimately Terrence Malick’s vision paid off and gave us a moving meditation on life and what makes us human.

Winner — Rango: This is the best movie of the year, because it was the most inventive and the most entertaining.  It always left me guessing, even as it played with cliches.  Can’t wait to see it again.

Key movies I haven’t seen: 50/50; The Artist; The Descendants; Drive; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Hugo; J. Edgar; Martha Marcy May Marlene; Meek’s Cutoff; Melancholia; A Separation; Take Shelter; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; War Horse; Warrior; We Need to Talk About Kevin

Oscar predictions:

Animated Short Film: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Live Action Short Film: Raju

Documentary Short: Incident in New Baghdad

Sound Editing: Hugo

Sound Mixing: Hugo

Costume Design: Hugo

Makeup: Albert Nobbs

Art Direction: Hugo

Original Song: “Man or Muppet”, The Muppets

Original Score: War Horse

Visual Effects: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Documentary Feature: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory

Cinematography: The Tree of Life

Film Editing: Hugo

Adapted Screenplay: Moneyball

Original Screenplay: Margin Call

Foreign Language Film: A Separation

Animated Feature: Rango

Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help

Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Actress: Viola Davis, The Help

Actor: Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Directing: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Picture: The Artist

Media Review 2/19-2/25

Movies:

Contagion: This movie is interesting as a factual look at an epidemic and the measures taken against it, the consequences of the disease and the measures, and the moral ambiguities involved.  It’s pretty standard stuff- disease starts infecting people, people die, people react badly, society begins to crumble- but I found it as more than just a disaster movie.  For one, director Steven Soderbergh treats his subject with documentary-like storytelling.  He wants us to get exactly how this disease spreads, to understand what precautions and reactions our government would actually have.  He wants it to seem real.  What’s brilliant though is Contagion‘s flashes of emotion.  Soderbergh’s main focus is the facts, but he allows his characters’ humanity, both moral and immoral, to peek through.  Maybe what he’s trying to say is that even with something as amoral as a virus, we humans still have to make moral sense of it.

The performances are solid, especially Matt Damon’s and Jennifer Ehle’s.  Damon is the key everyman figure here, our anchor to the overarching story.  His concern for his daughter and conflicting emotions over his wife’s death are easy to relate to- the scene when he is told his wife is dead is perfect.  Jennifer Ehle plays a scientist working on a vaccine for the virus.  Her performance is subtle, and its full power doesn’t become apparent till near the end in a scene with her dad.

Very good movie- would have been great except for Jude Law’s poorly written character and the distracting storyline he inhabits.

Magnolia: I’ve never seen a movie quite like Magnolia, a movie about coincidences.  Most movies that employ coincidences as devices to link a lot of characters together are usually making the point that everyone’s connected, or something like that, but Magnolia seems to be saying more that sometimes strange things just happen.  It follows a bunch of different storylines and characters who are connected together by coincidence- a misogynistic motivational speaker (Tom Cruise) avoids his dying father (Jason Robards), attended to by his nurse (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his trophy wife (Julianne Moore).  The dying father happens to be the producer of a kids’ quiz show hosted by Philip Baker Hall.  The movie follows a current contestant and his overbearing father, as well as a former contestant (William H. Macy) in love with a bartender who doesn’t see him.  John C. Reilly plays a cop who tries to help a cocaine addict who happens to be the daughter of the quiz show host.  I promise you I haven’t even broken the surface of this plot yet.

Roger Ebert wrote a fantastic review on Magnolia, and you can find it here.  In it, he claims that Magnolia is about the sins we inflict on children and the consequences that manifest later in life.  He argues that Paul Thomas Anderson, the director, shows us that the majority of people are hurting, in pain from others’ mistakes or their own.  Some people are meant to be the helpers to the hurting, showing them compassion when they need it most.  This does seem to be how life works, doesn’t it?  Some people have a lot of awful things happen to them, and rarely do they escape the awful cycles of sin in their lives.  And then there are those more fortunate individuals who are gifted with compassion, doing what they can to help them.  Often the change they effect is minimal, too little to be appreciated.  But still, their compassion drives them to keep trying.

There are two such characters in Magnolia, the nurse played by Hoffman and the cop played by Reilly.  Their performances are the most intriguing- they don’t seem to be conflicted in their motives, they just want to help the people around them.  The best performance among a heap of great performances is Tom Cruise’s.  It’s the best performance of his I’ve seen.  He’s wildly varied, but always true to his character.  Subtle isn’t the first word that comes to mind, but there’s a moment where his chauvinist is discovered as a liar and Cruise quietly conveys judgmental anger.  Later, Cruise collapses in manic rage and desperation at his character’s father’s deathbed.

