The Beautiful People

2006, Adieu, betch. (Part II)

So yeah...the Chubby Hippo nominees...

5. Volver

I love Spanish culture. And with the blessings of a man named Pedro Almodóvar, who churned out such films as Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Talk to Her and All About My Mother, he has gained a cult following, which includes me. His lates offering is yet another masterpiece, and what I believe, is the best since Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Penélope Cruz offers a sultry performance as a housewife, and Carmen Maura is wonderful as her long-lost mother, returning from the dead. Yohana Cobo and Lola Duenas provide well-acted support, in an honest, compassionate film, that lacks Almodóvar's usual carnal sexual explicitness (which tripped some of his other films).

4. Children of Men

This is the movie I saw from the beginning. I don't mean to be rude, but I saw this coming. I hoped for this film to be big, and despite it's late bloomer status, locked out of the major awards, it was my film from the start. But let's get to the point. In this very loose adaptation of my favorite P.D. James novel, Clive Owen is a few years too young, Julianne Moore doesn't get pregnant and the main antagonist is scratched. Yet Clive Owen looks dirty enough to be fifty, and packs the same forthcoming determination. Julianne Moore doesn't get pregnant, but what the hell. Clare Hope-Ashitey was, in my mind, the best acted breakout performance of 2006, with her dirtied features, doe eyes, and very large belly. At least I got one prediction right.

3. Clean

Clean was the first of the year that really was good. For a while I thought no film could surpass. Then Kate Winslet and Ivana Baquero came waltzing along, and uh-oh, it was bounced to third, but it was still a gem of a movie. These top three films are truly masterpieces in themselves, among those twenty-five elite that remain the top films of the decade. Maggie Cheung and Nick Nolte deliver some of the most mind-blowing and impressive performances of the year, that pack all the punch that we only thought big-budget Oscar films could pack. Cheung came forward through 2046 and In the Mood for Love, but with her ex-hubby Oliver Assayas, she gave such a performance that it pounded all the other Meryl Streeps down.

2. Pan's Labryinth

As Pan's Labryinth finished, I sat in a daze for a few moments. I was stunned. The acting, the visuals, the ideas, the plot...it all worked together to form a spell-bounding film that left spittle escaping the side of my mouth. Disgusting, but the frog's intestines were also plenty unpleasant. Ivana Baquero, Maribel Verdu, Adriana Gil, Alex Angulo and especially Sergi Lopez in a performance that made Darth Vader look like a good guy, worked together with the mind-bottling visuals to force that spit out of the left side of my mouth. The film is gorgeous, from the frog's intestines covered in cave beatles, slime and a key, to a towering golden hall flowered with three beautiful thrones, reaching up towards the ceiling. I want to see it again.

1. Little Children

Ah...I love Kate Winslet (who doesn't)? Yet, besides Heavenly Creatures, Iris, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, etc...there is a red swimsuit that calls for her. Her beautiful potrayal of a housewife in a struggle, mid-life crisis to say, blew my mind away. Meanwhile, Patrick Wilson remained a sexay house-husband, under the not-so-watchful eye of Jennnifer Connelly. Together, Winslet and Wilson acted their way to the top of my list, relieving me of every inhuman cinematic attempt at recreating suburban life in the twenty-five years of my life. And they need to do more sex scene together.

Cherry Maraschino For the Morning Blues

I changed the general format of the blog, from purple-and-white to red all around. And Blogger and YouTube won't work together so for some error, I can't post video. Aw, fuck it. Here's a nice little (PhotoShopped) picture of Jessica Simpson's mugshot. Don't worry John Mayer, it's not real.

April Fool's Day: Part II

This is the second part of the April Fool's Day celebration, with tiers of the films, performances and direction. The black signifies the nominees, the blue signifies the contenders and red signifies the long shots. Part II is Picture and Leading Actor/Actress. Part III is the less interesting part, with Director and Supporting Actor/Actress. With the exception of me, because Supporting Actress is just such a sexy category. Now excuse me while I run off to watch Grind House with zombies eating Fergalicious meat and getting shot down by Rose McGowan's undeniably sexy gun of leg.

Picture
Reservation Road
Charlie Wilson’s War
American Gangster
There Will be Blood
The Assassination of Jesse James...
Evening
In the Valley of Elah
The Golden Age
Stop Loss
Sweeney Todd
Rendition
My Blueberry Nights
A Mighty Heart
I’m Not There
The Golden Compass
Elegy: Dying Animal

Leading Actress
Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
Cate Blanchett, The Golden Age
Catherine Keener, An American Crime
Nicole Kidman, Margot at the Wedding
Halle Berry, Things We Lost in the Fire
Marion Coitllard, La Vie en Rose
Keira Knightley, Atonement
Julia Roberts, Charlie Wilson’s War
Anna Paquin, Margaret
Reese Witherspoon, Rendition
Norah Jones, My Blueberry Nights
Jodie Foster, The Brave One
Vanessa Redgrave, Evening
Ashley Judd, Bug
Helena Bonham Carter, Sweeney Todd
Julie Christie, Away From Her

Leading Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will be Blood
Brad Pitt, The Assassination of Jesse James...
Tom Hanks, Charlie Wilson’s War
Joaquin Phoenix, Reservation Road
Denzel Washington, American Gangster
George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah
Jake Gyllenhaal, Rendition
Don Cheadle, Talk to Me
John Cusack, Grace Is Gone
Christian Bale, Rescue Dawn
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd
Javier Bardem, Goya’s Ghosts
Ryan Phillippe, Stop Loss
James McAvoy, Atonement
Javier Bardem, Love in the Time of Cholera

April Fool's Day. Part I.

