Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 457-458: Carry on Clooney

We carry straight on from the last post with two more films that involved George Clooney both in front and behind the screen.

We start with Up in the Air, the film which earned Clooney his second Best Actor nomination and was possibly the film that capitalised on his old-school movie star charm. Up in the Air is directed and co-written by Jason Reitman who we first met when he helmed Juno with this film sharing a similar tone with his previous Oscar winner. Just like with Juno, Up in the Air deals with quite a serious subject matter in this case mass redundancies; quite a pressing topic during the recession in the late noughties. The film sees Clooney play Ryan Bingham, a man who fires people for a living and spends most of his time in planes going from different destinations in America. Ryan's life is devoted to racking up 10 million air miles and to presenting his self-help course known as 'the empty backpack'. Up in the Air sees Ryan experiencing two changes in his life, firstly the prospect that he made be grounded and sent back to his office in Omaha. This is due to the fact that whiz kid recruit Natalie has set up a new video conferencing firing system which enables all employees to do their job from the office. Annoyed at this idea, Ryan takes Natalie on the road in an attempt to show her that firing people isn't as simple as she believes. At the same time Ryan encounters Alex, who is also a frequent flyer and the two share a mutual attraction as they marvel at each other's air miles. As the film progresses the commitment-phobic Ryan realises that he might be falling for Alex in a big way. However, in a similar manner to Juno, Up in the Air doesn't finish in the way you think it might and instead there are a few twists littered before the finale.

Whilst promoting Up in the Air, Reitman said that he wanted to make Ryan a likeable character who fires people for a living and to do that he had to cast the most charming actor possible. It's Clooney's charm that makes the film in my opinion and in particular it's the fact that he's now an ageing heartthrob that gives Ryan that extra bit of sympathy. Clooney is great at delivering Reitman and Shelton Turner's fast-paced dialogue and is equally adept at presenting the plot of the film without his lines every feeling particularly expositional. Clooney is fantastically supported by Vera Farmiga as Alex, who more than holds her own in his company and the two form a believable chemistry throughout the film. Similarly great is Anna Kendrick who gave a breakthrough turn as the ambitious but insecure Natalie whose relationship with Ryan is equally as important as his romance with Alex. Reitman added a tinge of realism to the piece by interviewing numerous people who had recently been made redundant and adding their experiences into the film. Reitman asked them to think back to when they were let go and so their responses to Natalie and Ryan's appearance feel totally natural. Juno's JK Simmons also gives a memorable if brief turn as one of the fired employees in a pivotal scene in which Ryan demonstrates to Natalie that the job isn't as easy as she initially believed. Everything about Up in the Air is well-styled from the business suits that the characters don down to the loyalty cards that turn both Ryan and Alex on. If I were to have one criticism of the film it would be that the pace dips briefly when Ryan and Alex attend his sister's wedding however the subsequent final act of Up in the Air more than makes up for it. Despite being nominated for six awards at the Oscars, including honours for the three lead performers, Up in the Air failed to secure one win. This is a shame as I feel it's an incredibly relevant film with three fantastic performances and a brilliant director at the helm.
Three years later, Clooney finally made it to the stage as part of the team of that year's Best Picture winner Argo. Argo was based on the hostage crisis in Iran's American embassy in the early 1980s and more specifically the six 'houseguests' of the Canadian ambassador who'd fled their workplace just before the rioting took place. To get the six out of Iran, CIA operative Tony Mendez came up with an elaborate story to create a fake sci-fi movie, the titular Argo, and pass the Americans off as a film crew scouting locations in Iran. Clooney first learnt of this bizarre story after reading an article about it and so set about producing the picture. Clooney eventually hired Ben Affleck to both direct the piece and star in the role of Mendez; however Clooney himself would only be credited as a producer. Since we last saw him in Good Will Hunting, Affleck's career trajectory had been precarious to say the least initially starring in several flops and being more famous for his relationship with Jennifer Lopez. However, in 2007, he began directing films and earned rave reviews for his first two features; Gone Baby Gone and The Town. His roles both behind and in front of the camera were equally impressive here as Argo was visually impressive and had a fantastic lead turn. As the film goes on Mendez turns to make-up artist John Chambers for help in creating the fake movie who in turn introduces him to veteran producer Lester Siegel. The scenes featuring Chambers and Siegel are where Argo turns itself into somewhat of a black comedy however the balance between these scenes and those of the hostages is excellent. In its third act, Argo becomes somewhat of a thriller as Mendez travels to Iran and attempts to extract the houseguests from Iran. This is easier said than done and I was personally on the edge of my seat to see if they would actually make it through the airport without getting rumbled.

