Welcome to the 86th Annual Academy Awards. Sunday night it was definitely one of the most glorious nights in Hollywood, with celebrities waiting anxiously to see if they would get one of those golden Uncle Oscar statues with them. There were definitely some winners, and some not so winners, but in this industry everyone who has the courage to take a stand a follow their dream is already a winner. However, let's see in some more detail who did actually take a golden statuette. Hosted by the ever so brilliant Ellen DeGeneres the show started with the usual monologue of the presenter - sarcasm, offensive and penis jokes - definitely what the Oscarswere missing. I would say the big winner of the night was definitely 'Gravity' - for all the technical awards - leaving 'Dallas Buyer's Club', 'Blue Jasmine' and '12 Years a Slave' up for grabs on all the acting awards. Sadly 'The Wolf of Wall Street' and the much hyped 'American Hustle' remained unmoved, just I had predicted. But let's not stall any longer and let's take a look at Sunday night's winners:
Best Motion Picture of the Year WINNER 12 Years a Slave (2013) Other Nominees: American Hustle (2013) Captain Phillips (2013) Dallas Buyers Club (2013) Gravity (2013) Her (2013) Nebraska (2013) Philomena (2013) The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) (Just like Ellen said at the beginning of the show: "there are 2 possibilities. Possibility no.1 for '12 Years a Slave to win Best Picture and possibility no.2 you're all racists". Well, the Academy proved not so racist after all, since they indeed picked this film as Best Picture. Now, whether they picked cause they genuinely liked it or not to prove themselves as racists, we will never find out. I guess it's a little bit of both, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter.) Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role WINNER Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club (2013) Other Nominees: Christian Bale for American Hustle (2013) Bruce Dern for Nebraska (2013) Leonardo DiCaprio for The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) Chiwetel Ejiofor for 12 Years a Slave (2013) (Despite all the jokes online regarding the Oscar not being given (yet again) to Leonardo DiCaprio, the race for this particular award was never between DiCaprio and McConaughey, but rather for Ejiofor and McConaughey. So, well deserved this award was given to McConaughey who campaigned for this film and the role alike and not for a single moment did he gave up on what he believed in.) Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role WINNER Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine (2013) Other Nominees: Amy Adams for American Hustle (2013) Sandra Bullock for Gravity (2013) Judi Dench for Philomena (2013) Meryl Streep for August: Osage County (2013) (Like I said in my review of this post, she was a sheer delight to watch hoe neurotic she got. Loved her in the film, a well deserved Oscar in my opinion, although I would have liked Adams to also be given her chance to shine, but I'm hopeful she will at some point in her career.) Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role WINNER Jared Leto for Dallas Buyers Club (2013) Other Nominees: Barkhad Abdi for Captain Phillips (2013) Bradley Cooper for American Hustle (2013) Jonah Hill for The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) Michael Fassbender for 12 Years a Slave (2013) (Now for this one, I was really anxious. I was really rooting for Leto from day one and I'm glad the Academy made the right choice, albeit the fact that they had to consider such actors as Fassbender and Cooper, who are equally brilliant in their own way.) Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role WINNER Lupita Nyong'o for 12 Years a Slave (2013) Other Nominees: Sally Hawkins for Blue Jasmine (2013) Jennifer Lawrence for American Hustle (2013) Julia Roberts for August: Osage County (2013) June Squibb for Nebraska (2013) (The most single best deserved Oscar of the evening. No actor deserved this Oscar more than Lupita Nyong'o. We knew it, the Academy knew it, the whole friggin' world knew it. Brava to this girl, this Kenyan woman, who even as she first received her Oscar the first thing she said was to thank the person who albeit her sorrow offered her at that moment such joy; the woman whom she portrayed, who was based on the real life story of 'Patsey', who was described by Solomon Northup in his book of slavery. What a brilliant actress she is, and what a bright young talanted woman. Well done!!!) Best Achievement in Directing WINNER Alfonso Cuarón for Gravity (2013) Other Nominees: Steve McQueen for 12 Years a Slave (2013) David O. Russell for American Hustle (2013) Martin Scorsese for The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) Alexander Payne for Nebraska (2013) (The master! The triumph! The glory! WELL DONE, Cuaron finally made it. He achieved to receive the Oscar which he so deserved even from 'Y Tu Mama Tambien'. Also would have been a worthy winner for Steve McQueen to have gotten it, but alas, the statue is only one, so I'm fairly sure McQueen has plenty more chances of winning something again in the near future, as he's a brilliant director too.) Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen WINNER Her (2013): Spike Jonze Other Nominees: American Hustle (2013): Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell Blue Jasmine (2013): Woody Allen Nebraska (2013): Bob Nelson Dallas Buyers Club (2013): Craig Borten, Melisa Wallack (I have to admit I came to screen this film quite late in the award season, so I didn't have time to digest it and take it all in, but boy did it impress me. From the get go, it's a beautiful little story, a gem if you ask me, and it so deserved to receive an Oscar for script-writing.) Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published WINNER 12 Years a Slave (2013): John Ridley Other Nominees: Before Midnight (2013): Richard Linklater Captain Phillips (2013): Billy Ray Philomena (2013): Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope The Wolf of Wall Street (2013): Terence Winter (Although I had a sneaky suspicion that the 'Wolf' would possibly win this, I'm so glad it went to '12 Years a Slave' instead.) Best Animated Feature Film of the Year WINNER Frozen (2013) Other Nominees: The Croods (2013) Despicable Me 2 (2013) Ernest & Celestine (2012) The Wind Rises (2013) (The Disney phenomenon in years. Hope Disney learns from this formula that 'Frozen' has already cast and they keep up the brilliant work. Brava to the good ol' Disney.) Best Foreign Language Film of the Year WINNER The Great Beauty (2013): Paolo Sorrentino(Italy) Other Nominees: The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012): Felix Van Groeningen(Belgium) The Missing Picture (2013): Rithy Panh(Cambodia) The Hunt (2012): Thomas Vinterberg(Denmark) Omar (2013): Hany Abu-Assad(Palestine) (Albeit it not exactly what I was rooting for, this film has come a long way and it's been quite a long time since the Italians have graced Hollywood with their presence. Well done to them and their Fellinish atmosphere.) Best Achievement in Cinematography WINNER Gravity (2013): Emmanuel Lubezki Other Nominees: Inside Llewyn Davis (2013): Bruno Delbonnel Nebraska (2013): Phedon Papamichael Prisoners (2013): Roger Deakins The Grandmaster (2013): Philippe Le Sourd (I think I called this one when I was reviewing 'Gravity'. To be fair, Lunezki is a cinematography master, in all the films they've done with Cuaron, they've excelled, so well done to him.) Best Achievement in Editing WINNER Gravity (2013): Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger Other Nominees: 12 Years a Slave (2013): Joe Walker American Hustle (2013): Alan Baumgarten, Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers Captain Phillips (2013): Christopher Rouse Dallas Buyers Club (2013): Martin Pensa, John Mac McMurphy (Not to bother with the much technical awards in the evening, but it seems that 'Gravity' nailed it in every possible way, as you will also see below it won most about every technical award there was on Sunday evening.) Best Achievement in Production Design WINNER The Great Gatsby (2013): Catherine Martin, Beverley Dunn Other Nominees: 12 Years a Slave (2013): Adam Stockhausen, Alice Baker American Hustle (2013): Judy Becker, Heather Loeffler Gravity (2013): Andy Nicholson, Rosie Goodwin, Joanne Woollard Her (2013): K.K. Barrett, Gene Serdena (A nice addition to the list to see Baz Luhrmann's extravaganzza of a film receive some kind of recognition.) Best Achievement in Costume Design WINNER The Great Gatsby (2013): Catherine Martin Other Nominees: American Hustle (2013): Michael Wilkinson 12 Years a Slave (2013): Patricia Norris The Grandmaster (2013): William Chang The Invisible Woman (2013): Michael O'Connor (Again, well done to the team of 'The Great Catsby' for their meticulous detail in stylizing the film.) Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling WINNER Dallas Buyers Club (2013): Adruitha Lee, Robin Mathews Other Nominees: Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013): Steve Prouty The Lone Ranger (2013): Joel Harlow, Gloria Pasqua Casny (A unique choice to give this award to, despite that the nominations were not very rich in this department I'm glad the team of the 'Dallas Buyers Club' got it in the end.) Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score WINNER Gravity (2013): Steven Price Other Nominees: The Book Thief (2013): John Williams Her (2013): Will Butler, Owen Pallett Saving Mr. Banks (2013): Thomas Newman Philomena (2013): Alexandre Desplat (Like I already said...wonderful, mesmerizing score by Steven Price and I was ecstatic it got its recognition that it deserved. Well done!!!) Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song WINNER Frozen (2013): Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez("Let It Go") Other Nominees: Despicable Me 2 (2013): Pharrell Williams( "Happy") Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013): Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr., Brian Burton("Ordinary Love") Her (2013): Karen O("The Moon Song") (Albeit the performance of this piece during the evening went from mediocre to awful - what was that high pitch note right at the end Idina? where you ticked off by Travolta's mispronounciation of your name?, such a disappointment - it has proven to be a global phenomenon and it was a very well deserved award for this category.)
