The 88th Annual Academy Awards – The Oscars 2016

29 Monday Feb 2016

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Academy Awards, Chris Rock, Diversity, Oscars

It’s been a difficult period for the Oscars what with the diversity issue rearing its ugly head and leading to some stars refusing to attend the ceremony – is it all just based around Beasts of No Nation failing to get any nominations? – but on the night everyone was looking to host Chris Rock to provide the final summing up of the whole debacle. He made some great remarks about the Oscars in the Sixties, having black categories such as Best Black Friend, how racist Hollywood producers are, and that the same opportunities should be given to black actors that are given to white actors. It wasn’t the funniest opening monologue the Oscars have ever seen but Rock got his points across in a way that wasn’t divisive or unnecessarily aggressive.

There were some strange moments: Stacey Dash, Sam Smith mangling his own song for Spectre, Suge Knight, Black History Month Minute (Jack Black?), any subsequent attempts by Chris Rock to address the issue of diversity (done to death far too quickly), cookie sales for Chris Rock’s daughters(!), the staff from Price Waterhouse Cooper, Jacob Tremblay standing on a box, and a plethora of weird musical cues for both presenters and winners.

Best Original Screenplay
Bridge of Spies, Matt Charman, Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
Ex Machina, Alex Garland
Inside Out, Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley; Original story by Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen
Spotlight, Josh Singer, Tom McCarthy
Straight Outta Compton, Screenplay by Jonathan Herman, Andrea Berloff; Story by S. Leigh Savidge, Alan Wenkus, Andrea Berloff

Perhaps not an unsurprising result though fans of Inside Out may well feel cheated. Presented by Emily Blunt and Charlize Theron.

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Big Short, Charles Randolph, Adam McKay
Brooklyn, Nick Hornby
Carol, Phyllis Nagy
The Martian, Drew Goddard
Room, Emma Donoghue

A fairly open field here, and this screenplay was very dense yet understandable throughout, but the Carol boycott began here. Presented by Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe.

Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

Great result for Vikander though Kate Winslet’s performance was so much more impressive, and should have been the winner. Presented by J.K. Simmons.

Best Costume Design
Carol, Sandy Powell
Cinderella, Sandy Powell
The Danish Girl, Paco Delgado
Mad Max: Fury Road, Jenny Beavan
The Revenant, Jacqueline West

As with the BAFTAs, Beavan wins with ease, the first shoo-in of the evening, but marred by an awkward call for ecological responsibility by the winner. Presented by Cate Blanchett.

Best Production Design
Bridge of Spies, Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo, Bernhard Henrich
The Danish Girl, Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Michael Standish
Mad Max: Fury Road, Production Design: Colin Gibson; Set Decoration: Lisa Thompson
The Martian, Production Design: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Celia Bobak
The Revenant, Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Hamish Purdy

The second win for Mad Max: Fury Road, well deserved and with a great speech by Gibson. Presented by Tina Fey and Steve Carell.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Mad Max: Fury Road, Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega, Damian Martin
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, Love Larson, Eva von Bahr
The Revenant, Siân Grigg, Duncan Jarman, Robert Pandini

Number three and as hugely deserved as the movie’s first two awards. Presented by Margot Robbie and Jared Leto. (Now go Google the word “merkin”.)

Best Cinematography
Carol, Ed Lachman
The Hateful Eight, Robert Richardson
Mad Max: Fury Road, John Seale
The Revenant, Emmanuel Lubezki
Sicario, Roger Deakins

Number three for Lubezki (after Gravity and Birdman) and not unexpected in any way, shape or form. Presented by Rachel McAdams and Michael B. Jordan.

Best Film Editing
The Big Short, Hank Corwin
Mad Max: Fury Road, Margaret Sixel
The Revenant, Stephen Mirrione
Spotlight, Tom McArdle
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Maryann Brandon, Mary Jo Markey

A movie that must have really been feeling the love at this point, and further recognition of just how good Miller’s vision is. Presented by Priyanka Chopra and Liev Schreiber.

