Oscar Predictions:

This Sunday marks the 88th Academy Awards. It's the time of year when everyone argues what film was the best of the previous year and why is should win/have been nominated. For this week's blog post I thought I would give my predictions for what should and what probably will win in a few categories at the Oscars this Sunday.

No they won't all be Mad Max, a lot will, but not all of them,

BEST PICTURE

NOMINEES

-Bridge of Spies

-Mad Max: Fury Road

-The Big Short

-The Revenant

-The Martian

-Spotlight

-Room

-Brooklyn

WILL WIN: The Revenant.  While for a while it looked like Spotlight has this one in the bag, it seems that Inarritu's film about Hugh Glass will triumph, making him the second person to win consecutive best picture trophies. 

SHOULD WIN: Mad Max: Fury Road. As the subject of an earlier blog post, Fury Road was a near perfect film in every aspect. It's high octane action, beautiful cinematography, and feminist message, Fury Road excels in every aspect of the craft of filmmaking. One may sight the hardships of the lead actor and the crew as reason to sight the film's deserving to win the award but it's important to not confuse good filmmaking with a good film. 

BEST LEAD ACTOR/ACTRESS 

Leo and Brie Larson will take home the trophies for their respective categories.

BEST DIRECTOR

NOMINEES

-Mad Max: Fury Road

-Room

-The Revenant

-Big Short

-Spotlight

Will Win: In all likelihood this one will go to Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for The Revenant. Shooting chronologically using almost entirely natural lighting is certainly deserving of recognition. However there is a chance that George Miller will win this one for Fury Road. To make a two hour chaotic car chase work and be comprehensible makes Miller more than deserving to win this award. 

Should Win: Fury Road. See Above.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

NOMINEES

-Big Short

-Steve Jobs

-Carol

-The Martian

-Trumbo

Will Win/Should Win. 

It looks like this is Adam McKay's award to lose. Based off the novel of the same name surrounding the 2007-2008 financial crisis. Any film that makes a confusing event and makes everything that happened clear deserves the win.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

NOMINEES

-Carol

-Hateful Eight

-Mad Max

-The Revenant

-Sicario

Will Win. It strongly looks like Lubezki will win for the third year in the row for The Revenant. Chock full of his signature tracking shots and shot using natural lighting, The Revenant is a gorgeous movie that will give Lubezki his well deserved third award.

Should Win: Fury Road. John Seale went against the typical ways of shooting a post apocalyptic and made his film explosively colorful instead of the usual grays that plague the genre. This causes the film to pop off the screen and make an already explosive film that much more impressive.

"The Revenant" might change the way movies are made, but at what cost?

Make no mistake, guys: I'm excited for The Revenant. It's got everything that I need in a movie right now, including camera work by my boy Emmanuel Lubezki, lots of people running around in bear-skin clothing, actual BEARS, and Leonardo DiCaprio in another intense role that he probably won't win an Oscar for, even though he completely deserves it. It's got Tom Hardy. It's got action, revenge, old-timey guns. I mean hell, it's got this trailer.

But it's also got Alejandro Inarritu. And yes, oddly enough, that might just be a bad thing.

Inarritu got a lot of recognition really quickly earlier this year when his little film "Birdman" won best original screenplay, best director, and best film at the 2015 Oscars. It was also, coincidentally, one of my favorite films of the years. Accolades aside, though (because let's be honest, awards mean nothing in the scheme of things) it was a really impressive film, both technically and in terms of the performances strangled out of its actors. The cinematography was just delightful to watch, and no other movie has made me said "woah, yeah, ok, Emma Stone can really act." It was great.

Fast forward one year and here we are, with another Inarritu film garnering buzz just as awards season lumbers towards us. This one is based on "actual events," and centers around the fur trapper Hugh Glass (played by DiCaprio) after he is mauled by a bear, robbed by his friends, and left to die. You had me at "actual events."

One of the big selling points for the movie, for film nerds at least, is that the whole thing has reportedly been shot using only natural lighting. A second look at the trailer shows that this just might be the case. Lubezki has also been utilizing more of the long takes that he so enjoyed in Birdman and Children of Men, so combined with the lighting, this movie seems like it was probably an ungodly pain in the ass to make... And that's the problem.

