MONDOmagazine

By Sean Kelly, Leo K. Moncel and Shane McNeil

Remember what fun we had last time? We’re back, with a leaner team (for now…) Sean Kelly, the father of this beast, returns to lead the charge. Shane McNeil is stepping up to the plate in place of Rachel West, and I, Leo, am putting my whole two cents in the pot this time. Jump in as we round up this month’s somewhat peculiar batch of films from Ferrell’s latest, Land of the Lost, disturbing indie sci-fi Moon, Cera and Black in Year One, heaps more, plus a little picture that may transform the summer. Read, comment and let our insightful quips spring to mind when you’re next gambling on a feature with real life money.

JUNE 5th

The Hangover

Sean:

I can’t believe this film was off my radar until about a month ago. It seems that Todd Phillips has finally created a worthy follow-up to Old School (which apparently has a sequel proper scheduled for 2011). The premise here almost reminds me of Dude, Where’s My Car? insofar as the characters do not remember what happened the night before, minus Ashton Kutcher of course. Hopefully, this will become one of the summer’s comedy gems.

Land of the Lost

Sean:

At the very least, I can say Will Ferrell is trying something different. It’s really good to see Ferrell in a film that does not involve sports or him playing a man-child. In addition, this will be the first time since Elf that Ferrell is in family-friendly territory. I am not entirely sold on the film yet, and I may even skip it opening weekend. However, I do think it might be worth a look, if only to watch Danny McBride’s continuing rise to stardom.

Shane:

I’m a big believer in the duality of certain actors. You have your Pursuit of Happyness Will Smith and your Hancock Will Smith. Got your Cider House Rules Michael Caine and your Miss Congeniality Michael Caine.

Then there’s Will Ferrell. The man has got fans and you have to respect that, but you can never quite predict what’s going to show up on any given night. He’s like the Alex Rios of comedy… the numbers end up looking decent, but don’t account for the nights he takes off.

I have the feeling Land of the Lost will fall short of the Old School Will and a lot closer to the Kicking and Screaming Will. And there’s nothing wrong with that, if that’s your thing… it’s just not mine. I’ll file this one under “looks a little too much like Journey to the Center of the Earth” and take the weekend off.

JUNE 12th

Imagine That

Shane:

Holy Shit! Eddie Murphy’s in a movie where he only plays one role! Imagine that.

Moon

Sean:

The star of Sundance, this independent sci-fi film directed by David Bowie’s son Duncan Jones definitely looks interesting. This film will probably result in comparisons with 2001: A Space Odyssey, especially considering the cast only looks to be made up only of Sam Rockwell and his on-ship computer. I’m a big sci-fi fan, so I will definitely be checking this film out.

Leo:

I don’t often gush over actors, but Sam Rockwell is the most underrated and unjustly neglected actor I’ve ever known of. Sam Rockwell here plays Sam Bell, the lone workman on a lunar mining operation. With just three weeks left in his contract, something turns up – a corpse that exactly resembles him. Things go awry from there.

Let’s hope the creepy premise sustains the feature. But, recall that even in the disorganized PG-13 fuckfest Choke, Rockwell made every second count. Looking at Moon’s contained sets and events (low budget, sure) this one should be a perfect platform to watch Rockwell work his craft. And he is a master craftsman worthy of the highest praise.

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

Sean:

Denzel Washington is starring in a Tony Scott film for the umpteenth time and John Travolta is playing the role he plays best (a villain). Not really sure what to think of this film. It looks like one of those films that people see when there isn’t really anything else to see. But, since there are other things for me to see, this film will likely be lost in the shuffle.

JUNE 19th

Food, Inc.

Leo:

Just shattering. After catching this one at TIFF I named it my number two film of last year. We’ve already heard much of what guests Michael Pollan and company have to say, but as the saying goes, “seeing is believing” and Food has the imagery to tell us emotionally what we know psychologically: agribusiness run amok is destroying our planet and our health.

Do not be surprised if this film becomes more widely discussed than An Inconvenient Truth. Filmicly, it’s several times the movie that was and the argument it makes is as urgent and universally relevant.

Year One

Sean:

I think the big joke with this film is that it features modern humour in a biblical setting. It’s good to see Harold Ramis directing a mainstream comedy again, after going the dark-comic route with The Ice Harvest. Don’t be fooled by the loincloth, Michael Cera is STILL pretty much the same character he has always played – it’s up to you if that’s a good or bad thing.

Shane:

Maybe the toughest call of the summer for me. On paper it should be very funny. At the top of their games, Michael Cera and Jack Black can be two of the funniest men (yes, Mike, I called you a man, don’t let it go to your head) in the biz, and you have to like the odds of that kind of talent being harnessed by the guy who directed Caddyshack and Groundhog Day.

The problem is that they’ve both been playing the same damn characters for the past few years and are both desperately in need of a new approach. If Ramis can get more than awkward out of Cera – and a bit more High Fidelity and a bit less Tropic Thunder out of Jack Black – this film has some real potential. If not, don’t come calling me for your $13 back.

JUNE 26th

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Sean:

This is the big one! It doesn’t seem the fanboys are as annoyed at Michael Bay this time around as they were for the first film. Perhaps, it’s the promise that this film will feature WAY more Autobot Vs. Decepticon action than was seen in the original (there are at least twenty robots confirmed). I am going to declare right now that this will be the biggest film of the summer.