It's easy to see why Argo won Best Picture as it is both based on a real life story and features some lines that feel like they'd been written by a Hollywood insider. I was quite impressed with Chris Terrio's screenplay which, as I previously mentioned, was well-balanced making the film feel both comedic and dramatic at the same time. One of the odd things about Argo's presence at the Oscars was the fact that Affleck didn't even get a look in when it came to the Best Director category. This is partly to do with the fact that not all of the directors of the nine nominated films could feature in a category which only honoured five film-makers. However, I do believe that Affleck's fine direction of the piece should have at least received a nomination over say Tom Hooper's helming of Les Miserables. Affleck himself proved to be a fine lead, here presenting Tony as the harassed everyman who found himself carrying out somewhat of an impossible task. Of the cast, only Alan Arkin was nominated for an Oscar for his role as sharp-tongued producer Lester Siegel. Indeed Arkin's interplay with John Goodman's John Chambers were some of the highlights of the film and I personally loved his rather foul-mouthed explanation of Argo's plot. Rodrigo Prieto's cinematography gave the Iranian scenes an extra sense of dread as he presented the siege at the embassy in a rather dramatic style. Argo managed to keep my attention due to its fine pacing and it's mixture of Hollywood satire and edge-of-your-seat thriller. It also represents the fact that the Academy were selecting more interesting films to win Best Picture as I don't think a film like Argo could ever have won the award twenty years prior. Whether it's win was ultimately the right choice is an interesting debate and you'll have to find out my verdict in my review of the most recent Oscar ceremonies.

Up next we have a look at two films that explored the way that technology was starting to take over our lives in the second decade of the 21st century. 

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 455-456: Growing Paynes

In the last decade, one Best Picture nominee I had the most praise for was Sideways, a beautifully melancholy comedy drama from the pen of Alexander Payne. Oscar seemingly fell in love with Payne after that because both of his next two films were nominated in the Best Picture category.

Seven years after Sideways, Payne's next project was The Descendants; an adaptation of Kaui Hart Hemmings' book of the same name. Just like he did with Sideways, Payne won the Oscar for adapted screenplay this time sharing the award with his co-writers Jim Rash and Nat Faxon. The film itself is based around the life of Hawaiian lawyer Matt King, whose wife Elizabeth has recently been hospitalised following a boating accident. As a result of this, Matt is forced to become a proper father to his mischievous ten-year-old daughter Scottie and her troubled teenager sister Alexandra. Whilst trying to deal with his personal issues Matt is also involved with the sale of an expensive plot of land that was owned by his ancestors. As the lawyer, it's his job to trawl through the legal paperwork and make the ultimate decision whether he and his cousins should sell and to who. Events get even more complicated when Alex reveals that Elizabeth was cheating on Matt with smarmy real estate agent Brian Speer to the extent that she was about to ask him for a divorce. The film then follows Matt's quest to track down Brian, bond with his daughters and decide what to do with the land. At the film's heart is a story about the bonds between family which is represented both through Matt's relationship with his daughters and his decision regarding his ancestral land. I think that Payne and his co-writers did a good job at looking at a man who had essentially been passive all of his life and turn him into someone who had to be active. In a way this is the sort of film I would have a liked A Serious Man to be as Matt King is similar to the protagonist from the Coen Brothers' film. But, thanks in part to Payne's script, you grow to like Matt and his daughters as the film goes on.

A big part of why the film works is due to George Clooney's performance as Matt, in which he changed his image from the debonair film star. Elsewhere in the blog we've seen Clooney play everything from smooth-talking astronaut to intelligent fixer but The Descendants sees him alter his style. Matt is instead quite ineffectual at points and Clooney brilliantly displays his character's hopelessness especially in regards to raising his daughters and Elizabeth's situation. Despite altering his style, Clooney's vocals are still as silky as ever and they are well utilised to deliver several of the film's key monologues. I did feel at times as if Payne, Rash and Faxon were cheating at times by heaping a dollop of exposition onto our plates, but Clooney's delivery is so flawless that it doesn't really matter. Lending able support is Shailene Woodley, who earned a Golden Globe nomination and became a breakout star through her role as the damaged Alex. Woodley and Clooney share a believable chemistry and the scenes between their characters are thoroughly touching. One of my only issues was the fact that Alex had to be accompanied by the frankly useless Sid, a surfer dude who in my opinion served very little purpose. Due to the fact that The Descendants is filmed in and around Hawaii, The Descendants also has some great locations to work from and cinematographer Phedon Papamichael utilises these throughout the film. Further contributing to this theme is the Hawaiian music-heavy soundtrack which I found utterly pleasurable. Whilst The Descendants contains very little in the way of twists and turns it's a lovely little character study on the meaning of family. It also includes one of George Clooney's best performances to date and if you're worried that we haven't had enough of him yet then you're in luck because the next post is dedicated just to him.

But for now we skip two years into the future with Nebraska which, like Sideways, was another road trip film. Interestingly it was the first of Payne's films in which he wasn't actively involved with the screenwriting and instead the script came courtesy of Bob Nelson. Payne had been touted as the director of Nebraska for many years but it was only after completing The Descendants that he decided to work on the film. The key protagonist in the film is Woody Grant, an alcoholic man with two sons and an incredibly outspoken wife who believes he's come into a million dollars. In fact, Nelson establishes right from the start that Woody's money doesn't exist and in fact it's simply a scam set up by a magazine company. Nevertheless, Woody is determined to get to Lincoln, Nebraska to collect his winnings and his younger son David decides to accompany him. In my opinion, Nebraska is as much David's story as it is Woody's as his reason for the trip is to get away from his Montana hometown following his recent break-up. David is another classic Payne protagonist in that he is unlucky in love, has a lowly job as a hi-fi salesman and has a lot less success than his anchorman brother. Along the way David learns that Woody never really wanted children and that he really wasn't bothered about marrying his now wife Kate. The majority of the film's action is set around Hawthorne in Nebraska, Woody's hometown, where he experiences a family reunion of sorts. Despite David's protestations, everybody believes that Woody has won the money and soon people are bothering David asking for money that they loaned to Woody at one time or another. The culmination of the film's story is incredibly sweet-natured as Woody inevitably doesn't get the money he started out wanting but instead gets an even better gift.