Best Sound Editing
Mad Max: Fury Road, Mark Mangini, David White
The Martian, Oliver Tarney
The Revenant, Martin Hernandez, Lon Bender
Sicario, Alan Robert Murray
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Matthew Wood, David Acord

And the juggernaut rumbles on, and just as deserved as the other awards it’s picked up. Presented by Chadwick Boseman and Chris Evans.

Best Sound Mixing
Bridge of Spies, Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom, Drew Kunin
Mad Max: Fury Road, Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff, Ben Osmo
The Martian, Paul Massey, Mark Taylor, Mac Ruth
The Revenant, Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Randy Thom, Chris Duesterdiek
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio, Stuart Wilson

Number six for Mad Max: Fury Road – ’nuff said. Presented by Chadwick Boseman and Chris Evans.

Best Visual Effects
Ex Machina, Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington, Sara Bennett
Mad Max: Fury Road, Andrew Jackson, Tom Wood, Dan Oliver, Andy Williams
The Martian, Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Chris Lawrence, Steven Warner
The Revenant, Rich McBride, Matthew Shumway, Jason Smith, Cameron Waldbauer
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan, Chris Corbould

Not an easy one to call but a win for Ex Machina at least breaks up the winning streak of that Australian movie… you know the one. Presented by Andy Serkis.

Best Animated Short Film
Bear Story, Gabriel Osorio, Pato Escala
Prologue, Richard Williams, Imogen Sutton
Sanjay’s Super Team, Sanjay Patel, Nicole Grindle
We Can’t Live Without Cosmos, Konstantin Bronzit
World of Tomorrow, Don Hertzfeldt

While many may have expected Pixar to win for Sanjay’s Super Team, this was a tremendous result for this lovely little movie. Presented by Kevin, Stuart and Bob.

Best Animated Feature Film
Anomalisa, Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson, Rosa Tran
Boy and the World, Alê Abreu
Inside Out, Pete Docter, Jonas Rivera
Shaun the Sheep Movie, Mark Burton, Richard Starzak
When Marnie Was There, Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Yoshiaki Nishimura

While this wasn’t entirely unexpected, the award should have gone to Anomalisa, and probably in any other year it would have done. Presented by Woody and Buzz Lightyear.

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Sylvester Stallone, Creed

Absolutely the right choice – Rylance’s performance was one of the best of 2015 in any category, and if you thought Stallone was going to win, don’t feel too bad, iny other year he would have. Presented by Patricia Arquette.

Best Documentary – Short Subject
Body Team 12, David Darg and Bryn Mooser
Chau, Beyond the Lines, Courtney Marsh and Jerry Franck
Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah, Adam Benzine
A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
Last Day of Freedom, Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman

A powerful, intense movie that deserved to win, and one that has made a difference already in Pakistan. Presented by Louis C.K. (who gave a great speech about how deserving the nominees were).

Best Documentary – Feature Amy, Asif Kapadia, James Gay-Rees Cartel Land, Matthew Heineman, Tom Yellin The Look of Silence, Joshua Oppenheimer, Signe Byrge Sørensen
What Happened, Miss Simone?, Liz Garbus, Amy Hobby, Justin Wilkes
Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom, Evgeny Afineevsky, Den Tolmor

Not a surprise, but in a field where any of the nominees could have won, perhaps a popular choice rather than a definitive one. Presented by Daisy Ridley and Dev Patel.

Best Live Action Short Film

Ave Maria, Basil Khalil, Eric Dupont
Day One, Henry Hughes
Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut), Patrick Vollrath
Shok, Jamie Donoughue
Stutterer, Benjamin Cleary, Serena Armitage

A wide open category but still a worthy winner. Presented by Jacob Tremblay and Abraham Attah.