Leo:

Man, am I stupid? I seem to be the only one I talk to who actually enjoyed the first Transformers movie. I’m willing to accept I may be objectively wrong here, but I thought that movie was well-plotted and quite clever. It was sharply absurd to make the adolescent joke about hiding these 10-tonne robots from your parents. And [spoiler] the part where they reveal that we caught a Transformer in the 1930’s and reverse engineered today’s technology off of it? That was the sort of plausible-feeling massive secret that recalled seeing Men In Black the first time! I’ll give this one a shot.

Shane:

I’m gonna out my bias. I hate Michael Bay. Shocking, I know.

But here’s why I’m going to err on the side of popcorn. Steven Spielberg really knows how to make a spectacle. There were parts of the first Transfromers that I didn’t totally hate, and I attribute that to Steven Spielberg’s acumen as a producer of great summer fare.

If we can see more Spielberg and less Bay… and, dare we dream, more Megan Fox and less Shia Laboeuf… it could be not-terrible. That’s high praise. This could be one of the best opportunities we have to shut off our brains this summer. Worst case scenario: this movie is only as bad as Michael Bay’s recent work. Proceed with caution.

By Leo K. Moncel, Sean Kelly, Rachel West, and Shane McNeil

Rachel: It’s the most wonderful time of the year: Academy Awards season! The big day is fast approaching and it’s a tough competition in some categories, while others have a clear front-runner.

Sean: Forget the Superbowl, the Academy Awards are my big television event of the year. There is always something unexpected that happens during the awards show and this year the stage was set after Slumdog Millionaire’s sweep of the Golden Globes.

Adapted Screenplay:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button — Eric Roth
Doubt — John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon — Peter Morgan
The Reader — David Hare
Slumdog Millionaire — Simon Beaufoy

Leo: Got to be Slumdog Millionaire. It’s got its implausibilities, but it’s consistent within its fictional realm. Screenwriters may cringe at some of the dialogue that made the shooting draft, but it’s structure first and foremost they’ll be looking at, and this script succeeds in some really difficult games with timelines.

Sean: This is the first time I can think of that the majority of the Best Picture nominations were adaptations. That said, I’ll stick with the formula that the Best Picture winner usually also wins for its screenplay, and bank on Slumdog. However, I have to say that Benjamin Button also had a good story.

Rachel: In a year of some very respectable adaptations, Slumdog Millionaire should continue its Oscar dominance in the Adapted Screenplay category. Writer Simon Beaufoy has picked up a trophy for the Slumdog screenplay in every major awards ceremony this year and there is no reason to believe he won’t be adding the prized Oscar statuette to his collection.

Shane: Slumdog Millionaire… I think it’s inevitable.

Original Screenplay:

Frozen River — Courtney Hunt
Happy-Go-Lucky — Mike Leigh
In Bruges — Martin McDonagh
Milk – Dustin Lance Black
Wall-E — Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon

Leo: Wall-E. My God! I often feel that Pixar flicks are overrated, but I was positively losing it during the first 40 minutes of this one. We are introduced to a whole world that at first appears to be one thing, then another, then another. Writers will have immense appreciation for this kind of silent work — they know better than anyone how difficult it is.

Sean: Forget Best Supporting Actress, THIS is the toughest category to call. I would just love it if either Happy-Go-Lucky or In Bruges won. Milk is the safe bet and Wall-E winning would also be wonderful. That leaves Frozen River, which is a film I haven’t heard much about. I guess I am just going to cross my fingers and pick Happy-Go-Lucky.

Rachel: Milk picked up the award for Best Original Screenplay from the Writer’s Guild of America, but Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky could take home the prize. While the film’s star, Sally Hawkins, failed to capture an acting nomination despite her win at the Golden Globes, Leigh’s 4th nomination in this category proves that the Academy likes him.

Shane: Happy-Go-Lucky. It’s often more about WHO than WHAT and the Academy looooooves Mike Leigh. Conventional wisdom suggests Milk, but I’m following a hunch on this one.

Achievement in Directing:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button — David Fincher
Frost/Nixon — Ron Howard
Milk — Gus Van Sant
The Reader — Stephen Daldry
Slumdog Millionaire — Danny Boyle

Leo: Unlike some folks, I thought Slumdog Millionaire looked amazing. I didn’t always think the performances were up to snuff, but for the sheer intensity of certain moments, and for his ability to unify discordant times and settings into a highly cohesive picture, they’ll give it to Boyle.

Sean: This category corresponds exactly to the Best Picture nominations; as such, I think Slumdog is a natural in both. I have this to say about Danny Boyle, though: it is very interesting that a director whose best known works have involved heroin addicts in Edinburgh and zombies in London, gets nominated for a film about a boy in India who appears on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? It’s amazing how diverse some directors can be.

Rachel: Danny Boyle has the Best Director Oscar just about locked up with Slumdog Millionaire. A solidly-directed film, Boyle outshines his closest competitor (David Fincher) as Slumdog continues to please both critics and audiences.

Shane: Danny Boyle here, Slumdog in the next column. Don’t even argue, this one’s so in-the-bag it’s not funny. I’m having a hard time remembering the last time a win was this inevitable – if it wasn’t “American Beauty”, it was probably “Titanic”. Even the hobbits had a shadow of a doubt at this point… this race, on the other hand, is done.

