The Movie Rat

Introduction: March to Disney 2014

Posted on March 4, 2014 by bernardovillela

As profiled on one of my newer pages this is my annual tribute to Disney and its works in all shapes and sizes. On the aforementioned page you can see the titles I have profiled in the past. This year I am seeking to cover a few more and dip my toe back into the TV waters on a new installment of Cinematic Episodes. There will be shorts and some other surprises through the course of the month. Come back early and often and see what this year’s posts have to offer.

Mini-Review: Room 514

Posted on March 3, 2014 by bernardovillela

Room 514

This film contains one of the slyest, most telling pieces of foreshadowing I’ve seen in some time. I won’t give it away, but as I reflected on this film it seemed to me to be a modern, Israeli-set version of A Few Good Men. The drama is more intimate and behind closed doors, but what the film is about is the people and how they react in a given set of circumstances rather than what the consequences for said action is. The comments both societal and militaristic have been made and the story is at an end. The outside world may never feel any ramifications or repercussions from what occurred, but those behind said closed doors do.

What director Sharon Bar-Ziv achieves is an intimate tale not only in terms of the number of participants but also in the frame. There are many times where there is scarcely background to be spoken of as two faces, within very close proximity to one another, dominate our view. Their is an intense focus on the characters studying one another and we in turn study them and not only how they react to one another but also what they are saying.

For a film of this nature to achieve maximum effectiveness it needs great acting and it gets that from its three main players: Asia Naifeld, Guy Kapulnik and Udi Persi. Neifeld plays Anna the Military Police interrogator at the center of virtually every scene and her performance is a veritable tour de force. Her choices as an actress are as clear as the convictions of her character and really help bring this film home. It’s a fascinating tale that is worth your time as it really and truly engages you.

Room 514 will be available on home video from Film Movement on 6/18.

9/10

86th Annual Academy Awards

Posted on March 2, 2014 by bernardovillela

As has become tradition I will drop here my off-the-cuff thoughts on the ceremonies and the winners as they proceed. Enjoy.

Red Carpet

I intended to cover more of the red carpet this year because I haven’t seen an awful lot of the nominated films, but I tuned in about 23 minutes later than I intended to.

As for the films, I typically get caught up in January and February, but have been focused on more new releases. As always, I have come to terms with the Oscars being more of a great show than about who wins for me, but I do still have some people I am rooting for.

With this year’s host not really being a controversial decision I anticipate I will discuss the “material” (such as it is) less.

I’m am extraordinarily bad at realizing people are related. Today’s example: Laura and Bruce Dern.

Amy Adams doing her hair as an homage to Vertigo is a decision I support.

Jennifer Lawrence is “winning” so far. Once Christian Dior was mentioned I realized it made sense. Amazing look.

Some good little segments in this pre-show like the Blue Jasmine costuming and My First Oscars.

Only 12 minute to the pointless thirty-minute pre-show that only delays the festivities!

The countdown clock is up. Everyone is pretty much there. You’re just being tortured at this point.

The good thing about the pre-show is that the nominees start to take over because it seems they just want to get things started.

I haven’t minded the selfie and pizza bits, but if the show is running even later than normal, then maybe, just a little.
A Fresh Prince cameraman is working the Oscars. One of the better tidbits we’ll learn.

The clock makes things go so much slower.

The Ceremony

It started. Nick Hoult is in the audience, the start is a good one.

New oldest nominees, which I was unaware of.

I like the stage and the fact that Captain Phillips and Philomena Lee are there.

That was the joke to end a monologue on. Amazing!

The Oscar clip is the main reason I don’t get Hanks being snubbed.

Jared Leto’s clip was the most convincing advertisement of Dallas Buyers Club yet.

The first political moment of the night didn’t take long, truthfully more important things are going on. Peace on earth all.

Random video segment of the night one: celebrates animation. It’s not like it’s under-appreciated.

“Happy” was the Despicable Me 2 song closest to earning a BAM nomination but missed the cut. It’s a tough category to crack.

Notable acknowledgement of the inclusion of hairstyling in the makeup category. It undeniably changed the process.

Three best picture nominees profiled at a time. Oh boy.

What is a “warm Kodak Theater welcome” exactly?

My take on the short films as a whole, and where to find them, can be seen here. I am glad Mr. Hublot got it, because Disney is a safe bet for the Feature category.

FROZEN! Called it.

Picking Gravity for Visual Effects is so easy I did it.

Zac Efron, your intro is a musical chord from Hairspray please do more musicals.

So far the most exciting moments of the night have been around the short films. So, so, so, so happy that Helium won. What a gorgeous film that made me cry in its 20 minute run time.

