Midnight in Paris Review

Midnight in Paris is a strange movie, but somehow, it works. In fact, it works so well, I believe it is one of the best films of 2011. It combines awkward situations and funny moments to create something that only Woody Allen could accomplish. The story is simple. A couple goes to Paris for business, and both of them have their lives changed. The man of the couple, Gil, hopes to stay in Paris for the rest of their lives, while the woman want's to go back to the U.S.A after they're done. The character interaction is set up very well, and the lines are equally as amazing. The main character, Gil, is a very intelligent man, but he's very awkward, so he doesn't seem as if he's smart to the other characters, as they're more annoyed with him than intrigued. The story itself is just easy to follow, like I said above, and yet, it really does show how much it can accomplish. Now, even though I really adore this movie for it's story, cinematography, and just overall charm, it does have a few flaws, and the perfect way to express that is with the characters. Yes, I do admit to liking Gil a lot, especially with an excellent performance be Owen Wilson and dialogue by Woody Allen, the rest of the characters are a mixed bag. Inez is likable at times, but most of the time, she seems like she completely hates Gil, and disagree's with everything he says, which is annoying because Gil is a very likable character. Sure, when Gil says he met Pablo Picasso, her reaction is understandable, but when he corrects her friend on a historical inaccuracy, she basically throws a fit, which can really be annoying throughout the movie. Also, the rest of the supporting characters can be unlikable as well. However, the flaws in the characters can really be made up with the acting. Everyone did a great job acting, even if their characters were mediocre at best. They make the characters seem almost lifelike, no matter how unlikable they become. Now, because it's a recurring trend in my reviews, it's time for "The Best and Worst of Midnight in Paris". The best HAS to be the cinematography. It's basically like watching a "Best of Paris" video made by a pro photographer, with a great story intertwined with it. It really does leave you speechless, and to see these characters even interact with such great monuments is a joy. The worst thing about this movie... Even though I'm tempted to say the characters, the actors that played them did well, so I'll have to say the filler. Sure, the filler isn't horrible, but it leaves you bored, just watching two or three characters have overlong conversations about a novel or something. Sure, there's some good filler in the film, but for the most part, it feels boring. Now, this film isn't perfect, it has it's flaws, but the impression it leaves on you seems almost... magical. It's very memorable and very enjoyable, minus a few flaws. Overall, I really enjoyed this movie, and besides the few flaws, it's perfectly watchable. Recommended to everyone who enjoys a good romantic comedy.

5/5

Cleopatra (1934 Film) Review

Oh boy, another movie people love that I hate. Actually, I'd put it up there with Rear Window and Gladiator as the most overrated film. Look, I do admit, Claudette Colbert did OK, the special effects were great for the time, and Cecil B. DeMille did good for one of his earlier projects, but this is just a bland history lesson I really didn't care about. It barely even has a plot! It's just flashy special effect with about 4 major plot points, and you don't even care about the characters, so why would the major events matter if you don't even care about what happens to these characters? I think the worst part about these characters is they lack any real emotion, and even if they do have an emotion, it doesn't last long. It's just a bland special effects movie, that's it. Sure, the special effects are good, but you got to have a movie to go with it, and this isn't a movie. It's a mess. The story is basically a biography of, who else, Cleopatra. Nothing wrong with that, except it was executed horribly. They didn't develop the characters, they didn't make them likable, and they didn't make them realistic. Also, the editing was all over the place, and the filmmakers obviously thought special effects top story, which is quite false. The acting is just the same. Sure, Colbert did OK as Cleopatra, but everyone else was just boring and uninteresting. Finally, the characters are also not executed well. Nobody had any good lines, nobody had anything interesting to say or do, and that's a real disappointment, because the history of Cleopatra herself is very interesting and worth a read, but when it was translated to film... Oh boy. The first Cleopatra movie is now lost, only about 5 seconds of the film even exist as we now know. The second film, this one, is, like I said, a boring bland mess. The final major Cleopatra movie to host the one word name was the 1963 version, said to be the most expensive movie ever made, well, up until the third Pirates of the Caribbean, but that's beside the point. Even though it was very expensive and starred several big name actors like Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, the film flopped at the box office, and critics loathed the film. As for me, I just watched the most beloved movie of the 3, and I thought it sucked. Now what hope do I have for this story? Now, it's time for "The Best and Worst of Cleopatra". The best, obviously, is the special effects. Now, I shall give credit where credit is due, these special effects are outstanding. They must have spent a lot of time and money on them, and Cecil B. DeMille helped make the special effects come alive in the environment. The worst has to be the dialogue. I know, there's a lot of things I hate about this film, but when one of the main character says that "He's to manly to hiccup", you can tell the dialogue sucks. Overall, I really do hate this film. It put's special effects before story, without even giving us a unique story to begin with. Not recommended.