April Fool's Day doesn't mean incorrect predix. So let me get to the point. Here are my first predictions for this Oscar Race. Now before I get out, lemme just give you the Oscar predictions. These are for the major categories, and are ordered.


Picture
Charlie Wilson’s War
American Gangster
In the Valley of Elah
Evening
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford


Director
Mike Nichols, Charlie Wilson’s War
Kimberly Peirce, Stop Loss
Wong Kar Wai, My Blueberry Nights
Ridley Scott, American Gangster
Andrew Dominik, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford


Leading Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will be Blood
Brad Pitt, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Tom Hanks, Charlie Wilson’s War
Denzel Washington, American Gangster
Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah

Leading Actress
Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
Cate Blanchett, The Golden Age
Catherine Keener, An American Crime
Nicole Kidman, Margot at the Wedding
Keira Knightley, Atonement

Supporting Actor
Joaquin Phoenix, Reservation Road
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson’s War
Jason Patric, In the Valley of Elah
Matthew Fox, Vantage Point
Chris Cooper, The Kingdom

Supporting Actress
Mira Sorvino, Reservation Road
Rachel Weisz, My Blueberry Nights
Vanessa Redgrave, Charlie Wilson’s War
Flora Cross, American Gangster
Meryl Streep, Evening

Original Screenplay
Stop Loss
In the Valley of Elah
American Gangster
Cassandra's Dream
Margot at the Wedding

Adapted Screenplay
Charlie Wilson's War
Reservation Road
Beowulf
Evening
The Assassination of Brad Pitt by the Coward Ben Affleck's Brother

Happy Birthday Norah!

I haven't posted in a while (due to Blog problems, sickness is general laziness), but today makes me happy. Why? It's Norah Jones' birthday! Yay!

Bloggy Bloggy.

I've been sneezing the hell out of my blog for the last week, so that's why I haven't posted. Meanwhile, eBlogger has been acting up again. Hmph. I don't think I'll finish the Top 20 countdown by April Fool's Day...

But here's a little Kidman to glam you (or me) up.

From the upcoming adaptation "The Golden Compass."

#17: Talk to Me

Talk to Me, directed by Kasi Lemmons. Starring Don Cheadle, Taraji P. Henson, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Martin Sheen and Cedric the Entertainer.

I love you, Taraji. Look, come over here, with a star-studded cast of above, along with Mike Epps and Elle Downs. Talk to Me chronicles "The real-life story of Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene (Don Cheadle), an outspoken ex-con who talked his way into becoming an iconic radio personality in the 1960s in Washington, D.C. Sparked by both the era's vibrant soul music and exploding social consciousness, Petey openly courted controversy at a white-owned station. Relying on producer Dewey Hughes (Chiwetel Ejiofor) to run interference, Petey's unprecedented "tell it like it is" on-air style gave voice and spirit to the black community during an exciting and turbulent period in American history." Yes, that sounds heavy, but it sounds nice and baity, which might as well mean Oscar. Or is it too risky for this little-known actress-turned-director. Whatevs. I'll take any film with that jaw-dropping actress, after Hustle & Flow.

Nice hair, sistah. I hope that's Taraji (the original picture had her dancing with Cheadle).

2007 Preview Recollection
#18: Vantage Point
#19: Trade
#20: Things We Lost in the Fire

#18: Vantage Point

Vantage Point, directed by Pete Travis. Starring Forest Whitaker, Matthew Fox, Siguorney Weaver, Dennis Quaid and William Hurt.

Vantage Point is about " With a Rashomon narrative style, the attempted assassination of the president is told from five different perspectives." Death of a President plus Akira Kirosawa wannabes, anyone? But look at that cast! I failed to recognize Zoë Saldaña, Edgar Ramirez, Said Taghmaoui and Ayelet Zurer. Oh my. Well, of course I can't wait to see it, and although Quaid is sort of in his Bush-esque state, although the William Hurt plays President Ashton. From the interesting cast...I wonder whose playing the assassin, and etc. From the picture at the left, it appears Ricard E. Grant, Dennis Quaid and Matthew Fox are all flanking Hurt. Oh my. I can't wait. Anyway, the question is how conservative or liberal this film will be. Will it edge towards conversatism like other films, or be oh-so Michael Moore-y. But with this unknown director, who directed such TV minseries as Henry VIII, this film could go dastardly wrong if treated incorrectly. Go left, young man, although we might as well be looking straight into the eye of a Best Picture nominee, or one of my predictions, a Best Supporting Actor nomination for the one and only Matthew Fox.

One last screenshot of Quaid, looking very Bush-y..

"El Cantante" Trailer

This biopic of Hector Lavoe and his wife comes to theatres July 27th, 2007. Buckle up for the newly appointed queen of fashion, the one and only Jennifer Lopez, as well as her husband, Marc Antony. With Federico Castelluccio, Romi Dias and Vincet Laresca.