Best Foreign Language Film
Colombia, Embrace of the Serpent
France, Mustang
Hungary, Son of Saul
Jordan, Theeb
Denmark, A War

A surprise win for Hungary in a category where the entries from Colombia and Jordan were probably the front runners. Presented by Sofia Vergara and Byung-hun Lee.

Best Original Score
Thomas Newman, Bridge of Spies
Carter Burwell, Carol
Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight
Jóhann Jóhannsson, Sicario
John Williams, Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Morricone’s first win but for a score that remains memorable for not being memorable, and which did nothing to elevate the moviePresented by Pharrell Williams and Quincy Jones.

Best Original Song

“Earned It,” Fifty Shades of Grey, Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Daheala Quenneville, Stephan Moccio
“Manta Ray,” Racing Extinction, J. Ralph, Antony Hegarty
“Simple Song #3,” Youth, David Lang
“‘Til It Happens to You,” The Hunting Ground, Diane Warren, Lady Gaga
“Writings on the Wall,” Spectre, Jimmy Napes, Sam Smith

A big surprise, with Smith giving a shout out to the LGBT community. Presented by Common and John Legend.

Best Directing
Adam McKay, The Big Short
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Alejandro González Iñárritu, The Revenant
Lenny Abrahamson, Room
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight

Two in a row for Iñárritu (the Mexican responsible for his movie’s twelve nominations – how’s that for diversity?), and the first winner to ignore the music telling him his time was up. Presented by J.J. Abrams.

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

After her BAFTA win, Larson became a dead cert for this award, but Blanchett’s performance in Carol was just that much more nuanced and effective. Presented by Eddie Redmayne.

Best Actor
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Matt Damon, The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

You could say, “about time too”, but DiCaprio has given better performances and his speech about climate change was heartfelt but out of place. Presented by Julianne Moore.

Best Picture
The Big Short, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner
Bridge of Spies, Steven Spielberg, Marc Platt, Kristie Macosko Krieger
Brooklyn, Finola Dwyer, Amanda Posey
Mad Max: Fury Road, Doug Mitchell, George Miller
The Martian, Simon Kinberg, Ridley Scott, Michael Schaefer, Mark Huffam
The Revenant, Arnon Milchan, Steve Golin, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Mary Parent, Keith Redmon
Room, Ed Guiney
Spotlight, Michael Sugar, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin, Blye Pagon Faust

It didn’t win any other awards, and it wasn’t the best movie of 2015, but it felt like it won because of its content and the Academy’s need to acknowledge that. Presented by Morgan Freeman.

In the end it was Mad Max: Fury Road‘s night with six wins and so many movies winning one award only. Chris Rock’s involvement lessened as the show went on (which was a result considering how overdone the diversity angle was), and there were occasional highlights courtesy of the Minions, Louis C.K. and Sacha Baron Cohen as Ali G (at least he didn’t come as Borat in his green mankini). Carol was ignored, an aspect of diversity itself that no one has questioned or remarked upon, and there were very few surpises (as usual). The show itself was the regular mixture of awkward cues, strange camera angles, and no Jack Nicholson in the front row (just what does he do now each year the Oscars are on?). But, hey, that’s why we love them so much, because they never really change the format, and they never employ a host who will really rock the boat (it’d be great to see Ricky Gervais get his hands on the job).

Top Five (2014)

21 Saturday Feb 2015

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

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Chris Rock, Comedy, Drama, Film critic, Gabrielle Union, Hammy the Bear, JB Smoove, Reality TV, Review, Romance, Rosario Dawson, Uprize, Wedding

D: Chris Rock / 102m

Cast: Chris Rock, Rosario Dawson, JB Smoove, Gabrielle Union, Romany Malco, Cedric the Entertainer, Anders Holm, Tracy Morgan, Leslie Jones, Sherri Shepherd, Jay Pharaoh, Ben Vereen, Kevin Hart, Luis Guzmán, Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld, Whoopi Goldberg, DMX, Taraji P. Henson, Gabourey Sidibe

