SAG Predictions

BEST ENSEMBLE

Atonement

No Country for Old Men

Juno

Michael Clayton

There Will Be Blood

BEST ACTOR

Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

Johnny Depp, Sweeny Todd

George Clooney, Michael Clayton

James McAvoy, Atonement

Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah

BEST ACTRESS

Ellen Page, Juno

Julie Christie, Away from Her

Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose

Amy Adams, Enchanted

Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton
Max Von Sydow, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
Saoirse Ronan, Atonement
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
Jennifer Garner, Juno

Playing Catch-up

I haven't wrote here in awhile, but I wanted to keep everyone updated on the movies I have seen. First off, before I review any movies I would like to say something about "No Country for Old Men." I think I did not give this film enough credit; while it is not the greatest film of the year it deserves to be in the top 10. It is a fine piece of filmmaking, and a second viewing of the film has only made me appreciate it more. I'm still not totally satisfied with the ending, but it is a film that lingers in the mind. I want to revise my rating from *** to ***1/2.

Now for the brief reviews....

"Atonement" (****)
This is my favorite film of the year so far. Joe Wright has really knocked it out of the ballpark with this one. The story started off a little slow for me, but it really captures the audience's attention, slowly pulling them in. The actors all give Oscar caliber performances. Saorise Ronan is amazing as Briony, as is Romola Garai (haven't bothered to check spelling on names). Both can display a range of emotions just with their eyes. Keira Knightley once again does wonders under the direction of Joe Wright. James McAvoy also is excellent as Robbie. I was looking forward to Vanessa Redgrave's part, but it was so small and it just really didn't compare to the other performers. The cinematography was excellent; I loved the long tracking shot of Robbie in the war. The cinematography made the film feel refreshing because it was different from other films. This film also features my favorite score since "Requiem for a Dream." The music in this film is absolutely amazing. I also liked how some scenes were at first shown from Briony's perspective and then it would flashback to what really happened. Perspective is a major theme of the film. The ending was also brilliantly done; it caught me off guard and was very emotional. If I were an Academy member this would get my vote for Best Picture (so far).

"I Am Legend" (***)
This film was good, but it could have been better. I thought Will Smith did a good job of carrying this film. It is definitely one of the better "zombie" movies. I thought some parts were corny and there were some errors in continuity, but the film was nevertheless entertaining. It was haunting at times and interesting to think about. It was also surprisingly sad. Any movie that is deeply emotional is good in my book, even with the few problems.

"Juno" (***1/2)
This is the best original screenplay of the year, a truly wonderfully written film. Diablo Cody's script is flawless. It is quirky, edgy, and very entertaining. I was laughing the entire time. Her script was chock-full of emotion. Ellen Page also gives one of the best performances of the year. Juno is probably the best character in film this year. The audience fell in love with her. I can't imagine anyone playing her as perfectly as Page (who delivered another amazing performance in "Hard Candy" last year). She delivers her lines effortlessly and truly nails the personality of her character. Jennifer Garner is also good as Vanessa, the mother who is going to adobt There is a lot to love about this film.

Golden Globe Predictions

In the midst of all this chaos that is the precursor awards, I have decided to post my Golden Globe predictions. I am not really sure about these, but who is in a year like this? The precursors have been interesting to watch so far. "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood" seem to be getting the most mentions. I am surprised by "Atonement;" where is the love? Maybe it will pick up steam soon. Anyways, here is what I have predicted for the Golden Globes.

BEST PICTURE DRAMA
Atonement
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Into the Wild
Michael Clayton

BEST PICTURE COMEDY/MUSICAL
Sweeny Todd
Juno
Hairspray
Charlie Wilson’s War
The Savages

BEST DIRECTOR
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Joe Wright, Atonement
Paul T. Anderson, There Will Be Blood
Tim Burton, Sweeny Todd
Joel & Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Sean Penn, Into the Wild

BEST ACTOR DRAMA
James McAvoy, Atonement
Denzel Washington, American Gangster
Emile Hirsch, Into the Wild
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
George Clooney, Michael Clayton

BEST ACTRESS DRAMA
Keira Knightley, Atonement
Julie Christie, Away from Her
Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Jodie Foster, The Brave One

BEST ACTOR COMEDY
Johnny Depp, Sweeny Todd
Seth Rogen, Knocked Up
Tom Hanks, Charlie Wilson’s War
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Savages
Ryan Gosling, Lars and the Real Girl

BEST ACTRESS COMEDY
Amy Adams, Enchanted
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Ellen Page, Juno
Nikki Blonsky, Hairspray
Laura Linney, The Savages

