Rant - The Academy Awards / Oscars suck (and here's why)

Warning_ May Contain Strong Language)... and please I know what I am talking about.

My official Best List of 2010 (six months late)

If you want to see the list I've made for my Top 10 list for 2010, here it is.

Apparently I felt like that list meant I've seen less movies than I had this year. The reason is because I'd had final exams at school and that delayed my time to watch the movies I'm interested in or like to see. And also because most of the films released last year was already released in Australia this year. So here's my official Best/Worst list of 2010 counting the five best and the five very worst films.


Honourable mentions/ #6 movies
Greenberg, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, The King's Speech, Green Zone, Animal Kingdom, The Fighter, Toy Story 3 (it's not the best Pixar has to offer us but its tolerable), The Town, Black Swan


2010 Watchlist
Easy A, Get Him To The Greek, Exit Through The Gift Shop, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, I Love You Phillip Morris, Blue Valentine
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5. Kick Ass

It was a hard spot for me to decide. It was either Kick Ass or Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. Scott Pilgrim was a visual wonderland hooking you into a the experience of comic books, indie music, 8 bit videogaming and clever pop culture references. Kick Ass gets 5th spot not because it doesn't have the distinct look of Scott Pilgrim, but because it's bloody hiliarious. Kick Ass is the story of a teenage comic book reader transforming himself into a DIY superhero whose only powers are wielding batons. But he'd faced deadly consequences and meets a daddy-daughter duo also a superhero vigilante and are better than him. What makes Kick Ass works is that this brings all of the great super films and mixed it with violent satire that's refreshing. With Aaron Johnson being this Peter Parker knockoff you should applaud, Chloe Moretz steals the show playing Hit-Girl a girl who takes an appetite for destruction for justice, you'll laugh until the film literally hurts. Moretz is a revelation and should be lauded for taking risks here, not panned because she's eleven. It's a graphic novel adaptation that should be graphic for the faint-hearted, but at the same time, poignant at heart.

4. Winter's Bone

Just a few days ago, I decided to pick this film up so I can finish all of the Best Picture nominees. Winter's Bone may be an average arthouse film that is only seen by few people, but for every film lover or person who loves critically acclaimed films, it's a must see. 

A tale of a young girl named Ree Dolly living in the Ozarks who's looking after her younger siblings because her mother is catatonic and her father's a methhead. When Ree discovers her dad hadn't shown up to his trial, she decides to search for him. During her journey she encounters ghastly people who brings mysteries surrounding her Dad including her uncle Teardrop and during that she face certain consequences from these people. 

This film is beautifully tragic and it's visually gritty considering the environment of the Ozarks malnourished with poverty and underground drug labs. Well-directed by Debra Granik who brings the importance of the themes of determination, poverty and family into this quiet yet richly detailed crime thriller. Winter's Bone is then lifted up by Jennifer Lawrence's powerful performance as the heroine of the story and more put forward is John Hawkes' fierce uncle.

3. 127 Hours

127 Hours brings in the greatest depth of a normal person I've ever seen. It's a kinetic and visual experience from Danny Boyle that is also beautifully edited. 127 Hours is the story of survival, a matter of life and death for real life adventurer Aron Ralston. As you should know, it's the biographical story of the guy while being stuck on a rock. It's James Franco bravuva and sensational performance that has me convinced it's one of the best performances I've ever seen in a film. He's brings a variety of emotions from cheerful to lonely. The climax (which should be obvious) brings tension that's gripping and determined. For those who assume this film is just seeing a guy cuts his arm off, please look at it further. It's a life story.

2. The Social Network

Many films are known for their subject matter just before and after they're nominated for bazillions of Oscars. Brokeback Mountain (a movie about a gay romance), Slumdog Millionaire (Indian guy on Millionaire), The Hurt Locker (movie about the Iraq War) and now we have The Social Network, a movie about Facebook. As much as people would assume that a Facebook movie is lame or boring, apparently it knocked the hell out of every professional critic. The subject matter doesn't deal with Facebook. More so, it matters on the human relationships regarding ordinary people who helped defined our time.

