June Oscar Buzz and Predictions - Screenplays

     The case with the screenplay categories is usually an embarrassment of riches on the Adapted side and a few shoo-ins among the Originals with the remaining slots left for that year's up-and-coming auteurs.  This year there are more heavy hitting arguably overdue writers working in Original, which promises to be an interesting novelty if nothing else. As always, the buzz leads each category with my thoughts and predictions following after.

Adapted Screenplay
  1. Before Midnight
  2. The Monuments Men
  3. August: Oslo County
  4. The Wolf of Wall Street
  5. The Butler

  6. Foxcatcher
  7. Labor Day
  8. 12 Years a Slave
  9. Captain Phillips
  10. The Great Gatsby

     It seems odd to me that Before Midnight lands in Adapted just because it is a sequel, but that's how the rules work at present.  I would like to post the disclaimer that I expect August: Osage County to be one of those ensembly Picture nominees with no Screenplay nod (think: The Help).  Tracy Letts showed talent with Killer Joe, but it was no masterpiece of a script.  There are relatively few Oscar veterans in serious contention in this category, but I still think experience counts...

  1. Before Midnight - Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke (0 wins out of 1 nomination)...This film has been celebrated even more exuberantly than the previous installment that earned this trio a nomination - seems like a gimme.
  2. Foxcater - E Max Frye (never nominated) & Dan Futterman (0 wins out of 1 nomination)...If this film works at all it will rely heavily on a strong screenplay.  Futterman was previously nominated for Capote.
  3. The Wolf of Wall Street - Terrence Winter (never nominated)...Mr. Winter may have never been nominated for an Oscar, but he's worked on some of the most cinematic television shows imaginable (The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire) and Scorsese would never have signed on for a screenplay that didn't have the goods.
  4. Monument's Men - George Clooney & Grant Heslov (0 wins out of 2 nominations in writing categories)  Third time COULD be the charm for this pair whose film sounds almost TOO Oscar baity.  Still....
  5. 12 Years a Slave - John Ridley (never nominated)...Yes, Mr. Ridley's most impressive previous cred by a mile is Three Kings, but that WAS a very good screenplay and I can't imagine that Steve McQueen is going to follow up Shame with (pardon the expression) some crap.

  6. Labor Day - Jason Reitman (0 wins out of 1 nomination in writing categories)...Reitman is a very talented auteur, but Young Adult proved that he can wax too dark for the Academy's tastes and this is his first effort without comedic elements.  We will have to wait and see.
  7. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom - William Nicholson (0 wins out of 2 nominations)  Arguably one of the most overdue names on this list, Mr. Nicholson was previously nominated for Gladiator and Shadowlands.  He is also backed by the Weinstein Company.
  8. The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet - Jean-Pierre Jeunt & Guillaume Laurant (0 wins out of 1 nomination)...The writing pair that brought you Amelie, working in English, backed by the Weinstein Company...nuff said.
  9. The Butler - Lee Daniels & Danny Strong (never nominated in writing categories)...The Paperboy is not exactly the most convincing former writing credit (remember Daniels only DIRECTED Precious), but Harvey Weinstein is pushing this as a Best Picture nominee.  Still, could be another victim of The Help syndrome.
  10. Snowpiercer - Joon-ho Bong & Kelly Masterson (never nominated)...Yes, it's science fiction, that's why I put it last.  Still, the writers separately penned Madeo (or Mother, which surely would have been nominated if it was in English) and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead so I have very high hopes.

     Also in the mix:  August: Osage County (Tracy Letts, never nominated), Captain Phillips (Billy Ray, nn), The Fifth Estate (Josh Singer, nn), A Most Wanted Man (Andrew Bovell, nn), Much Ado About Nothing (Joss Whedon, 0/1), Oldboy (Mark Protosevich, nn), Philomena (Steve Coogan & Jeff Pope, nn) & The Spectacular Now (Scott Neustadter & Michael H Webber, nn)


Original Screenplay
  1. The Counselor
  2. Inside Llewyn Davis
  3. Fruitvale Station
  4. Gravity
  5. Nebraska

  6. American Hustle
  7. The Past
  8. Captain Phillips
  9. Blue Jasmine
  10. The Immigrant

     This category is PACKED this year, with some very celebrated screen writers in contention.  I wouldn't count out ANY of the buzzed about films listed above, but I DO have a few films I feel strongly about that didn't make it.  MY list looks more like this...