I've written a lot about casting choices over the course of this blog and Nebraska line-up of actors certainly benefits the film in the long run. The studio allegedly wanted big names to play the roles of Woody and David, but Payne argued otherwise. Vintage character actor Bruce Dern was chosen to play Woody and earned himself a Best Actor nomination as a result. Dern perfectly portrays Woody as a man who is detached from society for the most part, but who is revealed to have been quite the womaniser in his day. Dern is completely believable as the former alcoholic and you can absolutely understand how he's alienated his family. I personally feel that Dern is at his best when conveying how much the prize-winning letter means to Woody as he frantically reads it throughout the film. Saturday Night Live regular Will Forte was similarly a lesser-known star but really turned in an excellent turn as the begrudgingly compliant David. Forte makes David a character who is easy to sympathise with even though you understand that he's sometimes his own worst enemy. Completing the trio of fine performances is the wonderful June Squibb, who like Dern was given an Oscar nomination for her role as the outrageous Kate. Squibb really portrays Kate as a force-of-nature and she easily makes you believe in her character's backstory. Nebraska is given even more charm by the fact that its shot in black-and-white which makes this traditional story seem even more old-fashioned. I personally felt that this technique really set the film apart from all of its contemporaries and it definitely felt apt for a film from Payne. Although it took a while to get going, Nebraska was funny and poignant look at father-son relationships and once again included a central male character who was detached from the rest of the world.

Next up we have the promised return of George Clooney in his roles as both performer and producer.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 453-454: Wild Girls

Continuing the theme of the previous post we focus on two more films which concentrate on young women struggling with growing up whilst dealing with the worst that life throws at them. Unlike the our two female protagonists in the last post, the two young ladies that take centre stage this time are both growing up in small rural communities. Once again both performances propelled the two young ladies to stardom and they both earned a Best Actress nomination in the process.

We kick off with a young lady who would go on to mega-stardom shortly after making a name for herself in the Best Picture nominated Winter's Bone. I'm talking about Jennifer Lawrence who was a relative unknown when she was given the lead role in Debra Granik's Winter's Bone. In the film Lawrence plays Ree Dolly, a seventeen-year old girl living in the rural Ozark Mountains who has been forced to become the carer for her younger brother and sister. This is primarily as her drug-dealing father is often away for many months at a time whilst her mother is portrayed as having mental issues of some kind. Whilst it's clear that Ree longs for a normal life, she's decided that looking after her family has to take priority. That's why Ree has to resort to desperate measures to track down her erstwhile father after he's put up the family's home as bail for an upcoming court case. Her father's failure to turn up later puts the house at risk, so Ree is forced to seek help from her extended family who are all scattered across the local area. The only problem is that her family is portrayed as a cagey bunch at best with her Uncle Teardrop being a particularly loose cannon. As the film progresses, Ree's hopeless search gets more fraught and at one point she encounters a violent attack. Throughout the film Granik portrays Ree as being a young woman who is wise beyond her years but at the same time is completely out of her depth. I personally believe that the film climaxes with a rather violent scene at a cattle fair and after that the film sort of loses its way.

One element of the film that never wavers is the fantastic performance put in by Jennifer Lawrence who, like the two young ladies in the last post, features in almost every scene. Ree is certainly a girl of few words and therefore Lawrence is forced to give a very physical performance. Lawrence's Ree is almost as raw as the gritty scenery that surrounds and adds to the mystery of the piece. However, while she portrays Ree as hunter and gatherer, Lawrence is also keen to show Ree's softer side. The scene in which she pleads with her mother to help her is splendidly done as are the moments in which she attempts to toughen her siblings up. Lawrence was rightfully nominated for her role in the film and in my opinion should have won the award. As the downright unbalanced Uncle Teardrop, John Hawkes received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor which was more than deserved. Hawkes has since carved a career as playing charismatic but dangerous characters and he's able to showcase exactly what he can do here. I also enjoyed the performance put in by Dale Dickey who played one of the area's more dominant women and later came good in helping Ree on her quest. As I already mentioned, the Ozark region almost becomes a character in itself as the hostile nature of the landscape fits in well with the hostility that Ree experiences from the majority of the characters. Although the film does go downhill towards its conclusion there are still some tense moments and a rather tender one involving Ree and Teardrop. Ultimately this was the film in which Lawrence made her name and one that would later land her roles in both the X-Men and Hunger Game franchises.

