Oscars 2012

Tonight is the 2012 Academy Awards. I always look forward to awards season, and the Oscars is definitely my favorite of all of the award shows. Here are the movies/ people that I would like to see win tonight in the big six categories.

Best Picture
Last year when the nominations were announced, I had seen 8 of the 10 movies nominated and had seen the last two before the award ceremony. This year I had not seen any of them. My goal was to see as many of them as I could before tonight and I saw 7 of the 9 films nominated. I still have not seen Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close or War Horse, but I really have no interest in seeing them anyway. Of the ones I have seen, there were some that I really liked, and some that I didn't really care for. My favorite films of the ones nominated for Best Picture were The Artist, Hugo, and Midnight in Paris.

I really loved all three of these films, and would be pleased if any of them won. Chances are, though, that it is going to be The Artist.

Best Director
Tough choice for me between Martin Scorsese and Michel Hazanavicius, but I'm going to have to go with Scorsese.

Best Actor
I'm still really pissed about Michael Fassbender not being nominated in this category. He was definitely better than Brad Pitt and Damien Bichir. Although they both gave solid performances, I really didn't think that they were anything special. I just think that the Academy voters liked the movies they were in and nominated them because of that. As for who I think should win of the people nominated, I'm going to have to go with Jean Dujardin. I love Gary Oldman, and think that it is a travesty that this is the only film he has been nominated for, but Dujardin's performance as a silent film actor really stuck with me.

Best Actress
Such a tough choice!!! Glenn Close, Michelle Williams, Viola Davis, and Rooney Mara all gave excellent performances this year. I have not seen The Iron Lady, but I think that it is safe to assume that Streep was great as well.  I am kind of bummed that Charlize Theron wasn't nominated. I thought she was great in Young Adult. Okay, so now I'm going to make a choice. I'm going to exclude Streep because I haven't seen that movie and I'm also going to exclude Glenn Close because although she was great, her performance didn't stand out as much to me as the other three. So that leaves Michelle Williams, Viola Davis, and Rooney Mara. If I absolutely had to choose, I would have to say that my favorite performance of all three was Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe.

Best Supporting Actor
I loved Christopher Plummer and I thought that he was great in Beginnings, but I would love it if Kenneth Branagh won for playing Sir Laurence Olivier. I love Laurence Oliver and have seen tons of his movies and read his autobiography. I think that Kenneth Branagh was perfect as one of my favorite classic movie stars.

Best Supporting Actress
I don't even have to think about this one. I literally just watched Albert Nobbs and thought that Janet McTeer was amazing as Mr. Pierce, a woman living as a man. I will be very surprised if she doesn't win.

My Review: My Week With Marilyn

Michelle Williams looks absolutely stunning as Marilyn Monroe. She doesn't really look all that much like her, but she is so great in this movie that that doesn't even matter. I've seen The Prince and the Showgirl so it was really cool to see the scenes where they are working on the movie. It isn't my favorite of Olivier's movies, but it is an entertaining film. Although Williams is great as Monroe, my favorite thing about this movie was Kenneth Branagh as Laurence Olivier! He really was the obvious choice to play Olivier, and he was perfect! He has his voice, and even looks like him in this movie (although not quite as handsome). He definitely has his upper lip...or lack thereof. It just made me really happy to see him as Olivier.

Branagh as Olivier definitely made this movie worth watching. I didn't really care for the story. It is about a young man named Colin Clive who falls in love with Monroe while working as 3rd Assistant Director to Olivier on The Prince and the Showgirl. The whole movie Marilyn is trying to be a great actress, and Olivier has to deal with her method acting, which he hates because he is a classical actor. I thought it was really funny when Judi Dench's characters says that acting is more than just false noses, because Olivier used a lot of false noses while acting in the theatre. Anyways, everyone has to deal with Marilyn being late to the set all of the time, and with her mood swings. It is basically about a young man who wants to take her away from the hard life of being a star. Emma Watson has a part in this movie as Clive's love interest prior to falling for Monroe. She looks lovely in this film, but her character was pretty unimportant to the overall story. Anyways, don't see this film expecting an interesting story, but go to see the amazing performances by Williams and Branagh. Perhaps Branagh will follow in Cate Blanchett's footsteps and win an Oscar for playing an Oscar winner... My rating: 7/10

