MOVIE REVIEWS
Sunday 24th February 2013. Hollywood’s crème de la crème attended the most anticipated event of the year. The Oscars. All the invitees took the path towards global acknowledgement and glitziness. The nominees experienced the magical atmosphere which accompanied the glory of being nominated in the same categories as Alfred Hitchcock (director – The Psycho), Mary Pickford (actress- Coquette) and Warner Baxter (actor – In Old Arizona). As usual the nominees fought over many categories and the winners were;
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Best Picture:Argo(Gran Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers)
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Actor in a Leading Role: Daniel Day Lewis - Lincoln
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Actress in a Leading Role: Jennifer Lawrence -Silver Linings Playbook
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Actor in a Supporting Role: Christoph Waltz – Django Unchained
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Actress in a Supporting Role: Anne Hathaway- Les Miserables
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Cinematography: Life of Pi (Claudio Miranda)
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Directing: Life of Pi (Ang Lee)
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Film Editing: Argo (William Goldenberg)
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Foreign Language Film: Amour (Austria)
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Makeup and Hairstyling: Les Miserables (Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell)
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Music (Original Score): Life of Pi (Mychael Danna)
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Music (Original Song): Skyfallfrom the movie Skyfall (Music and lyrics by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth)
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Production Design :Lincoln (Rick Carter (Production Design); Kim Erickson (Set Decoration)
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Short Film ( Live Action) : Curfew ( Shawn Christensen)
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Sound Editing: Skyfall, (Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers) and Zero Dark Thirty, ( Paul N.J. Ottosson)
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Sound Mixing: Les Miserables( Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes)
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Visual Effects: Life of Pi( BillWestenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik- Jan de Boer and Donald R. Elliott)
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Writing (Adapted Screenplay): Argo( Written by Chris Terrio)
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Writing (Original Screenplay) :Django Unchained ( Written by Quentin Tarantino)
Unfortunately, every show must come to an end in order to start preparing for the next one. Some of the nominees returned home holding their golden figurines, a symbol of prestige and high honor that marks their name as they make history. However, those who didn’t manage to standout return disenchanted but at the same time have raised their standards to a new level in order to make a good comeback and in this way assert the award over thei
[1] THE Psycho or just Psycho?
Morris Gormezano and MC Litina
And the Oscar goes to…
The Big Lebowski
‘The Big Lebowski’, isn’t a movie that you go to watch with the expectation of seeing a ‘masterpiece’ and arrive satisfied by the end of the movie. What has made it a cult classic is its subtly polished execution, which has stood up to scrutiny, examination and time.
Upon first watching it, I initially remembered it as a “pretty good movie” that had its moments; however, its full brilliance didn’t hit me until I decided to re watch it. Originally, I did not fully appreciate the level of humour and raw talent of the film; however, it seemingly gets funnier each time you watch it and the level of comedy becomes more and more evident.
The plot revolves around the 60s refugee Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) and how his day-to-day lifestyle as one of the laziest men in L.A., is interrupted by a case of mistaken identity, extortion, double crossing, deception and gallons of White Russians. We follow the antics of “The Dude” and his bowling buddy, as they try to solve a kidnapping mystery involving the millionaire Jeff Lebowski, and his young trophy wife.
In my opinion, one of the movie’s main strengths comes from its characters, whoare both brilliantly written and portrayed. They evolve from simple caricatures into something far deeper, thanks to excellent character development and amazing dialogue. Jeff Bridges' iconic performance as "The Dude" is one of his all-time best, while John Goodman, Steve Buscemiand John Tuturro as Jesus, help weave the plot together, making it all the more unique. However, it is not the flawless actors, nor the plot, nor its soundtrack that makes ‘The Big Lebowski’ stand high above the rest. It is in fact its humanism and the care that the Coen brothers put into creating an ode to the ‘dudist’ way of life.
