Oscar Nominations, Cloverfield, 27 Dresses

Oscar Nominations were announced today -

Best Picture
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Thoughts - While I am glad that Atonement did not get snubbed, I am fuming mad about all the Into the Wild snubs!

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood
Joel and Ethan Coen - No Country For Old Men
Tony Gilroy - Michael Clayton
Jason Reitman - Juno
Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Thoughts - People actually saw Into the Wild and it's brilliance, yes? Because these people obviously didn't actually watch Juno. I mean, the direction is nothing to write home about. Sean Penn's direction on the other hand...

Best Actor
George Clooney - Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd
Tommy Lee Jones - In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises
Thoughts - No Emile! Big surprise. However, I can't be that upset because Tommy Lee Jones was nominated instead and I loved his performance in that film!

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth the Golden Age
Julie Christie - Away From Her
Marion Cotillard - La Vie En Rose
Laura Linney - The Savages
Ellen Page - Juno
Thoughts - Finally! A category I am happy about. No Angelina Jolie! Hooray!

Best Supporting Actor
Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem - No Country For Old Men
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson's War
Hal Holbrook - Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton
Thoughts - I can't complain too much here.

Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
Ruby Dee - American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan - Atonement
Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton
Thoughts - Can't really complain much here either. Although I am a little upset that Kelly MacDonald didn't get any love but whatever. That pales in comparison to how pissed I am about the whole Into the Wild snubbing!


Cloverfield - For the most part, Cloverfield is a surprinsgly good little movie. I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I know a lot of people hated it, but I absolutely loved how it was filmed. The shaky camera lends to the realism. I didn't find it annoying in the least. It actually really feels like you are watching someone's home movie that was found after the fact. If it was all steady camera shots, then it just wouldn't be as effective. I thought the basic premise was pretty solid, although I have a few problems with the way things panned out ultimately. 1) While you did develop feelings for most of the characters, I didn't really care at all about the girl these people risked their lives for. There needed to be a little more development there. I needed to somehow see that this Rob fellow actually cared about her. I really don't think the movie delivered that. 2) It was your typical 'Stupid or Seemingly Smart People Doing Things that Are Ultimately Stupid.' I can let that slide, however, because, really, movies like this aren't really made about smart people. There would be no movie then. Smart people would get the hell out of dodge. They wouldn't risk their lives for some slutty girl (that's how I viewed her because, like I said, the movie gave me no reason to care about her at all). 3) The monster. My main problem with monster movies is always, always, always the monster. When we exited the theater, the people I went with said, and I quote, "Gee whiz! I'm so glad they actually showed the monster." I disagree. Actually, I couldn't disagree more. Bits and pieces of the monster would have been find but as soon as I see a monster, it completely takes me out of the moment. The film did a really great job of making everything feel as real as possible. But the whole monster thing just does nothing for me. As soon as I see a great, big, ole monster, anything immediately goes from being intense and realistic to just plain silly. (I had the same problem with The Mist a few months ago). No matter how well the CGI is done, monsters will always seem silly to me. There's something to be said for letting things to the imagination. If we didn't see the monster, we could have all created something in our minds that would have been more terrifying than anything J.J. Abrams and his pals could cook up. However, I don't want anyone to think I didn't like the movie because I mostly did. In fact, I recommend it. You should definitely check it out. And keep your eyes peeled for that last scene and look to the right of the screen (see if you can see something falling into the ocean). It is J.J. Abrams after all. Conspiracy theories must spread like wild fire!
Grade: B-

27 Dresses - And then there's this. First, let's talk about the good points. No movie ever suffered from having Judy Greer involved. In fact, it's really time for her to move on from the 'best friend / bitchy rival' thing she's been doing for, well, ever. Honestly, she should be getting every role that goes to Leslie Mann. If I ever write a script, I will make sure that it has roles for Judy Greer and Allison Janney! Also, James Marsden is really just crazy attractive. He's charming and, well, really sexy. What with those blue eyes, gorgeous smile and chiseled cheek bones. Well, I'll see anything that involves James Marsden. Another good point was that the usually annoying beyond all belief Katherine Heigl actually wasn't as bad as I imagined. I didn't completely hate her in this movie (although I still pretty much did). And that's where all the goodness stops. The movie is paint by numbers romantic comedy. You can see where it's going based soley on the previews. It's marginally funny and marginally interesting. Even the big 'Let's dance on a bar and sing Bennie and the Jets' scene (which is cute and funny, thanks to Marsden mostly) can't save this stinker. Every tired romantic comedy cliche is there and in full force. Also, there is a major lack of chemistry between Marsden and Heigl. Just because they are both pretty doesn't mean they are going to have chemistry (see also: The Nanny Diaries starring Scarlett Jo and Chris Evans). There are many scenes that should be edited down to be tighter and funnier. Instead they just drag on and on and become way too talky. Maybe I'm just a little too much of a modern woman or maybe I just completely missed the point but what I took away from the movie was this message - No matter how beautiful, intelligent or interesting you are, you are only really complete as a woman when you find a man who can take care of you and that makes you happy. As a feminist woman, I frankly find that offensive. (Believe me, I know this isn't the first romantic comedy to spout that message but it's the first in a long time where it comes across so heavy-handedly).
Grade: D+

Short reviews of other movies I saw recently...