At least The Great Beauty winning supplants Life is Beautiful as Italy’s most recent win.

Not many comments recently because, as per usual, almost nothing is a surprise.

The obligatory joke about the President of the Academy always gets me.

Bill Murray’s impromptu tribute to Harold Ramis wins tonight.

Lubezki won long ago in my book.

“Cuaron wrote, directed and edited the movie, let’s play music on him” The Oscars.

Pink is guaranteed to bring the house down at any award show she sings at. Always a good idea.

The only thing that can get Gravity is … The Great Gatsby of all things, in art categories.

Missed the intro for the 2nd random video tribute. This third one is heroes. OK.

Lost momentum towards the end, but there was little else to report really. Love McConaughey’s speech it was great. Blanchett’s was also a statement of a different kind.

The ceremony was saved from being a complete and utter bore because Gravity didn’t win Best Picture after nabbing most everything else. However, maybe that was foretold by the fact that it didn’t have a writing nomination.

Glad, Cuaron got to speak his entire piece when his turn came again.

Not the most memorable broadcast, but maybe more exposure to the crop will make it stand out. Dallas Buyers Club rose big time in my estimation.

Short Film Saturday – 2014 Oscar Shorts

Posted on March 1, 2014 by bernardovillela

In my intermittent posts on the blog lately I have neglected to mention this year’s Oscar-nominated shorts. If you’d like to see the films either ahead of, or just after tomorrow’s Academy Award ceremonies. You can find information on a number of streaming/on demand options here.

2014 BAM Award Considerations – February

Posted on February 28, 2014 by bernardovillela

I decided that with the plethora of BAM Awards-related post towards the end of 2013 and the start of this year it was best to wait to the end of this month before officially recommencing the process.

I will post these lists towards the end of the month to allow for minimal updates. By creating a new post monthly, and creating massive combo files offline, it should make the process easier for me and more user-friendly for you, the esteemed reader. Enjoy.

Eligible Titles

Labor Day
Pompeii
3 Days to Kill
2 Autumns, 3 Winters
That Awkward Moment
Monuments Men
RoboCop
The Lego Movie
In Secret
Tonya & Nancy
Lizzie Borden Took an Ax
The Wind Rises

Best Picture

The Lego Movie

Best Foreign Film

2 Autumns, 3 Winters
The Wind Rises

Best Documentary

Most Overlooked Film

As intimated in my Most Underrated announcement this year, I’ve decided to make a change here. Rather than get caught up in me vs. the world nonsense and what a film’s rating is on an aggregate site, the IMDb or anywhere else, I want to champion smaller, lesser-known films. In 2011 with the selection of Toast this move was really in the offing. The nominees from this past year echo that fact. So here, regardless of how well-received something is by those who’ve seen it, I’ll be championing indies and foreign films, and the occasional financial flop from a bigger entity.

Labor Day

Best Director

The Lego Movie
The Wind Rises

Best Actress

Kate Winslet Labor Day
Maud Wyler 2 Autumns, 3 Winters
Elizabeth Olsen In Secret
Christina Ricci Lizzie Borden Took an Ax

Best Actor

Josh Brolin Labor Day
George Clooney Monuments Men
Vincent Macaigne 2 Autumns, 3 Winters
Oscar Isaac In Secret

Best Supporting Actress

Cate Blanchett Monuments Men
Jessica Lange In Secret

Best Supporting Actor

Bastien Bouillon 2 Autumns, 3 Winters
Michael Keaton RoboCop

Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Leading Role

Hailee Steinfeld 3 Days to Kill

Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Leading Role

Gattlin Griffith Labor Day

Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Supporting Role

Elena Kampouris Labor Day

Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Supporting Role

Dylan Schombing Pompeii
Jadon Sand The Lego Movie
John Paul Ruttan RoboCop
Micah Fowler Labor Day
Zacherie Chasserieaud 2 Autumns, 3 Winters

