Review - Dunkirk

'War is hell' is not fresh fodder for the movies. For a hundred years filmmakers have employed the bombastic, enveloping power of cinema to show audiences just how horrible it is to walk a mile in a soldier's boots, from early touchstones like All Quiet on the Western Front to modern incarnations like Hacksaw Ridge.
But seldom is the chaos of combat evoked with such precision and formal exactitude as it is in Dunkirk, Christopher Nolan's visceral, artfully disorienting account of the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of Allied troops from the eponymous beach in the spring of 1940.

The 'Miracle of Dunkirk' is considered a linchpin moment of the second World War – A sort of psychological victory salvaged from an untenable military fiasco in France. Some 400 000 British, French and Belgian men found themselves stranded at the tiny port town of Dunkerque while the German noose tightened around them, waiting to be ferried across the English Channel to safety. The fact that so many of them lived to fight another day became an early cornerstone of the war effort, preserving Britain's might and boosting her morale.

At least, that's how history (having been written by the victors) remembers it.

One Category at a Time: Sound Editing

For the first time in as long as I can remember, none of the Academy's nominees for Best Sound Editing are ones I would have nominated myself for my own personal ballot. But that's not to imply that the sound branch has dropped the ball. Quite the opposite, as the five they settled on are a most respectable lineup.

It speaks more to the diversity and high quality of the work from which to choose, and there's never a dearth of aural accomplishments in a town that cranks out bombastic blockbusters and sonic showcases with such exhausting regularity.

It's worth noting that the Academy at large will sometimes throw a bone to the 'loud' action movies in this category over Best Picture nominees (Skyfall,
The Dark Knight, and The Bourne Ultimatum are recent examples), although if they can have their cake and eat it too, they will; Best Picture nominees that are also 'loud' movies -- such as Gravity, Zero Dark Thirty, Inception or The Hurt Locker -- are hard to beat.

My Award nominations: Sound Editing

Great work out there from the sound designers this year. I tell ya, some decisions were tough to make in narrowing it down to five for my Best Sound Editing nominees.

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.

MPSE winners!

This is a pretty good slate. Inception took home two deserved trophies for Richard King's terrific sound design and for the outstanding integration of Hans Zimmer's music. It's the one with the Oscar heat in this category, but there's still a chance True Grit could upset.

The Social Network, meanwhile, impressed the organization with its tricky tidying-up of Aaron Sorkin's dizzying dialogue. Fine choice, but I may have liked to see TRON Legacy take that category.

Finally, I'm thrilled to see Randy Thom get his due for How to Train Your Dragon, the best sound editing of the year sadly overlooked by Oscar.

Best Sound Effects and Foley in a Feature Film: Inception
Best Dialogue and ADR in a Feature Film: The Social Network
Best Sound Effects, Foley, Music, Dialogue and ADR in a Animated Feature Film: How to Train Your Dragon Sweet!
Best Music Editing in a Feature Film: Inception
Best Music Editing in a Musical Feature: Country Strong
Best Sound Editing in a Documentary: Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage
Best Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR in a Foreign Feature: Micmacs

One Category at a Time: Sound Editing

What to do, what to do? It's been many a year since I guessed both Sound categories correctly. The unprecedented split between Slumdog Millionaire and The Dark Knight in 2009 lead me to believe that it might happen again last year, only to end up being another two-for-one year with The Hurt Locker taking both Sound prizes away from Avatar. Methinks the split was just a flash in the pan. To have one film win both categories is the norm.

To that end, it didn't take much to convince me that Inception is the most typical winner in both, but especially Sound Editing. And it's a worthy winner. Richard King's distortion of sound for deepening dream levels is a nifty aural cue for the benefit of the audience. He also achieves bombastic full-bodied sounds by mixing together multiple recordings of the same sound from varying distances. It's terrific work that'll likely bring him his third Oscar.

Unfortunately, it comes at the expense of Gwen Whittle, who should have won last year for Avatar, and should also be winning this year for TRON Legacy. But there's nothing the poor woman can do. The sad fact of the matter is that the movie she's representing is bad, even though her work in it is exemplary. She'll win some day (I hope).

The possible spoiler is True Grit. The movie is quite loved and sound plays a big part, but if it were to steal one of Inception's Sound trophies it would probably be in Mixing.

The other two are just happy to be there, despite the fact that they both boast quality work. Toy Story 3 isn't sound-driven enough, and Unstoppable flew too low under the radar.

Will win: Inception
Runner-up: True Grit

Should win: TRON Legacy
Should have been nominated: How to Train Your Dragon

My Award nominations: Sound Editing

Sound Editing:

Black Swan (Brain Emrich, Craig Henighan):
Dance steps and swirling costumes sound suspiciously like fluttering wings. Creative ambient noise cranks up the tension considerably.

How to Train Your Dragon (Al Nelson, Randy Thom, Jonathan Null):
A plethora of wonderfully imaginative and persuasive dragon sound effects stand out, although let's not forget all those awesome Viking war machines!

Inception (Richard King):
Explosions and weapon-fire are subtly altered to give a convincing but slightly surreal palette of sounds for the dream world.

Robin Hood (Harry Cohen, Ann Scibelli, Wylie Stateman, Mark Stoeckinger):
Didn't care for the movie, but it sounded great! Those zipping arrows and combative clanks are what carried the action sequences.

TRON Legacy (Steve Boeddeker, Christopher Boyes, Addison Teague, Gwen Whittle):
Those digitized crashes, hums, vrooms, and booms feel right at home in The Grid. They sound appropriately dangerous as well.

Just missed: 127 Hours, Iron Man 2, Scott Pilgrim vs the World