Best Achievement in Sound Mixing WINNER Gravity (2013): Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead, Chris Munro Other Nominees: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013): Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick, Tony Johnson Captain Phillips (2013): Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith, Chris Munro Inside Llewyn Davis (2013): Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff, Peter F. Kurland Lone Survivor (2013): Andy Koyama, Beau Borders, David Brownlow (Technical awards go to..............Gravity!!! Sound mixing, glorious and very precise.) Best Achievement in Sound Editing WINNER Gravity (2013): Glenn Freemantle Other Nominees: All Is Lost (2013): Steve Boeddeker, Richard Hymns Captain Phillips (2013): Oliver Tarney The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013): Brent Burge Lone Survivor (2013): Wylie Stateman (Sound editing, again outstanding job with this one for 'Gravity'. Well done to the post sound production. It did wonders for the big screen.) Best Achievement in Visual Effects WINNER Gravity (2013): Timothy Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk, Neil Corbould Other Nominees: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013): Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, Eric Reynolds Iron Man 3 (2013): Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash, Daniel Sudick The Lone Ranger (2013): Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams, John Frazier Star Trek Into Darkness (2013): Roger Guyett, Pat Tubach, Ben Grossmann, Burt Dalton (No need to dwell on that. Of course it would have gone to 'Gravity'. That was the most obvious award to be received throughout the evening. So, well done of course.) Best Documentary, Feature WINNER Twenty Feet from Stardom (2013): Morgan Neville Other Nominees: The Act of Killing (2012): Joshua Oppenheimer, Signe Byrge Sørensen Cutie and the Boxer (2013): Zachary Heinzerling, Lydia Dean Pilcher Dirty Wars (2013): Rick Rowley, Jeremy Scahill The Square (2013): Jehane Noujaim, Karim Amer (No comment due to I have not seen the Oscar nominees for this category.) Best Documentary, Short Subject WINNER The Lady In Number 6 (2013): Malcolm Clarke, Carl Freed Other Nominees: Cavedigger (2013): Jeffrey Karoff Facing Fear (2013): Jason Cohen Karama Has No Walls (2012): Sara Ishaq Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall (2013): Edgar Barens (No comment due to I have not seen the Oscar nominees for this category.) Best Short Film, Animated WINNER Mr Hublot (2013): Laurent Witz, Alexandre Espigares Other Nominees: Feral (2012): Daniel Sousa, Dan Golden Get a Horse! (2013): Lauren MacMullan, Dorothy McKim Possessions (2012): Shuhei Morita Room on the Broom (2012) (TV): Max Lang, Jan Lachauer (No comment due to I have not seen the Oscar nominees for this category.) Best Short Film, Live Action WINNER Helium (2014): Anders Walter Other Nominees: That Wasn't Me (2012): Esteban Crespo Just Before Losing Everything (2013): Xavier Legrand Do I Have to Take Care of Everything? (2012): Selma Vilhunen The Voorman Problem (2012): Mark Gill (No comment due to I have not seen the Oscar nominees for this category.) The awards this year offered minimal entertainment, with the exclusion of the tributes to the heroes in the movies montage and the tribute to the 'Wizard of Oz' with Pink's stunning performance. What did make the evenig wonderful was Ellen DeGenere's selfie (look below) and the pizza dinner which she so briliantly orchestrated for the celebrities in the crowd. Ellen was a wonderful host, having her bits and numbers - dressing up as Glinda as well, and I'm sure the Academy will definitely invite her back again to host.
Onto next year's awards. Bigger, better and uncut. Hope you enjoyed the ride all you film junkies out there. Now, let's get back to reality. 22 Jump Street....juuuuuuuuuuust jokin'. Films to anticipate for 2014:
The Hobbit: There and Back Again
Maleficent
Into The Woods
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby
Far From the Madding Cow (remake)
Godzilla (remake)
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
The Immigrant
Nymphomaniac Part 1 and Part 2
Unbroken (Angelina Jolie's first directorial debut)
Veronica Mars
Transcendence
Noah
How to Train your Dragon 2
Sin City: A Dame to Kill
Exodus
Dracula Untold
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, Not Good, Very Bad Day
So, I feel wasted. I started this blog about a year ago, and for a good solid month and a half, I kept it going.
Then "tragedy" consumed me: a break-up, and for a while I forgot one of my greatest passions in life. Films. And most importantly writing about films.
Ten months post break-up and my hands feel itchy again. Since the award period is already upon as, and since we survived another non-apocalyptic end of the year, I have decided to start writing again.
I love watching films, looking all aspects of a film, dissect and analyse every bit and piece of it, and since I am getting quite a staggering amount of page views and comments, at least I owe it to myself to keep my passions alive.