1/5

My Opinion On The 84th Academy Awards Nominations

Well, the nominated films for the 84th Academy Awards were announced today, and here's what I think (Each nominee is listed in order from Best to Worst, In My Opinion):

Best Picture Nominees:
1. The Artist
2. The Descendants
3. Hugo
4. Moneyball
5. Midnight in Paris
6. The Tree of Life
7. War Horse
8. The Help
9. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

My Opinion: 
Everything was good, except for a few choices. War Horse and The Help were picked over more acclaimed films, like Drive and A Separation, and Extremely Loud was a horrible pick by the Academy.

Best Director:
1. Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist
2. Terrence Malick - The Tree of Life
3. Martin Scorsese - Hugo
4. Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris
5. Alexander Payne - The Descendants

My Opinion:
Perfect choices. Can't get much better than these.

Best Actor:
1. Brad Pitt - Moneyball
2. Gary Oldman - Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
3. Jean Dujardin - The Artist
4. George Clooney - The Descendants
5. Demian Bichir - A Better Life

My Opinion:
Good choices, and I like how they got an actor from a relatively unknown movie, like they did last year with Javier Bardem.

Best Actress: 
1. Michelle Williams - My Week with Marilyn
2. Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady
3. Viola Davis - The Help
4. Rooney Mara - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
5. Glenn Close - Albert Nobbs

My Opinion:
Good picks, but Glenn Close is not the best pick of the night.

Best Supporting Actor:
1. Christopher Plummer - The Beginners
2. Jonah Hill - Moneyball
3. Nick Nolte - Warrior
4. Kenneth Branagh - My Week With Marilyn
5. Max Von Sydow - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

My Opinion:
Plummer and Hill were excellent picks, and Nolte was good too, but Branagh isn't the best, and Von Sydow really shouldn't have been here.

Best Supporting Actress:
1. Octavia Spencer - The Help
2. Berenice Bejo - The Artist
3. Melissa McCarthy - Bridesmaids
4. Jessica Chastain - The Help
5. Janet Mcteer - Albert Nobbs

My Opinion:
Jessica Chastain probably shouldn't be there, as it's kinda unfair to have two people from one movie in the same category, and Mcteer doesn't seem welcome to the Academy with the movie she's in.

Best Writing - Original Screenplay: 
1. Midnight in Paris
2. A Separation
3. Bridesmaids
4. The Artist
5. Margin Call

My Opinion:
Nice choices, with no real flaws.

Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay:
1. The Descendants
2. Hugo
3. Moneyball
4. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, spy
5. The Ides of March

My Opinion:
Take out The Ides of March, because George Clooney's already in The Descendants, and besides that, good choices.

Best Animated Feature:
1. Rango
2. Chico & Rita
3. Puss in Boots
4. Une Vie de Chat
5. Kung Fu Panda 2

My Opinion:
Take out Kung Fu Panda 2 and Une Vie de Chat and put in Arthur Christmas and The Adventures of Tintin. That's all I ask.

Best Foreign Language Film:
1. A Separation
2. In Darkness
3. Bullhead
4. Monsieur Lazhar
5. Footnote

My Opinion:
Great choices, but take out Footnote or Monsieur Lazhar and put in Pina.

Best Documentary - Feature:
1. Pina
2. If A Tree Falls
3. Undefeated
4. Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
5. Hell and Back Again

My Opinion:
Take out Hell and Back Again.

Best Documentary - Short Subject:
1. The Barber of Birmingham
2. Incident in New Baghdad
3. God is the Bigger Elvis
4. Saving Face
5. The Tsunami

My Opinion;
The Tsunami isn't the best choice, but otherwise, good choices.

Best Live Action Short Film:
1. Pentecost
1. Raju
1. The Shore
4. Time Freak
4. Tuba Atlantic

My Opinion:
Not sure. I barely even heard of these movies, so I just went with research.

Best Animated Short Film:
1. La Luna
2. Dimanche
2. Wild Life
4. A Morning Stroll
4. The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

My Opinion:
Again, research based only, except I heard good thing about La Luna, so that's number 1.

Best Original Score:
1. The Artist
2. Hugo
3. War Horse
4. The Adventures of TinTin
5. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy

My Opinion:
Maybe Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy shouldn't be here, but everything else is good.

Best Original Song:
1. Man or Muppet - The Muppet's
2. Real in Rio - Rio

My Opinion:
Both are good, but I'll give this one to The Muppet's.

Best Sound Editing:
1. Drive
2. Hugo
3. War Horse
4. Transformers: Dark of the Moon
5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

My Opinion:
WHERE'S HARRY POTTER?

