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Reel Romance

I hate Valentine's Day. Or as it should be called, Make Up day.
For all those days that you didn't say "I love you" or "I care about you,"
there is one day a year set aside for automatic showering of gifts, chocolate, and flowers.
Valentine's Day is definitely a joke - but love in other areas is not.
So why not cuddle up with someone you care for... and enjoy some lovin' from these movies,
which are good for any day of the year.

DAYS OF HEAVEN
Starring: Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard

I absolutely adore Terrence Malick - Days of Heaven is a historical romance of sorts, about a supposed brother (a young Richard Gere) and sister (Brooke Adams) who travel with a young girl in search of work in the beginning of the 20th century. The trio make their way to the south where a young farmer falls for the sister, and asks her to marry him, since he has a sizable fortune and wants her to have it eventually. But jealousy arises between the farmer and Adams' "brother", because they both love her dearly.
Not only is this movie beautiful, romantic, and a pleasure for the senses, it's a rather subtle work of excellency. The windy open fields in the summer and winter set this movie apart from other films placed in similar settings.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert De Niro, Anne Bancroft

Surely this isn't the greatest movie adaptation by any means, but the chemistry and lust between Hawke's Finn and Paltrow's Estella is mesmerizing. Much of the film has very modern qualities, such as a cool alternative soundtrack - but the basic story layers are there, and still work, however skewed they may be.

CRAZY/BEAUTIFUL
Starring:Kirsten Dunst, Jay Hernandez

Ah. Teen love stories. No movie really has hit the right notes lately like Crazy/Beautiful, a seemingly organic take on the "forbidden young love" tale, is the story of Carlos, who's Beautiful, and Nicole, who's definitely Crazy. Together, they are one. But seperate, they live very different lives. He's from a tough neighborhood, and looking forward to his future - she's living in a high-priced SoCal home, with her dad and witchy step-mom. Most often, the good girls go for the bad guys - but the good guy falls for the bad girl. Nicole wants love and finds it in Carlos, even though she is on the brink of self destruction. It may be completely cliche and unremarkable, but Crazy/Beautiful has a smart twist of actuality which keeps it alive.

ANNIE HALL
Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton

If you haven't seen Annie Hall, you're missing out on not only Allen's masterpiece, but one of the greatest screen characters ever created. Simply, you will fall in love with Keaton's Annie. Annie Hall is what modern romance is all about - and shouldn't be discarded for the time now past.

SEX AND LUCIA
Starring: Paz Vega, Tristán Ulloa, Najwa Nimri

Sex and Lucia is what every single American romance would love to be- graphic, honest, sad, sexy, lovely, and poetic - all at the same time - and full of realism. Lucia has just lost the love of her life Lorenzo, and you, the viewer, takes her journey with her into the past of how they came together, and how it unfortunately came apart. Lucia discovers a side of Lorenzo she didn't know before - but not in a bad way. It totally completes her and their love lost.
Please Note : this movie is very graphic sexually - although, it's quite acceptable in the presentation.

IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (Fa yeung nin wa)
Starring: Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung

Once again - forbidden love is a theme. But In the Mood for Love has the maturity and feel of a classic romance. Both of the main characters are married, but do not commit adultery. They instead find each other while their spouses are away - and having an affair together. Their absolutely subtle and engrossing connection is fascinating. A very sensual film without any sexual content.

Posted by madamczyk at 06:33 PM | Comments (4)

Ohhh Oscar. . .

Yeah yeah yeah. The OSCAR noms are out from AMPAS.
I got up Tuesday morning, much earlier than I would normally, since my classes are in the afternoon, and watched them be announced LIVE! as I usually have for the last 14 years or so.

Anyway, it's almost completely obvious to me who my picks are and who will win.
This year is really bone dry for gritty competition... no insane campaigns this year or really big snubs. I'm really only looking forward to this year's ceremonies because Jon Stewart is the host.

Let's sit back and read the list, shall we?
To me, there are only the Wills, the Shoulds, and Don't Count Outs.
So here we go, down the Oscar Trail ...

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Philip Seymour Hoffman - CAPOTE

Terrence Howard - HUSTLE & FLOW

Heath Ledger - BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

Joaquin Phoenix - WALK THE LINE

David Strathairn - GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.

WHO WILL AND SHOULD WIN :
Philip Seymour Hoffman. Nobody else really has a chance here.

BUT DON'T COUNT OUT :
David Strathairn. GN, GL needs some love somewhere, and besides the possibility of Screenplay,
the leading man of the film taking the prize doesn't seem too far fetched. However!
Heath Ledger has got some past award love. But I'd give it to Strathairn because he's been there, done that.

---

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

George Clooney - SYRIANA

Matt Dillon - CRASH

Paul Giamatti - CINDERELLA MAN

Jake Gyllenhaal - BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

William Hurt - A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE

WHO WILL WIN
Paul Giamatti. Dammit, I don't want to give him the award for this movie either.
Make-up awards majorly suck, and considering his recent SAG award win, I somehow believe this
will happen. And IF it does, I'll probably throw stuff at my television.

