Topic Of The Day: Oscar Noms for "Planet of the Apes"?

Hello, Bloggers, for today's Topic Of The Day, I figured that since I just saw Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, I would discuss why I think it should be nominated for Oscars beyond the usual F/X nods. Let's take a look as to why:

First off, I'll discuss the performance by Andy Serkis as Caesar. As Grace Randolph from Beyond The Trailer said, Serkis has become the "Lon Chaney" of motion capture. Whereas Chaney donned makeup, Serkis relies on electrodes to aid his performance. When watching his portrayal, it made me realize just how far we have come when it comes to motion capture. Now, the actors that don the electrodes are able to project emotion onto their characters and the audience is able to project pathos onto their performances. Plus, Serkis has contributed to motion capture since his days as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and I feel it's about time he has gotten its due for his contributions to this special form of acting.

Another reason that the Academy should recognize this film in some of the major categories is ratings. As film like this getting a nod for say, Best Picture, would really cause people to tune in. As evidenced by recent years, the Academy has slowly but surely warmed up to mainstream fare, with Inception receiving nods for Best Picture and Best Screenplay while still winning in the technical departments, Life of Pi winning Best Director as well as technicals, and Gravity going home the big winner of the night with 7 wins out of 10 nominations, including Best Director. Like I said, they are getting there and they should get audiences excited. Remember when Slumdog Millionaire won Best Picture and people were too busy complaining about The Dark Knight not being on there? Remember a couple years ago when The Artist won and there were 9 Best Picture nominees and people were focused on wondering where Harry Potter, Bridesmaids, and Girl With The Dragon Tattoo were? So, to me, I feel like Gravity's near sweep has become a game changer for the Academy and hopefully, a positive omen for mainstream fare in the future. I do hope that this film becomes next in line, along with potentially Interstellar or The Hunger Games: Mockingjay. 

So, those are my quick thoughts as to why I think the Academy should give Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Oscar nods in the major categories. If you agree or disagree, please feel free to write your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for reading!

Trailer Talk #18: St.Vincent, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Wild, Unbroken, Gone Girl #2, Sin City: A Dame To Kill For

Hello, Bloggers, welcome to another episode of Trailer Talk, where I take six trailers for six upcoming movies and discuss whether I want to trade my rectangular or plastic green men to see them in the theaters. Let's take a look at what's coming out:

St. Vincent: First up is the trailer for the upcoming comedy-drama St. Vincent starring Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy, and Naomi Watts. Now, before I saw the trailer, I figured it would be pretty good considering the talent behind it. But after watching it, I think it looks very promising and seems like it breaks the mold in the "coming-of-age" story. I like how Melissa McCarthy is going slightly more serious and how Bill Murray is doing a balancing dramedy. Naomi Watts actually seems pretty funny in this as she plays a Russian stripper and dons a thick Russian accent. Will I see it in theaters? Maybe, but I do hope to see it.

Exodus: Gods and Kings: Next up is the trailer for Exodus: Gods and Kings starring Christian Bale. This one is quite a case as I have strong hopes that it is not only better than the last Biblical film to come out this year (Noah) but better than director Ridley Scott's minor hiccup last year (The Counselor). It looks like it just might be as it has the always great Christian Bale in the lead as well as support from Sigourney Weaver, The Great Gatsby's Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley, and Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul. It even comes out at the end of the year, so it could be an Oscar contender, depending on how well it does. But regardless, I do want to see this in theaters.

Wild: Next up is the trailer for the potential Oscar bait film Wild starring Reese Witherspoon. As I noted in my last Trailer Talk, it looks like Witherspoon might be having a "McConaissance" of her own with the release of this film as well as The Good Lie, which are two films that might cater to the Academy with Wild being a biopic and The Good Lie being a white savior movie. However, between those two, I would say Wild looks like it might be more promising. The Good Lie just looks like The Blind Side 2.0. I don't know if I will actually run out to see Wild because it seems like it might cater too much to the Academy, but we'll see. 

Unbroken: Next is the trailer for another potential Oscar film Unbroken directed by Angelina Jolie. Like Wild, this looks like another film that might cater too much to the Academy, which doesn't make me warm up to it as much. But on a side note, Jolie's boyfriend Brad Pitt has another WWII film coming out, Fury, which I am really excited for. But this one, I'll just say "wait and see". It doesn't look terrible, but I won't be quick to pay money and see it just yet.

Gone Girl: Next is the second trailer for Gone Girl, starring Ben Affleck. Normally, I don't review the same movie twice on Trailer Talk, but I just can't contain my feelings about this new trailer. Holy Toledo, am I looking forward to this film! I love that David Fincher is directing this, I like the cast, the film just reeks of eerie mystery, and I LOVE that. I love seeing trailers for mysteries that are shrouded in mystery. Oh my god, I cannot wait for this!