The Social Network focuses on Mark Zuckerberg, after being dumped by his girlfriend and from forming a revenge blog, decides to build Facebook, an online social network he thinks would refreshes the entire "social experience"to a new level. Since the inception of Facebook, he is brought to lawsuits and a loss of friendship with Eduardo Saverin.

The Social Network is a simple story of friendship, loyalty and betrayal according to screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. Through Sorkin's stylish, witty screenplay, David Fincher's cold yet visceral direction and Trent Reznor's mesmerising score, these aspects manage to pull you in and for the better, make this film work to a higher level. Kudos to Jesse Eisenberg who plays the ironic characterization of Mark Zuckerberg and Andrew Garfield as the possibly flawless Eduardo Saverin who get screwed the most. It should've been Best Picture at the Oscars, but sooner or later, it will be a classic. 

1. Inception

Here's proof that the summer of 2010 was not a bummer. Inception is a blockbuster that shows its artistic value over its need to make profit. Inception is almost every reason you go to movies for a good time. It's entertaining, make you think and believe you're in something that has never been seen before. It adds new meaning of science fiction. Enough said, if you want more click here

My Reaction to the 83rd Academy Awards

OK. The Oscars are over. After that, you should get a life.

And I was divided. Really divided.

The King's Speech won four Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor (it almost got the Big Five - Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay and Best Director). I congratulate them with their win. It is a perfect prediction for this years Oscars because as I said in the Best Picture blog, the Academy loves a feel-good movie even if my wishes wasn't fulfilled. SO anyway congratulations to them. Even if it meant that a Hollywood movie had not won that category for four years.

I was really happy that Inception had got the most Oscars with four for Visual Effects, Cinematography, Sound Editing and Mixing. Most of the technical awards. And The Social Network got three Oscars - Best Editing, Best Original Score for Nine Inch Nails duo Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and Best Adapted Screenplay for Aaron Sorkin. And even though it didn't win any important category, Inception and The Social Network will be remembered as two of the greatest movies made in this century.

And I was also pleased that Natalie Portman won the only Oscar for Black Swan. Black Swan is a dark movie and even it is so conflicted, Portman deserved it. Everybody's a winner (except for 127 Hours, that's a shame)

Insert rant:

But the entire show is so EXCRUCIATING. Anne Hathaway and James Franco may be the youngest hosts to ever host an Oscar show, but they are the worst Oscar hosts ever!! It makes David Letterman hosting feel like Billy Crystal, it makes Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin look like Cheech & Chong.

I have completely lost faith with Hathaway and I don't know if playing Catwoman in the next Batman movie was the right choice by Christopher Nolan. Seriously James Franco cross dress as Marilyn Monroe while Hathaway makes fun of Australians. That is such a dick move. It reminds me of two guys sitting next to each other at a bar. One's drunk and the other remains sober. Hathaway acts drunk while Franco seems like he came out from Alcoholic Anomynous. That is such a dick move.

More than so, this is what I've been expecting from these two actors who have never experienced any hosting duties. They honestly could not take this seriously together and the chemistry is entirely charmless. Seriously the jokes are unfunny, the lines are unplayful and this is the moment I've been waiting for... Hathaway changing her wardrobe for EIGHT FUCKING TIMES! Hathaway bringing in a choir from the movie Waiting For Superman is somewhat a hush compensation for us if we don't enjoy until the very end. Watching Hathaway and Franco hosting the 83rd Academy Awards is like watching The Last Airbender where it doesn't have an ending and until its 127 minute there's a twist (M Night Shyalaman joke put here) but there's still no ending. Now I'm wishing Kanye would come in and interrupt them. It's also like watching The Tourist again and again.

I honestly don't get why the Academy is so obsessed with kids my age. I mean did the whole Academy go into a midlife crisis? Did they want them to grab ratings? Did the Academy want to trick them into seeing the hottest girl and guy in Hollywood hosting the biggest event of their lives? They're trying to grab a younger audience and that plan had epicly failed. Unfortunately no one 16 years younger or older to 25 is interested in good movies. Because they don't know what the fuck is a good movie. They're still playing their Call Of Duty: Black Ops, still watching the same Adam Sandler movie or Twilight movie and they will never watch classic movies like 2001: A Space Oddysey or Goodfellas.

