2012 Oscar Predictions

     Well, it's that time of year. Oscar night. The show is less than 2 hours away so it's time to give my final predictions now that I have seen most of the big movies, including all of the Best Picture nominees. I'll give you what/who I think WILL win and also what/who I think SHOULD win in each category.

Original Song:  Will and Should..."Man or Muppet" The Muppets

Original Score:  Will....The Artist
                           Should...War Horse

Sound Mixing & Editing:   Will and Should...Hugo

Visual Effects:   Will and Should....Hugo

Art Direction:   Will and Should....Hugo

Cinematography:  Will....The Tree of Life
                              Should....War Horse

Film Editing:  Will and Should....Hugo

Animated Feature:  Will....Rango

Adapted Screenplay:   Will....The Descendants
                                     Should....Moneyball

Original Screenplay:   Will....Midnight in Paris
                                     Should....The Artist

Supporting Actress:    Will and Should...Octavia Spencer, The Help

Supporting Actor:    Will....Christopher Plummer, Beginners
                                 Should...Jonah Hill, Moneyball

Actress:    Will.....Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
                  Should....Viola Davis, The Help

Actor:    Will....George Clooney, The Descendants
              Should....Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Director:   Will....Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
                  Should....Alexander Payne, The Descendants

Picture:    Will....The Artist
                 Should....Moneyball

Movie Review - "The Help" (2011) ****1/2

     I didn't know too much about The Help coming into my viewing of it. It wasn't on my radar when it started playing early in 2011, and if it had not been nominated for Best Picture I doubt I would have seen it anytime in the near future. It just reeked of the prototypical "chick flick". I knew that it was about the relationship between southern white ladies and their black maids in the civil rights era south, but the ads seemed to show it more as a comedy rather than a drama and that is what shied me away from it. Then the awards season came along and The Help was getting a lot of recognition, especially in the Best Actress and Supporting Actress categories for Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain. When it became apparent that it was going to get a Best Picture nomination, I was still skeptical but decided to approach it with an open mind. Did that ever turn out to be a good idea, as this is one of the more emotional stories that I have seen in a long time, and it is well-worthy of the praise it has been getting.

    The movie stars Emma Stone as Skeeter Phelan, a southern society girl who has just finished school at Ole Miss and has returned home with hopes of becoming a writer. She gets a job at the local newspaper writing a self-help cleaning column but her real desire is to write books. Aibileen (Viola Davis) and Minny (Octavia Spencer) are two black maids who work with separate families that are friends of Skeeter's. Skeeter realizes how important a role these ladies play in the development of children of white families, yet they get treated with disrespect in a time where separation of whites and blacks is still the norm. One of Skeeter's friends, Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard), so despises blacks that she will not let Minny use the bathroom in her house because of the diseases she thinks black people carry. Another friend, Elizabeth Leefolt (Ahna O'Reilly), has a separate small bathroom built attached to her house so Aibileen can use the toilet there in the sweltering heat and not spread her germs.

     Skeeter does not agree with the way her friends treat the help. She remembers how important her families maid, Constantine (Cicely Tyson), was in her upbringing. Skeeter was raised more by Constantine rather than her own mother, Charlotte (Allison Janney). Because of this prejudice, Skeeter seeks out to write a book called "The Help" to tell the side of the story of the maids. Skeptical at first, Aibileen eventually opens up to Skeeter and encourages Minny to do so as well. These three ladies form a unique sisterhood and it isn't long before many maids are willing to open up about the injustices they have experienced. The ladies know that these stories will eventually put them all at risk, but difficult times breed courage and this group is as courageous as they come.

     The Help is written and directed by relative newcomer Tate Taylor, who only has one other directing feature to his credit, but he has worked as an actor previously, including a small role in the under-the-radar gem Winter's Bone, which earned a Best Picture nomination last year. I was very surprised to see that such an unproven director spit out work of this magnitude. He obviously has a lot of talent and just needed the right opportunity. He is also responsible for a wonderful script, based on the book of the same name by author Kathryn Stockett. The dialogue is top notch and Taylor has adapted a wonderful screenplay here that any writer would be proud to have on their resume. As good as Taylor is on this film, this is an actresses movie, featuring several stunning performances from a primarily female cast. Davis, Spencer and Chastain are all worthy of the praise they have been receiving and could find themselves standing tall on Oscar night. But why no love for Emma Stone in the leading role?? That was an oversight. The beautiful Stone is an absolute delight in her role as Skeeter, and she has established her self as one of best young leading ladies going these days. The Help is full of emotion and one of the true joys of the 2011 movie year. Superb acting and film-making combined to create a heartwarming tale of a group of women who face adversity but eventually stand up to it, giving them the ultimate freedom that they desire.