As I've already covered, Jennifer Lawrence did go on to win her Oscar two years later with a performance which wasn't half as great as the one she gave in Winter's Bone. Amongst the actresses she beat was nine-year-old Quvenzhané Wallis who made history as the youngest ever nominee in that category. In my opinion Wallis' turn as Hushpuppy in Beasts of the Southern Wild was better than Lawrence's and certainly contained a lot more subtlety. The community in Beasts is certainly a little warmer than that of Winter's Bone as we move from the Ozark mountains to a small Louisianan Bayou. Hushpuppy and her father Wink live in a small community known as 'The Bathtub' which is a place full of light, excitement and wonder certainly when seen through the youngster's eyes. What I like about Beasts of the Southern Wild is its feeling of innocence as nearly all of the events are seen through the eyes of Hushpuppy. So for example we learn early on that Wink is ill as we see him returning home in a hospital gown however we're never sure what is condition actually is. Beasts also draws on recent tragedies in Louisiana, such as Hurricane Katrina, as the Bathtub community live through a storm but then find themselves trapped. Although I loved the magical realism that Beasts had in droves I did feel the pacing of the story slightly trailed off in the film's final act. Hushpuppy's brief search for her mother didn't really go anywhere although I did like the ambiguity of her meeting with the chef who may have been her mum. This small setback is more than rectified with a heart-breaking final scene which sees Hushpuppy overcome tragedy once again as she looks set to rule the Bathtub once and for all.

Beasts of the Southern Wild is one of those little films that could and I'm so glad that it got highlighted at the Oscars. In fact, for a small budget film such as Beasts, it did tremendously well scoring nominations in the Picture, Director and Screenplay categories. However for me it was Wallis that totally made the film as she was on screen almost the entire time. She displayed a maturity of an actress at least double if not triple her age and not once did I not believe anything that she went through. Wallis' brilliant facial expressions combined a childlike innocence with the experience of a girl who'd learnt plenty of life lessons through her father. In the role of Wink, non-actor Dwight Henry was absolutely convincing as the man who was trying to keep his community together at any cost. Whilst in actuality Henry is a baker, I felt he did a better job than most professional actors and I'm a little annoyed that he didn't receive any recognition from the academy. The fact that the film is shot on 16mm adds to the realism of the piece as at times I felt I was watching a documentary rather than a fictional work. Cinematographer Ben Richardson takes you on a tour of the Bathtub making you believe that it's actually a real place. Dan Romer and director Benh Zeitlin's music for the film was incredibly uplifting and certainly set the right tone for the film as a whole. Although it's not perfect, Beasts of the Southern Wild still remains one of my favourite films from the past couple of years. It's hard not to watch most of it with a big smile on your face whilst it's certainly a film that is memorable both for its visual flair and more importantly that fantastic central turn from Quvenzhané Wallis.

Next time we turn the focus from young women to middled aged men as we take in a double bill from a director we've met before.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 451-452: Teenage Trauma

Throughout the last five years it appears as if Oscar has focused on films with young female protagonists who feel like strong role models for the modern generation. Although they experience numerous hardships along the way, the majority of them end up succeeding in life with some lessons learned by the time the end credits roll. This is certainly true of two Best Picture nominees from the 2010 ceremony with teenage girl protagonists who go on personal journeys. Although the characters and films are very different, both girls struggle with growing pains and by the end of the film have a better idea of who they are. The films also featured lead performances from two relative newcomers who both were nominated for their roles in the respective films and in my opinion both deserved the award more than that year's eventual winner Sandra Bullock.

The first of these two newcomers was Carey Mulligan who absolutely dazzled in her role as sixteen-year-old schoolgirl Jenny in An Education. Jenny starts the film as quite a well-behaved young lady who lives quite a grey life in the suburbs alongside her strict father and quiet mother. Despite living on the outskirts of London, Jenny experiences very little outside of attending school concerts and translating Latin texts. That's until she meets the suave married man David who introduces her to an exciting world of art auctions, greyhound races and dinners in jazz bars. Once focused on getting to Oxford University, Jenny discovers that there's a world out there that she hadn't been aware of before. However, as the film progresses we learn more about David's dodgy dealings and later discover the truth about his home life. An Education is based on the experiences of journalist Lynne Ramsay who experienced a similar affair in the 1960s. However when I read her work it seemed that she'd grown bored of the David character and was instead drawn to his friends Danny and Helen. Nick Hornby's script does reflect this as Danny and Helen do seem a lot more interesting than the one-dimensional David. Danny feels slightly more dangerous whilst ditzy airhead Helen is a wonderful creation as she is the complete antithesis of Jenny but seems to delight in having a new playmate. One issue with Hornby's script appears to be a problem with how exactly to end it. After Jenny has an emotional downfall she finally picks herself up again however her request for help from a former teacher feels a little contrived. However, I can forgive Hornby these sins as altogether An Education benefited from a having a well-paced story which balanced comedy and drama very well.

