Road to the Oscars: Critics Choice Awards

Posted by The Citizen Review | Posted in , , | Posted on 10:12 AM

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The CCA always give us an interesting bundle of nominees (last year Meryl Streep tied with Anne Hathaway).

BEST PICTURE
Avatar
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
Nine
Precious
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
Viggo Mortensen – The Road
Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker


BEST ACTRESS
Emily Blunt – The Young Victoria
Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
Carey Mulligan – An Education
Saoirse Ronan – The Lovely Bones
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious
Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Matt Damon – Invictus
Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
Christian McKay – Me And Orson Welles
Alfred Molina – An Education
Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Marion Cotillard – Nine
Vera Farmiga – Up In The Air
Anna Kendrick – Up In The Air
Mo’Nique – Precious
Julianne Moore – A Single Man
Samantha Morton – The Messenger

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Jae Head – The Blind Side
Bailee Madison – Brothers
Max Records – Where The Wild Things Are
Saoirse Ronan – The Lovely Bones
Kodi Smit-McPhee – The Road

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Precious
Star Trek
Up In The Air

BEST DIRECTING
Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
James Cameron – Avatar
Lee Daniels – Precious
Clint Eastwood – Invictus
Jason Reitman – Up In The Air
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Mark Boal – The Hurt Locker
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – A Serious Man
Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber – (500) Days Of Summer
Bob Peterson, Peter Docter – Up
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach – Fantastic Mr. Fox
Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell – District 9
Geoffrey Fletcher – Precious
Tom Ford, David Scearce – A Single Man
Nick Hornby – An Education
Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner – Up In The Air

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Princess And The Frog
Up

BEST ACTION MOVIE
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek

BEST COMEDY
(500) Days Of Summer
The Hangover
It’s Complicated
The Proposal
Zombieland

BEST PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

Gifted Hands
Grey Gardens
Into The Storm
Taking Chance

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Anvil
Capitalism: A Love Story
The Cove
Food, Inc.
Michael Jackson’s This Is It

BEST SONG
“All Is Love” – Karen O, Nick Zinner – Where The Wild Things Are
“Almost There” – Randy Newman – The Princess And The Frog
“Cinema Italiano” – Maury Yeston – Nine
“(I Want To) Come Home” – Paul McCartney – Everybody’s Fine
“The Weary Kind” – T Bone Burnett, Ryan Bingham – Crazy Heart

BEST SCORE
Michael Giacchino – Up
Marvin Hamlisch – The Informant!
Randy Newman – The Princess and the Frog
Karen O, Carter Burwell – Where The Wild Things Are
Hans Zimmer – Sherlock Holmes

Oh, boy. There were many gasps when this list was read. Here's what we found a little surprising, if not pleasing: Up and Nine for Best Picture (Yay!); Viggo Mortensen for The Road; Emily Blunt for The Young Victoria; Saoirse Ronan for Best Actress and Best Young Actor (those poor presenters are going to have to stumble on her name once again); Alfred Molina for An Education. And of course the mystifying saga of Sandra Bullock continues, but that's hardly a surprise anymore.

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Road to the Oscars: National Board of Review Awards

Posted by The Citizen Review | Posted in | Posted on 9:56 AM

We tend to trust the NBR when it comes to their awards. Although this isn't exactly one of the most attention-paid exhibits, it's still important and it's all part of "the road".

Best Film
Up In The Air by Jason Reitman

Ten Best Films (in alphabetical order)
An Education
(500) Days of Summer
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Star Trek
Up
Where the Wild Things Are

Best Foreign Film
A Prophet

Five Best Foreign-Language Films (in alphabetical order)
The Maid
Revanche
Song of Sparrows
Three Monkeys
The White Ribbon

Best Documentary
The Cove

Five Best Documentaries (in alphabetical order)
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
Crude
Food, Inc.
Good Hair
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers

Best Animated Feature
Up

Top Ten Independent Films (in alphabetical order)
Amreeka
District 9
Goodbye Solo
Humpday
In the Loop
Julia
Me and Orson Welles
Moon
Sugar
Two Lovers

Best Director
Clint Eastwood, Invictus

Best Actor (tie)
Morgan Freeman, Invictus, and George Clooney, Up In The Air

Best Actress
Carey Mulligan, An Education

Best Supporting Actor
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger

Best Supporting Actress
Anna Kendrick, Up In The Air

Best Ensemble Cast
It’s Complicated

Breakthrough Performance by an Actor
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Breakthrough Performance by an Actress
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire

Best Original Screenplay
Joel & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man

Best Adapted Screenplay
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up In The Air

The surprises abound. First of all, we like how they have an independent category, props to the NBR on that. Here is what we were surprised to find: tie between Clooney and Freeman for best actor; Anna Kendrick for best supporting actress (what the what?); It's Complicated for best ensemble (what the WHAT?); Star Trek for top ten films; We were happy for 500 Days of Summer as well.

