The Fallen Idol (1948)

Carol Reed/ Graham Greene collaboration tells the story of the young son of the French ambassador to England, his near worship of the household butler, and a death under suspicious circumstances. From its embassy setting, to the anchoring performances of both Ralph Richardson as butler Bains, and young Bobby Henrey as Philip, to its various subtleties and insights into lying and childhood, the film's a real treat. Though its sixty years old I felt as if I was seeing something new. Bobby Henrey's performance is so naturalistic, so true to childhood, its barely even a performance (apparently director Reed did all sorts of things from games, and tricks, to repeating takes until all artifice was drained out of the young lad, to get what he wanted on screen, and it was very worth it (interestingly Henry went on to be a chaplin). The ending doesn't completely work, but here the mystery is secondary to the performances and the well executed awkwardness and tension of the films final half hour. Recommended.

Brotherhood: Season3 (2008)

Not much I can say about this really without spoiling, other then that I was really quite satisfied with the conclusion, they ended this series right. Quite the intensity for the last three episodes, you didn't know exactly where everything was going to wind up. The episode immediately before the penultimate was surprisingly funny. Not for all tastes, but if you can take that grit and appreciate some good character studies, recommended.

Extract (2009)

Mike Judge’s film about the owner of a flavor-extract company (Jason Bateman) who contemplates having and affair with an attractive employee (Mila Kunis) as release from his largely sexless marriage to Kristen Wiig. Perhaps Judge’s subtlest comedy, its very lite and dry, but not all that funny. We’ve seen everything here before, Bateman as the boss can’t help but remind us of the superior Arrested Development, and Kunis has little to do as a maybe 2 note character. I was impressed with a couple of Wiig’s scenes towards the end of the picture however. Kristen Wiig is very talented at over the top character bits, in fact I’d say that she’s the most talented women to come out of Saturday Night Live since Tina Fay. Here though Wiig is both funny and acting, not just hamming, she plays her character very straight and it’s a treat to watch, she and Bateman have a workable chemistry but its not explored in much depth. In short this film makes me want to see Kristin Wiig in a drama, that however is a different, yet to be produced movie, while Extract remains mostly weak, and not something I’d want to see again. Not Recommended.

The Hurt Locker (2009)

While watching this film (which I just saw on Friday) I kept thinking about how fresh it felt. Now war movies have been done in 1001 ways but this felt new to me. Not a political statement like most of the movies linked to Iraq and the broader war on terrorism, this movie is about the profession of war, and its effects on the psyche of those who work in it. The movie works on many levels, its genuinely exciting and can be appreciated as an action movie, it’s a great ensemble piece, with some reasonably big named actors used effectively in small supporting parts, it’s also a genuinely good character study and psychological examination of war. Jeremy Renner’s performance really ties this film together, it’s a great one, but not showy. Obsession, adrenaline rush, ego trip, alienation, competitiveness, earnestness, they all flow seamlessly together in a fully realized portrait of a human being whose been emotionally rewired by his military experience. The film doesn’t judge him however, it doesn’t really judge anyone, it just shows you how things are and lets you make the call, all the more impressive given how politicized the subject matter could easily have been rendered. A real triumph, rightly recognized, and at this point just a few hours away from the Oscar’s, I find it perfectly possibly that it may have garnered the necessary momentum to put it over the top for the best picture award. We’ll know shortly. Recommended.

Wings (1927)

To inaugurate its newly restored organ, Boise’s historic Egyptian Theater hosted a showing of William Wellman’s 1927 bi-plain spectacle Wings, which is recognized as the first Oscar best picture winner (actually that first year there where too, one for a popular favorite (Wings), and one for greatest artistic achievement which went to F. W. Murnau’s Sunrise). I’ve seen a fair number of silent films and I’m afraid I’d have to rank Wings in the bottom half. No doubt quite a site in its day I didn’t get much out of it, Sunrise has a better love triangle and night on the town scene, Hell’s Angles (while not really a silent, is better with a not dissimilar plot (and better air fights)), and anything Chaplin or Keation did had more heart and humor. Wings was just too much like Pearl Harbor, had a couple good moments, but ultimately I didn’t much care. It was a fun experience to see it with a packed house in a period theater however. Not Recommended.

Suspicision (1941)

I shutter a bit to put the words ‘Hitchcock’ and ‘misfire’ in the same sentence, but I’m afraid this is how I feel about Suspicion. Adapted, ultimately loosely from Francis Lles’ 1932 novel ‘Before the Fact‘, the film concerns Lina McLaidlaw (Joan Fontaine) an English women from established stock who, partly out of fear of becoming a spinster, marries dashing cad Johnnie Aysgarth (appropriately played by Cary Grant). Throughout the film Johnnie, though sometimes a doting husband, proceeds to act irresponsibly and endangers both the families economic situation and good name. Lina begins to suspect him of plotting, and later carrying out a murder, and then comes to suspect he intends to have her bumped off as well. Now the acting’s good in this movie (though I don’t know if Fontaine deserved an Oscar for this, she really got it as a kind of apology for not winning the previous year for the far superior Rebecca), but I was kind of board by the central dynamic of the film, in fact the whole awkward/respectable girl and the handsome cad that may just be after her for her money thing is done much better in Joan’s sister Olivia de Havilland’s later Oscar winning portrayal of The Heiress. The thing that really upset me about the film however was the ending, a total cop-out that seemingly contradicts all that came before it. While I realize this neuterd or ‘safe’ ending was mandated by the production code of the time, it just seemed such a blatant and unsatisfying cheat that I could not forgive this film. In short, a mediocrity, but a rare one from a man who usually earns his title of ‘master of suspense’. Not Recommended.

