And the Oscar is Going To...

Well, well. I think the Academy nailed it this year. Since last year when they decided to add 5 more movies to the best picture category, I have huffed and puffed that they are forcing films into a category that don't really deserve it. But, after having seen 9 of the 10 films nominated, I am happy with all of them. All of them. I guess after this year's movies, I would rather struggle to make my decision than be upset that some truly great films didn't make the cut.

I'm excited to see True Grit had a good showing after pretty much being snubbed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at the Golden Globes. Even more excited to see little Hailee Steinfield (only 14 years old...12 when they filmed the movie) receive the nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Also another favorite of mine this year, The King's Speech. Truly remarkable. I saw this movie on a Saturday afternoon 6 weeks after it had been released and the theater was jam packed. And rightfully so. Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush are my new favorite duo. Natalie Portman also earned a well deserved nomination for Black Swan. While the movie was disturbing to say the least (I drank during this movie), her performance was truly amazing. 

Over the next few weeks, I'll be taking a break from the normal sequential movie review of past Oscar winners to focus on all 10 films for Best Picture. I'll even have a few noteworthy people chime in on their thoughts for this year's pics, make my own predictions for the random pairing of hosts that is Anne Hathaway and James Franco, and allow you all to vote on who will be the the best and worst dressed at the ceremony.  Make sure to check back to read reviews and find out where these movies fall on my totally flawed scoring system for predicting Best Picture.

The nominees this year for Best Picture are...
Black Swan
The Fighter
The Kids Are Alright
The Kings Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone

For a complete list of all the nominations for this year, CLICK HERE!

Cimarron: An Actual Western

Okay, y'all. Without any preconceived notions, I thought Cimarron might be like Moulin Rouge. Wishful thinking, I know. But it was my first knee jerk reaction. Turns out, it's the first Western to win the Oscar for Best Picture. And I like Bonanza and Tombstone, so I knew I could make it through this one.

 Some noteable notes about the flick:

1. Budget: $1.5 million (equivalent of $20,119,472.05 today)
2. 5,000 extras, 28 camerman, & dozens of extras were used
3. First movie to be nominated for 6 Academy Awards
4. Name of the male lead: Richard Dix. (yep, this is funny to me)
5. The poster tagline is my new motto: Terrific As All Creation


Cimarron is based on the 1929 novel by Edna Ferber. (Ferber also penned the novel Showboat, another Blockbuster in later years). It's a combined story of two of the most prominent Oklahoma Land Runs (or rushes, as some historians would call it). One of them in 1889 and one in 1893. Why this many people would spend so many years rushing to a place that would later be overpopulated with Dairy Queens is still baffling to me...but I digress. It follows Yancey and Sabra Cravet (I know what you're thinking...Yancey's the guy, Sabra's the girl) as they "rush" with everyone and their dog to claim stake on prime Indian territory.

Honestly, the history of the Oklahoma Land Runs is a little boring to me. But the movie wasn't. According to some more well known movie reviewers, there's a lot of controversy about the topic of racism and how it was handled in this film. I don't like to read other reviews of these movies until after I have published my own, simply for the fact I don't want to be jaded or persuaded in my own thoughts on these flicks. Within the first few minutes of the film, I had to say to myself, "Amanda, put on your 1931 point-of-view hat, not your 2011 point-of-view hat.* (Note the 1931 hat has come full circle and is now InStyle again!) It's really sad to say, but racism was more widely accepted, or should I say, practiced in 1931. While I was watching this movie with my present-day, 2011, anti-racism brain and hat intact, I was offended and saddened on more than one occasion. But then I discretely took my 2011 hat off, placed it out of my dog's reach, and put my "1931-I'm-not-totally-sure-racism-is-bad-or-not-in-this-day-and-age hat" and I began to see a unique, and very realistic portrayal of how divided we were as a nation, when all the while we were claiming to be "One Nation Under God." It's just unfair how we treated people so differently who were/are really the same as us. But director Wesley Ruggles did a fine job of showing us what was really happening over 110 years ago.

Sometimes when we go see or rent a film, it's because we want to escape to a fantasy land that doesn't exist. Sometimes, we want to see realism. Cimarron is far from a fantasy. But the realistic portrayal of the fight for ownership of prime land (interesting, we still use Location, Location, Location when it comes to describing prime real estate) and how it effects people for the rest of their lives, was real. For real, y'all, it was. Impressive cinematography, amazingly believable depiction of Oklahoma in the late 1800's (that set obviously cost more than the cast) and some above average acting make this film worth watching.