Movie Review - "Hugo" (2011) ****

     I recently reviewed the 3-D conversion that was done to Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and I was not that impressed with it. The 3-D format has never really interested me too much as I feel it often doesn't add to films, but it can take away from them. That's not to say it can't be done well, as the couple of times I have seen it perfected ended up being special treats. The first time was a few years ago when I saw Avatar, a movie that has to be seen in 3-D to be truly appreciated. I was blown away by that movie, yet it didn't hold up as well when I saw it in 2-D. The other time when 3-D really hooked me was this weekend, during a showing of Martin Scorsese's Hugo. Scorsese's homage to the early days of film-making utilizes the 3-D gimmick exceptionally well and it is worthy of it's Best Picture Oscar nomination.

     The film is based on the Caldecott-winning book, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret", written and illustrated by Brian Selznick. It tells the story of Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield), a 12-year old orphan who lives in the walls of a train station in Paris in the early 1930's. His father was a clockmaker who passed down his talents to his son. Hugo spends his days making sure the clocks in the train station are working properly. He has a knack of working with gears and gadgets and his primary hobby is an automaton, a self-operating machine or robot, that his father found and spent years trying to perfect and operate. Hugo is determined to get the automaton working but there is a heart-shaped key that is missing and seems to be the last piece needed to unlock the mysterious robot. While searching for the key, Hugo also draws the ire of a toy shopkeeper (Ben Kingsley) who catches Hugo stealing from him and threatens to report him to the station inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen). Hugo is able to avoid capture by disappearing into the walls of the station where he can't be caught.

     Hugo eventually meets up with Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz), the god-daughter of the shopkeeper, and the two become good friends. Isabelle has a love of books, while Hugo loves the movies, especially the ones his father took him to. Isabelle is in awe the first time Hugo takes her to a theater. It also turns out that Isabelle is the owner of the heart-shaped key that Hugo needs to unlock the automaton. When they eventually do this, it leads them to a discovery that neither could have expected about the shopkeeper, and to an adventure involving the earliest days of film history.

     Martin Scorsese is not known for family movies but he wanted to make a movie for his daughter and this was the gift he gave her. It turns out it was not only a gift for her, but for anyone who has appreciation for the history of cinema. Hugo unfolds slowly at times but we are wrapped up in the adventure that Hugo and Isabelle experience, and we find ourselves invested in their journey. Butterfield and Moretz are not your typical kids actors, they both have tremendous talent at young ages and bring a believability to their roles that would be missing with lesser actors. The always superb Ben Kingsley brings respectability to any role and he is perfect as the shopkeeper whose true identity gives us the foundation for our story. The highlight of the cast for me though was the scene-stealing work of Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat) as the station inspector who has a hobby of tracking down kids who are a nuisance to him. Cohen's Borat was one of the funniest movies I have seen in recent memories and here we get to see him "cleaned up" quite a bit, but equally as funny. Scorsese is a master director, one of the best of our generation, and it is a pleasure to see him step outside of his normal boundaries and make a film that both kids and adults can enjoy. Hugo is an absolute treat and a must-see for any lover of the cinema experience. Try to see it in 3-D if you can. James Cameron told Martin Scorsese that his film is the best use of 3-D there has been, even better than his own Avatar. He may be right.

Movie Review - "The Descendants" (2011) ****1/2

     The Descendants wrapped up the first weekend of the Best Picture Showcase, and it closed the day out strong. While The Artist seems to be the heavy favorite heading into the final week before the Oscars, the feeling is that if there is one movie out there that can dethrone it it's this one, and I can certainly see why. I'll be able to give my own opinion after next Saturday when I see The Artist, but it has a lot of work to do if it wants to get the same reaction from me as The Descendants has accomplished.

     Directed by Alexander Payne, The Descendants stars George Clooney as Matt King, a land baron living in Hawaii who is forced to raise his two daughters after his wife slips into a coma following a boating accident. When Matt learns from the doctors that his wife, Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie), is not going to recover from the accident he has to find a way to tell his two daughters; 17- year old Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) and 10-year old Scottie (Amara Miller). Alexandra is not close to her parents and lives her life as a rebellious teenager. She gives Matt the biggest shock though when she informs him that her mom had been having an affair with another man. This bit of information leads Matt, his daughters and a friend of Alexandra's, Sid (Nick Krause), to search for answers regarding this mystery man that Elizabeth was seeing. At the same time, Matt is working with a bunch of cousins to close a very profitable land deal from some property he inherited from his family, some of the earliest caucasian descendants of the Hawaiian Islands. All of this will challenge Matt who has not been there for his family in the past, but now finds himself as the primary caregiver for his daughters who he must learn to reconnect with.

