Sunday, March 9, 2014

Revisiting 12 Years a slave, after its Best Picture win



(Astrid: I saw 12 Years a Slave at TIFF back in September. It was powerful, and even then, 6 months before the Oscars, there was tons of Best Picture buzz surrounding it. See my review of it from September here. I have been hassling my brother Alex (who refused to see it with me at TIFF!) to see it, and now, after it's Best Picture win, he has, and he has begrudgingly accepted that I was right about the movie! Hurrah! I love being right! Now, onto Al Mrk's thoughts...)

Alex:
This is a review of Steve McQueen's excellent movie, the true story of a free man kidnapped into slavery. The movie features a trio of great performances by Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'o and Michael Fassbender, and offers an unflinching depiction of slavery.

The movie tells the story of Solomon Northrup, a free black man living in upstate New York. Leading a cultured, pleasant life, Northrup is kidnapped and then sold into slavery. During the scene when he is sold into slavery he and the other slaves stand in an elegant, beautifully furnished rooms of a southern mansion. They are completely naked. Prospective owners examine them, feeling no embarrassment at the terrified naked people standing in the room. Without any feeling a mother is separated from her children. Her new owner tells her: "Something to eat and rest; your children will soon be forgotten."

A run-in with a viscous slave-driver (well played by Paul Dano) results in Northrup being sold to a brutal slave owner. The new slave-owner, played superbly by Michael Fassbender, is a wildly emotional, electrically savage man continually on the edge of tearing anyone near him apart. His obsessive attraction to a female slave, named Patsy, played by Lupita Ngoyo, leads to him raping her. Fassbender seemingly both obsessively hates and is compulsively attracted to Patsy.(Astrid: I would say that he is not only attracted to her, but loves her as well) The slave-owner's wife, played by Sarah Paulson, hates both her husband and Patsy for her husband's clear attraction, and punishes Patsy for it.

During Northrup's time there he always keeps his education secret, but during a brief encounter with a white worker on the farm Northrup reveals his education, for the purpose of asking for help. The worker betrays his secret, and the slave owner drapes his arms around Northrup and asks if it is true. Northrup convincingly lies to cover himself. The slave-owner relaxes, and raises his arms, and only then we see the owner had been holding a knife to Northrup's stomach. Northrup had been required to lie for his life with the knife tip to his belly.

The owner's obsession with Patsy leads to the movie's most brutal scene, when she is flogged. Given its subject matter, the movie has relatively few direct depictions of violence. It makes this scene all the worse, an unrelenting awful piece of violence. Shortly afterword, a chance encounter with an abolitionist allows Northrup to contact his family and receive his freedom. The reunion is handled extremely well; simple, moving and dignified.

The movie's direction, by Steve McQueen, is blunt and straightforward. It allows the horrors of slavery to speak for itself. McQueen also allows few moments of pastoral beauty, never producing shots of elegant plantations, only showing the revolting treatment of slaves. The camera is typically still for most shots, giving the movie a realistic feel. And the violence is never allowed to overcome the human element. The movie presents a excellent counterpoint to Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino's disgusting slavery movie, and there is no doubt 12 Years a slave is vastly superior in every way. A minor point, but like Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, the movie does suffer from some foolish casting. Both Brad Pitt and Paul Giamatti are ridiculous in minor roles. (Astrid: I would add Taran Killiam, of SNL, to that list!)

The rest of the acting is uniformly superb. Chiwetel Ejiofor delivers an excellent performance in the lead. He always opts for simplicity, never over-acting. He is in every scene of movie, and we never tire of his presence. Certainly the movie benefits from such a dignified character. Lupita Nyong'o is also excellent as Patsy.  This was her film debut, and she's amazing in her role. Fassbender deserves great respect for his portrayal of the slave-owner. He is awful, yet full of emotions. Unlike many movie villains, who are either caricatures or charismatic, Fassbender actually commits to playing an awful person. His slave-owner is the most emotional person in the movie, and is also the worst person in the movie, a rare combination. Fassbender's wife, played by Sarah Paulson, also deserves praise.