Andre Allen (Rock) is a stand-up comedian whose move into movies has brought him international fame thanks to the Hammy trilogy where he plays a cop in a bear costume. Wanting to put the Hammy movies behind him and focus on more serious projects – his latest movie, Uprize, is about the slave revolt that began in Haiti in 1791 – Andre is also a recovering alcoholic and about to get married to reality TV star Erica Long (Union).With only a couple of days to go before the wedding, Andre agrees to an interview with the New York Times’ Chelsea Brown (Dawson).

The interview gets off to a poor start when Chelsea asks him a banal question that prompts him to challenge her to ask the questions she really wants to ask. She wants to know when he stopped being funny and why, and about his alcoholism. He tells her about the time he hit bottom, in 2003 on a trip to Houston, where a night of sex and drugs with a couple of prostitutes (and the unexpected involvement of his tour promoter) led to accusations of rape and his being arrested. He also credits Erica with helping him achieve sobriety and stay that way.

As the interview continues, Andre introduces Chelsea to some of his friends. He’s relaxed with them, and they all joke that he’s never been funny and still isn’t. At a press conference for Uprize, Andre is chagrined to hear calls for another Hammy the Bear movie. He and Chelsea stop off at a hotel so she can meet up with her boyfriend, Brad (Holm), whose birthday it is. Unfortunately, she discovers that Brad has been hiding the fact that he’s gay (despite some very obvious clues in their sex life). Upset and angry at being so easily duped, she’s less than happy when Andre expresses his disbelief at how naïve she’s been. They argue, but the argument leads to their kissing and ending up in a club bathroom about to have sex. They manage to stop themselves; Andre asks to borrow Chelsea’s phone to make a call. While he does he discovers that she is actually James Nielson. He confronts her. Chelsea admits to the deception but tries to explain that she does like him and that she regrets not having told him sooner. Andre refuses to accept her explanation and leaves her behind in the club. From there he goes to a convenience store where he gives in to temptation and starts drinking again…

A romantic comedy that weaves in some interesting dramatic elements, Top Five is an astute, cleverly constructed movie that shows Rock firing on all cylinders and mixing gross-out comedy with intelligent observations on fame and media exposure, as well as trenchant examinations of modern day relationships and their ups and downs. It’s a confident movie, unafraid to take a few risks, and Rock proves he has a gift for exposing some of the more absurd aspects of his profession, in particular the fame that can be gained from a movie trilogy based around the exploits of a cop in a bear costume (“It’s Hammy time!”).

He’s also more than adroit at creating a romance between Andre and Chelsea that anchors the movie and proves far more affecting than expected. Partly this is due to his script, which for the most part tries hard to avoid becoming standard romantic fare (though it follows an established formula), and the obvious chemistry he has with Dawson. As they travel the streets of New York, challenging each other, debating, laughing, supporting each other, the warmth and growing affection they feel for each other is so charmingly done that you find yourself rooting for them. As it becomes clear that their existing relationships are less than satisfactory, their slow pull towards each other becomes as rewarding for the viewer as it is for them. Dawson is always an appealing presence on screen, and here she proves a great foil for Rock’s often acerbic approach to his own material.

Of course, this being a Chris Rock movie, the focus is as much on the comedy as the romance, and here he succeeds in providing a slew of laugh-out-loud moments, from Cedric the Entertainer’s unexpected “party trick” to Andre and Chelsea’s discussion on the requirements for becoming the next President, to Chelsea’s punishment of Brad’s anal fixation, to Andre’s bodyguard Silk (Smoove) and his penchant for the larger lady (his encounter with Sidibe is brief but wonderful), to Andre’s adding “stank” to a radio promo – Rock maintains a high hit rate throughout. He also infuses several dramatic moments with a level of humour that adds poignancy and pathos to the material, and gives the likes of Union and Shepherd a chance to shine in scenes that hold a lot more weight than is immediately apparent.

