Oscar Nominations - My Predictions!

Well the nominations are out so it's time to make some (mostly) unfounded predictions so we can laugh at how many I get wrong in a few weeks.

I actually love the Oscars.  Yes I know they favour a certain 'type' of film. And yes it's a shame Christopher Nolan hasn't been nominated again. And I know comic book/fantasy films are enjoyed by the mainstream but not recognised by the establishment at awards time and that's rubbish.  But I honestly don't think I care that much. I want to watch a bunch of people in nice dresses prentend to have a good time and be happy for each other while they make ridiculous self-important speeches. It's fun! There are some great films, actors, directors and the rest of them nominated this year... and James Franco's presenting, so roll on the 27th February.

Best motion picture of the year

127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech
Winter's Bone
True Grit
The Social Network
Toy Story 3

I really think The Social Network will get this one.  I know that the film with the most nominations is usually the favourite in this category but I'm bucking the trend.  It's great to see Toy Story 3 on the list.  I loved 127, Black Swan, Inception and The King's Speech. True Grit hasn't been released in the UK, I think Winter's bone got a tiny release and I can't help but think that The Fighter looks a bit crappy... has anyone seen it?  Leave me a comment and let me know.

Best Director

Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan
David O'Russell - The Fighter
Tom Hooper - The King's Speech
David Fincher - The Social Network
Joes & Ethan Coen - True Grit

I think it's Fincher's time... He missed out in 2009 with Benjamin Button, the Coens have won loads and I don't think The King's Speech will get many of the big awards. I think I secretly wish Aronofsky would win though, just because his film is so totally mental. But no, it's Fincher's time plus, look at his little face!

I'm gonna stop typing the other nominees now...

Best Actor

Colin Firth.  See that was easy. No point in writing the other guys down bless 'em. Jesse Eisenberg was great, James Franco was awesome and I'm sure the other two were great too but they've no chance.  I really do think Firth deserves it though. Yes he's playing a King with a stutter and a lisp - it's got 'Oscar' written all over it - but he does it brilliantly, never going too far.

Best Actress

Natalie Portman. Another easy one!  It doesn't help that I've not seen any of the other films in this category but Nina Sayers was the role of a lifetime and she didn't waste it.

Best Supporting Actor

Geoffrey Rush - I know the smart money is on Christian Bale for this one but every time I've watched The Fighter's trailer he looks like he's playing 'the wayward brother' stock character in a pretty over-the-top way.  I'd love to be wrong about that though.

Best Supporting Actress

I don't know!  Helena Bonham-Carter won't get it; although she's excellent, she doesn't have too much to do.  I've got to pick though so I'm going with Hailee Steinfeld. She looks like a good little actress, plus she's teeny she's got a chance. Love Amy Adams though.

Best Foriegn Language Film - Biutiful
Best Original Screenplay - The King's Speech

Best Animation

Aaargh!  I LOVE all the Toy Story films so I'm torn but I'm going with How to Train Your Dragon. It's funny, gorgeous too look at and incredibly moving. Pixar have enough already! 

Best Adapted Screenplay - The Social Network (I'm a Sorkin nerd - plus he's the best)
Best Art Direction - Inception
Best Cinematography - Black Swan
Best Sound Mixing - Inception
Best Sound Editing - Inception

Best Original Song - Just tracked these down and had a listen.  The thought of  having to watch Gwyneth Paltrow sing makes me feel a bit ill. I nearly went for the one from Tangled because I've got an irrational love for Mandy Moore but it's got to be We Belong Together from Toy Story 3. Randy Newman's voice makes me happy ok!

Best Original Score - AR Rahman for 127 Hours
Best Costumes -The King's Speech (If Alice in Wonderland gets it I'll be mad)
Best Documentary Feature - Restrepo (not seen it but Kermode says it's good)
Best Film Editing - 127 Hours (maybe??)

Best Animated Short - The Gruffalo!! A little British cartoon featuring the voices of Rob Brydon, James Corden would be pretty funny.  And now that's 3 nominated things with Helena B-C in...

Best Visual Effects - Inception

So that's it. A month till we find out how many I got right.

Apologies if this became less and less coherent towards the end. Do you agree, disagree, think I've gone mental? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Black Swan - Holy crap!

So it's about 24 hours since I settled down into the front row of a lovely, quiet cinema screen to enjoy Black Swan.  2 hours later I staggered out, feeling as though I needed a nice lie down.  I just about feel ready to try and organise my thoughts.  I hope they make sense!

Ballet is all about balance. You must be sure-footed. Darren Aronofsky makes sure his audience is the opposite, throwing us off balance and out of our comfort zone at every opportunity.  The result is a stunning, satisfying and unexpectedly funny film.

