Review: The Unborn

While everyone else has their ears turned toward the Oscar Buzz, I decided to go see a film that (more than likely) will never be acknowledged as an actual triumph in cinema.

THE UNBORN is the story of a girl named Casey who almost has it all: a loyal best friend, a loyal boyfriend, and a good life ahead of her. She begins to become plagued by strange nightmares and visions of mortal terror.

Her best friend dabbles in mysticism and tells her the dreams could mean anything. A strange incident happens in which a small boy that Casey is babysitting violently strikes her with a mirror in the face and tells her the ominus words "JUMBY wants to be born now."

JUMBY is a dybbuk (Jewish word for demon) that has assumed the form of her unborn twin brother and is using the girl to enter our world via mirrors.

Casey uncovers family secrets and a curse on her bloodline that dates back to the Holocaust. What began before Casey was born, the dybbuk wants to finish. It wants to use Casey to enter the human world and is willing to go through everyone that is close to her to do that.

At times, this movie reminded me of THE REAPING with Hillary Swank. The stories seemed similar to me in that A) a nonbeliever finds faith in the most harshest possible way and B) a young woman is the focal point in which supernatural events are set in motion. It also had hints of THE RING and THE EXCORCIST in it. I won't say whether this ends well or not.

The film itself was enjoyable. It is the perfect date movie for a quiet dark theater. However, I was not in a quiet dark theater. So, my review for this film is somehow skewed by my memory of little tween girls screaming, belching, farting, giggling, talking, yelling, and being absolutely, completely bitch ass ignorant through out the whole film. But, I digress.

The special effects were choice in this movie. People with twisted heads walking backwards on all fours will haunt my nightmares. Or maybe if I concentrate, they can eat the little tweens that made me waste soda on myself.

I can only wonder.

If I Could've Picked The Oscars.....

Everybody always complains about the Academy Awards, about how they're voted on by coastal elitists, they never nominate popular movie, etc. Especially this year, having seen 114 2008 relaeases, there were a lot of films that I felt were forgotten. So, at least for the major categories, I've created my own version of the Oscars, the way they should've been. Enjoy, and please comment if you think I'm way off the mark, or if you agree.

(Note: I've left out a lot of films that I personally loved; this is strictly what I think were the best films of last year. Also, some of these are actually nominated. That's because they deserved it.)

Best Picture:

The Dark Knight
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire
Synecdoche, New York
Wall-E

Best Actor:

Benicio Del Toro - "Che"
Frank Langella - "Frost/Nixon"
Leonardo DiCaprio - "Revolutionary Road"
Mickey Rourke - "The Wrestler"
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - "Synecdoche, New York"

Best Actress:

Angelina Jolie - "Changeling"
Anne Hathaway - "Rachel Getting Married"
Kate Winslet - "Revolutionary Road"
Kristen Scott Thomas - "I've Loved You So Long"
Meryl Streep - "Doubt"

Best Supporting Actor:

James Franco - "Pineapple Express"
Heath Ledger - "The Dark Knight"
Mathieu Almaric - "A Christmas Tale"
Ralph Fiennes - "In Bruges"
Robert Downey Jr. - "Tropic Thunder"

Best Supporting Actress:

Elsa Zylberstein - "I've Loved You So Long"
Penelope Cruz - "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Rosemarie DeWitt - "Rachel Getting Married"
Samantha Morton - "Synecdoche, New York"
Tilda Swinton - "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Documentary Feature:

American Teen
Encounters At The End Of The World
Gonzo: The Life & Work Of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
Man On Wire
Young @ Heart

Foreign Language Film:

Che
A Christmas Tale
Don't Look Down (No Mires Para Abajo)
Let The Right One In
Tell No One

Initial Reactions To The Oscar Nominations

First of all, here they are (courtesy of Joblo.com):

BEST PICTURE
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
MILK
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE READER
FROST/NIXON

BEST ACTOR
Sean Penn - MILK
Mickey Rourke - THE WRESTLER
Frank Langella - FROST/NIXON
Brad Pitt - THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Richard Jenkins - THE VISITOR