Best Picture:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Leo: Slumdog again. True, it’s got problems, and is by no means perfect, but it has those edge-of-your-seat-oh-shit-what-am-I-seeing moments that are so precious that having a few of them has burned this movie into the hearts and minds of so many audiences. Can’t stop it now.

Sean: This is the first year I saw all five nominated films before nominations were announced. A few months ago, I would have filed Slumdog Millionaire along with Little Miss Sunshine and Juno as films that were well-liked, received a nomination, and…that was it. But after sweeping the Golden Globes, Slumdog is in prime position to take the big prize. However, I have to say: if The Wrestler was nominated, I would be rooting for that film.

Rachel: No competition here, expect Slumdog Millionaire to win Best Picture. While upsets aren’t unheard of, Slumdog has won nearly every award it has been nominated for in the Best Picture category. An uplifting tale with heartfelt comedic moments, with thrilling suspense and a love story to tie the whole film together, Slumdog is an audience and critics’ favourite.

Shane: (See above.)

P.S.

Shane: I’ll be crushed if Waltz with Bashir loses Best Foreign. For a film that had a shot at Best Animated AND Best Doc and was snubbed in both, this is their one and only shot to get this one right.

By Leo K. Moncel, Sean Kelly, Rachel West and Shane McNeil

Preamble:

Leo: So here we go folks, we’ve got four writers weighing in on our picks for best bets this Sunday night. This two-part spectacular promises to be longer than the ceremonies themselves!

Shane: Sometimes handicapping the Oscars is about as challenging as spotting steroid-inflated home-run records. Luckily this year has some more surprises up its sleeve with the acting races (yes, all of ‘em) still without a guaranteed winner.

Enough preambles… on to the main attraction.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:

Amy Adams – Doubt
Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis – Doubt
Taraji P. Henson – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler

Leo: Marisa Tomei. Other than Penélope Cruz, I’m asking “Who are the rest of these people?” Maybe it will go to Taraji P. Henson, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Button get shut out of everything except some make up or costume awards.

Sean: This is probably the toughest category to call. I’m going to go with Marisa Tomei to get her second Oscar for her role as, what can only be called, a “stripper with a heart of gold.”

Rachel: Spanish spitfire Penélope Cruz should hear her name called on February 22nd for her work in Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona. She’s been criticized for her work in English, but this film allows her to work in her native tongue as well. As Maria Elena, a disturbed ex-wife, Cruz effortlessly runs the gamut between the darkly comedic and genuinely dramatic.

Shane: Taraji P. Henson for Benjamin Button. It has to win somewhere. Woody hasn’t fared well over the last decade and I don’t think Viola Davis had enough screen time. However, beware of Marisa Tomei.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:

Josh Brolin – Milk
Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon – Revolutionary Road

Leo: Unlike some folks who we may soon hear from, I felt we saw an exceptional performance, O.D. or no. While it’s Nolan and company who deserve the bulk of the credit for deciding where to psychologically “plant” the Joker, Heath Ledger gets full points for selling him as detailed person.

Sean: The question here is not whether Heath Ledger will win, it is rather does he deserve to win. I’m not saying that his role as the Joker was bad (it wasn’t), I just think that posthumous nominations may result in sympathy votes (then again, James Dean received TWO posthumous Oscar nominations and never won). If I had to pick an alternate, I would say Michael Shannon, who was really good in his small role in Revolutionary Road.

Rachel: For Michael Shannon, it should be an honour just to be nominated, while Philip Seymour Hoffman’s role in Doubt is overshadowed by Meryl Streep, and Josh Brolin’s role in Milk is brilliant, but underwritten. As the shining light in an abysmal film, Robert Downey Jr. should take home the trophy for his role as a dude playing another dude in Tropic Thunder over the sentimental favourite Heath Ledger.

Shane: Robert Downey Jr. I think I’ve made my reasons clear enough.

Best Actress in a Leading Role:

Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie – Changeling
Melissa Leo – Frozen River
Meryl Streep – Doubt
Kate Winslet – The Reader

Leo: Has to go to Kate Winslet. This is her year. Jolie and Streep got at least as much flack as they did praise for their performances, with the accusation against Streep being she was just chewing up the scenery and Jolie that she couldn’t sell the period piece. Go Kate!

Sean: Wouldn’t it be funny if there was a repeat of Marion Cotillard’s surprise win from last year and Melissa Leo wins? I doubt that will that happen and believe Kate Winslet will follow her Golden Globe double whammy with a win here, though the nomination should have been for Revolutionary Road.

Rachel: A tough category to call as the nominated ladies all delivered stand-out performances, but it’s Oscar’s perennial bridesmaid Kate Winslet who should finally get to collect the award. In The Reader Winslet humanizes the monstrous Nazi guard Hanna Schmitz in what is both a sensuous and sorrowful performance.

Shane: Kate Winslet, The Reader. It’s about time. La Streep is one of the all-time greats, but with this being the best chance to honour her heir apparent, she has to lose another squeaker.

Best Actor in a Leading Role:

Richard Jenkins – The Visitor
Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn – Milk
Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler

Leo: Busted up and broken down, the big comeback about a comeback. This one is too perfect for Mickey Rourke. Sean Penn is the only serious contender here, and everyone hates him for thinking he’s so cool.