3 out of 5 Stars

All Quiet On The Western Front: A Timeless War Story

Okay, so this was movie #3 on the list. And the first of the 82 movies I have heard of. Before the big viewing day, here's what I knew about All Quiet On The Western Front:

1. It is a movie.
2. It received the Oscar for Best Picture.
3. It is also a book.
4. Netflix sent this to me within 1 hour of adding it to my queue.

That's it. You can call me naive, but I truly thought this was a Western Movie. (If you thought so too, then good for you for using context clues!) Turns out, it's ANOTHER war movie, y'all! But, unlike Wings, they got to talk and make noises and stuff, so it was a totally different take on war. 

The story takes place during World War I. It follows Paul Baumer and a slew of other German soldiers throughout the war. It's not a heroic story. It's not a love story. It's about as true of a story that anyone during this era had ever seen regarding "war life." Rarely does this movie tell us where the soldiers are, the name of the battle, or the commanding officer in charge.  What we do see is the struggle a soldier faces when he is at war. That's what makes this movie timeless. The German novel, Im Westen Nichts Neues, (translated to All Quiet On The Western Front) was banned from Nazi Germany, as well as it's sequel, The Road Back. They also said nix to the movie version as well. Crazy...the Germans didn't want us to know what war was really like...silly Germans.

As far as war movies go, this one was pretty graphic. Especially since it was filmed in 1930. I'm not talking arm removal scene from 127 Hours, but there were some bloody scenes throughout the film. There was a scene where Paul shoots down a French soldier and has to deal with him dying right before his eyes. I have never been to war. I have only seen movies, read news stories, and listen to veterans tell the tales of war. But watching this scene made me realize that no matter who you are fighting for, and who you are fighting against, being at war, (or rather, in the war,) is life changing. I have so much respect for all those who have ever served, currently serve, and will serve our nation. Killing another man, regardless of what team he is fighting for, is something you will ever forget.

The Hurt Locker won the Oscar for Best Picture last year. It's also a story of war. An all too relevant story. But when it comes time for me to review that movie (we're looking at around the last week of December for that one, folks)...I think I'll watch this movie again and compare them. Why? Because All Quiet On The Western Front is truly a timeless story of war. War is war. No matter where. So big props to to Lewis Milestone and the rest of his crew for making this movie when movies like this weren't supposed to be made.

*It has been rumored that All Quiet On the Western Front will soon be remade. Daniel Radcliffe is slated to play Paul Baumer, and the movie is supposed to be released in 2012 (Good for you, Harry Potter!)

4 out of 5 Stars

Broadway Melody: A Broadway Letdown

Netflix had this movie! NETFLIX HAD THIS MOVIE! I didn't have to buy a $30 VHS version of this movie. Better yet, here's the swell description on the cover of the Netflix sleeve:

You'll be tappin' your toes to this early talkie musical (the first musical to win the Best Picture Oscar) that's filled with great tunes by the songwriting team of Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown.

So here's how it all went down. Harriett (they call her Hank) and Queenie Mahoney are trying to make it as a vaudeville act. (Sound reminiscent of a true Oscar winner, Chicago???) They aren't as cute as everyone on Broadway, that's for sure. So they have to work extra hard. Their friend, Eddie Kerns decides to help them out. Eddie, previously in love with Hank (the older sister), is confused about his new found infatuation with Queenie, the younger, more beautiful (and blonde) sister. They continually "sneak" kisses, etc. when Hank isn't around. Which would be somewhat charming and heartbreaking at the same time, except for the fact that Queenie and Hank are constantly kissing in a way that no siblings should ever kiss. Not even Angelina and her nameless brother Jolie. Gross.

I am not a professional tap dancer, but I'm pretty decent at the lost art. So you can imagine how excited I was to watch this movie. Also, you can imagine I would expect perfection from the musical numbers since this was a time when musicals were par for the course in the film industry. Not the case. The acting was mediocre. I guess it was good for the time period, but it was too theatrical for the sake of being theatrical. I don't mind dramatic. But the acting was so forced I couldn't (and didn't really want to) believe them. I just wanted to throw a dog bone at the TV. (Don't worry, I threw a stuffed snowman doll instead). With the exception of one a cappella tap number, the remaining dances were something I could have done in the 6th grade. What it lacked in plot and character development, it made up for in production value. Technically speaking, this movie was not a bad production. The camera was steady, the editing was succinct, and the costumes were beautiful. 


