LIVE ACTION SHORTS

LIVE ACTION SHORTS

AQUEL NO ERA YO (THAT WASN'T ME) - Esteban Crespo
AVANT QUE DE TOUT PERDRE (JUST BEFORE LOSING EVERYTHING) - Xavier Legrand and Alexandre Gavras
HELIUM - Anders Walter and Kim Magnusson
PITAAKO MUN KAIKKI HOITAA? (DO I HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING?) - Selma Vilhunen and Kirsikka Saari
THE VOORMAN PROBLEM - Mark Gill and Baldwin Li

I'm taking the short films together by category for a couple of reasons.  First, you can't go see them individually.  Second, there aren't enough days in between nomination announcements and Oscar broadcast to post one review a day if I don't take all three categories of shorts and do them each all together.  Third, it allows me to draw comparisons between them.  Fourth, they have been put together with commentary in between each from film makers who spoke eloquently about the benefit of short film producing, and I want to share some of that here.

There is much to be said for making short films.  They have very small budgets, so the filmmaker has very little noise to cloud his/her vision.  They require discipline - the filmmaker must have a clear message to communicate and a tight plan for its delivery.  There can't be a lot of side and subplots, there is no time for that, so the dialogue is often crisp, the action clear, and the direction has to be focused.  When short films are done well, there is little middle ground for the audience to get lost in; you either like the story or you don't.  And, they are a great training ground for young filmmakers because you can make them and move on to the next go, if they are complete failures.

First, the film from Spain, Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn't Me).  It is the story in which the exploitation of African child soldiers and their plight is examined.  We see how the humanity is actively drained from their souls, and we feel the fear of two foreign doctors and their driver as they are captured and threatened with execution.  This film was the best of a very strong list this year.  It seems that child soldiers is a very popular theme among the live action short film producers since there is one addressing this subject among the nominees almost every year, although I have yet to see one of these films win.  Last year, I thought the film "Asad" (about Somali child soldiers) was the best of the bunch, but it did not win.  But there is so much humanity in this one that it might finally be the year when child soldiers get the recognition they need to make this tragedy a priority in our world.

Aquel No Era Yo Movie Trailer

Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything) is a nominee from France/Luxembourg in which we see a woman and her children escaping an abusive husband.  She goes to her workplace for assistance and refuge, and we see the variety of reactions from her co-workers.  I was alternately moved and disgusted, but it led me to ask myself, how would I act in this same situation?  How would anyone?  The palpable fear in this film is different from the first, but I was on the edge of my seat the entire film.  

Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything) Movie Trailer

Helium hit me in the gut.  It is the story of a dying child in the hospital and the custodian who befriends him, helping him not to be afraid of death.  The custodian weaves a lengthy tale with the child of a magical land filled with balloons, people who love him, and wonderful peaceful homes once you get there.  This story from Denmark had me in tears.

Helium Movie Trailer

Pitaako Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have To Do Everything?) is the tribute to every working mom in the world.  Running late to a wedding, the mom leaps out of bed and launches into getting everyone ready to go.  She loses the wedding gift under the piles of mess and in each moment improvises one solution to each new problem.  I laughed so hard at the end of this film, I was grateful that it was subtitled as I would have definitely missed the last few lines.  This short film out of Finland was a welcome relief to the heavy subjects of the other nominees.

Pitaako Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?) Movie Trailer

Finally, The Voorman Problem.  Another funny one from our friends in Britain in which a supposedly insane prisoner maintains that he is a god and he has gotten the other prisoners to believe in him.  A psychiatrist is brought in and sets before him a series of questions which are intended as litmus tests to prove that he is not, in fact, god.  But the hilarity comes when we discover that this prisoner is hard to debate than expected.

The Voorman Problem Movie Trailer

The short films take about 2 hours to view all together, plus the commentary from the movie makers in between.  Each year, it is one of my favorite experiences and I highly recommend that if you haven't been making it out to see them (assuming they come to your town), that you go this year.  It was a particularly good crop of films, and there wasn't a single bad one in the group.  It's a whole different kind of movie making, and if you're like me and you love movies because of the stories they tell, short films are among the greatest tribute to pure storytelling.  Don't miss them!

JACKASS PRESENTS: BAD GRANDPA - 1 nomination

JACKASS PRESENTS: BAD GRANDPA

Makeup and Hairstyling - Stephen Prouty

When my sons, my brother, and my husband wanted to see this movie, I said, "go on without me, it's not like this is a candidate for an Oscar nomination."  

