The Tree of Life

             There's a strong possibility this will be the shortest review I have done to date. Why you may ask? Well it's hard to talk about, none the less review something when you don't know what it's about or what happened. That's precisely the predicament we have with this film.
              To begin with there is a lot more wrong with this movie than there is right, and there's not much right with this movie. I wasn't sure what was even happening in this movie until about 30 minutes in. At one point there's a period of about ten minutes where you don't even see an actor and you hear one whispered line that I didn't even understand. This time period is just filled with images of space and nature like you see in the poster above. Then at one point dinosaurs pop in there too! I was so lost and frustrated at this point that I almost turned it off. But instead, I forced myself to watch this film in its entirety. I wish I hadn't. Once this ended it was still hard to follow and to figure out what the heck was going on.
             What this film is about is the eldest of three sons of a 1950s family in Texas and his troubled relationship with his father. That's brief, but it is about as detailed as I can get. The son, Jack, is played by newcomer Hunter McCracken as a boy and by Sean Penn as an adult. Though Penn is barely in this movie. He's in about 20 minutes total, 10 in the beginning and 10 in the end and I'm not even sure he ever says a complete sentence. The mother, Mrs. O'Brien is played by Jessica Chastain (The Help) while the father, Mr. O'Brien is played by Brad Pitt (Moneyball).
             Another trouble with this movie and why it is so hard to follow is because it's all just a bunch of brief sequences and not scenes. It's like the entire movie is a dream scene or a bunch of flashbacks where only a couple of lines are said and then it moves on. Basically there's no flow between scenes and everyone seems to stand on their own, thus making it very hard to follow. Plus, to cap all of this off, the film runs at a length of 2 hours and 20 min. I felt like this movie was never going to end. However, this movie could have only been an hour and a half and I still know I'd be saying all of this negative stuff.
            Overall, this movie is confusing, strange, weird, long, and just plain terrible. Writer/director Terrence Malick is supposed to be a genius, but I just don't see it. At least not in this film. How it was ever nominated for Best Picture and Best Director at this year's Oscars I'll never know.
             I give this movie 0, that's right 0 out of 4 stars and a big thumbs down. It gets a 0 for all of the reasons I said above and the fact I wish I had never watched it, and that no one else should waste their time because they'll never get it back. This movie is out on DVD and Blu-Ray, but please don't buy and don't see it. Learn from me and save yourselves. Worst movie ever! Don't enjoy!

Editor's Note:  The next movie I will be reviewing will be the Best Picture nominee The Help starring Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain, Bryce-Dallas Howard, and Sissy Spacek.