They could've chose a comedian instead. None of them are comedians and the Academy would've gave Stephen Colbert or even Conan o Brien the rights to host it.

But the best thing about the show is a montage of The Social Network, Twilight, Toy Story 3 and Harry Potter mashuped to deliver a hilarious autotune

So my verdict is this: Everyone's a winner, but they wasted their time to the most hollow show on Earth

Road To The "Oscar"

OK. There will be 5 sleeps until the Oscars is held and I believe that in some ways, the Academy tries to get the attention of minors or trying to gather a youthful audience to watch the Oscars after school. They chose Anne Hathaway and James Franco as hosts because they're young and more well known to many young ones. Then they nominate Toy Story 3, Inception for Best Picture some movies that everyone would enjoy. Would teens watch the annual show?

But we're not talking about why young people should care about the Oscars. (they don't watch good movies at times anyway). the title Road to The "Oscar" refers to the one and only Oscar category I care about (hence the quotation marks of the word Oscar and how the word is not in plural form): The Academy Award For Best Picture.

In my opinion, doubling the nominees to 10 seems to be a good move. The move was based on what movies everybody liked (the people and the critics). Ever since 2005, there have been nominees which the majority of people have never heard about but the critics loved. In 2005, the Oscars back then was the lowest rated Oscars in television because nobody have heard about movies such as Capote, Crash (the Best Pic winner), Good Night and Good Luck which was directed by George Clooney and Munich which was an unknown piece from Steven Spielberg. It was the same as for 2007 where There Will Be Blood, No Country For Old Men and Michael Clayton was never well known to a lot of people. But the next year, the Best Picture category had everyone's nerves. There was disappointment to many people that The Dark Knight and WALL-E wasn't nominated for Best Picture accusing the Academy of snubbing these two movies (all poppy) saying they were deserving. So it was a great move that last year the nominees were 10 because it shows a range of movies that many audiences enjoy. From science fiction like Avatar, District 9 to darling indies like Precious and The Hurt Locker.

This year the Best Picture nominees involves a cyber-Kane, a stuttering King, a dream weaver, a lesbian couple, a batshit ballerina, some dude who cuts his arm off and a cowboy movie. I forgot to mention a crack boxer, toys and a hillbillie family with true grit.

127 Hours - that movie featuring the greatest amputation scene


Plot:
The true story of an extreme sports enthusiast whose arm got trapped between the rock. During his time with the boulder, he goes back to memories filled with every emotion from the varied spectrum and hallucinates of his peers and family.


What I Think Of The Movie:
I may be exagerrating, but 127 Hours is the best contemporary film of this modern millenium with a flawless performance from James Franco. It's Man Vs. Wild meets Hitchcock.

Chance of Winning Best Picture:
Despite the fact that Danny Boyle previously directed Slumdog Millionaire, this movie will not likely win Best Picture. It's risk taking at any standards but it won't appeal the Academy though. Won't likely to win any Oscars, but my wish is it should win Best Editing.

Black Swan - Ballerinas must seek group therapy


Plot:
Natalie Portman is a ballerina who seeks perfection so badly that she pressures herself way too much.

What I Think:
Black Swan is a movie that wants to find itself through sexual and literally reflective motifs. It is a rollercoaster ride by Darren Aronofsky whose character study brings Natalie Portman to a tour-de-force performance. Everything looks esquisite especially the choreography.

Chance Of Winning Best Picture:
Even if it won three Best Picture awards from three Critics Groups and a nod for Arronofsky for directing it, soon it won't win Best Picture. But hey. It'll definitely brings home Best Actress for Natalie Portman.

The Fighter - Boxer with seven troll sisters


Plot:
Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale) is the brother of Micky Ward whose a boxer. Well, unsuccessful. And Ward cannot continue not only because he cannot box properly, but because Dicky end up in prison but because his mother would not let him and also his seven ugly sisters.

What I Think:
The Fighter is just some ordinary boxing movie. Every movie is the same except for Million Dollar Baby. However The Fighter is just formulaic and cliche with the same plot, but I still think the performances save this film.