Sean: This category is full of first-time nominees (and Sean Penn). The build-up has been over Mickey Rourke’s comeback and I have to agree. Though, I have to say I was also impressed with Langella’s performance in Frost/Nixon. While I don’t think he will win, I am sure Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under) is probably enjoying his nomination for the underrated The Visitor.

Rachel: Mickey Rourke may be the favourite, as the underdog both on-screen and off, and although he emerged victorious at the Golden Globes, Sean Penn’s performance as Harvey Milk was one of the most affecting performances of the year and is likely to add another Best Actor Oscar to his 2004 win for Mystic River.

Shane: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler. If Sean Penn hadn’t won an Oscar this decade and wasn’t one of Hollywood’s biggest douchebags, this race would be closer. Rourke is the kind of underdog Hollywood loves.

By Shane McNeil

Before I submit my final Oscar predictions [dropping this Friday, get ready, readers! -ed.], here is a detailed and, many of you will argue, maniacal treatise on why no one should be shocked when Robert Downey Jr. strolls down the aisle on the 22nd to collect the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

I know what you’re saying, and I admit that I have no reason to be so staunch in my beliefs on this. Ledger has won just about everything there is to win in the category this year and there’s seemingly no sentiment to suggest that Ledger is suffering as part of the Dark Knight backlash. I’ll own up to not especially loving The Dark Knight, but point to the fact that that has very little influence on the points I make below.

So, now… Why Downey? or, more importantly, why not Heath? Let’s start with the obvious. There’s only ever been one posthumous Oscar.

That went to Peter Finch for leading Network. A film now widely considered one of the 100 greatest ever made. A film that was nominated in most major categories, beloved by the actors and one of timely resonance, taking on the idle stance of a nation that had so much to be angry about. It was a lead performance and, to boot, he perished just two months before the Academy Awards ceremony. He was a respected actor (already having been nominated for Sunday Bloody Sunday) but won a statue based largely on the strength of that timeless performance and beat out some of cinema’s other classic characters in Rocky Balboa (Stallone in Rocky) and Travis Bickle (DeNiro’s Taxi Driver), in addition to his Network co-star William Holden to claim the award.

The Academy has had the opportunity to crown a young martyr before — twice, in fact. James Dean was denied Best Actor trophies for both Giant and East of Eden posthumously, and you have to assume that in Hollywood lore — while he is highly respected — Heath Ledger will never be looked at as a James Dean. Yes, he has more of a name and more respect than some (Massimo Troisi comes to mind) but not nearly the esteem of others (Spencer Tracy).

Then there’s the big white elephant in the room. He OD’d. He didn’t die in an accident, he didn’t have cancer, he took a whole whack of pills. This is tragic and I’m not making light of it. It’s claimed many before their time (River Phoenix), but what will that look like in the eyes of voters when he’s up against someone, in Downey, who stared that demon in the face and has now harnessed his supreme talent to come back to the top. If you think Tropic Thunder isn’t Oscar fodder, you’re probably right. However, much like Mickey Rourke, the Academy loves it, loves it, when actors go from the bottom to the top, and between Thunder and Iron Man, that’s where Downey now sits.

But wait, this is about the best performance, not who the Academy likes best, isn’t it? It’s not. Just ask Eddie Murphy. Your persona is as important as, if not moreso than, what you put on screen, and Downey’s triumphant turnaround and likeable personality will seem like a far greater reward to Hollywood and the actors that vote on this award than the still photo of Ledger and the kind thanks of his family more than a year after his unfortunate death.

Another point I want to make is the nature of the Supporting Actor category. Sometimes, it’s locked from the day the nominations are announced. Javier Bardem, Benicio Del Toro, and Chris Cooper recently took the award from wire to wire without much, if any, competition. However, it’s also the place that upsets happen, and respected talents get their due.

Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, and Robin Williams all did excellent work to earn their Oscars, but their previous work and nominations had to have factored in. Upsets, while a factor in every Oscar category, seem rampant in Supporting Actor. Jim Broadbent, Michael Caine, and James Coburn were all unexpected, but came down in the same category.

Final point — I swear. Supporting is where comedy and comedians can shine. Apart from staggering comedic feats, the lead category is for drama and even a nomination is often a lot to ask for a comedian. Supporting, however, is a place for the funny guys to get their due. Alan Arkin, Cuba Gooding Jr. — even reaching all the way back to Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda, Supporting is where great comedy can be rewarded. And make no mistake — “the dude playing the dude disguised as another dude” is just that: great comedy.

There you have it. That’s my reasoning. I’m not sure enough of myself to put $100 down on it, but I’d certainly risk being wrong in an Oscar pool over it. Take it as you will. However, should the (virtually) unthinkable happen, consider yourself warned.

By Shane McNeil

Wake up, Oscar’s on the phone! Nominations morning can either be the most exciting or the most predictable few minutes of the year. Some years things go as charted and sometimes the pundits are proven completely wrong (like the Dreamgirls snub, which I predicted because, well, the movie blew). This year is looking like a case of the former, at least at the top, so after my safe list of picks, I’ll try to point out where things could go off the board.

BEST PICTURE

Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Milk
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon

When the Producers’ Guild and Directors’ Guild agree on a shortlist, it’s usually a safe bet to assume that’s the way the worm will turn. However, Into the Wild looked to be a lock last year and was on the outside. Considering nominations are based on which film was most loved and not best liked, I think the weak link, if any, is Frost/Nixon. Many think The Dark Knight is a longshot, but it’s the kind of film people are passionate about and it will break tradition to bring comic books into the Oscar vocabulary. Don’t even bother debating the first three.