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For: Finally is the trailer for the sequel Sin City: A Dame To Kill For. While I did get enjoyment out of the first one, whether I see this in theaters remains to be seen. I think it's pretty neat that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in it and Eva Green seems like a good choice for this type of movie as well as the role she is playing. Most of the players from the first one are back, with the only ones not being Brittany Murphy and Michael Clarke Duncan for obvious reasons, Clive Owen because of something involving his character, and Devon Aoki due to maternity reasons. While the ones returning are quite exceptional, whether I see this in theaters remains to be seen. I'm guessing the reason I'm not too crazy about this one is that it's been such a while since the first one came out that seeing this just became an afterthought. But, we'll see.

So, that was my 18th episode of Trailer Talk. If you saw any of these trailers, then as always, I encourage you to write in the comments sections to share your thoughts. Also as always, my next episode will come after I see a new film in theaters or if I just catch a bunch of new trailers online. Until then, thanks for reading!

Review: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

                                      In A Good Way, These 'Apes' Had Me Going Bananas
                       
                      Pathos: a Greek term for the word emotion. Very rarely do we see blockbusters or sci-fi films project pathos to their main characters, in my opinion. The few recent examples I can think of are this film and X-Men: Days of Future Past. But not only does the film project pathos onto its human characters, but its primate characters as well, thanks in part to the writing as well as the acting.
                           
                        Story:
                       Dawn of the Planet of the Apes follows the aftermath of the events of its predecessor where apes and humans have reached a special truce after the plague known as "Simian Flu" has wiped out a good portion of humanity. Caesar (Andy Serkis) is living in peace with his family and fellow apes until the arrival of a group of humans slowly causes the peace to be disrupted and war begins to erupt.

                      What I Liked About It:
                     First off, one thing I absolutely loved was the performance by Andy Serkis. For a motion capture performance, Serkis is able to bring emotional gravitas to his portrayal of the main simian, along with his fellow actors who play Caesar's fellow apes. One in particular that stood out is Toby Kebbell, who plays Caesar's henchman turned enemy named Koba. It is amazing how Kebbell goes from faithful servant to skeptic to anarchist and I thought he actually stole the film. Another thing I loved was how we see both sides of the coin. In other words, we see the point of view of the humans and get a glimpse of the apes and how they live. We even see the point of view of Caesar's son conflicted son Blue Eyes played by Nick Thurston as well as Gary Oldman's anti-hero character named Dreyfus, who you sort of detest but eventually understand his flaws. Of course, Oldman was great. Jason Clarke, who plays the main human protagonist Malcolm is really as well and I liked how they didn't portray his character as the heroic Hollywood type, but more as an average guy who just wants things to be right in the world. Keri Russell plays his love interest and I liked how they didn't make her character a useless damsel that screams a lot or anything like that. Russell plays a very sympathetic character and like Clarke and Kodi Smit-McPhee, who plays Malcolm's son Alexander, really makes you want to be on her side.

                    Another thing I liked and thought was interesting was how they played upon the idea of father-son relationships. The film focuses on Caesar's relationship with his son torn between his loyalties to his father and Koba, who slowly acts as the devil on his shoulders. Plus, there is even a scene where Alexander is communicating with an ape about a comic book he is reading and Malcolm observes, indicating that he is somewhat of a parallel to his father since they both are trying to make peace with the apes. I also thought the action scenes were quite neat and the plot point of the humans trying to get the apes to fix the fuel in their broken city. That kind of thing hasn't really been dealt with before in post-apocalyptic films. The whole idea of running low on fuel and electricity, so I thought that was interesting.

                  What I Didn't Like About It:
                  Nothing.

                 Consensus:
               Overall, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a real sci-fi gem that is not only one of the best films to come out this year but is one of the best sequels to come out in recent memory that also manages to work as a stand alone film as well. It has fantastic acting from its cast, especially the actors playing the apes, as well as tremendous acting and emotional gravitas to the film as a whole.

Grade: A+

     

2014 Progress Report

Hello, Bloggers, for this post, I will do something a little different that I got inspired to do after watching Richard Roeper do a video where he did a sort of 2014 mid-year report card for the films he saw this year so far. I will do the same thing except I am calling it my Progress Report, and I will take each film that I saw so far that came out this year from January to June and grade and rank each one. I will even include films that came out this year that I saw at my Sunday Cinema Club. Let's take a look:

Captain America: The Winter Soldier: A potent blend of a superhero film and a political conspiracy thriller that really surpasses its original. A+

Le-Weekend: A hilarious and heartfelt gem that is a reminder of why I go to the movies in the first place and makes me want to visit Paris. A+

X-Men: Days of Future Past: One of the best entries into this franchise, if not THE best. It manages to incorporate new themes while staying true to the message from the comics about intolerance. A+