An Education (2009)

Weighty is the word I keep coming back to when I think of this movie, it has substance and heft, and reminds me of all those really solid dramas that were part of the 2008 awards season (the story here even has a number of thematic parallels to my favorite film of last year The Reader). An Education is about just that, in 1961 a young London girl named Jenny (Carey Mulligan in what so far is my favorite female performance of ‘09) who embarks on a love affair with an older, more then just a little suspicious seeming man (Peter Sarsgaard, in an excellently realized, subtle performance). The film does an excellent job of conveying how Jenny’s experience with this older man provides ‘an education’ into a new supposedly high class world she has aspired to, but never before experienced. This ‘education’ runs the spectrum from the wide-eyed innocence of the young girl visiting her first fancy restaurant (with live jazz singer) to heartbreaking disillusionment, and even betrayal. I like how the movie starts with such a jaunty, catchy, innocent jazz number, complete with images of teenage school girls and drawings of paper airplanes, and takes that innocence on a journey that (as I said) just gets weightier and weightier as it progresses. I think it’s the best character journey of its year, and a refreshingly serious entry from a movie year that frankly wasn’t. Recommended.

My predictions for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards

As Roger Ebert said (by way of voice simulator) “I can’t remember a year when it seemed easer to predict the Oscars”, which is just that much more incentive to do so. My Pic’s in Red.


Performance by an actor in a leading role
Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart" (Fox Searchlight)
George Clooney in "Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Colin Firth in "A Single Man" (The Weinstein Company)
Morgan Freeman in "Invictus" (Warner Bros.)
Jeremy Renner in "The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Matt Damon in "Invictus" (Warner Bros.)
Woody Harrelson in "The Messenger" (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Christopher Plummer in "The Last Station" (Sony Pictures Classics)
Stanley Tucci in "The Lovely Bones" (DreamWorks in association with Film4, Distributed by Paramount)
Christoph Waltz in "Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company)

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Sandra Bullock in "The Blind Side" (Warner Bros.)
Helen Mirren in "The Last Station" (Sony Pictures Classics)
Carey Mulligan in "An Education" (Sony Pictures Classics)
Gabourey Sidibe in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate)
Meryl Streep in "Julie & Julia" (Sony Pictures Releasing)
(One of the few competative catagories this year, Ideally I'd like to see Carey Mulligan win this)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Penélope Cruz in "Nine" (The Weinstein Company)
Vera Farmiga in "Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Maggie Gyllenhaal in "Crazy Heart" (Fox Searchlight)
Anna Kendrick in "Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Mo'Nique in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate)

Best animated feature film of the year
"Coraline" (Focus Features)
Henry Selick
"Fantastic Mr. Fox" (20th Century Fox)
Wes Anderson
"The Princess and the Frog" (Walt Disney)
John Musker and Ron Clements
"The Secret of Kells" (GKIDS)
Tomm Moore
"Up" (Walt Disney)
Pete Docter

Achievement in art direction
"Avatar" (20th Century Fox)
Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert StrombergSet Decoration: Kim Sinclair
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" (Sony Pictures Classics)
Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia MasaroSet Decoration: Caroline Smith
"Nine" (The Weinstein Company)
Art Direction: John MyhreSet Decoration: Gordon Sim
"Sherlock Holmes" (Warner Bros.)
Art Direction: Sarah GreenwoodSet Decoration: Katie Spencer
"The Young Victoria" (Apparition)
Art Direction: Patrice VermetteSet Decoration: Maggie Gray

Achievement in cinematography
"Avatar" (20th Century Fox)
Mauro Fiore
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (Warner Bros.)
Bruno Delbonnel
"The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment)
Barry Ackroyd
"Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company)
Robert Richardson
"The White Ribbon" (Sony Pictures Classics)
Christian Berger

Achievement in costume design
"Bright Star" (Apparition)
Janet Patterson
"Coco before Chanel" (Sony Pictures Classics)
Catherine Leterrier
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" (Sony Pictures Classics)
Monique Prudhomme
"Nine" (The Weinstein Company)
Colleen Atwood
"The Young Victoria" (Apparition)
Sandy Powell

Achievement in directing
"Avatar" (20th Century Fox)
James Cameron
"The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment)
Kathryn Bigelow
"Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company)
Quentin Tarantino
"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate)
Lee Daniels
"Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Jason Reitman