Chance Of Winning Best Picture:
It is nominated for many Best Pics, but it wouldn't win. At least they'll get Supporting honours.

Inception - The Dream Weaver


Plot:
An extractor whose still in grief for the death of his wife. But he makes one last task by planting an idea into someone's deepest dreams.

What I Think:
Inception is a multi-layered thriller with a science fiction premise. It's beyond speculative fiction cementing Christopher Nolan's reputation as its greatest filmmaker working right now.

Chance OF Winning Best Picture:
Nolan was responsible for bringing 10 nominees. The Academy already responded with that, they don't need to respond by giving it Best Picture. It's already an awesome movie. You don't need to win Best Pic if this movie was perfect. It should win most of the technical categories, but it should win Best Original Screenplay.

The Kids Are Alright - Married... With children... and we're gay.


Plot:
A lesbian couple has two kids. the kids find their sperm donor who had made them and the wives are shocked to find out.

What I Think:
The Kids Are Alright is pretty overrated. Ever since Brokeback Mountain, it seems that the academy is so obssessed with films about gays.

Chance Of Winning Best Picture:
Fortunately for The Kids Are Alright it won the Golden Globe For Best Picture - Musical Or Comedy (even though it was the only legit film for that category). But it will never win the category, but I'm predicting that the biggest shock of the Oscars would be Annette Bening winning Best Actress over Portman. It may win Best Original Screenplay because it's an indie flick with 'values'

The King's Speech - The King who.. simply couldn't speak


Plot:
King George VI can't deliver a speech. He then bond with a speech therapist so he can speak again during times of war and troubles

What I Think:
The King's Speech is a delightful film that has a fascinating problem of an iconic king. But the whole movie is entirely predictable but is lifted up by the performances of Colin Firth and Geoffery Rush.

Chances Of Winning Best Picture:
The King's Speech could win Best Picture not because it is supported by the Weinsteins but because the Academy enjoy a feel-good movie even if it was predictable. If it doesn't win, it will certainly go away with a Best Actor prize for Colin Firth and possibly a Best Original Screenplay.

The Social Network - Cyber-Kane


Plot:
Basically the foundings of Facebook responsible by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg who's portrayed as this cold-hearted genius betraying his friends and peers to make this website.

What I Think:
An impreccable direction from David Fincher, a quick witted script by Aaron Sorkin and a remarkable cast featuring Jesse Einseberg and Andrew Garfield shows that this is the best film made by Hollywood for 2010. It is not a movie about Facebook, it's a dark and realistic look of how we find connections online

Chances Of Winning Best Picture:
Sweeping almost all of the critics awards there is including a Golden Globe, this may not win Best Picture because the Academy voters may be left cold with this one. At least they're a sure shot for winning Best Director, Best Original Score and Best Adapted Screenplay

Toy Story 3 - the third plot of plastics


Plot:
The third instalment of the incredible trilogy, Andy's going to college and don't know what to do with them. Unfortunately he unintendedly left them in a trash bag so the toys enter a daycare disguised as a dungeon.


What I Think:
It is perfect, but it doesn't mean it's flawless. Sometimes the movie feels so familiar with the previous movies way better than this one. At least Toy Story was fun and emotional

Chances Of Winning Best Picture:
They're certainly a full shot for Best Animated Feature, but will never win the top prize. At least it was nominated for the top category, grossed a billion dollars and is a great movie from Pixar

True Grit - Coens' 'greatest' film


Plot:
14 year old Mattie Ross asks a drunk US Marshal to help find her father's killers.

What I Think:
Well apparently I find this overrated. The Coens may have recaptured the Western and Hailee Steinfeld steals the show, but apparently I don't think the performances of the whole cast (exception of Steinfeld) never worked for me. And the ending is questionable, but still it's a good movie.

Chance Of Winning Best Picture:
The last Western to win was Unforgiven in 1991. However True Grit got too many noms and should get one Oscar, at least. Anyway, it won't win Best Picture even though the Academy enjoys remakes.

Winter's Bone - Ozarks may rest in pieces


Plot:
A family from the Ozarks is living under poverty and the daughter (Jennifer Lawrence) goes finding her father who escaped bail and is hunting the family.

What i think:
Honestly I don't have anything about Winter's Bone because I haven't seen it. But it was a critics darling and unfortunately many people were bored by it. This is the only film nobody's ever heard about unless you've went to Sundance.

Chance Of Winning Best Picture:
To be honest, there's a 1 in 10 chance of winning. But to be fair, this may be a shocker if it wins because it was considered 'unforgettable' by the critics. Expect a Crash-styled upset.


My Pics:


The 'Best' Best Picture Nominees:


1. 127 Hours (10.0)
2. The Social Network (9.6)
3. Inception (9.5)
4. Black Swan (9.4)
5. Toy Story and The King's Speech (tie) (7.8)
7. True Grit (6.4)

I haven't seen The Fighter, The Kids Are Alright and Winter's Bone but I stand corrected by my opinions (except for the latter)


Who Will Win:
It will be a neck-and-neck race between The King's Speech and The Social Network. The King's Speech may get the top prize. it was given every top honour from the Guilds, the public enjoyed it, the critics enjoyed it. Everybody enjoyed it. The Social Network is a critics' darling and to my understanding it was a cold portrayal of Mark zuckerberg, one of the most powerful men in the world who founded Facebook only his character matches the website's irony.

Who Should Win:
The Social Network. It is a modern day look of the insecurities of this generation

OK. I'm done. But I'm not watching the Oscars. I'll catch it up in the news of who won and who lost.

The Tourist/ The King's Speech

The Tourist

Warning... Spoiler Alert!

D+ (2.1)


I really love to take a piss on Hollywood on what they are today and it's really a shame that many famous actors and actresses have to put up with gossip and risks that would have tested their reputation. The one part is that celebrities are victims of studios cashing into movies that involves mind-numbing special effects or in this case a movie with another famous person. This is known as the star vehicle just so studios cash in to audiences' money since two most famous people were put there.

This is the perfect example of what studios are doing to Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, two of the most famous people in Tinseltown since they are highly paid and drive everyone's eyeballs on them. And it's called the Tourist.

Angelina Jolie plays an allusive woman in white who is wanted because her partner Alexander Pierce had embezzled hundreds of millions of dollars to several sting operators in Europe. She then meets Frank Turalo (Johnny Depp), an American maths proffessor who's on vacation to Venice so she couldn't be caught. Frank is then involved when British agents mistaken him for Pierce and he ends up in love with her.

I was expecting that The Tourist would be a totally mediocre experience, even if it was directed by Florian von Doonweshmark (his name reminds me of Doofenshmerf from Phineas and Ferbs) who directed The Lives Of Others which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film which I never heard of. However it exceeds my expectations where it is way below mediocre. It's lame.

Everything except the art direction just blows. The setting of Venice is so beautiful, I like the photography, and even so I don't even mind eye candy for the guys or the girls. But every aspect, every tiny little detail is just a waste of my 2 hours. The miscasting, the illogical plot and messy dialogue

Doonweshmark must have took each misstep along the way whilest directing it and he wrote the screenplay. Every line of dialogue was either cheesy or just plain terrible. I have to admit that I laughed twice during the movie, but I still hate it. There were some scenes that were just cliched, some that I've correctly estimated for the next ten minutes and some scenes that just bored me to death. And they must hired some professionals because the stunts are just pretentious and poorly staged. To tell you the truth there is just a lack of action. And the score is just typical and annoying.

Unfortunately I can also blame the casting. Jolie and Depp are great actors but their performances are really one dimensional and wooden. Jolie has a limited amount of dialogue and looks as if she's bored and Depp seems to be revising his character as Jack Sparrow for the next Pirates Of The Carribean movie because his bumbling personality does not appeal to me and is so annoying.

There is absolutely no sense of chemistry between the glamous leads as both lack any substance needed to lighten it.