Watch Out For: Doubt, The Reader, Wall-E
Longshot: The Wrestler

BEST DIRECTOR

Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
David Fincher (The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button)
Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon)
Chris Nolan (The Dark Knight)
Gus Van Sant (Milk)

The directors often go a bit off the board, even from their guild predictions, so apart from Fincher and Boyle, a snub of anyone here would not be entirely surprising. The DGA/Oscar gap has spurned Opie Howard before, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him shunned again. Gus Van Sant is just maverick enough for people to dislike him.

Watch Out For: Mike Leigh (Happy Go-Lucky), Stephen Daldry (The Reader), Clint Eastwood (Torino /Changeling), Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler)
Longshot: Woody Allen (Vicky Crisitna Barcelona)

BEST ACTOR

Sean Penn (Milk)
Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon)
Brad Pitt (The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button)
Clint Eastwood (Gran Torino)

Penn and Rourke will fight for the win, though Rourke is probably this year’s inevitability.  Frank Langella is maybe the only thing I’d guarantee Frost/Nixon gets recognition for (as it’s liked but not widely loved in my opinion). The rest is a bit of a crapshoot. Pitt has the pretty-boy thing against him, along with Button’s hot-and-cold response, but I think he’s got enough to power to grab a nomination. Eastwood started out of the gate strong, garnering comparisons to John Wayne’s performance in True Grit but he ended up just kinda looking like a racist on-screen.  I’d say two spots are up for grabs here.

Watch Out For: Richard Jenkins (The Visitor), Leonardo Dicaprio (Revolutionary Road), Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire)
Longshots: Colin Farrell (In Bruges), Dustin Hoffman (Last Chance Harvey)

BEST ACTRESS

Meryl Streep (Doubt)
Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky)
Kate Winslet (Revolutionary Road)
Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married)
Melissa Leo (Frozen River)

There are four guarantees here and one wide open slot.  I chose Leo because she’s the type of left-field, DIY player that Oscar loves and this would be the place to showcase her.  Angelina Jolie hasn’t landed a nom since winning and I think that says something about the Academy’s feelings towards her, (though I’d be stunned if Changeling gets totally snubbed). They do, however, love Cate Blanchett, so I wouldn’t be stunned to see her carried in on a wave of Button support.

Watch Out For: Cate Blanchett (The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button), Angelina Jolie (Changeling), Kristen Scott Thomas (I’ve Loved You So Long)
Longshot: Emma Thompson (Last Chance Harvey)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
James Brolin (Milk)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt)
Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder)
Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire)

The dude playing the dude disguised as another dude (Downey) is not only a lock in my mind for a nom, but also the pony to bet on to rain on The Joker’s parade. Inevitability does rear its head in the Oscars and often in this category (Javier Bardem, anyone?) but this Joker for Oscar thing has been around since last year and I think it’ll run out of steam at just the last minute for a real Cinderella story in Downey. The only maybe here, in my mind, is Dev Patel, but since Slumdog is so popular, I think the Academy will find a way to sneak at least one actor in (despite Patel really being a lead).

Watch Out For: James Franco (Milk), Eddie Marsan (Happy Go-Lucky)
Longshot: Tom Cruise (Tropic Thunder)

BEST SUPORTING ACTRESS

Penelope Cruz (Vicky Crisitna Barcelona)
Amy Adams (Doubt)
Kate Winslet (The Reader)
Viola Davis (Doubt)
Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler)

This is where I see Doubt making its presence known. It was a favourite for best picture but has since slid behind Batman. Davis seems a favourite, but I like Adams as a nod for a good few years of work. A Benjamin Button groundswell puts Taraji P. Henson into play, but that’s about the only change I’d put money on.

Watch Out For: Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button)
Longshot: Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Slumdog Millionaire
Frost/Nixon
Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Doubt

Apart from The Reader, I really see no competition for any of these, unless the Academy gets their knickers in a twist over a comic book adaptation.

Watch Out For: The Reader, Revolutionary Road
Longshot: Iron Man

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Milk
The Wrestler
Wall-E
Happy-Go-Lucky
Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Sometimes it’s not what, but who, and the names of this list speak for themselves. I choose Wall-E because there’s been lots of love here for Pixar before. It would be foolish to completely count out the Coen brothers, but I think the Academy feels it loved them enough last year to not reward Burn After Reading, though it is still an outside possibility.

Watch Out For: Burn After Reading, In Bruges, Rachel Getting Married, The Visitor
Longshot: Waltz With Bashir

By Leo K. Moncel and Shane McNeil

In this thrilling reversal of year-end-list-glee, Shane McNeil and I sound off on movies we wanted to like, but couldn’t, good stuff that was supposed to happen, but didn’t, and general dickery in the film world. It’s gripetime.

Leo K. Moncel’s Three Biggest Disappointments of 2008

1. Passchendaele (Dir: Paul Gross)

Paul Gross did a fine job directing. He even pulled off playing (less than?) half his age surprisingly convincingly. The dialogue edged on trite but respected the voice of the times. So why was this my first great disappointment of 2008? Because I was expecting to see a war movie.

