100 Word Review - The Avengers

After years of preparation geek icon Joss Whedon finally assembles earth's mightiest heroes for the first blockbuster of the year The Avengers. Cast out from his home-world the god of mischief Loki assisted by an evil alien race makes his way to Earth with a vengeful plot that will require everything that S.H.I.E.L.D. can muster to prevent. With the grandeur one would hope for in such a huge superhero undertaking Whedon takes the increasing quality of the Marvel film franchises laces it with a humorous script, and throws in enough emotion to ensure the film will resonate with audiences everywhere.

100 Word Review - The Hunger Games

As the latest young adult series to make the jump to film The Hunger Games launches moviegoers into a bleak dystopian world in which the once rebellious states of Panem are forced to offer up 24 young tributes. Tributes who will be prepared to fight to the death on television as a reminder of the unending power of their capitol oppressors. Keeping much of its original thematic element intact the film creates a solid adaptation of the novel while still remaining accessible to the uninitiated viewer through the use of a steady pacing and bursts of well placed character-driven moments.

100 Word Review - Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

An overwhelming definitive environmental resolve, the latest entry into the Seussian films does revolve.
Telling a tale from within a world gone astray, engulfed by industry, pollution, decay.
A young boy smitten, taken in by his crush, soon will be written into a tale long kept hush.
With a seed, a story, and a glimmer of hope, he'd set out to save thneedville from it's slippery slope.
Unfortunately for him the trees weren't the matter, his story was broken, the characters just chatter.
This ominous tale would be best left alone, the children may cheer, yet the parents will groan.

100 Word Review - Gone

It's usually a fair assumption that with a handful of b-list actors on a cast list that a film is probably one to avoid, but with Amanda Seyfried leading the cast you might want to think otherwise. Well don't, Gone thrusts Seyfried into the role of a mentally unstable past kidnapping victim who after her sister's recent disappearance has gone mad attempting to find her. The concept is solid though mundane, but fueled by a cast of vapid, shallow characters the plot quickly fizzles out to the point of needing constant bursts of illogical actions to move the story forward.

84th annual Academy Awards: Winner Predictions

With the 84th issuance of the coveted golden statuettes less than four days away it is time that I finally quit my stalling and make my predictions for who will walk away with their heads held high. This year's nominations have been regarded as some of the most odd and predictable and though that is true on some fronts there is always the chance for some great upsets.

Will "The Descendants" dethrone the award favorite "The Artist?" Can Mara take the reigns away from Hollywood elite with her edgy performance? or can Payne or Allen in his prime split the director and best picture categories keeping "The Artist" from total domination?

Probably not, so after weeks of deliberating (procrastinating) and hours of sifting through the historical statistics here is my attempt at safe picks for the 84th annual Academy Awards this Sunday night.

• Best picture - "The Artist"
• Best actor in a leading role - Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”
• Best actress in a leading role - Viola Davis, “The Help”
• Best actor in a supporting role - Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”
• Best actress in a supporting role - Octavia Spencer, “The Help”
• Best director - Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
• Writing (adapted screenplay) - Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, “The Descendants"
• Writing (original screenplay) - Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
• Animated feature film - “Rango”
• Art direction - "Hugo"
• Cinematography - "The Tree of Life"
• Visual effects - “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
• Original score - Ludovic Bource, “The Artist”
• Sound mixing - “Hugo”
• Costume design - “Hugo”
• Film editing - “The Artist”

Do you agree with my choices, or have some different choices of your own? Let me know who you are putting your money on and why in the comments.

100 Word Review - Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

With Nicolas Cage reprising his role as the demonic Ghost Rider the directorial pair of Neveldine and Taylor take the helm for this hellish sequel. Still yearning for release from his deal with the devil Johnny Blaze is tempted into the task of protecting a child in return for a cure to his curse. A simple plot that plays into the director's act now, dialogue never style both casts Spirit of Vengeance ahead of and behind its predecessor. With the lean toward action we get a visually stunning film that despite its thin story still offers a marginally fun experience.

100 Word Review - The Woman in Black

In his first post Potter role Daniel Radcliffe teams up with director James Watkins for the ghastly thriller The Woman in Black. Pulling away from Hollywood horror The Woman in Black tells a more traditional ghost story in which the young lawyer Arthur Kipps is tasked with sorting out the eerie estate of a woman who's untimely passing has stirred up fear amongst the locals. By conjuring a constant cloud of suspense that will envelop viewers The Woman in Black leaves audiences in a truly fearful state. A fear that in these tired times feels both fresh, and inviting.