Reports from the set have literally called it "a living hell." And who could blame them. If even half of the stories coming off the set of the Revenant are to be believed, then it's time Inarritu stops, takes a deep breath, looks at himself in a mirror and says "what the fuck is the point of it all." The full report from the Hollywood Reporter is right here in all it's glory, but reports include: asking actors to go without hats and glove in -40 degree weather because it was supposed to be autumn in the film, dragging a naked character along the ground with debatable safety precautions, and cutting holes in the necks of wetsuits so that characters in water looked like were actually submerged.

A lot of blame has been thrown around, but it ultimately comes back to Inarritu and producer Jim Skotchdopole. Other issues with the film included scheduling dates (Hardy was forced to drop out of Suicide Six due to an elongated Revenant schedule), weather problems, and miscommunication. All of this leads me to ask: ultimately, at what cost are you willing to make a good movie? Right now, I'm sacrificing sleep and possible good grades in other classes so that I can do an extra bit of location scouting. I'm kind of sick, but whatever, I'll deal with it. But if we're to believe some of these reports, the crew of the Revenant were more than just a little uncomfortable or chilly: they were potentially in danger.

I've said this in past blog posts too, but I'll say it again; it's so incredibly important to put things in perspective. Yes, the Revenant may revolutionize the way movies are shot, and yes, maybe it'll end up being my absolute favorite film of the year. Maybe of all time. Maybe it'll finally get Leo that Oscar. But you can never forget, through it all, the things that really matter. Nobody in the film industry benefits from reports like these. Art is great, yeah, but never outstay your welcome.

Shutter Island

Shutter Island is a film from 2010 starring Leonardo Dicaprio as the main character, Teddy Daniels, a U.S. marshal. The year is 1954, and he is assigned to investigate the disappearance of a patient from Boston's Ashecliffe Hospital located on a mysterious island called Shutter Island. He's been pushing for an assignment on the island for personal reasons, but before long he wonders if he has been brought there as part of a twisted plot by hospital doctors whose strange treatments are unethical and sinister. Teddy's clever investigating skills soon provide a promising lead, but the hospital refuses him access to records he suspects would give him more information about the case. As a hurricane cuts off communication with the mainland, more dangerous criminals try to escape in the confusion, and the puzzling clues multiply, Teddy begins to doubt everything - his memory, his partner, even his own sanity.

In the end, a major plot twist is revealed. It turns out that "Teddy" is actually a delusional mental patient in the hospital, not a U.S. marshal. He murdered his depressed wife Dolores Chanal after she drowned their three children. Because he was a mental patient at the hospital, the doctors decided to try a role-play experiment to allow him to live out his delusional fantasy in order to come to terms with reality. The treatment plan works, and he is retold what has happened to him and he accepts what he did to his wife. However, in the final scene he relapses to a delusional state. It is implied that he is faking his relapse so he will not have to deal with the mental suffering of his act, because he feels personally responsible for his wife murdering their children.

 

Real events turned into money makers.

I don’t know what it is about a movie saying that it is based on “real events” but it draws me in. I like the fact that movies are realistic and relatable. A scary movie is 100x more scary to me when it is based on real events. Even if only half those events are what actually happened and the other half is stretched, it can still be labeled "based on a true story" and that is what draws people, including myself, in. I feel as though more people would feel the same way as I do, because a scary movie can be laughed at or dismissed of being unrealistic. Sometimes the scenarios are ridiculous, however,  if those ridiculous events were based on something that actually happened, then it completely changes the playing field. Even in dramas like The Blind Side, it has a different impact on someone then it would have if it was not based on real events. People have a tendency to feel for the character more because it’s true, its real. Some people may even envy a character. 

Wolf of Wall Street is a popular movie that came out in 2013, it is based on a true story. Even though Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) was caught up in shanagins, it could be inspirational to some people. 

Just like Michael Oher in the Blindside, both characters came up from nothing and became something.

These characters are completely different in many aspects but one thing they do have in common is the drive to succeed and be successful. In life that is one thing people are drawn to and envy.

 I find it very interesting when a movie is based on true events, it always makes me wonder what events actually happened and what events were made up. If you don’t know the actual story behind a movie, then you may never know what actually happened. Could your life be a money maker someday? Just something to think about. 