However, An Education's main draw was Mulligan's central turn as she brought Jenny to life in a fantastic way. Mulligan's fantastically expressive face told you all you needed to know about how Jenny was feeling and let you see just how much her character was enjoying her new life. At the same time she brilliantly conveyed all of Jenny's fears and her wish to grow old before her time. Mulligan benefited from a fantastic cast most notably Alfred Molina as her stick-in-the-mud dad who was constantly complaining about how much money she was costing him. Molina's character's transformation when David came on the scene was marvellously done by the actor and I feel the moment between he and Mulligan towards the film's end was very touching. Rosamund Pike breathed life into Helen making her feel more sympathetic than your typical movie bimbo. Elsewhere fine support was provided by Emma Thompson as Jenny's headteacher and by Olivia Williams as her straight-laced teacher. If there was one weak link in the cast then I'd have to say it was Peter Sarsgaard primarily as he couldn't maintain his British accent throughout the film. Although Sarsgaard got across David's insecurities I'm not quite sure why an American had to play the role over an Englishman. The period setting was also enhanced thanks to Paul Englishby's soundtrack which hinted at the dawn of the swinging sixties. Indeed An Education was well-designed throughout and ably directed by Lone Scherfig. Although nominated in several categories at that year's Oscars, An Education failed to triumph in any of them; however Mulligan did pick up a BAFTA for her tremendous performance. Ultimately An Education is a well-made coming-of-age story that's easy to watch and features one of the best star-making turns in recent history.

However, while Mulligan did have to convey some emotional issues during an education, it was nothing compared to the hardship that Gabourey Sidibe portrayed during her turn as the titular overweight teenager in Precious. As a character, Precious has suffered basically every setback imaginable from living with an abusive mother to having been made pregnant on two separate occasions by her rapist father. Precious' mother Mary is an ogre of a woman and physically and mentally abuses her daughter whilst in addition lies about the occupants of her house in order to keep her welfare cheque. Things change for Precious when she enrols in an alternative school and finally finds a maternal figure in Ms. Blue Rain who teaches a small group of girls. Precious' classmates become a sort of makeshift family and through time she grows in both intelligence and confidence. Following the birth of her son Abdul, Precious finally stands up to her mother and is aided by Ms. Rain in finding somewhere else to stay. However, there are more knockbacks for Precious when she discovers that she is HIV positive due to the fact that her father also had the disease. What I liked about Precious was, even though it was heavy-going, it was still an easy watch. Director Lee Daniels intersperses Precious' many tough situations with fantasy sequences she invents to block out the pain. At just over ninety minutes long, Precious never outstays its welcome and the plot, which is based on the story 'Push' by Sapphire, is well-paced. More than anything else I fully sympathised with Precious and wanted her to leave the abusive landscape behind her and find a new life for her and her children.

I think part of the reason I sympathised with the character of Precious so much is due to the fantastic turn by Sidibe. Unlike Mulligan, Sidibe had never acted before and got her role in the film following an open casting call. I think the fact that this is Sidibe's first on-screen role adds to the realism of the film and helps to contribute to the innocence of the character. As Precious often has to silently react to what's going on around her, I feel that Sidibe's body language told more of the story than most of the dialogue did. Additionally I found that she was equally comfortable in the fantasy sequences in which she was tasked with being a lot more animated than she was in the main body of the film. As Precious' abusive mother Mary, Mo'Nique won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar that year. Primarily a comic actress, Mo'Nique surprised a lot of people by being totally convincing as the despicable chain-smoking beast who tortures her daughter for events beyond her control. I felt that Mo'Nique proved her worth in the final scene in which her character is required to explain her actions in regards to her daughter's wellbeing. Precious also has a fine supporting cast including Paula Patton who was gave a warm performance as the kindly teacher who takes the troubled teenager under her wing. Another surprising turn came from the usually glamorous singer Mariah Carey who stripped back her look to play no-nonsense social worker Ms. Weiss. Whilst the social worker role was initially intended for Helen Mirren, I felt that Carey added some bite to the part and when I first watched the film I didn't even realise who was playing Ms. Weiss. It's fair to say that Precious isn't exactly a feel-good film however it does have a positive message and I found it surprisingly easy to watch. Whilst visually the film is nothing special, the performances from Mo'Nique and especially Sidibe are the reason that Precious is well worth a watch.

Next time two more films with young female protagonists who have to deal with various issues whilst living in the wilderness.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 450: A Tiger's Tale

As we touched on earlier with Avatar, one of the biggest themes over the last five years has been the reintroduction of 3D to the modern cinema audience. Although not every film fully utilised the medium those that did have to be admired for employing modern technology in such an impressive manner.
One of the films that successfully used 3D to its advantage was Ang Lee's Life of Pi, based on the so-thought unfilmable novel by Yann Martel. The Pi of the title is an Indian native living in Canada who narrates his story to a character known as 'the author' who in fact turns out to be Mantel himself. Although Pi tells Martel several stories from his youth, where he grew up in a zoo, the majority of the film's narrative is based around the journey his family took from India to Canada. During their time at sea, the boat they were on sunk and Pi got free alongside several of the animals. Lee's fantastic visual effects team perfectly captured these scenes, which in other people's hand could've felt quite trite. I feel it's also a testament to Lee as a director that he made the scenes of Pi at sea as engaging as they were. A good hour or so of the film is dedicated to Pi's journey back to land and the problems he had sharing a boat with the zoo's tiger who had been named Richard Parker. Although I never saw the film at the cinema myself, it's fair to say that those that did were treated to some fantastical 3D. Scenes of the night sky lit up by fireflies and an island inhabited by a thousand meerkats were just two of the highlights throughout the course of Life of Pi. The final scenes brought the film back to reality to an extent as Pi told Martel a shorter story about what realistically could've happened to him instead. Here the animals become people from the ship where Pi himself embodies the characteristics of Richard Parker, however there's a final little twist that apparently didn't appear in the book.

