Along with the other million bad side effects of not having regular relaxed access to a computer, I've found there are drawbacks to sending large emails to Blogger from my once wonderful, now evil TyTn phone (yes, my excitement has palled considerably in the last few weeks, as its buggy software and habit of hanging up mid-call has outweighed the benefits of having such a wonderful keyboard). For a start, writing tags manually in Word Mobile means you end up with all sorts of nonsense when Blogger tries to translate this < and this > into normal characters. Secondly, there appears to be a character limit, because even though I made predictions for all categories, only eleven appeared. This would have been the event that made the small readership of this blog realise I was some kind of dumbhead chump-man, but seeing as this was easily my worst year for accurate Oscar predictions, I would have been tarred with that brush no matter what.
In the interests of completion, here are my choices for the last few categories (including the tough categories). I promise, these are the original picks I made in the original post (written from memory, as emails from the TyTn disappear instead of hide out in a Sent Items folder; another annoying feature), and the one or two I got right were really right. I know, there really is no need for me to be posting this two days after the fact, but I'm a completist, and I spent ages doing it only for technology to screw me, and my OCD won't allow me to leave it alone. Feel free to ignore it totally.
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Best Actor in A Supporting Role:
Will win:
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men
Should win:
Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Should have been nominated:
John Carroll Lynch - Zodiac / Sam Rockwell - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Best Actress in A Supporting Role
Will win:
Cate Blanchett - I’m Not There
Should win:
Cate was seriously great in I'm Not There, but as Canyon pointed out after we watched it, almost any actor would have been able to make a meal of those scenes. They were the most interesting moments, and featured some terrific playful dialogue. On the other hand, Saoirse Ronan's performance in Atonement was probably my favourite thing about it, and makes me very excited about The Lovely Bones (in addition to the usual Peter-Jackson-created excitement).
Should have been nominated:
I'd like to think Robin Wright Penn and Marcia Gay Harden wouldhave been given some attention for their excellent performances in Beowulf and The Mist respectively, but which choice would be more improbable? The Oscar winner "slumming" it in a horror movie, or the Oscar nominee in a performance capture suit?
Best Animated Feature Film
Will win:
Ratatouille
Should win:
Ratatouille
Should have been nominated:
Paprika
Best Art Direction:
Will win:
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Should win:
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Should have been nominated:
Zodiac
Best Costume Design
Will win:
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Should win:
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Should have been nominated:
Zodiac
Best Documentary Feature:
Will win:
No End in Sight
Should win:
No End in Sight
Should have been nominated:
The King of Kong
Best Documentary Short:
Will win:
Salim Baba
Should win:
Again, I have no informed idea.
Should have been nominated:
Do DVD extras count?
Best Makeup:
Will win:
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Should win:
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Should have been nominated:
Grindhouse (specifically Planet Terror)
Best Music:
Will win:
Dario Marinelli - Atonement
Should win:
Michael Giacchino - Ratatouille
Should have been nominated:
The rules that have excluded Jonny Greenwood's ominous and oppressive music for There Will Be Blood are a sham of a mockery of a joke, as Gustavo Santoalalla's Oscar-winning Babel soundtrack featured music from previous films (one of which went as far back as The Insider, and perhaps earlier than that), but even without taking that into account, no nomination for David Shire's excellent Zodiac soundtrack is shocking.
Best Short Animated Film:
Will win:
Peter & The Wolf
Should win:
Peter & The Wolf
Should have been nominated:
Lifted, of course.
Best Live Action Short Film
Will win:
Il Supplente
Should win:
Il Supplente
Should have been nominated:
No idea. Some YouTube clips have made me laugh this year. (Short films are very poorly represented on TV, is my excuse.)
Best Sound Mixing:
Will win:
The Bourne Ultimatum
Should win:
Transformers
Should have been nominated:
Again, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was horribly horribly robbed.