WHO SHOULD WIN
Jake Gyllenhaal. He may be the youngest of the bunch, but he's majorly paid his dues in the biz at the age of 25. Jake is known for his consistent dramatic work, unlike Ledger, so why not give him an award? He's practically a lock for the BAFTA as well.

BUT DON'T COUNT OUT
George Clooney. This man WILL finish his Oscar night with a statue. Fo Sho.

---

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Judi Dench - MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS

Felicity Huffman - TRANSAMERICA

Keira Knightley - PRIDE & PREJUDICE

Charlize Theron - NORTH COUNTRY

Reese Witherspoon - WALK THE LINE

WHO WILL WIN
Reese Witherspoon. Walk the Line is the most successful movie nominated in all the major categories. Everybody loves Reese, and she has a made a name for herself as being a trustworthy source of talent.
Plus, it's about time AMPAS awarded an actress for putting on the MAC instead of taking it off.

WHO SHOULD WIN
Felicity Huffman. EVEN THOUGH she does get "ugly", fitting with the track record AMPAS has had the last few years, she has paid her dues in the industry, and with all her award wins for her acting on the big and small screen in the past year, she'd give another great speech. Plus, the other actresses in this category are in films that aren't exactly critical slam dunks. In a very weak year for Actresses, Felicity stands out for her uniqueness.

BUT DON'T COUNT OUT
Judi Dench. Why? She's Judi Dench.

---

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Amy Adams - JUNEBUG

Catherine Keener - CAPOTE

Frances McDormand - NORTH COUNTRY

Rachel Weisz - THE CONSTANT GARDENER

Michelle Williams - BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

WHO WILL WIN
Rachel Weisz. She's british, lovely, and was in a movie about real issues. Oscar loves the brits.
Her role as Tessa was her time to shine, and her performance is quite affecting. It's a very safe bet.

WHO SHOULD WIN
AMY ADAMS! Her character Ashley is the most annoying, amazing, and bright little jewel of all the nominees. She has a few critical awards wins under her belt as well, so her taking the win in a category of pure drama is plausable.

BUT DON'T COUNT OUT
Catherine Keener. If the Academy doesn't give the Oscar to Hoffman (which is damn near insane), they could give it to Keener's Nell Harper Lee. She also is a previous nominee for Being John Malkovich, and has critical awards.

----

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR

HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE

TIM BURTON'S CORPSE BRIDE

WALLACE & GROMIT IN THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT

WHO WILL AND SHOULD WIN
Wallace and Gromit. They've won Oscars before, and they'll absolutely do it again.
Visually, the movie is groundbreaking and totally worthy.

BUT DON'T COUNT OUT
Howl's Moving Castle. There's no Disney competition - and Miyazaki won this category for Spirited Away a few years ago. I really can't see AMPAS giving it to Corpse Bride in any sense, especially since the movie wasn't critically successful.

---

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION

GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.

HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE

KING KONG

MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA

PRIDE & PREJUDICE

WHO SHOULD AND WILL WIN
King Kong. Oscar loves Peter Jackson. Plain and simple.

BUT DON'T COUNT OUT
Harry Potter, because fantasy always gets the techs.

---

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY

BATMAN BEGINS

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.

MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA

THE NEW WORLD

WHO WILL WIN
Brokeback Mountain. Nominated for BP, the front runner in everything, and it's pretty!

WHO SHOULD WIN
The New World. It's Malick. End of response.

BUT DON'T COUNT OUT
Good Night, and Good Luck. It's black and white ... and I don't really have any good reasons to say Geisha or Batman. :)

---

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA

MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS

PRIDE & PREJUDICE

WALK THE LINE

WHO WILL AND SHOULD WIN
Memoirs of a Geisha. It's a movie about beautiful people in a period piece.
That's all you really need.

BUT DON'T COUNT OUT
Pride and Prejudice. Read above.

---

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

DARWIN'S NIGHTMARE

ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM

MARCH OF THE PENGUINS

MURDERBALL

STREET FIGHT

WHO WILL AND SHOULD WIN
Murderball. It's an indie documentary which made some cash, and this category lacking the praised Herzog flick Grizzly Man means that the other big critical hit will take it. This category isn't always game for politics - and human spirit triumphs all.

BUT DON'T COUNT OUT
March of the Penguins. The sleeper hit of the summer. Blah blah blah.

---

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

....?
I am HORRIBLE at the short categories. I sincerely apologize.
So if you're using my advice for an Oscar poll, pick the title you like best or go to Oscarwatch.com.
That's my advice.

---

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING

CINDERELLA MAN

THE CONSTANT GARDENER

CRASH

MUNICH

WALK THE LINE

WHO WILL WIN
Munich. It's Spielberg.

WHO SHOULD WIN
Considering there is no visually demanding movies in this category, I'll say Crash, because it has multiple stories.

BUT DON'T COUNT OUT
Cinderella Man. I heard it had fighting in it.

---

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR

DON'T TELL

JOYEUX NOèL

PARADISE NOW

SOPHIE SCHOLL - THE FINAL DAYS

TSOTSI

WHO WILL WIN
Tsotsi.

WHO SHOULD WIN
I have absolutely no idea.