(Astrid: Despite what anyone thinks about McConaughey (you already know my thoughts) it is abundantly clear after seeing this movie and its performances, that both Ejiofor and Fassbender were robbed of awards, as their acting are 2 of the best performances I've seen in quite some time. They lost to fools. If only Fassie wasn't such a brat (he refused to campaign b/c of his Oscar snub for Shame). I think had he put in the work, he would have won...)

Below: check out the audio of the Q and A after the screening from TIFF that I recorded, featuring McQueen and most of the actors



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Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Most loathsome moments

Let's do this! I will be building on some of my brother's points about what makes the Oscars bad (2 posts below this one). He and I were talking about how absurd it is that a show that is made up entirely of professional entertainers, and meant to celebrate entertainment, is really not very entertaining at all. I mean with that much star power in one room, and decades of Oscar failures to examine and learn from, how is the show not better?

Case in point: the presenters! I mean Jim Carey (who I find embarrassingly insufferable) is one thing, but Zac Efron, Chris Evans, Jessica Biel? This is not the fucking MTV movie awards!
Why not ask Meryl? Or Michael Fassbender? Sandra Bullock? Or someone that can actually read and pronounce words?

There's a funny article over at Jezebel that Fantasy-Casts next year's presenters:

On to my other gripes:

1. So, don't get me wrong, I really like Ellen, and for the most part I thought her opening monologue was good (though the rest of the hosting from then on went downhill), but I really thought that her jab at Liza crossed the line (odd b/c Ellen never does cruel humour, and b/c I normally love shit talking jokes).
What made Amy and Tina so god damned funny at the Globes is that they reserve those mean jokes for Clooney and Leo--people who literally have the best lives ever, so you don't feel bad laughing at their expense. Making fun of Liza just makes me sad.

2. Jared Leto plugging 30 seconds to Mars. UGH. I will give him (or his publicist) some credit for improving on his speech (at least he mentioned AIDS, unlike his costar who told the world he's his own damn hero). He should have worn a formal man-bun though.

3. The fact that the director of the show never cut to the right people at the right time. When you talk about Angelina Jolie winning an honourary Oscar, cut to her-she's in the second row sitting with Brad Pitt you idiots!!!!
They at least tried to make up for it with this shot:

4. Bette Midler singing You are the Wind Beneath my Wings was horrendous and wasted time that could have been dedicated to honouring more people (especially all those that were forgotten, see here).

5. The 3 useless and completely similar montages which seemed to show only men (and 1 clip of JLaw in the Hunger Games, 1 of Sally Field in Norma Rae, and 1 of Julia Roberts in Erin Brokovich).

6.A John Travolta's wig!!!!!!!
6.B AND his made-up name for Idina Menzel: Adele Dazeem!


The good thing that came of this is that Slate has created a Travoltified Name Generator. Here's mine:

Is that why Idina's performance kinda sucked? I mean I love her (she was the original Maureen on Broadway in RENT!!!!) but she didn't sound so hot. At least Jimmy Fallon gave Idina a chance to sing on his show (with The Roots and classroom instruments!)

7. Last but not least (or maybe it is least in terms of enjoyability?) Absolutely everything to do with Matthew McConaughey--the fact that HE IS HIS OWN HERO, that he didn't mention one thing about HIV/AIDS, the people who live or who have died from the disease, the real man he played in the movie, or you know, anything of importance.

What were your most cringeworthy moments???
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Favourite moments from Oscar 86

So, it's all over, and I've had time to think about it and let it all soak in. A very predictable show (I did the best I've ever done in my predictions with 22 out of 24 categories correct-I only missed the 2 shorts categories) and it was both produced and directed terribly (and was way too long like always), but I'll wait to talk about that in the next post, for I first want to discuss what my favourite parts were--there actually aren't that many!

But that's the thing about the Oscars-I look forward to them so much, it's one of my favourite days of the year, I love seeing all the movies, reading about the behind the scenes politics of it all, making my predictions, discussing it at length, but really I do realize that when it comes down to it, the Oscars  are always pretty brutal, boring, too long, irritatingly self-congratulatory, and enraging!

I know many other Oscar enthusiasts feel the same way (which makes me question why the producers can't just make a better show...) Anyway, I loved Vulture's article the other day called The Oscars will piss you off, but you'll keep watching b/c they're right. I will ALWAYS watch (I mean, I watched the opening monologue on my Mum's TV in Canada via Skype. That shit is dedication!)