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton
John Travolta, Hairspray
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson’s War


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Saoirse Ronan, Atonement
Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There
Amy Ryan, Gone, Baby Gone
Jennifer Garner, Juno
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
Julia Roberts, Charlie Wilson’s War

BEST SCREENPLAY
There Will Be Blood
Atonement
No Country for Old Men
Charlie Wilson’s War
Juno
Into the Wild

NBR Predictions

Many of the Oscar prognosticators or beginning to predict what the National Board of Review will name as the best film. They announce on Wednesday and are considered by many as the first of the precursors. Here are my predictions:

BEST FILM
"There Will Be Blood"
Alt: "No Country for Old Men"

TOP TEN FILMS(in no particular order)
"No Country for Old Men"
"There Will Be Blood"
"Atonement"
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
"Gone, Baby Gone"
"Juno"
"Into the Wild"
"American Gangster"
"Sweeny Todd"
"Michael Clayton"

BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"
Alt: Johnny Depp, "Sweeny Todd"

BEST ACTRESS
Angelina Jolie, "A Mighty Heart"
Alt: Amy Adams, "Enchanted'

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"
Alt: Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"
Alt: Marisa Tomei, "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"

BEST ACTING BY AN ENSEMBLE
"Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"
Alt: "I'm Not There"

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE-MALE
Emile Hirsch, "Into the Wild"
Alt: James McAvoy, "Atonement"

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE-FEMALE
Ellen Page, "Juno"
Alt: Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose"

BEST DIRECTOR
Joel and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"
Alt: Sean Penn, "Into the Wild"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
"Atonement"
Alt: "No Country for Old Men"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
"Juno"
Alt: "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"

BEST FOREIGN FILM
"4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days"
Alt: "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"

BEST ANIMATED FILM
"Ratatouille"
Alt: "The Simpsons Movie"

BEST DOCUMENTARY
"Sicko"
Alt: "No End in Sight"

"The Golden Compass" (***)

The "His Dark Materials" trilogy written by Philip Pullman remains one of my favorite book series of all-time. Of course when they announcing they were adapting the first of the acclaimed series into a movie I couldn't be more excited. When they announced that there were going to be sneak previews tonight I knew I had to be there. "The Golden Compass" is a good film that for the most part stays true to the book, but it felt like it could have been something more.

The story takes place in an alternate world where people have daemons, animal incarnations of peoples' souls. In control of this world is the Magesterium, this world's version of Catholics. In competition against them is Lord Asriel. He has done study on Dust, a material that is attracted to adults. The Magesterium has also figured out that if they separate a child from his or her daemon then he or she will have no Dust as adults. Also in this world are the Gobblers, people who kidnap children. This is the setting of the story, and inhabiting this world is Lyra. She is a cunning and mischievous girl who happens to be the niece of Lord Asriel. She lives at Jordan College among scholars, but she leaves to stay with Ms. Coulter, a woman who is to travel to the North to learn about Dust. Before she leaves she is given an alethiometer, a compass that tells the truth. When Lyra realizes that Ms. Coulter is not as nice as originally thought she runs away, and the audience is along for the ride.

It is hard trying to describe the story in depth. It is a complex and fascinating world filled with witches, armored bells, and Gyptians. It is a richly layered world intricately imagined by Pullman. The world contains many parallels to our own. The Magesterium is the Catholic church. The things they do in the film could be compared to the Nazis. They capture children, mainly Gyptians, and perform cruel experiments on them. Pullman has received much criticism for his anti-Catholic beliefs. I, however, think he has created a vastly creative and symbolic world.

The performances in the film are good. Dakota Blue Richards is a good find as Lyra. She is good but still has a long way to go. Daniel Craig and Eva Green are not given much to do. Playing a bigger role is Nicole Kidman who gives the best performance of the film. She perfectly captures the essence of Ms. Coulter from the book. She is at once sexy and evil. With the Supporting Actress category as weak as it is this year I see a possibility of a nomination (Right now I am pulling for her and Imelda Staunton in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," two evil women in contemporary fantasy that were expertly brought to the screen this year.).

The film should also be a shoo in for a Best Visual Effects nomination. The daemons and armored bears looked fantastic. It was also interesting to watch the daemons incinerate when their human counterparts were killed.

The main problem I had with the film was that it felt like it did not explore its full potential. I wanted it to be a lot darker, like the book. Also, the ending was changed; it was a much happier ending. The ending in the book was much better and darker. It did not come across as epic like the "Harry Potter" or "Lord of the Rings" franchises. Hopefully, this will change if the remaining books are adapted.

