The Woman in Black (2012)

This is what a ghost story is all about – a classic things-that-go-bump-in-the-night-tale in an age where the horror stories of Hollywood’s past are quickly fading. The no longer pubescent Danielle Radcliffe gives a convincing performance, played to the beat of ever spooky moment.

There are a lot of cool things about this movie. Except for perhaps the first moment you see him, not once do flashes of Harry Potter appear shadowing Radcliffe’s performance. He’s moved on, and will have a bright future. The second cool thing is that The Woman in Black is concocted out of the classic elements: a deserted mansion, superstition, love, a curious protagonist, a barking dog and creepy music. 

The imagery is fantastic; every shot has a purpose, and you’ll find your eyes wandering, looking for what’s around the corner.

This is a literary horror fest that is sometimes predictable, (horror stories a lot of times are because they need certain stereotypes to make them successful) but the mystery and lure of a lonely mansion on an abandoned rock and a town petrified by what it holds makes The Woman in Black a chilling, yet intriguing piece of art.

Hammer Films has been resurrected from its fame from the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s; its most notable titles being Dracula, Frankenstein and The Return of Frankenstein. In 2010 Hammer Films made Let Me In based off of the Swedish vampire movie Let The Right One In, but it didn’t do as hot as its predecessor.

However, that was a movie based off a movie. Let’s try a movie based off of a book – Susan Hill’s 1983 thriller of the same title. A television movie and play were also based off the book.

We start with the lawyer Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe) who must travel from to a small village to try to sell the gloomy Eel Marsh estate. His wife died during childbirth, and now he’s struggling to pay the bills for him and his son.

Apparently word has spread on just what he’s going to be doing, and the town isn’t happy about it. Fortunately he meets Samuel Daily (Ciarán Hinds) who’s skeptical to superstition. His wife (Janet McTeer) isn’t though. She believes her son died year’s earlier by forces living in the mansion.      

“If we open the door to superstition, where does that lead? It’s just chasing shadows,” said Mr. Daily.

Of course, bound by his duty to his son, Kipps stays in the mansion (or tries to) until he completes his tasks.

The movie was a little shaky on the mystery of the house, and the movie would have been stronger had there been some deeper connection. The Woman in Black ranks high on the creepiness scale though. Radcliffe 

does a wonderful dance with the curse, candle in hand looking behind every corner.

And what would be a good ghost story without those moments of, “Seriously are you stupid? Don’t go in there.”

The Woman in Black is just the cliché of the horror genre needed.  

Snubs and Surprises: The 84th Academy Award Nominations

The race is a steady walk for the first six months, around July it’s a jog and come December the audience and critics turn the corner for the final sprint home. Here are the contenders for the 2012 Academy Awards.


A 9/11 reflection story (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close), a Deep South drama (The Help), a Woody Allen romance (Midnight in Paris), a homage to the silent film era (The Artist), a Hawaii family drama (The Descendants), a World War I epic (War Horse), a Scorsese shout-out to film preservation (Hugo), a family reflection piece (The Tree of Life) and a hearty look at the relationship between money and baseball (Moneyball) all face off for Best Picture.


Seven other category nominations were released on Jan. 24, the most popular and noteworthy of the Academy Awards.


Actress in a Leading Role

• Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs)
• Viola Davis (The Help)
• Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
• Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
• Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn 
 

The surprise nomination is Mara, who played her chilling role with grit, but it’s all about Streep, Davis and Williams. Streep and Williams wonderfully channeled the persons their biopics portrayed, but Davis’ interpretation of a housemaid in 1960s Mississippi has the Academy all a twitter. The announcement of this category’s winner will come with lots of gasps and hollers.


Actor in a Leading Role

• Demián Bichir (A Better Life)
• George Clooney (The Descendants)
• Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
• Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)
• Brad Pitt (Moneyball)

Until the announcement, it was widely accepted that Clooney and Dujardin would duke it out for the statuette. However, Oldman’s turn as a British spy apparently had voters’ heads turning. Best friends Pitt and Clooney are playing tug-of-war as well. It’s a four-horse race now.