Best Cast

2 Autumns, 3 Winters
Labor Day
Monuments Men
The Lego Movie
In Secret

Best Youth Ensemble

Labor Day

Best Original Screenplay

The Lego Movie

Best Adapted Screenplay

Labor Day
Monuments Men
RoboCop

Best Score

Labor Day
Pompeii
Monuments Men
The Lego Movie
The Wind Rises

Best Editing

Labor Day
Monuments Men
The Lego Movie

Best Sound Editing/Mixing

Pompeii
RoboCop
The Lego Movie
The Wind Rises

Best Cinematography

Labor Day
Monuments Men
In Secret

Best Art Direction

Labor Day
Monuments Men
Lizzie Borden Took an Ax

Best Costume Design

Labor Day
Pompeii
Monuments Men
Lizzie Borden Took an Ax
In Secret

Best Makeup

Labor Day
Pompeii
3 Days to Kill
Lizzie Borden Took an Ax
In Secret

Best Visual Effects

RoboCop

Best (Original) Song

“Everything is Awesome” The Lego Movie
“Untitled Self Portrait” The Lego Movie

Review: 20 Lies, 4 Parents and a Little Egg

Posted on February 27, 2014 by bernardovillela

As time moves on the lines between visual media will continue to inevitably blur. Surely, each discipline needs to maintain its fine line for there to be a reason to continue separation of them. However, I raise the point because ever since the made-for-TV movie was created due to a perceived need by American networks, there has been a growing similitude growing between the two forms such that when one watches a TV film without commercial break there is scarcely a notable difference depending on the production, and what attempts were made to give it a filmic quality.

While the TV movie may have originated here it has, by now, migrated the world over. Which brings me, after that roundabout introduction, to the film at hand 20 Lies, 4 Parents, and a Little Egg. This is a dramedy that premiered on Dutch television last year. It tells the tale of how, after a freak accident, Dylan (Nils Verkooijen) gets to know his biological father, Sjors (Marcel Musters), after having been raised for most of his 15 year by his mother (Anneke Blok) and partner Ilse (Marieke Heebink). Dylan’s re-emergence into Sjors’ life disrupts his relationship with Bert (Mark Ram) and also threatens the secrets that each of them have harbored over the years – hence the title.

With a synopsis as I encapsulated above it would be easy for a film such as this to wander into melodrama. It manages to avoid doing that not only by staying quite humorous, based on the way all the characters interact with one another, but also being dramatically real. The film is ultimately driven by the character and how they react to one another. Dylan is a rather realistically rendered pest who has an “impossible” facade that is slowly taken down, which is a credit to the writing and the performance by Verkooijen. Yet even with that the film never loses its core conflict for facile resolution.

In the end the decisions are made quietly, mostly visually that sins of omission made to keep up appearances need to be addressed and moved past, and ends the story in satisfying fashion.

With all this talk of character clearly this puts and emphasis on performance and the quintet of central figures in this film all do a marvelous job. There is a naturalness and ease of interaction between all the characters that creates a shorthand that allows the film to move as briskly as it does. This keeps the pace up and the tale moving without getting bogged down in unnecessary bouts of exposition and the like.

20 Lies, 4 Parents and One Little Egg doesn’t tread easy ground. When you’re dealing with a family-based comedy-drama that concerns two sets of same-sex couples the dangers become either insensitivity or faux-edginess. What this film opts for instead is heart and humanity and a brief toe-dip into the complexity of human emotions, and that’s the right path and it’s well-navigated here.

8/10

31 Days of Oscar 2014

Posted on February 26, 2014 by bernardovillela

For all intents and purposes 31 Days of Oscar, for me, has been snowed out this year. What I mean by this is that there were many demands on my concentration between script rewrites, home renovations, the Winter Olympics and the like it was hard to get any momentum built up. In fact, there were but a few sporadic viewings and one marathon day before my writing of this. As meager as these viewings are they still merit writing about in a post here since there were not enough to generate multiple posts this year. If there are other viewings before 3/3 I will add them here.

Wuthering Heights (1939)

There’s something to be said for one’s first exposure to a story. As hard as it is to believe I’d never seen any rendition of this tale. I can’t put my finger on the reason why, but I’m glad to have seen it now. It’s a truly great tragic romance with allusions to a ghost story.

Wins/Nominations: 1/8

Gate of Hell (1953)

As seems to be the case with a lot films set in feudal Japan, it did take a few minutes to get my footing and keep names and clans orderly in my mind. When I had my bearings it did become a very touching and involving film that is fairly universal and requires minimal existing knowledge of Japanese custom and history. Most of what you need is found within the story. It’s worth noting this film won the color costuming award and won a special award for foreign films and was one of the titles that lead the way to a full category being added.

Wins/Nominations: 2/2

Closely Watched Trains (1966)

This film is very much a New Wave film, this one coming from the Czech New Wave. The prior film I had seen from it can be found here. The story here is fairly straight-forward in narrative if not structural terms and combines a coming-of-age element with the backdrop of World War II. It’s a decent tale but not one that will likely stick with me for very long. Maybe it’s just not my cup of tea or the novelty of the Wave isn’t novel to me anymore, though I do like the approach.