Understand, I don’t think I have ever complained that a movie I was watching was not war-y enough. It’s just that this picture was packaged and presented as a war movie and not a prairie romance set against the First World War. But even putting my expectations aside, I found that the prairie romance component of the story (1 hr 20 or so of the 2 hr running time) was not as well executed as the war part. The romance plot sags at times, and the lead female character’s greatest challenge is overcome with a montage sequence.

I suspect Gross was thinking that with a split prairie romance/brutal war flick, he’d have a larger potential audience and thus stand a better chance recovering his (unprecedented in Canuck cinema) 20 million dollar budget, the lion’s share of which went into staging the war. Since he has a good sense of the aesthetics for it, somebody should give Paul Gross 50 million bucks to do a war-only flick. Oh yeah, and tell him to write a climax he really believes while he’s at it.

2. Quantum of Solace (Dir: Marc Forster)

Should’ve been more. It should’ve been more like Casino Royale than Casino Royale was: simple, dark, and grounded in physical reality. Remember the scene in Royale where the two bodyguards are right outside Bond’s hotel room door with assault rifles? That was an incredibly simple set-up, but it was expertly handled, and it was almost as heart-pounding as the stake-outs in No Country for Old Men. Compare that with any action sequence in Quantum, and tell me Quantum didn’t taste stale.

Complicated is not the same as complex, and a movie is not superior because it includes more locations.

3. Synecdoche, New York (Dir: Charlie Kaufman)

I love Charlie Kaufman. He’s one of my all-time favourite creative people (there’s a list, it only has five names on it.) But this film confirmed what I have suspected for some time – Kaufman’s brilliance lies in his creative freedom, and he functions best with a firm hand to rein in his impulses and give shape to the brilliant material he produces.

Charlie Kaufman as a director is directionless. The sum of my complaint against Synecdoche is that it has nowhere to go after the first 40 minutes. The story runs dry of events to play out, and the cast are left stranded pedaling stationary bicycles – moving but not progressing. Philip Seymour Hoffman is trying his damnedest to make this interesting, but his character is missing the very first thing actors demand – a motivation.

Shane McNeil’s Three Biggest Disappointments of 2008

1. Steve Carrell

OK, Mr. Scott. We get it. You’re on one of the most watched and funniest TV shows on the air right now, and, unlike when you did Little Miss Sunshine (probably your best turn on the big screen), you no longer need the money from the film industry. If that’s the case, please stop inundating us with your terrible role choices.

Seriously, this has gone on too long. The 40 Year Old Virgin did give you some license to cash in but not so much that we should have been made to sit through the horror-show that was Get Smart. Especially after you inflicted Evan Almighty and Dan in Real Life on us last year.

You’re capable of so much better, and we’ve done nothing to deserve this.

2. Where’s Harry?

We were left without the sixth installment of the Harry Potter series this year, despite all reports having dictated that it was ready to go. The blame for this one goes almost exclusively on the shoulders of Warner Bros. Entertainment Weekly even had to re-jig fall preview issues after the studio wussed on us.

The reasoning behind the move, by all accounts, was to boost its opening box office take by launching it on what’s now the prime release date: the May long weekend. Really? Really, Warner? The millions and millions of our dollars you grossed from The Dark Knight wasn’t enough this year? You had to move something a lot of kids and adults were looking forward to just so you could push The Half Blood Prince’s box office totals from a puny $300-400 million into the $500-million stratosphere? You cut us real deep on this one, and you know what the worst part of it is?

Your strategy is going to work perfectly, and HP6 will be 2009’s top grosser.

3. The TIFF backlash

So, remember when TIFF opened this year, and the papers called it the ‘festival of the elite‘ and wrote all these smear campaigns about how it was irrelevant? The local and national media came out, guns a-blazin’, and railed on the festival for no longer being audience friendly, for being too expensive, and for having a weak crop of films.

Let’s dissect this one for a minute, shall we? Yeah, the $40 Visa Screening Room charge kinda blew, but did you really miss anything that special by not going? Burn After Reading, Blindness, and Che all disappointed and bombed upon getting released, anyway. The way I see it, the only people this hurt were the ones who were only going to see Brad Pitt. Let the fest milk them a bit, I think it’s their right.

Most of the films that screened at the Visa Room also got screenings the Ryerson Theatre or some other small one, and the stars often showed up at those, too. I’ll grant that the whole AMC procedure was a pain, but once you got inside, weren’t you glad you weren’t in the Cumberland? I was.

Oh, and as for the crop of weak films? Look at your Oscar predictions and the year-end Top 10’s. Slumdog Millionaire, The Wrestler, Rachel Getting Married, Waltz with Bashir, JCVD, Happy Go-Lucky. What do they all have in common? You know the answer, and so do I.

We got love for Wall-E.

By Jacob Kaufman, Leo K. Moncel, Sam Linton and Shane McNeil

I think we all had an especially good time at the movies this year. It looks like a couple of us even learned how to sneak into TIFF screenings without being caught. Our top five lists range from the (deservedly) well-travelled to the slightly off road, but generally the films that impressed our crew in 2008 were bold, high-energy, and gutsy.

Jacob Kaufman’s List

5. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Dir: Nicholas Stoller)
I probably should have put Milk or Doubt or one of those movies in this slot, but I didn’t see them. Let The Right One In may have Swedish vampires, but Forgetting Sarah Marshall has singing vampire puppets.