With that however, on to the highlights!

1. Darlene Love belting out, acapella I might add, "His Eye is on the Sparrow" (a song I know and love from Sister Act 2!) after the documentary 20 feet from Stardom won. I mean, that was badass, and is what live shows are all about! I also want to mention that I was really glad that the Orchestra never really awkwardly played anyone off, which I think is an improvement from years past.


2. Everything single thing about Lupita Nyong'o. I mean this girl is the epitome of grace, humility, eloquence. She won the Oscars, hands down.
First of all, the dress was perfection.
Second, her dancing with Pharrell was so cute (I liked Meryl's little shimmy shake too, though Amy Adams just seemed awkward)





Third, the fact that she was legit surprised she won, is just adorable. Look at her. Look at that joy and appreciation.



Last, her speech. So well spoken and lovely. Joyous and inspirational. Exactly what an acceptance speech should be (unlike some others of the night that I will clearly get to!)

My favourite parts of her speech:
"...It doesn't escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is thanks to so much pain in someone else's...Steve McQueen, you charge everything that you fashion with a breath of your own spirit. Thank you so much for putting me in this position, This has been the joy of my life. I'm certain that the dead are standing about you and watching and they're grateful and so am I...When I look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every little child that no matter where you're from, your dreams are valid."

3. Bill Murray's shoutout to Harold Ramis, the writer, director, actor, and Murray's former often collaborator (Ghostbusters, Caddyshack, Groundhog Day) who just passed away recently. Ramis and Murray had known each other since childhood, but got into a decades long feud after finishing Groundhog day and didn't speak until just recently when Murray reached out to Ramis before he died. Anyway, it was a touching moment, and a nice ad lib from Murray. God damn I love that man.


4. Brad Pitt handing out paper plates and pizza to the likes of Meryl Streep etc. So, the pizza bit was stupid and went on way too long, like all the audience bits did, but come on! As a dedicated Brangaloonie, I can't not be all over this! I want Brad to hand me a paper plate!

5. Cate Blanchett's telling people "woman-centred films are not niche. Audiences want to see them, and in fact, they make money." Preach woman! I've loved all her speeches this season (especially when she's mocked how ludicrous all of Matthew McConaughey's speeches have been).

6. The way the Screenplays, Director, and Best Picture awards went, i.e. to the people they should. Knowing in advance that I was going to be disappointed with some of the acting awards, it was nice that the other major prizes all went to those who were well deserving. I love Spike Jonze, and Her was such a fantastic screenplay. I also loved this tweet about his win:

I was happy with the Director/Picture split too, as it ended up awarding what I think were the 2 best films of the year (and with Her getting Best Original screenplay, awarding the other film I thought was best). No one deserved Director more than Alfonso Cuaron, who literally changed the way films were made. And I'm happy 12 years a slave won Best Picture-a very powerful and important film. If you haven't seen it, you should.

And how cute was Steve McQueen jumping up and down after winning (Lupita too)? Amazing.

What were your favourite parts of this year's show?
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Monday, March 3, 2014

Ways to improve the Oscars (by Al Mrk)

The oscars are done by the most gifted entertainers in the world. Yet last night's Oscars was so long and boring that surely some changes are needed. Here are a few:

1. No montages of any type. Definitely not three montages. On the same topic too! 

2. The majority of presenters have to be comedy actors. 

3. Academy members lose their membership once they stop working in movies.

4. There has to be a way to restrict the impact of campaigning. It has reached the point where it has taken over from the movies. I don't know how to do this. No one may. 
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Red carpet Disappointments and Disasters

Can we first off salute the most glorious disaster of the night, Ms. Liza? I'm obsessed.
 Like look at this shit. Amazing. She's a legend.

Now on to the disappointments and disasters that don't make me outrageously happy (to be fair, I think there were very few disasters on the carpet, but there were so many boring and disappointing dresses).