What did we learn from Broadway Melody:
1. Blondes always get more attention. Ergo, looks do matter.
2. Real sisters shouldn't treat each other like lovers.
3. Doing anything half-ass (in this case a vaudeville routine) gets you nowhere in life.
5. The lines of control top pantyhose should never be visible. At any time.
6. Sequins and pearls are always lovely.


UGH. I think I'm gonna apply for a movie summarizer position at Netflix, because I am confident they are outsourcing the movie summarizer position to someone 12 hours ahead of us. As in the aforementioned description, my toes were hardly tapping. And an episode of Glee has more numbers in it than this proclaimed musical.  
Broadway Melody, you were a let down.

2 Out of 5 Stars

Wings: A Year of Firsts

Wings. The first film to win Best Picture. The fact is, it didn't actually win Best Picture. At least it didn't in 1927. It wasn't until the 2nd Annual Academy Awards did Wings actually receive the title of Best Picture. I guess the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science were still trying to get their act together in year one, so the official title of Best Picture for Wings was really given out retroactively. It's all in the details, y'all.

But really, this was a year of firsts. Notable "firsts" for the movie:
1. First film to receive the Academy Award for Best Picture
2. First (and only) silent film to receive the Academy Award for Best Picture
3. First film to show male and female nudity
4. First film with a guy on guy kiss (and we all thought Brokeback Mountain was a big deal)

I must say, I was guilty of huffing and puffing to a few movie buff friends about this movie, for a few reasons.
1. It cost me $30 to buy this movie. I now, for now other reason than I am committed to finish what I start, own a VHS of a silent film. Special thanks to my friends at Amazon.
2. It's a silent film. (no need for explanation)

It wasn't until I finished the film did I realize how good this film really was. It's a love and war story. And a good one at that.  Mary Preston (played by the talented Clara Bow) is in love with her best friend Jack Powell (Charles 'Buddy' Rogers).  But Jack is in love with Sylvia (the swanky lady from "the city.") And so is David Armstrong (Richard Arlen).  David knows that Sylvia loves him, not Jack. David and Jack go off to war and inevitably, as it would play out in any other movie, they become best friends. Mary continues to chase after Jack. She even enlists in the service as an ambulance driver to get closer to Jack. (Some may call this stalking, I just think Mary was keeping a close watch on Jack!) Jack and David finally have their chance in the air as "real pilots." Then Jack shoots down David's plane. Clearly, a mistake. And Jack feels pretty bad about. The war ends, and people get together. This is where I'll stop with the narrative summary, as I don't want to spoil it for those of you who would like to borrow my VHS copy of this film.

In 1927, this movie cost $2,000,000.
According to my handy inflation website, that's the equivalent of
$24,401,016.95 in 2010. That's a lot of dang money, y'all. But money well spent. The cinematography was far above average. The special effects (there's a lot...it's a war movie, remember!) were great. Honestly, I never once thought to myself "this is good for 1927." I only thought, "this is good."

So there. A love story. A war story. A lot of showing. A lot less telling. As an improv teacher, it was great to watch. Sometimes improvisers fall into the "talking heads" syndrome, and watching this silent film might help me help some of those folks (including myself) who are big fans of the spoken word on stage.  I think this movie was way ahead of it's time as far as plot, character development, special effects, and overall entertainment value. It just took me finishing the movie to realize it.

Rating:

3 out of 5 Stars

Meet My Boyfriend Oscar!

I've have a new boyfriend for the year 2011. His name is Oscar. I thought I new a lot about him, but turns out, I don't. He's much older than me (he'll be 83 on February 27th), so he's been around the block. Over the past 82 years, he's made a lot of decisions that have affected people's lives.  Some decisions were easy. Some decisions were hard. And some were just plain wrong. In fact, Hollywood's biggest stars get all gussied up every year to hear what he has to say. (Can you blame them? I mean check out those pecks...not bad for an octogenarian!) Nonetheless, I, along with millions of other Oscar fans, continue to support him and the industry he has faithfully been apart of for 82 years. I hope you'll follow my journey with Oscar this year as I spend countless hours getting to know my new beau! (Special thanks to my friend Collin Dahlgren for creating such a beautiful logo for my blog. He's your man for all things graphic design!)