Expectations Shattered...

So the verdict came out.. and i guess it was a mixed package.. I was very happy that Juno won the best original screenplay but I am very disappointed with the selection of no country for old men as the best picture. Don't get me wrong, it was certainly a well directed movie and the character of anton chighur was played with such perfection that Javier Bardem definitely deserved the oscar for best supporting actor. I could even say that the coen brothers deserved the best director award for No Country for Old Men but it did not deserve the honour of best picture because it did not stand for anything. It was a movie about a psychopath, all is well. But the movie does not dwell into the psychopathic mind, nor does it portray what drives a man to insanity. In all honesty, this was a movie about a man who goes around killing people with no reason at all. (forget valid reason).. In my mind, if this movie deserved an oscar for best picture, so did I know what u did last summer.

The story also lacked any moral or ethical dilemmas that, when compared to previous best picture winners of the last decade, does not compare even remotely. Look at the likes of Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, Crash, The Departed, even Titanic. All these movies offered a story. What No Country offered was gore, violence and utter disregard for human life with absolutely no basis for the cause of violence. In comparison, the other nominees of the year were Atonement, Juno, There will be blood and Michael Clayton. I have yet to see There will be blood, but my gut instinct tells me that it deserved the best picture more than No country. Atonement certainly had a more powerful story that will withstand the test of time. That will move the audience and make them think. No country for old men will certainly have its audience grip their seats but at the end of it.. it is simply a movie.. Atonement, and its predecessors, left behind more than a simple feeling of fright. They left behind a lesson... Hopefully future academy awards will take notice and act upon the fact that Best Picture goes beyond one category.

No Country For Old Men - FREAKY!!!

I'll try to keep this one short considering i'm in somewhat of a hurry today. No Country For Old Men is quite likely the most heartracing story i've seen in quite some time. If there was a handbook for a way a thriller should be made, this movie sure followed it to the core. Save the last 20 minutes, this movie moves at a pace of a speeding bullet.. (pardon the superman analogy) The ending was rather abrupt and felt inconclusive but i'm assuming that this was done intentionally to let the viewer leave with an open mind.

The story is quite simple at its core. Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) finds a bag with 2 million dollars around a number of dead mexican guys who were trying to smuggle drugs across the mexico-texas border. He walks away with the 2 million without thinking too much into it but is soon tracked down by a killer for hire named Anton Chighur (Javier Bardem) Chighur is a ruthless psychopath who does not stop at any expense. His goal is quite simply to find the 2 million dollars and kill anyone that comes in his way. Soon we're off to the races, as Chighur chases Moss through the deserts of texas stopping at different motels. Moss manages to stay just one step ahead of Chighur until of course the defining moment. Behind both these men is Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones). Ed Tom is determined to save Moss from the hands of Chighur. Who lives and who dies is the crux of this story.

The performance by Bardem as the psychopathic Chighur is definitely oscar-worthy. A wonderful personification of pure evil. A friend of mine even went as far as to say that his role in the movie is comparable to the infamous hopkins in Silence of the Lambs. Every moment leading up to the moss-chighur encounter has ur heart racing. I must be honest though, I really didn't see much point to the movie as a whole. The ending to the movie was rather abrupt and sudden that it felt very unnatural. This movie is definitely worth a watch but not for the faint hearted. My warning to u... be prepared for gore and utterly gruesome imagery. My final verdict.. i'm still not convinced that this was the best movie of the year last year.. let's see if my mind changes tomorrow, I'm watching "there will be blood" starring daniel day lewis. See you all then.

Michael Clayton - Still not convinced

So continuing on with my oscar review.. Michael Clayton was the movie of the night starring George Clooney and Tom Wilkinson. After first look at this movie, i can confidently say that this is going to be the one movie that does not win the oscar for best picture of the year. It's a very interesting crime drama/thriller but it is definitely not oscar material. With George Clooney at the helm, it definitely is a lot of eye candy for the women but what i saw in this movie was a legal drama that had a slight tinge of facing up to moral and ethical issues.

Without much further ado, here's a brief synopsis of the story. Since this story is titled a suspense thriller, i'll try my best not to ruin it for any of you. Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is a lawyer with above ordinary credentials is a "fixer" for a high profile manhattan law firm. His job is to fix any mistakes made by any of his clients. For example, he clears the name for a client who just commited a hit and run, or stop the presses from printing any big stories that their clients don't want out. The firm's big account is with an agro-chemical company called UNorth, whose account is handled by clayton's good friend Arthur. (Tom Wilkinson)

The movie starts with Arthur losing his mind, stripping and attacking his plaintiff in the middle of a hearing. Clayton meets Arthur and is told that there's more to the UNorth case than meets the eye. Clayton tries to convince Arthur that he has gone way over his head and tries to calm him down. UNorth's in-house counsel Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton), meanwhile has her men follow arthur and finds out that Arthur knows some UNorth confidential information, has him killed and makes it look like a suicide. Clayton doesn't believe that the man he spoke to 12 hours ago, ready to take on the world, is now dead. He breaks into Arthur's sealed house and finds the secret that UNorth doesn't want him to know and is now the target for Karen Crowder's man.

And the chase begins...

This is definitely a weak nomination for the best movie category. I wouldn't say that this movie is boring and unbearable to watch, but for a suspense thriller, this movie lacks suspense and it lacks thrill. The dialogues are not very strong, and the picturization isn't that great. The characters are very poorly developed. For example, we find that clayton is divorced but remains close to his son, yet we do not see any character building between clayton and his family. My rating.. 2.5 out of 5.. I guess i'm a little harsh because i had high expectations for this movie. I will come back tomorrow with the highly anticipated "No Country for Old Men"

As always, all comments welcome..