BEST ACTRESS
Meryl Streep - DOUBT
Anne Hathaway - RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Kate Winslet - THE READER
Melissa Leo - FROZEN RIVER
Angelina Jolie - CHANGELING

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Heath Ledger - THE DARK KNIGHT
Robert Downey, Jr. - TROPIC THUNDER
Philip Seymour Hoffman - DOUBT
Josh Brolin - MILK
Michael Shannon - REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Marisa Tomei - THE WRESTLER
Amy Adams - DOUBT
Penelope Cruz - VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
Taraji P. Henson - THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Viola Davis - DOUBT

BEST ANIMATED FILM
WALL-E
KUNG FU PANDA
BOLT

BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
David Fincher - THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Stephen Daldry - THE READER
Ron Howard - FROST/NIXON
Gus Van Sant - MILK

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Eric Roth - THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Peter Morgan - FROST/NIXON
John Patrick Shanley - DOUBT
David Hare - THE READER

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Courtney Hunt - FROZEN RIVER
Dustin Lance Black - MILK
Martin McDonough - IN BRUGES
Mike Leigh - HAPPY-GO-LUCKY
Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon - WALL-E

BEST ART DIRECTION
CHANGELING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
THE DUCHESS
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
CHANGELING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
THE READER
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
AUSTRALIA
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DUCHESS
MILK
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
THE BETRAYAL
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD
MAN ON WIRE
THE GARDEN
TROUBLE THE WATER

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
"The Conscience of Nhem En"
"The Final Inch"
"Smile Pinki"
"The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306"

BEST EDITING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
FROST/NIXON
MILK
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX
THE CLASS
DEPARTURES
AUSTRIA
WALTZ WITH BASHIR

BEST MAKEUP
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
DEFIANCE
MILK
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
WALL-E

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Down to Earth" - WALL-E
"Jai Ho" - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
"O Saya" - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
"La Maison de Petits Cubes"
"Lavatory - Lovestory"
"Oktapodi"
"Presto"
"This Way Up"

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
"Auf der Strecke (On the Line)"
"Manon on the Asphalt"
"New Boy"
"The Pig"
"Spielzeugland (Toyland)"

BEST SOUND EDITING
THE DARK KNIGHT
IRON MAN
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
WALL-E
WANTED

BEST SOUND MIXING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
WALL-E
WANTED

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
IRON MAN
THE DARK KNIGHT

Okay. Now, most of you know how I felt about "The Reader," so let me just say that, in year when "The Dark Knight," "Wall-E," "Doubt," "Gran Torino," "Synecdoche, New York," "Revolutionary Road," "The Wrestler" and "Changeling" could have been in the spot, they picked the most heavy-handed, criminally overrated movie to go in instead. Incredible.

I'm actually really surprised to see such a snub for "Revolutionary Road" too. I mean, really surprised. I figured that would be one of THE heavy favorites. Apparently, when I said it'd be too depressing to make it in, I was right. I still think it should've been nominated. Not won, but nominated.

Glad to see "Slumdog" in there, I'd say it's the definite favorite out of those five. "Reader" excluded, all the nominees are quality films. I thought "Milk" would suffer from a lack of buzz, so I'm pleasantly surprised to see that it made it through. "Frost/Nixon" was impeccably acted, though Michael Sheen should be up for something. He's onscreen more than Langella is.

The Springsteen song from "The Wrestler" should've been nominated. Like, this is not up for debate. And since when did "Best Original Song" go from five nominations to three? Last year, we sat through three different numbers from "Enchanted."

Also: Not that anybody's going to beat Ledger, but RDJ being nominated for "Tropic Thunder" is fantastic. The definition of a supporting role is a role that stands out despite less screen time, and that movie would've totally blown without him. He carried it, and it's good to see him nominated.

All in all, a mostly decent crop. But "The Reader"? Boo.

Review: The Reader

As promised yesterday, here's the explanation for my rage-filled burst against Kate Winslet's Golden Globes win for "The Reader." Now, don't get me wrong. She's excellent in it, but the film is far from excellent, and I have an issue with terrible films winning awards for good performances. Is that unfair? Maybe. However, when films win awards, people seek them out and see them. That's the problem. "The Reader" is an insult to everybody's intelligence, because it's made to look a lot more provocative and intelligent than it really is.

