Friday, January 25, 2013

Oscar Contenders in 2013



BEAST OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
DRAMA/FANTASY
               
PLOT:  Young black girl has to deal with harsh realities by imagination.

Hushpuppy (Quvenzhane Wallis) is six years old who lost her mom and her father Wink (Dwight Henry) is trying to make her tough before he dies while escaping before the levees break.  WARNING:  Before you see this film this is an INDEPENTANT films it is not like what you would expect from a mainstream movie.  That being said it is a wild ride reality and fantasy combined.  To tell you the truth I can’t explain the plot but the young Ms Wallis is fantastic!!  She is tough, tender.  She has to be an adult in tragic situations.  I wasn’t going to see the movie until the black actress was nominated for an Oscar.  I like weird but this one baffled me.  If you want to see it wait and watch it when it comes to IFC or Sundance.

LIFE OF PI
ADVENTURE/FANTASY/DRAMA

PLOT:  A young man begins an epic journey alone on a boat with a Bengal tiger.

The story is not as simple as I stated.  The story is really not the movie’s strong point but the stunning visual effects.  It is a feast to the eyes.   Based on the novel by Yann Martel director Ang Lee(Hulk-2003 and Brokeback Mountain) brings an un-filmable movie to life!!   The actors are mostly India and they are fantastic!! If you can see it on the big screen for it was shown in 3D like Avatar 3D to see the depth and beauty of this amazing feature.

LES MISERABLES
MUSICAL/DRAMA

PLOT:  Based on the novel by Victor Hugo turned into a hit musical and now the film adaption.

Oh boy this is a tragic story so they release it on Christmas Day. Hugh Jackman plays Jean Valjean who is sent to jail for stealing a loaf of bread. He has done his time but Javert (Russell Crowe) still chases him because once a thief always a thief.  Jean also helps a dying prostitute Faintine( Anne Hathaway) and takes care of  her daughter, Cosette (Amanda Seyfried).  The performances by the leads are outstanding and director Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) is epic!!  There is no dialogue only singing and that is great on Broadway and on the big screen if you like that.  I don’t really like it at all.
KC Web Developer

Friday, January 11, 2013

Wango Django--Winter Action Unchained



DJANGO UNCHAINED
WESTERN/DRAMA/ACTION

PLOT:  Django, a former slave becomes a bounty hunter to find his wife.

                When you mix blaxploitation and a spaghetti western you get this movie.  You can love or loathe this film because it is entertaining but inaccurate.  The good: it is very violent as well as funny.  There is a love story.  Jamie Foxx is great as Django and a black hero.  Samuel L. Jackson is the meanest Uncle Tom I have ever seen. Christoph Waltz, a dentist turned bounty is a good German!!

The bad: well, it is about slavery and the white folks as well as the black folks use the N word a lot but at least  when the white people who say it  they don’t last long. Director Quentin Tarantino could never make a family film in his life shows slavery as it is brutal and unpleasant.  The movie is long: 2:45 minutes--he stretches it out likes it’s epic.  It may bring blaxploitation back!!  Black audiences are going to see especially women because of the love story.


JACK REACHER
DRAMA/ACTION/MYSTERY

PLOT:  An expert sniper kills five people then asks for Jack Reacher and he has to investigate to clear his name.

             It is interesting movie with Tom Cruise in the starring role. But if you have read the book by Lee Child he doesn’t look like Cruise at all--he is supposed to be tall (6’5’) and strong, but that doesn’t stop Cruise from being a bad-ass.  I think he wants to do roles that stretch his abilities which are a good thing.  The trailer is better than the movie from an action standpoint, unless you like a complex plot (then you will like it).  Otherwise, action hounds will like it in spots, but not really.

ZERO DARK THIRTY
DRAMA

PLOT:  CIA operatives hunt for Osama Bin Linden

                The title of the movie means 30 minutes after midnight and darkness and secrecy.  It begins with news reports about 9/11 and then the search for the most hated man in the world.  Maya, (Jessica Chastain) a CIA agent who takes over from Dan (Jason Clarke) who is tired of torturing people to get information.  His performance is good-at least he shows that the horrible things he does to suspects is truly getting to him.  The pacing is slooow, so this isn’t action-packed at all. 

I believe director Kathryn Bigelow (Hurt Locker) wanted to show how long it takes to find Osama. Ms. Chastain performance is good.  She is smart and caring but she would do anything including torture to find the terrorist.  It is not doing well at the box-office at all.  It is a downer, it is long and I believe the public doesn’t want to see anything about war right now.

KC Web Developer