  1. Inside Llewyn Davis - The Coen Brothers (2 wins out of 5 nominations in writing categories)...I'm not saying they'll win (previous wins for No Country and Fargo sort of make the notion of being overdue silly), but with raves out of Cannes, a nomination seems all but assured.  There are three names that should never be underestimated in the Oscar world.  Pixar, Weinstein...and Coen.
  2. Fruitvale Station - Ryan Coogler (never nominated)...It may seem odd to place a rookie at number two with so many experienced sharks in the water, but the film has been seen, was well received, and has Weinstein pushing it hard.
  3. Blue Jasmine - Woody Allen (3 wins out of 15 nominations in writing categories)...I would add Allen to the list of names to never bet against except that in a career as prolific as his you have to have a lot of misses to only score (ONLY?) fifteen nominations in over forty years of film making.  Early buzz indicates this is not one of them.  I wouldn't vote against it.
  4. The Counselor - Cormac McCarthy (never nominated)...It may be Mr. McCarthy's first script, but he IS one of the most celebrated novelists of the twenty first century, whose work has often adapted beautifully to screen.
  5.  All Is Lost - JC Chandor (0 wins out of 1 nomination)...I had a really difficult time picking between number five and number six here, but this film has already been seen to strong reviews and Chandor is one for one ( with Margin Call) with the Academy.  Robert Redford's performance ensures that even the most curmudgeonly Academy members will watch their screeners and have the movie in mind.

  6. American Hustle - David O Russell (0 wins out of 1 nomination) & Eric Singer (never nominated)...That being said, its hard to bet against Mr. Russell.  However, he has gained above the line notice on his last two films (Silver Linings Playbook was JUST last year and incorporated most of the same primary actors) and unless this film is REALLY something special, AMPAS might decide that it is someone else's "turn" as it were.
  7. Gravity - Alfonso Cuaron (0 wins out of 2 nominations in writing categories) & Jonas Cuaron (never nominated)...This film and Elysium are in kind of the same boat.  In both cases, I have great confidence in the previously nominated writer's abilities, but in both cases the films are science fiction (or at least employ certain sci-fi sensibilities) and that does not always bode well with the writer's branch. For now, I'll give Cuaron the edge due to the fact that he has already proven not to be a one trick pony (with nods for both Y Tu Mama Tambien and Children of Men).
  8. Elysium - Neil Blomkampf (0 wins out of 1 nomination)...See what I said for Gravity.  Blomkampf's one trick was the brilliant debut effort District 9.
  9. The Past - Asghar Farhadi (0 wins out 1 nomination)...If The Past were not in French, I would probably place Farhadi MUCH higher on this list.  Still, he got here in Arabic with A Separation, so a nod is certainly possible.
     I never do this, but...
  10. Her - Spike Jonze (never nominated in writing categories)...I find it difficult to believe that the writer's branch has never honored him before, but it's true...
     (tied with)
        The Zero Theorem - Pat Rushin (never nominated)...I find it difficult to believe that the Academy has never embraced the film's of director Terry Gillam more than they have.  Maybe this is the year they FINALLY correct this.

     Plus...Ain't Them Bodies Saints (David Lowery, nn), The Dallas Buyer's Club (Craig Borten & Melissa Wallack, nn), Frances Ha (Noah Baumbach 0/1 & Greta Gerwig, nn), The Immigrant (James Gray & Rick Menello, nn), Mud (Jeff Nichols, nn), Nebraska (Bob Nelson, nn), Out of the Furnace (Brad Inglesby & Scott Cooper, nn), Rush (Peter Morgan 0/2), Saving Mr. Banks (Kelly Marcel, nn) & Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley, 0/1),
  Related articles: What "Cannes" We Tell So Far?, June Oscar Buzz and Predictions - The Aural Techs, The Visual Techs, The Genre Categories, The Help Review, The Perfect Para-Killer (Killer Joe review), Another Young Project (Young Adult review),  The Great Zac Efron Film Festival of 2012 (The Paperboy review), Dark Clouds Beautify "Silver Linings", Water and Earth Make "Mud"

What "Cannes" We Tell So Far?

     So where are we in terms of the new Oscar Season?  Well...summer tent pole season is well under way with Iron Man and Star Trek sequels already tearing up the vacation box office.  Release dates have been announced for MOST of the big Awards players so we have a pretty good idea which films are on the long list of competitors for 2013, although it is still a mystery as to which ones will deliver.  Sundance and Cannes film festivals have come and gone, some early contenders have opened, and we now have SOME idea how a FEW of this year's big films will be received:

  42 - With a metacritic score of only 62 this film seems unlikely to break in to the Awards Season. I had at one point thought that it might garner Acting buzz for Chadwick Boseman in Lead and un-Oscared vet Harrison Ford in supporting, but neither seems like a possibility now.

