Blue Like Jazz has been selected as an official film for the SXSW film festival in Austin, TX. Donald Miller and director Steve Taylor are also going on tour to promote the movie. Find out more information at Donald Miller’s blog and at Relevant magazine. Here is the official trailer for the movie.
Why is it so fun to discuss one’s picks for the Academy Awards? It’s probably because the Academy Awards usually get their nominations right, or at least they pick some really good movies and performances. They may not always give the award to the most deserving film, but they often recognize some of the best films by nominating them. This gives people and critics much to discuss and debate. I haven’t seen all the films and performances, but I’ve seen most of them, so here is my stab at who should and who will win at this year’s Oscars.
Best Picture
This year the best picture of 2011 was nominated, but it will probably not win. The best film of 2011 was easily The Tree of Life. Nothing came close to the beauty and grandiose of this film. I recently watched it again and fell deeper in love with it. Rarely do we find a film that is willing to explore life, meaning, and loss at such a deep level. Christians should especially love this film for Mallick’s wonderful treatment of the subject of God and the Christian faith. It is a travesty that The Artist is likely to win the Oscar for Best Picture. The Artist is a good film, but it is nowhere near the quality of The Tree of Life. In 20 years people will still be discussing The Tree of Life, but The Artist will probably be forgotten. Although The Artist is a wonderful homage to the silent film era it is not without its faults. The whole idea of doing a silent film in the modern era seemed gimmicky the longer you watched the film. Some have also commented on the love story in the film, but it is a love story about a husband who is looking while he is still married to someone else. He, like many other recent characters in romantic movies coming out of Hollywood, only thinks about his emotions and his feelings. He does not consider the pain he causes others. He does not care about commitment. These characters are shallow and predictable. If the Academy wanted to pick a film that paid homage to the silent film era, a much better choice would be Hugo.
Best Director
Terrence Malick should win for The Tree of Life, but probably won’t because he is a recluse that has completely rejected the media and the Hollywood establishment. I’m guessing Martin Scorsese will win for Hugo and that is fine with me. Malick will not be at the Oscar’s and he probably cares very little about winning an award. Scorsese won best director for The Departed in 2007, but he should have won prior to that.
Best Actor
There are several great performances nominated for best actor, but Gary Oldman should win for his fantastic performance in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Gary Oldman has been in some memorable roles, but he has never won an Oscar, and this is by far his best performance. Jean Dujardin will probably win for The Artist, but don’t count George Clooney out.
Best Actress
Viola Davis should win and will win for The Help.
Best Supporting Actor
This is another tough category. Christopher Plummer will probably win for Beginners, but I would like to see the Oscar go to Jonah Hill or Max Von Sydow, who were both brilliant in two very different performances.
Best Supporting Actress
Octavia Spencer will win and should win for The Help, but I also wouldn’t mind Melissa McCarthy winning just to hear her acceptance speech.
Best Original Screenplay
Woody Allen will win for Midnight in Paris, but Asghar Farhadi should win for his brilliant screenplay for A Separation.
Best Adapted Screenplay
The Descendants will win and should win.
Best Foreign Film
I have not seen all the nominees for best foreign film, but the ones I have seen are just as good if not better than most of the best picture nominees. A Separation will win and should win. It’s a shame this film was not also nominated for best picture.
Best Original Score
One thing The Artist exceeded at was it’s score. It will win and should win.
Best Original Song
Man or Muppet will win and should win. There were lots of great original songs in movies this year, and it is pathetic the Academy could not choose more than two, but The Muppets was a really good film and it deserves to take home something.
Best Cinematography
The Tree of Life should win, but don’t be surprised if Hugo takes away the Oscar.
Best Art Direction
Hugo will win and should win.
Best Visual Effects
Harry Potter will win, but Rise of the Planet of the Apes should win.
There were some categories that I did not pick. I have not seen any of the short films this year, so I did not venture to give a guess. I also did not pick best documentary, because some of the best documentaries of 2011 were not even nominated. This is a category the Academy needs to improve on. I’m looking forward to this years Oscars and I hope you are too. I would love to hear your picks and what you think I got right and where you think I went wrong.