4. Iron Man (Dir: Jon Favreau)
Robert Downey Jr. dominates this movie by playing a character like himself, but who also is a billionaire genius-inventor. This movie may not have been as deep as The Dark Knight, but it was far more fun.

3. The Dark Knight (Dir: Christopher Nolan)
This brilliant epic kicks ass while asking serious questions about justice and the nature of society. And, of course, hosannas to Heath Ledger, who made a guy in bad clown make-up genuinely terrifying.

2. Wall-E (Dir: Andrew Stanton)
This movie turns a machine that looks like a box with binoculars into something more human than most people you will ever meet. Its first half is almost a silent film and feels like poetry on the screen.

1. Burn After Reading (Dir: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen)
First of all, I don’t think I have ever laughed harder in a theatre (much to the chagrin of my neighbours). The Coen Brothers sketch five original, idiosyncratic main characters with perfect economy. The contrast with, for example, The Ladykillers, shows how the Coen Brothers have recovered their ability to create a comedic storyline that is truly character-driven. Every lead actor has found the pulse of their character, and the humour comes from their commitment to what they’re doing, however absurd. Special credit should go to the scene-stealing performance from J.K. “Juno’s Dad/ Spiderman’s Boss/ Nazi Gang Leader” Simmons as the no-bullshit CIA Director. This comedy does not pander to the audience’s expectations – it ruthlessly subverts them with an ever-rising sense of grimness.

Leo K. Moncel’s List

5. Detroit Metal City (Dir: Toshio Lee)
A gentle, meek young man who writes pop songs about dolphins and picnics must perform as Sir Kaiser, a filth-spewing metalhead monster, to make ends meet. A hilarious send-up on the public/private life divide: so universal, yet so Japanese.

4. Slumdog Millionaire (Dir: Danny Boyle)
Better believe it! This movie’s energetic, panoramic, and totally wild, and yet grounded in the real. The ingenious structure of the screenplay and its fluid handling of compressions of time what was what left me cheering.

3. Wall-E (Dir: Andrew Stanton)
A really impressive example of silent storytelling and character development. The games played with viewer expectations are brilliant. A landmark dystopic film for kids.

2. Food, Inc. (Dir: Robert Kenner)
Oooh, my goodness. Following the work of folks like Michael Pollan, this polished documentary pulls back the curtain on how agribusiness run amok has devastated our food’s quality and safety, not to mention the welfare of our species and planet. Eye-opening, sometimes shocking, yet never dismal.

1. The Dark Knight (Dir: Christopher Nolan)
I have to give it to The Dark Knight. This movie is the Taxi Driver of its genre. It is richly complex without being complicated. True, it’s all about The Joker, but The Joker is fascinating not just for Ledger’s performance (though this is every bit as charged and detailed as people insist), but because he proceeds with a very definite thesis. Through all of the apparent chaos, the Joker is really just out to prove that anyone, given the right conditions, is capable of horrific brutality. He is arguing for nurture over nature. His presence therefore implies a sad and terrifying history of mis-nurturing that transformed him into the twisted wreck of a human being before us. It was a bold choice by Nolan and company to plant themselves so deep in the darkness. It’s resulted in a film of rare quality.

Sam Linton’s List

5. Wall-E (Dir: Andrew Stanton)
I love Pixar’s films, and this film had everything that I love them for: memorable characters, jokes not dependant on a steady stream of up-to-the-minute, pop-cultural minutia, and that intangible quality I sometimes hear referred to as “heart.”

4. Iron Man (Dir: Jon Favreau)
This was the movie Marvel fans were waiting for, and the one that finally, after far, far, far too long, washed the putrid taste of X-Men III out of my mouth.

3. Burn After Reading (Dir: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen)
The main complaint I hear (implicitly) leveled against this movie is that it’s not as thematically heavy as No Country for Old Men. But of course it’s not going to be as “heavy”; it’s a Horatian satire, a light (for the Coen brothers, anyways – the body count does pile) comic exposée on the climate of paranoia running through American society. The perfect 2000s-era comedy.

2. The Dark Knight (Dir: Christopher Nolan)
Yeah, it was pretty obvious this one was coming. The film’s thematically tight (order vs. chaos, to be glib), well-written, and carried by amazing performances from Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, and Gary Oldman. The thinking man’s action movie.

1. The Good, The Bad, The Weird (Dir: Ji-woon Kim)
Surprise! Are you surprised? I sure was! I only got to see this once at TIFF, but it blew me away! A Korean Western set in Manchuria during the Japanese occupation? Lord, yes! Director Ji-woon Kim pulled all the stops out to make a visually thrilling, modern spaghetti Western that seldom disappoints. Did I like this film as much as The Dark Knight? Honestly, no, but I’m throwing the value of the surprise together with the entertainment value of the film to give it a slight edge over its North American rival. I fully expected to like Batman; this movie caught me entirely off guard. Unfortunately, it seems to still be in search of a North American distributor. Hopefully, it will find one soon, so 2009 will be the year to catch the best film of 2008!

Shane McNeil’s List

5. In Bruges (Dir: Martin McDonagh)
“Homage is too strong a word,” says a beautiful European stagehand. Self-aware and entertaining. Gotta love that.

4. Slumdog Millionaire (Dir: Danny Boyle)
You’ll love it, it’s almost unavoidable. Maybe if it had tried a bit less, I’d have loved it more. I still loved it.

3. Let the Right One In (Dir: Tomas Alfredson)
A vampire movie where the vampire herself is the least of the threats to the hero. Sweet and simple.