And then it happened.  

I'm not a complete prude - I could see the humor in Borat and other staged/real life films. I would hardly call this genre a personal favorite, mostly because it goes for the most prurient humor, and then it sinks a little further; nothing is too ridiculous to try.  To explain a bit more clearly, there are a handful of actors "in on the joke" and they interact with regular people in the real world, acting more and more outrageously to see how they react.

But ok, it got a nom so it got me.  

If I'm being completely honest, I actually did laugh out loud at a handful of scenes in the film.  The story is simple - a grandpa takes responsibility for his grandson when the boy's mother is taken to jail.  The boy is pretty cute and he clearly has some sort of earpiece so that he can say the things that will garner the greatest reactions.  Johnny Knoxville (as the grandpa), too, does and says the most outrageous things to prompt a reaction.  We know that the pranked people have to sign releases in order to appear in the film, so for me, the best part of the movie were the outtakes at the end in which everyone comes clean to the folks they've tricked, and for the most part, the reactions are good natured and understanding.  It's kind of amazing.

But, if you're like me and you're seriously over this genre, this film is a big pass.  But what of the nomination?  At first, I was pretty unimpressed - shall I spend a dozen pages where I list all of the movies that have taken a young person and aged that person with makeup and hairstyle?  It's been done.  And done.  And done.  So what makes this worthy of an Oscar nomination?  I was mostly stumped until my husband reminded me that both had to be so convincing that they would not only play on the big screen where you can make all sorts of camera and lighting adjustments to achieve the illusion, but also had to play in real life where someone standing right next to Johnny Knoxville would be fooled into thinking that he was an elderly 86 year-old man.  

So, ok, I won't begrudge the nomination, but I still won't recommend the film.  

Havent's seen the film?
Watch the Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa Movie Trailer

IRON MAN 3 - 1 nomination

IRON MAN 3

Visual Effects - Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash, Dan Sudick

Iron Man 3 is, as the title suggests, the third in the Iron Man trilogy.  The movie is a visual effects extravaganza, but still has a fun story.  In summary, a known terrorist takes responsibility for  huge attack at Hollywood's Chinese Theater, but the explosions come from heat explosives implanted in a person.  Iron Man is stripped of his suit (and everything he owns) and he has to rebuild by sneaking into a garage of a cute and funny child who becomes his sidekick.  It's full of incredible visuals and funny quips that are the hallmark of any Marvel movie - the nomination follows a long history of big effects movies (Transformers, Terminator) getting recognition in this category.  Ben Kingsley makes a really fun cameo appearance as the would-be terrorist.

Here's my only criticism of the Marvel series - if you're Iron Man and you are faced with a deadly threat, you don't pick up the phone to the Hulk, Captain America, or Thor (or Black Widow or the arrow guy) and say, "hey friend, I'm facing a big bad evil here and I was wondering if you could suit up for a couple of days to help me out"?  You call Pepper Potts to whine and cry and see if everyone's fine?  Ok, maybe Thor is busy putting out flames in another world, or the Hulk is holed up in India doing medical research, but what is Captain America doing that is so important he can't take a few days off to help his friend?

What more is there is to say?  I'm a fan of the franchise and if you haven't seen it in the theater, see it on DVD, preferably on a larger screen.  

Haven't seen the film?
Watch the Iron Man 3 Movie Trailer

NEBRASKA - 6 nominations

NEBRASKA

Actor in a Leading Role - Bruce Dern
Actress in a Supporting Role - June Squib
Best Picture - Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa, Producers
Cinematography - Phedon Papamichael
Directing - Alexander Payne
Writing (Original Screenplay) - Bob Nelson

I begin by sharing that I have a personal connection to this film - Executive Producer Doug Mankoff is a personal friend.  He and his wife Marcia have been friends of mine for over 15 years.  Doug was at my wedding, and I've been to his home so many times I've lost count.  Naturally, the first time that I endeavor to make my dream of publicly sharing my love of all things Oscar, his film is nominated for multiple awards. (Of course, most people won't recall that another of Doug's films, Tsotsi won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film many years ago, but I'm an Oscar nerd, so I do.)  Now this doesn't mean that I worried about my ability to be candid and impartial, but it did make me very concerned that I wouldn't like it and I'd have to say so publicly.  

Thankfully, after seeing Nebraska, my fears were put to rest.  In fact, I have now seen it twice during a season when I rarely have time to devote two viewings to a single nominee.  Let me tell you why.