The premise appears to go deeper than it truly does. Michael (David Kross) is a young man living in pre-WWII Germany. One day, he collapses while attempting to return home from school, and a mysterious woman helps him. He returns to her apartment months later to bring her flowers and thank her, but sees her getting dressed. He can't help but watch, and she gets angry. He makes good with her, and they end up having an affair. At the end of their summer together, she disappears. Heartbroken even years later, Michael goes off to law school, where his class goes to observe a Nazi war crimes trial. Lo and behold, Hanna (Winslet) is on trial as a guard at Auschwitz who let 300 Jews die in a burning church. There's also a lot of jumping back to the present, where a grown Michael (Ralph Fiennes) is recalling these events.

The film has an intriguing premise, and starts intrestingly. Kross and Winslet are nude for quite literally the first half of the movie, having sex pretty much the entire time. You can see why the Weinstein Company put the film out; not a lot of other studios would take on a film this sexually charged. The trouble, however, is that there's no eroticism to their sex. It could be argued that this is to illustrate the detachment of Hanna, I understand that completely, but no filmmaker fills half his film with sex purely to make a point. That much onscreen sexuality is designed to shock and tittilate, I'm sorry.

Then, there is The Turn. I've been referring to it with such capital-letter drama ever since I bought it. If ever there was an example of a film's revelation killing the movie instantly, this is it. I actually figured it out about twenty minutes in, but I was dearly hoping I was wrong. The twist, which I'm not going to spoil, is supposed to be a heartbreaking shock designed to connect Michael and Hanna through a lifetime, and a game-changing secret that could save her from going to prison, but instead it's just silly. I mean, laugh-out-loud ridiculous, especially when the film plays it with a completely straight face.

I understand that there is a market for this film, and I know people who have thoroughly enjoyed it. I'll be the first to admit that this isn't my kind of film. Like I said about "Doubt" a few weeks ago, the film is designed to grab at awards and devastate a very specific audience, and just so my words aren't misunderstood, that audience is high-minded filmgoers who don't really attend movies to enjoy them anymore. The truth is that this film isn't aggravating, or provocative, or any other adjective. It's not really memorable enough to warrant such terms.

An Additional Thought Regarding The Golden Globes

In response to Jacqueline's post below, let me just ask one other question:

Was Sally Hawkins drunk when she accepted her award for Best Actress?

For that matter, were Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman as well?

I really wish alcohol was part of the Oscars.

(Oh, and I'm really disappointed Kate Winslet won for "The Reader," not because I don't like her in it. The movie was shit, and I was hoping it'd just fade into obscurity. More on that tomorrow.)

The Golden Globes 2009

The Award show was predictable (in my opinion) and pleasantly surprising. With Heath Ledger, posthumously, winning his best actor award for his role as the Joker in Dark Knight to 30 Rock's Tracy Morgan as the new face of post racial America (God help us).

Full of humble acceptance speeches, none more so than Kate Winslet's for her supporting actress role in the Reader. It was evident that Sydney Pollock's loss was felt by all who had worked with him. And Winslet also won for her best actress role in Revolutionary Road, upsetting the favorites Meryl Streep and Angelina Jolie. Well, in all fairness, they were happy for her, but in my mind, all awards go to Meryl Streep. I like her that much.

Slum Dog Millionaire, a movie I plan to see, did win for best screenplay and I sense that was a possible upset in that category.

The Cecile B. Demille Honoree for the evening was Steven Speilberg. His career has spanned the whole of my movie watching life and some of his best works (JAWS, BAND OF BROTHERS, ET., AI, WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT, etc.) are always worth revisiting.

In his acceptance speech, (I am paraphrasing) Spielberg said that while we strive to make movies for broader audiences that Hollywood's elite and non-elite should remember that they are a group of individuals that inspire each other. I automatically remembered those theatre people being labeled as weird in high school and then remembered how proud I was to count myself among them.

The Best director award went to SLUM DOG MILLIONAIRE'S Danny Boyle. (I have really got to see this film). The award that Pineapple Express's James Franco was up for went to Colin Farell for IN BRUGES. Colin stuttered during his rambling speech, but was surprisingly humble and very serious.

Other winners were

Best Film Musical or Comedy: Vicki Christina Barcelona

Best Actor in a Film/Drama: Mickey Rourke (And I hear that no one deserved it more.)

Best Film/Drama: Slum Dog Millionaire

I smell Oscar for some of these. We can only wait and see. I am not an expert. I am just a random blogger with time.

Mad Men won over my beloved True Blood for best tv drama. That sucked. But Anna Paquin won best actress for her role in True Blood, so that makes up for it in a way.
A lot of people say that Anna Paquin can't carry a lead role. I say, how could the Hollywood foriegn press be wrong?

Review: Revolutionary Road

There's a small assortment of films out there that I've found over time deserve their own subgenre, which I have cumbersomely titled "Great Films That Should Never Be Watched More Than Once." For example, as powerful as "Requiem For A Dream" is, do you really want to watch it repeatedly? The latest addition to this category is "Revolutionary Road," Sam Mendes' latest assault on the oppression and banality of suburban life after he won Best Picture for "American Beauty" eight years ago.

The film is the story of the Wheelers, April (Kate Winslet) and Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio), and their rapid decline into a profound loathing of each other. They start off like a couple we've all known, talked to, been parented by, etc. They meet, young and idealistic, after locking eyes from across a crowded room. She tells him "You might be the most interesting man I've ever known." Love blossoms, and soon they are married and moving out of the city to raise a family. In one of the film's cruelest touches, we don't get the comfort of seeing them in better times. Soon, the gravity of living in the suburbs and being just like everybody else begins to weigh heavily on both of them.

April has a plan, however. They'll move back to Paris. After all, Paris is where Frank was happiest in his youth, so they can go back. She'll even work as a government secretary so that he can find himself. It's a perfect plan, one that will save their marriage and allow them to be the people that they want to be, instead of the people they've become. Needless to say, not everything goes according to plan. The trouble with reviewing a film of this nature is that it is, above all other things, a character study, and so revealing anymore would tarnish the impact of the performances, which are the center of the film.

As performances go, this film features what may very well be the year's two best. DiCaprio and Winslet are both absolutely brilliant. They are so filled with hope early on that when things go south, we feel every moment of their pain, we are stung by every venomous barb they throw at each other. Winslet is especially impressive; in "The Reader," also in theaters now, she looked like she was sleeping through the film. Here, she is fearless. In her hands, April is sympathetic even as she does increasingly bad things without a hint of repentance. She fell in love with a man for all the things he once was and no longer is, and this has caused a massive upheaval of her existence; after all, we all know what happens when you make one thing your entire life and that single thing fails you in the long run.

Frank, however, is every bit as devastated. Unlike April, he feels as though he has to keep his cards hidden close to the chest. As the man of the family, he must provide and keep a level head. When he begins to feel as though April is emasculating him, he must subsequently find ways to make himself feel truly like a man again. He must also find a way to understand April, but what he cannot see is that she is beyond understanding. They are two people not made for each other, and have been together too long to overcome this.

The casting of these two in particular, I think, is quite cruel. After all, the last film they starred in was "Titanic," the highest-grossing film of all time. More importantly, in that film they played Jack and Rose, possibly the most iconic lovers in cinema history. (I've personally always preferred Rick and Ilsa, but that's just me.) Because of this immediate association with the undying power of true love, watching them rip each other to shreds in this film attains an entirely different level of devastation besides the obvious.

I often have trouble speaking highly of movies like this, because going back to the beginning of this review, it's difficult to say that I enjoyed a movie this depressing. Then, however, I think of something Roger Ebert said when he reviewed "The Weather Man," a criminally underrated film that also serves as a dark character study: "No good movie should ever be called depressing." "Revolutionary Road" is a good film, though not a great one. The sterility of everything around the Wheelers feels a bit forced; though I know Mendes meant to further illustrate the central concept, it's a bit much. It's good enough to deserve the likely Best Picture nomination, I can say that. Will it be relevant years from now? To some, sure, but not to all. I can see the same people who hated "American Beauty" disliking this film, and I personally preferred the former.