  The Act of Killing - After winning two prizes in Berlin, this documentary (currently holding a 92 on Meta Critic) holds an excellent chance at being in the running, but the Documentary category is famously unpredictable.

  Ain't Them Bodies Saints - This film did really well at Sundance and Palm Springs but is the sort of little drama that is often forgotten by year's end. However, with the Weinstein Company behind it, expect it to be a contender at the least in Actress, Screenplay and maybe Cinematography or Supporting Actor.  Picture seems a little beyond its reach at the moment, but stranger things have happened.

  All Is Lost - This film played so well at Cannes that many wondered why writer/director J.C. Chandor's sophomore effort (following debut Margin Call) didn't play in competition.  A Best Picture nod seems within the realm of possibility (maybe even Director), but screenplay seems more likely and Best Actor for vet Robert Redford (who turns in a nearly wordless one man show and hasn't been nominated in about four decades) seems highly probable.

  Before Midnight - The conclusion to one of the most critically acclaimed trilogies of all time, it is also the first of the series to be released in a year with more than five possible Best Picture slots.  It is also shaping up to be the best received among director Richard Linklater's extended masterpiece, currently holding a 97(!!!!) Meta-score.  Nods for Screenplay and Actress (Julie Delpy) seem likely.  Could also compete in Actor (Ethan Hawke)...Director...?

  The Bling Ring - Sofia Coppola's follow-up to Somewhere was well received at Cannes, but probably a no-show for the Oscars.

  Blood Brother - Another doc that knocked it out of the park at Sundance this year, this could also easily find a nomination.

   Blue Is the Warmest Color - I seriously doubt that this year's Palme D'or winner from Cannes can break out of the Foreign Language ghetto the way that Amour did last year, but if selected for submission it could be a force in that category.

  The Congress - Probably a little weird for consideration unless they manage to qualify it for Animated Feature in which case it could make a mark in a year where Pixar seems vulnerable.

  The East - With a mere 70 Metascore, it appears unlikely that this picture can garner even the Best Screenplay nod I had hoped might lie in store for Ms. Marling.

  Epic - This could easily compete in Animated.

  Fruitvale Station - This picture has been only slightly less revered at Sundance at Cannes this year than Best Picture nominee Beasts of the Southern Wild was in 2012.  Beasts didn't have Harvey Weinstein pushing it.  I think Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actor (Jordan) and Supporting Actress (Spencer) are all real possibilities.

  Great Gatsby - Probably a no-go for above the line nominations, although Leo's good press could help with a "Wolf" bid down the line.  Still a strong possibility for Costume Design and/or Production Design with an outside shot at Cinematography.  Original Song also seems like a good possibility.

  The Hunt - If it is submitted for Foreign Language Film, I wouldn't bet against a Vinterburg directed Mads Mickelson vehicle with great reviews.

  The Immigrant - James Gray's meticulous period piece may be too divisive to break into the Picture race, but actress Marion Cotillard should at least stay in the discussion for a while.  Craft recognition is also a possibility.

  Inside Llewyn Davis - Supposedly another little masterpiece from the Coen camp, this film probably has the strongest bid at Picture and Director (much less Original Screenplay) of anything to have premiered thus far.  Oscar Isaac & John Goodman are also receiving generous buzz (along with a bit for Mulligan).  The period setting and musical theme invite a host of below the line considerations.  This could be one of the year's big ones. It's current Meta score is 100.

  Iron Man 3 - This one might get a tech nod or two, it just depends.

  Midnight's Children - Not in the running.

  The Missing Picture - Foreign Language? Documentary? Animated?  A triple genre category threat?

  Mud - Talented young auteur Jeff Nichols' third film has been a break out box office success story.  A 76 on meta critic may not be enough to put it in the Picture race but McConaughey will be in the Best Actor conversation unless he blows this career best performance out of the water in Dallas Buyer's Club.

  Nebraska - Alexander Payne is always a threat but reception to the film seems lukewarm in some circles.  Bruce Dern seems bound for some recognition at any rate, and there has been some talk of Cinematography recognition.  We'll have to see how it is received by the public and critical community at large.  It currently holds a 79 on Metacritic.

  Only God Forgives - We'll be kind and call the critical reception divisive, but Kristen Scott Thomas still has a shot at Supporting Actress and the film could factor into the techs somewhere.