BUT DON'T COUNT OUT
Paradise Now. It takes aim at recent events, and actually had a sort of accessible release in the states.
Even though the Golden Globes aren't exactly the best precursor for this category, I'll just use it to back up my point.

---

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE

CINDERELLA MAN

STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH

WHO WILL AND SHOULD WIN
Star Wars. Anakin the burn victim. Need I say more?

BUT DON'T COUNT OUT
Narnia. Even though I can't really think of anyone who wore makeup in the movie besides Tilda Swinton.

---

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES
(ORIGINAL SCORE)

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

THE CONSTANT GARDENER

MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA

MUNICH

PRIDE & PREJUDICE

WHO WILL WIN
John Williams for Geisha. The score is the best thing about the movie and the J man has got a few wins for this score already.

WHO SHOULD WIN
Gustavo Santaolalla for Brokeback. If you saw it, you can't deny that the main theme makes you tear up just a bit when you hear it.

BUT DON'T COUNT OUT
Pride and Prejudice. Victorian stuff sometimes takes this category, even when the movie doesn't have a lot of nominations.

---

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES
(ORIGINAL SONG)

"In the Deep" - CRASH

"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" - HUSTLE & FLOW

"Travelin' Thru" - TRANSAMERICA

WHO WILL AND SHOULD WIN
Since Brokeback didn't get the nom it deserved here, Dolly Parton is a slam dunk.

BUT DON'T COUNT OUT
Terrence Howard. The actor sings, and Eminem won this category, so AMPAS isn't too shy of anything out of the general stuff.

---

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING

KING KONG

MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA

WAR OF THE WORLDS

WHO WILL AND SHOULD WIN
King Kong. It's really a no brainer.

BUT DON'T COUNT OUT
War of the Worlds ... the nomination of Geisha is quite silly.

---

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE
KING KONG

MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA

WALK THE LINE

WAR OF THE WORLDS

WHO WILL AND SHOULD WIN
Walk the Line. Narnia and War of the Worlds cancel each other out. Plus, movies with music as their main part score well.

BUT DON'T COUNT OUT
War of the Worlds. If Narnia doesn't get in it's way, it'll slide right in.

---

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE

KING KONG

WAR OF THE WORLDS

WHO WILL AND SHOULD WIN
King Kong. End of discussion.

BUT DON'T COUNT OUT
Since Narnia was quite shoddy at times, War of the Worlds has an edge because .. it looked better.

---

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

CAPOTE

THE CONSTANT GARDENER

A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE

MUNICH

WHO WILL AND SHOULD WIN
This is probably the hardest category to predict. In one corner, you have Brokeback which took a short story and turned it into a movie over two hours long. And then there's Capote. A movie about the creation of a book from a literary genius. It's a tough choice, but I'll give the edge to Capote, simply because of the content.

BUT DON'T COUNT OUT
The Constant Gardener. Munich has some adaptive controversy, while A History of Violence lacks the depth it should have had.

---

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

CRASH

GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.

MATCH POINT

THE SQUID AND THE WHALE

SYRIANA

WHO WILL WIN
Since Haggis won this category last year for Million Dollar Baby, he's going to take it again - just because Crash really hasn't got a chance in any other category. And not because he deserves it.

WHO SHOULD WIN
Match Point. It's Woody Allen. He's not going to show up, but he deserves it dammit.

BUT DON'T COUNT OUT
The CLOONEY movies. I'll give Good Night, and Good Luck the edge, since it's a slightly less touchy topic.

---

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

CAPOTE

CRASH

GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.

MUNICH

WHO WILL AND SHOULD WIN
Ang Lee. Ang Lee. Ang Lee. He got the DGA. He made the most nominated film, which has won everything under the sun. Nobody can touch his style - plus, he's the one director who absolutely takes chances on his work consistently. The only other veteran is Spielberg, and he's not getting it because Munich really slid under the door this year. Even if it seems that Brokeback isn't the juggernaut we all thought it was, Ang Lee is still going to win.

BUT DON'T COUNT OUT
George Clooney. Again. He has a date with Oscar, and wants to walk him to the door for a goodnight kiss.

---

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

CAPOTE

CRASH

GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.

MUNICH

WHO WILL WIN
Son of the Mask. NO! Brokeback Mountain. Duh! It's a western sweeping epic love story. One for the history books. And even though it wasn't perfect, it does deserve it. A safe bet which has been taking everything, everywhere, and plowing through the awards season like wildfire.

WHO SHOULD WIN
Capote. It's the best reviewed movie of the year. A revelation for Sony Classics, and a totally worthy pick. Nothing says "awesome" like the little indie that could.

BUT DON'T COUNT OUT
In a year of movies both obviously bad and good, Crash managed to get nominations based on word through the general public grapevine. Say what you will, but Crash is the feel good movie that I loathe to death. I hated the movie for making me roll my eyes, and I hated it for making me hate people for being people. I immensely dislike Paul Haggis for re-writing Grand Canyon, and feeding the same ol' racial rift song and dance. But don't listen to me - it damn well could take Best Picture, even if that means that the forces of hell have frozen over.

Posted by madamczyk at 12:25 AM | Comments (6)