Leonardo DiCaprio and the elusive Oscar

       Leonardo DiCaprio is considered one of the best-known actors of not only our generation but of all time. He started on the screen as a child actor over twenty years ago on the television show Growing Pains and still continues to wow audiences to present day. But even though Leonardo DiCaprio is arguably at the utmost highest caliber of actors he still does not possess an Oscar. The Oscar is considered the universally standard recognition of top quality performance in the American cinema industry, especially for acting, and yet it still has evaded DiCaprio’s grasp. Though he has been nominated five times already for an Oscar, once as a producer, once as best supporting actor, and three times for the best actor category he just never ends up on top.  

        It is true that Leonardo Dicaprio’s movies are brilliantly written but most times it is his enlightened acting that shines as the most prominent strength of the film. It is DiCaprio’s acting that for the large part makes the film memorable, which is why directors haven chosen him in their films. Some of DiCaprio's greatest films are: 

Titanic(1997)

Inception (2010)

Shutter Island (2010)

The Departed (2006)

Aviator (2004)

Gangs of New York (2002)

       A highly debated argument on why Leonardo DiCaprio has not won an Oscar is he is not that “type” of actor, as in contemporary rather than traditional. There are certain actors who are considered “cool” actors, ones who are successful and talented but they aren’t traditional actors or method actors. Actors similar to DiCaprio such as Samuel L. Jackson, Brad Pitt or Jonny Depp, who play thoroughly entertaining characters more centered toward teens and mid-20s audiences. 

       The unofficial standard for this coolness is the Pitt-Hanks spectrum, this predicts the likelihood of an actor to win an Oscar, the closer to “cool” Pitt the less likely to win. Actors who play characters who are perceived as weaker, or closer to a relatable person are the ones more likely to win. There are many issues with this ideology of cool actors not winning; it severely hinders actors experimenting with roles that don’t qualify as “Oscar worthy.” Although it is set that a certain character will win should indicate that actors should strive toward those characters is pretty intuitive, that should not be the basis of the win.        
       
          But regardless of academy award status and not being officially recognized by the academy itself, DiCaprio realizes thats not what it means to be a good actor and has been extremely positive about it all.    

THE POWER OF A SOUNDTRACK (A DEFENSE OF BAZ LUHRMANN'S GATSBY)

In movies one of the most undeniable features is the sound track of a movie. Done correctly, the soundtrack can help the viewer situate themselves within the world of the film and allow them to become fully immersed into the experience of watching the movie. On a much more commercial level, the soundtrack of the movie can be sold on various platforms such as iTunes, Amazon, and in record stores. This leads to an additional sources of income for the movie which is why it becomes important to pick popular music and artists to appear on it. On this weeks blog post I want to discuss one film that employs this strategy of packing a soundtrack full of well-know artists is....

THE GREAT GATSBY

BY BAZ LUHRMANN

While some thought the film lacked in certain departments, namely storytelling, I want to take this opportunity to defend the film for it's innovative use of music and soundtrack to cultivate a fresh take on the fatal attraction between Gatsby and his long lost love as well as to highlight and underscore the decadent decay of the 1920's society that surrounded them.

THE SOUNDTRACK AND VOICES OF GATSBY

The Great Gatsby: Music from Baz Luhrmann's Film was released on May 6, 2013 on Interscope Records and was produced by Luhrmann and Anton Monsted with Jay-Z heading the project as executive producer. Upon the albums release it immediately polarized critics and critical opinion as some saw the album as a genius retelling of Gatsby for modern audiences while others saw the album as a horrible atrocity that failed to accurately portray 1920's sensibility through its use of hip-hop and pop tracks. While I understand that the styles of hip-hop and pop did not exist in the 1920's I think that further critical, track-by-track examination of the soundtrack will help to elucidate the true genius, research, and finesse that went into making this soundtrack.

TRACK ONE "100$ BILL (PERFORMED BY JAY-Z)"

This track contains a chopped and screwed beat, electro-rap elements and it is written from the perspective of a modern day Gatsby. It begins with a speech by Leonardo DiCaprio, while throughout the song Jay-Z is backed by samples of a children's choir and a '20s jazz horn sample. In the song, he raps about being remembered and the "pitfalls" of wealth as well as comparing rich people from the 1920s and the 21st century.

TRACK TWO "BACK TO BLACK (PERFORMED BY BEYONCE AND ANDRE 3000)"

This song is a slower version than the original, written by Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse, with chopped-and-screwed elements, a dark and haunting sound and instrumentally complete by a guitar, moody synth and electro bleeps.