A Separation is easily one of the best films of 2011. It is a moving and gripping tour de force, a movie so realistic itʼs easy to forget it is a work of fiction. The film begins with a couple, Nadir and Samin (Peyman Moadi and Leila Hatami), sitting before a judge discussing the possibility of divorce. This conversation quickly draws us into their lives. We are intrigued and want to know more, but this is only the beginning. More people are introduced and become involved in the story. It is a movie that tugs at our emotions; wrongs take place, even though everyone is doing what they believe to be right. It is also intriguing because it introduces us to a culture very few Americans are familiar with. It gives us a glimpse into what life is like in modern day Iran.
Nader and Samin do not really want to divorce, but they cannot agree on whether or not to leave Iran. Samin wants to leave so their 11 year old daughter, Termeh (Sarina Farhadi), will have a better life. Nader is not ready to leave because he is still caring for his father who has Alzheimerʼs. Eventually, Nader and Samin separate, but do not divorce. Nader is then forced to hire a caretaker for his aged father. Nader hires Razieh (Sareh Bayat), a devout Muslim woman, who is trying to earn some money to help her family. Razieh is pregnant and does not tell her husband, Hodjat (Shahab Hosseini), that she has taken a job. All of this leads to an incident that will change the lives of these individuals forever.
A Separation is a remarkable film because it allows us to identify with people who are from a completely different culture than ours. Several wrongs are committed in the film, but there is not a villain. Everyone is trying to do what they believe is right, and because of this we can often identify with both sides. We become emotionally involved trying to find a solution for a series of terrible incidents. We are also thrown into a world and legal system vastly different from our own. It is a legal system where grace and mercy are unknown and everyone must pay for the sins they commit.
A Separation also gives us an insight into a world where there is no separation between church and state. Everyone in the film is Muslim, although some are more religious than others. It is a world where swearing on the Quran means something in the presence of others and in court. Although there may be a lack of grace, there is not a lack of morality. At one point Razieh places a phone call to get spiritual advice on whether or not it would be a sin to clean up after Naderʼs father after he soiled himself. The film does not try to persuade us one way or the other about the Muslim religion, but rather shows us what life is like for individuals trying to live a faithful life in the Muslim world.
This film is great because it has exceptional acting and directing. The story and screenplay is good enough to win the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, for which it is nominated, but this film is more important than all the technical things it gets right. It should be important to us as Americans and Christians. There is a lot of talk in political circles about Iran, but most Americans know very little about the people of Iran. Itʼs also not unusual to hear about Muslim extremists in the world, but what do we know about Muslim non-extremists? As Christians, we should not be filled with hate, but instead we should seek to understand what we do not know. A Separation is a wonderful film that helps us do just that.
Note: This is a foreign film with English subtitles. It is rated PG-13 but this is only because of some mature themes. It is nominated for two Academy Awards including Best Foreign Film. It has already won numerous awards from all over the world. If I would have reviewed this film before I did my top ten list, then it would have appeared at number 2 behind The Tree of Life.
I somewhat reluctantly watched the Grammys last night. I actually recorded it on my DVR expecting to fast forward through most of it. The Grammys have had a history for getting it wrong. In 1966 they awarded Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass record of the year for “A Taste of Honey” when they could have given it to The Beatles for “Yesterday” or Roger Miller for “King of the Road”. At least The Beatles and Roger Miller were nominated in 1966. The Grammys have consistently failed to recognize the best albums or groups in a particular year. In 2010 the Grammys awarded Taylor Swift with album of the year and nominated The Black Eyed Peas, Beyonce, and Lady Gaga. They chose not to nominate U2 for “No Line on the Horizon”, Pearl Jam for “Backspacer”, or the “Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs” for “It’s Blitz!”.
I’m sorry. Where was I? Oh yes, last night’s Grammys. It could not have began any better. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band showed everybody what a live band should look and sound like. They performed their brilliant new song “We Take Care of Our Own.” I couldn’t help but think, “What’s going to happen when Bruce hangs it up?” ”Who’s going to fill his shoes?” There is no one doing what he does today. He stands up for the working man. He gives us social commentary, as well as a message of hope for the future. He’s an American through and through. When historians look back at our country hundreds of years from now they will be able to tell a lot about us from what they find in a Bruce Springsteen song. He is relevant and makes music that matters and there was no one better they could have began the night with.
