Post Oscars bliss

So i never get a hundred percent in predictions, so what?

A few surprises here and there, but one category is almost a shocker.

For the love of god, give Marty Scorsese the Oscar!

The aviator is a gorgeous movie though i think the cinematography is erratic and inconsistent, so i really wonder why it won cinematography.

i got the supporting actors wrong, hmmm. i thought cate was wonderful in Aviator, but i really thought Virginia Madsen's presence in Sideways should've won. morgan freeman, i love the guy. i just though sideways would get these, because it's not getting anything else.

the passion losing makeup to lemony snicket... funny.

Finding Neverland wins something.. Original Score. well.

i think someone should say something against channel 9's broadcast exclusivity. they advertise for a "live" broadcast at 9:30am, air the thing at 10am obviously late, and fill the thing with so many adverts it runs till past 2pm. sequestered kasi ang channel, kaya ba pinagkakakitaan?

one amusing thing during intermissions though: the Boysen spot starring Joel!!!

Obligatory Oscars predictions

As Hollywood prepares for its biggest show, everyone wants to throw his hat in the Oscars predictions ring. There’s no short supply of prognosticators from reviewers and regular movie buffs alike. But does it really mean anything to be able to predict the winners of Hollywood’s own game? Hardly. Even writers from the States don’t usually make a hundred percent correct guess. It seems many do it for its own sake, so there’s no harm if I did my own thing. Of course this is all just my opinioned guess.

PICTURE
Who wins: Million Dollar Baby
My choice: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Should have been nominated instead of Ray: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

(nominees)
"Million Dollar Baby" (Warner Brothers)
"The Aviator" (Miramax)
"Ray" (Universal Pictures)
"Sideways" (Fox Searchlight)
"Finding Neverland" (Miramax)

My friends call Ray the worst biopic in years, not to mention the worst best picture nom in years. I can only agree.

DIRECTOR
Who wins: Martin Scorsese, for “The Aviator”
My choice: Martin Scorsese, for “Raging Bull” (1980)
Should have been nominated: Michel Gondry for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Alejandro Amenabar for The Sea Inside

(nominees)
Martin Scorsese, "The Aviator"
Clint Eastwood, "Million Dollar Baby"
Taylor Hackford, "Ray"
Alexander Payne, "Sideways"
Mike Leigh, "Vera Drake"

ACTOR
Who wins: Jamie Foxx, for "Ray"
My choice: Leonardo DiCaprio for "The Aviator"

(nominees)
Don Cheadle, "Hotel Rwanda"
Johnny Depp, "Finding Neverland"
Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Aviator"
Clint Eastwood, "Million Dollar Baby"
Jamie Foxx, "Ray"

Leo deserves the win more than Foxx does, but Foxx wins for the moment.

ACTRESS
Who wins: Hilary Swank, "Million Dollar Baby"
My choice: Imelda Staunton, "Vera Drake"

(nominees)
Annette Bening, "Being Julia"
Catalina Sandino Moreno, in "Maria Full of Grace"
Imelda Staunton, "Vera Drake"
Hilary Swank, "Million Dollar Baby"
Kate Winslet, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Who wins: Thomas Haden Church, "Sideways"
My choice: Clive Owen, "Closer"

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Who wins: Virginia Madsen, “Sideways”
My choice: Natalie Portman, "Closer"

ANIMATED FILM
Who wins: The Incredibles
This is a no-contest, no-brainer category.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Who wins: Sideways
My choice: Before Sunset

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Who wins: The Aviator
My choice: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

ART DIRECTION
Who wins: The Aviator
My choice: Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Who wins: A Very Long Engagement
My choice: either House of Flying Daggers, A Very Long Engagement, or The Passion of the Christ
Should have been nominated: Collateral

(nominees)
"The Aviator"
"House of Flying Daggers"
"The Passion of the Christ"
"The Phantom of the Opera"
"A Very Long Engagement"

COSTUME DESIGN
Who wins: The Aviator
My choice: The Aviator

DOCUMENTARY
Who wins: Super Size Me
My choice: Super Size Me
Surprise non-nomination: Fahrenheit 9/11

EDITING
Who wins: The Aviator
My choice: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Should have been nominated: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Surprise nomination: Collateral

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Who wins: Spain, "The Sea Inside"
My choice: Spain, "The Sea Inside"

MAKEUP
Who wins: The Passion of the Christ
My choice: The Passion of the Christ

ORIGINAL SCORE
Who wins: John Debney, "The Passion of the Christ"
My choice: Thomas Newman, "Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events"

ORIGINAL SONG
Who wins: "Learn To Be Lonely" from "The Phantom of the Opera"
My choice: "Look To Your Path (Vois Sur Ton Chemin)" from "The Chorus (Les Choristes)"

SOUND EDITING
Who wins: Spider-Man 2
My choice: The Incredibles

SOUND MIXING
Who wins: The Polar Express
My choice: Ray

VISUAL EFFECTS
Who wins: Spider-Man 2
My choice: Spider-Man 2

Let's see how many I get right.

Limbo rocks

Unpublished Review by Vives Anunciacion

Constantine
Directed by Francis Lawrence
Written by Kevin Brodbin, Frank Capello
Based on characters from the "Hellblazer" graphic novels from DC Comics/Vertigo
Starring Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz
PG 13/ 117minutes
Warner Brothers Pictures / Village Roadshow

The opening scene features John Constantine exorcising a demon from a young girl in the suburbs of Los Angeles (the girl’s name is Jhoanna Trias). The demon hisses in Tagalog, “papatayin natin sila!” just before Constantine sends it to oblivion. Now why would a demon, in the plural, speak Filipino?