Case in point: Sandy (in Alexander McQueen) and Amy (in Gucci) in boring-ass blue strapless gowns! Almost identical. So disappointing. They prob both knew they had no chance of winning, but still, step up your game a bit. There is nothing interesting about these looks. And I don't like either of their hair (though Amy said she wore it up b/c it might rain, so fair enough). Sandy's highlights aren't doing it for me.


Another HUGE disappointment was Kerry Washington who normally KILLS IT on the red carpet. I mean, do you remember that gorgeous coral Miu Miu dress she wore last year? And the bejewelled Prada crop top she wore to the SAGs this year with her baby bump? Amazing. So, this drab Jason Wu dress that looked wrinkled at the bottom just wasn't cutting it for me when I know how incredible her style normally is. I also think her makeup was off. She didn't need that dark lip. It was too much.

Kerry in better clothes:
 

Anna Kendrick was a bad offender tonight. This J Mendel dress is just awful in every way.

I know I should give Chris Hemsworth's wife Elsa Pataky a pass b/c she is trés pregnant, but who told her this looked okay? Honestly, how does this look get passed a stylist/publicist/handler without being changed. There are lots of great ways to do pregnant on the red carpet. This is not one of them.


I choose not to discuss how terrible Lady Gaga's outfit was, because, why was she there?

Everything else I found to be just okay, and not really worth discussing (see: Jennifer Lawrence, and most people that wore black).

Who did you think were fashion misses?
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Oscars Dress SMUT: my best dressed list

Cate Blanchett is probably my favourite dresser of all time, and so I was quite excited to see what she was going to wear tonight (especially considering she was a lock to win). Though the nude Armani dress she wore tonight is not my favourite Oscar gown she's worn (that would go to the pale purple Givenchy gown from 2011), I still liked her look this year.
Givenchy, 2011
Armani, 2014
I really liked the two other dresses that were similar in colour and beading to Cate Blanchett's: her cast-mate Sally Hawkins' long-sleeve Valentino (even though there's been a lot of shade thrown at it online, I think it's awesome!) as well as Sarah Paulson's long-sleeve Elie Saab number.
 

Speaking of Elie Saab, I clearly was all over the Brange! (I love how he always insists on coming round the car and opening the door for her when they arrive anywhere-just like when I saw them at TIFF for Moneyball a few years ago). Ange wore Elie Saab and looked great. And I liked the simple hair. And thank goodness Brad has dealt with the hair. I can't believe he's 50. Still so smokin.

I loved Naomi Watts in Calvin Klein. I always love what she picks on the red carpet, even if a bit simple and predictable (she goes for sleek, light coloured, and metallics). Love her hair, makeup and jewellery, but those dinky little shoes are bad and have to go!

I like Anne Hathaway's black Gucci with the bedazzled breast-plate, but this does not make up for what she wore last year with the nipple darts *shudder*

Best dressed of the night though has to be given to Lupita Nyong'o in custom Prada. I mean look at the movement she gets in this dress. This is a dress that photographs well, looks incredible from all angles, and especially when walking (or dancing!). This girl and her stylist knew what they were doing when they picked this dress!





I think my favourite thing is the colour though:
Some honourable mentions to all the men who wore dark blue tuxes instead of black-looks so much better (esp. Jason Sudekis). I like what Olivia Wilde wore too--I'm a sucker for a dress with pockets.

And clearly the best dressed couple goes to Pharrell Williams and his gf Helen Lasichanh. I mean he wore god damned formal tuxedo shorts! Come on!

One last shout-out to the real Philomena Lee who I think looked awesome! (She's 80!)

What were your favourite looks of the night?
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Sunday, March 2, 2014

Why I am anti the McConaissance and why I don't think losing weight=great acting

Sigh. In less than 24 hours, Matthew McConaughey will be an Oscar winner. Take that in for a moment. 

This guy:












The star of: Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, Fools Gold, Failure to Launch, Ghosts of Girlfriend's Past, The Paperboy, Surfer Dude, We Are Marshall, Sahara, etc. 

Oh boy. My brother and I keep wondering exactly how this happened. (And can I just remind you of all the really great actors out there who do not have an Oscars? Leo, Joaquin...)

So, let me break down my anti the McConaissance for you. As my favourite gossip blogger Lainey has repeatedly said in these past months leading up the Oscars: Matthew McConaughay in Dallas Buyers Club is Matthew McConaughay in How to Lose a Guy in 10 days, minus 50 pounds.

