Oscar Wrap-Up and Two More Reviews.

So the Oscar's were again kinda boring and flat. A few things annoyed me about the whole thing and a few things pleased me. First off, what the hell was the change with playing music while the people were excepting their awards? That was really uncalled for and rude. They cut off a couple people who had multiple parties who wanted to thank people and that was pretty lame. I would be pissed if it was a duo and I didn't get to get my words in. As for the actual winners, I was pretty much right with my predictions. My lovely enchanting future wife (yes, it's my child) looked beautiful even 7 months pregnant and she of course won. I didn't realize btu the Supporting Actor category was the most competitive. I wanted William Hurt to win for A History of Violence because his role was so rediculously awesome, but Mr. Clooney took it. Which is fine by me, because Clooney is one of the Hollywood elite that I kinda love. Of course, I was pissed Reese Witherspoon won for actress, but that was obvious she would win. As Jon Stewart said in his monologue, "Walk the Line was Ray with white people." And her performance wasn't that great. I wasn't ever convinced that she was June Carter, but she always seemed like Reese Witherspoon playing a weak version of June Carter. And that doesn't deserve the Oscar. That category was wacky anyway. Like I said before, Rachel shouldn't have been a supporting actress, but I guess that was a smart move on her part since she took home the prize. I figured Ang Lee would win director and from what I gather from Brokeback Mountain (still need to see it) it was extremely well shot and laid out and directors deserve credit for bringing that feeling to the film. Plus, he deserved it way back when he made Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon which is an amazing film. Writing went to the obvious choices but not the ones I wanted. Crash won original screenplay when I wanted Noah Baumbach to win for Squid and the Whale (again didn't see it) or another one for Woody Allen for Match Point. Original Screenplay went to Brokeback but I wanted A History of Violence or Constant Gardener to win that because they got shafted on the Best Picture category. Which brings us to that. Crash took home the gold and I'm glad for two reasons. 1) It'll piss off Stev who HATES the movie just like the characters in the movie are filled with hate and 2) It was the only one up for best picture that is anywhere near the top of my list of best of 2005 films (and it ranks at like #7 right now... i still haven't seen some major players.) Other than that, the night was boring and such with Robert Altman being a nice added surprise. That dude is OLD but he's made some excellent films in his long lifetime.

ANYWAYS, once I see three or four key films, I will finally do a 2005 best films. I saw a lot in the theater last year, but I missed a lot as well.
On the docket is Syriana, Munich, Brokeback Mountain, Squid and the Whale and Palyndromes.

Now, here are two more movie reviews of stuff I've seen whilst sick (and yes, I still am with more intense throat pain than ever!)

North Country- Ok, so the movie was decent and the performances were ok, but not really Oscar Worthy. I love Frances McDormand, but her part was kind of boring and I didn't really feel that she deserved the nod. Regardless, lets get down to brass tacks. Charlize Theron (who everyone says can only act when she gets fat or ugly) was really good in this. I don't think that she did what people were saying and got ugly for the role. Anyway, who gives a shit if she is ugly in her films and amazingly gorgeous in real life? That's not how you rate an actress. Her work in this film was filled with emotion, passion and was much more intriguing than Resse Witherspoon in Walk the Line (God I love ripping on that movie.) I believed that she was a caring single mother who cared about her family and herself enough to battle the big business that was oppressing her. She did a really good job at it. I always thought she was B material and I have yet to see Monster, but now I know what all the hype is about. Kudos to you, Charlize. The movie as a whole was kind of slow and there was NOT enough Woody Harelson, but besides that, it's an enjoyable one time see flick. Definitely a renter. Oh yeah, I forgot, also no nearly enough Sean Bean who fucking OWNS!

Junebug- What an excellent movie! I wasn't expecting much from this, but it ended up being just the kind of movie I wanted to watch. As I was watching, I wasn't sure if I liked it or not, but yeah. It's really a great film. All about seperation, isolation and disconnection with the ones you love. And it's pretty damn hilarious. This is where (again, i know... repetitive) I think Rachel Weisz shouldv'e been Best Actress in a Leading Role so Amy Adams could have won supporting for this. She lit up the screen whenever she was on and was so hilarious that even in my soreness of throat and mute-ish state I was crakcing up. The family dynamic was well laid out, the sense of isolation was done well with a lot of silent empty space shots and my personal favorite touch was the artist character who was a lot like Henry Darger (who if you don't know his stuff, definitely look into it... its bizzare) was a really good touch. The film made you put a lot together which I liked because it made you feel like an outsider looking in. They didn't tell you why yht erelationship between the brothers was so awkward or why the dad was so out there, but you can figure out for yourself because that's not what the movie was about. This is definitely high up on my list of favs for 2005.

That's it for now. My mom is picking up more movies today from Wow so I'll have some new reviews of some movies I missed (probably Wallace and Gromit [God I love them.])

Until then, keep it real.