Best Visual Effects:
Will win:
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Should win:
Transformers
Should have been nominated:
Sunshine
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So yes, it's the day after the day after, and we watched the recorded ceremony last night. Unfortunately Canyon got spoiled like crazy during the day, though I was luckier, hiding from the news and not looking at newspapers during a trip out of the computer-less house to gape in slackjawed astonishment at the brain-and-gut-soaked carnage that is Rambo IV: Infinite Blood (it made Mad Mel Gibson's brilliantly berserk and hyper-violent Apocalypto look like an episode of Dora the Explorer). I was horrified by my mistakes, and pleased for the Coens (though that adapted screenplay award really stuck in my craw), not to mention thrilled to the core by the award to Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova (who I wanted to hug until they popped).
However, Transformers was totally totally robbed, and I wonder if there was some trouble or controversy within the FX community. I know that sounds like I'm being mean-spirited and unable to take it when a personal favourite loses like some kind of bratty kid, but it was the one movie of last year that never ceased to amaze me. That incredible finale alone justified the award. Hell, the shot of Megatron slamming Optimus Prime though a building should have won!
Oh, and Tilda Swinton rules the entire world. I've been saying it since Orlando, and her quirky and mischievous Gabriel in Constantine cemented my admiration, and everyone* ignored me! The last laugh is mine!
* Shades of Caruso Dictionary definition of "everyone": An exaggeration referring to a few select sceptics due to lack of perspective by over-excitable blogger.
Showing posts with label Bourne. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bourne. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Friday, August 17, 2007
The Bourne Perfection
(Warning: Bourne spoilers ahead.)
This week the UK finally got a chance to see the final installment of the Bourne trilogy, and Orc hordes couldn't keep me from seeing it at the first available opportunity. If you're thinking of seeing it, and have access to the first two movies, I advise you make a big deal of it and watch those first, as Paul Greengrass and Tony Gilroy (along with Scott Z. Burns and George Nolfi) have added several visual and narrative cues to make it all feel like a very intense 6 hour movie. That is, scenes from the first two movies that acted as payoffs now in fact seem like set ups for payoffs in this movie. Certainly the cleverly expanded role for Julia Stiles makes the viewer reappraise her character (and her ability as an actress. She does a lot here by doing what seems like very little).
Apologies for any spoilers, but it's hard to gush about the movie without giving something away. The final few moments of the film are immensely satisfying, with Bourne's story coming full circle at last with the revelation of the terrible act he committed in order to end his previous life as David Webb, and the passive act he makes to end "Bourne"'s life. His final mini-speech on the roof to his would-be killer is somewhat heartbreaking and moving; now that he has found a way to move on, perhaps now he has the chance to help others do the same. He's like the Spy Messiah, cleansing the souls of those who followed in his footsteps. That the movie ends the same way the first starts is not just clever storytelling, it's also a way to include that hoary old visual metaphor of immersion in water as rebirth and baptism in a way that makes it fresh. And, at the risk of sounding confrontational, I defy you not to feel the urge to cheer as Bourne springs back to life, with that Moby track bleeping away in the background. I know I did a pathetic little air-punch. What? WHAT?
At some point I'm sure I'll whitter on about how glad I am that storytelling trends are favouring the longform (TV as visual novel, film franchises that require the viewer to have knowledge of the previous installments instead of being able to drop in and out a la old skool Bond), but for now I will say that Bourne Ultimatum represents the best example I can remember of using the resources of the previous installments to create an emotional resonance. As has been noted elsewhere, Julia Stiles' scene in the bathroom, dying her hair in a deliberate echo of the scenes with Franka Potente in The Bourne Identity, worked beautifully.
Also pleasing was the final car chase that seemed about to reverse the outcome of the chase at the end of Supremacy, with Bourne trapped at the business end of an imminently crashing car in the same way as Karl Urban, only to prevail through his quick wits. Not only that, but it proves he is learning not to kill. His involvement in the chase is a consequence of him trying to get away, which may have also been the situation in Supremacy, but in that case he aggressively destroys Karl Urban's SUV and kills him. Here, he allows the chase to end in a crash (or is forced to; I couldn't tell as I was chewing my knuckles with terror), and then spares the life of his pursuer. By this point, he's no longer the assassin he was turned into, but a victim, albeit a victim who will break your bones if you mess with him.
