Old Grades 44

Tropic Thunder

, dir. Stiller A

The X-Files: I Want to Believe

, dir. C Carter B

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

, dir. del Toro B+

Mamma Mia!

, dir. Lloyd C+

Wanted

, dir. Bekmambetov B

Get Smart

, dir. Segal B+

Kramer vs. Kramer

, dir. Benton A+

The Hurt Locker

, dir. Bigelow A+

The Lovely Bones

, dir. Jackson B+

The Time Traveler's Wife

, dir. Schwentke A-

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

, dir. C Weitz C+

Paranormal Activity

, dir. Peli A+

Shutter

, dir. Ochiai B

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

, dir. Nalluri A-

My Final Oscar Predictions!

Best Picture

Avatar
Bright Star
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
Precious: Based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire
Up
Up in the Air

JUST MISSED THE CUT: A Serious Man

Best Director

Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
James Cameron - Avatar
Lee Daniels - Precious: Based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire
Jason Reitman - Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

JUST MISSED THE CUT: Clint Eastwood - Invictus

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
George Clooney - Up in the Air
Colin Firth - A Single Man
Morgan Freeman - Invictus
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

JUST MISSED THE CUT: Viggo Mortensen - The Road

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Abbie Cornish - Bright Star
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious: Based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

JUST MISSED THE CUT: Helen Mirren - The Last Station

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
Alfred Molina - An Education
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

JUST MISSED THE CUT: Anthony Mackie - The Hurt Locker

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Marion Cotillard - Nine
Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Mo'Nique - Precious: Based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire
Julianne Moore - A Single Man

JUST MISSED THE CUT: Penélope Cruz - Nine

Best Adapted Screenplay

District 9
An Education
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Precious: Based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire
Up in the Air

JUST MISSED THE CUT: In the Loop

Best Original Screenplay

(500) Days of Summer
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man
Up

JUST MISSED THE CUT: Bright Star

Best Animated Film

Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Ponyo
The Princess and the Frog
Up

JUST MISSED THE CUT: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Best Art Direction

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Inglourious Basterds
The Lovely Bones
Nine
Sherlock Holmes

JUST MISSED THE CUT: Avatar

Best Cinematography

Bright Star
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Lovely Bones
Nine

JUST MISSED THE CUT: Avatar

Best Costume Design

Bright Star
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria

JUST MISSED THE CUT: Coco avant Chanel

Best Documentary Feature

Burma VJ
The Cove
Every Little Step
Food, Inc.
Valentino: The Last Emperor

Best Film Editing

Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious: Based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire
Up in the Air

JUST MISSED THE CUT: District 9

Best Foreign Film

A Prophet (France)
Samson & Delilah (Australia)
The Secret of Her Eyes (Argentina)
The White Ribbon (Germany)
Winter in Wartime (Netherlands)

Best Makeup

District 9
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
The Road

JUST MISSED THE CUT: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Best Original Score

Avatar
Coco avant Chanel
The Informant!
Sherlock Holmes
Up

JUST MISSED THE CUT: A Single Man

Best Original Song

"The Weary Kind" - Crazy Heart
"Cinema Italiano" - Nine
"Take it All" - Nine
"I Can See in Colour" - Precious: Based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire
"Almost There" - The Princess and the Frog

JUST MISSED THE CUT: "Down in New Orleans" - The Princess and the Frog

Best Sound Editing

Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Star Trek
Up

JUST MISSED THE CUT: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Best Sound Mixing

Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Star Trek
Up

JUST MISSED THE CUT: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Best Visual Effects

Avatar
District 9
Star Trek

JUST MISSED THE CUT: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

*I have not included my thoughts on the Doc Shorts and Animated Shorts because I have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to those categories. And no just missed the cuts for Foreign Film and Documentary Feature because of the same reason

Conan O'Brien vs. Jay Leno

In the ongoing war between Jay and Conan, I was and will always be on team Conan. As much as I love Jay, Conan has always seemed to me to be the better, funnier and more energetic host. In the midst of insults at NBC and putting down the network, Conan is the one that has been damaged the most.

He should have been the one to stay at his Tonight Show post and Jay should have been the one to leave. Was NBC

even gonna keep Jay after they took him off the Tonight Show and before he got his 10:00 deal?

Conan earned his right to take the reigns of the Tonight Show and to have them snatched away from him just like that is unthinkable. NBC should not have done this and I think they know that they are going to kick themselves for making this move.

The Lovely Bones: Novel to...Film?

Anyone who has read this amazing novel can agree with the fact that the film has been stripped of the many riches that populated novel. Watching The Lovely Bones wasn't an unpleasant experience, but more of a disappointing one. Alice Sebold has this incredibly unique vision and all I wanted was for most of it to be rightfully translated to the screen. Unfortunately, this did not happen.

With that said though, the first 30 minutes of the movie were extraordinary and definitely made me feel I was watching a perfect adaptation of the novel. Pinpointing certain memories from Susie Salmon's mind was a great touch and really helped us get to know what kind of girl she was. Whether it be saving her little brother's life by driving him to the hospital, taking as many photos as she could, discussing with Grandma the boy she has a crush on, or almost landing her first kiss with that said boy, all of these memories detailed the incredible girl that we would stay with throughout the movie.

Everything is dynamite in this first section of the film. The art direction and costume design perfectly capture the feel of the 70's and the cinematography is glorious to look at. Saoirse Ronan deserves the biggest heap of praise because she brings Susie Salmon to life. I don't think I could picture anyone else in the role. With her face so expressive, she was able to convey everything Susie felt throughout her whole body with just one look. Rachel Weisz and Mark Wahlberg are perfect as Abigail and Jack, providing loveable, but tough parents who definitely have family placed in their hearts. Susan Sarandon is a hoot in the scenes trying to push Susie to make a move on the boy she likes.

