Author: Movieville.org

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Academy Award winners list

A few weeks ago, I posted my 'picks' for the Academy Award Nominees. Let's see how the Nominees(and myself) did. Let's get straight into this. So it'll go like this: Award: Winner My Pick: *Film* Best Picture: The Hurt Locker (Katheryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro) My pick: Avatar Actor in a Leading Role: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) My pick: George Clooney (Up in the Air) Actor in a Supporting Role: Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds) My pick: Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds) Actress in a Leading Role: Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) My pick: Gabourey Sidibe (Precious) Actress in a Supporting Role: Mo-Nique (Precious) My pick: Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air) Animated Feature Film: Up (Pete Docter) My pick: Up Art Direction: Avatar (James Cameron) My pick: Avatar Cinematography: Avatar (James Cameron) My pick: Avatar Directing: The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow) My pick: Up in the Air Film Editing: The Hurt Locker (Bob Murawski and Chris Innis) My pick: Inglorious Basterds Foreign Language film: The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos) - Argentina, Directed by Juan Jose Campanella My pick: Un Prophète (A Prophet) Makeup: Star Trek (Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow) My pick: Star Trek Music (Original Score): Up (Michael Giacchino) My pick: Avatar Music (Original Song): Crazy Heart - "The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett My pick: Down in New Orleans Sound Editing: The Hurt Locker (Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett) My pick: Up Sound Mixing: The Hurt Locker (Paul N.J. Ottosson) My pick: Star Trek Visual Effects: Avatar (Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones) My pick: Avatar Writing (Adapted Screenplay): Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push', by Sapphire (Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher) My pick: Up in the Air Writing (Original Screenplay): The Hurt Locker (Mark Boal) My pick: Up So there we have it. Movieville.org's first Academy Award picks. So it wasn't THAT bad, I got 6 correct of the 19 listed. Ahem. never mind, to be completely honest though, some of them I felt I should change after I wrote the post, but it wouldn't have seemed fair. Not so bad. To see the rest of the winners I haven't listed here, clicky. The Hurt Locker deservedly took away the Best Picture award, although Avatar had its 'prime rib' moments, there were too many elements that were stacked against Cameron & Avatar. Like his past with Bigelow. Zing. Seriously though, whether any of the films won or not, each film has the power to capture an individual's attention, and these awards are merely an ego booster. I kid. Until next time, Kazed

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Youth in Revolt review

Youth in Revolt was definitely different compared to the usual, monotonous romantic comedies which have been released in recent times(With the exception of Valentine's Day), but this film was definitely a 'different breed' of this genre. It was definitely an interesting film, although it wasn't a constant flurry of entertainment, it still maintained some remnant of comedic value throughout. Michael Cera(playing Nick Twisp) definitely stood out in Youth in Revolt compared to his past efforts; playing a different type of character from what he usually plays, a dull, wooden version of himself. That isn't to say that he isn't funny, after a while, the same type of character begins to run dry and repetitive. Francois, Nick Twisp's alter ego in the film was a character which to me, added more differentiation to the characters Cera usually plays. There were moment within Youth in Revolt which I found relatively humorous, and it was these moments which were most memorable. Primarily the scenes with Francois were the ones which stood out, as they were different to what I'm usually used to seeing Michael Cera in. Portia Doubleday(Playing Sheeni, Nick's love interest) had an interesting character, but what gravitated me more toward her was her dialogue. Or, the way she was performing her lines. She had such an eloquent style when she spoke, which was complimentary to the lifestyle of her parents in the film. Not the most exciting film of the year so far, but still an interesting look at Cera doing something different. Lovely dialogue, great cast choice, moderately funny romantic comedy. 7/10

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Academy Award 2010 picks

So this'll be a first for Movieville.org, seeing as we started up before the Oscars season last year, we missed the chance to mention this. Well, we have the chance now. I'm going to pick the ones which I have a connection with, with the exception of 5 Nomination categories(Documentary- Feature and Short Subject, Short Film- Animated and Live Action, Costume Design). Let's get this started. I'll justify the ones I feel need justifying, otherwise it'll just be the nomination. Best Picture: Avatar The first time watching Avatar in 3D, I said it was the best film I had ever seen. In many ways, it was, but there were minor flaws brining this film down. But based solely on the recognition this film has been getting since it's release, it seems to be a clear pick for best picture. Actor in a Leading Role: George Clooney (Up in the Air) After watching Up in the Air, it hadn't occurred to me that Clooney would be in the running for an Oscar. Watching it a second time, it's quite clear as to why he was considered to be in the running for an Academy Award. Clooney in Up in the Air was as refreshing as the film itself. Definitely not his best, but definitely Oscar-worthy. Actor in a Supporting Role: Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds) His sinister presence was noticed in every scene he was present in, and his performance as an antagonist in Inglorious was as noteworthy as the rest of the cast, if not better. Having already received a number of awards for his supporting role, this one should be in the bag. Actress in a Leading Role: Gabourey Sidibe (Precious) I couldn't see another actress on the list who deserved it more than Sidibe did. Actress in a Supporting Role: Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air) Anna Kendrick in Up in the Air was such an excellent addition, after her minor role in the 'Twilight' films, it was definitely a step up seeing her in a more 'involved' role. Animated Feature Film: Up Every time Disney/Pixar release a film, they never cease to impress. Up most definitely wasn't an exception. Each film is a step up from the last, and Up exhibits this perfectly. Definitely the best animated feature of the year. Art Direction: Avatar Nuff' said. Cinematography: Avatar There were too many shots in Avatar to count. But each shot was as beautiful as the last. The shot from the top of Hometree, from the Hallelujah Mountains, the trademark shot of Sully's feet 'tasting' the fresh soil for the first time- All shots which will forever remind me of Avatar. Directing: Up in the Air Film Editing: Inglorious Basterds Foreign Language film: Un Prophète (A Prophet) Makeup: Star Trek Music (Original Score): Avatar I've never listen to a movie score more than I've listened to Avatar's. I said this when I reviewed it, how each track equally matches it's visual counterpart, in both intensity and emotion. Whether Avatar gets the award for this nomination or not, it'll still be one of the best movie scores I've heard. Music (Original Song): Down in New Orleans Sound Editing: Up Sound Mixing: Star Trek Visual Effects: Avatar Again, nuff' said. Writing (Adapted Screenplay): Up in the Air Having already won an award for the same nomination at the BAFTA's, it won't surprise me if Up in the Air grabs an Oscar. Writing (Original Screenplay): Up There we have it, my picks. Kazed. FYI, The reason for me not doing the BAFTA's was it was too close to the time.