This was my second time watching Life of Pi and on both viewings I had the same sort of response. Visually the film is perfection and therefore I'm not surprised that the film was nominated in all of the technical categories at the Oscars. Lee's helming of the project earned him his second Best Director Oscar and I believe that this is more than well-deserved. Anybody who can make a film that contains an hour of nothing but a teenage boy, a tiger and a boat has to be applauded. The fact that this film is one of the most visually engaging in recent memory is just a testament to Lee's artistic vision. At the same time the narrative in Life of Pi is very slight and therefore at times it's hard to give it your full concentration. The majority of the story is packed into the first third of the film in which Pi narrates stories of his early life to Martel. After the shipwreck, Life of Pi becomes more of a survival film albeit one narrated by the protagonist himself. Of the cast I felt that Irrfan Khan did a great job at anchoring the piece as the adult Pi whilst Gerard Depardieu put in a memorable cameo as the ship's cook. However it was relative newcomer Suraj Sharma who deserves the most recognition as he gave a mesmerising turn as the teenage Pi. The fact that Sharma would've been working against a green screen for the majority of the production just proves to you what an accomplished performer he is. Ultimately Life of Pi exploits the visual medium of cinema for all its worth leaving you with many memorable scenes most notably those including the film's infamous tiger. However, I can't say I was gripped throughout the course of the film and could've done with a little more narrative meat to complement Life of Pi's outstanding ascetic charm.

Next time we look at two films that were nominated in the same year that dealt with the growing pains of two very different teenage girls.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 448-449: The Coen Continuation

Oscar's relationship with Joel and Ethan Coen has been an odd one to say the least. The past two decades have seen the brothers garner one Best Picture nod for Fargo and a win for No Country for Old Men. However, with the Best Picture category opening up to ten, the Coens found themselves with back to back nominations in the first two ceremonies of the 2010s.
I've talked recently about how changing the number of nominations from five meant the Academy made some questionable choices and I would say one of those picks applied to the first film in this post. A Serious Man was the Coens' second film after No Country For Old Men, the first being the overtly comic Burn After Reading. While those two films fit neatly into specific genres, I couldn't quite tell you what A Serious Man wanted to be. At times I found it was too clever for its own good especially seeing as it contained an opening sequence that bore no relevance to the rest of the film. The movie's protagonist is Larry Gopnik, a physics professor who leaves what he believes to be a quiet life. The film sees Larry's life fall apart firstly when his wife reveals she's leaving him and then when she kicks him out of the house in favour of her new lover. Additionally Larry is having to support his brother, who participates in several illegal gambling endeavours, and deal with the fact that a student is attempting to bribe him in order to get a passing grade on his course. Aside from the story of Larry, the Coens appear to be filling time by including a subplot involving Larry's son Danny's addiction to pot and how it effects his upcoming bar mitzvah. I have to say that Danny's story is especially weak and only partially plays into the ambiguous ending. I feel the point of the film is to feel sorry for Larry as he experiences problem after problem even owing money to a record club that he never joined in the first place. However it's very hard to sympathise with a man who's attempts to let life pass him buy have finally caught up with him.

