With the Oscar nomination deadlines looming, entertainment magazines, websites, and blogs are a twitter with speculation over what five films will squeeze by and get the coveted Best Picture nod. Though there are no definitive locks like last year (NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN), it seems reasonably certain that THE CURIOS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, MILK and FROST/NIXON will find their way into the final five, with several other contenders (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, THE READER, GRAN TORINO, and DOUBT) vying for those final slots.
There’s one more film that seemed like an absolute certainty: Darren Aronofsky’s THE WRESTLER. There’s just one problem. Nobody is talking about it.
Where the heck is the Best Picture Oscar buzz for THE WRESTLER?
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As it is every year, the long Thanksgiving week was flooded with no end of options at your local multiplex. So for those of you who were able to release your grip on forks, knives, or family members for a few hours to get some air, which of the newly released movie did you check out. Most importantly, what did you think?
By Souf Jalili
Our favourite ‘package’ deliverer, Frank Martin suits up and returns to screens this week for another adrenaline-fuelled delivery in the third installment of the TRANSPORTER series with Olivier Megaton taking over the directorial reins from Corey Yuen and Louis Leterrier.
For the uninitiated, the TRANSPORTER series centers on driver extraordinaire, Frank Martin who has a reputation for efficiently transporting high-value cargo without asking any questions. After the first film struck a chord with action fans in 2002 and established Jason Statham as a bankable action star and the second built on the originals following and doubled it’s box office in 2005, a third installment was inevitable and the tagline for the new film - ‘This time, the rules are the same. Except one’’ - essentially sums up what viewers have in store for them this weekend. Like the first two films, this one too is a high-concept visual thrill-ride, consisting of high-speed car chases, graphic hand-to-hand fights, over-the-top villains with overcomplicated schemes and some remarkable gravity-defying stunts.
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On the TV Addict:
We rounded up the best Black Friday deals for the TV Addict in your life, made a BIG BANG Prediction and offered up a first look at BATTLESTAR GALACTICA’s final season.
On the REEL Addict:
We reviewed BOLT, braved hordes of teenage girls to check out TWILIGHT and begged Will Smith to stop making bad movies.
Since the inclusion of Pixar into the Walt Disney fold, the company in many ways has turned into its own worst enemy, or at least its worst competitor. Any animated film it produces outside of the Pixar brand falls prey to inevitable comparisons – ones that usually aren’t favorable. It doesn’t help that even though Pixar has a consistent dramatically structured approach to its films, there’s enough spirit, quality, ingenuity, and genuine filmmaking craftsmanship along the way that its formula never becomes noticeably conventional or derivative. That’s not always the case with other Disney films.
BOLT is a quintessential Disney movie. There’s talking animals. There’s a sweet, innocent hero who must undergo both outward and (especially) inward journeys. There’s reluctant and/or amusing sidekicks and ancillary characters, a road trip or two (with – of course – amusing locals along the way), and no end of moments of self-discovery leading to unsubtle and often conservative lessons to be learned about life, love, friendship, and family. These aren’t bad things to have in a movie by any means, especially in a family film. It also helps that these familiar elements are spruced up with a neat little TRUMAN SHOW high concept and a dash of Disney’s apparent new self-referencing approach to their movies. It’s just that they’re all just that: familiar elements.
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Dear Big Willie,
Like most people, it’s fair to say I’m a great admirer of yours. Heck, I even know you well enough to call you Big Willie, a nickname you obviously encourage. You’re talented, undeniably charming, a genuine screen presence, and perhaps – as I argued here – the only genuine movie star we have left.
That’s why I feel the need to protect you from yourself. You see, it seems like you’re developing a problem, and I hope by pointing it out – by leading you to acceptance – you’ll be able to turn things around before they get worse.
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In attempting to write my review of TWILIGHT there were many false-starts, misguided detours, and meandering drafts. I was constantly reworking it, fumbling for what I wanted to say, but never fully satisfied with the results. It was frustrating, and I wasn’t entirely sure why I was having such a hard time with it.
It wasn’t until I discussed my struggle with my colleague (who also reviews films and has a blog of his own) that he pointed out the struggle wasn’t in the writing of the review, but rather in me needing to realize what my actual opinion of the film is. He noted that it sounded like I wanted to like TWILIGHT, but just couldn’t get myself to do so, and that internal battle was manifesting itself in the writing. He was right. Something went “click” in my head, and – well – here we are.
It’s not that there’s nothing to like in TWILIGHT. Like the novel, when it puts aside some of its teenage/forbidden love angst and settles on the fundamental sweetness, awkwardness, and euphoria of two teenagers falling in love, it creates (or perhaps stumbles upon) moments that are enjoyable and real. Further, when the actual plot kick starts with the vampire baseball game and the James storyline, the film becomes surprisingly engrossing – especially when capped with an exciting fight between James and Edward (albeit, a too short one). The cast largely does a solid job (even if Billy Burke nearly steals the show), and as adaptations go, considering the movie reduces 500 pages of a novel to two hours, it does a good job of maintaining the spirit of the book.
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In the midst of beginning preparations for my upcoming move, I’m still in the process of writing my review of TWILIGHT for later today. In the mean time, given that the film hauled in an impressive $70.5 million at the box office this weekend, I’d say there’s a good chance a fair amount of you saw it.
So, what did you think? If you were a fan of the novel/series, how did the movie fair in comparison? If you saw the movie without ever having read a page of the novel/series, what did you think without all those pesky preconceived notions and expectations?
On the TV Addict:
While infiltrating the set of 24, we interviewed new President Elect Cherry Jones, put forth the theory that a newly svelte Horatio Sanz could be Kevin Smith’s long-lost brother and revealed why we’re not worried about DOLLHOUSE’s Friday night time slot.
On the REEL Addict:
We asked why and how you’ll be seeing TWILIGHT, begged filmmakers to press pause on the hyper-editing and proclaimed our crush on a white little robot called iPod WALL-E.
Not long after WALL-E was released in theatres no end of critics and political commentators were quick to point out, praise or complain about WALL-E’s supposed heavy-handed liberal, environmentalist message about the damages of mass consumerism run amuck. Writer-director Andrew Stanton noted that though that may have been part of the fabric of the film, it was never his central intent. The main goal – to him – of WALL-E was to be a love story.
When watching WALL-E for the second time at home on Blu-Ray, I realized that even though the story and gentle finger-waging future of the film are added dimensions to the movie’s richness, Stanton is right. Anyone who gets too caught up in anything else (whether positively or negatively) may be missing the point. The joy of the film is the sweetness of WALL-E, and his romantic, adorable courtship of EVE, and their subsequent “relationship”. Anything else is ancillary.
The movie is a love letter to well … love. Most of all to the kind of love you so rarely find on movie screens (or perhaps in life) anymore: gentle, affectionate, pure, and uncomplicated. After all, aside from two sultry “kisses” (both instigated by EVE, however), like the Beatles, all WALL-E ever wants to do is hold EVE’s hand. He’s a stand up, decent guy who reminds us that being devoted, attentive, chivalrous, considerate and supportive are perhaps sometimes the easily forgotten foundations of a healthy love affair. Most importantly, he helps us recall that sometimes being thankful for love is as sweet as giving it.
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