      I have been a huge fan of George Clooney going back to his early days on "E.R." He is the prototypical "leading man" in these times and he gives what may be his finest performance here. Clooney doesn't play his typical good-looking, suave, ladies man here. He is a 50-year old father who is weighed down with life and a nice head of grey hair to show for it. We can tell he loves his daughters but he has no idea how to talk to them, a problem many parents face these days. Clooney pulls this off with perfection. A lot of the credit for this films success must go to director and screenwriter Alexander Payne, who mixes comedy with a more serious tone in a perfect blend. I found myself laughing during this movie way more than I anticipated, but it comes full circle in some absolutely heartbreaking scenes towards the end of the film. Shailene Woodley has gotten a lot of press as the older daughter, but I want to highlight the work of Amara Miller who plays young Scottie. She represents the innocence of childhood, and when she eventually finds out about her mothers ultimate fate, her reaction is so real and touching. Just a warning, have a tissue handy. Nick Krause who plays Sid is also worth mentioning. He starts out as a typical stoner kid that you want to punch, but as the movie goes on, we realize there is more to Nick than what he shows on the surface. He has a conversation with Matt that provides one of the best moments of the film and it catches you completely off-guard. It's a testament to him and one of the many highlights here. The Descendants is one of the movies that as it's going along, it seems to be okay but not great. But when it's over, and you look at it as a whole and get the entire picture, you realize how wonderful of a film this actually is. I dropped five stars on Moneyball earlier and while I couldn't quite get there with this, I would be pleased if it were to walk away with Best Picture. It's worthy of that honor and I give it my highest recommendation for you to see. It was a pleasure to see.

Movie Review - "The Tree of Life" (2011) no stars

     Uggghhhh. I don't even know what to say about this movie, so I'm not going to waste much time with it. Don't ask me to give a plot summary, or tell you what it's about...I still don't know. I don't mean that to be sarcastic or anything, it's just simple the truth. I have NO IDEA what this movie is supposed to be about. I have said from the beginning that I'm not a typical movie critic by any means. I understand that for the most part professional critics have a higher degree of movie appreciation than I ever will. I'm just a simple man who likes to watch films and give his thoughts on them. This is one of those films that I think gives people that idea that critics are "elitist" in a way. The Tree of Life has 201 positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes with an 84% approval rating...It was booed and criticized heavily in my audience of "normal" moviegoers. There were a few people in the theater who liked it and it caused a lot of conversation afterwards. The defenders threw out words like "beautiful" and "artistic" and "thought-provoking". Everyone else just rolled their eyes, me included.

     I'm not going to argue, director Terrence Malick has a way of capturing beautiful shots. I can see that. But when I can't understand what any of it means, what's the point? I don't mind thinking in movies, I like to be challenged. But you gotta throw a bone out there every once in a while and give me something to hook into. This did none of that. I found it very boring and pretentious to no end. I nodded off a couple of times, only for a minute or two, I wish it had been longer and saved me from sitting through this. I was worried about this coming in as I bashed the other piece of work of Malick's that I have seen, The Thin Red Line. There had been few movies that I passionately hated as much as that one, for many of the same reasons that I hated The Tree of Life. If I want to see beautiful art, I'll go to an art museum. I want to see a movie, with a story, and for those out there who got a story out of this...well congratulations, you are smarter than me. I didn't get it all and advise you to stay far away. There are better options out there.

Movie Review - "Moneyball" (2011) *****

     It doesn't happen very often, but it feels so nice to put that fifth complete star at the end of my ratings. The five-star movie, so few movies reach that level of perfection in my opinion. Last year I ranked my favorite 100 films of all-time. The majority are 4 1/2 stars but there was that select few that was able to secure that fifth star and become ultimate classics, in my humble opinion. I would like to introduce Moneyball to that elite group. A group that has seen other sports movies make it including Field of Dreams, Rocky and Hoosiers. Going in to the Best Picture Showcase, Moneyball was the one movie that I had already seen. I loved it then...it was even better the second time around.