I’ve recommended this movie to friends who somehow seem unconvinced that it’s really an interesting movie. The catch probably lies whether the permanently stoic Keanu Reeves can mass-hypnotize the world into believing that he can play the role of Constantine. At the very least, he’s fooled me. This may be Keanu’s best casting yet, though the role had something akin with Mr. Reeves’ thespian prowess, hence the perfect casting. But he does act in this movie, for once. Oh no, I sound like I’m a fan. I’m damned.

Anyway, Constantine is a cancer-stricken, chain smoking occultist / exorcist trying to buy his way to heaven by helping out maintain the balance between good and evil on earth. When half-breed angels and demons try to tilt this delicate balance to their favor, Constantine intervenes by sending the violators to kingdom come.

A failed suicide in his past has given Constantine the special ability to see and interact with the non-mortals that roam the earth, as well as a sure booking in Hell. Constantine suspects the balance is about to be tipped over after a string of exorcisms and demonic attacks. Angela Dodson, a police detective investigating the mysterious death of her twin sister, finds herself thrown into the celestial struggle. Add to this a hellishly underdeveloped plot involving a Spear of Destiny and the son of the Devil.

Constantine is loosely based on the Hellblazer graphic novels from Vertigo and DC Comics.
Fans of the comic book series will be much disappointed, as this Constantine is far, far removed from his blonde and British origins. But I dearly welcome the changes (truly from a non-fan). It’s almost unbelievable to say Reeves is perfect as the acerbic, cynical and clinically depressed exorcist, but he is, all prejudices aside. The biggest and most welcome surprise are Tilda Swinton as the misguided but deliciously androgynous Archangel Gabriel, and Swedish actor Peter Stormare as a snazzy Satan. Great performances from all members of the cast including former Bush lead singer Gavin Rossdale as half-demon Balthazar.

By now we are all aware of the ill effects of smoking, let alone chain smoking, which this movie more than once reminds us of. Unfortunately, no amount of benevolent warning from the surgeon general can match the sheer power of corporate-sponsored mass addiction. That shows who really lords over this earth.

If anything, Constantine looks good with spectacular visuals – especially of Hell – and brooding cinematography. In a way it looks like a supernatural detective noir – The Exorcist meets Dick Tracy meets Hellboy.

The movie isn’t without its faults, most notably the vast discrepancy with the comic book material. Narratively speaking, it plays out as a simplified graphic novel without explanations. There’s no back-story how Constantine got the part as Fate’s arbiter as well as how he learned the stuff he’s doing. But that’s the stuff of the sequel. On the other hand its simplified mythology and theology takes too much for granted, creating some plot holes.

Unlike typical action-horror movies, Constantine doesn’t rush the narrative, no matter how thin it is. The film would have been a classic if it had better writing. Constantine may not blaze new trails in filmmaking, but it does sear our eyes slowly and pleasurably.

War and remembrance

Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre January 31 2005

A Very Long Engagement / Un long dimanche de fiançailles
Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Written by Jeunet & Guillaume Laurant
Based on the novel by Sebastien Japrisot
Starring Audrey Tautou, Gaspard Ulliel, Dominique Pinon
R13/ 134 minutes
Warner Independent Pictures
With English subtitles
Opens February 2

“Once upon a time there were five French soldiers who had gone off to war, because that’s the way of the world.” – Sebastien Japrisot, A Very Long Engagement

January, 1917 at the height of World War 1: five French soldiers are condemned to march into no man’s land for shooting their own hands in their attempt to avoid going into the front lines against the Germans. The five – a farmer, a mechanic, a pimp, a carpenter and a young fisherman – are taken to the trenches in Somme between France and Germany. Their bodies are eventually recovered from the trenches.

Years pass, and lonely Mathilde receives word from a former soldier who says he met one of the condemned – the fisherman, Manech – moments before he died. Mathilde investigates, and the more news she gathers, the more Mathilde becomes convinced that not only is the story of the five soldiers incomplete, but that also her fiancée, Manech the fisherman, may not have died at all. So begins her very long search.

Based on Sebastien Japrisot’s 1994 bestselling novel, A Very Long Engagement is about a young crippled woman’s undying, endless tenacity set against the backdrop of World War 1. Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet reassembles his Amelie team to present a spectacular tale of passion and hope that’s part detective movie noir-ish, part Amelie whimsical, part Saving Private Ryan explosive, with shades of Stanley Kubrick’s 1957 WWI antiwar opus, Paths of Glory.

Mercy on us, it’s a relentless visceral attack on the senses. Nominated this year for Oscars in Cinematography and Art Direction, A Very Long Engagement balances the bleakness and grains of war with the warmth and cheerfulness of the French countryside. Design is equally majestic: the recreation of old Paris and the trenches is marvelous to behold. Engagement makes war look great, but says everything against it.

As Mathilde, Audrey Tautou shows in her eyes the meaning of determination, and comes off as endearing as she was in Amelie (though she may look a tad too old for her young character.) A notable surprise in casting comes midway into the film, I just can’t say whom. Let’s just say a very talented American actress can be mistaken for a regular French lady, accent and all.

War and love have been longtime movie themes precisely because they show the clash of spectacle and grace, the good and the bad, the best and the worst in humanity. Through Mathilde’s quest, we are reminded of the other characters of war, true casualties – men, women and children caught blindsided in the games of the powers that be. It is Mathilde’s stubbornness – as stubborn as an albatross trying to out-fly the wind – that makes these things happen. Through her, the lives of five dead soldiers are re-lived. Isn’t it so that man only exists for as long as he is remembered?

More than anything, A Very Long Engagement is about belief in a time of cynicism – when suffering and grief has pushed everything to its limits, it is faith that steers things away from the ensuing madness.

Check the screening schedules and do all your stuff before watching the film. This movie runs for more than 2 hours, but make sure you don’t miss a moment. Remember that.