Song of the Week: Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend

Spotlight On: Laurence Olivier

This week's spotlight is on Sir Laurence Olivier, a man who is often considered to be one of the greatest actors of all time, and certainly one of the greatest Shakespearean actors. While I do love him in his Shakespeare roles, I love him even more in the other types of films that he is done. In his younger years he played a lot of literary romantic heroes, and in his older years he played some great villains. He has worked with some of my favorite directors, like Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick, and has also appeared in film adaptations of some of my favorite books. As a bonus, in his younger days, he was also incredibly handsome... Here are some of my favorite films/ roles of his.

Fire Over England

This was the first film that Olivier did with his (future) wife Vivien Leigh. It is said that it was during this film that they first fell in love and became the Brad and Angelina of their time. Here Olivier plays a British man who becomes a spy for Queen Elizabeth. While I didn't much care for this movie as a whole, I thought that Flora Robson was a great Elizabeth, and that the scenes with Larry and Viv were cute.



The Divorce of Lady X

I thought that it was funny to see Olivier in this kind of role, because you don't see him much in romantic comedies. This is the type of role that you would normally see Cary Grant in. Having said that, I thought that this movie was actually really funny, and made me wish that Larry would have done more roles like this. My favorite scene was when he was first talking to the man who he believed was Merle Oberon's husband. Whats really neat about this movie is that its the only color picture that I've seen with him when he was this young.



Wuthering Heights

Now onto my favorite film adaptation of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. I love love love this movie and have probably posted about it a million or so times already. Olivier is wonderful as Heathcliff, a man who goes from lovesick stable boy to revenge seeking aristocrat after the love of his life abandons him to marry a rich man. And even though the words are changed a little, he is my favorite actor to ever recite Heathcliff's "I cannot live without my life" speech.





Rebecca

In 1940, Olivier starred in one of my favorite Alfred Hitchcock films. He plays a rich man who is still haunted by the memory of his dead wife, even after remarrying.





Pride and Prejudice

In this adaptation of Jane Austen's famous novel, Olivier, of course, plays Mr. Darcy. Although I was disappointed in how they made Mr. Darcy's aunt seem like a good guy in this version, I do really like this movie. Oliver made a perfect Mr. Darcy.



That Hamilton Woman

Here is another film that paired Olivier and Vivien Leigh, who by this time was his wife. This movie was very gloomy and had an unhappy ending for both characters, but like Fire Over England, I loved all the scenes with the two of them together.



Henry V

Not my favorite of Shakespeare's plays, but Olivier is great as the title character. What's neat about this movie is that it starts out as an actual play in the film and then transitions into the film settings. This movie also has great use of Technicolor, so it all looks amazing!



Hamlet

Laurence Olivier is the only actor to ever win an Oscar for playing a Shakespearean role, and he did so for playing Hamlet. I thought that it was odd that this version didn't include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, but to be honest, if I had never read Hamlet I wouldn't have even noticed. I thought that this was a great film adaptation of the famous plays, and one of Olivier's best performances.



The Prince and the Showgirl

This is a comedy that he did with the lovely Marilyn Monroe. There is actually a movie coming out sometime this year that is about Monroe while she works on this film. Monroe will be played by Michelle Williams, and Olivier will be played by Kenneth Branagh. I thought that Branaugh was an interesting choice because he has also done a bunch of Shakespearean films. I think that this is one of Monroe's best performances, and Olivier is great as the stuffy Regent who courts her.



Spartacus

I was so disappointed when I found out that my favorite scene in this movie doesn't have Olivier's actual voice. Something was wrong with the audio when they restored this scene to the movie, so they had his voice dubbed by Anthony Hopkins because Olivier had already passed away. I must say that Hopkins does a great job, though, because I had no idea the first time I watched it. If there wasn't the stupid Production Code at the time, then this could have been in the original cut of the film, and we could hear Olivier's actual voice in this scene.