More than anything else I found A Serious Man to be a rather annoying film and there wasn't one character that I particularly warmed to. Although Larry seemed like a nice enough fellow, I think the Coens repeated the same formula too many times especially in reference to the character's constant outburst of 'I didn't do anything'. At times it feels as if A Serious Man is attempting to be a comedy and I will admit that I did laugh twice during the film. However, A Serious Man elicited little emotion in me as it progressed and it just left me cold. On the plus side, I do feel the casting of unrecognisable faces helped to add a realistic tone to the film. Particular praise must go to Michael Stuhlbarg for his portrayal of the intelligent but not wholly perceptive Larry. To his credit, Stuhlbarg tries to make the audience root for his character, but I couldn't help but think that a lot of his problems were caused by his apathy. Possibly the most recognisable member of A Serious Man's ensemble is Richard Kind as Larry's needy brother Arthur. As I know Kind primarily as a comedy actor his larger-than-life persona was too much for the downbeat tone of the film. Of all the performances I felt that Fred Melamed probably did best as the slightly sleazy Si Ableman, who's attempts to plot Larry's downfall were quite transparent. Overall I really didn't know what to make of A Serious Man, a film that doesn't really show its hand and one that I never felt I could properly relax into. I was surprised to learn that the film came from the usually reliable Coens who obviously felt like they could deliver a movie which worked for them if not for a wider audience. I can't explain why exactly A Serious Man received an Oscar nomination but I do feel that, had there been less than ten nominees, then it wouldn't have featured in the Best Picture race at all.
Thankfully the Coens were back to their best a year later with their adaptation of True Grit, a novel that had previously been turned into a film back in 1969. That film was most famous for John Wayne's performance as Rooster Cogburn, a part for which he won his only Oscar. Here Cogburn is played by Jeff Bridges, who puts in a suitably gruff turn as the self-serving US Marshall. However I think the film's main strength is the then thirteen-year-old Hailee Steinfeld's performance as the formidable Mattie Ross. For those unfamiliar with the story, it concerns Mattie's quest to track down Tom Chaney, a former employee of her family's who had shot and killed her father. After much persuasion, Mattie convinces Rooster to lead a manhunt for Chaney promising him a handsome reward if he was successful in his mission. Joining Mattie and Rooster on their hunt is Texas Ranger LaBouef; a man who is presented as the opposite to the Marshall in almost every way. It's clear that, unlike the 1969 film, the Coens wanted to put Mattie front and centre as she appears in almost every scene. The odd couple trio of Mattie, Rooster and LaBouef is what makes the film work for me as we see the teenager lose her innocence as she witnesses several murders during the trek. Unlike with A Serious Man, the Coens make you engage with all three of the lead characters meaning that you care about them in the final third of the film when they find themselves in deadly peril. The scene in which Mattie was attacked by a snake was a particular edge-of-your-seat moment for yours truly and I think that demonstrated just how much I'd grown to care about the youngster throughout the course of the film. One issue I did have is that the Coens didn't seem to know how to finish the film and the epilogue involving the older incarnation of Mattie felt a little flat after what had come before.

However, that's a minor niggle in a film which I found to be an utter treat from beginning to end. Although I'm not a massive fan of the western, I do have certain favourites from the genre and this remake of True Grit is the latest addition to that list. The film was primarily shot in New Mexico and the Coens utilise their vast scenery to full effect. True Grit saw the Coens' latest collaboration with Roger Deakins who was unsuccessful yet again in his quest to win the Best Cinematography Oscar. I do feel that Deakins should have won the award for a film in which his shots of the landscape really helped enhance the story of the film. Another worthy winner would've been Hailee Steinfeld who I found utterly captivating from the first moment she appeared on screen. For a first time performance, Steinfeld's turn as Mattie was an absolute joy to watch and she more than held her own against more experienced stars. Steinfeld is able to convey both Mattie's headstrong nature and the fact that at heart she is a simply a teenage girl. Not only did Oscar make one mistake in not giving her an award in made another in putting her in the Supporting rather than Leading Actress category. Why a young woman who appears in almost every scene in the film should be considered a supporting artist boggles the mind but I've long stopped trying to figure out the Academy's logic. Jeff Bridges also deserved the Best Actor award for his performance as Cogburn than he did the previous year as the washed-up singer in Crazy Heart. True Grit was nominated for ten Oscars altogether but ultimately won none thanks to the success of both The King's Speech and Inception. However I think the Coens can be proud of a film that betters the original True Grit in almost every aspect and especially in the casting of Steinfeld who was simply dazzling as Mattie Ross.

From the Wild West we turn to the mystical east for a CGI-heavy fantasy film.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 446-447: A Couple More Pitts

After exploring Brad Pitt's back catalogue in the early noughties it appears that the Academy's love affair with the movie star is continuing into the next decade. However, as Brad grows up, so does the films he stars in and this post deals with two very different dramas that he had a a hand in.

We commence with Moneyball, in which Pitt plays Billy Beane, the General Manager to the Oakland Athletics Baseball Team. The film follows the fortunes of Beane as he attempts to construct a new team on a small budget after the departure of his three top players. Instead of listening to his more experienced scouts, Billy decides to follow the advice of Peter Brand a young Yale graduate who he meets at one of the other clubs. Peter's philosophy involves looking at the runs that each player has acquired over a season and working out how each game should be played. As a result of Peter's theory, Billy finds a team for a budget he can afford even though each player has some major flaw whether it be a bad attitude, a lack of confidence or that they're just over-the-hill. Though Moneyball does follow the format of sports films I've watched it the past, what makes it work is its fast-paced script. Based on the book of the same name by Michael Lewis, Moneyball has been adapted by the master that is Aaron Sorkin alongside Steve Zaillian. Moneyball does include a lot of dialogue that is pure Sorkin, as Billy and Peter banter back and forth in expert style. Sorkin and Zaillian deftly weave the story of Oakland's 2002 season with Billy's back story in which we learn that he himself was a first draft pick. Unfortunately, Billy suffered from a lack of confidence and later decided that being a scout would be a better role for him than on the pitch. I feel that these flashback scenes make us sympathise more with the character of Billy and we're willing him to succeed as Oakland starts to make a comeback later in the season. If I have one qualm about the script then it's the quite clichéd relationship that Billy has with his twelve-year-old daughter which is basically a set up to the final scene in the film.