  Oz the Great and Powerful - Lackluster reviews could mean nothing as far as craft considerations go for a production as over the top as this.

  The Past - Asghar Farhadi's follow up to A Separation would be a slam dunk for Foreign Language Film IF Iran participates and/or France chooses to submit it, but that is a lot of if.  Berenice Bejo could break into the Actress race regardless and screenplay is definitely a possibility.  The film stands an outside shot at Picture and/or Director consideration, but Farhadi's popularity is not quite on a Haneke scale...yet.

  A Place Beyond the Pines - Mixed critical reception will probably keep this one out of contention.

  Room 237 - This Kubrick analysis doesn't seem like the Documentary branch's cup of tea, but you never know with reviews that give it an 80 on Meta critic.

  Salinger - Another Documentary contender, this one is backed by the Weinsteins.

  The Sapphires - At one point it looked like the Weinsteins had big plans for this flick, and it was fairly well received, but it doesn't look like it is destined to be an awards player after all.

  Star Trek: Into Darkness - This picture could easily factor into the sound categories, visual effects or make-up. It just depends on the rest of the fields.

  Stories We Tell - Currently holding a 93 metascore, I think it's safe to say that Sarah Polley's latest film is currently the most acclaimed documentary of the year.  It also contains a unique enough premise that it has begun to foster the sort of Best Picture crossover talk that teased us when Exit to the Gift Shop first came around.

  To The Wonder - You should never rule out a Cinematography nod, but I think this is one Malick film that's going to slip slowly under the radar and stay there.

  Trance - Ditto to this largely ignored Danny Boyle creation.

  We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks - This film may only have a 76 Meta score so far, but director Alex Gibney is well respected by the Academy's documentary branch.



  While it may seem from this exhaustive list like the Awards Season is already taking shape, there are even MORE films with strong pedigrees that no one has seen just yet, including:

  American Hustle: David O Russell with Lawrence, Bale, Cooper, Adams & Renner
  August: Osage County: with Streep, Roberts, McGregor, Cumberbatch, Shepard, Lewis & Martindale
  Blue Jasmine: Woody Allen with Blanchett, Baldwin, Sarsgaard, Stuhlbarg, Hawkins & Louis C.K.
  The Butler: Lee Daniels with Whittaker, Winfrey, Cusack, Fonda, Williams, Oyelowo, Redgrave, ETC.
  Captain Phillips: Paul Greengrass with Hanks and Keener.
  The Counselor: Ridley Scott directs a script from Cormac McCarthey with Fassbender & Pitt.
  Dallas Buyer's Club: Jean-Marc Vallee with McConaughey, Garner, Leto & Zahn.
  Diana: seems tailor made for a Watts Best Actress campaign.
  Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Hers: Never count out Jessica Chastain.
  Elysium: Neil Blomkampf's District 9 follow up features Damon, Foster & "District" star Copley.
  The Family: Luc Besson with De Niro, Pfeiffer & Jones.
  Foxcatcher: Bennett Miller with Carrell, Ruffalo, Tatum, Hall, Miller & Redgrave.
  Frozen:  It's Disney.  Do the math.
  Grace of Monaco: Kidman in title role & backed by the Weinsteins
  Gravity: Alphonso Cuaron with Bullock and Clooney in 3-D.
  Her: written/directed by Spike Jonze with Phoenix, Adams, Johannsen, Mara, Wilde & Morten.
  Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: Jackson in Middle Earth means at least a tech contender.
  Kill Your Darlings: John Krokidas with Radcliffe, Cross, Olsen, Hall, DeHaan, Leigh, Foster & Sedgewick
  Labor Day: Jason Reitman with Winslet, Brolin & Maguire.
  Man of Steel: Will be one of the tech kings.  Michael Shannon in Supporting?  He is Zod!
  Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom:  Weinstein pushes Elba for Best Actor.
  Monsters University:  It's Pixar.  Do the math.
  Monuments Men:  written/directed/produced by Clooney with Damon, Goodman, Blanchett, Murray...
  Mood Indigo: Gondry could be a threat in Foreign Film if submitted.
  A Most Wanted Man: Anton Corbjin with Hoffman, Wright, McAdams, Dafoe & Bruhl.
  Nymphomaniac: Lars von Trier will make a lot of top 10 lists, but probably bomb with Oscar.
  Oldboy:  Spike Lee's remake will probably be too pulpy but with Jackson, Brolin, Olsen & Copley.
  Out of the Furnace: Scott Cooper with Bale, Saldana, Harrison, Defoe, Affleck, Whitaker & Shepard.
  Pacific Rim:  Guillermo del Toro and a budget this big could make for a tech powerhouse.
  Philomena:  Harvey Weinstein has picked up this Frears directed Dench vehicle for distribution, so...?
  Planes: It's Pixar...again...
  The Rover: David Michod with Edgerton, Pearce, McNairy & Pattinson.
  Rush: Ron Howard with Hemsworth, Bruhl, Dormer & Wilde.
  Saving Mr. Banks: John Lee Hancock with Thompson, Hanks, Farrell, Giamatti & Schwartzman.
  Serena:  Susanne Bier with Lawrence, Cooper, Ifans & Jones.
  Snowpiercer: Joon-ho Bong with Evans, Swinton, Hurt, Belle & Harris.
  Twelve Years a Slave - Steve McQueen with Ejiofor, Fassbender, Pitt, Cumberbatch, Giamatti...
  Wolf of Wall Street - Martin Scorsese with DiCaprio, Hill, McConaughey, Favreau, Reiner, Chandler...
  World War Z - Marc Forster's Brad Pitt blockbuster's promos look good enough for crafts...
  Young and Prodigious Spivet - Backed by Weinstein from Jean-Pierre Jeunet in English!!!
  The Zero Theorem - Terry Gillem with Damon, Waltz, Whishaw, Swinton, Thewliss & Thierry.