While Rock scores highly with his script, and employs a cast who all make the most of their roles (and are clearly having a great deal of fun in the process), he’s not quite as successful in creating a visual palette that elevates or enlivens the material, and certain scenes have a perfunctory feel about them as a result (DoP Manuel Alberto Clara worked on Lars von Trier’s Nymph()maniac Vol. I & Vol. II and there are many similarities in style between those movies and this one). That said, there are some occasional moments – Andre’s impromptu appearance at a comedy club, the scene where Andre trashes the convenience store – where the visual approach works in the movie’s favour.

All in all though, Top Five is a movie that provides much to enjoy and admire, and serves as a reminder that when he puts his mind to it, Rock is one of the more gifted comedians working in movies today (it’s also amazing to think that he’s only recently turned 50; he definitely doesn’t look it). Let’s hope this is just the first of many more similar projects to come.

Rating: 8/10 – a disarmingly enjoyable romantic comedy, Top Five benefits greatly from its charming central romance and Rock’s willingness to offset the comedy with telling moments of drama; a winning return to form after the less than successful I Think I Love My Wife (2007), this has something for everyone and rarely disappoints.

Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)

20 Thursday Nov 2014

Posted by dullwood68 in Movies

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Action, Chris Rock, Counterfeit money, Danny Glover, Human trafficking, Jet Li, Joe Pesci, Martin Riggs, Mel Gibson, Police, Rene Russo, Review, Richard Donner, Roger Murtaugh, Sequel, Thriller, Triads

D: Richard Donner / 127m

Cast: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Rene Russo, Chris Rock, Jet Li, Steve Kahan, Kim Chan, Darlene Love, Traci Wolfe, Eddy Ko

An incident involving an iron-suited, flamethrower-wielding criminal leads to two revelations: that Roger Murtaugh (Glover) is going to be a grandfather, and that Martin Riggs (Gibson) is going to be a father. Nine months later the two men are looking forward to the imminent births. Out one night on Roger’s boat, and accompanied by Leo Getz (Pesci), they find themselves nearly struck by a cargo freighter. When the freighter’s crew opens fire on them, Riggs takes the fight to them and boards the vessel. The ship eventually runs aground and the cargo hold reveals a group of Chinese illegal immigrants.

Later, Murtaugh discovers a family hiding in one of the lifeboats. Instead of letting INS know, he allows them to come home with him (but he doesn’t tell Riggs; he also doesn’t tell the investigating officer, Butters (Rock), who is secretly the father of Roger’s grandchild). In Chinatown, triad boss Uncle Benny (Chan) has a visitor in the form of Triad negotiator Wah Sing Ku (Li). Wah has been expecting the family Roger has discovered, as they are an important part of his plan to free four Triad overlords (including one who is his brother) from the clutches of a corrupt Chinese general. The head of the family, Hong (Ko), has an uncle who is a master engraver; Wah aims to buy the overlords’ freedom with counterfeit money.

Riggs and Murtaugh are given promotions to captain, and they start to help Butters with his investigation. A visit to Uncle Benny sees them meet Wah but they don’t find out who he is. Leaving Leo to trail Uncle Benny, Riggs and Murtaugh are unaware of just how close they’re getting, but it’s close enough for Wah to find out where the family are hiding and to abduct them – and then to put Riggs, his partner Lorna (Russo), Murtaugh and his wife (Love) and pregnant daughter (Wolfe) in danger of being burned alive. They all manage to escape unharmed, and with Butters in tow, Riggs and Murtaugh track down Uncle Benny at his dentist’s. With the use of some nitrous oxide, they get Uncle Benny to reveal the plot involving the Four Fathers (the triad overlords). When they liaise with other detectives who work the Chinatown beat, the three men learn about the corrupt Chinese general and where the exchange is likely to take place. Interrupting the meet, they spill the beans about the money, and a vicious firefight breaks, along with a three-way showdown between Riggs, Murtaugh and Wah.