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Valentine's Day 'joint review'

We're gonna try something new, a discussion review between myself and Dan, seeing as it contained an all star cast, this review will contain a(relatively) all star cast also...But from Movieville. Dan: Now this isn't the sort of film I would go to the cinemas to watch or even watch at all really. But for the sake of Movieville I was taking one for the team. What made it even more strange was watching it with a dude. We will move on from that swiftly. Although this film isn't exactly my cup of tea, I was pleasantly surprised. I was impressed by the amount of Hollywood talent in the film and dare I say it, I was slightly excited. Kazed: Definitely, although it wasn't a film of epic proportions, it was still a film which deserves some sort of recognition because of the talent involved, and most definitely live up to the name each cast member have made for themselves. With the exception of Taylor Swift, who surprisingly did a decent job, and wasn't completely one dimensional. Dan: Agreed. With the exception of Ashton Kutcher and Jessica Biel, I was pleasantly surprised by how the characters developed. Oh, almost forgot to mention this but Jessica Alba is just as awful as she is in every other film. I don't know what it was I didn't like about the other two previously mentioned characters. I thought Ashton just wasn't very interesting and didn't really bring much to the film for a character who is fairly integral to the plot. Maybe this is because although there are a lot of big star names in the film, not many of them get huge amounts of screen time and for me it was the minor characters who provided me with the occasional LOL moments. Kazed: Really? I actually thought Kutcher did a decent job here, I felt that it it was his character that had an integral part within the film, granted, the film had a few central characters, but Ashton seemed to stand out quite a bit more than any of the other cast members. I definitely agree with Alba though, I see what you mean, I was a small fan of hers, but this film really showed me what she was capable of. Or not. Dan: Well it wasn't that he was bad, but I think when put against all the other big guns he just doesn't really shine. I'm not Kutchers biggest fan anyway though if i'm honest. And on the Jessica Alba thing, you have a very small fan of her's in your pants. I made a funny. Back to the film. One of the things that annoyed me about the film was its length, for the plot it had it just can't justify being 2 and a half hours long. After around an hour and 45 minutes and after you had been for a piss I was just waiting for it to end. It felt like it was just giving the stars the screen time that their contracts probably demanded. I was pretty satisfied with how it ended overall, for such a shallow film I was quite surprised that it managed to surprise me. Kazed: Haha, again though, I must disagree with you, about the length this time. I can see why you're saying that, but it didn't bother me. In my eyes, the length of the film was required in order to tell the stories of each of the characters. When I did come back from my urination, I was eager to know what was going to happen, I wanted to know the ending, I wanted to see how each story ended. Yeah, it may have been unusually long for a romantic comedy, but it worked. Dan: This film pretty much followed a similar convention to Crash in that the character stories intertwine that unravel to create the ending. Now Crash did this in 107 minutes and was a much more engaging and portrayed the characters in much more depth. I realise that Valentines Day never was going to be or even tried to be a rival to Crash but you see what I am saying. The fact that during your prolonged urination period you literally missed absolutely nothing kind of proves my point. There was a lot of unnecessary scenes in the film that didn't really reveal much and just weren't integral to the plot. Maybe it was because I went to the cinema with a dude that I didn't get into the spirit of the film. Remind me never to go watch a chick flick with you EVER again. I have a ladyfriend for that, even though your rugged looks are ever so hard to resist. Kazed: Fair enough, I suppose I didn't miss that much, but I still wanted to know what would happen at the end of each sub-plot. The reference to Crash I totally get, if you've seen 'He's just not that into you' (I reviewed it not long ago)it follows a very similar structure to that of Crash and Valentine's Day. I suppose we can both agree that it was a good film with several scenes which were interesting, with certain filler scenes which could have been removed purely because of wasted time. Otherwise an interesting, romantic comedy with an interesting look at several individual's love lives. Dan: I think I do agree with you for once. Although I have pretty much only spoken about the bad points of the film, it did have it's good points too. The all-star cast didn't disappoint and it was good to see a big budget hollywood film in the form of a comedy, they seem to be quite rare these days. The stories that came together were satisfying enough to make the ending a good one and and it did have it's laugh out loud moments. I think where I went wrong was laughing and giggling at the film with you (no offence). It is a chick flick and should be watched with a chick, it just adds to the movie somehow. Kazed: Fair enough. Rating out of 10? Dan: Overall I think I would give it a healthy 6/10. Kazed: 7/10 from me. Kazed & Dan