Juno - last year's best movie?? Can't say for sure

Continuing with my analysis of oscar winners, i figured that with the academy awards in 3 days.. y not review this year's top nominees for Best Picture. I started by watching Juno last night starring ellen page, michael cera, jennifer garner and the ever so lovable Allison Janney (CJ for you west wing lovers) Juno was said to be the feel good movie of the year. One that made people smile with the underlying comedy even though the story revolves around a very controversial topic.

Juno (ellen page) is a 16 year old girl who ends up getting pregnant bearing the child of fellow 16 year old bleeker (michael cera).. After a revelation at the abortion clinic, juno decides that she doesn't want to abort the baby because it has fingernails.. :P

Juno MacGuff: ...and the receptionist tried to get me to take these condoms that looked like grape suckers and was just babbling away about her freaking boyfriends pie balls! Oh an Su-Chin was there and she was like, "Hi babies have fingernails." FINGERNAILS!
Leah: Oh, gruesome. I wonder if the baby's claws could scratch your vag on the way out?

Juno decides to give the baby up for adoption to a couple she finds in the pennysaver ad, vanessa and mark loring played by Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman. Mark is a musician who is kept on a tight leash while Vanessa is craving to be a mother more than anything in the world. The movie develops vanessa's character as a bossy wife, while portraying mark as the jovial, funloving guy but both of them as good hearted people until of course the climax. The story revolves around what happens after from the time that juno agrees to give the baby up to the couple till the time of birth.

The movie touches on a number of relationships effortlessly. Juno and Bleeker being the obvious one. Mark and Vanessa. Juno and Bren (Allison Janney, Juno's stepmother), Juno and Mac (J K Simmons, Juno's father). The movie's strength is definitely in the dialogues. Ellen Page does a brilliant job of playing a typical teenager, right down to the delivery of the dialogue and her mannerisms. The movie was certainly great.. but i don't know if i'd say it's worthy of an oscar best picture. I'll need to look at the other nominees to decide. Ellen page certainly is a contender for the best actress category and rightfully so. The movie's strength is also to be able to make the story very lighthearted despite the serious topic. The understanding parents who want what's best for their daughter. Allison Janney was excellent as a loving stepmother, contrary to the norm in movies. One of the interesting aspects i found was the background score for the movie was actually a series of vocal songs, somewhat like recitals, depicting the story. I found it to be a very unique and charming delivery and added the little extra touch to Juno that made it great.

So that's my 2 cents on Juno. I'll keep updating over the next 3 days with the other nominees. I'm planning to watch George Clooney in Michael Clayton tonight.. and hopefully before the actual oscars be able to come to a conclusion on the best movie... I'm adding a couple of the quotes from Juno that i found most interesting.

Vanessa Loring: You think you're really going to do this?
Juno MacGuff: Yea, if I could just have the thing and give it to you now, I totally would. But I'm guessing it looks probably like a sea monkey right now and we should let it get a little cuter.
Vanessa Loring: That's great.
Mark Loring: Keep it in the oven.

[at Juno’s ultrasound]
Leah: Dude that thing looks freaky.
Juno MacGuff: I am a sacred vessel; all you got in your stomach is taco bell.

Juno MacGuff: I'm losing my faith in humanity.
Mac MacGuff: Think you can narrow it down for me?
Juno MacGuff: I guess I wonder sometimes if people ever stay together for good.
Mac MacGuff: You mean like couples?
Juno MacGuff: Yeah, like people in love.
Mac MacGuff: Are you having boy troubles? I gotta be honest; I don't much approve of dating in your condition, 'cause well... that's kind of messed up.
Juno MacGuff: Dad, no!
Mac MacGuff: Well, it's kind of skanky. Isn't that what you girls call it? Skanky? Skeevy?
Juno MacGuff: Please stop now.
Mac MacGuff: [persisting] Tore up from the floor up?
Juno MacGuff: Dad, it's not about that. I just need to know if it's possible for two people to stay happy together forever, or at least for a few years.
Mac MacGuff: It's not easy, that's for sure. Now, I may not have the best track record in the world, but I have been with your stepmother for 10 years now and I'm proud to say that we're very happy.
[Juno nods]
Mac MacGuff: In my opinion, the best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what have you, the right person will still think the sun shines out your ass. That's the kind of person that's worth sticking with.

When Juno decides to tell her parents..

Leah: Dude, I think it's best to just tell 'em.
Juno MacGuff: I'm Pregnant.
Bren: Oh, God.
Juno MacGuff: But, uh ah, I'm going to give it up for adoption and I already found the perfect couple, they're going to pay for the medical expenses and everything. And and what ah 30 or odd weeks we can just pretend that this never happened.
Mac MacGuff: You're pregnant?
Juno MacGuff: I'm sorry. I'm sorry... And if it is any consolation I have heartburn that is radiating in my knee caps and I haven't taken a dump since like Wednesday... morning.
Bren: I didn't even know that you were sexually active.
Juno MacGuff: I, uh...
Mac MacGuff: Who is the kid?
Juno MacGuff: The-the baby? I don't really know much about it other than, I mean, it has fingernails, allegedly.
Bren: Nails, really?
Juno MacGuff: Yeah!
Mac MacGuff: No, I know I mean who's the father, Juno?
Juno MacGuff: Umm... It's Paulie Bleeker.
Mac MacGuff: Paulie Bleeker?
Juno MacGuff: What?
Mac MacGuff: I didn't think he had it in him.
Leah: I know, right?