     I have read some pundits putting forth the idea that this year's Best Picture pool is already looking thin, but I think that things are still wide open.  Watch in the next couple of weeks for my first round of  buzz reports and predictions, starting with a brief touch on each of the ten Technical categories.

                                                                              Froggy

  Related Articles: Best That the Summer Wields (Beasts of the Southern Wild review), Water and Earth Make "Mud", A Price Beyond This Time (The Place Beyond the Pines review)

A Tempest Brings Stranger Shocks

     And the Rewind Series (2010 edition) kicks off with a lesser entry in a modern master's filmography, a drama about a girl's life after her mother decides to kill her & a highly original adaptation of THE classic playwright.  Time wanes, wherefore thou shouldst commence posthaste.

  The Tempest - I doubt any serious film maker sets out to create a body of work that could best be described as divisive and (for lack of a more apt description) artsy-fartsy, but these traits seem to be the benchmarks of writer/director Julie Taymor's productions.  Just four movies into her cinematic career and she's given us a biopic of a world class artist, a hippy dippy excuse to use the Lennon-McCarthy songbook as a soundtrack & two Shakespearean adaptations.  Even Kenneth Branagh throws a thriller into the mix occasionally.  The Tempest split the critics almost right down the middle.  I am happy to say that I fall securely on the happily impressed side of that fence.
     The film is a little rough hewn in places, particularly some of the editing, which doesn't allow the picture to flow from scene to scene as well as it might, but otherwise I found it to be an excellent adaptation of The Bard's final play.  Ms. Taymor did an excellent job of trimming the Five Act play into a two hour picture.  The script seemed neither piecemeal, nor overly stuffed,  which is impressive considering the sheer volume of source material.  The special effects are primitive, to be sure, but fantastically whimsical in a manner that seems conducive to Elizabethan stagecraft.  The scene where Ariel turns into a monstrous bird is particularly delightful, reminiscent of The Dark Crystal or Pan's Labyrinth.
     Ben Whishaw (who is impressing me more and more every time I see him) is fantastic in the role of the captive spirit, bringing both humanity and an inhuman alienating quality to a role made all the more haunting by the marriage of its disparate elements.  Chris Cooper, Felicity Huffman, Alfred Molina, David Straithairn... great performances across the board.  I found the inclusion of Russell Brand shockingly well conceived, but Djimon Honsou nearly stole the show as the subhuman Caliban.  For someone with such a thick Beninian...Bening...Benininese...damn...African (okay?!) accent, he produces some really crisp and carefully inflected Middle English.  He went just far enough over the top without cheapening the production.
     Of course, I say he ALMOST stole it because nothing could take your eyes off of the great Dame Helen Mirren.  It was a bold choice casting the stageplay's lead Prospero as a woman named Prospera, but I think it was also a wise one.  I cannot imagine any male actor crafting a sorcerer with quite the same blend of the scary and the sympathetic.  Of course, this is a vast oversimplification of a performance that takes a well rounded classic character and fleshes him/her out further than I've ever seen it done before.  As a final note, it is sort of wonderful that an actress who began her career as a blatant sex symbol pulls off this material with the ease and grace of a feminine Olivier.  You would think she'd been training for nothing but classical theater all her long and storied career...4 1/2 of 5 stars.