Transcendence: A thoughtful piece of sci-fi about the plausibility of the potential dangers of artificial intelligence that in my opinion, was more deserving than the lukewarm to negative reception it received. A

The Normal Heart: May be a TV movie, but I'm still counting it as a movie because I love it so much. It is a powerful telling of love that tugged with my heartstrings and made me open my eyes about the AIDS epidemic and made me want to make a difference after watching it. A

Godzilla: Quite a unique spin on the "monster movie" genre as it not only features bravura action scenes, but plays upon the idea of "God vs. nature". A-

Snowpiercer: Who knew an action film set only on a train could have such flare? A-

Edge of Tomorrow: This gem of a sci-fi film proves that Tom Cruise has still got it when it comes to carrying a film and bringing humor as well as emotional gravitas to his leading performances. B+

Divergent: A rare film adaptation that, dare I say it, manages to surpass its source material. I did really like the book, but I just thought the film was better and I do look forward to the sequel after I finish reading that as well. B+

The Amazing Spider-Man 2: While I did like the performances from a lot of the cast, and got some enjoyment from the action scenes, when it comes to storytelling, it just gets "tangled up in its own web". C+

Noah: Has some good performances and quite some amazing direction by Darren Aronofsky, but meh. C

The Lunchbox: It feels like I'm literally the only person that dislikes this movie. Apparently they see something I don't because almost nothing happens. It does gets points for originality, but that's all. Look at my review for more. D

So far, it is a pretty good year for movies and here is hoping that the next six months will be just good or better. I know the next film I am about to review is spectacular. Thanks for reading!

66th Primetime Emmy Nominations Reactions

Hello, Bloggers, I am a little late on this. But, since the nominations for the 66th Primetime Emmys were recently announced, I figured I'd give my reactions to the list of nominees. Here we go:

First off, The Normal Heart scores big with 16 nominations, including Best TV Movie and Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie for Mark Ruffalo. But what was a big surprise was its four nominations for Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries/TV Movie for Matt Bomer (YES!), Joe Mantello (Sweet!), Alfred Molina (Very Nice), and Jim Parsons (also YES!). All four actors were spectacular and luckily, since they were all nominated and I caught The Normal Heart before the nominees were announced, it saves me a ton of work. I was especially thrilled about Julia Roberts' nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries/TV Movie. This year, she is in the nomination company of another movie star that went to television, Mr. Matthew McConaughey, who scored a nomination for Best Actor in a TV Series- Drama for True Detective. The McConaissance continues! Keep up the good work, Matty, you might go two-for-two this year!

Next, not only did American Horror Story: Coven score nominations for Jessica Lange for Best Lead Actress and Kathy Bates for Best Supporting Actress, but Sarah Paulson, Angela Bassett, and Frances Conroy, with Bassett and Conroy in the Supporting category and Paulson in the lead. Oh, all the work I don't have to do!

As expected, Fargo scored pretty big and landed nominations for Best Miniseries as well as Best Actor (Billy Bob Thornton and Martin Freeman), and Best Supporting Actor and Actress (Colin Hanks and Alison Tolman). I've only seen the first episode, but I like it so far.

Now onto some surprises. First off, Lena Headey was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series- Drama for Game of Thrones, which I didn't expect at all. When I was making my predictions for who would get on nominated on Gold Derby, she wasn't an odds-on favorite, but I like surprises like those even though I've only seen the first few episodes of GOT. Another surprise was Tatiana Maslany getting snubbed for Orphan Black. I figured that with her Critics' Choice win, she might've gained some momentum, but as evidenced with these awards shows, anything is possible and almost anybody's name could be announced on Nomination Day.

So, those were my little reactions to the nominees for the 66th Primetime Emmys. If you are happy with or disagree with any of the nominees, please feel free to write in the comments section and even put in who you felt got snubbed. Thank for reading!

Anatomy Of A Performance: Adele Exarchopoulos/Lea Seydoux in Blue is The Warmest Color (2013)

Hello, Bloggers, welcome to another episode of Anatomy Of A Performance, or in this case, Anatomy Of Performances, since I will be discussing two performances from the same film. Today, I will go into the performances given by Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux from one of the best films of last year, Blue Is The Warmest Color. 

Since she is the lead, I will first go into Exarchopoulos' performance. Now, her character named Adele is one that is on a journey of self-discovery. In particular, with her sexuality. One scene in which she demonstrates how she is unsure at first is one where her friends drill at her out of suspicion for being a lesbian.

Here is one of my favorite scenes in the film, if not my favorite. In this scene, the camera focuses mainly on Adele as well as her interrogative friends. Notice how as they keep asking her about going to a gay bar and a woman that picked her up at school, Lea Seydoux's character, she gets progressively more nervous as you can tell by her constant blinking and defensiveness. But as the final implosion occurs, where she fights with one of her friends, she goes from nervous to flustered and her reaction is pretty realistic, I would say. I may not have experienced this kind of thing, but this type of scenario is without a doubt plausible.