Bruce Dern plays an aging father with what appears to be the middle stages of dementia, and he has received a "you may already have won a million dollars" letter in the mail.  Not understanding that he is not actually a winner, he insists that he must go to Nebraska to claim his prize.  Will Forte, one of his two sons (the other is Bob Odenkirk of Breaking Bad fame) whose life has hit a bumpy patch decides that the best thing to do would be to humor his dad and take him.  They are waylaid by Dern's health issues, and they stop in their hometown to see family.  The tiny town finds out that Dern is going to be a "millionaire," and that's when friends and family come out of the woodwork with claims of debts long past due.  June Squibb plays Dern's cranky wife and she is the true standout in the film.  I won't reveal the ending, but I will say that it's a lesson to all of us that we may not be able to make outrageous dreams happen in our parents' lives, but sometimes we can help with the little things just to make them happy.  That was my real take away from the story.

But that description just doesn't do Nebraska justice.  My husband always complains that there are no funny movies in the Oscars race, or that they are far too rare.  This is a film in which you almost never stop laughing.  Whether it's June Squibb hiking up her dress and shouting at former suitor's grave, "this is what you could have had if you had just shut up about wheat!" or Forte's cousins claiming that they've driven over 850 miles in 8 hours, and when he points out that would mean driving at over 100 miles an hour they retort, "ok, 8 1/2 hours."  

The acting is phenomenal, though it took Will Forte a few scenes to get his mojo going.  (I don't know if the film was shot sequentially, but with Forte's acting being a little shaky at the beginning, I suspect that at least those scenes were among his first in the film.  When he got going though, he was wonderful and how lovely to see him in a different kind of part.)  Dern has garnered so much acclaim for this role and it is well deserved.  His performance is authentic, it's gritty, and it's hilarious.  But June Squibb was the gem of this film, in my opinion (is it wrong that I have made her my new best friend in my head?  Don't worry, June, I'm not a stalker.)  A quick look at her acting history and we are reminded that she is no newbie and that she's got chops (remember how much we hated her character in About Schmidt?).  Where Meryl Streep fell down as the angry, truth-telling misanthrope in August: Osage County for lack of humanity, June Squibb pulls it off for the both of them in Nebraska.  This is not only a tribute to her performance, but to the writer of the brilliant Original Screenplay who managed to create her as an irascible character who we can still love.  A woman who kisses her husband gently while he is lying in his hospital bed and then quips, "You are an idiot."

The writing and directing are fantastic, but I really have to point out the exquisite Cinematography and how much you can see the collaboration between the Director and the Director of Photography in this film.  I would go so far as to recommend Nebraska as a teaching tool to those who aspire to both roles on what can happen with a productive partnership.  Let's face it - this beautifully shot movie is an unlikely winner of the Oscar with Academy members moving toward hybrid films like Gravity (which you know I don't support).  But this is the only film in this category that I've seen so far (I have only one left) that really deserves the award.  I couldn't stop myself from constantly pointing out the most amazing moments that the DP captured (sorry to the folks seated close to me in the theatre) throughout the film.  He took what's beautiful about middle America and reminded me of the words to America the Beautiful with almost every shot.  And he did it all in black and white.  There are no gimmicks, just good solid movie making.  See it, you won't be disappointed.

Haven't seen the film?
Watch the Nebraska Movie Trailer

THE INVISIBLE WOMAN - 1 nomination

THE INVISIBLE WOMAN

Costume Design - Michael O'Connor

The Invisible Woman is Ralph Fiennes' directorial follow up in which he tells the story of Charles Dickens and his uniting with a young mistress, an actress whose mother almost throws her at him so she'll have security.  The complexities of these kinds of relationships in the 1800s and the wrath of society and morality also play a role.

Each year when I pursue seeing the full list of Oscar nominees, there is always one film of which I had never heard that I discover as a hidden gem once I see it.  This is not that movie.

Of course, as I've said in prior blogs, period pieces are the stuff that Costume Design Oscar nominations are made for, and it's not rare for movies of which few have ever heard to find themselves nominated.  The costumes were exquisite and deserving of the recognition, but the story dragged, the dialogue was mediocre, and I found my head bobbing and eyes closing a couple of times.  At best a 6 out of 10 - at least the actors did their best with what they were given.

It's hard to enthusiastically recommend seeing The Invisible Woman, unless you have a particular affection for Charles Dickens, in which case this story will give you a little bit of additional insight into his life.

Haven't seen the film?
See The Invisible Woman Movie Trailer

BREAKING NEWS: OSCAR WINNER PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN DIES AT 46

To say that Philip Seymour Hoffman was a major talent would be an understatement.  I suppose we'll learn more about his death in the coming week, especially about what appears to be as a result of drug overdose.

To remember him is to remember his incredible work in his win for Best Actor, where he transformed himself and became the living embodiment of Truman Capote, in the film Capote.  He was nominated three times subsequent to his one win, for The Master, The Ides of March, and for Doubt.  He had numerous nominations for Golden Globes, SAG awards, and BAFTA awards (the British Oscar), among others.

His extraordinary talent was infused in every role he took on, and I will particularly never forget the movie Flawless which he starred in with Robert De Niro.  He played a drag queen who gave singing lessons to the injured ex-cop who was stereotypically short on kindness and long on homophobia until their unlikely friendship changed him.  Also, who could forget the vulnerability he demonstrated in Boogie Nights, as the sycophantic production crew member who had a crush on Dirk Diggler?

Philip talked so eloquently about the craft and art of acting when he was being interviewed for the awards tours, that even those who don't share the profession understood what it meant to be in his shoes.  He never took easy roles and always gave all of himself.  He was never satisfied with his performance choices, and I imagine how torturing it must feel to never be good enough in your own eyes.

He will be missed.  We can all expect his face to appear, sadly, during the In Memoriam section of the Oscars on March 2nd.  May he rest in peace.

My favorite Philip Seymour Hoffman scene in The Big Lebowski (he played Brandt)

Brandt: Mr. Lebowski is prepared to make a generous offer to you to act as courier, once we get instructions for the money.

The Dude: Why me, man?

Brandt: He believes the culprits might be the very people who, uh, soiled your rug, and you are in a unique position to confirm or disconfirm that suspicion.

The Dude: He thinks the carpet pissers did this?

Brandt: Well Dude, we just don't know.

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS - 2 nominations

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS

Cinematography - Bruno Delbonnel
Sound Mixing - Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Inside Llewyn Davis is the story of a struggling folk singer who has become a solo act after his former partner committed suicide.  He looks for shelter (couch surfing) among his friends and acquaintances - fellow folkies, a professor and his wife, and even family members.  His relationships are not strong given that he has no filter and says as many inappropriate things as appropriate things (to take a quote from Silver Linings Playbook). Llewyn is looking to make a life through his music, but discovers that his dream will be harder to achieve, and ultimately considers going back to the Merchant Marines.  He is a man beaten down by his circumstances and by an up and coming career cut short.

But the music… oh the music.  Since the day I saw the movie a few months ago, I have listened to the soundtrack at least a few times per week.  This is the music of my childhood, both having been raised by a folkie and having started guitar lessons at 8 years old.  There is something so soulful about each and every song (save one bouncy, silly song that is so funny when delivered by Justin Timberlake, Oscar Isaac, and Adam Driver that it's just awesome), it's like watching the history of folk music come alive.  With the death of Pete Seeger in the last few weeks, Inside Llewyn Davis takes on an even more important role this year, reminding us of how the folk movement began.  The film ends with a young up and comer by the name of Bob Dylan singing his hit, Farewell.

The cinematography nomination is a strange one, although I suppose the challenge of displaying winter weather and expansive snow drifts and night driving would be the impetus for it.  It was hardly the standout of the film because it was very subtle, but when you look at it closely watching for cinematography, you start to see the different filters and colors used to set moods and feelings associated with the story, and the nomination starts to become a bit clearer.  But the sound mixing is so spot on in a category that is generally reserved for action films and less for musicals (unlike sound editing), but this production combines so many elements into one that the sound mixers do deserve this recognition, in my opinion.  I can't see either one winning the category for this film.

The clear missed category for which I think the film was snubbed is Best Original Score.  If Saving Mr. Banks can get a nomination this year, there is just no excuse for Inside Llewyn Davis to be missing from that list.

I've heard mixed reviews from people who actually lived through this time period, especially because they observed folkies to be uplifting, young idealists rather than moody, downtrodden misanthropes.  But I loved it.  If Inside Llewyn Davis' success is any indication, we can look forward to a much-needed revival of folk music, and watching groups like Mumford and Sons and The Milk Carton Kids come to popularity gives me lots of hope that it will make a big comeback.

Haven't seen the film?
Watch the Inside Llewyn Davis Movie Trailer