Best documentary feature
"Burma VJ" (Oscilloscope Laboratories)A Magic Hour Films Production
Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
"The Cove" (Roadside Attractions)An Oceanic Preservation Society Production
Nominees to be determined
"Food, Inc." (Magnolia Pictures)A Robert Kenner Films Production
Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
"The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers"A Kovno Communications Production
Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
"Which Way Home"A Mr. Mudd Production
Rebecca Cammisa


Best documentary short subject
"China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province"A Downtown Community Television Center Production
Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill
"The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner"A Just Media Production
Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
"The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant"A Community Media Production
Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
"Music by Prudence"An iThemba Production
Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
"Rabbit à la Berlin" (Deckert Distribution)An MS Films Production
Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra


Achievement in film editing
"Avatar" (20th Century Fox)
Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
"District 9" (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Julian Clarke
"The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment)
Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
"Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company)
Sally Menke
"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate)
Joe Klotz

Best foreign language film of the year
"Ajami"(Kino International)An Inosan Production
Israel
"El Secreto de Sus Ojos" (Sony Pictures Classics)A Haddock Films Production
Argentina
"The Milk of Sorrow"A Wanda Visión/Oberon Cinematogràfica/Vela Production
Peru
"Un Prophète" (Sony Pictures Classics)A Why Not/Page 114/Chic Films Production
France
"The White Ribbon" (Sony Pictures Classics)An X Filme Creative Pool/Wega Film/Les Films du Losange/Lucky Red Production
Germany

Achievement in makeup
"Il Divo" (MPI Media Group through Music Box)
Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
"Star Trek" (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment)
Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
"The Young Victoria" (Apparition)
Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
"Avatar" (20th Century Fox)
James Horner
"Fantastic Mr. Fox" (20th Century Fox)
Alexandre Desplat
"The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment)
Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
"Sherlock Holmes" (Warner Bros.)
Hans Zimmer
"Up" (Walt Disney)
Michael Giacchino

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"Almost There" from "The Princess and the Frog" (Walt Disney)
Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
"Down in New Orleans" from "The Princess and the Frog" (Walt Disney)
Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
"Loin de Paname" from "Paris 36" (Sony Pictures Classics)
Music by Reinhardt WagnerLyric by Frank Thomas
"Take It All" from "Nine" (The Weinstein Company)
Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
"The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" from "Crazy Heart" (Fox Searchlight)
Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best motion picture of the year
"Avatar" (20th Century Fox)A Lightstorm Entertainment Production
James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
"The Blind Side" (Warner Bros.)An Alcon Entertainment Production
Nominees to be determined
"District 9" (Sony Pictures Releasing)A Block/Hanson Production
Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
"An Education" (Sony Pictures Classics)A Finola Dwyer/Wildgaze Films Production
Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
"The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment)A Voltage Pictures Production
Nominees to be determined
"Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company)A Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures/A Band Apart/Zehnte Babelsberg Production Still my favorite
Lawrence Bender, Producer
"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate)A Lee Daniels Entertainment/Smokewood Entertainment Production
Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
"A Serious Man" (Focus Features)A Working Title Films Production
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
"Up" (Walt Disney)A Pixar Production
Jonas Rivera, Producer
"Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)A Montecito Picture Company Production
Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Best animated short film
"French Roast"A Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films Production
Fabrice O. Joubert
"Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty" (Brown Bag Films)A Brown Bag Films Production
Nicky Phelan and Darragh O'Connell
"The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)"A Kandor Graphics and Green Moon Production
Javier Recio Gracia
"Logorama" (Autour de Minuit)An Autour de Minuit Production
Nicolas Schmerkin
"A Matter of Loaf and Death" (Aardman Animations)An Aardman Animations Production
Nick Park

Best live action short film
"The Door" (Network Ireland Television)An Octagon Films Production
Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
"Instead of Abracadabra" (The Swedish Film Institute)A Directörn & Fabrikörn Production
Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
"Kavi"A Gregg Helvey Production
Gregg Helvey
"Miracle Fish" (Premium Films)A Druid Films Production
Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
"The New Tenants"A Park Pictures and M & M Production
Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Achievement in sound editing
"Avatar" (20th Century Fox)
Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
"The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment)
Paul N.J. Ottosson
"Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company)
Wylie Stateman
"Star Trek" (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment)
Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
"Up" (Walt Disney)
Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Achievement in sound mixing
"Avatar" (20th Century Fox)
Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
"The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment)
Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
"Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company)
Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
"Star Trek" (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment)
Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro, Distributed by Paramount)
Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Achievement in visual effects
"Avatar" (20th Century Fox)
Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
"District 9" (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
"Star Trek" (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment)
Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Adapted screenplay
"District 9" (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
"An Education" (Sony Pictures Classics)
Screenplay by Nick Hornby
"In the Loop" (IFC Films)
Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate)
Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
"Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Original screenplay
"The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment)
Written by Mark Boal
"Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company)
Written by Quentin Tarantino
"The Messenger" (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
"A Serious Man" (Focus Features)
Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
"Up" (Walt Disney)
Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete DocterStory by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy