Great Movie Posters of 2009

Posted by The Citizen Review | Posted in , , | Posted on 12:56 PM


Taking Woodstock movie poster

Taking Woodstock

Broken Embraces movie poster

Broken Embraces



It's Complicated


Afghan Star


Antichrist


Black Dynamite


Breaking Upwards


The Dungeon Masters


The End of the Line

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The Headless Woman


Herb & Dorothy


The House of the Devil


In the Loop


Lifelines


Moon


New York, I Love You


Objectified


The Perfect Sleep


Three Blind Mice


Valentino the Last Emperor

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Avatar (2009)

Posted by The Citizen Review | Posted in , , | Posted on 11:24 AM

Average grade: A+

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Jack says: A+

I was skeptical when I first heard about this film. I knew it was James Cameron and that it had a huge budget and all that, but by the previews and of what I saw on T.V., it all looked a little stupid to me. But when you watch it, it's impossible not to love everything about it: Pandora (the mythical moon-world created entirely by Cameron); the Na'vi (the native inhabitants of Pandora); the Na'vi language; the plants, the animals, the floating mountains. All of it. It's truly one of the best and most awesome spectacles in film history, if not the very best.

First, one must understand what exactly an "avatar" is. An avatar is genetic rendering of a Na'vi native. It's fully breathing and living. But its only alive through the nervous system of a human being. The avatar has part DNA from the Na'vi and from the human about to assume the avatar (the human must go into some sort of sleep chamber in order to inhabit the avatar).

Jake Sully, the hero of the story, comes in to play when his brother who was the original match for the avatar dies. And since he is a genetic match, they choose him to use the avatar. He is part of a small group of people (including Sigourney Weaver's character) who have avatars in order to go into Pandora (without a mask, since the atmosphere is toxic to humans) and gather information about the land and people.

Jake gets abandoned on one of their missions into Pandora and he has to fend for himself through the night. His life is saved by Neytiri, the princess of her tribe (Zoe Saldana) and is brought back to her 'people' to be studied and to learn the Na'vi way. Back in his human body, Jake is being hounded by Colonel Miles Quaritch to figure out a way to make the Na'vi move from their home base so they can get the precious minerals beneath it. That's the reason the military and scientists are there in the first place. Pandora makes no threat to Earth, but of course money is involved.

What ensues is one of the most entertaining, visually stunning and groundbreaking films ever to grace the screen of a movie theater. It also sends a fairly blatant message about anti-war and 'going green'. The images are heartbreaking, riveting and mind-blowing and it will certainly be nominated for Best Picture along with a scatter of others, and I believe it deserves to win. James Cameron and his film will be cherished and hailed as one of the greatest and most groundbreaking epics in film history.

Matthew says: A+

Avatar has gotten quite some buzz the past couple years. Cameron says it will have all new technology no one has ever seen. Really? I was skeptic. In the past few months I've seen photos, trailers and I still didn't know what this movie was about. Let me tell you.

It takes place 50 years or so in the future and Scientists have discovered a new world. Pandora, an organically saturated moon orbiting around a giant star. They have sent scientists and Military soldiers into Pandora because Pandora has a rich supply of a mineral that earth desperately needs to survive. But the air is not breathable by humans, only by the the natives of Pandora, the Na'vi. So the scientists on this project have created Na'vi based on the genetics of the human. These man-made Na'vi are called avatars and the humans going into Pandora can live inside these avatars through tapping into their minds.

Sounds like a lot to take in, but the story telling of this story makes this totally plausible and believable. Jake Sully is an ex-marine who is paralyzed from the waist down but his twin brother was on the Pandora mission with an avatar already made for him. So he steps in for him. When he first steps on Pandora he gets lost and is attacked by leopard like creatures and is saved by a Na'vi. He takes him to her clan of people and there, Neytiri, the Na'vi who saved Jake, is assigned to train and teach him the ways of the Na'vi.

With Neytiri, Jake learns the language and way of survival, and soon begins to fall in love with Neytiri. This is one of the most important parts to Avatar. The love that Jake and Neytiri have is almost like a dream. Jake is soon accepted into the clan. The people back and the lab don't like this. Jake is beginning to switch sides. He's begging to side with the Na'vi. Then things get serious and soon, war breaks out.

This film has so much contained in it that it's so hard to explain in words. The only thing you can say to someone is see it immediately. It has one of the greatest, most original stories, and most beautiful and fully imagined worlds in film history. The technology and innovation is truly groundbreaking. If I could say this overused saying with only one movie, I'd use it for this one; you have never seen anything like it. It is a film that must be seen, but saying you must "see" it doesn't really sound right. Avatar isn't something you see. It is something truly special, one must experience.

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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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