Post by tokiohoteluk on Jan 4, 2009 15:41:35 GMT 1
I thought I'd open a thread just to discuss movies. Reviews and such. At this time of year, I watch a lot of the major movies. Awards season is approaching and I always like to view the movies that are up for serious consideration for the Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Oscars.
So far only the Golden Globes have been announced, but they usually pave the way for BAFTA and Oscar.
The complete list of nominees can be found here.
Aside from Tokio Hotel, my biggest obsession is movies and awards season. LOL.
Anyway, I want to discuss two movies I've seen this week that are up for major nods this awards season - Milk and Slumdog Millionaire.
Slumdog Millionaire
I had free tickets to an advance screening of Slumdog Millionaire today and I want to say that this is an AMAZING movie. It was beyond any expectations I had. In fact I had seen the trailer on TV, read a review in Empire and seen the movie poster, yet it was nothing like I expected. It was unbelievably better than I expected and it is one of the best movies I've seen in a very long time.
It stars Dev Patel (the boy from Skins) and he is fantastic. And quite cute, I might add. He did a terrific job.
It begins with his character, Jemal, being rough housed in a jail cell in Mumbai because they think he is cheating on the Indian Who Wants to be a Millionaire. He has reached the last question and because Jemal is from the slums of Mumbai, with absolutely no education at all, they don't believe he is capable of reaching the top spot without cheating.
The movie then tells the story of Jamal's childhood and why he knew the answer to each of the questions on Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Each question he was asked has some relevance to his growing up.
It's a beautiful looking movie. It's fact paced and captivating. The cinematography is outstanding - it shows the beautiful and the ugly parts of Mumbai. It doesn't shirk from the reality for orphans in India - there's no Hollywood gloss here, you really get to understand the tragedy of poverty in that country. And the things that children with no families have to do to survive.
Throughout it is a love story and a very beautiful one. I was completely captivated and it's all very breath taking.
I must MUST recommend that you watch this movie. It's sublime.
Milk
Milk is not out in the UK yet, however when it does come out, I absolutely recommend it.
Milk is a true story about a man called Harvey Milk. He was the first openly gay man to hold public office in the US and he was assassinated.
The movie is really bold and fascinating historically. Everything is really accurate and there's real news footage threaded through to make it feel very real. The film makers have made it very human and emotional though, showing the soft side of Harvey Milk and his relationship with his long term lover Scotty. And how that brokedown on his quest to win.
The history of the gay stuggle is the theme of the movie and it's very topical in the US. During the time that Milk was standing for office, states across the USA were repealing laws that prevented people being sacked for being gay. So states began allowing employers to sack their gay employees if they wanted to and disallow them housing. And there was also a move to prevent any gay people to be teachers in schools.
It's as relevant today because of the states banning gay marriage and it could just as easily be a modern tale on the situation in the US.
Parts of Milk could be considered dry by younger viewers, I think. Personally, I adored it. It was very emotional for me and Sean Penn was just unbelievably outstanding. I also thought James Franco, who played Scotty was amazing. I didn't know he could act! And Diego Luna, who I adore, was also really good. This is the first time since Y Tu Mama Tambien that I have really loved his performance.
Others:
Other notable films that are currently up for Golden Globes:
The Dark Knight - this has been out for a while and needless to say I found this excellent. It's hard to really talk about Heath Ledger's performance because it still really hurts to think of him no longer with us. But, this was truly one of his most standout performances and I am glad that is being recognised.
Mama Mia gets a Golden Globe nod and deservedly so. It won't be up for any other awards and I think it deserves to be recognised, even if it's not completely my cup of tea. It's the highest grossing movie ever in the UK and that baffles me, but it's cute and I always like singing and dancing. LOL.
Vicky Christina Barcelona - I watched this movie recently and was kind of underwhelmed, but at the same time I think it's really good. It's a Woody Allen film, but thankfully he's not in it. Instead it has a lot of very famous stars in it like Scarlett Johannsen, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz.
VCB is about two women that are holidaying in Barcelona. When they are there they are propositioned by Javier Bardem's character to spend the weekend with him. The ensuing drama is about their relationship with him and his ex-wife, Penelope Cruz.
It's supposed to be a sexy movie. It's set in Spain - a very beautiful backdrop. Javier and Penelope are both incredibly sexy and it's hard to imagine anyone would say no to the two of them. The ensuing romantic entanglements are messy and complicated, but for me they were a little flat. There's the least amount of sex in this movie that you can have in a movie about sex. I found that bizarre.
The acting has that real feel to it, which I don't especially enjoy. A lot of hesitating and tripping over words, etc. Purposeful, but annoying in my book.
However, for what it is, it's enjoyable. It's just irritating that it will probably get more award nods than something like Slumdog, just because of the names of the stars and the fact that it's Woody Allen.