Sleuth

I love this movie! It is so cool because it only has two actors, Olivier and Michael Caine, and they are both brilliant. What I really love about this movie is that I can't really decide which one is the bad guy. I kept switching back and forth between the two. Olivier really gets to show his vicious side when he makes Caine's character think that he is going to kill him. Love it!



Marathon Man

Olivier REALLY gets vicious in this film, where he plays a Nazi who tortures Dustin Hoffman with dental tools while asking "Is it safe?" I already hate going to the dentist, and after watching this movie, it just makes me even more nervous...



Clash of the Titans

Here Olivier plays Zeus, leader of all the gods. Even though the special effects are totally cheesy, I do have to admit that this movie is kind of a guilty pleasure for me.

My Most Anticipated Movies for 2011 (Part 2)

My last list only went up to July, so here are the movies that I plan to see from August through December.

August

I am a huge fan of the original Planet of the Apes movie with Charlton Heston, and I didn't think that the Tim Burton version was as bad as everyone says it was. Also, I adore James Franco, so this is a movie that I am really excited to see. What I am really curious about is how the timeline of this fits into the timeline of the original film.

I really like all four of the leads in this movie, and after seeing the trailer, I think this movie looks really funny.

I loved the original Fright Night, and am really curious as to how they will update the story, since the orginal was very 80s. Plus, what beats Colin Farrell as a sexy vampire?

I had this movie on my first list because it was supposed to come out a long time ago!!! I was pissed when they changed the release date, but now it is only a month away!! It is a rarety that a movie trailer can scare the hell out of me, and this one made me scream the first two times I saw it. (Once on my laptop, and once before I saw Let Me In.)



September

Two reasons I want to see this. 1. I'm a sucker for boxing/ fighter movies. 2. Tom Hardy

This is another movie that was supposed to come out a long time ago. I think that this movie looks super cute, and I really like Mia Wasikowska. Plus, I'm curious if Henry Hopper is as good of an actor as his father (who is one of my favorite actors)



I actually haven't seen the trailer for this movie (and can't watch it right now because my speakers are broken), but the cast alone is enough to make me want to see this movie. I heart Joseph Gordon-Levitt!



October

This is supposed to be a prequel to The Thing, so I don't know why they would give it the same title. I guarantee that this is going to be nowhere near as good as the original, but I plan to see it out of curiousity. I'm hoping that it's not all CGI, and that they use practical effects like they do in the original.

I've read both good and bad things about this movie, but I like Kevin Smith (Chasing Amy is one of my favorite movies!), and I am curious about how he does directing a film in my favorite genre...

I am really excited to see In Time, which looks like a modern day version of Logan's Run. Justin Timberlake plays a man who tries to run away from a society where you can't age past 25. Interesting...

You put Johnny Depp in a movie, chances are that I'm going to go see it. Here he is starring in The Rum Diary, which is another Hunter S. Thompson story, which is really cool since I love Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

November

My Week with Marilyn should be pretty good, I think that Michelle Williams will be a great Marilyn Monroe. What I am most curious about is how Kenneth Branagh will be playing Laurence Olivier. 

Hugo is a Martin Scorcese film. 'Nuff said...

Love The Muppets!! My favorites are the Swedish Chef, Professor Honeydew and Beaker, and Animal. I know I'm just going to love this movie! Plus, it was co-written by Jason Segal, so it should be good!!

December

I thought that the first Sherlock Holmes movie was just okay, but I still want to see the sequel. I'm curious to see Noomi Rapace in something besides  the The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo movies...

Speaking of the The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo movies...This is my number one most anticipated movie that I want to see for the rest of the year. It looks amazing! While I was skeptical about Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander at first, I have decided that I think she is going to be great. Can't wait until December!!!

Two Marilyn Monroe Movies

There are two Marilyn Monroe biopics coming out sometime in the next two years. The first is Blonde, starring Naomi Watts, and the second is My Week With Marilyn starring Michelle Williams. From these pictures, I'm going to have to say that Michelle Williams looks a lot more like Marilyn. I really like both actresses, though, so they should both do really good.