Actress in a Supporting Role

• Bérénice Bejo (The Artist)
• Jessica Chastain (The Help)
• Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids)
• Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs)
• Octavia Spencer (The Help)

Give props to McCarthy for being nominated despite the Academy’s distaste for comedy. We haven’t seen this since Marisa Tomei won for My Cousin Vinny. However, Spencer, the sidekick to Viola Davis in The Help, is the front runner. Don’t misjudge the Academy’s nostalgia to the silent-era though, as Bejo could easily win.


Actor in a Supporting Role

• Kenneth Branagh (My Week with Marilyn)
• Jonah Hill (Moneyball)
• Nick Nolte (Warrior)
• Chris Plummer (The Beginners)
• Max von Sydow (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close)

Sydow’s nomination is interesting. Albert Brooks was snubbed out for Drive, but Branagh and Plummer are the ones everyone is keeping their eyes on. However, the Academy can bring upsets. Hill’s portrayal of Peter Brand, Billie Bean’s (Brad Pitt) genius assistant in Moneyball, was well played with the correct amount of smarts and charm.


Directing

• Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)
• Michel Hazanivicius (The Artist)
• Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life)
• Alexander Payne (The Descendants)
• Martin Scorsese (Hugo)

Allen’s nomination isn’t a surprise since he’s an Academy favorite and Midnight in Paris is the perfect kind of romanticism. Scorsese has been snubbed plenty of times, but this time around, his movie about movie preservation may be the fodder the Academy is looking for. The goliath to beat though is Hazanivicius – The Artist is a rare fogy and fluffy movie.


Original Screenplay

• The Artist
• Bridesmaids
• Margin Call 
• Midnight in Paris
• A Separation

Midnight in Paris has this category locked. A loss would be comparable to Crash beating out Brokeback Mountain in 2006.


Adapted Screenplay

• The Descendants 
• Hugo
• The Ides of March
• Moneyball
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

The race is between Hugo, Moneyball and The Descendants. Hugo probably wins it because the Academy can’t pass up the message it sends.


Animated Feature Film

• A Cat in Paris
• Chico and Rita 
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Puss in Boots
• Rango

The Parisian and cubism styled A Cat in Paris is unknown to the mainstream, as well is Chico and Rita, but Gore Verbinski’s Rango is the critical favorite. Will it win?
All of this speculation and jibber-jabber will end Feb. 26 when celebrities take their seats at the Kodak Theatre in hopes of going home with the gold.


This article originally appeared in the January 30 edition of the UWM Post and on their website at uwmpost.com

Jack's Humanity

I wrote this a few years ago and found it hidden in my computer files. 24 is one of my favorite shows, so when I needed to write a poem for my creative writing class I decided to write one on Jack Bauer and all of his adventures and sorrows. Enjoy.

A few years ago my wife was killed because of my job
My daughter has never been the same since.
Through the years what did I get?
A pat on the back
A demotion
A heroin addiction
A near capture by the People’s Republic of China
A false goodbye to my daughter and
A kiss from my wife’s killer.
Damn it!

I had to fake my own death and leave behind everyone I knew and loved.
I lost my best friends, Tony Almeida, Michelle Dressler, and President David Palmer
Yet, I continue to serve the cause I believe this country stands for.
Damn it!

This government has no integrity!
They say this job isn’t supposed to become personal
It felt pretty personal when they killed my wife!
I was betrayed by the oval office
I had to bring down the most powerful man in the world
Out of personal revenge for the havoc he created.
I was exposed and given to the People’s Republic of China by my own family
Then traded back
And left for dead by the government I served for so many years.
Damn it!

Escaping to Africa
Wanting to hide from the world
Instead I became immersed in genocide.
They still found me and punished me for everything I had accomplished for this country.
Perhaps I feel too much?
Maybe they’re right?
There is no room for feeling in this job.

Today I can fight and die for something my way….my choice…
To be honest it would be a relief.
Whether it’s a presidential assassination
A nuclear threat
A biological virus
Uncovering a federal conspiracy
Stopping Russian separatists
Or working with terrorists.
Damn It!

I know what you think your doing is right but it is my job to not let that happen.
As crazy as that sounds you’re going to have to trust me.
Stop wasting my time, gimme a name!
The only reason you’re not unconscious is because I don’t want to carry you.
When I’m finished with you you’re going to wish you felt this good again.
You want results I’m about to get my hands dirty…..give me a hacksaw!
Damn it!

