The Fighter
Honostly, this wouldn't be my kind of movie. Boxing and fighting? But Amy Adams is such a wonderful actress (I first saw her in the Buffy episode 'Family' and she has proven to come a long way) so I wanted to see what kind of magic she could do on the screen now. I also knew that Christian Bale won a giant amount of awards for his role, so I wanted to see for myself what was so great about it. At first I thought the movie was more about Mark Wahlbergs character Micky, who was being held back by his big brother Dicky making a comeback and training him. Turns out, the movie is more about Dicky (Christian Bale) and his struggle. And let me tell you: He is A-MA-ZING! He is so convincing and the only thing you can do while watching him is be in awe of his brilliant acting. The movie goes back and forth between the two, but Bale is truly the star of this movie.
My Week with Marilyn
The little girl from Dawson's Creek has grown up so much. That's where I know Michelle Williams from. It seems like yesterday, but she has done so much in the meantime (I still need to see Blue Valentine). I will probably write a different blog about her some other time, but for now I'll just focus on My Week with Marilyn, which was nominated for two oscars, including her performance, and two Golden Globes of which she won Best Actress. I think she portrays Monroe very well: She's beautiful, touching, emotional, and a little bit crazy, but most of all vulnerable. Critic Roger Ebert said that Michelle Williams evokes so many Marilyns, "public and private, real and make-believe. We didn't know Monroe, but we believe she must have been something like this." And I couldn't have said it better myself. She was nominated for the Oscar next to Glenn Close (for Albert Nobbs, which I still have to see) and Meryl Streep, who ended up with the award. But Williams' work is definitly Oscar worthy.
The Iron Lady
Like I said, Meryl won the award for this one. But there was another reason why I wanted to see this movie. I just happened to have forgotten it by the time I went to the movies. That's why I was pleasantly surprised by Anthony Head and I remembered him talking about his work on this film during HalloWhedon 3, as well as working with Meryl Streep. A lot of this story (Thatcher becoming Prime Minister) was before my time, so I didn't know half of what was going on. It's a wonderful picture and shows you what went on behind the scenes of 'the iron lady Margareth Thatcher'. Personally I think Streep deserved the Oscar, even if part of me just wanted her to get it after so many nominations and just two wins in the previous years. She's very strong as a prime minister, but also very delicate in her later life after she's lost her husband and suffers from dementia. And to be able to show both sides of the Iron Lady in this movie is truly beautiful.
The King's Speech
This is one movie that I should have seen the minute it was shown in theatres. Colin Firth is mind blowingly good as the stuttering king and it's a relief to see Helena Bonham-Carter in a role such as this. Geoffrey Rush is just as great as he always is. The story is interesting and captivating. The sets are wonderful and the costumes and music makes it all that well rounded. Everything is perfect in this movie. I don't believe there's one word you could say about this movie that isn't positive. No wonder it won Best Picture, Directing, Leading Role and Screenplay. All I can say is, if you haven't seen it yet: Go watch! You don't know what your are missing. Simply seeing the trailer again is filling me with love for this movie. It's just that good.
Classics
Let's also take a look at some of the earlier wins (Oscars for Best Picture) from the previous years that I've seen. Like Gone With the Wind which is an epic story. Or Casablanca which still lives on in it's strong dialogues/quotes. I even grew up with Ben-Hur and it amazes me that so few people I've met over the years have seen this rock of a movie. I mean, talk about EPIC! Luckily a lot more people have seen One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which was recently re-released. Just like the Titanic for that matter, which still holds the record I believe with 14 nominations and 11 wins. A little bit of attention went to The Silence of the Lambs this year as Jodie Foster won the Cecil B. DeMille Award this year. While movie titles like Ghandi, Schindler's List, Forrest Gump and Gladiator may all be well known by now, 'smaller' titles like Kramer vs. Kramer, Out of Africa, Amadeus and Shakespeare in Love are hardly known to all. But each of these ones is a treat to watch.
Last year
The past couple of years The Hurt Locker won best picture, but I cannot tell you how much I loved it that last year The Artist won! It's a celebration of movie history, going back to silent cinema and everything that was so magical about movies when they first came on the scene. Another big winner was Hugo, which basically does the same thing. I mean: Georges Meliès!!!! It actually takes place in the beginning of movies and I love, love, love how Scorscese has managed to combine the first movie technology with 3D. It's such a wonderful movie.
'Smaller' awards went to the foreign film A Separation, which I can recommend to anyone! Just like Midnight in Paris from Woody Allen (best original screenplay), which is very nostalgic but also incredibly beautiful. It's kinda like dream come true in a way. I don't watch that many documentaries, but I'm glad I finally watched Pina past december. And now that I've seen it, I think it should have won. But hey... that's just me ;-). Oh, and who didn't grow up with The Sound of Music? I'm so thrilled that Christopher Plummer finally won an Oscar. Beginners is a very funny and well written movie, that I was really rooting for it and Plummer to win. Other winners were The Help (Octivia Spencer), who had such a wonderful speech, The Muppets (for best song) - you gotta love Jason Segal and The Descendents. I've seen all three of them. The Descendents is quite dramatic, but also kinda funny and nice. While The Help was actually just one of those movies in a long line of those movies. A good movie nonetheless, but the funniest thing was actually in the trailer (and I don't like it when that happends). Then there's The Muppets, which was awesome! Jason Segal really did a nice job, so no wonder there will be a sequel.
Watch a wonderful Dutch vid here
This years odds (and hopes)
Of course now that Oscar season is full on happening again, my list of movies to watch is growing fast. Some of the movies I still want to see are Les Miserables, The Silver Linings Playbook, Anna Karenina, The Master, Amour, Lincoln, Hitchcock, Wreck-It Ralph, A Royal Affair, Moonrise Kingdom... And that's only the Oscar nominations :P. So there's plenty to see in 2013. This year, I think Les Miserables has a very big chance of winning. Looking back at the list with movies that won Best Picture, you can find several musicals. In previous years it was West Side Story, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, Oliver! and Chicago. Les Miserables has already won the Golden Globe for Best Picture in the musical or comedy category and I'm hoping it will be the same at the Oscars. Even though I haven't seen it yet, I believe Anne Hathaways performance will be heart breaking. Seeing how Tom Hooper won two years ago with The King's Speech, it wouln't be a far fetch. He has proven to be able to make Oscar winning movies and with a story like this and a truck load of amazing actors, this movie has got to win some of the Oscars.
Argo won the Golden Globes for director and movie and I believe it will win something at the Acadamy Awards, even though this movie hasn't been nominated in the same categories. Another big movie is Life of Pi, which is a wonderful story, filled with amazing Visual Effects. I think it has a shot at best adapted screenplay as well. I won't discuss every category, because this blog is already longer than I had planned. But I'll end it with a final nominee, which is The Avengers for Visual Effects, the movie by Joss Whedon. Joss is a genius and I just really think his movie deserves to win an Oscar as well.
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