War Horse

         Up for review today is another one of this year's 9 Best Picture nominees. As like many of the other nominees, I don't think it should have been in contention for the Oscar's highest honor. In all opinion this year was a bit of a dud. Thus because of that is why I believe 9 films still made the contention. The fact that only a couple of films really stood out to people caused all the voters to vote for many films to be in contention. That's my theory anyway, but let's move on to the actual review shall we.
        Well what is there too say about War Horse. It's a WWI set drama and directed by Steven Spielberg. So far, so good right? Well unfortunately it doesn't get much better from here. But let me say, the movie is not bad. It's just not great. When it comes right down to it all you have is a movie about a horse. A miraculous horse, yes, but a miraculous one that isn't real and is the main character of the movie. Thus in lies the biggest problem.
         In other movies about a horse, though the horse is the main center point of the plot of the movie it isn't your lead character. Look at Seabiscuit and Secretariat. First off, both are about true horses with amazing stories. That helps in itself. Secondly, though the story of the horse is what we're watching, there are main characters along side that help the story move forward and progress. In Seabiscuit you have Tobey Maguire and Jeff Bridge's characters and in Secretariat there's Diane Lane who carries the show. But in War Horse, there's just a bunch of supporting characters to the horse that filter in and out of the movie before you can even really form an opinion of them.
         War Horse at its core is a story of friendship between a horse named Joey and his owner Albert (Jeremy Irvine). Albert is the son of a Scottish farmer who buys Joey at an auction. Albert becomes responsible for training Joey and in turn their deep friendship begins. When the war begins, despite Albert's pleas Joey is sold to the British cavalry. From here we watch as Joey goes and makes his way through the war facing many different challenges along the way in an effort to hopefully be reunited with Albert once its over.
          Sadly, this bond of friendship is the driving force behind this movie and it just isn't strong enough. There are some good things though as there's a reason it was nominated for 6 Oscars. However, these are mainly on the technical side. The cinematography is very good as the shots of the vast Scottish landscape and others throughout Europe are quite vivid and beautiful. Plus, John Williams score is quite good as well. As for acting, I think the best job goes to David Thewlis (Lupin in the Harry Potter series) who plays the villainous landlord of Albert's family's farm.
         In the end though, there's just not enough good to make up for the bad or just average. The movie runs at 146 minutes which is far too long. If this had been cut down to a solid two hours it could have potentially helped itself immensely. However, all we're left with is an overly long war story about a horse. At least with Seabiscuit and Secretariat you had the excitement of races to drive the viewers interest. This one doesn't and like I said it just becomes a movie about a horse. Big whoop.
         Overall, I give this movie a thumbs down and 2 out of 4 stars. I'm bumping it up from 1.5 strictly for its technical achievements.  But the story in itself combined with running time only gather a 1.5 for me. This movie may still be able to be found at a random theater here and there, but otherwise you can get it on DVD and Blu-Ray beginning April 3rd. Enjoy!

Editor's Note:  My next film will be the 2012 Best Picture nominee The Tree of Life starring Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, and Sean Penn.

The Descendants

                Whether you've seen the trailer to The Descendants already or not, on the surface it looks like a good movie. It's set in Hawaii, directed and co-written by already two time (and now three) Oscar nominee Alexander Payne and stars George Clooney. Sounds like a good recipe for success, and I'm glad to say the recipe works. Though like many real recipes it could have used a little tweaking here and there to just be that little bit better. Okay, don't worry I'm done with the recipe analogy.
                The Descendents is just like Alexander Payne's other works (Sideways, About Schmidt) in that it's a dramedy. In case some readers out there aren't familiar with that term that's a dramatic comedy.  Though set in Hawaii, where many like to think of as paradise, is far from that for Matt King (Clooney). King is a real estate lawyer and the sole trustee of a family trust that controls 25,000 acres of land on Kauai and is set to expire in 7 years. Him and his many relatives, who are descended from some of the first white settlers of Hawaii, as well as Hawaiian royalty, must make a huge decision on whether to sell the land or not and if so, then who to as it could have a huge impact on many fronts.
              As if this were not enough for King to be going through, his wife is in a coma after a boating accident. Now he must figure out how to deal with an ailing wife and 10 and 17-year-old daughters. This proves to be even more difficult as he is in his own words "the back-up parent." Think his plate can't get any fuller? Well it can, as he learns that his wife had been cheating on him. From here King goes on a journey to find out who his wife's love was, while along the way trying to connect with his children along the way.
              As with many good movies, it all begins with the story. This one is no original as it is based off of the novel of the same name by Kaui Hart Hemmings. However, though I haven't read the book, from my point of view Payne and his two fellow co-writers have done a great job at adapting it. I'm not the only one as the Academy has nominated the three men for a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar. Payne is also recognized with an Oscar nomination for his work behind the camera and he rightfully should be. He creates some incredible and beautiful shots of the landscape in Hawaii, but more importantly throughout the movie he is able to shoot and portray the many different emotions and reactions the characters have to their circumstances. Some of these scenes come through with such honesty that it allows the viewer to connect and relate with the characters and what they're going through.
            Now in front of the camera the real applause must go to George Clooney. As many other critics have praised I believe this to be one of Clooney's best performances. Overall, it's a character I find it must be difficult to play with all that's going on in his life. Yet, Clooney seems to be on point as his portrayal of King throughout is one that is real and for lack of a better term, just seems to make sense with everything he does. Having already taken home a Golden Globe for his performance, I think he has a good shot of walking away with the Oscar for Best Actor. With that I don't want to shy away from the great performance by Shailene Woodley (The O.C.) who plays Alexandra King, Matt's eldest daughter. She is great as a troubled older teen trying to make sense of all that is happening in her life. It makes sense she was rewarded with a Golden Globe nomination and that there was some talk of a possible Oscar nomination for her performance.
           Overall, I thought this a creative story with many different pieces to it that bring in many different human elements. It's entertaining to watch it unwind and see the different characters deal with these elements in real ways. The setting of Hawaii is an added bonus as it creates some great backgrounds and scenery. Though I did like the movie, I was not fully taken with it as many other critics were. Though it dives right into it's plot lines, I felt like it was still a bit slow to taking off per say and really grabbing me. It was also a bit heavier than I expected going in, and thought there would be just a bit more laughs than there ended up being. With that said it is still deserving of the 5 Oscar nominations it has received, including Best Picture.
           I give this movie 3 out of 4 stars and a thumbs up. This movie is still in theaters now, though unless you want to go see it before the Oscars it is not one I say must be seen in theaters. If you're willing to wait for it on DVD then I don't see the harm. Enjoy!

