Originally published in Cinema Knife Fight, February 19, 2015
So, it’s that time of year again. The annual Academy Awards presentation is a big event at the Keohane house, more so lately since we’ve begun hosting our own annual Oscar Party, filling out ballots, watching the show and eating (and voting on) movie-themed food. We make it a point to see every Best Picture nominee before the show (knowledge is power and leads to winning the infamous grand prize at the party). Having finally seen all of the nominees, I thought it would be interesting to offer these mini-reviews, and make my amazingly intelligent guess as to which film will take the Best Picture trophy (historically awarded way too late on a school night for us east coasters). As I type this, I haven’t quite decided my choice. I’ll do so as I write, but the films were all extremely well-done and entertaining in their own right. I discuss them alphabetically below.
So, it’s that time of year again. The annual Academy Awards presentation is a big event at the Keohane house, more so lately since we’ve begun hosting our own annual Oscar Party, filling out ballots, watching the show and eating (and voting on) movie-themed food. We make it a point to see every Best Picture nominee before the show (knowledge is power and leads to winning the infamous grand prize at the party). Having finally seen all of the nominees, I thought it would be interesting to offer these mini-reviews, and make my amazingly intelligent guess as to which film will take the Best Picture trophy (historically awarded way too late on a school night for us east coasters). As I type this, I haven’t quite decided my choice. I’ll do so as I write, but the films were all extremely well-done and entertaining in their own right. I discuss them alphabetically below.
AMERICAN SNIPER
Directed by the estimable Clint Eastwood (J. EDGAR, 2011, LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA, 2006), this adaptation of the autobiographical novel of the same name by Chris Kyle, known as the most deadly sniper in American military history, has taken movie-goers by storm. War films are back in a big way, though if this was actually true, I’m disappointed Brad Pitt’s FURY (2014) wasn’t nominated. I’m a fan of Bradley Cooper (SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, 2012, AMERICAN HUSTLE, 2013), and he doesn’t disappoint as Kyle, a soft-spoken soldier who happens to be a crack shot. Because of this, he quickly rises as the best sniper in the Iraq war, but also as one of the enemy’s most wanted. The film, like many of its predecessors, doesn’t sugarcoat war, and kudos to the filmmakers for drawing the viewer into the constant fear and stress of being a soldier in a country where anyone can be an enemy. At least, for drawing us in as much as one can be, watching with a bag of popcorn.
There is an ongoing plotline of a deadly rivalry between Cooper’s Kyle and the best sniper from the other side (I never quite know what to call our enemy over there, especially during that particular war), known as Mustafa, played with silent elegance by Sammy Sheik (LONE SURVIVOR, 2013). This part of the story felt a little contrived, good guy versus bad, but adds a connecting thread throughout Kyle’s multiple tours in Iraq and how it affects his relationships back home. Overall, it is a violent, tense thriller that happens to also be true, which makes it more frightening.
This film has a good shot at Best Picture, but I don’t think it’ll take it. War movies sell tickets, and this one should have because it was good, but they don’t often win the big prize. They have in the past (remember THE HURT LOCKER (2008)?). But I don’t think so this time.
BIRDMAN
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s (BABEL, 2006, BIUTIFUL, 2010) story of an aging Hollywood actor trying to make his name as a serious playwright and stage performer is, well, bizarre. And entertaining. Funny sometimes. Touching. Hard to pin this one down with one or two adjectives. Surreal, is probably the best choice. How much of what we see is real, and how much is the mind of the main character, Riggan, is only sometimes revealed. In one instance, three quarters of the way through, it’s done rather cleverly.
Appropriately, Michael Keaton (BATMAN, 1989, NIGHT SHIFT, 1982) plays Riggan, once the star of a blockbuster superhero franchise known as Birdman. After three (or four, I forget now) films, he put aside his birdy cowl and quit Big Time Acting. Years later, he is still haunted by Birdman—literally. The superhero is constantly berating and haranguing him, inside his head, urging him to make a new Birdman film and forget this pipe dream of debuting a stage play on Broadway. Riggan is obviously suffering from schizophrenia, and he knows it.
I think.