  Aftershock - On the surface, one would expect this tale of the Tangshan Earthquake of 1976 to be a pretty cut and dried disaster flick, but that is only the beginning.  In the aftermath a mother finds her children trapped under the rubble in such a way that the rescue workers conclude she must choose which child to save.  Certainly a dramatic way to find out which of you is Mom's favorite.  The girl is left for dead but survives, spending her life burdened by bitterness and abandonment issues, refusing to seek out her surviving family.
     You really have to consider director Xiaogang Feng's film in two parts. It opens with the actual earthquake.  The movie does an excellent job of painting a picture of a relentlessly hot but peaceful evening in a small village, then ripping it to shreds as chaos ensues.  Aftershock assembles a fantastic ensemble of extras for this scene, and the sense of panic evoked is palpable.  Unfortunately, the effect is muted by the "virtual strings" that show a bit on the outdated CGI technology.  Still, if you can ignore the occasional impression that some peripheral villager just got crushed by a slab of pixels, there is a lot of hopelessness and danger to be experienced in the quake scene.
     The rest of the film tells the story of the separated family in the years that follow.  It DOES wax a little melodramatic, but it also presents the viewer with situations that contain enough inherent pathos to be moving.  The dramatic thrust of the story is firmly centered on the mother and daughter, with the son existing as something of a peripheral character.  The two central actresses give performances which form each other's inverse, in a way.  The mother is played by actress Fan Xu, who is mostly unknown to American audiences.  Her character is easily the best written in the entire script with a multitude of nuances and conflicts to explore and expand upon.  Unfortunately, the actress mostly yells and cries her way through the film, completely ignoring the delicious subtleties she was served up on a silver platter. 
     The daughter (Fang Deng) is played by Jingchu Zhang whom highly attentive viewers (and likely bitter if they payed for a ticket) may recall from English language feature Rush Hour 3.   Miss Zhang is given very little true dramatic meat to gnaw upon by comparison.  The script gives her little in the way of three dimensional emotional complexity.  For most of the film she is merely detached and bitter.  In the final scenes of the film she is given little to work with besides an instant transition from troubled to remorseful.  However, the actress digs deep and pulls far more emotional resonance out of her scenes than they inherently possess. She does much of this internally, while still remaining completely emotionally accessible to the audience, yet without ever devolving into the histrionics that the improbably emotional context of the film so readily invite.
     Each point of the film that I've focused on presents many great strengths, but they are also flawed in some way.  Aftershock is, in this sense, exactly equal to the sum of its parts.  It is deserving of praise but falls well short of greatness.  Still, it is a GOOD movie, just not much more...4 of 5 stars.


  You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger - Of all the working directors who are often awarded/burdened by the weight of the title of Modern Master, Woody Allen's body of work is perhaps the MOST uneven.  Pictures like Manhattan, Annie Hall and Husbands and Wives (a personal favorite of mine, Juliette Lewis is particularly AMAZING) practically invented the dramedy genre and set the bar higher than most films of the type even approach. On the other hand, Celebrity was the only film I've ever walked out of during a theatrical showing.  Hell, To Rome With Love showed almost that much variation in quality within the bounds of a single flick, featuring vignettes that ranged from the nearly expired to the merely tired.  I love Woody at his best, but I'm always scared when he comes out with a new feature because it hurts a little to watch him fail.
     Fortunately, while certainly not a masterpiece, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is a good site better than merely watchable and actually delves into some of the Woodman's less well trodden thematic topics.  While the disintegration of relationships over time is certainly present (as always) in Allen's script, the film actually develops into a commentary on faith and spirituality in the modern world.  I don't exactly agree with the writer's tidy and flip answers, but his opinion is always one worth hearing and his trademark wit does its usual task of keeping uber-serious topics from ever turning the picture into a downer.
     Unfortunately, the acting is something of a mixed bag in ways that I never expected it would be.  Gemma Jones definitely steals the show as the recent divorcee seeking enlightenment and Pauline Collins make a very engaging psychic counselor.  Josh Brolin is at his hulking, awkward best and actually seems to pull more substance out of frequent scene partner Freida Pinto than I've seen her exhibit before when she wasn't standing silently framed in sunlight.  The greatest disappointments here are definitely the least expected.  Master thespians Anthony Hopkins and Naomi Watts actually pale in comparison to their less celebrated cast mates.  Watts in particular is quite surprisingly terrible and Hopkins merely seems lost to the flow of Allen's unique style of dialogue.  Antonio Banderas didn't do a bad job, but he's mostly acting opposite Watts so he faced an uphill battle.
     Stranger is not the picture that Woody Allen will be remembered for in a hundred years, but it is entertaining and a good sight better than the film maker's most glaring failures.  I enjoyed the film, but will not likely revisit it in the future...3 1/2 of 5 stars.