Editor's Note:  My next review will be on the Best Picture nominated film War Horse directed by Steven Spielberg. Also here is a pictures of the land they use as the land King owns on Kauai. In the movie King and his family stand just feet from where I took these pictures. It is real privately owned land on Kauai that you can get to on a ATV tour on a private ranch. I highly recommend doing so if you ever visit.

2012 Oscar Nominations

           Well the nominations are in for this year's 84th Annual Academy Awards. There seems to a quite a few surprises this year when comparing the nominations to the award shows this season. However, when is there a year where this isn't snubs and surprises?
            Leading the pack this year with the most nominations is Hugo with 11 total and The Artist coming in a close second with 10. The Oscars will air on ABC on Sunday, February 26th and for a full rundown of the nominees check out the list below.


Best Picture
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo 
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse 

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

Best Actor
Demián Bichir, A Better Life
George Clooney, The Descendants
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Best Actress
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

Best Supporting Actor 
Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Nick Nolte, Warrior
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Best Supporting Actress
Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help 

Best Original Screenplay
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
J.C. Chandor, Margin Call
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Asghar Farhadi, A Separation

Best Adapted Screenplay
Alexander Payne, Jim Rash, and Nat Faxon, The Descendants
John Logan, Hugo
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, and Beau Willimon, The Ides of March
Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian, Moneyball
Peter Straughan and Bridget O’Connor, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Animated Film
A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango 

Best Foreign Language Film
Bullhead (Belgium)
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)
A Separation (Iran)
Footnote (Israel)
In Darkness (Poland)

Best Cinematography
The Artist
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Art Direction
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
War Horse

Costume Design
Anonymous
The Artist
Hugo
Jane Eyre
W.E.

Documentary Feature
Hell and Back Again
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Pina
Undefeated

Documentary Short
The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement
God Is the Bigger Elvis
Incident in New Baghdad
Saving Face
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

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

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

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

Music (Original Song)
“Man or Muppet” from The Muppets, Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from Rio, Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown, and Siedah Garrett

Short Film (Animated)
Dimanche/Sunday
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life

Short Film (Live Action)
Pentecost
Raju
The Shore
Time Freak
Tuba Atlantic

Sound Editing
Drive
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

Sound Mixing
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

Visual Effects
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Editor's Note:  Look out later today for the review of Crazy, Stupid, Love. Also, I will now begin to watch and review all 9 of the best picture nominees as we lead up to the show so stay in tune for that!