Best Sound Mixing:
1. Hugo
2. War Horse
3. Transformers: Dark of the Moon
4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
5. Moneyball

My Opinion:
WHERE'S HARRY POTTER?


Best Art Direction:
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
2. Hugo
3. War Horse
4. The Artist

My Opinion:
Excellent choices.

Best Cinematography:
1. The Tree of Life
2. The Artist
3. Hugo
4. War Horse
5. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

My Opinion;
Great choices, but Drive should have been there instead of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, just barely though.

Best Makeup:
1. The Iron Lady
2. Albert Nobbs
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

My Opinion:
Harry Potter over My Week with Marilyn? Please.

Best Costume Design:
1. The Artist
2. Jane Eyre
3. Hugo
4. W.E
5. Anonymous

My Opinion:
My Week With Marilyn? Hello?

Best Film Editing:
1. The Artist
2. Moneyball
3. The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo
4. Hugo
5. The Descendants

My Opinion:
Great choices. Little flaws.

Best Visual Effects:
1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
3. Hugo
4. Transformers: Dark of the Moon
5. Real Steel

My Opinion:
The Tree of Life should replace Real Steel.

What did you think about the nominations? Leave your opinions down below!




 

The 9 Best Foreign Language Films of the Year (Info)

According to the Oscars, there are 9 films that have a chance of being nominated for Best Foreign Film. Here is the information, posters, and reviews of each.

A Separation:
 

Country: Iran
Rotten Tomatoes: 99% (74 Critics)
Expectations: Winner
Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 120 Minutes
Genre: Drama
IMDb: 8.6/10

Pina:


Country: Germany
Rotten Tomatoes: 95% (62 Critics)
Expectation: Nominee
Rating: PG
Run Time: 100 Minutes
Genres: Documentary, Musical
IMDb: 7.6/10

Bullhead:


Country: Belgium
Rotten Tomatoes: N/A
Expectation: Nominee
Rating: R
Run Time: 124 Minutes
Genres: Crime, Drama
IMDb: 7.6/10

In Darkness:


Country: Poland
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% (10 Critics)
Expectation: Nominee
Rating: R
Run Time: 145 Minutes
Genre: Drama
IMDb: 7.2/10

Footnote:


Country: Israel
Rotten Tomatoes: 86% (7 Critics)
Expectation: Possible Nominee
Rating: PG
Run Time: 103 Minutes
Genre: Drama
IMDb: 7.5/10

Monsieur Lazhar:


Country: Canada
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% (2 Critics)
Expectation: Possible Nominee
Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 94 Minutes
Genres: Comedy, Drama
IMDb: 7.9/10

Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale:


Country: Taiwan
Rotten Tomatoes: N/A
Expectation: Little Chance of Nomination
Rating: N/A
Run Time: 276 Minutes
Genres: Action, Drama, History
IMDb: 7.9/10

Omar Killed Me:


Country: Morocco
Rotten Tomatoes: 0% (1 Critic)
Expectation: Little Chance of Nomination
Rating: 14A
Run Time: 85 Minutes
Genre: Drama
IMDb: 6.7/10

SuperClasico:


Country: Denmark
Rotten Tomatoes: N/A
Expectation: Extremely Small Chance of Nomination
Rating: N/A
Run Time: 99 Minutes
Genre: Comedy
IMDb: 6.7/10

Anymore info I should add? Leave it in the comments!

Top 10 Movies of 2010

I know it's a little late, but hey, it's better late than never!

Honorable Mentions (No Order):


The Kings Speech:


Great Movie, but lacks anything extraordinary to make it on the list.

The Social Network:


Same thing as The Kings Speech, except it's not exactly timeless.

The Fighter:


The main character lacks personality, but the film itself is very enjoyable and well written.


10. Ip Man 2: Legend of the Grandmaster











A film with such great action and character development, this HAS to make the list!

9. The Illusionist


Well animated, and very mature, but with a sense of humor.

8. The Beast of Bottomless Lake


A brilliantly hilarious film, with one of the best endings of 2010.

7. Black Swan


Disturbingly elegant. Best two words to describe this movie right there.

6. Tron: Legacy


The most entertaining movie of the year, with a good story to go with it.

5. How to Train Your Dragon


Inspirational and with some great flying scenes. Also, an outstanding story.

4. Toy Story 3


The best animated movie this year. Great characters, great plot, so simple yet so dramatic.

3. 127 Hours


Very emotional and it all comes in at you at once. Danny Boyle, you done it again.

2. True Grit


One of the first westerns I've ever seen, and I loved it. Great action, great story, great performances, just all around awesome.

1. Inception


It's like The Matrix except way more fun, with way better characters and actors, and one of the best endings in the history of film. Ladies and gentlemen, Inception is our #1.

What movies do you think I missed?