As the first 30 minutes comes to a close, the inevitable has to come with it too: Susie's murder. I'm glad that Peter Jackson decided to opt out of filming a rape scene, because I don't think it would've gone over too well. But with said I still think that mention of her being raped should have been present in the film. Yes it's brutal, but that's what the novel was about. A brutal act happening to this innocent girl and the toll it takes on her in the afterlife and the people she loves on Earth. The confrontation scene with Mr. Harvey (Stanley Tucci) and Susie is perfect and both play it very well. The mix of happiness, wonder, confusion and then ultimately fear on her face is heartbreaking, because you do not want her to endure this horrible act and pass away.

As soon as the scene where Susie enters George Harvey's bloody bathroom ends, is where the movie starts to go downhill and severely betray the novel. [SPOILERS] First of all, they found Susie's elbow, along with her toque, and that's what alerted Detective Fenerman (Michael Imperioli) that she was murdered. That scene in the book and the film always leave me with tears in my eyes and Weisz and Wahlberg play it amazingly. I would have liked to have seen Abigail engage in her affair with Fenerman because it was a vital part in making Abigail decide to leave her family. She just couldn't take her life anymore, so she had to leave, start an affair and then just leave her life altogether. Also, Rachel Weisz would have gotten a lot more to work with and it would've made her performance feel more complete.

Mark Wahlberg also could've gotten a lot more stride if he had been provided with more material. The scene where he thinks George Harvey is in the cornfield covering up evidence is all good and dandy, but he also has a heart attack and has more confrontation with Fenerman that would have beefed up the proceedings.

One of the most tragic mistakes made is the handling of the Grandma Lynn character. As I said earlier, in the scenes of the first 30 minutes, Susan Sarandon is a hoot. But later she kind of becomes a burden and that is ABSOLUTELY NOT the character of Grandma Lynn. Turning her into a characiture is a horrendous act and completely demeans the substance she has in the novel.

The fact that they had to basically smush everything together at the very end just made me lose more love in the film. To make it seem as if Abigail came back as soon as Lindsey (Rose McIver) escapes from Mr. Harvey's house with her life almost not intact, seems like cheating. And the fact that they forget the evidence that Lindsey brings back from Mr. Harvey's house is even more aggravating! In the book more evidence is found that links Mr. Harvey to Susie's murder (a charm and a Coke bottle) and the film doesn't even acknowledge it! The transference scene between Ruth (Carolyn Dando) and Susie was so beautiful in the novel, but is so quick and unimaginitve in the film. Ray and her were sharing this special experience and in the film it felt worthless. Speaking of Ray and Ruth, they aren't even explored! I wanted to see Ruana and see what she was like! Nope, doesn't happen. I wanted to see Ruth and the exploration of herself and her relationship with Ray after Susie brushes by her. I wanted to see Ruth grown up and on her own as well. Towards the end of the novel it explores Lindsey grown up and together with her boyfriend Sam. It shows her pregnant with her first child. There is all but one scene showing that she is pregnant and then, pfft, that's it. Even Mr. Harvey's death is a tab bit overexaggerated. Instead of leaving it to the imagination when he gets hit by the icicle and falls off the side of the hill, the film shows Mr. Harvey's violent descent. While it kind of is more gratifying, I liked the novels approach of leaving it to our imagination to figure out what happened.



It may seem like I`m being very harsh on this movie, and it`s only because this book is definitely the best book I`ve read in my life and to see it kind of savaged in movie form is a bit upsetting. I expected Peter Jackson to treat it delicately, but he kind of went overboard. I think Susie`s heaven scenes deserve to be fantastical and I think they do look amazing all CGI`d and maybe that`s what heaven should be portrayed as. This glorious place where we have the opportunity to be at peace.

And as harsh a grade as this movie seems to deserve, I can`t be that harsh on it because my love of the book overpowers my love of the movie. Plus, the first 30 minutes are breathtaking and definitely worth the look. Saoirse Ronan and Stanley Tucci definitley deserve the praise they have been receiving. However, I think after you have read the novel, just watch the first 30 minutes :)

The movie: B+, the book: A+

Old Grades 43

The Air I Breathe

, dir. J Lee B+

The Family That Preys

, dir. T Perry B

Julie & Julia

, dir. Ephron A

Inglourious Basterds

, dir. Tarantino A+

A Perfect Getaway

, dir. Twohy D+

War, Inc.

, dir. Seftel B-

Back to the Future

, dir. Zemeckis A

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Fifth Season

, dirs. Various A; The Body A+

Tim Burton`s The Nightmare Before Christmas

, dir. Selick A

The Polar Express

, dir. Zemeckis A+

Olive, the other Reindeer

, dir. O Moore A+

Elf

, dir. Favreau A-

Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas

, dir. Howard A-

Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas

, dirs. Jones & Washam A+

An apology

I realized just today that I don't really post anything on here other than the awards that happen every year, my own awards, my movie grades, occasional holidays or if someone has passed away. I want to aplogize to people who used to read my blog and people who still do (if there are any) who want something more. That was my intent in the first place. I wanted somewhere I could talk about what I like most: films and anything that had to do with them. I wanted to talk unfiltered and just really speak my mind. And once again, I aplogize if I haven't been able to fulfill that up to now.

From this point on, I am going to try and focus on putting up more stuff on here. Movie reviews, news from the entertainment world and even my own daily thoughts.

So stay tuned!