The movie has been well received by the UK critics, but their bias against any kind of genre movies has come through. James Christopher of the Times, Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian, and Anthony Quinn of the Independent all seemed to love it but only gave four stars. I can imagine the use of the Guardian as a plot-point would irritate the other papers, but Bradshaw had no excuse. Funnily enough, he has fun pretending that all Guardian journalists are as tough and glamourous as Paddy Considine's character, which is in direct conflict with what I saw. Greengrass is obviously making fun of his own journalistic background, as well as the reputation of the Guardian. Considine is useless, ignoring Bourne's advice, continually getting himself into trouble, and seeing danger where there is none. Compared to all of the CIA agents, even the less capable ones, he looks like a hapless idiot. Plus, how does Considine elude capture? By hiding in an off-licence. Very nicely played, Mr. Greengrass.
This week the UK finally got a chance to see the final installment of the Bourne trilogy, and Orc hordes couldn't keep me from seeing it at the first available opportunity. If you're thinking of seeing it, and have access to the first two movies, I advise you make a big deal of it and watch those first, as Paul Greengrass and Tony Gilroy (along with Scott Z. Burns and George Nolfi) have added several visual and narrative cues to make it all feel like a very intense 6 hour movie. That is, scenes from the first two movies that acted as payoffs now in fact seem like set ups for payoffs in this movie. Certainly the cleverly expanded role for Julia Stiles makes the viewer reappraise her character (and her ability as an actress. She does a lot here by doing what seems like very little).
Apologies for any spoilers, but it's hard to gush about the movie without giving something away. The final few moments of the film are immensely satisfying, with Bourne's story coming full circle at last with the revelation of the terrible act he committed in order to end his previous life as David Webb, and the passive act he makes to end "Bourne"'s life. His final mini-speech on the roof to his would-be killer is somewhat heartbreaking and moving; now that he has found a way to move on, perhaps now he has the chance to help others do the same. He's like the Spy Messiah, cleansing the souls of those who followed in his footsteps. That the movie ends the same way the first starts is not just clever storytelling, it's also a way to include that hoary old visual metaphor of immersion in water as rebirth and baptism in a way that makes it fresh. And, at the risk of sounding confrontational, I defy you not to feel the urge to cheer as Bourne springs back to life, with that Moby track bleeping away in the background. I know I did a pathetic little air-punch. What? WHAT?
At some point I'm sure I'll whitter on about how glad I am that storytelling trends are favouring the longform (TV as visual novel, film franchises that require the viewer to have knowledge of the previous installments instead of being able to drop in and out a la old skool Bond), but for now I will say that Bourne Ultimatum represents the best example I can remember of using the resources of the previous installments to create an emotional resonance. As has been noted elsewhere, Julia Stiles' scene in the bathroom, dying her hair in a deliberate echo of the scenes with Franka Potente in The Bourne Identity, worked beautifully.
Also pleasing was the final car chase that seemed about to reverse the outcome of the chase at the end of Supremacy, with Bourne trapped at the business end of an imminently crashing car in the same way as Karl Urban, only to prevail through his quick wits. Not only that, but it proves he is learning not to kill. His involvement in the chase is a consequence of him trying to get away, which may have also been the situation in Supremacy, but in that case he aggressively destroys Karl Urban's SUV and kills him. Here, he allows the chase to end in a crash (or is forced to; I couldn't tell as I was chewing my knuckles with terror), and then spares the life of his pursuer. By this point, he's no longer the assassin he was turned into, but a victim, albeit a victim who will break your bones if you mess with him.
The movie has been well received by the UK critics, but their bias against any kind of genre movies has come through. James Christopher of the Times, Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian, and Anthony Quinn of the Independent all seemed to love it but only gave four stars. I can imagine the use of the Guardian as a plot-point would irritate the other papers, but Bradshaw had no excuse. Funnily enough, he has fun pretending that all Guardian journalists are as tough and glamourous as Paddy Considine's character, which is in direct conflict with what I saw. Greengrass is obviously making fun of his own journalistic background, as well as the reputation of the Guardian. Considine is useless, ignoring Bourne's advice, continually getting himself into trouble, and seeing danger where there is none. Compared to all of the CIA agents, even the less capable ones, he looks like a hapless idiot. Plus, how does Considine elude capture? By hiding in an off-licence. Very nicely played, Mr. Greengrass.
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