UPDATE: Best Foreign Language Film Predictions

Well, the Oscars are almost upon us, and late last year, I predicted 10 movies that would most likely be nominated. Well, an official list of 9 films that have a chance of being nominated very recently. Here's my predictions earlier on:
1. A Separation
2. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
3. Monte Video: God Bless You
4. Elite Squad: The Enemy Within
5. Pina
6. Bullhead
7. Le Havre
8. Tilt
9. Black Bread (A.K.A, the reason "The Skin I Live In" wasn't Spain's foreign film this year)
10. Jose and Pilar

Here's the 9 movies, in no order, that now have a chance:

Movies I Predicted:
A Separation
Pina
Bullhead

Movies I Didn't Predict:
Monsieur Lazhar
SuperClasico
Footnote
Omar Killed Me
In Darkness
Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale

So, with the 9 films announced, here's my updated list:

1. A Separation (Iran)
85% Chance of Winning

2. Pina (Germany)
6% Chance of Winning

3. Bullhead (Belgium)
3% Chance of Winning

4. In Darkness (Poland)
3% Chance of Winning

5. Footnote (Israel)
1% Chance of Winning

6. Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)
1% Chance of Winning

7. Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale (Taiwan)
0.4% Chance of Winning

8. Omar Killed Me (Morocco)
0.4% Chance of Winning

9. SuperClasico (Denmark)
0.2% Chance of Winning

My Final Opinion:
A Separation is definitely the best one to pick, with such acclaim to it. Pina is in second, almost as popular and almost as liked as A Separation. If they won't pick those, Bullhead and In Darkness should have a chance at taking the prize. Footnote and Monsieur Lazhar should only have a chance if one of the better movies get's disqualified. The rest shouldn't even have a chance at nomination.


What movies missed the cut:
The Skin I Live In should have had a chance, but Spain picked Black Bread instead. Also, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia should have been there instead of SuperClasico. Finally, Le Havre instead of Omar or Warriors.

The Nominees and Winners I Want:

Winner:
A Separation (Iran)

Other Nominees:
Pina (Germany)
Bullhead (Belgium)
In Darkness (Poland)
Footnote (Israel)
(And if one of these get's disqualified, Monsieur Lazhar should be the other nominee)

What do you think about the 9 films that will have the chance of being nominated? Leave you opinions down below!

The Great Ziegfeld Review

This has got to be one of the most dazzling, likable, extraordinary, fun, life changing, and well made musicals of all time. It's entertainment at it's finest, with excellent songs, brilliant choreography, cool story, likable and creative characters, excellent editing, and just overall best experience of classic cinema that I know of. The movie is basically a biography of Florenz Ziegfeld, played by William Powell. It shows his days as a small entertainer, all the way to his final breaths. On screen, Ziegfeld is just as interesting as he is on paper. It develops the characters well, giving everyone a colorful personality, so you're never bored with any scene that's just characters speaking to each other. Also, the musical numbers make the stage seem much more bigger, with so many people on the stage dancing and singing at the same time. In fact, more than 120 people were used in one musical number alone, with only about 100 even visible! You can tell this movie is detailed when there are people you can't even see on the stage. Also, in another musical number, they actually have DOGS on stage with the dancers, and they even trained the dogs to move at the whim of the dancers. In fact, I did some research, and the whole movie cost 2 million dollars! For the time, that was a LOT, and what's even more shocking is that the same musical number that had 120 people in it cost $250, 000! So, as a technical film, it passes with flying colors, but it also does excellent with entertainment values as well. You love watching the colorful characters interact, and when the musical numbers start coming fast than ever... Oh boy. So, I can't just sit here blabbing about why I love this film, let's get to "The Best and Worst of The Great Ziegfeld". The best is obviously the musical number I've been talking about all night, costing $250 000 and having 250 people, yup, that one. The title is called "A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody". When I was watching this for the first time, I thought "Oh, this is pretty cool, you get a singer, some dancers, singing clowns, people playing piano - OH MY GOSH IS THE STAGE RISING??? IT'S GETTING HIGHER!!! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" So yeah, it got me pretty excited. It has so much work put into it, and the song and dancing itself is outstanding, so it works in both the technical aspect of film and the entertainment aspect. The worst for me would probably be the female lead, Myrna Loy. No, wait, she did great, but the writing for here made her seem almost like a teenager! Sure, she has some great scenes, but she just seems extremely needy and whiny, and I didn't care much for her. But besides that, nothing is flawed. This is an outstanding picture that shall stand as a classic throughout the ages, no matter the opinions of thy critical reviews or thy haters. I would recommend this to anybody who has a decent opinion of film, so basically everyone who's not a 12 year old that hates black and white and/or silent pictures.

5/5