The Bucket List - Basically, it's cliched and predictable. However, whatever part of this movie that works only does so because of the likeability and charm of Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. It can be argued that Jack is becoming like Diane Keaton and only playing versions of himself at this point. However, when anyone talks shit about Jack, I like to evoke the 'Chinatown Clause' which pretty much states he was so magnificent in that movie (along with tons of others) that we are never allowed to say a bad word about him ever. I love you Jack!
Grade: C+

Death Sentence - Ah, Kevin Bacon. I love you, I really do, but homeboy needs to start picking some better films that really showcase his talent and not just his ability to kick major ass. The director behind Saw directs this near-disaster. I don't know why he thought shooting in stairwells and parking garages was a good idea. It makes everything feel a little claustrophobic to be honest. Bonus points for giving the great and underrated Matt O'Leary something to do!
Grade: D+

Waitress and Knocked Up

Waitress - Waitress is the kind of movie that I can't imagine anyone NOT liking. It's a thouroughly likeable and refreshing story. It's cute and sweet and funny, really just a wonderful gem of a movie. Written, directed and co-starring the late Adrienne Shelly (who was murdered earlier this year), the film follows Jenna (Keri Russell), a waitress at a pie diner in a small Southern town who is in a very unhappy marriage to Earl (Jeremy Sisto). She's secretly saving money in hopes to leave him but then she learns she's pregnant (after one lone drunken night). Jenna is not exactly happy about having a baby but she forms a bond with her sexy yet dorky doctor (Nathan Fillion). Soon, they are having an all out affair despite the fact that both are married and she's with child. Meanwhile, back at the pie diner, her waitress friends Becky (Cheryl Hines) and Dawn (Shelly) are having romantic highs and lows as well. Becky starts an affair of her own with the cranky manager of the place and the unlucky in love Dawn meets a weird suitor who just may be her Mr. Right. Throw in the ever fiesty and adorable Andy Griffith and you've got a wonderful little movie. I'll admit it does drag a little in the middle and seems a bit contrived now and then but mostly it's a movie with a huge heart. It's as sweet as all those pies that Jenna makes during the movies (and if you like pie, this movie will probably make you hungry... lucky for me, i prefer cake). Russell is finally becoming the movie star I always knew she could be. I have loved her since her Felicity days when she was the poster girl for shy, dorky girls in love with boys who don't even know they are alive and Waitress is the perfect vehicle for her. The entire cast is wonderful and they take the already solid script to a really great place. Cheers to Griffith for being the perfect scene stealer. It's more like, scene blessing, if you think about it. All in all, Waitress is the kind of movie that you really can't help but fall in love with a little bit.

Grade: A-

Knocked Up - First of all, comedies should not be close to two and a half hours long. And the worst part? It felt like it was even longer at times. Sure, it was funny. Sometimes it was very, very funny. But for every laugh out loud funny moment, there were about five long, drawn out, overly cliched boring parts. Let me start this over... Knocked Up is a romantic comedy that is more comedy than romance about a hot journalist (Katherine Heigl) who has a drunken, unprotected one night stand with a dorky slacker (Seth Rogen). Eight weeks later, she finds out she's knocked up and contacts dorky slacker Ben in order to tell him the news and maybe get to know the father of her baby. In the course of the movie they fall in and out of love and have many a sometime funny adventure. Here's the thing about the romance angle though: I didn't buy it for a second. It's not that I don't think a hot girl like Alison could fall in love with a dorky guy like Ben because I totally, one hundred percent do. And Ben was actually adorable and funny and charming. It's just that, the script kept telling me they were really learning to like each other and falling in love but it never really showed me that. Maybe it's because I just don't like Katherine Heigl but I couldn't really connect with her character. The best part of the movie for me was Alison's sister Debbie (Leslie Mann) and her husband Pete (Paul Rudd). They are married with two kids and always fight, never want to sleep together, and just don't really get along all that well. Mann is hilarious as she accepts the fact that she's getting older (eventhough she doesn't want to) and Rudd all but steals the show when he goes to Vegas and takes mushrooms. All in all, the movie was good but by no means great. Perhaps it's just a matter of taste, though. I tend to prefer my comedy with a little more darkness instead of slacker/stoner/gross boy humor. Still, I felt the movie was very uneven and the big laughs really couldn't save it from the parts when it just seemed to drag on and on forever. As far as unexpected pregnancy romantic comedies go, Waitress is a million times funnier, more romantic and just plain better.
Grade: C+