Overall, "The Golden Compass" is a fun ride, especially if you have not read the books. People who have read the books need to know that it is not as dark or as epic as it could have been, but hopefully this will change when the other two books are adapted. It is a nice way to spend two hours though.

My Group

So the end of the semester is here, and it is now crunch time. I am starting to stress out with all the work, but I am trying not to let it overwhelm me. My group seems to be making progress in our presentations. In the beginning, I was worried about Farrah's attendance and Michelle being sick, but they have since improved. I do have to help Farrah with her paper, though. I read her paper, and it seemed clear that she had never heard of MLA format. I don't want to be mean, but structurally, her paper was a mess. It seems like I don't have enough time to fix her paper while also adding all the stuff to mine that I need. I haven't really looked at Barbara's or Michelle's. I remember proofreading Michelle's, and I know she needs to fix a few things. Barbara's also had plenty of grammatical mistakes, but those are easier to fix that Farrah's formatting ones. My main concern now is Scarlett. In the beginning, she was doing great. She attended all the meetings, and she had really shown a drive to succeed and help. Now that is not there. She isn't even there. She has missed the last few meetings and has admitted how behind she is. That's nice, but where does that leave her group members? This is a group effort and everyone has to pull their weight. Right now, I could care less if she doesn't turn in an English paper. I doubt she will since she hasn't even turned in the last assigned paper. I do, however, want her their for the Oral Communication presentation. I am really proud of what our group has been working on for our presentation, and I want everyone their to present it. Also, we are doing a narrative, and Scarlett's part is very interesting. I would hate to have to take her part out. I wonder if we could leave her narration in, have someone else say it, skip her speech, and then just move into the next portion of it? I doubt we will get approval for that though because it stops the "fluidity" of our presentation. Well, I just hope this goes over well.

Two Film Reviews

These journals are due tomorrow, and I am desperately trying to find things to write about. I have been sick and really haven't felt like writing anything. When you can't think of what to write, write what you know. In my case, that would be movies. I just saw two highly acclaimed films, and I figured I give you my thoughts on them.

"No Country for Old Men" (***)
"No Country for Old Men" is a riveting thriller directed by the Coen brothers. It really is a well-crafted film that, for the most part, I thoroughly enjoyed. The screenplay is excellent, filled with much piercing dialogue and wit. I really enjoyed the performance of Javier Bardem. He gives the best creepy performance since Anthony Hopkins in "The Silence of the Lambs." Right now he is the frontrunner to win Best Supporting Actor. I also liked Tommy Lee Jones' performance. This is probably his best performance to date as the story's moral narrator. The story, even if the viewer doesn't realize it at first, is his. I don't think his performance will be nominated though, because he will be competing against Bardem who has received much of the praise. The one thing I didn't like about the film was the ending. I thought it could have ended about ten minutes earlier. I am not totally furious at the ending however. I have since realized that some of the scenes were necessary. The car accident scene for instance, I thought served no purpose, but then after analyzing the film and reading the reviews it shows that Bardem's character could not be stopped. The tagline says, "You Can't Stop What's Coming." Ending on the Jones' dream was weird, but like I said it was Jones' story. Also, I would like to praise this film for being as gripping as it was without a musical score. I didn't even realize this at first, but it's true. The film was very suspenseful in parts, and it did this not without music. The film worked because it was such a gripping story.

"I'm Not There" (**1/2)
I really don't know what to make of Todd Haynes' ode to Bob Dylan, "I'm Not There." I am not a huge fan of Bob Dylan and don't know much about him. This may have been the reason I was completely amazed by this film. The story is told through interwoven vignettes. If one does not know much about Bob Dylan, then one can just take these segments for what they are: stories. Certain segments were definitely stronger than others, and this could be seen as one of the film's weak points. Cate Blanchett definitely has the best role of the film. Her story is the most fascinating, and apparently the most accurate depiction of Dylan. I think she gave a really good performance that will definitely be nominated come Oscar nominations. I thought she did an excellent job, and it was definitely a different performance for her. I also liked Heath Ledger's performance. His story was very interesting, and he proves that "Brokeback Mountain" was no flop. He should, in my opinion, when an Oscar one day (He should have won it for "Brokeback Mountain."). I also liked the cinematography of the film; Haynes' took a unique approach to shooting this film. "I'm Not There" is definitely an experimental film, an unconventional biopic. The film worked for me, because it was something fresh, even if it wasn't always compelling. The film may not have been all that great, but it was always interesting.