  Related articles:  To Rome, Sugarweenie (To Rome, With Love)

Rewind Series - 2010 Edition

     So, you may have noticed that TheMovieFrog has not had quite the output in May that I wrote in the several months previous...at least not yet.  Part of this has been due to some general housekeeping and catching up on my part.  Part of this has been due, however, to a lack of new films coming out on DVD that I planned to review.  I've decided to use this as an excuse to catch up on some of the films that I never managed to see in previous years beginning with 2010, the year before I started publishing TheMovieFrog.  I had, however already begun viewing a bevy of the year's most important films and grading them in preparation to write it.  As such, there are only a handful that I have not already seen.  There are some years that I caught a pitiful few of the really innovative and essential pictures. Rewinding through those years (this means YOU, 2007) will be epic by comparison.  As of now, my 2010 rewind agenda includes:

  1. Aftershocks - A Chinese disaster movie about one family's recovery after a real life earthquake during the seventies.
  2. Angel of Evil - Italian crime thriller about the notorious outlaw Renato Vallanzasca.
  3. Barney's Version - This best make-up nominee at the Oscars didn't get the most glowing write-ups but it does star Paul Giamatti and Dustin Hoffman.  Even when actors of this caliber stumble, it is worth watching to note that we are all mortal...and who knows, I might LOVE it.
  4. Children of Invention - This Chinese language feature sounds heartwarming in a way that doesn't make me feel nauseous so it's in.
  5. Daddy Longlegs - This itty bitty almost unknown flick got JUST enough attention from the Gotham and Independent Spirit awards to make this list.
  6. The Edge - Russia's 2010-2011 Oscar submission may have failed to garner a nomination but it certainly sounds like a unique film...
  7. Enemies of the People - This tale of a man seeking revenge against the Khmer Rouge sounds like the (highly) rare documentary that plays like a thriller.
  8. Film Socialisme - French living legend Jean-Luc Godard is always worth checking out, even when his directorial efforts sound as potentially convoluted as this one.
  9. I Love You Phillip Morris - I wonder what sort of muggy expression Jim Carrey has come up with to represent "Gay Lust".  This film may have gay themes, but I expect the Human Rights Campaign appreciates the light it shone on these issues in much the same way that PETA valued Ace Ventura.  If Downey, Jr. caught hell over Tropic Thunder, how is Carrey not criticized for doing this film in "gay face".
  10. Idiots and Angels - This feature from cult classic French animator Bill Plympton is an allegorical tale of how a man can change.
  11. Lebanon - This Hebrew language piece is easily one of the most universally acclaimed films I missed in 2010, it has been called the Das Boot of tank movies, which sounds far less ludicrous than "the Citizen Kane of talking pig movies" which Babe actually was.
  12. Life During Wartime - Director Todd Solondz's long awaited quasi-sequel to his much beloved 1998 film Happiness.
  13. Outside the Law - This one was an Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language film, I believe representing Algeria.  It tells of three brothers caught up in that country's fight for independence.
  14. Passion Play - Writer/director Mitch Glazer did not get the BEST of reviews for this piece, but I can't resist a story about a gangster, an angel, and a trumpet player...especially with Bill Murray in the cast.
  15. Plan B - This Argentinian Spanish language film with Gay themes tells the story of a man who tries to come in between his ex-girlfriend and her new man.
  16. Post Mortem - Before he directed the Oscar nominated No, Pablo Larrain directed this other tale of Chile in the 1970's.
  17. Prodigal Sons - Kimberly Reed's documentary tells of the first time the transsexual film-maker returned home...as a woman.
  18. The Tempest - Director Julie Taymor's reworking of Shakespeare's final play with Helen Mirren playing the lead as the wizard Prospera (re-named from Prospero to fit her gender).
  19. You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger - Woody Allen's yearly offering focuses on a recently divorced woman who seeks spiritual guidance from a psychic.

