Review - Interstellar

Shoot for the moon, and if you miss, you'll land among the stars. That ancient adage serves to remind us that dreaming big and daring to achieve the impossible is often its own reward, even if it does turn out to be, y'know, impossible. Christopher Nolan sets his sights well beyond our puny moon in Interstellar. He's not even aiming for the same galaxy! So if he launches a misfire, it sure as hell is an intriguing misfire, and probably the most essential science-fiction of the year.

His space opera begins on Earth sometime in the future (Nathan Crowley's weathered production design suggests a future that's distant in technological advancement but aesthetically not unlike our present), when violent dust storms are a routine bother and most of the planet's crops have gone extinct due to blight. There's plenty of corn though, both in the fields and on the page in Nolan's typically creaky expository dialogue.

One of the cultivators of this vital food source, Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), bemoans that his education and training as a pilot/engineer are going to waste in a vain attempt to sustain a global population that won't last past his kids' generation. He doesn't merely want his children to survive. He wants them to grow up with the same awe and wonder of the universe that he has.

One Category at a Time: Supporting Actress

The Supporting Actress slate doesn't seem has chock full of legit contenders as it has in years past. Not that any of these five performances are undeserving of some Oscar love, but four of them really don't hold a candle to the fifth, making this one of the night's slam dunk categories.

SAG solidifies Argo as Best Picture frontrunner

I was going to liveblog tonight's SAG awards, but the local TV station that was supposed to carry it checked out for the first 40 minutes. By the time they corrected their error, I was too embittered to bother blogging, forced to watch an hour of TV categories before getting back around to the movie ones.

Things shook down mostly according to plan. Daniel Day-Lewis, Anne Hathaway, and Jennifer Lawrence strengthened their holds on Best Actor, Actress, and Supporting Actress respectively. Best Supporting Actor was predictably unpredictable, but it ended up going to Tommy Lee Jones, as likely an Oscar bet as any.

SAG Preview...

Everything has been going Argo's way so far this season, but it might face a road block at tonight's Screen Actors Guild Awards. Actors make up the largest portion of the Academy's voting membership, and while a Best Ensemble win is not out of the cards for Argo's excellent cast, it's not favoured to win anything from SAG.

Rather, the two films poised to get the biggest boost from tonight's proceeding are Argo's stiffest competition for the Best Picture Oscar: Silver Linings Playbook and Lincoln. Either of these movies is in good standing to win the Best Ensemble category (with a slight edge to SLP), and both are first in line to collect a Lead Acting award as well. They'll probably be duking it out in Best Supporting Actor, although that category could go a completely different direction.

The only other film that seems assured of a win is Les Miserables for Anne Hathaway's Oscar destined performance. Still, Sally Field continues to feel like a legitimate dark horse.

Here's hoping Skyfall's fearless daredevils can triumph in the Stunt Ensemble category.

My predictions after the cut.

My Award nominations: Supporting Actress

The field hasn't been as competitive as it has in past years, but I'm still quite satisfied with the five (well, four actually) actresses I settled on. My picks for Best Supporting Actress after the cut.

Golden Globes recap

Ben Affleck's Argo triumphed in Best Director and Best Picture at the Golden Globes, making good on the buzz it had accummulated before it disipated upon last Thursday's Academy snub for Directing. I think we still need to consider it a legit contender for the big prize, even without that important Directing nod. It'll pull in lots of #2 and #3 votes, a huge plus with the preferential ballot.

Over in the Musical/Comedy category, I was thrilled to see Les Mis triumph when most had written the category off as an obligatory win for Silver Linings Playbook. The divisive musical also won for Anne Hathaway (expected) and Hugh Jackman (less expected, but very welcome).

The biggest moment of the night, however, came from Jodie Foster, who "officially" came out while accepting her Cecil B. DeMille Award. NBC seemed to prudishly mute that portion of her speech, but they couldn't silence the main message. She also waxed philosophic on lack of privacy in celebrity life and loneliness in her middle age. It was a rapidly fired off speech, but it felt vaguely significant. I'd love to listen to it again.