There are things in this world that are out of our control.
Sometimes we like to blame ourselves
So we can make sense out of them
This isn’t over yet.

I’m federal agent Jack Bauer, CTU’s finest and
Today is the longest day of my life
Damn it!

84th Annual Academy Award Nomination Predictions

Do you ever get that feeling that something crazy or unexpected is about to happen? Well, if it is, it’s in the hands of the vote counters now. Yesterday was the final day for Academy voters to submit their votes for nominees for the 84th Academy Awards. Unlike last year when it seemed pretty obvious which movies would take home Hollywood’s top prizes (The Social Network and The King’s Speech,) this year there is a lot of speculation and back-and-forth jibber-jabber over who and what film is worthy to take home the golden statue.

Below are picks from the 10 most popular categories. Come January 24th when the nominations are revealed I may be proven wrong in many of my picks, but I’ve followed this year’s award race intensely and I think I’ve systematically and wisely made some good picks.

Best Picture
1.       The Descendants

2.       The Artist
3.       The Help
4.       Hugo
5.       Moneyball
6.       Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
7.       Midnight in Paris
8.       Bridesmaids
9.       War Horse
10.   Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Remember that the Academy changed their rules in this category. To make it more competitive, they decided that there can be anywhere from five to 10 nominees. However, those nominees must receive at least 5% of the no. 1 vote, so expect to see the first five as lock-ins, but all the rest could easy make it into the nominees. The Descendants and The Artist are gaining steam as the top contenders, but as we learned in 2006 with the pick of Crash and The Hurt Locker in 2010 the Academy can provide some amazing surprises.

You may be surprised to see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Bridesmaids, but after the amount of attention both got in the BAFTA and Golden Globe awards voters may have changed their decisions. Perception is a powerful tool during awards season.

Best Actor
1.       George Clooney, The Descendants
2.       Jean Dujardin, The Artist
3.       Brad Pitt, Moneyball
4.       Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
5.       Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

It’s probably a two horse race between Clooney and Dujardin, but ponder Shannon and Oldman as possible surprises.

Best Actress
1.       Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
2.       Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
3.       Viola Davis, The Help
4.       Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
5.       Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Rooney Mara’s performance was chilling, and that performance may have persuaded some of the younger voters to recognize this young lady. As of right now though, after the BFCA and Golden Globe Awards, it looks like Michelle Williams, Meryl Streep and Viola Davis are going to be the competing trio.

Supporting Actor
1.       Christopher Plummer, The Beginners
2.       Jonah Hill, Moneyball
3.       Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
4.       Ben Kingsley, Hugo
5.       Albert Brooks, Drive

This is perhaps the most up-in-the-air category. Plummer, Hill and Branagh will definitely get nods, but the final two are anyone’s guess.

Supporting Actress
1.       Octavia Spencer, The Help
2.       Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
3.       Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
4.       Jessica Chastain, The Help
5.       Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

Spencer won both the Golden Globes and the BFCA, and she is nominated in the Screen Actor Guild Awards. As of now she’s the runaway favorite.

Best Director
1.       Alexander Payne, The Descendants
2.       Michel Hazavicious, The Artist
3.       Martin Scorsese, Hugo
4.       David Fincher, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
5.       Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

Fincher, Scorsese and Allen are Academy favorites, so don’t be surprised to see them on the list. Remember, Fincher was snubbed last year by The King’s Speech, so voters may have a jotted down their choice with a certain amount of revenge in their hands. All of these titles are nominated in the Director’s Guild Awards as well.

Original Screenplay
1.       Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen
2.       Bridesmaids, Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig
3.       The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius
4.       50/50, Will Reiser
5.       Win Win, Tom McCarthy

Midnight in Paris is unstoppable in this category. It won at the Golden Globes and was nominated in the Writer’s Guild Awards. Allen is an Academy favorite, and I don’t think voters could resist this movie’s romantic charm.

Adapted Screenplay
1.       Moneyball, Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin
2.       Hugo, John Logan
3.       The Descendants, Alexander Payne
4.       The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Steven Zaillian
5.       My Week With Marilyn, Adrian Hodges and Colin Clark

My Week with Marilyn has just enough buzz and nomination juice to squeeze in, but when the ceremony rolls around on February 26th it’s going to be all about Moneyball, Hugo and The Descendants.