Losing 50 pounds is not acting. It is actually the exact opposite of acting. It is changing your physical appearance, nothing more. No pretending involved, no craft. Does it take commitment? Yes. Does it take acting? No.

The willingness of the Academy to award actors for merely changing their physical appearance I think illustrates the fact that they have no respect for the craft and art of acting. Acting is hard, acting extremely well, is even harder. Losing/gaining weight is something that anyone could do with enough time, patience, willingness etc. But this is what wins awards:

Christian Bale in the Fighter  = Oscar
Natalie Portman in Black Swan = Oscar
Charlize Theron in Monster = Oscar
Tom Hanks in Philadelphia = Oscar
Anne Hathaway in Les Mis = Oscar

This is not to say that the examples above are not also great performances, but what I want to say is that simply losing (a lot of) weight, if it isn't that remarkable a performance, should not warrant an Oscar.

And this is the case with the Texas T-Rex.

I forced myself to watch Dallas Buyers Club so I could be legitimized in my criticisms of MM, even though I had zero interest in the film. Why wasn't I interested? Of course I think narratives about people living with HIV and AIDS and their lack of access to ARV medications are important stories to tell. Having spent a lot of time in Kenya, with people living and dying of AIDS, these are issues close to me, but when I first heard about what the movie was about, I was a bit resentful that the story focused on a straight white homophobic man. I'm not sure that's really the story of AIDS in American in the 1980's that I'm most interested in hearing. Isn't it always the white straight male narrative that we see? I was also resentful of the fact that Jared Leto (another white, straight, man) was cast as a trans character. And I'm not saying that straight actors can't play gay characters or cis actors can't play trans characters, but why not consider casting a trans actor?

After watching the movie I will admit it wasn't as terrible as I thought it was going to be (but my expectations were really really low). Having said that, I still don't think it was a very good film. I actually found it quite hard to engage in and found myself bored (I paused it a whole number of times to do other things which is not like me at all). I also think that a lot of the transitions/editing in the last quarter of the film were awkward and poorly done (distractingly so), and I didn't find Matthew McConaughaey's character arc at all compelling-but rather extremely predictable and cliché. Here is this white trash homophobic guy who gets AIDS, is given a month to live, scams his way into getting the drugs he needs to feel better, ends up selling these drugs to other AIDS patients to make money, and then eventually grows a conscience and isn't a homophobe anymore. I also don't think the acting was particularly challenging either. Other than losing a huge amount of weight, MM was pretty much just playing a presumably more discriminatory version of himself. 

The other thing I find upsetting about MM's imminent Oscar win, is that the whole Award season his acceptance speeches have not only been awful, but I think somewhat offensive. He blubbers on about practically nothing, while spouting his alright, alright, alright catch phrase, calls himself a god damned "king" (go and watch his Golden Globes speech right now) and doesn't give any kind of respect or tribute to the people who are living with or who have died of AIDS. Ugh, he's the worst. BOO!
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Katherine Hepburn was right!

Katherine Hepburn was the ultimate badass--when asked by Barbara Walters in an interview whether or not she owned a skirt, she replied "I do own just one, and I'll wear it to your funeral."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

K. Hepburn giving such good face!

Hepburn, who won 4 Best Actress Oscars during her career (the most any one actor has ever won--take that DDL and Streep!) also famously said: "the right actors win Oscars, but for the wrong roles."
I couldn't agree more with her, and reading my brother's post (scroll down to see it below) on his favourite performances that didn't win Oscars, I've been thinking about how this is the biggest source of rage I have about the Academy Awards, and really how it creates bad domino effects that affect other wins in other years.

Let's look at some examples...

Sandra Bullock's performance in Gravity (regardless of whether you liked the film or not), in terms of difficulty is hands down the best of the year. If you've read anything about the way the movie was filmed, or seen any interviews with her or Alfonso Cuaron, you know that what she had to do to is just remarkable. How hard would it be to have to imagine all of those things happening to you, while making it look like you were in a zero gravity situation and attached to wires and flipping around etc. UNREAL. In terms of the performances in the Best Actress category this year, I absolutely think her's was the best.