100 Word Review - Trick 'r Treat

In an era where modern horror couldn't be more predictable and redundant it is a rarity to find an interesting twist on the genre. 2007's Trick 'r Treat is the disorganized attempt at doing just that. Telling the story of the Halloween happenings of a town dedicated to the traditions of the once sinister holiday Trick 'r Treat plays out more like a collection of short stories woven together with a thinly strung theme. Once you get past the apparent structural flaws of the film the stories within bring out a campy, but ultimately fun and definitely unique horror film.

84th annual Academy Awards: Nominations & Reactions

The Academy Awards this year have taken a liking to "The Artist" by no surprise, as well as lending favor to Scorsese and "Hugo" in a lot of categories. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top this year as only a few of the categories seem to lock in a definite winner at this point in time. Keep an eye out in the coming weeks for my predictions of who will be taking home the major awards. 

Best Picture

• "The Artist" Thomas Langmann, Producer
• "The Descendants" Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
• "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" Scott Rudin, Producer
• "The Help" Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
• "Hugo" Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
• "Midnight in Paris" Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
• "Moneyball" Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
• "The Tree of Life" Nominees to be determined
• "War Horse" Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers 

I am rather surprised to see "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" make it into the best picture category but then again we all know that the only two that really matter in this category will be the race between "The Artist" and "The Descendants" for the prize.


Actor in a Leading Role

• Demián Bichir in "A Better Life"
• George Clooney in "The Descendants"
• Jean Dujardin in "The Artist"
• Gary Oldman in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
• Brad Pitt in "Moneyball" 

Once again another category that will likely boil down to a race between "The Artist" and "The Descendants" though the overall nominations are rather shoddy and cut out some great leading performances such as Ryan Gosling for either "Drive" or "Ides of March," Micheal Fassbender for "Shame," and Leonardo DiCaprio for "J. Edgar."


Actor in a Supporting Role

• Kenneth Branagh in "My Week with Marilyn"
• Jonah Hill in "Moneyball"
• Nick Nolte in "Warrior"
• Christopher Plummer in "Beginners"
• Max von Sydow in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" 

Supporting actor doesn't really bring any surprises. At the Golden Globes it was the only category to recognize "Drive" with a nomination for Albert Brooks who didn't seem to make the cut this time around. Instead we get nominations for Nick Nolte's performance in "Warrior" and Max von Sydow's role in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close."

Actress in a Leading Role

• Glenn Close in "Albert Nobbs"
• Viola Davis in "The Help"
• Rooney Mara in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
• Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady"
• Michelle Williams in "My Week with Marilyn"

After a win at the Golden Globes we all knew it was coming. Meryl Streep manages to muscle her way into the Leading Actress category and push out some other more deserving candidates. It is however nice to see Rooney Mara make the cut representing "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and giving us a brilliantly performed underdog to root for.


Actress in a Supporting Role

• Bérénice Bejo in "The Artist"
• Jessica Chastain in "The Help"
• Melissa McCarthy in "Bridesmaids"
• Janet McTeer in "Albert Nobbs"
• Octavia Spencer in "The Help" 

 As great as it is to see Melissa McCarthy get some love for her work in a very non-Oscar style film like "Bridesmaids" it also comes with a disappointing twist as her nominations squeezes out the very deserving work of Shailene Woodley for "The Descendants."

Animated Feature Film

• "A Cat in Paris" Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
• "Chico & Rita" Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
• "Kung Fu Panda 2" Jennifer Yuh Nelson
• "Puss in Boots" Chris Miller
• "Rango" Gore Verbinski 

This is the one category so far where I am extremely pleased with the nominations. The Oscars seem to have much better taste in animated films than the other award shows, and the exclusion of "The Adventures of Tintin" which has been taking various guild awards as well as the Golden Globe will free up the spot for Verbinski's "Rango" to finally get the recognition it deserves.

Directing

• "The Artist" Michel Hazanavicius
• "The Descendants" Alexander Payne
• "Hugo" Martin Scorsese
• "Midnight in Paris" Woody Allen
• "The Tree of Life" Terrence Malick 

Another category that isn't very surprising. Scorsese gets some love for "Hugo" after taking the Golden Globe for directing. Would have loved to see some recognition for Fincher and "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" here but it isn't very surprising that it wouldn't make it. 

Music (Original Score)

• "The Adventures of Tintin" John Williams
• "The Artist" Ludovic Bource
• "Hugo" Howard Shore
• "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Alberto Iglesias
• "War Horse" John Williams 

This category left me a bit awestricken. Even with a big name like John Williams making a few entries this year the exclusion of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' score for "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is inexcusable.

Music (Original Song)

• "Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets" Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
• "Real in Rio" from "Rio" Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett 

All I can say here is that I am glad the Academy Awards didn't muck up this category with the filth that the Golden Globes brought to it, and of course I am ecstatic to see "The Muppets" will get their inevitable win for "Man or Muppet."

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• "The Descendants" Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
• "Hugo" Screenplay by John Logan
• "The Ides of March" Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
• "Moneyball" Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. Story by Stan Chervin
• "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan 

The running for both writing categories has been a rather tough one this year with big names like Aaron Sorkin, great films like "The Descendants," and the undeniable frontrunner "Hugo" who is getting plenty of attention from the Academy this year. It will be a hard section to predict a winner in.

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• "The Artist" Written by Michel Hazanavicius
• "Bridesmaids" Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
• "Margin Call" Written by J.C. Chandor
• "Midnight in Paris" Written by Woody Allen
• "A Separation" Written by Asghar Farhadi 

I understand that you still need a screenplay even in a film with no dialogue but it still irks me every time I see "The Artist" as a nomination in this category. I would still put my money behind Woody Allen and "Midnight in Paris."

The rest of the awards I have very little to say about so I will just leave you with the remaining portion of the list.

Art Direction

• "The Artist" Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
• "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
• "Hugo" Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
• "Midnight in Paris" Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
• "War Horse" Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Cinematography

• "The Artist" Guillaume Schiffman
• "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Jeff Cronenweth
• "Hugo" Robert Richardson
• "The Tree of Life" Emmanuel Lubezki
• "War Horse" Janusz Kaminski

Costume Design

• "Anonymous" Lisy Christl
• "The Artist" Mark Bridges
• "Hugo" Sandy Powell
• "Jane Eyre" Michael O'Connor
• "W.E." Arianne Phillips

Film Editing

• "The Artist" Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
• "The Descendants" Kevin Tent
• "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
• "Hugo" Thelma Schoonmaker
• "Moneyball" Christopher Tellefsen

Foreign Language Film

• "Bullhead" Belgium
• "Footnote"
• "In Darkness" Poland
• "Monsieur Lazhar" Canada
• "A Separation" Iran

Makeup

• "Albert Nobbs" Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
• "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
• "The Iron Lady" Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Documentary (Feature)

• "Hell and Back Again" Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
• "If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front" Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
• "Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory" Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
• "Pina" Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
• "Undefeated" TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

Documentary (Short Subject)

• "The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement" Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
• "God Is the Bigger Elvis" Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
• "Incident in New Baghdad"James Spione
• "Saving Face" Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
• "The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom" Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

 Short Film (Animated)

• "Dimanche/Sunday" Patrick Doyon
• "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
• "La Luna" Enrico Casarosa
• "A Morning Stroll" Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
• "Wild Life" Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Short Film (Live Action)

• "Pentecost" Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane
• "Raju" Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
• "The Shore" Terry George and Oorlagh George
• "Time Freak" Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
• "Tuba Atlantic" Hallvar Witzø

Sound Editing

• "Drive" Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
• "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Ren Klyce
• "Hugo" Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
• "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
• "War Horse" Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Sound Mixing

• "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
• "Hugo" Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
• "Moneyball" Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
• "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
• "War Horse" Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Visual Effects

• "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
• "Hugo" Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
• "Real Steel" Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
• "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
• "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

100 Word Review - The Descendants

A heavyhearted monologue about the misperception of paradise, an onslaught of establishing shots of beautiful beaches, tropical landscapes, and sunbathed mountainsides, the interior of a hospital room as a man stands over his comatose wife. Your introduction to The Descendants sets the tone for the whole film as an out-of-touch father struggles to take care of his two daughters while dealing with the fallout from his wife's boating accident. With inspired performances from both seasoned veteran George Clooney and relative newcomer Shailene Woodley director Alexander Payne weaves a heartbreaking story that still manages to create an uplifting and engaging experience.