     Moneyball is based on a book of the same name written by Michael Lewis, and chronicles the true story of the Oakland Athletics baseball team, the 2002 team in particular, that succeeded despite having the lowest payroll in the major leagues. Brad Pitt gives his finest performance as A's General Manager Billy Beane, who is tired of the conventional, old-school way of thinking among baseball purists. He knows that to succeed with his payroll constraints against the league powerhouses, he needs to look at an alternate way of doing things. The status quo is not going to be enough. By accident one day, he meets a young Yale grad named Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) who is working as an intern for the Cleveland Indians. Brand's advice causes the Indians to pass on a potential trade with the A's, and Beane wants to know what Brand saw that would cause him to turn the trade down when everything pointed to it being a good deal. Brand explains to Beane that he feels baseball scouts have been getting it wrong for years, and a simple mathematical way of looking at a team, based on the statistical work of Bill James, will allow a small-market team to compete with the big boys. Beane immediately likes what he hears and he hires Brand to be his assistant GM with the A's, despite the protests of long-time scouts and A's manager Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Together, Beane and Brand (the fictional name of the real Paul DePodesta) rewrite the baseball books and show that it is possible to take on the system.

     So, there is an obvious question here; Do you have to enjoy baseball to appreciate this movie? It's a tough question. I think it certainly doesn't hurt to have a general knowledge of the game. Baseball fans will eat it up, and I am included in that group. But I can see people who are not fans of the game still enjoying this movie. The acting throughout is superb, highlighted by Brad Pitt who would be my choice for Best Actor, out of all the movies I have seen from 2011 so far. His performance as Billy Beane is flawless and he brings enough credibility to the movie, even for the non-baseball fans. Jonah Hill has also received a well-earned Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role as the brains behind the operation. Hill is known for his raunchy, teenage comedy roles but here he shows that he does indeed have a dramatic side to him and I would like to see him utilize that more often. The screenplay credits go to Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, two of the finest writers you will find. Sorkin won a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar last year for his job with The Social Network, another five-star movie high on my list, and he could easily win for the second year in a row with Moneyball. Zaillian has his own Screenplay Oscar for his script from the Steven Spielberg classic, Schindler's List. These are two of the finest at their craft and they have teamed up for a masterpiece. Director Bennett Miller has not directed many films, but he has a good pedigree going considering he was nominated for Best Director in 2005 for his work on Capote. Moneyball was even better the second time I saw it and it is now a movie I own on blu-ray disc and can enjoy whenever I want to. The movie is a homerun and I highly encourage you to give it a shot... even if you are not a baseball fan (which you should be by the way!!).

Movie Review - "War Horse" (2011) ****

     War Horse kicked off day one of AMC's 2012 Best Picture Showcase, and what a way to start the day it was. Early on, War Horse seemed to be considered one of the front-runners for Best Picture, primarily due to the fact that Steven Spielberg was the director, and we know what he is capable of pulling off. Matching Spielberg with a war story seems like a sure fire way to get yourself nominated, but it's easy to say that because he does it so well. As we got closer to December, and ultimately to the pre-Oscars awards, it was clear that War Horse had lost a step and for a while it appeared it would be shut out of a Best Picture nomination. It managed to persevere though and while its odds of winning are very long, the nomination is the recognition here and it is well-deserved.

     As War Horse opens, English farmer Ted Narracott (Peter Mullan) attends an auction where he needs to buy a good plow horse for his farm so he can provide for his wife Rose (Emily Watson) and son Albert (Jeremy Irvine). At the auction though, a young thoroughbred horse catches his eye and despite the advice from friends that he should pass on it, Ted takes a gamble on the horse and pays way more than a horse of its kind should cost. This upsets Rose who begs him to take the horse back and get their money returned, but Albert senses the same things his father did about the horse and asks for one month to train the horse. Rose reluctantly agrees and right away Albert starts developing a bond with the horse, which he names Joey. Albert teaches the horse some basic commands but when it comes to plowing the field, the horse doesn't seem fit for the task. As the Narracott family is about to lose their farm, Joey is able to come through, with some help from rainy weather, and the plowing is completed allowing Ted to plant produce to grow so he can earn money.

      Joey becomes stronger with Albert's training and just as it seems all is going well for the Narracott family, World War I breaks out and the family is forced to sell Joey to a British cavalry major, who gives his word to Albert that he will take care of the horse. The middle portions of the film show Joey's many adventures as he passes through the hands of many people; among them soldiers in the British army, the German army, and a French farmer and his granddaughter. The horse ends up touching the lives of many individuals as the war progresses, where eventually Albert is old enough to join the British army and wonders if he may be lucky enough to find Joey.

      War Horse is a touching drama that finds us questioning a lot about the human race, and how one animal can unite many different individuals and teach us something about compassion, friendship and love. Spielberg turns the sap up quite a bit throughout the film and he had a lot of the audience in tears. Even though I am prone to crying in movies from time-to-time (yes, I admit it), I didn't fall for this one. I thought it was a touch over-the-top at times and it went for the heart strings too much. That being said, the movie did make me feel good and I was sold on it from the get go. Spielberg just has a way of catching great shots and the cinematography by Janusz Kaminski provides us with some amazing visuals. Another sweeping score from the great composer John Williams doesn't hurt either when it comes to capturing emotions. The acting is all acceptable, nothing earth-shattering but nothing offensive either.  Fine jobs all around. War Horse is not going to win the Best Picture Oscar, but it is well-deserving of the nomination and I highly encourage you to give it a shot.

    

2012 AMC Best Picture Showcase

     Day 1 of the 2012 AMC Best Picture Showcase is in the books and I had a wonderful time as always. For the past several years, AMC Theaters has sponsored this program where they show all of the films that were nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars in a marathon format. This is my fourth year attending the event and it is a blast for movie lovers. The first year I attended, in 2009, it was only a 1-day affair since there was only five films nominated for Best Picture. I was a rookie to the event so I didn't come prepared, and by the time the fifth movie started I was extremely tired and just wanted it to end. It didn't help that the group of movies that year I found pretty weak. I learned some lessons that first year though that would help make the event the highlight of the movie year for me in coming years.

     The next two years saw a change in the Oscar process and 10 movies were nominated for Best Picture. This caused AMC to change the program a bit and it became a 2-day event, with 5 movies each Saturday over the course of two weekends. There actually are a handful of theaters that run a 24-hour marathon where all 10 movies were shown back-to-back. While fun to try one time, I'm glad my theater isn't one of them because I'm pretty sure I couldn't make it. I would fall asleep after midnight sometime for sure. And I don't want to do that, because I enjoy the event and want to appreciate the movies as much as possible. I don't want my appreciation of a film to be soured due to a lack of rest. So I like the 5 movies a day routine.

    To accomplish this, you need to be prepared, a lesson I learned after the first years event. First and foremost, you have to get a great nights sleep the night before. I have learned that I need to get about 8-10 hours of sleep the Friday night before the event. If I accomplish that, I find that I do not get tired during the marathon unless there is a boring movie. That's a whole other issue you can't control, and one I ran into this year (more on that in my reviews). The second tip is take advantage of the break times to stretch your legs and move around. Between each film, you are given about 30 minutes to go to the bathroom, get concessions, and all that good stuff. Typically there is also an hour break before the last film, so you have time to leave the theater if you want to get food outside of the cineplex. It's imperative that you use this time to get away and refresh yourself. Even if you don't do anything, just get up and walk around, loosen up those joints that have become stiff from sitting for hours. But you want to make sure you are back about 10 minutes before the next film because the employees at the theater come in and do trivia questions for prizes, usually movie posters. That's always a fun time, and I have collected my fair share of posters over the years this way.

     Another tip is to bring something to keep you comfortable, like a blanket or pillow, or both. These have become must-haves for me during this event. Not that I'm wanting to take a nap by any means, but lets be honest, after a few hours in those theater chairs, you need some comfort. I like to sit on the last row on the end against the wall. This way nobody blocks my view of the screen as I'm watching the movie down the side aisle. It allows me to prop the pillow up against the wall so I can rest my back against the wall and stretch my legs out on the chairs. Trust me, it's comfortable to sit like this from time to time. That's another good thing about this event, the theater is never full so you can generally take up as many seats as you want, within reason. There's elbow room for everyone. Speaking of the crowd, it's another reason I love this event. This is not your typical movie crowd. These people are FANS of movies and appreciate them. Therefore, there is almost never talking or people using their phones, they have too much respect for everyone there and that is a blessing. Also, you form a bond with these people since you spend so much time with them. By the end of the event, I have usually met some interesting people that share a common interest with me. You will see the same people at the event each year, so that's cool as well.

      The Best Picture Showcase isn't for everyone, but if you are a movie fan, I encourage you to try it one year. For $60-70 you can enjoy some of the best movies of the year, meet a lot of interesting people, perhaps win some prizes, and just simply have a great time. Day 1 of this years event has come and gone and I'm already set for part 2 next Saturday. There were only 4 movies yesterday since there are only 9 nominees this year, but it was still a full day. I saw 3 movies that were very good to great, and then 1 dud, but overall I like those odds. The reviews will be coming shortly. This is by far the highlight of my movie year and I would like to thank AMC Theaters for sponsoring the event. It is one that I have enjoyed for going on 4 years now, and hope it continues for many more.

Movie Review - "Contagion" (2011) ***

     Well, here's a nice little movie that will make you never want to go out in public again. In recent years, outbreaks of SARS and H1N1 have caused quite a panic worldwide, and while those viruses unfortunately claimed many lives, the fear caused by them seemed to be the bigger story. While most of these viruses in history are contained in a relative quick manner, with minimal loss of life, the possibility is very real that one day something will come up that does claim the lives of many millions of people worldwide. It's not worth fearing over, but it doesn't hurt to take precautions. I know I for one find myself washing and sanitizing my hands more often than I did say 10 years ago. I'm still prone to touching my face, as most people are, old habits die hard I guess. But seeing films like this will certainly make you think of it more.

     Contagion tells the story of what one of these serious outbreaks could be like, and how simple it is to start spreading quickly. As the movie opens, Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) has just returned to the U.S. from a business trip to Hong Kong. She becomes sick and her illness causes her to deteriorate rapidly, within days she is dead. Her young son also perishes after catching the virus from his mother. Beth's husband Mitch (Matt Damon) seems to be immune from the virus though and he is quarantined immediately after their son passes. Doctors initially can't seem to figure out what's wrong but reports of similar deaths start rolling in from all over the world. Officials at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) realize that a serious epidemic could be starting and jump on the case right away, led by Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne). Cheever sends Dr. Erin Mears (Kate Winslet) to the frontline of the disease to try and find a way to contain the virus. Another doctor, Leonora Orantes (Marion Cotillard), is sent to Hong Kong to try and track down the origins of the virus. Together, these individuals along with many others, will fight to figure out a cause of the virus and come up with a vaccine, that could take months to develop, in the hopes of saving as many lives as they can.

     Contagion has its fair share of flaws but overall I thought it was pretty good, and there are times when I could sense a really great movie trying to poke out through the shell, but it just couldn't get there in the end. What I liked most is that I got the feeling, this was a pretty realistic interpretation of what could go on in a situation like this. There have been many movies that have touched on the same subject, but ultimately they seem to descend into your basic action picture where someone has to get a vial of medicine somewhere in a matter of hours or the world will end. So we get car chases and stuff that really take away from the seriousness of the situation. This movie doesn't fall for those traps. It plays everything close to the vest, and people act like how you would expect them to act in this situation. While the cast is full of stars, no one is out to be bigger than the movie, and that was refreshing to see. Damon, Paltrow, Fishburne, Winslet, Jude Law, these are all actors that have given great performances over the careers, but none of them gives their finest performance here. And I'm okay with that, it made the story stand out more. Kudos to director Steven Soderbergh and writer Scott Burns for making those decisions.

     My biggest gripe with the movie was the character played by Jude Law. He is Alan Krumwiede, an online blogger who at first seems to be your typical conspiracy theory nut. He runs around telling everyone how the government has a vaccine, but they are keeping it for themselves. He creates a panic among his followers who end up raiding pharmacies and looting stores. In the end, we see there are things that motivate him and he is no different than the people he criticizes. I don't know, this whole character subplot just didn't work for me. Law plays it fine, it's not a knock on his acting, I just feel it should have been cut out of the movie completely. It just didn't fit with everything else and seemed to ruin the pacing at times, which was my other minor issue with the film. We are following several different stories, in different parts of the world, and I sometimes found the stories getting mixed up. That could be me not paying enough attention as the viewer, but I was hooked with the movie, I just got confused with it a couple of times. These are minor complaints though. I do recommend seeing Contagion, just keep some hand sanitizer close by.

Thoughts on Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in 3-D

      May 19, 1999 is a day that I will always remember. It's the day that a new Star Wars film returned to the big screen for the first time since 1983's Return of the Jedi. The Phantom Menace was arguably the most anticipated film in cinema history. Star Wars fans had been clamoring for years for George Lucas to make more films since there was rumors for many years that nine films were originally planned. When word finally arrived that a prequel trilogy was coming, Star Wars fans celebrated and began a wait that seemed like it was an eternity. It seemed like that fateful day would never arrive...and then it did.

     Initial reviews for The Phantom Menace were actually positive. One of the first I remember seeing was Roger Ebert's, who gave it 3 stars out of 4. Others followed with similar praise, with the early consensus being that it was a fun movie, gorgeous to look at with amazing effects, but not as good as the original films. I saw the movie three times on opening day and five times total the opening weekend, after each one of those showings the crowd gave the movie a standing ovation. I had never witnessed anything like it. I loved the movie, especially the podracing sequence and the lightsaber duel at the end. Those two scenes to this day are still some of my favorite in the Star Wars saga. The word of mouth that I heard outside of theaters is that people seemed to really enjoy the movie for the most part. People seemed generally excited that Star Wars was back on the big screen.

     Then something funny happened. After that first weekend, I started hearing some negative things about the movie, most of them centered around the Jar Jar Binks character. While Jar Jar was not my favorite character by any means, I could tell he was put there for the kids and he didn't bother me as much as some people did. Oddly out of all the chatter I heard personally outside of the theaters that first couple of days, I never heard someone say they disliked Jar Jar. I believe it was Jay Leno on the Tonight Show was the first person I heard making fun of Jar Jar and bashing him (this is not a statement against Jay Leno by the way, I'm just stating where I remember seeing the negativity first). After that, it seemed the negative press towards Jar Jar, and the movie itself, really started to take off and it wasn't long after that when it seemed you couldn't hear anything positive about the movie. Over time the negativity spread to the point where it seemed you were an outcast if you liked the movie. Even many die hard Star Wars fans fail to recognize it as a movie in the series they will ever watch again, they are that disgusted by it. In my opinion, it became the cool thing to dislike The Phantom Menace and that attitude would haunt George Lucas as he made the next two installments in the franchise.

     I do not agree with the negativity. While I agree The Phantom Menace is not as good as most of the other films, I still love it and am happy with its place in the Star Wars saga. So when I heard a couple of years ago that they were going to be converting the films to 3-D and re-releasing them in the theaters, I was stoked. I didn't know what to expect as I've never been a huge fan of 3-D but then I saw what the medium was capable of when Avatar was released. I was completely blown away by that movie, most notably in its 3D form. I have seen it on a regular screen, and while I still liked it, it just wasn't the same. That movie was made to be seen on the big screen and in 3D. So that movie really got me excited for what the Star Wars films could be like in that form. Which leads us to present day and the screening I had of The Phantom Menace in 3D this weekend.

      Unfortunately, all that being said, I was not a fan of the 3-D. I just didn't feel it added anything to the movie. It certainly didn't hurt it in any way so I was still excited to see a Star Wars film on the big screen, but I didn't get that Avatar experience I was hoping for. Perhaps if the film had been filmed in 3D instead of post-converted it would be different, but it is what it is. There are definitely scenes here and there where it works and I got an idea of what it could possibly be like. Those scenes were few and far between, but they were there. A lot of the stuff on Tatooine, especially the scenes with Watto, worked. You could see the depth and you felt immersed in the atmosphere, which is what it was supposed to accomplish. Because of that, I do want them to make all of the films on 3D. They will have more time to work on each one so hopefully they can perfect the technique and get it right as we go along. The movie looks like it is going to pull in about $24 million on opening weekend which seems to be pretty good. That should be good enough to green light the rest of the films I would hope. So while I would recommend going to the theater and catching The Phantom Menace on the big screen, do it for the love of Star Wars, not for the 3D.

Movie Review - "Rango" (2011) **

     When it comes to things you can count on in life, we always hear about death and taxes. A third item you could add to that list is that a Pixar film would win the Best Animated Feature award at the annual Oscars. Pixar films have claimed the last four Oscars in the category and six of the last seven (all brilliant movies and well-deserved by the way). Then something happened this past year, Pixar bombed. Cars 2 is considered the studios first mistake, despite making over $190 million at the box office. It was greeted to generally negative reviews, including a 1-star result for me. Because of this, Cars 2 did not earn a nomination this year in the category which guarantees another studio will take home the statue on Oscar night. The movie that is considered the front-runner to benefit from Pixar's misstep is Rango. Directed by Gore Verbinski and starring Johnny Depp as the voice of Rango, the film has received lots of positive press and is the movie to beat on Oscar night.

      Rango is the story of a pet chameleon who finds himself accidentally stranded in the desert. He comes upon the town of Dirt, a lawless Wild West town where water is a rare commodity and what the community needs most. The courage needy Rango uses some false bravado to fool the locals and a lucky series of events sees him fell a dangerous hawk that scares off the locals. Because of his actions, Rango is made sheriff of the town by the Mayor, a tortoise voiced by Ned Beatty. As the new sheriff, it is suggested to Rango that he solves the towns water problem. Rango assembles a posse and heads out searching for answers, which leads to several action-packed scenarios involving Rango's team taking on a group of nasties. During his adventure, Rango learns that the water mystery may involve a cover-up and it is up to him to solve the crisis and save the town.