Wins/Nominations: 1/1

Ninotchka (1939)

This was a film a professor of mine suggested to me in school as the Garbo film he liked and also as a good intro to Lubitsch, I believe. I’m not sure why it took me so long to follow this advice, as he never steered me wrong, but I finally saw it and am very glad I did. It’s quite a charming story and a good time.

Wins/Nominations: 0/4

Three Smart Girls (1936)

In watching films grouped together by the sole fact that they were nominated for Oscars you will inevitably watch a little differently. In many viewings I would try to start guessing (if not already told) what a film was nominated in. I say this because on the rare occasion you don’t really get it. With this film I didn’t at all. Save for the sound recording nomination. I refuse to merely attribute it to the film not aging well, because the dated argument is a substitute for thought. I’d have to research and watch more, but in an age with myriad musical romantic comedies this one, that I didn’t even care for, was a Best Picture nominee baffles me.

Nominations/Wins: 0/3

Totals

Films: 5
Wins: 4
Nominations: 18

My Ballot: Jameson Empire Awards 2014

Posted on February 25, 2014 by bernardovillela

Yup, it’s another My Ballot post. It’s not even that I intended to do another one of these so soon, but I saw this pop up yesterday and felt compelled to fill it out, even with my viewership of all these candidates not being very high. I am sure I won’t be nearly this inclined to fill out ballots once award season comes to a close this year, but we shall see.

Best Male Newcomer

Will Poulter We’re the Millers

My reasoning behind this choice is the same as it was here.

Best Female Newcomer

Elizabeth Debicki The Great Gatsby

This was an unusual category for me because I hadn’t seen many of the candidates and needed a refresher on who Debicki was. However, that has everything to do with the middling nature of the film rather than her.

Best Horror

The Conjuring

This choice was obvious for me. Even though it didn’t top my 2013 horror list, it was a strong number two from James Wan.

Best Comedy

This is the End

If I had a genre-specific comedy list this is the film that would’ve found itself in the #1 spot. It did make my best of the year.

Best Thriller

Captain Phillips

I’m resistant to the notion of thriller as a genre. It seems to just be a catch-all. Despite some of the issues I had with the film, it is suspenseful and doesn’t resist reality in the end with regards to trauma, and eschews a typical Hollywood ending.

Best Sc-Fi/Fantasy

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Unsurprisingly my favorite Sci-Fi or Fantasy film from last year, and also my overall number one, was absent. Thus, this begins a portion of these selections where I lean heavily towards The Hobbit, in a move that kind of does surprise me too. However, when I think back I did enjoy this quite a bit too.

Best Supporting Actor

Tom Hiddleston Thor: The Dark World

In my awards I went with a Marvel villain played by a British actor, just not this one. That’s not to slight Hiddleston. One of the keys to successfully interpreting villains, is not only being the hero of your own story but relishing it as an actor. Hiddleston definitely accomplishes that and in the capper to a Loki trilogy does his finest work in the Marvel Universe to date.

Best Supporting Actress

Sally Hawkins Blue Jasmine

Sally Hawkins was apparently taken aback by her Oscar nomination. I was too, not due to her performance but because the Oscars recognized the film for something other than Cate Blanchet. Hawkins name has rightfully appeared on many awards ballots this season and it pleases me each and every time.

Best British Film

The World’s End

Here’s another one where I had to make an oddball choice for myself. I have seen none of the other candidates. The #3 movie on my list last year, Broken, is British but absent here. I was lukewarm about this film the first time I saw it, but it does have its fans and I’d be happy to see it win.

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett Blue Jasmine

I’ve filled her name out everywhere I could this year. I will be stunned if she does not win the Oscar. I don’t know her odds here but it didn’t stop me.

Best Actor

Tom Hanks Captain Phillips

This is an Oscar snub I talked of some. I don’t get it. I know why I passed, but he is still great here.

Best Director

Peter Jackson The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Applying the logic of the director of the film I enjoyed the most this comes away the winner. And the reason I say it’s surprising is that technical foible (High Frame Rate) I am enjoying this series more than The Lord of the Rings. I know I’m weird, but I get weirder, because I’m not a huge fan of that one.

Best Film

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Out of the films listed on the ballot, I gave this one the highest score and I wouldn’t change it. It boils down to I wanted more even after all that time and the ending didn’t disappoint me.

The Arts on Film: Museum Hours (2013)

Posted on February 24, 2014 by bernardovillela

Introduction

Enumerating how many artistic disciplines exist is not the purview of this series. Rather the idea of this series is to briefly explore an iteration, an instance, of another artform in the world of cinema.

Museum Hours (2013)

In an upcoming series of posts I will state that I believe that cinema is the ultimate artform because of its ability to encompass or represent all the forms that came before it. Its elasticity is such that I believe it will be able to dialogue with whatever comes next.

