After a long break from this blog, for numerous stupid reasons, I am officially back! And since nothing is more glorious than Oscar Holy Week, the timing is no coincidence; hopefully I hurl out as many posts as possible before Sunday night arrives. As I've neglected to write reviews for the last four Oscar nominated films I've seen (one being the Big Kahuna), here are "short" (for me?) blurbs to slap down my thoughts.
Tom Hooper's royal British biopic
The King's Speech, about King George VI's infamous stutter and the looming threat of WWII, is a meticulously constructed film - it's both emotional crowd-pleaser and highbrow piece of history. Nothing more needs to be said about Firth's perfect performance at this point, which will surely win him his first Oscar some February 27th; Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter are also both stupendous, poised and passionate (some critics think they have a chance of winning if love for
King's Speech is strong enough for a clean sweep)... However, I'm not as enchanted as most are. Every element of the film seems to be pushing for awards season victory, and some of that effort is too apparent on screen. And if we're talking big British biopics, I'm not sure I liked
The King's Speech more than
The Queen from 2006 . Mainly, I think Hooper's film is too safe to win the Picture, especially in a year when filmmakers are creating work as brave and bold as
Black Swan and
The Social Network. I was possibly colored by the film's insane buzz coming off of the festival circuit, but I was expecting a film with more punch. It's a strong and inspiring cinematic story... but still safe.
B+
True Grit, which goes back to the original Charles Portis' 1968 more than the 1969 film adaptation, is the Coen Brothers shooting straight; in comparison to their last "Western"
No Country for Old Men and last year's passion project
A Serious Man,
True Grit follows more old school Americana conventions. Young "supporting" actress (she's on screen for 99 of the film's 101 minutes) Hailee Steinfeld plays a girl seeking revenge on the man that murdered her father, employing U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn to help in the hunt. The fact that Steinfeld is nominated for an Oscar, let alone in the wrong category, is an absolute travesty. Steinfeld is taking a slot that belongs to another woman, and I can at least name two -
The Kids Are All Right's Julianne Moore (why can't she be "supporting"?) and
Another Year's Lesley Manville (see below). In comparison to the young lady, Jeff Bridges' winning performance (almost a companion to his turn in
Crazy Heart last year) deserves all applause he's received by making the role that won John Wayne an Oscar his own, and doing so in hilarious fashion. While
True Grit is a fun ride, one of the most entertaining experience in the theater this Oscar season with some stunning cinematography, I'm getting tired of the Coen Brothers shtick. They might be the Academy's Golden Boys, but I want to see something new.
B
Nicole Kidman garnered most of the buzz out of
Rabbit Hole, with is based on David Lindsay-Abaire's Pulitzer Prize-winning play (he also wrote the screenplay here). While Kidman certainly isn't at her former glory of
Moulin Rouge! or
The Hours, it is wonderful to see a glimmer of her acting power return; her face is emoting once again (finally!), but Academy was more interested in seeing the return of an A-list player than honoring this performance with a Best Actress nomination. However, Aaron Eckhart was the actor that gave me more as the grieving father figure; I didn't expect such a powerful and understated performance from him... Unfortunately, Lindsay-Abaire's attempts to expand and update the play fall flat (one of the film's heaviest scenes jarringly uses an iPhone as a central prop), which ultimately detracts from what the play accomplished. In the tried genre of films dealing with the loss of a child,
Rabbit Hole has some remarkably moving segments at its core; paired with unobtrusive direction by John Cameron Mitchell, it's impossible not to be moved, especially once Jason (Miles Teller) enters. Nicole Kidman has one scene in a grocery store that bottles how the entire film should feel, and having a little taste of what the film could have fully tapped into amplifies the disappointment. There's too much distracting elements on the periphery.
C
I love a director who can make a quiet gem of a film that still packs a punch (also see this year's
Winter's Bone), and Mike Leigh achieves that brilliantly with
Another Year. Leigh, known for little British films like
Vera Drake and
Happy-Go-Lucky, is nominated for Best Original Screenplay this year, and
Another Year serves as a wonderful example of how to balance moods and characters. The film's structure, separated into four chapters (one for each season), is slightly cliched, but Leigh makes the frame work with attention to subtle shifts in tone over gratuitous weather shots. The narrative also sags a little in the middle, mainly because Lesley Manville's Mary is absent; while the ensemble is full of gifted British thesps, Manville explodes, giving one of my favorite performances the year (it's a huge shame that she isn't even nominated for Supporting Actress).
Another Year shows the everyday activities and relationships of a middle-class "family," anchored by the happily married Tom (Jim Broadbent) and Gerri (Ruth Sheen), but illuminated by Mary's manic insecurities. It's depressingly beautiful, and Leigh slowly builds emotional tension, waiting until the final chapter to truly unleash a difficult tone between dark humor and true tragedy; the film's last shot rivals
Black Swan as the most breathtaking finale of the year.
A
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