     While Rango may be the odds-on-favorite to win Best Animated Feature on Oscar night, I was not that impressed. The movie sort of falls into three distinct sections and the middle of the three I think is pretty good. When Rango makes his way to Dirt and starts mixing in with the locals, I feel the movie really works here. It's funny seeing him use this false bravado to make himself seem like more of a hero than he actually is. Depp's voice work is at its strongest here and these scenes work. Unfortunately, it is offset by the first and third segments of the film. I thought it started slow and I was a little bored until he gets to the town. The ending is okay, it just felt a bit empty to me. I think by then I was already partially checked out mentally and nothing could really save it. The movie clocks in at an hour and forty-five minutes. I think this would have worked better with about fifteen minutes cut somewhere. I just felt it dragged on a bit too much. The animation is perfectly fine, and the voice work is good for the most part, but the story drags things down a bit. I'd say give it a shot one day if you see it on cable but I can't recommend spending money on it. 

    

Movie Review - "Paul" (2011) *

    If anything looked like a sure thing for me, it was this movie. Strong reviews and word-of-mouth...Check. A comedy about sci-fi geeks on a road trip...Check. A smart aleck alien....Check. Lots of pop culture references...Check. Everything about this movie seemed to lead to a finished product that I would really enjoy. Unfortunately, this was a complete miss for me.

     The film stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as Graeme and Clive, two British sci-fi fans who have traveled to the states for the annual San Diego Comic Con. While here, they decide to take a road trip and visit the UFO heartland of America. On their travels they encounter the real thing, an alien named Paul who has escaped from government captivity and is on the run. The duo is amused by the wisecracking Paul and eventually they agree to help him get back to his mother ship. They are being pursued by government agents, most notably Agent Zoil who is portrayed by the always enjoyable Jason Bateman. Along the way, the trio accidentally ends up kidnapping Ruth (Kristen Wiig), the daughter of a fanatical man who also is in pursuit of the group. Can Graeme and Clive get Paul back home before the government catches them?

     I'm not really sure what to tell you about this movie. I was never pulled in at all and only Jason Bateman piqued my interest at all. I've read reviews and heard people say how funny this movie is, and I don't know if it's a British humor thing that I don't get or what, but I do not remember laughing during this movie. I may have smirked once or twice as I picked up on some of the pop culture references, but never once did I laugh out loud. If I did, I don't remember it. All I remember is being bored out of my mind and wanting the movie to end quickly. I cannot recommend this in any way.

Movie Review - "Man on a Ledge" (2012) **

     There are times when we are in a mood to watch a movie that we don't have to think about much. As much as I love to catch the small movies that make you think, I'm not opposed to throwing on a Weekend at Bernie's or Police Academy when I want to have something on that I don't have to think about. Then there are the movies that we "shouldn't" think about, because the more we think about them we realize how absurd they are. Looking for a perfect example of that? Check out Man on a Ledge.

      Man on a Ledge stars Sam Worthington as Nick Cassidy, a former cop who is now a wanted fugitive on the run. After escaping police, he checks into a local high-rise hotel, orders a meal from room service, is careful not to leave fingerprints anywhere...and then climbs out onto the ledge of the building. An onlooker notices him and it isn't long before cops, the media and hundreds of New Yorkers are watching him from the ground below. Jack Dougherty (Edward Burns) is the cop assigned to talk to Nick, but Nick has other ideas. He requests a different cop, specifically Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks), who has an interesting past that we are not subject to at first. As Mercer tries to talk Cassidy in from the ledge, something else interesting is going on nearby. A jewel heist is taking place that may or may not be related to what is happening on the ledge. As Mercer, and the police force, start to learn more about Cassidy it becomes increasingly apparent that not only is everything not as it seems, but we start to question who is good and who may have a darker side.

      This isn't a terrible movie by any means. It is fast-paced and you certainly are never bored with it. While none of the acting is top notch, Banks turns in a decent performance as the negotiator and the wonderful Ed Harris has a supporting role that allows him to spew forth nastiness that we aren't accustomed to seeing from him. It's obvious he is having fun playing this type of role, one he isn't given often. The problem is the story and there are several times where the plot will have you rolling your eyes. At the start of the review, I stated there are movies we shouldn't think about too much. What I mean is that if you watch this movie and forget about it right away, it's an okay way to spend 100 minutes. But the more you think about it, the more you will realize how certain things don't make any sense and you will question it way too much. This is a movie you should just let play out and then go on to the next thing. If you do, you may find some enjoyment here.