That's all for now! I will be back to review the next set of movies. Coming up: Revolutionary Road, In Bruge, The Reader (after I've read it lol), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon).
Claire
So far only the Golden Globes have been announced, but they usually pave the way for BAFTA and Oscar.
The complete list of nominees can be found here.
Aside from Tokio Hotel, my biggest obsession is movies and awards season. LOL.
Anyway, I want to discuss two movies I've seen this week that are up for major nods this awards season - Milk and Slumdog Millionaire.
Slumdog Millionaire
I had free tickets to an advance screening of Slumdog Millionaire today and I want to say that this is an AMAZING movie. It was beyond any expectations I had. In fact I had seen the trailer on TV, read a review in Empire and seen the movie poster, yet it was nothing like I expected. It was unbelievably better than I expected and it is one of the best movies I've seen in a very long time.
It stars Dev Patel (the boy from Skins) and he is fantastic. And quite cute, I might add. He did a terrific job.
It begins with his character, Jemal, being rough housed in a jail cell in Mumbai because they think he is cheating on the Indian Who Wants to be a Millionaire. He has reached the last question and because Jemal is from the slums of Mumbai, with absolutely no education at all, they don't believe he is capable of reaching the top spot without cheating.
The movie then tells the story of Jamal's childhood and why he knew the answer to each of the questions on Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Each question he was asked has some relevance to his growing up.
It's a beautiful looking movie. It's fact paced and captivating. The cinematography is outstanding - it shows the beautiful and the ugly parts of Mumbai. It doesn't shirk from the reality for orphans in India - there's no Hollywood gloss here, you really get to understand the tragedy of poverty in that country. And the things that children with no families have to do to survive.
Throughout it is a love story and a very beautiful one. I was completely captivated and it's all very breath taking.
I must MUST recommend that you watch this movie. It's sublime.
Milk
Milk is not out in the UK yet, however when it does come out, I absolutely recommend it.
Milk is a true story about a man called Harvey Milk. He was the first openly gay man to hold public office in the US and he was assassinated.
The movie is really bold and fascinating historically. Everything is really accurate and there's real news footage threaded through to make it feel very real. The film makers have made it very human and emotional though, showing the soft side of Harvey Milk and his relationship with his long term lover Scotty. And how that brokedown on his quest to win.
The history of the gay stuggle is the theme of the movie and it's very topical in the US. During the time that Milk was standing for office, states across the USA were repealing laws that prevented people being sacked for being gay. So states began allowing employers to sack their gay employees if they wanted to and disallow them housing. And there was also a move to prevent any gay people to be teachers in schools.
It's as relevant today because of the states banning gay marriage and it could just as easily be a modern tale on the situation in the US.
Parts of Milk could be considered dry by younger viewers, I think. Personally, I adored it. It was very emotional for me and Sean Penn was just unbelievably outstanding. I also thought James Franco, who played Scotty was amazing. I didn't know he could act! And Diego Luna, who I adore, was also really good. This is the first time since Y Tu Mama Tambien that I have really loved his performance.
Others:
Other notable films that are currently up for Golden Globes:
The Dark Knight - this has been out for a while and needless to say I found this excellent. It's hard to really talk about Heath Ledger's performance because it still really hurts to think of him no longer with us. But, this was truly one of his most standout performances and I am glad that is being recognised.
Mama Mia gets a Golden Globe nod and deservedly so. It won't be up for any other awards and I think it deserves to be recognised, even if it's not completely my cup of tea. It's the highest grossing movie ever in the UK and that baffles me, but it's cute and I always like singing and dancing. LOL.
Vicky Christina Barcelona - I watched this movie recently and was kind of underwhelmed, but at the same time I think it's really good. It's a Woody Allen film, but thankfully he's not in it. Instead it has a lot of very famous stars in it like Scarlett Johannsen, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz.
VCB is about two women that are holidaying in Barcelona. When they are there they are propositioned by Javier Bardem's character to spend the weekend with him. The ensuing drama is about their relationship with him and his ex-wife, Penelope Cruz.
It's supposed to be a sexy movie. It's set in Spain - a very beautiful backdrop. Javier and Penelope are both incredibly sexy and it's hard to imagine anyone would say no to the two of them. The ensuing romantic entanglements are messy and complicated, but for me they were a little flat. There's the least amount of sex in this movie that you can have in a movie about sex. I found that bizarre.
The acting has that real feel to it, which I don't especially enjoy. A lot of hesitating and tripping over words, etc. Purposeful, but annoying in my book.
However, for what it is, it's enjoyable. It's just irritating that it will probably get more award nods than something like Slumdog, just because of the names of the stars and the fact that it's Woody Allen.
That's all for now! I will be back to review the next set of movies. Coming up: Revolutionary Road, In Bruge, The Reader (after I've read it lol), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon).
Claire