Animated Film
1.       Rango, Gore Verbinski and John B. Carls
2.       The Adventures of TinTin, Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and Kathleen Kennedy

Okay, I know there will be five nominees, but if you think any other movie but one of these two will win you might want to reconsider. Rango and TinTin are the favorites among the Hollywood Foreign Press and every Guild out there. This race is down to two.

Score
1.       Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor
2.       War Horse, John Williams
3.       Hugo, Howard Shore
4.       The Artist, Ludovic Bource
5.       Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Alexandre Desplat

This category is creeping into the spotlight, especially after last year’s controversy when The Social Network beat out Inception. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Hugo and The Artist are the three strong front runners, but Alexandre Desplat’s melodically chilling soundtrack could make the fifth spot.

As the days progress, and more Guild awards are given, a frontrunner may emerge, but for right now it looks like the 84th Academy Awards is going to be one of several shocks, suprsises, ohs and ahs. We’re looking at competitions between new and old Hollywood. No matter what side the Academy voters chose, make sure you tune into the ceremony on February 26th. I have a hunch it’s going to be one of the most interesting in recent memory.

Midnight in Paris (2011)

They say it’s the flaw of the romantic imagination, denial of the present, but Woody Allen creates a wistful masterpiece by toying with the surrealism of our imaginations. Nostalgia has divine power, the kind that transforms everything around us into its own art form. This is one of Allen’s best – a story about the novelty of our idealism.

Short off its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, Allen’s 41st film draws similarities to Manhattan, and the main character, Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) can be seen as Allen’s substitute, but not as chaotic. There are certain Woody-esque themes, literature, sexuality and psychoanalysis. Midnight in Paris will give you a quixotic fantasy that teaches both the dreamer and the intellectual not to be fooled simply by what lays before their eyes.

Penders and Inez (Rachel McAdams) are engaged and join their family on a business trip to Paris, where they hope to escape from the lives they live in California. Penders is a Hollywood writer, but is in the middle of writing a novel. He believes Paris is most beautiful when it rains, and that its real beauty lies beneath its lights. His fiancé however is more of a realist, she identifies with the intellectual side of reality.

Advertisement One night, Penders goes for a walk and when the bells strike midnight a car passes by with what appears to be locals going to a party. He’s encouraged to join and does. He’s been transported to the 1920’s with the likes of Ernest Hemmingway, Pablo Picasso, Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates) and others – the era he is portraying in his book with the people he idolizes.

Every night he sneaks away from his unaware fiancé and returns to what he calls “the golden age” of Paris. What is a golden age without a golden girl? Penders falls for Picasso’s girlfriend Adriana (Marion Cotillard), and soon the two begin a rendezvous that unfolds the meaning of “the golden age”, and ponders when nostalgia is too much for the beholder.

Owen Wilson is the gem of this movie. He’s plays his role with kid-in-the-candy-store attitude. He’s passionate about what he’s experiencing, and that crosses over to the sophistication of his acting. He’s the hopeless romantic among the surrealists of the 1920’s, if that makes sense.

Midnight in Parissolidifies Allen’s expertise as a director and writer, and he undoubtedly helped Wilson craft his role. The film is light and fluffy, but in a good way, like charming and sophisticated go together. We are talking about a movie that takes place in the crème de la crème of all cities that is. Woody Allen is a gift to American cinema.

Midnight in Paris has so much class. Each one of us is an artist, so what is the trigger that plunges us into our own era of happiness?

Bold prediction (I made this originally when it came out.)

Owen Wilson will be nominated at the Oscars for Best Actor and Midnight in Paris will be nominated for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography (Darius Khondji) or all three. The win is a hard prediction to make.

One Day (2011)

Anne Hathaway is a polarizing figure. Some see her charm while others run from it. In “One Day,” she’s at her most adorable, and what makes her and the story such a treat to watch is its realism. It expresses some of the most universal fears and hopes about life and love. Love isn’t meant to be this dream we conceive, but instead a memory to be held when we’re forced to change for the betterment of ourselves.

