The Maid (La nana - 2009)

This Chilean movie about an awkward live-in servant for a rich family (duh) in Santiago is neither farce nor thriller, but is amusing yet disturbing. Director/co-writer Sebastián Silva (it's his second project) apparently was inspired by his own upbringing with/by household help. Catalina Saavedra, in the title role, had me convinced she was her character Raquel (NO similarity to Raquel Welch). Well, there is nudity, both male and female. The actors, for the most part, have worked in TV more than movies in Chile. Though not recognized by Oscar, Silva and Saavedra will need new shelves for all their awards (they are what prompted me to see it without viewing a trailer). Mary Ellen was distressed by it, but Dan and I thought it had its hopeful side. It doesn't have a big story nor a big message, but I recommend it.

Red Cliff (Chi bi - 2009)

This Chinese spectacle set in 208 B.C. is about 80% battles with a huge body count. In 2½ hours, that's a lot of fightin'. That said, Red Cliff is beautiful, with magnificent locations, vistas, and costumes, and the blood spatter is slo-mo Tarantino style (director John Woo is idolized by Tarantino, and I can't say who did it first). Despite its prodigious length, what we saw was the Western release, which cut together TWO movies totaling 280 minutes, adding an opening narration in English, though all the dialogue is in Mandarin with English subtitles.

Woo has returned to movie-making in his native language after 15 years in Hollywood (Face/Off (1997), which I didn't see, and Mission Impossible II (2000), which I did, among others), which followed 14 years of directing in China. Tony Leung (I really liked In the Mood for Love (Fa yeung nin wa - 2000) which had amazing costumes, and Lust, Caution (Se, jie - 2007) which was also a return to China from Hollywood for director Ang Lee, among many of Leung's credits) showed up to star after about a half hour of plot (Yun-Fat Chow, a big box-office draw here and abroad, was set to have that role, but pulled out right before shooting) (if you think of him as Chow Yun-Fat, you'd have been right a while ago, but some Chinese movie people have reversed their names to conform with our American custom of putting family names last, e.g. actress Li Gong and director Kar Wai Wong used to be Gong Li and Wong Kar Wai) (John Woo was born Yusen Wu, and Tony Leung is also known as Tony Leung Chiu Wai). Supporting cast is mostly men, including Takeshi Kaneshiro (House of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu - 2004)), half Chinese, half Japanese, as the strategist, and two women: supermodel Chiling Lin as the Helen of Troy character, and Wei Zhao as the warrior princess. The battles are fought with arrows, spears, crossbows, flames, flagpoles with only a little acrobatics. Does anyone else think that Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000) changed martial arts movies forever?

There are no laughs unless you giggle among yourselves (e.g. "He speared him with his own flagpole!" or "Didn't that zither sound like a ringtone?"). We hope that no horses were harmed in the making of this motion picture, because a lot of them fell down. I wanted to see it because it got a lot of Satellite Award nominations as well as one from the Critics' Choice. But it's really for John Woo fans and serious film buffs. It's not playing here anymore, so if you see it, try to find a big home theatre screen to appreciate the nominated cinematography, costumes, visual effects, etc.

Sundance 2010 winners

These will be the ones to watch for over the next 12 months.

http://festival.sundance.org/2010/news/article/and_the_envelope_please/

Academy Award (Oscar) nominations 2009-10

Anyone who reads this blog has probably seen the nominations. But I use this myself to keep track of what I still need to see (easier at this point to mark those I need to see, and at a later date I'll finish linking the rest of the titles to the other blog). Also check my in-progress list of 2009 nominations sorted by movie.

Best picture

"Avatar"
"The Blind Side"-haven't seen
"District 9"
"An Education"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
"A Serious Man"
"Up"
"Up in the Air"

Best actor

Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"
George Clooney, "Up in the Air"
Colin Firth, "A Single Man"
Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"
Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker

Best actress

Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"-haven't seen
Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"-haven't seen
Carey Mulligan, "An Education"
Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia"

Best supporting actor

Matt Damon, "Invictus"
Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"
Christopher Plummer, "The Last Station"-haven't seen
Stanley Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"
Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"

Best supporting actress

Penelope Cruz, "Nine"
Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"
Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Crazy Heart"
Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"
Mo'Nique, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"

Best director

James Cameron, "Avatar"
Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"
Lee Daniels, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"
Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air"

Best animated feature

"Coraline"-haven't seen
"Fantastic Mr. Fox"
"The Princess and the Frog"-haven't seen
"The Secret of Kells"-haven't seen
"Up"

Best foreign language film

"Ajami" (Israel)-haven't seen
"El Secreto de Sus Ojos" (Argentina)-haven't seen
"The Milk of Sorrow" (Peru)-haven't seen
"The Prophet" (France)-haven't seen
"The White Ribbon" (Germany)-haven't seen

Best screenplay (original)

"The Hurt Locker," written by Mark Boal
"Inglourious Basterds," written by Quentin Tarantino
"The Messenger," written by Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman
"A Serious Man," written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
"Up," screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter; story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

Best screenplay (adapted)