As for the show itself, hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler killed it. Their opening dialogue landed big laughs, and despite being sadly underused throughout the rest of the evening, they clearly set a high bar for Seth MacFarlane to try and top in six weeks' time.

Full list of movie winners after the cut.

Golden Globes live blog

So yeah, like everyone else on the net, I'll be live-blogging the Golden Globes when they begin in about three and a half hours time. Check back for updates throughout the evening.

7:33 - Usual banter on the red carpet. The women look cold. Apparently it's chilly out on the West coast tonight.

7:53 - Got my laptop. Got my port. Let's get this party started.

7:55 - Shameless Quartet plug by Dustin Hoffman. Supose I shouldn't prejudge (but I heard it's awful).

8:04 - "When it comes to torture, I trust the women who spent three years married to James Cameron" ZING! Fey and Poeller were great. Laughed at almost every joke.

8:09 - Supporting Actor: Goes to... Christoph Waltz in  Django Unchained. Weinstein at work, as always.

Review - Les Miserables

27 years after taking the world by storm, the international musical hit Les Miserables finally gets the Hollywood treatment its diehard fans have been waiting for, but not everyone will sing its praises as loudly as them. We've already heard the critics singing the song of angry men, while audience reactions seem to be as contentious as the student rebellion around which the melodrama unfolds. Detractors have trained their muskets squarely at the film's in-your-face emotive style, the very appeal of which defenders have made their barricade against such criticisms. It begs the question: Is Les Mis the sort of movie that makes necessary – or for that matter, even makes possible – an objective review? I know I struggle to extract my opinion of the film from my opinion of the source material. Where does my love of the show end and my love of the movie begin?

Despite a butt-punishing 2-hour and 38-minute run time, Les Mis is a fairly streamlined distillation of Victor Hugo's 19th century novel, in which ex-con Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) spends the better part of his life on the run from the law and in search of redemption. Across the years he eludes capture by the overly dedicated Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe), raises the daughter of the ill-fated Fantine (Anne Hathaway), fights in the Paris rebellion of 1832, and basically puts up with all kinds of crap (literally, in one instance!) to ensure the future happiness and security of his adopted daughter (Amanda Seyfried). Hugo spins an elaborate web of connections between these and many other characters – including the dashing Marius (Eddie Redmayne), the scheming Thenardiers (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter), and their lovelorn daughter Eponine (Samantha Barks) – through a series of outlandish coincidences that would vex Dickens.

Review - The Dark Knight Rises

Batman faces his greatest challenge yet in The Dark Knight Rises, in which Gotham city is threatened by potential nuclear Armageddon at the whim of a coldly calculatory and brawny terrorist, forcing the reclusive billionaire to dust off his batsuit after eight years out of the saddle. How to move on from the emotional and physical scars incurred from that fateful clash with The Joker and Two-Face, unaware of the even greater emotional and physical hurdles to come? As it proves the greatest challenge yet for Batman, so too does The Dark Knight Rises prove the greatest challenge yet for the trilogy's writer-director-producer Christopher Nolan. How to follow up the unprecedented commercial and critical success of his 2008 hit The Dark Knight with a third and final chapter that can satisfy geeks, general audiences, and critics alike? Well, he may have stumbled across that finish line somewhat, but cross it he has, giving his franchise the epic and stirring conclusion it deserves.

Compositing numerous character arcs and plot threads with which Batman aficionados will already be familiar, The Dark Knight Rises takes off with Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) been shaken from vigilante retirement upon the appearance of a new villain in town; the mask-wearing international master criminal Bane (Tom Hardy) who enacts an ambiguous plot which Wayne's concerned butler Alfred (Michael Caine) suggests might be connected to foes from Batman's past. It doesn't help matters that the Caped Crusader's list of allies is as flimsy as his injured right leg. The city wrongfully holds him responsible for the death of Harvey Dent eight years earlier, but he still has friends in GCPD Commissioner Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), Wayne Enterprises CEO Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), a young cop named John Blake (Joseph Gordon Levitt), and wealthy socialite Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) whose investment in Wayne's company have yielded a clean energy source which could be weaponized if allowed to fall into the wrong hands. Also along for the ride is anti-heroine Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), a slick cat burglar whose allegiances are in question and flux as she tries to steal and slink her way out of an increasingly dangerous Gotham.