TRACK THREE "BANG BANG (PERFORMED BY WILL.I.AM; ADDITIONAL VOCALS BY SHELBY SPALIONE)"

This song contains a sample of the jazz composition Charleston (1923) and features Louis Armstrong-inspired vocals along with hiNRG, EDM and electropop elements. It contains elements of hip-hop and 1920s-style dance music as well as a use of ukulele.

TRACK FOUR "A LITTLE PARTY NEVER KILLED NOBODY (ALL WE GOT)[PERFORMED BY FERGIE AND GOONROCK]"

This song is a swing, hip-hop and dubstep song

TRACK FIVE "YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL (PERFORMED BY LANA DEL REY)"

This song was written by Del Rey and Rick Nowels. Musically, it is a lush ballad which contains Del Rey's sweeping vocals accompanied by dreamy strings and canned percussion. Lyrically, the song is written from the perspective of Daisy Buchanan, Gatsby's lover, and it talks about being forever young, going to parties and nostalgia in the vulnerable lyrics "Will you still love me when I'm no longer young and beautiful?"

TRACK SIX "LOVE IS A DRUG (PERFORMED BY BRYAN FERRY AND THE BRYAN FERRY ORCHESTRA)"

This song originally appeared on Roxy Music's 1975 album Siren; the song was written by band members Ferry and Andy Mackay. It contains jazz elements trumpet wails and skittering drums as well as honky-tonk, bass sax, sleazy strings and "oohs".

TRACK SEVEN "OVER THE LOVE (PERFORMED BY FLORENCE + MACHINE)"

This songs is written from the perspective of Daisy Buchanan. It contains references of the yellow dress worn by her and the green light that hovers outside her home on the dock in East Egg which were inspired by the novel. Instrumentally, it is complete with a light piano and Welch's vocals which use melisma.

TRACK EIGHT "WHERE THE WIND BLOWS (PERFORMED BY COCO O. OF QUADRON)"

This song contains soul vocals performed by Coco O. and contains an old-time piano sampling with whirring drum 'n bass circular beat and jazzy keys. Osenlund of Slant Magazine commented that the instrumentals of the song are similar to a Cole Porter classic, but the vocals to Jennifer Hudson's, while Jim Farber ofDaily News noted that she sings with doll vocals of Betty Boop.

TRACK NINE "CRAZY IN LOVE (PERFORMED BY EMELI SANDRE AND THE BRYAN FERRY ORCHESTRA)" 

This song is a swing and soul mash-up.

TRACK TEN "TOGETHER (PERFORMED BY XX)"

This song contains skeletal electro-pop elements and a slow atmosphere. It contains dark and insistent backing, metronomic beat and breathy, deep vocals which climax with an orchestral swell.

TRACK ELEVEN "HEARTS A MESS (PERFORMED BY GOTYE)"

This song is a neo-lounge ballad with clunking, treated backbone.

TRACK TWELVE "LOVE IS BLINDNESS (PERFORMED BY JACK WHITE)"

The rock-hip-hop version on the album contains drum beats, "piercing yelps...and a gut-poking bass line".

TRACK THIRTEEN "INTO THE PAST (PERFORMED BY NERO)"

This song is a slow-tempo song performed by Nero and contains dubstep elements and strings.

TRACK FOURTEEN "KILL AND RUN (PERFORMED BY SIA)"

This song which contains electronica elements and is performed by Sia

CONCLUSION

So as you can clearly see from the track by track break down of all of these songs there is an eclectic mix of styles, genres, and periods represented in the soundtrack. This shows a tremendous amount of planning, research and execution because Baz Luhrmann truly understood the history of music that occurred in New York City at the time. There was jazz, swing, lindy hop, bee bop, and many other styles of music that all blended together to become the modern hip hop and pop traditions that are known today. I commend Mr. Lurhmann for respecting history enough to fully research that history and then take the base concept and make it contemporary for an audience to enjoy.

Is pirating movies always wrong?

One of the greatest challenges production companies have to face is pirated films. In the U.S. it is illegal to download or copy a film without proper authorization, but what if that was the only way you could view the movie? Hear me out for a minute. Hypothetically speaking, lets just say the film "Wolf of Wall Street" by Martin Scorsese comes out in China. You being from the United States have not had the chance to see the film yet but you really want to, all the sudden you hear it's band to be viewed by the country for "extreme scenes of nudity, sex, debauchery, hedonism and cursing". Of course this being a free country that would never happen, but Kenya is another story.