 

(If you want to learn more about how they filmed Gravity watch the video below-it's amazing)

Is Sandra Bullock going to win tomorrow? No. In fact she won't even be the runner-up, or even third (not that we will be privilege to that info). She won't win b/c Sandy already has an Oscar, for a terrible, melodramatic shitty movie that no one saw (The Blind Side, *shutter*) let alone that will ever be remembered.



So Cate Blanchett will win. Both Judi Dench and Meryl Streep have won before (and from what I've gathered from all the Osage: August Country reviews, Streep shouldn't have even been nominated, but the Academy would literally nominate both her an Dench for reading the phone book). I'm not totally sure why Amy Adams never got more momentum in the race--I do think her performance in American Hustle is the best thing about that movie, but the movie isn't very good. In fact the longer I think about that movie, the more I dislike it...

Anyway, Cate Blanchett is a lock. Do I think Cate deserves to win a Best Actress Oscar at some point in her career (she's won a Best Supporting for playing interestingly enough Katherine Hepburn in The Aviator)? Yes, I do. Do I think she should win for Blue Jasmine, in which she plays a neurotic privileged woman? No, I don't. In terms of acting, I don't really think that role was that difficult for a great actress like Blanchett. And don't get me wrong, I love her and think she's fantastic, but winning this year doesn't feel right to me.

Another good example:

Sean Penn. Great actor (although loathsome human being. Also, I can't believe him and Charlize Theron are in love--weird that they won their Oscars the same year too!). Definitely deserves an Oscar. Definitely deserved an Oscar for Dead Man Walking. Incredible performance and movie. Lost to Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas. Ridiculous. The ramifications? Sean Penn winning an Oscar for Mystic River, not a remarkable film or performance, thus bumping out Bill Murray for Lost in Translation.

Oh, and Al Pacino
Should have won for the Godfather Part II. Lost to Art Carney (who I've never heard of) for a movie called Harry and Tonto (which I've never heard of) which led to the Academy awarding Pacino for A Scent of a (god damned!) Woman-an absolutely horrendous movie also starring Chris O'Donnell-which pumped off Denzel Washington for Malcolm X!

I mean, I could go on--Humphrey Bogart losing for Casablanca (and then winning for The African Queen) caused Marlon Brando to lose for a Streetcar Named Desire! There are tons of examples. 
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Saturday, March 1, 2014

My favourite oscar losing performances (Al Mrk)

These nominees gave performances that have stood the test the time, typically much better than the originally winners.

1. Claude Rains, Best Supporting Actor, Casablanca, 1941. Absolutely the best supporting performance of all time, male or female. Rains's humour is what relieves the tension of Casablanca. The immortal leads of Bogart and Bergman never crack a smile, and it's Rains who delivers the humour. He gets many of the best lines of the best screenplay ever, and it's his delightful amorality that leaves the ending in doubt every time we watch.

2. Sigourney Weaver, Best Actress, Aliens, 1985. Try to imagine this movie with a man! The arc her character undergoes from the beginning to the end, Weaver's initial fragility to her natural, scared driven will to save those she loves, represents female nature at its best. The best female performance of all time.

3. Humphrey Bogart, Best Actor, Casablanca, 1942. It's hard to imagine Bogart struggled to get taken seriously as a dramatic actor. One of the iconic pieces of acting ever, like all of Casablanca it is as deep and fine as it ever was.

4. Al Pacino, Best Supporting Actor, The Godfather, 1972. The initial casting controversy was that the studio wanted a star to play Michael, not understanding that the character has to be ignorable, until he's not, and must be Film's ultimate enigma. Countless viewings of the movie simultaneously deepen and confuse the character. No one understands who the character is, nor will we ever.


5. Al Pacino, Best Actor, The Godfather Part II, 1974. Just two years later Pacino returned and continued the descent of his character. One of the harshest characters in film history, Pacino is all rage and ice, controlled coiled fury.

6. River Phoenix, Best Supporting Actor, Running on Empty, 1987. Phoenix's brilliant talent is on full display here, in an ideal part for a young actor. What a loss of talent Phoenix was. The closing scene is one of the great final scenes in movies.

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