This is a smart film, because it isn’t going to tell you. It shows you some truths as you watch, if you watch carefully, but overall the viewer lives inside the character’s head over three days leading up to the play’s debut. I have some reservations, overall, on the story itself, but not Keaton’s performance. Without using this word lightly in any way, Keaton’s performance is brilliant—his best performance, in my opinion, of anything he’s done prior. Edward Norton (THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, 2014, yet another Best Picture nominee), as the star actor brought in for the lead role and who delights in being as outside-the-box as possible, was also a highlight in the film. Lastly, the cinematography was stunning. There were very little (obvious) scene edits, the film looks and feels like it was shot in one long, continuous shot—an effect the filmmakers intended and which succeeded for the most part. Somehow, the camera follows the characters up steps, across the stage, around corners, smoothly as if you’re following them around yourself. There were times I said aloud, “How did they do that?” I don’t believe (though the Academy voters have surprised us before) this will take Best Picture, but it’s my choice for best Cinematography.
BOYHOOD
Ah, BOYHOOD, the film all of us wanted to see for the unique method writer/director Richard Linklater filmed it. With the same cast working over twelve years, this puppy was shot in bursts every year when the actors were available. The film centers around one family, in particular the son, Mason, from age six to the start of his college years. Throughout the course of the movie, we watch the actor, Ellar Coltrane, grow up. There are no obvious transition scenes, no words “One Year Later” flashing across the screen. One scene fades and the next opens with everyone just a wee bit older. Personally, I though Coltrane did a tremendous job. He really comes across as a normal—albeit fringy—kid. As does the rest of his family, in a somewhat dysfunctional way.
Patricia Arquette (Medium and Boardwalk Empire TV Series) plays his mother and deservedly won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. You watch a real single mom doing her best to raise her son and daughter (played by the director’s real life daughter, Lorelei Linklater) as best she can, while making the wrong decisions about the men in her life. Can’t blame her, though. We all thought they were good choices when they started, too. Ethan Hawke (GATACA, 1997, one of my favorite sci-fi films ever, and THE PURGE, 2013) plays the estranged dad trying to re-connect with his kids at the beginning of the film, and over time doing so in his own, cavalier way.
This movie isn’t, really, about anything in particular. Except, “Here’s a look into one family’s life over twelve years.” It’s fascinating to watch, with some strong performances all around. Is it the Best Picture of the batch? No, I don’t think so. It will take some awards home, I think, perhaps Best Original Screenplay, but the lack of any single story thread throughout might hurt its chances at the big trophy.
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Director Wes Anderson’s humor took me a few years to hook my teeth into. But my daughter Amanda’s love for this guy’s bizarre style has grown on me. I mean, THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS (2001) was good, not my favorite, but MOONRISE KINGDOM (2012), I thought was extremely clever and at times very funny. THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, however, was sheer joy. I don’t think slapstick has worked this well in a long, long time. It is a very clever, funny movie, with so much kinetic energy in its cuts, angles and dialogue, that you are swept away in Anderson’s vision. Ralph Fiennes (HARRY POTTER AND EVERY OBSCURE THREAT KNOWN TO MAN, 2001 – 2011, SCHINDLER’S LIST, 1993) is polished perfection as M Gustave, manager of the title’s hotel. Even better was his co-star and relative newcomer Tony Revolori as the bellhop Zero, whom Gustave takes under his wing.
Anderson always has a stellar supporting cast in his movies, and this time is no exception, with Adrien Brody (THE VILLAGE, 2004), Willem Dafoe (4:44 LAST DAY ON EARTH, 2011) and Jude Law (GATACA, 1997, A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS, 2004) as a writer narrating the tale (Law plays the narrator quite often, it seems). Even Ed Norton (BIRDMAN, 2014, FIGHT CLUB, 1999) was in this one, so he’s vastly increased his odds of being associated with another Oscar winner with two films on the list.
The sets were lavish and absurd, and out-staged only by the totally goofy miniatures used for the surrounding countryside. The lift up the mountain and subsequent downhill ski chase were brilliantly funny. Any movie these days that can make me laugh out loud as much as this one, and when not laughing, smiling until my face hurt, has a good chance of taking the prize.
Granted, comedies do not have a good track record with the Academy. With such a varied scope of films in this year’s bunch, however, the splits in voting might be extreme enough for THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL to surprise everyone and sneak away with the prize. This is a tough one. It’s either this, or more likely SELMA (see Part 2). What I know historically of the awards tells me SELMA will take it, but my gut says …HOTEL. Let me keep talking about the rest of the films, and I’ll commit to one. (I do change my mind in Part 2, not to worry.)
Well, this is all the room we have today. Come back for Part2 tomorrow, as we discuss the other four films nominated for Best Picture, and my final take on which will take home the golden phallic guy.