TEENY SPOILERS MAY FOLLOW

Natalie Portman is Nina Sayers; a ballerina with the determination to be 'perfect'.  Portman apparently trained for 10 months for this role and it shows.  She has always been graceful and fragile-looking but now she looks as though she could snap at any moment. Every bone protrudes, every muscle is lean.  Right or wrong, this is what dancers go through and the commitment she has shown to get there really shouldn't be underestimated.  She should win the Oscar. It'd be a crime if she didn't.  Her performance is the thing which grounds Black Swan. It gives it it's realism. It stops it from leaping, head first,  over the top of plausible.

So Nina is cast in Swan Lake, playing the White Swan Odette and the Black Swan Odile. She's great at dancing Odette cos she's all boring and sexless but Odile is more of a challenge... Enter Vincent Cassell!

He's the slimy French choreographer and he's brilliant.  Smarmy and calculated. Nina falls for every line.

Barbara Hershey plays Nina's mother and this relationship is the most interesting in the film.  Hershey switches brilliantly between Erica's attempts to be pally; all sorority girl sharing and hair brushing; and an ultra-controlling matriarch.

Nina's real-life opposite is Lily, a new dancer from (gasp) California!  She is everything Nina isn't; relaxed, sexy and independent. An uneasy friendship is formed, with the undercurrent of competition never too far away.  Mila Kunis seems to relish this role and she can do sexy with her eyes closed.  Lily is the catalyst for Nina finally losing her cool. Kunis is, on the face of it, the opposite of Portman but they are facially at least, similar enough for us to be freaked out now and then!

As the film progresses Aronofsky really starts to have fun.  Throwing the audience completley off balance with Cronenberg-esque body horror to make you (well me anyway) squirm in your seats. The omnipresent mirrors become more and more integral to Nina's crumbling psychosis and are the basis of some great shocks. And how do you not see the cameramen?!  And a scene involving Winona Ryder (who's pretty good) will have you wondering if you've wandered into an actual horror film.

Sound is used to great effect and the realism of the film stock and camera work really offsets the seeming unreality of the events of the final act. The dance scenes are excellent.  Filmed close to show the agony and the effort rather than the grace and elegance of the finished product.

And what of the ending?  I really can't tell you about it cos it's a pretty massive spoiler which is a shame cos I had some good clever words lined up but join me in comments and we'll argue it out!

I can't recommend Black Swan highly enough. It won't be everyone's cup of tea and I'm not sure I found it totally satisfying but it's the most exciting and thrilling films I've seen in a while. The performances really do make it.

Also... aren't these posters gorgeous?  The designers hadn't seen the film when they made them but they've really captured the tone I think. I'd happily hang all of them in my house.

Films & Fashion & Stuff

So it’s the Oscars tonight and I’m excited.  It’s got all the ingredients of a good year.  Some of the categories actually seem pretty close which always makes it more fun to watch.  Plus the Alec Baldwin/Steve Martin hosting team HAS to be funny right?  We’ll see.  As long ass Avatar doesn’t win one of the big two then I’m a happy woman.

I’ve watched 2 great films in the last week, the first being The Hurt Locker.  I figured I should see what all the fuss is about and I wasn’t disappointed.  All the performances are excellent and the random, brief, star cameos didn’t distract from the central characters.  The odd thing about it is that, if you try to explain the plot to someone else, it’s a really difficult task.  Things happen, but not in the usual ‘exciting bit, followed by exposition, followed by exciting but’ kind of way we’ve come to expect.  The stakes are as high as they can be at the start, and stay that way until the credits roll.   It’s all about the people and not the action, which seems odd for what you assume, from the trailer, is an action movie.  And all this is a long-winded way of saying I really hope Kathryn Bigelow wins the Best Director award.  None of the reason I think that is because she’s a woman.  She’s simply the best director in the category, based on these films.  (In my humble, not actually seen all the films, opinion of course!)

The second film I watched was Moon.  It’s just wonderful.  I’ve been excited to see it since it came out but seeing Duncan Jones’ acceptance speech at the Baftas reminded me to buy it.  It’s extraordinary.  Everyone should watch it.  I can’t begin to understand how Sam Rockwell hasn’t been nominated for his amazing performance.  He’s brilliant in everything but this should have brought him the recognition he deserves.  I think the Academy are a bit allergic to sci-fi films… unless they cost $500 million to make of course!

The fashion weeks are coming to an end and I’ve kept up with just some of the millions of column inches that have been written on the subject and there seem to have been some great shows.  And then I saw this picture. 

Isn't this just the most bored looking bunch of women who need a sandwich you've ever seen?  Fashion should be about art and fun and beauty and this sort of scene just perpetuates it's reputation as being pretentious and silly.  Of course, some of it is pretentious and silly but not this.

Or this.

Or even this.

This is walking art that should make us smile and laugh and sometimes think.  It should never be boring.

2 more things. I knew John Mayer was an arse but oh my god, this interview is hilariously bad.  Do you guys think he knows how he sounds?  Is this an act or how he really speaks?

http://www.playboy.com/articles/john-mayer-playboy-interview/index.html?page=2

Last, an image for the ladies that made me happy, but then I have slightly odd taste!

  Sorry the picture is so small.  Better than nothing!