     Of course, I am open to adding films if readers request them, but I am trying not to go back over films I've already seen (although if I get several requests to re-watch something and review it, of course I will).  The list of 2010 productions that I have already watched (which as I mentioned, is extensive), and the grades that I gave them (for practice since I wasn't up and Frogging QUITE yet), are as follows:

     5 star films:
  127 Hours
  Animal Kingdom
  Biuitiful
  Black Swan
  Exit Through the Gift Shop
  Gasland
  How To Train Your Dragon
  In a Better World
  Incendies
  Inception
  Madeo
  Mary and Max
  Micmacs
  The Social Network
  Winter's Bone

     4 1/2 star films:
  Another Year
  Blue Valentine
  Carlos
  Day and Night (short)
  The Ghost Writer
  The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
  Inside Job
  Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
  The Kids Are All Right
  The King's Speech
  The Oath
  True Grit
  Undertow
  Waiting For Superman
  Waste Land
  White Material

     4 star films:
  The American
  Catfish
  Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky
  Despicable Me
  Easy A
  Enter the Void
  Fair Game
  The Fighter
  Four Lions
  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One
  Heartbreaker
  Jack Goes Boating
  Let Me In
  Let's Pollute (short)
  The Lottery
  Love and Other Drugs
  Mesrine: Public Enemy
  Monsters
  My Name is Khan
  My Name is Maria (short)
  Never Let Me Go
  Nowhere Boy
  Of Gods and Men
  Ondine
  Peepli Live
  Please Give
  Precious Life
  Rabbit Hole
  Restrepo
  Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll
  Shutter Island
  Splice
  The Tillman Story
  The Town
  Toy Story 3
  Wild Grass

     3 1/2 star films:
  44-Inch Chest
  8: The Mormon Proposition
  Animated History of Poland (short)
  Around a Small Mountain
  Blood Done Sign My Name
  Book of Eli
  Cemetery Junction
  City Island
  Devil
  Dinner For Schmucks
  Eat, Pray, Love
  The Eclipse
  Everyone Else
  Flipped
  Get Low
  The Girl Who Played With Fire
  The Gruffalo (short)
  Harry Brown
  Hereafter
  The Karate Kid
  Kick-Ass
  Lovely, Still
  Morning Glory
  Night Catches Us
  One Thousand Pictures (short)
  R.E.D.
  Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
  Stone
  Tiny Furniture
  Vincere
  Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
  The Way Back
  Welcome To the Rileys
  Women Without Men

     3 star films:
  Alamar
  Blue Beard
  Burlesque
  Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
  Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Elliot Spitzer
  Confession (short)
  Countdown to Zero
  The Crazies
  The Disappearance of Alice Creed
  Dust Kid (short)
  Everything Strange and New
  The Experiment
  Fish Tank
  For Colored Girls
  Going the Distance
  The Greatest
  Greenberg
  Holy Rollers
  Howl
  Iron Man 2
  The Killer Inside Me
  The Last Exorcism
  Leaves of Grass
  Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole
  Letters To Juliet
  Love Ranch
  Made in Dagenham
  Mademoiselle Chambon
  Megamind
  Monica and David
  Mother and Child
  My Own Love Song
  Oceans
  Shrek Forever After
  A Solitary Man
  Somewhere
  The Sorcerer's Apprentice
  Tamara Drew
  The Twilight Saga: The Eclipse
  Unstoppable
  William Kuntsler: Destroying the Universe

     2 1/2 star films:
  After.life
  The Art of the Steal
  Barking Island (short)
  Cairo Time
  Casino Jack and the United States of Money
  Chloe
  Clash of the Titans
  The Company Men
  Conviction
  Coyote Falls (short)
  Daybreakers
  The Exploding Girl
  Green Zone
  La Mission
  Percy Jackson and the New Olympians
  Prince of Persia
  Salt
  Secretariat
  Smash His Camera
  Tron: Legacy
  Valentine's Day

     The lists get shorter from here on out.  I try to avoid films of less than two and a half star quality whenever possible, but a few always sneak through (and one is usually up for an Oscar).  Two star films:
  Agora
  Alice in Wonderland
  All Good Things
  Death at a Funeral
  Eccentricities of a Blond Haired Girl
  The Expendables
  Extraordinary Measures
  It's Kind of a Funny Story
  The Last Airbender
  Robin Hood
  Sensology
  Sweetgrass
  Tangled
  The Tourist
  Why Did I Get Married Too

     One and a half star films:
  Babies
  Cique du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
  The Extra Man
  Jelly
  Runaways
  The Temptation of St. Tony

     One star films:
  Charlie St. Cloud
  Jonah Hex
  Legion
  The Lost Thing (short)
  Sex and the City 2
  Skyline
   
     Whew!!!  I'm going to do my utmost to try and see you back here tomorrow for the first three in the rewind.
                                                              Froggy