“One Day,” adapted from the 2009 David Nicholls novel of the same name, isn’t a sappy story. In fact, it lays the groundwork down well for a journey that’s easy to follow, a credit to director Lone Scherfig, who didn’t fall into the teenage girl adaptation trap.

Emma Morley (Hathaway) and Dexter Mayhew (Jim Sturgess) are drunk and feeling like third wheels on July 15, 1988. When their eyes meet, they attempt a one night stand, but they call it off and decide to let their friendship ride. It grows even stronger when Emma gets caught up in a dead end job in London, and Dexter goes on to teach English in Paris. She thought she’d make a difference, but it’s the encouragement from Dexter that keeps her pursuing a writing career.

Dexter soon finds fame and fortune and whisks Emma away on vacation when he realizes she needs the escape. The two have a charming back-and-forth wit worthy of a few chuckles.

Dexter eventually falls prey to the evils of his party lifestyle and not only his amiability but his potential as well. All the while, Emma is becoming the woman of his dreams.

This is where the movie’s brilliance comes across – it somehow finds a way to mirror the two friends’ emotions against each other but at different times. We understand how parallel this friendship is and just how much opposites do attract. It’s beautiful and hopeless. That’s what makes their love pop.

“One Day” is a nice twist on the typical cookie-cutter romantic formula. It’s a love story with a lot of real world resonance and an enchanting performance from Hathaway. “One Day” will leave you with hope and, perhaps, a little sourness, but also the ambition to take cupid’s arrow and never let it go. It’s amazing what can be accomplished in just one day.

Watch the trailer here

My Week With Marilyn (2011)

My Week with Marilyn is a heartfelt and seductive biopic driven by an Oscar-worthy performance by Michelle Williams.

When she's on screen nothing else matters. My Week With Marilyn is the story of Marilyn Monroe’s work on the productionThe Prince and the Showgirl, and how a young director’s assistant became enticed into the biggest joy ride of his life. Halfway through, the latter becomes the overpowering part of the story.

Monroe’s name brings excitement and awe, so when we get down to the grittiness of the film we find ourselves solely attached to a story of a lonely girl's fleeting grasp to a world where she doesn't have to act.

Marilyn Monroe is played by Michelle Williams, and after this performance an Oscar nomination is almost certainly in her future. Every hip swing, kiss, wink, and smile she makes is just as lovely as when the blonde bombshell herself did it. Even her curly blonde hair and red lipstick glows to perfection. We truly believe we are watching Monroe.

Monroe was an enigma; she still is to this day. Williams took that challenge, but didn’t mold it to her own image. Instead she takes that idea and breaks our hearts. She stuns and seduces us, making us love an enigmatic woman.

It's a romantic biopic, a cherished memory to Monroe's short life. The film was based on Colin Clark’s personal memoir "The Prince, The Showgirl and Me." Clark also co-wrote the screenplay, so we could see a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay as well. He fell in love with the actress in 1956, and discovered her beauty in a very deep way, through her fear and depression.

In 1956 the young go-getter Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne) takes a job with a production company. He’s just a lowly third directors assistant, but he continues to make inroads, working with the main actor Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh), he soon becomes enchanted by Mrs. Monroe's aura. (She was married to Arthur Miller.)

One night Monroe asks Clark to come to her dressing room. She asks him whose side he’s only. Cautiously, he replies he’s on her side. Clark becomes her confidant in a tumultuous time when she feels she’s being betrayed by her husband, and the pressures of the British cinema are raining down on her.

As the two grow closer, Monroe sees Clark as the only one who understands who she truly is. Marilyn Monroe is only a part, but in reality she's a scared girl who true love runs away from. Monroe begins to fall for Clark as well, and the two sprint off to begin their romance, even though everyone warns Clark she will only break his heart.

This romance isn’t sappy, nor is it without class. It entices us with the right blend of emotional appeal, danger and sexiness. Just as Clark was seduced, we too feel a strange attachment to the beauty resonating from the screen.

Marilyn Monroe was a luminescent figure in every way possible, and the beauty of My Week With Marilyn is it shimmers into the darkness of Monroe’s life. Williams is a wonder in her portrayal. Monroe was a very picky lady, but this performance would make her proud.

Watch the trailer here