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Road to the Oscars: SAG Award Nominees

Posted by The Citizen Review | Posted in | Posted on 9:30 AM


The SAGs are big for actors. A nominee here can almost definitely secure an Oscar nominee. Also keep in mind that although the SAG doesn't do a Best Picture category exactly but the Best Ensemble category can pretty much be thought of as the same thing.

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

ACTRESS:
Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Helen Mirren - The Last Station
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Matt Damon - Invictus
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Penelope Cruz - Nine
Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Diane Kruger - Inglourious Basterds
Mo'nique - Precious

ENSEMBLE CAST:
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Precious

Outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series

The Closer
Dexter
The Good Wife
Mad Men
True Blood

Outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series

30 Rock
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Glee
Modern Family
The Office

Outstanding performance by a male actor in a drama series

Simon Baker, The Mentalist
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House

Outstanding performance by a female actor in a drama series

Patricia Arquette, Medium
Glenn Close, Damages
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Holly Hunter, Saving Grace
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

Outstanding performance by a male actor in a comedy series

Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men

Outstanding performance by a female actor in a comedy series

Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
Toni Collette, United States Of Tara
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine

Outstanding performance by a male actor in a television movie or miniseries

Kevin Bacon, Taking Chance (HBO)
Cuba Gooding Jr., Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (TNT)
Jeremy Irons, Georgia O’keeffe” (Lifetime)
Kevin Kline, Great Performances: Cyrano De Bergerac (PBS)
Tom Wilkinson, A Number (HBO)

Outstanding performance by a female actor in a television movie or miniseries

Joan, Georgia O’keeffe (Lifetime)
Drew Barrymore, Grey Gardens (HBO)
Ruby Dee, America (Lifetime)
Jessica Lange, Grey Gardens (HBO)
Sigourney Weaver, Prayers For Bobby (Lifetime)

We're still pretty shocked about Sandra Bullock's success but maybe it's her Norma Rae? Other than that, there aren't any major surprises with these nominees.

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Road to the Oscars: Golden Globe Nominees

Posted by The Citizen Review | Posted in , , | Posted on 9:21 PM


Best Motion Picture -- Drama
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds
Precious
Up in the Air

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture -- Drama
Emily Blunt, The Young Victoria
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sadibe, Precious

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture -- Drama
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Tobey Maguire, Brothers


Best Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy
(500) Days of Summer
The Hangover
It's Complicated
Julie & Julia
Nine

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy
Sandra Bullock, The Proposal
Marion Cotillard, Nine
Meryl Streep, It's Complicated
Meryl Streep, Julie and Julia
Julia Roberts, Duplicity

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy
Matt Damon, The Informant
Daniel Day Lewis, Nine
Robert Downey Jr., Sherlock Holmes
Joseph Gordon Levitt, (500) Days of Summer
Michael Stuhlbarg, A Serious Man

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Mo-Nique, Precious
Julianne Moore, A Single Man
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Penelope Cruz, Nine

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Matt Damon, Invictus
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Christopher Waltz, Inglorious Basterds
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger

Best Animated Feature Film
Coraline
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
The Princess and the Frog
Up

Best Foreign Language Film
Barria
Broken Embraces
A Prophet
The White Ribbon
The Maid

Best Director -- Motion Picture
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
James Cameron, Avatar
Clint Eastwood, Invictus
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino, Inglorious Basterds

Best Screenplay -- Motion Picture
Up in the Air
It's Complicated
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds

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Road to the Oscars: 2010

Posted by The Citizen Review | Posted in , , , | Posted on 8:55 PM


Well, it's December. In in Hollywood, it means primarily one thing: Oscar season.

That's right, it's time to tally up the year's best cream of the movie crop. And it doesn't start with the Oscar nominations.

The award shows and top-ten lists that will be released and shown up until February are the most important, most instrumental part of this season. Without these, would the Academy Awards happen?

Well it's our job to be the best, most dutiful reporters we can by dishing out the results of award shows and top ten lists of the world's best critics.

We're actually a little late. The "inner circle" is already being formed. What's the inner circle you ask? It's the small class of films that are the only possibilities for nomination. It's all the nominees and the "almost nominees" which is almost just as good a distinction.

So what's it gonna be? The not-so-small Precious? The very talked-about Up In the Air? The universal epic Avatar? Or something that we've never expected? You never know.

Let the season begin!

Sincerely,
The Citizen Review

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Elf (2003)

Posted by The Citizen Review | Posted in , , , | Posted on 7:44 PM


Jack says: A-

Elf is not your average 'holiday' movie. At the surface, it may seem obnoxious or silly and full of laughs but it's so much better. It has created one of the quirkiest, most homey versions of Christmas and the North Pole the movies has ever seen. It totally goes unapologetically showing us Will Ferrel in a felt elf costume for two hours, having Bob Newhart as his 'papa-elf' and the North Pole looking like the inside of a snowglobe. It's funny, yes, but it also taps into the audiences deepest, most tender Christmas spirit. At the center of the film is a great big heart.

Half of the thanks is due to the stellar cast. First of all there is Bob Newhart, the sarcastic, monotoned Papa Elf. Then there is the cast of characters he meets back in the Big Apple. James Caan plays the head of a children's book publisher who couldn't have less 'Christmas spirit', he's also Buddy's dad.; there's his coworker Jovie played by Zooey Deschanel in one of her first mainstream roles (oh yeah, he also lands a job in a large department store);

And of course the other half of the thanks is due to the writing, because there truly are some hilarious scenes that don't stop being funny after the fifth time watching it. For many, Elf has become another holiday classic, sharing the shelf with A Christmas Story, It's a Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street. And with its fun cast, bustling gags and outrageous performance by Will Ferrel, it's hard for me not to say the space is well-deserved.

Matthew says: B

Elf is one of those cute, jolly little films that come just around Christmas time. The kids say they want to see Santa on screen, and the parents take them because, it's Christmas! I'm not trying to make this movie sound like a "cookie-cutter" film, because it's not a bad film, but it is jut an okay film. And, really, that's all it's trying to be.

This story, takes place in the North Pole, where Buddy the Elf is the only human at Santa's workshop, resembling ones from the classic animated "Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman. He knows he's different, but he's not sure why. One day, Papa Elf tells him the truth about himself and Santa sends him to New York City to find his real family.

He goes, and indeed finds his family, runs into some funny instances with them, it is a comedy, and there's also a romantic interest played by Zooey Deschanel, in one of her not-so-good performences. The movie isn't bad, there are some hilarious moments from Will Ferrel, without whom, the film would not even slightly work, and it ends nicely. It has become a classic to some, but for me, it was a slightly memorable, cute film, starring Will Ferrel, the only reason this film was memorable.

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An Education (2009)

Posted by The Citizen Review | Posted in , , , | Posted on 8:34 PM




Jack says: A

In a great scene in the last act of this film, an unlikely source of help for the protagonist says this, "You seem to be old and wise." To which she responds, "I feel old, but not very wise."

Here we have An Education, a brand new film that isn't very old but feels very wise. It's based on a sort of memoir by Lynn Barber who said that this story is about her attempt to find elegance in her life. This film certainly documents some very elegant people for sure, but it's much more than that. It starts out with Jenny, a senior at an all-girls school outside of London in the 60's, wishing to travel the world and not fulfill the desires of her parents, which would mean attending the very and wise Oxford University.

Enter older, more sophisticated male with a way out. Or at least, that's what it seems in Jenny's eyes. He's definitely a charmer, convincing her parents to let him take her to London, to various places. It turns out that not all that glitters is gold.

The film succeeds in many ways. It succeeds in showing the tragedy of throwing away one's life for a weekend in Paris, it shows the struggles of many women in the 1960's, it shows that the people we think of as unassuming and docile turn out to be closeted philosophers. The film is beautiful, the actors are all perfection, especially Carrie Mulligan who deserves every award surely to be thrown at her and the script is great too. It's not only an education for those in the film, but those who watch it again and again.

Matthew says: A

An Education is a film chock-full of great scenes, so great, no minor setbacks the film may have will bring it down. It's about a 16 year old bright school girl who, one rainy day in England, stumbles upon an older, charming man. They met again days later, and one charming phrase leads to another, which leads to the best night of Jenny's life. He sweeps her of her feet and promises there will be more.

So, by this point she's head-over-heals, and soon thinks her education is trivial, and begins to think of life the way her new, older friends see it. She nearly makes a fool of herself, and in the end, well she indeed gets an education.

I said this film has it's minor problems, and it does, but they are minor. And as I also said, it has some amazing scenes. One such scene is in the car with Jenny and her fellow (I'm just quoting this from memory): Jenny says "My teacher once told us that action is character, and I think what she meant was that if we never do anything, we'll never be anybody. And I never did anything before I met you." That, among with others, also showcases the extremely thoughtful, smart screenplay, and the wondrous Carrey Mulligan. Carrie Mulligan's performance has been compared to ones of Audrey Hepburn, because you can't think of anyone else as fresh and vibrant as her. She sweeps the whole audience up with her performance, much like her romantic interest in the film did to her.

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