However, this film seeks to satisfy a simple aim by illuminating a work cited by a film. To learn more of it and the artist in question. In short, just a bit more than information the film deems suitable.

The temptation may exist for an artist to shoehorn his favorite influences in other media into a film regardless of how well they fit. Truly, though, a film is only exalted through the inclusion of a prominent figure from another artform when there is an intrinsic, unobtrusive link between the artist’s oeuvre and the story being told.

In the case of Pieter Bruegel, or Brueghel if you prefer, and Museum Hours the fit is quite a natural one for what occurs is that you have a painter who painted group scenes of peasant life which can be argued to have no center, or multiple centers, yet if you look at what is going on in each sub-tableau you can likely pick out the most important piece. Museum Hours is a film of a small population, but it is essentially the tale of two main figures in a multitude who work at or attend the The Kunsthistorisches Art Museum, other stories occasionally come in, other paintings but few we care or focus on. This is why these paintings are such a great fit. Here’s a closer look at some of them.

My Ballot: LIONS for LAMBs

Posted on February 19, 2014 by bernardovillela

The Lions are awards voted on by members of LAMB, the world’s largest movie blogging community. Last year since they were both write-ins I combined these picks with my OMIEs post. This year the former had a field of selections so they deserve separate posts. This one is for those of us who are anal retentive and want a precise order not just an honoree (winner if you prefer and other nominees), as they reflect my BAM Awards choices.

Best Picture

Is no secret. Look at the order of my Top 10 and you see how I voted.

Best Director

While each of the top directorial turns of the year (in my mind) clearly have their merits, I couldn’t shuffle the directors differently than I did film: so it’s Hood, Allen, Norris, Rubin and Park. For what titles these indicate check the BAM Awards.

Best Actor

No more being coy. From here on you get the slate. My best actor winner was Johan Heldenbergh for The Broken Circle Breakdown he narrowly edged countryman Koen De Graeve in a decision I stressed about. No less impressive was Igor Samobor in Class Enemy; it was really a choice of preference and what range they played in. It was next to impossible to separate Spencer Treat Clark and Nick Eversman in Cold Dark Canyon but I had to choose one and it kind of went to who had the most impressive single moment.

Best Actress

This was a ridiculously deep field. In any other year these ladies may have walked away with the prize. They had the misfortune of being up against each other. They ranked as follows:

Blanchett Blue Jasmine
Baetens The Broken Circle Breakdown
Dench Philomena
Sukowa Hannah Arendt
O’Hara Museum Hours

Best Supporting Actor

Quite an interesting year in this category from my perspective. There were flat-out dramatic performances and comedic ones, I went with the one that had the best of both to offer.

Kingsley Iron Man 3
Rockwell The Way, Way Back
McConaughey Mud
Ford Ender’s Game
Boh Class Enemy

Best Supporting Actress

Most of what I talked about in picking an honoree was an overlooked genre. There’s more to Imelda Staunton than being great in horror film, but it was a suitable tie-breaker. I’m glad Hawkins has gotten recognition elsewhere. More people have to see Nadrah and her film; Ullmann is a living legend, and Huppert is always wondrous. It came down to the part in shuffling these great performances.

Staunton The Awakening
Hawkins Blue Jasmine
Nadrah Class Enemy
Ullmann Two Lives
Huppert Amour

Best Screenplay

Interesting because it takes away the original and adapted monikers, so I decided to alternate starting between them starting with the stronger honoree, Broken.

Broken
Blue Jasmine
Ender’s Game
Stoker
Class Enemy

Best Documentary

Messages are great, but docs can be entertaining and artful too. That’s how I ended up ordering these.

The Short Game
The Diplomat
Evocateur
Brooklyn Castle
A Place at the Table

Best Foreign Film

These foreign films didn’t get a lot of hype and crashed my top 15, so I’m glad to plug them yet again. What it all came down to was gut reaction. The winner destroyed me, in a good way.

Time of My Life
The Giants
Class Enemy
It’s All So Quiet
The Hunt

Best Cinematography

All these films had such different narrative requirements the way they ended up being ordered had a lot to do with how organic the gorgeous imagery was to the story.

The Old Man
Stoker
Only God Forgives
The Fifth Season
Post Tenebras Lux

Comments

Given a chance to comment, I took it this time saying:

For 2015 a new category should be sought that’s not on the Oscar slate whether it be something other award shows do like Best Cast or Performance by a Young Actor, or something unique to the LIONs.

If you are a member please vote, if you just enjoy the member blogs, you (as I will) should check out the results.

Posts navigation

Older Posts

Newer Posts