Pavlos Palios
Silver Linings Playbook
From a young viewer’s point of view, Silver Linings Playbook is a witty and entertaining movie. This movie gives us the chance to take a more detailed look into the bipolar disorder, a disorder that fluctuates from feelings of utter happiness to depression within minutes. This movie enlightens the viewers to the complications of this disorder, which can be unfamiliar to the public. It successfully portrays the ups and downs of these “mood swings” with its clever and funny lines. The well written script and carefully selected actors, are defined by the positive decisions made by the main characters to defy imperfection. It is a heartwarming movie that enlightens the struggles of people suffering from this disorder to turn their lives around. It is a movie where true love prevails.
Lincoln
While Lincoln is not Spielberg’s most entertaining movie, it certainly deserves all of the praise it has accumulated over the past few months.The phenomenal acting of Daniel Day Lewis mixed with the fantastic photography and production design successfully create a film which is truly unique, which is in my opinion the most definitive movie on Abraham Lincoln to date.
The film is set in 1865 soon after Abraham Lincoln’s re-election and focuses primarily on the political interworking of the congress instead of the American Civil War. It shows Lincoln’s long and hard fight topass the 13thAmendment which would abolish slavery and how he relied on backroom deals, in the form of bribing Democrats with offers of positions in the civil service.
The film had a good script; however, it ended up being hard to follow at times, but fortunately didn’t detract from the experience. This is mainly as a result of Daniel Day Lewis’ acting, which is so mesmerising that it becomes hard to distinguish whether or not you are actually watching the president, or an actor. The illusion created as a result of Daniel Day Lewis’ acting is simply phenomenal, and is proof of what magic can happen when an actor falls in love with the character they are portraying. His most powerful moments are when he is reciting stories, which are both interesting and amusing, and similarly to the actors in the film, we recall and cherish every word he says.
Overall, I found Lincoln to be a pleasant surprise; it was a richly detailed and intellectual picture, which is one of the greatest cinematic endeavours to ever focus on US politics and the abolishment of slavery. I emerged from the theatre, willing to go back and see it again.
Pavlos Palios
History of the Academy Awards
The Academy Awards were first presented on May 16th, 1929, honouring the best films of 1928. The presentation took place in privacy at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and only about 270 members of the Hollywood community attended. The black and white, silent film Wings won the first ever Academy Award for Best Picture, in a ceremony that had only 12 different categories, out of which seven survive to this day. The Academy Awards were first televised on NBC (National Broadcast Channel) in 1953 and for the first time in color in 1966.
The origin of the name “Oscar” is still disputed today. One rumor is that actress Bette Davis named the statue after her husband Oscar Nelson. The most popular rumor though is that the statue is named after the uncle of one of the secretaries in the Academy, Margaret Herrick, who mentioned that the statue reminded her of her “Uncle Oscar” and people have since then affectionately called the Academy Award, the Oscar.
Some notable Best Picture winners include:Gone with the Wind (1939), Casablanca (1942), All About Eve (1950), Ben-Hur (1959), West Side Story(1961), A Man for All Seasons (1966), The Godfather (1972), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), Amadeus(1984), The Last Emperor(1987), Silence of the Lambs (1991),Titanic (1997), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) and Slumdog Millionaire (2008).
Various films and people have set record-breaking successes during the Academy Awards. Here are some of the most noteworthy:
Most Oscar wins by one film (11 Awards)
Ben-Hur(1959)
Titanic (1997)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Most Oscar nominations by one film (14 nominations)
All About Eve (1950)
Titanic (1997)
Highest Sweep (11 Wins out of 11 Nominations)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Most Oscar wins by one person (22 Awards)
Walt Disney (Between 1932-1969)
Most Oscar wins by one person in a single year (5 Awards)
Walt Disney (1938)
Most Oscar wins by Directors (4 Awards)
John Ford (1935, 1940, 1941, 1952)
Most Oscar wins by Actors, both lead and supporting (3 Awards)
Walter Brennan (1936, 1938, 1942)
Daniel Day-Lewis (1989, 2007, 2012)
Jack Nicholson (1975, 1983, 1997)
Most Oscar wins by Actresses, both lead and supporting (4 Awards)
Katharine Hepburn (1933, 1967, 1968, 1981)
The Hangover 1 Review
I believe the name says it all. My favorite out of the two films that have come out till now, as we all know a third one is coming out and we all bear great expectations for it. Hangover 1 was directed and produced by Todd Philips. Starring:Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha and Jeffrey Tambor.