Alongside the fabulous script, Moneyball's other ace in the hole is Brad Pitt whose performance in the film is great. I believe that Moneyball ushers in a shift in the tone of Pitt's performances as he adds an extra layer of maturity to the character of Billy. This is best exemplified during the scenes in which Billy is listening to the games being played as he never attends the games mainly due to superstition. Pitt earned his second Best Actor nomination for Moneyball and I have to say that it was a lot more deserved than his previous nod for Benjamin Button. While in that film the make-up did most of the work, Moneyball's realistic feel allows Pitt to be front and centre. Also worthy of praise is Jonah Hill, who left the world of frat boy comedy behind to play the slightly nervous Peter Brand. Hill never played his role for laughs and instead his character formed an awkward relationship both with Billy and the players. Hill's Supporting Actor nomination should have been a turning point in his career but unfortunately he followed this up with the woeful comedy The Sitter. Despite him not having a major role as Oakland's manager Art, Philip Seymour Hoffman still gets to showcase his major skills in a number of scenes. I believe part of the reason Hoffman appears in the film is because it reunites him with Capote director Bennett Miller. Just like in Capote, Miller proves himself to be a solid director as he weaves an easy-to-follow narrative with some brilliant scenes of each individual game. Despite acquiring six nominations at that year's Oscar ceremony, Moneyball ultimately went home empty-handed which I feel is a shame especially for Sorkin and Zaillian. Although I have seen Moneyball before I definitely enjoyed it more this second time around and I feel that it's a solidly enjoyable drama which is bolstered by two fine performances by Hill and Pitt.


Two years later Pitt finally won his first Oscar but it was for his role as producer rather than actor. Pitt does have a small role in Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave but his character Samuel Bass only appears in the latter stages of the film. But it was Pitt's Plan B Production Company who financed the project that was first conceived by director McQueen and writer John Ridley. Both had wanted to create a movie about the slave trade and it was only when McQueen's partner read Solomon Northup's book of the same name. When the film begins, Northup is a free man living in proper society and making a living as a violinist. I got the impression that the film would spend more time focusing on Northup's life as a gentleman but instead he was sold into slavery quite early in the film. After being double-crossed by two men, Northup finds himself being sold to plantation owner William Ford. Ford is presented as quite a kindly man who grows fond of Northup, who now goes under the name of Platt, especially when he realises how educated he is. But Northup falls foul of Ford's overseer Tibeats and the two finally come to blows with the former almost being hung to death. The second half of the film is possibly the most memorable as Northup is sold to the tyrannical Edwin Epps, a man who views the slaves as his property. McQueen focuses on the vicious manner in which he punishes the slaves the don't pull their weight at his cotton-picking facility. Meanwhile, cinematographer Sean Bobbitt closes in on the scars that Solomon and his co-workers have following their punishment. Edwin's feelings for female slave Patsey are also described in great detail with his wife taking against her husband's desire for the girl. What follows are more brutal scenes as Edwin's wife takes out her frustrations on Patsey whilst the couple later involve Northup in their torture. It's only when Bass arrives in the final scenes that Solomon finally earns his freedom but McQueen is quick to inform us that the brutality continued for Patsey and her ilk.

In the past I've been a fan of McQueen's work and in particular his second film Shame which was perfectly shot throughout. McQueen's former career as an artist is definitely on show here as there are some brilliant sweeping shots of the New Orleans scenery. As I previously mentioned the cruelties inflicted on the slaves are captured in shocking detail and at times I found 12 Years a Slave hard to watch. The issue I have with a lot of true life tales is that you know how the story will end and that's certainly true of a movie that has the length of Solomon's hardship in its tale. The fact that the audience know that Solomon is a free man makes 12 Years a Slave a frustrating watch as our hero must fight adversity in order to get out of his predicament. As with a lot of 'issue-based' films, 12 Years a Slave occasionally feels overly preachy as McQueen and Ridley's message is a little overbearing. At the same time I think they do their best to avoid sentimentality and instead focus on a man who uses his intelligence to survive his unjust time as a slave. Part of the reason I was involved with the film as I was was due to the fantastic lead performance by Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon. From the first time Solomon finds himself in chains, Ejiofor is fantastic at using facial expressions to convey just how much his character is suffering inside. Due to the fact that Solomon has decided to keep his head down, Ejiofor doesn't have too many lines of dialogue but tells the story via his body language, which I feel is the mark of any true actor. McQueen's regular collaborator Michael Fassbender excels as the despicable Edwin Epps and is particularly great during the film's harshest moments. Although both Ejiofor and Fassbender were nominated for Oscars it was Lupita Nyong'o who triumphed winning Best Supporting Actress for her role as Patsey. However I wasn't blown away by Nyong'o's performance and I feel that the Academy mainly honoured her due to the suffering her character experiences throughout the film. Ultimately 12 Years a Slave was artistically directed and brilliantly shot while Ejiofor gave a fantastic central turn. But at the same time I don't think I was as emotionally invested in the film as I probably should have been and as much as I respected the film I wasn't ever moved by what happened to Solomon and his fellow slaves.

Next up we continue to evaluate the work of a pair of brothers who have made a major impact at the Academy Awards.