As you may have guessed, Kenya banned the oscar nominated film, "wolf of Wall Street", for the reasons listed earlier. In response, many people in Kenya decided to respond by pirating the film. "Wolf of Wall Street" was being sold for $0.57 on the dollar to Kenyan illegally  but is that wrong? Many would argue yes, no matter the rules of the country, you cannot steal a film whether that is your only option or not, and some could argue that if they ever want to see the film this is what they must do. Honestly, what would you do if your only option to see the movie was to purchase it illegally for $0.57? Ultimately breaking the law of any country is not a good idea in terms of ethics and moral code, but what to you do when they just don't seem fair? 

Those who get fought purchasing the film can face a fine up to $1,160 or several years in jail. Although people feel Kenya is unfair for their policies you could also say they could be right. One of the arguments to why Kenya bans the film is for the protection of their Women and Children. It's easy to say it's wrong of the country to restrict the people of such art but one could understand the reasoning why. At the end of the day it all comes down to why you believe and your ethical code. Is Kenya at fault for disallowing the film or is their reasoning unjust? 

Ready for Summer!

After filming The Goods again, screwing it up by accident and only having one film to screen- I'm ready to relax and watch someone else's projects this summer.

Iron Man 3 just came out and I was lucky enough to see it the night before. It was amazing and a great ending to the trilogy. During the previews, there were a bunch of trailers for films coming out this summer and fall. And I've got to say, I'm super pumped for almost all of them!

Wolverine will be coming back to the silver screen to continue his origin story. Being a Marvel nerd, this makes me super excited for him being in Japan. It's a key point in his story and it also helps that I love Hugh Jackman...

The Great Gatsby is only a week away from premier! Like a lot of people, The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite books. The cast is phenomenal and the director is fantastic. He's directed so many beautiful films such as Moulin Rouge and Romeo + Juliet. Baz Luhrmann was a great choice to director this movie.

Star Trek is also creeping up this month and I can't wait to go to the midnight premier! Yes, I do have an Enterprise shirt that I'm planning on wearing to the screening and yes I'm a bit more excited to see this one than the previous film because Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto are beautiful men.

Good luck to everyone at the screenings and have a great summer!

Django!

Quentin Tarantino is truly a bold filmmaker. If you couldn’t tell he really, loves spaghetti westerns. But for his version of a spaghetti western, he doesn’t just explode the conventions of the genre; he uniquely and creatively molds all aspects of the genre into a sincerely fun experience. 

Django Unchained stars Jamie Foxx as a slave who is purchased by a roving dentist/bounty hunter named Dr. King Schulz (Christoph Waltz), who agrees to free him and help him find his wife (Kerry Washington) if in return he will help track down a trio of killers called The Brittle Brothers. What proceeds is the growth of an unusual friendship and a whole lot of violence and excitement. 

This film is beautifully constructed in which, Django goes from being a slave to being not only a free man, but also a professional bounty hunter, trained by Schulz and becomes his partner. There are encounters with an amusing predecessor of the KKK (played by Don Johnson), a small town sheriff who is not what he seems and, the very proper southern plantation owner, Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), along with his right hand man, house slave Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson), who is absolutely hilarious in every one of his scenes. 

Frequently, Tarantino gets us to laugh at the most outrageous situations and then we stop for a second feeling uncomfortable, just before going ahead and laughing at the next shocking situation. But there is not that is exactly the reaction he wants. 

He also wants the audience on the edge of their seats in tense moments and very emotionally touched in others, and it’s his use of completely inappropriate humor in such a deliberate manner, and to such a brilliant effect, that makes his films what they are. His ability to do this is just one of the things that separates him from his imitators. 

Another one of his great qualities is his ability to fold quotes from other films (and even his previous work) into his movies. In this film there’s one particularly moment that comes directly from Kill Bill. The moment takes barely a second, but it’s a moment of great violence and beauty.Tarantino also uses music from his favorite other films and recreates them in clever ways to enhance his unique way of directing even more. The soundtrack for Django Unchained makes use of music from a number of westerns in a mix with a few original songs and splendid mash-ups but everything seems to flow together genuinely. 

Django Unchained is kind of a typical Tarantino film in that it’s a lot of violent, bloody fun, BUT also in that it deals with a very serious topic in a mocking manner. Nevertheless I advise everyone to go see this film whether you like Tarantino or not!