Some people probably tuned into the Grammys just to see what they were going to say about Whitney Houston. LL Cool J, the host for the evening, could not have done a better job. The death of Whitney Houston was the first thing he addressed, because it was what was on everyone’s mind. He honored her with a prayer. I cannot remember the last time I saw a prayer on TV. It must have been right after Sept. 11 when our nation turned to God for a brief moment and forgot what it means to be politically correct. LL Cool J offered a very lovely prayer for a beautiful singer who grew up singing in church, but had more recently lost her way. I thought it was appropriate and very moving.
The rest of the night was filled with hits and misses. Some of the highlights included Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt’s tribute to Etta James, The Civil Wars much too brief performance, the Glen Campbell tribute/performance, Bon Iver accepting the award for Best New Artist (even though he is not new), and a moving tribute to Whitney Houston by Jennifer Hudson. I could have done without both Chris Brown performances, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, and Rihanna, but luckily for them there was one performance that was hands down the worst of the night. When Nikki Minaj began her performance I was not sure what was taking place. I thought to myself “Is this for real?” Sadly, it was. Although I don’t care for artists like Taylor Swift and Bruno Mars I can see why some people might like them. I have no idea why anyone would want to listen or set through a concert by Nikki Minaj. It was the worst performance I’ve ever been subjected to.
All and all the night belonged to Adele. She took home 6 Grammys and won in every category she was nominated in. She looked beautiful in a very tasteful dress that was not weird, nor revealing most of the human body. She also sounded amazing in her performance of “Rolling in the Deep” after recently having throat surgery. Last year the Grammys got it right by awarding Arcade Fire with album of the year, and they continued that streak this year by giving Adele the same award. She deserved everything she received and it was nice to see her recognized and honored by her peers.
The Grammys could have chose to end with Adele accepting album of the year, but they went all out and decided to have Sir Paul McCartney close the show. He sang part of the medley from the end of Abbey Road and he sounded terrific. To have Sir Paul McCartney close on that number would have been enough, but there was more. McCartney was joined on stage by Bruce Springsteen, Joe Walsh, and Dave Grohl. They preceded to trade licks on a guitar jam that went on as if they weren’t playing on live television. The show began and ended with live music at its best
Here is Relevant Magazines recap of the night http://www.relevantmagazine.com/culture/music/features/28268-2012-grammys-the-good-the-bad-and-the-horrifying
What’s the worst thing that can happen when a group of civilized adults meet to discuss an incident on the playground between their children? This is the plot of the new Roman Polanski film Carnage. The film is based off of a French play that has been translated into English. It’s obvious from watching Carnage that it was written for the theater. With the exception of two brief scenes at the beginning and the end, the entire film takes place in an apartment. I know this is an ideal situation for a play, but I found it to be very interesting. What can happen between civilized individuals in a matter of hours within the confines of one room? This is one of the things that made 12 Angry Men so great.
The first scene of the movie is a long shot of the incident in the playground. Although this scene may sound important, it’s really not. The first scene of great importance is the next one where both set of parents are hovering over a computer screen in the apartment. They are typing up an account of the incident to sign. Everything goes smoothly with the exception of one minor disagreement. Was the child “armed with a stick” or “carrying a stick.” The parents briefly quibble over the wording and then move on. That scene foreshadows the devastation and carnage that is to follow.
Carnage is an intelligent and witty comedy that causes us to examine our own lives. It is a movie about the facades we put on before others. What seem to be two reasonable and caring couples eventually turnout to be two highly dysfunctional families. The highlight of Carnage is the wonderful acting that brings these characters to life. Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christopher Waltz, and John C. Reilly all hold their own throughout this story that does not have one lead, but four.
Carnage is not for everyone. It is an adult comedy with adult language. There is no action and it is character driven. The script is well-written and the dialogue is tremendous. Although Carnage, may not be everyone’s cup of tea, I found it to be a rewarding movie experience. I loved the acting within the confines of the apartment, and I went away entertained and motivated not to be the kind of parent or husband that was portrayed in the film.
Here is a meditation schedule for the first 11 chapters of the Gospel of Luke. This works great as a daily Bible reading. Feel free to copy it and distribute it as you like. I will post a meditation schedule for the rest of the book later.
The following is my list of the top films in 2011. Some of these films are full of beauty and truth, while others are simply fun and entertaining. There are a few films I would have liked to have seen in 2011, but didn’t get a chance. They include: Drive, Take Shelter, The Artist, and a few others. If any of these films are worthy of being in the top 10 I will post a review later. I would love to hear your feedback and see your own top 10.