Doug Billings wants to celebrate his marriage and goes with his friends Phil Wenneck, Stu Price and Alanto celebrate by having a bachelor party in Vegas. The four of them have a drink, and the next thing you know is that they have woken up in their suite and that one of them is missing. The trio goes on searching for the missing friend by trying to follow their footsteps of what they can remember from the previous night. After some crazy adventures they manage to find out what happened to them and try to get back in time for the wedding.
This film is a one of a kind, with many explicit scenes that add that little something to it.
Argyris Lazaris
The film is set in the Old South, two years before the American Civil War focusing on Django (Jamie Foxx), a former slave, and his quest to find his wife. He is freed by bounty hunter Dr. King Shultz (Christoph Waltz), who quickly takes him under his wing and agrees to help Django find and rescue his estranged wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), from sadistic plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio).
Django Unchained can easily be identified as a stereotypical Quentin Tarantino film. It features ferocious violence, which may be considered over the top at times; however, this comes as no surprise considering Tarantino’s other works, such as Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs.I found that the film was good, but wasn’t Tarantino’s best and came out of the cinema partially disappointed. What really struck me was how sloppy the whole thing felt. The film is one of Tarantino’s most linear to date, lacking the flashbacks and fragmented timeline, which kept us all on edge and excited us in previous works such as Pulp Fiction. Furthermore, while the film had a strong opening, it seemed to lose its momentum during the second half, resulting in the film feeling unnecessarily long, at this pointDjango Unchained seems to transform from a skilfully balanced movie dealing with slavery in the Southern States, to an apocalyptic bloodbath, consisting of explosions and shootouts every five minutes.
In my opinion the acting of Foxx is mediocre and it takes him a long time to settle into his role. He eventually does find his footing and proceeds to play a decent character who is both empathetic and sadistic. Personally, I believe that the acting ofChristoph Waltz and Leonardo DiCaprio is the film’s highlight. Unfortunately, their characters are underwritten and deserve more emphasis. Similarly, Kerry Washington’s character, Broomhilda, is stunted in comparison to the other leads. This lack of character depth comes as a major blow to the plot, leaving her bland and uninteresting.She is originally meant to be rescued by Django; however,by the pointDjango finally finds her, Tarantino has abandoned the whole idea of character development and instead spends the remainder of the film blowing up plantations.
In conclusion, Django Unchained is not Tarantino’s worst but neither his best work, as a result it sits somewhere in the middle, being greatly handicapped by lack of focus and direction. Nevertheless, it’s is a hilarious movie to watch and is enjoyable, but isn’t something I would watch again.
Pavlos Palios
Django Unchained Review
Argo – Oscar Winner 2013
Argo is a historic and dramatic thriller, based on true events of the Iranian hostage crisisthat took place in 1979.Argo is based on the books The Master of Disguise and The Great Escapewith George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Ben Affleck as the producers.Argo won the awards for Best picture, Film Editing and Writing, in addition to the seven nominations of the 85th Academy Awards and five Golden Globe nominations.
The plot of Argo goes as follows.Troops storm the U.S. embassy of Teheran and take 50 diplomats as hostages, but six of them manage to escape and take refuge in the home of the Canadian Ambassador. This whole situation is kept secret and CIA specialists start plotting to find a way to return those six diplomats back onto American soil. The final idea is brought to the table and it is decided that the escapees will be presented as Canadian filmmakers that are trying to find exotic landscapes for the movie Argo. Their plan takes a bad turn and luckily their local contact manages to take them away from the hostile mob. The turn of the film is when they are informed that their operation is cancelled. Mendez, posing as a producer of Argo, forces the mission ahead and books a flight out of Iran. But tensions rise in the airport where the Revolutionary Guards attempt to stop the flight where the escapees are on. In the end the mission is successful and Mendez receives the “Intelligence Star”. The Canadian Ambassador and their Iranian housekeeper flee the country to protect themselves. Later on January 20, 1982, all hostages were released, being under the constant fear that the Revolutionary Guards would retaliate on them.