Oscar autopsy

Another year over. And appropriately enough to the nature of the season, it ended not with a bang, but with a whimper. There were few surprises to be had, as for the second straight year I managed to correctly predict 18 of 24 winners, including all eight major categories.

The closest thing to a surprise was Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross collecting trophies for what might be the most atypical Oscar-winning score ever. I was not expecting it to win, but apparently that's one category where I should have given the voting membership the benefit of the doubt. Well done.

Unfortunately, there was little satisfaction to be had in the rest. The night's biggest disappointment came early, in cinematography god Roger Deakins failing to win an Oscar for the ninth time. Yo, Academy, do you not think he's due or something? What has he done to you to make you treat him this way? Disgusting. But to be fair, Wally Pfister is a worthy alternative. He's been putting out consistently astonishing work with Christopher Nolan for the better part of the decade now, and this win for his fourth consecutive nomination is a fitting way to applaud one of the best director/DP collaborations working today.

Other disappointment, albeit a less surprising one, came in the form of Tim Burton's hideous Alice in Wonderland winning both design categories over infinitely more deserving work. I might have known. Let this be a lesson: always always always predict for "most" to trump "best" when the Academy chooses winners here.

True Grit joins the ranks of Gangs of New York, The Turning Point, and The Color Purple as one of the biggest Oscar losers of all time, going 0 for 10. Guess the Academy didn't love it that much after all.

The King's Speech seemed to underwhelm as well, winning only four of its twelve nominations (all of them major categories though). Other multiple winners include The Social Network, Toy Story 3, Inception, the aforementioned Alice, and The Fighter, nailing down acting awards for Christian Bale and that nutty Melissa Leo, who proceeded to use the F-word on live TV. Some people are endeared to her antics and crazy behaviour, but I have to confess that I've never liked her, and her speech reeked of the same arrogance as have all her speeches this season.

The show itself left something to be desired. It didn't stink on the level of last year's fiasco, but it was pretty boring. Many reviews are pointing a finger (a bit harshly I think) at James Franco, who was either feigning reluctance to be there in a failed attempt at accenting Anne Hathaway's vibrant presence, or was actually reluctant to be there and doing a bad job at hiding it. I don't blame him for the show's overall lack of personality, but he certainly wasn't helping matters.

And that's really all there is I feel merited my commentary. All in all, not much of a finale to the season. Upsetting. But at the end of the day, some very talented artists got richly deserved recognition for their invaluable contributions to the medium we love so much, and I can never complain about that. Congrats to all the winners. I'm gonna keep a low profile in the coming months. I'll chime in here or there as we continue to experience the fallout this week, but mostly, I'll be busy looking into what 2011 has to offer us in the way of movie-going.

Thanks for reading! Enjoy your Oscar off-season.

Franco and Hathaway to host Oscars

I held off on commenting about this until I knew they were more than just rumours, but it turns out that Nikke Finke's scoop has been confirmed by Entertainment Weekly.

The selection of Anne Hathaway doesn't surprise me so much. She did seem a natural fit onstage with Hugh Jackman during his opening number for the 2009 show, and she's clearly a charming and beloved young member of the industry. That sits quite well with me (for now).

It's James Franco that's had a lot of people scratching their heads. I don't believe a nominee has ever hosted the show in my lifetime, but more perplexing than that is that Franco just doesn't seem like a host personality. Maybe he's a natural and I just don't know it yet. His involvement in this year's telecast also raises the question of how it will affect his Best Actor campaign. Will it earn him additional goodwill and respect? Will it overburden him with more obligations and preparation time on top of working the circuit and promoting 127 Hours? Interesting...

At any rate, I'm pleased to see AMPAS taking a chance on an unconventional choice. Last year's "perfect-on-paper" teaming of Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin fell flat on its face. Perhaps this unlikely duo will be a much-needed shot in the arm.