This film reviewing blog will be once again up and running very soon!
I shall start reviewing the films which are in the spotlight lately, since this is the Award season and I would like to offer my opinion on the mainstream films that go around these days.
Hope to everyone reading this blog to continue having fun following me and any requests which you may have for a film review or if you would like me to review or to know more about a film which you may not know about, drop me a line in an email.
Since this is an objective blog and I promised to deliver not only the good scoop but also the (I don't want to say bad hence I'll say) not-so-good scoop.
Today I will review a film I was rather reluctant to watch since I am not a great supporter of this new-found genre action/3D/defilement-of-classical-literature-on-the-big-screen. Of course then again, I might be a little harsh on this particular film since it was done before; 'The Three Musketeers'.
No matter if you have seen the Keifer Sutherland version back in 1993 or the less known version of 'The Musketeer' with Justin Chambers back in 2001, this version is a complete stand-out from the rest. Merely due to the fact that this version you can see the three(or four) musketeers bouncing through your screen in 3D, but also because it was like watching 'Resident Evil' but in period costume drama.
Of course the director of such abomination - okay abomination is too harsh of a word so let me rephrase - of such a lacking production - is none other than Paul W.S. Anderson who first filled our once simple-minded brains with the concept of what the f*** 'Resident Evil' is. Of course like 'Lara Croft' and films of such kind, 'Resident Evil' was based on a freaking video game. 'The Three Musketeers' is not on the other hand, which makes it all the more appaling to watch on the big screen.
The plot of the film is the all knowing story of the stolen diamonds of Queen Ann and how the musketeers fetched it for her to avoid the scandal of being found out that she was involved in any way with the English Duke of Buckingham.
And the story goes somewhat like this: "The hot-headed young D'Artagnan along with three former legendary but now down on their luck Musketeers must unite and defeat a beautiful double agent and her villainous employer from seizing the French throne and engulfing Europe in war." (http://www.imdb.com/)
Pretty common plot, no objection there. But why in the world would they even consider involving DaVinci in the plot and how in the world did they come up with the idea of the floating ships and the air fights? I mean....really Paul.W.S. Anderson? I mean...really? Floating war ships in the 18th century France? And of course the English constructed this "masterpiece" first. Don't get me wrong, I am all about the English, but in all honesty the English are not known for their mechanical expertise.
I would gladly tell you to stay away from this film, but as everyone, now and then we all need some cheap entertainment. This is something of the sort. A lot of gun fighting in slow motion, a lot of dazzling visual effects and a charade of 18th-century costume (thumbs up for that as Milla's dresses, she did look stunning I gotta admit), and a lot of idle talk and uninteresting comic relief from the young and inexperienced royal couple, Louis XIII and his Queen Ann.
To sum up, yeah, if you want to have a jolly good time on a Saturday night with mates whilst everyone spills the pop-corn that's going round, it's a good mind-numbing flick. Other than that nothing all too special. Too much glitter in its advertising. Too many expectations, too little in its delivery.
This is my first blog post as a reviewing artist. I have always loved the arts field ever since I can remember myself doing a sing-along number from a musical or a theatre act. Ever since I was a small kid I found myself hooked on the once known in Hollywood 'the talkies', aka films. Today, I can literally lock myself in a dark room watching films for days and days, non-stop, experiencing emotions and feelings of another dimension.
When my time came to decide into what career pathway I would follow, the answer was crystal clear; film, theatre, literature.
My life since the time I was 18 years old, led me on to gain experience in filmmaking; a land of dreams. I am a holder of a BA Hons in Drama & English and an MA holder of Film & Television Production. But my studies, will never be complete unless I reply to my true calling; writing.
Somewhere along the lines of trying to break into an impossible industry, the entertainment industry, I've always felt that I was more of a backstage person rather than a centre-stage one. My vice was always speaking in public. But this however, led me to acknowledge that there was a field I could be good at; writing about films, theatre and books.
So, with the guidance of some wonderful friends and an encouragement from my blogging stratosphere, I've decided to begin a blog with my reviews in film, theatre and literature.
I will try to keep a non-literary language, keep it down a notch, since this is not only a literature-based blog. I am happy to take on board any views, suggestions and opinion-nets on any material I may present in this blog. Everyone is welcome to participate, one way or another.
I hope people will get to enjoy this blog, benefit from it (in case you find yourself stranded on a Friday night with your mates and have no idea what movie to watch, this could/would be a blog to turn to) and gain some valuable insight into this magical world of film, theatre and literature.
I salute you all film junkies or simply people who love a good flick. I will be reviewing my first film tomorrow so keep in tune.
May this be the beginning of a beautiful friendship!