In my opinion I believe that this film deserved all the awards it took and the acting was astonishing and very realistic. What disappointed me was that, the Director of the film, Ben Affleck, didn’t receive the award for Best Directing, which he clearly deserved in my opinion, as he did an exceptionally good job.
Argyris Lazaris
The Campaign
After long term congressman Cam Brady’s (Will Ferrell) campaign is damaged by the revelation of an affair with a supporter, a pair of corrupt businessmen, brothers Glen and Wade Motch use this as an opportunity to convince Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis), the tourism director for the town of Hammond, to run against Cam, on the Republican ticket for congressman of North Carolina's 14th District, as part of a plan to profit from illegal dealings with Chinese companies.
Overall, I found the movie The Campaign to be a very raunchy and funny comedy. Both Will Ferrel’s and Zach Galifianakis’ good comic delivery, along with their brilliant performance contributes to the film’s success. The jokes are crude and vulgar, working perfectly with the film’s plot; however, they run out towards the end resulting in a bit of a weak ending.
The Director Jay Roach who previously helmed titles such as Austin Powers and Meet the Parents, continues to deliver a mindlessly funny that overcomes most of its flaws by remaining fun and never dull. What I found surprising was how much Will Ferrell could make me laugh, although he was delivering the same genre of comedy as he’s always done. The idea of a sleazy politician, accompanied by one liners and sharply written jokes, makes this into what I believe to be one of Will Ferrell’s best films. In conclusion, The Campaign is easily one of the best comedies this year, and certainly one that I would recommend.
Stepmom
A 1998 Comedy-Drama film directed by Chris Columbus who is also known for Home Alone (1990), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) and has directed three of the films of the Harry Potter franchise.
The film is about a mother (Susan Sarandon) who is diagnosed with terminal stage cancer and who has to put aside her feelings towards her ex-husband’s (Ed Harris) new partner (Julia Roberts) in order to prepare her children for the inevitable and for their new stepmother. An exceptional film with outstanding performances given not only by the leading actors but also by the two youngest members of the cast (Jena Malone and Liam Aiken). It won many awards and was nominated for a Golden Globe.
In my opinion, this motion picture has a completely different approach to reality as it presents some of the obstacles that we might be faced with at some point in our lives and underlies a more profound meaning of scepticism since it is extremely thought provoking as opposed to typical Hollywood productions that are based on the oversimplification of facts and only analyse them at a superficial level, which is sufficient in order to catch people’s attention and make them want to watch their movie.
PRETTY LITTLE LIARS:
Who is A?
It was clear that from the discovery of Mona's REAL personality, that there was more than just one A. Currently there are three A's that have been shown to the viewers. Mona, Toby and an unknown A. The question is, who is this new A? There are many suspects who could be A, such as Ezra, Jenna, Noel or Byron!
I believe that Ezra is the third A. For a start, how did he get all that money, and why would he hide in a sock drawer? I think he was played by Jason, because probably Ezra knew something about who stole Ali's body.
Next, I think that Byron might have killed Alison. Remember Aria AND Ali saw him cheating on his wife. Obviously, he can't kill his own daughter! Also, there was that time when Aria and Ali trashed his office and there is a clue that they might have had an affair!!
I think that Noel and Jenna were trying to push Aria off the train in the Halloween Special since there were two voices; a male and a female voice. Maybe A had a deal with them, so they helped A. Jenna told the liars that she was scared of something ( or someone! ) so she faked that the operation didn't work. A could have black mailed Jenna to help her/him.
I think Toby is on the A team because he is trying to protect the Liars. In the promo for the next episode, though, he cheats on Spencer and he does look evil.
To conclude, I think A will probably be another character. The suspects mentioned above will probably have a reason for their actions. Hopefully, the Liars will discover all the A's and stop the A team!!