Great movie- even after this long-ish review, I still haven’t conveyed to you what all this movie contains.  I haven’t even gotten to the cast singalong and the raining frogs.

Albums I Liked:

Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer by Jon Foreman: Switchfoot is a great rock band, but Jon Foreman shines creatively in these four EPs.  Simple but creative, Foreman’s songs here address more complicated themes than Switchfoot.  His themes seem more personal, and the music reflects that.  It feels like he was bursting to express these ideas, but Switchfoot just wasn’t the right venue.  Foreman has created his own venue, a distinct sound all his own.  We can relate to this conflicted faith that Foreman brings to the forefront of his lyrics, as well as the genuine efforts to praise God with that flawed faith.  Favorite songs: “Your Love Is Strong” “House of God, Forever”

Devils & Dust by Bruce Springsteen: Soft and understated, the Boss owns the traditional folk song on this album.  He’s been here before on albums like Nebraska and The Ghost of Tom Joad, but while those albums feel dark and dangerous, Devils & Dust feels more hopeful, more ready to believe in the good in people.  Favorite songs: “Devils & Dust” “Maria’s Bed”

Songs I Loved:

“Southbound Train” by Jon Foreman: I’m a sucker for harmonica, and when the harmonica came in halfway through this song, I was sold.  Foreman sings about a journey (life, maybe?), but he eschews the cliches inherent in songs about journeys by constructing his song around a personal relationship with a woman.  His home isn’t the same as it once was, but the presence of his girl is enough to keep him hopeful.  Like many of the songs on his Seasons EPs, “Southbound Train” feels real and lived-in.

“All I’m Thinkin’ About” by Bruce Springsteen: Springsteen has written bigger and better songs, but few of his songs are this content.  Interestingly, he tackles simple themes as Foreman’s “Southbound Train”- his girl keeps him going, his life isn’t the same as it used to be.  He keeps the volume down, but the background singers give the song weight, and Springsteen’s finger-pickin’ guitar sound makes it sound old, wise, carefree.  A perfect song for a stressful weekend.

Always

You, my child, are more than your mother’s sins
You, little one, are not your father’s flaws
There is no one else anywhere like you
And I, beloved, think that you’re wonderful

There is One who knew you before your birth
He loved and delighted in you always
I knew you since the day they brought you here
And I, beloved, thought you were wonderful

You’ll fall short and exceed expectations
You’ll love some and hate more than you’ll want to
You’ll regret and say you have no regrets
And I, beloved, will think you’re wonderful

Someday you’ll grow up and hate your parents
You’ll try to understand, resenting them,
But I hope, at least, that you’ll remember
That I will always think you’re wonderful

Media Review Week 2/12-2/18

Welcome, faithful readers (aka mom).  I would like to write a post each week in which I can write about the movies and music I’ve experienced over the past week.  Maybe sometimes I’ll include TV shows and books I’ve finished.

I like looking at all this media I consume critically.  I enjoy being entertained, but I don’t see much point to my watching a ton of movies and listening to way too much music if the majority doesn’t make me think, and I don’t then apply it to my life..  So here will be where I put my thoughts!  Enjoy.

Movies:

Thelma & Louise:  More than a great road movie and especially more than a great women’s buddy movie, Thelma & Louise pulls off something special.  Director Ridley Scott manages to shift tones seamlessly from scene to scene and even within scenes to create a movie that functions as comedy, drama, action, thriller, romance, and, in one scene, horror.  That you don’t notice the changes as you’re experiencing them is a testament to the skill of Scott and his cast.  Interestingly, Scott’s other great movies (that I’ve seen) are Alien, Blade Runner, and Gladiator, movies that really have one prevailing mood for the whole movie. Thelma & Louise stands out as a patchwork quilt of great genre movies.

Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon are thrilling to watch.  Geena Davis makes us believe the change in Thelma over the course of the movie, but she maintains her character’s naive optimism.  Susan Sarandon shows us the increasing desperation in Louise’s mannerisms, replaced later in the movie by a strong resignation to their plight.  Harvey Keitel isn’t very believable in his role as the cop pursuing the ladies, but Brad Pitt shines in a small role as a hitchhiker they pick up on their trip.

Great movie- not realistic, maybe, but it works as a fable for the seeming futility of women trying to make it in a corrupt world, a man’s world.