"District 9," written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
"An Education," screenplay by Nick Hornby
"In the Loop," screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
"Up in the Air," screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Best music (original score)

"Avatar" James Horner
"Fantastic Mr. Fox" Alexandre Desplat
"The Hurt Locker" Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
"Sherlock Holmes" Hans Zimmer
"Up" Michael Giacchino

Best music (original song)

"Almost There" from "The Princess and the Frog," music and lyrics by Randy Newman-haven't seen
"Down in New Orleans" from "The Princess and the Frog," music and lyrics by Randy Newman-haven't seen
"Loin de Paname" from "Paris 36," music by Reinhardt Wagner and lyrics by Frank Thomas
"Take It All" from "Nine," music and lyrics by Maury Yeston
"The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" from "Crazy Heart," music and lyrics by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best art direction

"Avatar" art direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; set decoration: Kim Sinclair
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" art direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; set decoration: Caroline Smith
"Nine" art direction: John Myhre; set decoration: Gordon Sim
"Sherlock Holmes" art direction: Sarah Greenwood; set decoration: Katie Spencer
"The Young Victoria" art direction: Patrice Vermette; set decoration: Maggie Gray

Best cinematography

"Avatar" Mauro Fiore
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" Bruno Delbonnel-haven't seen
"The Hurt Locker" Barry Ackroyd
"Inglourious Basterds" Robert Richardson
"The White Ribbon" Christian Berger-haven't seen

Best costume design

"Bright Star" Janet Patterson
"Coco Before Chanel" Catherine Leterrier
"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" Monique Prudhomme
"Nine" Colleen Atwood
"The Young Victoria" Sandy Powell

Best documentary (feature)

"Burma VJ" Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller-haven't seen
"The Cove" Nominees to be determined-haven't seen
"Food, Inc." Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
"The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers" Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith-haven't seen
"Which Way Home" Rebecca Cammisa-haven't seen

Best documentary (short subject)-haven't seen any

"China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province" Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill
"The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner" Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
"The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant" Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
"Music by Prudence" Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
"Rabbit à la Berlin" Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Best film editing

"Avatar" Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
"District 9" Julian Clarke
"The Hurt Locker" Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
"Inglourious Basterds" Sally Menke
"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" Joe Klotz

Best makeup

"Il Divo" Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano-haven't seen
"Star Trek" Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
"The Young Victoria" Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Best short film (animated)-haven't seen any

"French Roast" Fabrice O. Joubert
"Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty" Nicky Phelan and Darragh O'Connell
"The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)" Javier Recio Gracia
"Logorama" Nicolas Schmerkin
"A Matter of Loaf and Death" Nick Park

Best short film (live action)-haven't seen any

"The Door" Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
"Instead of Abracadabra" Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
"Kavi" Gregg Helvey
"Miracle Fish" Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
"The New Tenants" Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Best sound editing

"Avatar" Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
"The Hurt Locker" Paul N.J. Ottosson
"Inglourious Basterds" Wylie Stateman
"Star Trek" Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
"Up" Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Best sound mixing

"Avatar" Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
"The Hurt Locker" Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
"Inglourious Basterds" Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
"Star Trek" Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson-haven't seen

Best visual effects

"Avatar" Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
"District 9" Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
"Star Trek" Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

The Lovely Bones (2009)

Jack and I did not like this very much, despite riveting performances by all the actors, especially Saoirse Ronan as Susie Salmon, a 1973 teenage murder victim who narrates the story after death, and Stanley Tucci as her killer. Neither of us had read the best-selling novel by Alice Sebold, but in the movie we wanted to see way less of "the in between," from whence Susie speaks and watches her earthly survivors. Director Peter Jackson, who has a cameo as a guy picking up some developed film, inelegantly combines the top-notch special effects chops he honed in the three Lord of the Ringses (2001-3) and King Kong (2005) with the murderous tone of Heavenly Creatures (1994). Roger Ebert agreed with us in his detailed and spoiler-laden review.

Now for the good parts: 15 year old Ronan (who pronounces her Irish name SUR-sha, chosen Time Magazine's 2009 third best female performance, Oscar-nominated for Atonement) perfectly delineates the fine line between childhood and adulthood tread by a high school freshman (and she is developing into quite the beauty). Tucci, deserving winner of the 2009 Gotham Tribute award for acting, directing, writing (he did all three in the marvelous Big Night; he got an Emmy for co-starring again with (and mocking) Tony Shaloub in a hilarious Monk episode; I loved him in the TV series Murder One; The Devil Wears Prada (2006); Julie & Julia; and much more) was horribly creepy as the neighbor about whom one would say, "He was quiet, kept to himself..." The supporting cast did good work as well: Rachel Weisz (I wrote about her in The Brothers Bloom) and Mark Wahlberg (I liked Boogie Nights (1997), Three Kings (1999), and The Departed (2006)) were strong as the parents who are ripped from a contented family life and plunged into their individual stages of grief; Susan Sarandon (some of my faves: Atlantic City (1980), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Bull Durham (1988), White Palace (1990), Thelma & Louise 1991), Dead Man Walking (1995) which won her an Oscar, Igby Goes Down (2002)), as the hair-sprayed Grandma, provided needed comic relief, and I liked the siblings, too, played by little Christian Thomas Ashdale and Rose McIver, who was in The Piano (1993) before she was 6 years old. The production design and snow effects in the real world were good, and the music by Brian Eno was quite wonderful. Rolling Stone's Peter Travers liked the movie (there's a mild spoiler in his review).