The last in the series, Lethal Weapon 4 could, and perhaps should, have been a whole lot worse, but it’s a measure of the likeability of the characters, and the directorial flair of Richard Donner that, while it may still be the least in the series, it’s also an entertaining ride that will put a smile on fans’ faces. The familiarity of the material and the verbal sparring between Riggs and Murtaugh (however predictable), along with the extended action sequences and the often slapstick comedy, makes this the celluloid equivalent of being wrapped up in a nice, warm blanket on a cold winter’s evening. It’s a huge comfort to know that everything you could want from a Lethal Weapon movie is all present and correct.

With all the series’ highlights in place, the movie does meander in places, mostly when it’s trying to acknowledge the fact that its characters are getting on a bit and are “getting too old for this shit”. Given that this is the fourth in the series, and also given that there’s been a clear decision to end the franchise before it gets too derivative and stale, this acknowledgment is a welcome development. It makes for a satisfactory conclusion to the series, but all the angst and drama of the first two movies – already lessened in Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) – has now been left behind completely. Riggs’ journey from near-suicidal nut job to devoted family man is complete, while Murtaugh is a proud grandfather whose anxiety about the loss of material things (usually his car, this time round his boat) and whatever can go wrong actually doing so, is more accepting of what Fate throws at him. These are now very settled men, and while it’s heartening to see them take on the bad guys one last time, this is a movie that – fortunately – realises it’s time to call it a day.

As lighthearted – and lightweight – as it is, Lethal Weapon 4 still does its best to deliver where it matters most: in the action sequences. The opener, with its exploding tanker and fiery devastation, is as preposterous as it sounds, but is still an impressive start to the movie and at least reassures the viewer that it’s going to be business as usual. There’s the obligatory car chase with its detour aboard a trailer, a foot chase that ends with Riggs dangling from a roof, a well choreographed fight at the Murtaugh home that showcases Li’s martial arts skills, and a climactic shootout that evolves into the three-way showdown mentioned above. All are expertly shot and cut together, and all are exciting to watch, but the familiarity they bring with them makes them less than memorable. It’s a shame, but draws attention to the fact that familiarity doesn’t always breed originality.

It’s difficult as well to bring anything new to the table with such well established characters, and while Gibson and Glover are still as enjoyable to watch as always, there’s more than a hint of tiredness in their banter, as they rework old lines and try to maintain the jokiness of previous outings. This leads to some awkward dialogue being exchanged – mostly around Murtaugh’s belief that Butters is attracted to him – and a sense that all the in-jokes and series’ references were included at the expense of more original material. It’s a trade-off, no doubt willingly made by Donner and the producers, but leaves the movie feeling a little jaded and occasionally lacklustre.

On the performance side, everyone acquits themselves well, particularly Pesci who’s given a completely out of character monologue towards the movie’s end that is surprisingly effective, and Li who provides Riggs and Murtaugh with the series’ first truly formidable adversary. Two scenes aside, Russo is reduced to hovering in the background, while Rock plays Butters as an earnest, slightly duller version of the man Murtaugh may have been when he was younger. Behind the camera, Donner plays ringmaster with his usual skill and expertise, while Andrzej Bartkowiak does a great job in making even the static shots interesting to watch. And no Lethal Weapon movie would be complete without the musical collaboration of Eric Clapton and Michael Kamen, here adding another familiar element with their jazz-infused score.

Rating: 7/10 – the tag line reads “The gang’s all here” and they are, along with all the other “best bits” of the series, in a movie that could have been called Lethal Weapon’s Greatest Hits; fun, if a tad too long thanks to its need to wrap things up, Lethal Weapon 4 is still an enjoyable diversion and provides an admirable send off for its two aging heroes.