Chariots of Fire: I enjoyed this movie.  Chariots of Fire is a fascinating character study of two British men preparing for the 1924 Olympics, one a Jew and one a Christian.  The Jewish man, Harold, is driven by the need to rise above the (sometime subtle, sometimes not) anti-Semitism in Britain and achieve something unexpected of him.  The Christian man, Eric, is driven by a desire to please God.  These performances aren’t flashy, but they’re effective.  Ben Cross as Harold sells his character’s need to prove something, and Eric’s quiet devotion is affecting.  When his sister objects to his decision to compete in the Olympics, Eric explains himself, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast.  And when I run, I feel His pleasure.”

It’s a joy to learn about these characters, and there is one race that is particularly exciting near the middle of the movie.  However, the movie runs out of steam at the end, and the final races aren’t as effective.  The movie is perhaps too studied and slow in its storytelling.  It benefits from the presence of Ian Holm (you may know him as Bilbo Baggins) as Harold’s coach.  He’s lively and spontaneous in a movie that could use some more entertaining characters.  Holm’s best scene is when he discovers that outcome of one of the matches and punches a hole through his hat.  You would have too.

Very good movie- as a sports movie, it drags near the end when it should be peaking.  But as a movie about why these men have to run, it’s fascinating.

The Vow: Okay, okay, I know I shouldn’t have liked this movie.  Maybe I was taken in by the real chemistry between Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum as Paige and Leo.  Maybe it’s because I went with my girlfriend.  Maybe I was just in a sappy mood that night.  Whatever the reason (and believe me, I’m confused), I really enjoyed this movie.

Tatum and McAdams do have chemistry, and unlike many mainstream rom-coms, The Vow has doesn’t settle for an easy outcome for its characters.  There are cliches, which I can deal with, and one-dimensional characters, which are to be expected, though all of them are secondary.  The reason The Vow maintains credibility is its commitment to the main characters and the key players in the plot.  Tatum’s Leo fights for his marriage in realistic ways, and McAdams’s reactions to her plight (while maybe not medically plausible) are believable.  Leo’s pursuit of his wife is the cornerstone of this movie.  It was an inspiration to me, and I hope other people see it and think about their own commitment.

Very good movie- forget the haters.  I’m sold on this movie, and you should give it a chance.

Albums I Liked:

Two Lefts Don’t Make a Right…but Three Do by Relient K: I know I’m late to the Relient K train, but ever since my girlfriend, Vicky, gave me their album Forget and Not Slow Down (which I love), I’ve been trying to listen to their older stuff.  I don’t usually like this pop-punk sound, but Relient K redeems it with great lyrics, a sense of humor, and creative arrangements.  Relient K wasn’t that great, but Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek showed flashes of both musical and lyrical brilliance (see: “Sadie Hawkins Dance”, “For the Moments I Feel Faint”, “Failure to Excommunicate”).  Two Lefts doesn’t quite reach the heights that Anatomy did, but it stays high longer.  Favorite song: “Getting into You”.

Songs I Loved:

“Wedding Song” by Bob Dylan: I love Bob Dylan, and I’ve been trying to listen to his whole catalog over the last six months or so.  I just got to Planet Waves, his first full-length collaboration with The Band, another favorite of mine.  The album was just fine, but this cut is sublime.  It’s an ode to full-on commitment to love, even at the expense of one’s own self-destruction.  I’m not saying I agree with his sentiment, but the melody is haunting.  Married love doesn’t seem so cushy when linked to a song this open and honest.

His pleasure

cheetah was made to run
muscles pulsing, heart beating
flying over the savannah to ensnare her prey in her teeth

lion was made to roar
jaw wide, eyes wild
bellowing at the sweltering heat in the midday sun

I was made to

dog was made to bark
hair raised, teeth bared
straining to tell his boy there’s a rabbit, there’s a rabbit

falcon was made to dive
wings pinned back, eyes focused
falling upon the rabbit that squeals in her talons

I was made to

singer was made to sing
diaphragm pushing, voice ringing
telling of love and loss to the enraptured hearts in the room

runner was made to race
legs pumping,  chest forward
sprinting toward the line past her panting competition

I was made to

was I made to run, bounding, straining
was I made to sing, crooning, belting
was I made to build, lifting, exerting
was I made to create, imagining, molding

I was made to sing to praise to cry out to preach to share
I was made to run to leap to carry to strive to try
I was made to love to trust to serve to edify to hold
I was made to glorify to magnify to worship to exalt to lift up high

like the cheetah, like the lion
like the dog, like the falcon
like the singer, like the runner
I cannot help but glorify Him by doing what I was made to do

He made me to
I will