The Tree of Life may be the most beautiful film I have seen. It is also one of the most spiritual films that has ever been made. It tackles subjects such as creation and the afterlife in a reverent and respectable way. The camerawork and images are breathtaking. The acting is superb. This is easily the best film of the year. Words cannot adequately describe it. It is something that has to be seen.
Almost top 10 – The Tree of Life is an art film. People either get it or they don’t. If you do not want to sit through long scenes with little or no dialogue you may want to check out Of Gods and Men another beautiful film about faith. It is the true story of how a group of Trappist monks respond to local terrorists.
Martin Scorsese is the most talented filmmaker alive today. He is known for making violent films set in New York City. Hugo is none of these things. It is a children’s movie set in Paris. It also incorporates 3D like no film has ever done before. I try and avoid seeing most films in 3D, because it is a gimmick Hollywood has come up with to make more money, but Hugo is one film worth seeing in 3D. Scorsese not only gives us a Dickonsesque movie full of wonderful performances (most notably Sacha Baron Cohen as the station inspector), but it is also an homage to the silent film era. It’s a must see for children and adults.
Almost top 10 – I have not seen The Artist but there is a lot of buzz around this film which also pays homage to the silent film era.
Moneyball is a baseball movie without much actual baseball. Baseball is the subject and it is discussed throughout the movie, but we see very little of it played. Instead the movie is about getting the right players at the right places. It is more about figuring out the right stats, than hiring the biggest names. It also explores the subject of going against tradition, which baseball is steeped in. Brad Pitt gives a great performance, but Jonah Hill really steals the show in his first non-comedic role.
Almost top 10 – If you like a little more action in your films, then don’t miss Warrior, a Rocky-like story about two UFC fighters. My wife hates the UFC, but she liked this movie.
Not many people are putting The Muppets in their top 10, but I don’t care. This movie could have easily been a disaster, but it turned out to be great. Jason Segal poured his heart into this project and it shows. I’m not sure what non-Muppet fans will think of this movie, but anyone who has grown up watching the Muppets couldn’t have asked for anything better. It is smart, witty, and a whole lot of fun.
Almost top 10 – I was also glad to see Winnie the Pooh brought back to the screen in 2011. I was impressed how the filmmakers kept the feel of a book with this children’s classic.
The Help is a great film about the social injustices in the south during the 1960′s. It showed how some people who thought they were living respectable Christian lives were really the biggest hypocrites of all. It also brought attention to the courage it took for people of color to stand up for what was right. The Help is a movie about the past, but it should cause to think about the present. Perhaps we are overlooking certain injustices and we don’t even know it.
I avoid most summer blockbusters, because they’re not worth watching. This movie is what a summer blockbuster should be. It’s smart, funny, and entertaining. I won’t try and defend the artistic merit of this film, because that’s not what it is, but if you like having a good time at the movies Attack the Block will not disappoint.
Almost top 10 – Super 8 has shown up in a few “best of 2011″ lists. I liked Super 8, but not nearly as much as I liked Attack the Block.
The Descendants is a wonderfully acted film about a dysfunctional family having to deal with an unexpected crisis. The family has been pulled apart over the years by time and circumstances, but now they must learn to live together again. George Clooney delivers another great performance, this time as a husband and father, and as a descendant of a great Hawaiian family.
Almost top 10 – Clooney also starred in and directed The Ides of March which has some great performances by some of the best actors in the business.
A wonderfully acted film that has the feel of an old Hitchcock mystery. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is not action packed. It is a movie based off of a novel written by an actual British spy. The action comes in conversations with spies and informants who may or may not be a mole. This film is confusing at times, but the acting is superb and the look and the feel of the film is exactly what one would hope for in a British spy movie set in the 1970′s.
Almost top 10 – I highly recommend Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, a spy movie that is the complete opposite of Tinker Tailor.
Woody Allen continues to turn out movies year after year, but it has been a long time since he has made anything as good as Midnight in Paris. If you have never been to Paris, then watching this movie may be the next best thing. It is about a writer in love with a city. While walking the streets of Paris one night he is mysteriously whisked back in time to Paris in the 1920′s. There he meets F.Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, and others.
Win Win is a story about how life can become complicated. Paul Giamatti gives a great performance as a man wrestling with the motives behind his actions. This movie is funny, witty, and heartfelt.