A writer for the Hollywood Reporter suggests that the movie might resonate more for folks who haven't. Not this folk, but I'm still looking forward to reading it.

Crazy Heart (2009)

Though many critics have damned this with faint praise, raving about Jeff Bridges' performance in a so-called so-so story, Jack and I liked everything about this tale of a faded country singer/songwriter near the end of his rope. Crisply produced songs, top notch back-up bands, gorgeous big sky vistas, and touches like the mid-century sign on a bowling alley called the Spare Room help tell a tale that is not completely predictable. If you avoid spoilers, like this song list, which writes about songs on and off the soundtrack, you might even be surprised now and then. Of course, the big stars of the movie are the music and Jeff Bridges (I wrote about him in The Men Who Stare at Goats), who inhabits his character of Bad Blake; he will get an Oscar nomination, and likely the statue. He somehow makes us understand how a sweaty, stinky, nicotine-stained drunk manages to snag a groupie or two. Veteran music producer T-Bone Burnett (O Brother, Where Art Thou (2000), The Ladykillers (2004), Walk the Line (2005), Across the Universe (2007), musical archivist for The Big Lebowski (1998), more) has begun racking up awards with his colleague on this movie, Stephen Bruton, who died last May. The song, "The Weary Kind," by Burnett and Ryan Bingham, has won some awards already, too, and will probably be performed at the Oscars. Bingham has a cameo in the movie, as the guitarist with the bangs who begs for a rehearsal with Bad before the Spare Room gig. Bingham's version is the only one on the soundtrack, but Bridges is good at this genre, and here's him singing it (I didn't know he had recorded an album?!? Listen to it streaming from this page, but it's nothing like his music in Crazy Heart). My personal favorite song is "Hold on You," which Bridges performs for only a few seconds during the movie and full length in the credits. I previewed all the songs on the soundtrack, and it's a good one, if you like country/blues, which I do.

First-time director Scott Cooper said in this interview (no spoilers, three misspellings: Kristofferson, (Terence) Malick, and deferential) that he prepared every shot well in advance so he could complete the movie in 24 days with locations in three states! Nice work. Another interview tells of his starting out as an actor. He will be someone to watch from here on. Also to watch will be little Jack Nation, who is the adorable Buddy. Maggie Gyllenhaal (I wrote briefly about her in Away We Go) is perfect for her role as the not-yet-disillusioned single mom, Jean. We also liked the character of Bad's agent, played by Paul Herman.

Our local theatres get to reap the benefit of this movie's being released here just as the Oscar buzz is buzzing, and we suggest you buy a ticket or two, too. You won't be sorry. Bonus at the end of the credits: Robert Duvall, who, as producer, is one of the reasons the movie got made, and has a cameo as a friend of Bad's, sings a song.

Séraphine (2008)

I hated for this to end. Languid and beautiful, the based-on-a-true-story of a chambermaid who painted even when she couldn't afford art supplies kept us enthralled for over 2 hours. It's a shoo-in for a Foreign Film Oscar nomination and won Best Picture, Actress, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Musical Score, Production Design, and Costume Design at the César Awards (French Oscars) in February 2009, among others. The movie starts in 1912, as Europe is heating up before World War I, and the interiors (luxurious or spartan) and exteriors are lovingly photographed in deep, rich, colors of nature (plus Séraphine's blue wardrobe) and lamplight. One little thing that tickled me: Séraphine's shoes in the early scenes click like tap shoes on cobblestones and wooden floors. I'm not familiar with the work of the director/co-writer Martin Provost, his writing partner Marc Abdelnour, nor the cinematographer Laurent Brunet. Belgian Yolande Moreau, who plays the title role, had small parts in Amélie (2001), Paris je t'aime (2006), and the documentary The Beaches of Agnés (2008), which may capture a documentary nod this year (I haven't seen it yet), among many in a long resumé. Moreau as Séraphine says little, but she tells much with her body language and scrubbed middle-aged face (Séraphine is 48 in the beginning of the movie, Moreau was about 56) with her eyes cast up or down. Ulrich Tukur (pivotal roles in The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen - 2006), winner of 2007 Foreign Film Oscar, and The White Ribbon (Das weisse Band - 2009), which I plan to see when it comes here) was also very good as Séraphine's German patron Wilhelm Uhde.

When we saw it on the smallest screen in the university-area complex, 38 of 45 seats were taken for the Sunday matinee, which is heartening for an "art film." Though netflix shows its DVD release date is unknown, it's available now from amazon's Canada site amazon.ca, and I was able to put it in my shopping cart with my American address before cancelling the sale (just an experiment!). Séraphine is a moving story, one that falls into Jack's and my category of stuff you can't make up, all the better with its artistic presentation by all involved. We both enjoyed it a lot and recommend it to grown-ups.