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Crazy Heart

Oscar Predictions 2010

by Robert Cotto on March 7, 2010 · 0 comments

The 82nd Academy Awards are tonight, and the best, brightest and beautiful of Hollywood will gather yet again to honor the year that was in cinema. Below are my predictions for who will win the hardware tonight.

Fill out your Oscar pools carefully. (And as a reminder, here is a full list of the nominees in all the major categories.)

Best Picture – The Hurt Locker

Best Director – Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Best Actor – Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Best Actress – Gabourey Sidibe, Precious (IF THERE WILL BE A SURPRISE ON OSCAR NIGHT THIS WILL BE IT. If all goes to predictabilty, congratulations, Sandra Bullock.)

Best Supporting Actor – Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress – Mo’Nique, Precious

Best Original Screenplay – Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino

Best Adapted Screenplay – Up in the Air, Jason Reitman

Animated Feature – Up

Art Direction – Avatar

Cinematography – Avatar

Costume Design – The Young Victoria

Documentary Feature – The Cove

Film Editing – Avatar

Foreign Language Film – The White Ribbon

Makeup – The Young Victoria

Original Score – Up

Original Song – “The Weary Kind,” Crazy Heart

Sound Editing – The Hurt Locker

Sound Mixing – The Hurt Locker

Visual Effects – Avatar

(Disclaimer: I have no clue whatsoever on these final three.)

Documentary Short – The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant

Animated Short – A Matter of Loaf and Death

Live Action Short – The New Tenants

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Movie Reviews: The Blake Abides

by Dustin Freeley on January 18, 2010 · 2 comments

Characteristically, Jeff Bridges captivates the audience with his portrayal of Bad Blake, a hard-drinking, serial marrying, downward-spiraling country singer who has gone from headliner to saloon-crooner. The film’s redemption theme is not unique—it’s really kind of a rehashing of 2008’s The Wrestler — so Crazy Heart offers nothing new to the category of “man must save his life or die by the way he lives” formula; however, Bridges often overshadows the clichéd story with a performance that shies away from the oft-hyperbolic portrayals of alcoholics and drug abusers — see Leaving Las Vegas, which will be discussed in an upcoming post, titled Nic Cage: My Uncle is Francis Ford Coppola.

In a refreshing performance, Bridges plays Blake as a cognizant, functioning alcoholic, not as one who stumbles from bar to bar, starting fights and slurring consistently before breaking down in tears. There is really only one scene where alcohol visibly gets the best of Blake, but it’s only momentary, requiring him to leave the stage in a dumpy bar to vomit before continuing.

Similarly, Crazy Heart doesn’t force an uber-tragic moment of clarity on us. While we feel for Blake, his rock-bottom transpires from coincidence and a child’s curious nature, not a drunken hallucination that results in someone’s death or injury. Instead, Blake obviates the trust that Jean Craddick (Maggie Gyllenhaal) bestows on him, which makes Blake’s fall internal, and refreshingly, it doesn’t feel forced.

Perhaps this is because Gyllenhaal portrays Jean as strong-willed yet whimsical, aware that Blake is on the verge of tumbling off a cliff, but enamored by the talented poet underneath. And while Gyllenhaal gives a rather underrated performance in Crazy Heart, this relationship is the major element of the film that I have a problem grasping. The acting is genuine, but the story is weak. She’s a journalist for a small-town newspaper, and Blake is her temporal subject. Somehow, they fall in love, but it’s never clear why. Yes, she loves his music, but we find that out well after they begin their affair, so what’s the impetus? There are only so many times that movies can employ the “love is a mystery” scapegoat.

Of course we know a fall is coming, but when it does, Crazy Heart does not compile a montage that conveys the trials and tribulations of rehab — the clinical scene lasts about forty-five seconds and merely shows Blake standing up in front of a group, admitting that he’s an alcoholic.

In the end, there is no neat little bow. Often, there is one of two directions taken in redemption films: relapse, which leads to death and suggests that humans are destined to fail, or victory, which insists that humans can erase their flaws. This film really depicts neither. He doesn’t fall at the end, but he doesn’t win either. He knows temptation lies within reach, and he acknowledges his limitations while taking responsibility for letting most everything slip out of his grasp.

He’s not a hero, and he’s not a villain. He’s human.

DYL MAG Score: 7

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The Best Movies of 2009

by Robert Cotto on January 17, 2010 · 1 comment

[Ed. Note: Please welcome film aficionado Robert Cotto to the Do You Like Movies About Gladiators? team. He watches way more movies than I and is thus here to breakdown his best of 2009 as we enter Golden Globe/Oscar season.]

2009 was a rather important year in cinema for me. Not because of the films that came out this year, but my further discovery of films from the Hollywood Studio Era. It’s a fact that no one makes films like the way they used to. Billy Wilder would be well impressed with the work of The Coen’s and Jason Reitman, for their attention to story and detail.

The criterion of assessing a great film is one crucial thought. Not having a wasted moment. Be it in performance or structure, the majority of the films listed below don’t waste the audience’s time. It values it.

#10. Crazy Heart

To quote Warren Beatty, “Plot is character. And character is plot.” Jeff Bridges, who is incapable of not delivering an honest moment, provides us with an unforgettable portrait of an alcoholic country-singing troubadour, who experiences a change of life after a chance meeting with a journalist and her son. T-Bone Burnett’s contribution to the original and source music provides the best soundtrack of the year.

#9. Inglourious Basterds

At the end of the day, Quentin Tarantino knows how to make movies. Brutally funny, entertaining, and perfectly cast. Christoph Waltz’s star-making portrayal as Col. Hans Landa is perfectly matched by Brad Pitt’s pitch-perfect performance of Lt. Aldo Raine. For the non-believers, see it twice. I did.

#8. In the Loop

Britain’s satire of Anglo-American politics following governmental officials in a bid to begin/prevent a war in the Middle East. Peter Capaldi gives one of the year’s memorable performances as a foul-mouth spin-doctor (who’s character originally appears on BBC’s The Thick of It).

#7. The Messenger

Ben Foster is emerging as the Sean Penn of his generation. A powerful portrait of the war at home, reminiscent of Coming Home. Note to Hollywood: pay more attention to Woody Harrelson.

#6. Away We Go

Jon Krasinski & Maya Rudolph’s chemistry highlight Sam Mendes’ coming of age film about two expecting parents.

#5. Tyson

James Toback’s friendship with Mike Tyson provided for one of the most brilliant confessionals ever put to film.

#4. The Fantastic Mr. Fox

After two disappointments, Wes Anderson returns to rare form. Using Roald Dahl’s novel as his template, he creates a world through stop-motion animation that is fitting for the world in which his other films have emerged from. The most fun at the movies all year.

#3. The Hurt Locker

In what is probably the most important film of the year, Kathryn Bigelow leaves CGI at the door to provide the most realistic portrait of war put to celluloid since Platoon.

#2. Up in the Air

Jason Reitman claims nepotism didn’t work for his success. This film surely proves it. Reitman continues to show that he’s truly an actor’s director, incapable of wasting moments with his characters. George Clooney gives an exceptional performance.

#1. A Serious Man

This is the type of film that you’re supposed to make after you sweep the Academy Awards. The Coen Brothers continue to prove they are a leading voice in American cinema.

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