The one thing that had made me mad with this movie is that part of Donnersmarck's mundane direction is that there's a twist ending that doesn't make any sense. The ending is in Spanish. Not in language but in subtitles and I was so dumbfounded it made me thought 'wow, this is really messy'. Unfortunately, the biggest flaw is that The Tourist doesn't even know what tone to take. Is it a comedy? Because the dialogue so terrible with some insulting views about the Americans it had made the whole audience unintendedly laughing. Is it a thriller? There's no action. Is it a film noir? There's no character in the two leads.

And this needs to explain why it was nominated for three Golden Globes when it is so terrible. Is it just a ploy so they can avoid the Razzies because of the star players or is it for TV ratings since no one cares about awards shows? I don't know, I absolutely felt cheated.

It is Hollywood that's gone wrong here.

The King's Speech


B+ (7.8)

I was absolutely surprised that this was not only taken over by the critics and festival goers, it was a crowd pleaser in Australia as well and to me it was a surprise to me because this is about the Royal family which I had never learnt about its ancestery and this is one of the best films of last year.

It won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival and I went to the movie with no hopes at all because in that theatre I was the youngest person in that cinema watching this movie. The whole audience is around 60 to 80 so there were a lot of seniors passing by and I thought I'm in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The King's Speech focuses on King George VI (Colin Firth) and before he became the head of the monarchy, he was the Duke OF York when Edward VII (Guy Pearce) decided to marry an American divorcee and given that the regulations is that he's the Head Of the Church, the Church cannot take the Duke's wish of marrying a woman who's twice married and so Edward abandoned his place to the Royal throne to George. The man who wouldn't be called King by the whole public never wished to be King because it involves public speaking or making speeches which he truly dreaded. George has a speech impediment that not only disallows him to make a speech, he constantly stutter when having a conversation or when he tells a bedtime story to his daughters Elizabeth (our Queen today) and Margeret.

Having no hope to treat this impediment his wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) went to Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffery Rush) where his unorthodox methods not only treated Bertie's (his family usually calls him that) weakness but grow a special relationship between the two during times of war and post war

The only thing I heard about The King's Speech is that like The Social Network it is one of the best films of 2010. I went into the film with no expectations because the Royal Family never had me interested. And also anyone under the age of say 50 wouldn't be interested about the film's premise. But then when I came out of the movie once it was finished I was really astonished and impressed with this film and knew why it had to be the year's best.

The plot was really fascinating in many levels as it's about the biggest weakness of a King who's an icon for National Resistance during World War II that's supposed to be the King's duties. It's also fascinating of how Bertie has to become King because his brother Edward marries someone who is not the Church's type.

It is also unintentionally hilarious as the humour for the film comes quick and fast. Not to mention it is filled with a lot of wit. But the problem with this movie's humor is when to laugh. Most of the audience had laughed between scenes and it's great that they're enjoying themselves.

Colin Firth should receive an Oscar for Best Actor because he portrayed a famous King as we never had learnt before. Bertie's emotions have me sympasise for him because he's kinda feels like he's autistic. He's not confident and has a lack of communictation with the public because of his handicap and he'd get picked on by his father for not speaking perfectly. However Firth makes his character really inspirational and motivating as whenever words come out of his mouth at any stop it's exciting that he had overcome his weaknesses. Geoffery Rush is hilarious and fun to be with as an Australian speech therapist who's character is very riveting as he helps Bertie to be a King along wars and troubles and has a play-by-my-rules stance.

Even Helena Bonham Carter is splendid as Bertie's wife as this is a departure from her usual character as a melodramatic psycho. She also supports Bertie with seldom where she's the only person in his family who does that since none of his family never cared if he had trouble speaking.

The King's Speech is basically an actor's movie since it has universally impeccable performances by these finest veteran actors. And this is where it has a lot of heart under its system given that these characters has a lot of soul and emotion that have put many people in tears.

But apparently The King's Speech is not perfect. What would've made it perfect is that many historical dramas have this particular formula that I have trouble with. I mean we know the main character has something bad that restricts his duties as the head of a powerful monarchy but then it's when he's starting to take over and it's make it so predictable at the end of the film and once you get to the ending it's just that is that.

The King's Speech would have made my top ten list had I reviewed it before the year ended. The film has fine craftmanship and is aspiringly dramatic.