 Now, in this scene, I feel like it demonstrates Adele growing through a transition. At first, with all the music and commotion around her, Adele still keeps her composure. But once she starts bobbing her head to the beat, she then finally breaks out into dance. The way I see it, that scene shows how Adele is letting out a form of release. It feels like she fits in to the crowd she is in and that she is at peace with her inner being. She does that without having to utter a peep and that is my favorite type of acting. When the performer tells us what is running through their mind without dialogue having to aid them, it shows what special kind of acting can be accomplished without having to rely on crying hysterics.

Next, I'll go into Lea Seydoux's performance. Now, Seydoux's character named Emma, unlike Exarchopoulos', is much more of a spunky free-spirit. As she maintains the blue hair on her color, she becomes very mellow like the color blue. Hence the film's title. However, there is one point in the film where the blue is stripped from her hair and she is blonde. At that point, mellow would be the last thing to describe her, as evidence by this clip:

(*potential spoiler*) But this is the scene where they break up. As soon as we see Emma, she is waiting for Adele and seems flustered. Before Emma confronts her, when Adele gives her a kiss, you can definitely tell she is suspicious. But, as Emma herself starts to become interrogative of Adele about a man she was with, unlike the first clip shown where she showcases nerves, Adele bursts into tears. As this scene progresses, it feels like Emma is like a ticking time bomb or a grenade that is about to explode and like Adele, we are watching in absolute fear as Emma becomes physically angry.


Now, the scene below is the next time we see the two of them together, still separated. In this scene, Emma and Adele reflect on how much they still miss each other. Adele actually engages in a kiss with Emma, which to me, indicates how she is more in control with her sexuality. At first, she was unsure, then she became more at peace with herself, then went to being lost, to finally knowing what she wants. Yet she figured that out when it was too late and there is no chance to be with who she lost. It shows how her path to self-discovery has really taken its course and how we as audience members have been taken on this odyssey with her.

So, that was my analysis of the two lead female performances from the festival hit Blue Is The Warmest Color. If you liked what you read or would like to offer your own analysis of these performances, please feel free to write your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for reading!

Review: The Counselor (2013)

                       

                 
                           I Wouldn't Be So Quick To Sign Up For A Session With This 'Counselor'
                         I remember when this came out in the theaters, I originally thought of catching this but instead after the reviews came out, chose to see Captain Phillips instead. After I finally saw this, I feel like fate didn't want me to actually spend money on it as while it isn't exactly terrible, I still wouldn't call it great.
                       
                        Story:
                     The Counselor follows the story of an unnamed lawyer named "Counselor" (Michael Fassbender) who starts to get in way over his head when he takes part in a drug deal with a partner named Reiner (Javier Bardem). Once things go from bad to worse, Counselor's girlfriend Laura (Penelope Cruz) gets involved, as well as Reiner's mysterious girlfriend Malkina (Cameron Diaz).

                     What I Liked About It:
                    One thing that I thought was neat was the significance of cheetahs. There are different scenes of several cheetahs that Malkina uses as pets and I think that they are a symbol for her as well as the predatory nature of the different characters who come at each other's throats. Speaking of Malkina, I thought Cameron Diaz did a brilliant job portraying her and capturing her enigmatic nature. Even though she doesn't physically alter herself entirely, you still probably wouldn't recognize her since Diaz completely plays against type and I would definitely love to see her do more dramatic films like this. I also thought the grainy direction by Ridley Scott was quite fabulous as well as the cinematography.

                     What I Didn't Like About It:
                    One thing I really didn't like was, through no fault of the actors, how underdeveloped the characters were written. Penelope Cruz is given next to nothing to do. Brad Pitt, who is also in this, is nothing more than a plot device who pops up when the film needs him to and advises Counselor not to go through the whole thing. Javier Bardem is just served as a sidekick who mostly just looks concerned and Michael Fassbender is just a simple anti-hero that we know nothing about. It was nice that Cameron Diaz was given a meaty role to work with, but all the other actors were just given roles that were "whatever" in my opinion. They did the best they could with what they were given, but still.

                    I also thought that even though the film tries to convey themes about greed and being in the wrong place at the wrong time, it is kind of a "been there, done that" here.. I feel like we have seen that kind of story before and this film doesn't really offer us anything new. I don't really feel this film offers anything at all because nothing really happens.

                    Consensus:
                   Overall, The Counselor is a well-directed yet incoherent film that does next to nothing with its all-star cast. On paper, you think this would be a slam dunk, but not necessarily. I would say, even if you do like anyone from the cast, don't rush out to rent it or watch it on TV. Hopefully, if you do watch The Counselor, you won't want to go to therapy.

Grade: C-