2. Pontypool (Dir: Bruce McDonald)
Only our Bruce McDonald could have made such an innovative, inexplicable, and wildly original, entertaining mess.

1. Waltz with Bashir (Dir: Ari Folman)
It is unlike any other animated film you have ever seen. Same for the documentary. It probes the soul of a filmmaker to find the one horror he wishes he could forget. It’s stylish, heartbreaking, insightful, and sometimes even funny. It does with drawings what the cinematic eye almost wouldn’t permit with a live camera, and then has the nerve to give us a glimpse of it anyway. Waltz is already receiving recognition as both an animated film and a doc, and that trend could continue well into Oscar season. With all apologies to Wall-E, which almost cracked this list, it is easily the best animated film of the year and perhaps the best animated work I’ve ever seen.

By Shane McNeil

Did I miss the memo about them holding the MTV Movie Awards in lieu of the Teen Choice Awards?

Alright, so no one ever actually took the MTV flick awards seriously. The golden popcorn, the often ridiculous interludes, the outrageous PR stunts, the offbeat categories… it just can’t be expected to be legit.

But here’s the rub. At least, once upon a time, they were interesting. I found myself watching the broadcast on Sunday night for no other reason than a lack of options and it made me weep a little for humanity.

I realize that they skew young and that I am aging and so their relevance will inevitably fade, but is this what we’ve come to?

Under what circumstance is Transformers the best movie? In what universe is this movie’s quality applauded and rewarded?

PR has always been an element, but it seems like the stars are just phoning it in nowadays and dropping plugs whenever they possibly can. And they’re not the only ones.

Is this the same awards show that featured those ridiculously clever Max Fischer Players re-enactments years ago? Now it seems like they’ve resorted to just putting stars together and hoping it’ll somehow work. It’s making a stir fry by throwing noodles and soy sauce in a pan, and hoping for the best.

I have the strong feeling that MTV doesn’t give a bean what I, or anyone my age or older, thinks, but it’s just tragic to see an event that actually used to try very hard to be fresh and original start looking and sounding a lot like just about every other bogus, bloated plug-fest awards ceremony on the film circuit. (You can’t even give us an interesting musical performance apart from Adam Sandler serenading himself? Really?)

I guess they’ll never recapture the zeitgeist, like the time they were the only ones with the stones enough to say “Pulp Fiction was way better than Forrest Gump.” And they may never be as clever as they were when they gave Clint Howard a lifetime achievement award, but a little effort would be appreciated.

Were it not for Robert Downey Jr. being watchable in any possible circumstance (guy could get an Oscar nod for a Spic and Span commercial) and Johnny Depp looking better than he has since he packed up and sold his house on Jump Street (which still doesn’t explain him winning those awards), I don’t know what anyone would have realistically been able to take away from the show.

But this is also what happens when you expect a show to be able to keep it up for any extended period of time. Everyone jumps the shark eventually, and I have the feeling that had I been watching for the last five years or so I wouldn’t have been even remotely surprised.

Afterthought: Will Smith, please let your son have his own career. If you want to be the star in the movie of his life, there’s a little show called I Know My Kid’s a Star for that.

Indiana Jones and the Belated Sequel

By Shane McNeil

I’m going to preface this by saying that I am 95% certain that I will go see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull when it comes out. That having been said, is this film really necessary?

I was discussing it with a friend whilst watching Temple of Doom the other night and while they were intrigued because of how good the previous Indy movies were, the cons seem to largely outweigh the pros.

Most of my generation grew up with the Indy trilogy, so it’s pretty irresistible to see our hero back in action. But the Indy we saw was processed through eleven-year-old, easily-impressed goggles. The moments of attempted comedy and the necessity for suspension of disbelief are a much bigger ask from the now-adult children of the 70s and 80s than it was when last we saw Dr. Jones in 1989.

We’re all excited that Harrison Ford is doing credible work, because in recent years he’s been either AWOL or an angry guy who wants his family, life, or airplane back. This has the potential to be Harrison’s first great performance since The Fugitive. But do we have to buy an Indiana Jones who may be more concerned with a sciatic nerve than he is with saving history in order to enjoy it?

Then there’s the franchise itself. I dare anyone to name me a franchise that took this much time off and came back great. No one will go to that length to defend The Godfather 3 so don’t start, and even that was only 16 years versus the 18 Indy’s taken off. It’s just been too long to be making this movie now without it looking like a shameless cash-grab. We fell for it with the Star Wars prequels, and do Lucas and Spielberg think we’re stupid enough to fall for it again? They do, and we are.

People are excited. “Why’s he back in the Nazi warehouse from Raiders?” My thoughts exactly. We last saw it in 1981, certainly it’s been destroyed for condos or an extension for the Autobahn by now. What are you doing there, Henry?

The fact remains, as I said, that I will go see it. Why? Because I have to see the disappointment for myself. It’s tough to resist and barring some unanimously horrid reviews, most people will go for the simple appeal of being able to make up their own minds. It’ll make decent coin at the box office but it won’t be the summer’s big draw (that’s likely Iron Man) and it’ll be far from a re-invention (that’ll likely be Heath Ledger’s return from beyond in Dark Night). Instead it will probably go down in the annals with Batman & Robin, Alien: Resurrection, and other fourth sequels that basically torched the legacy of their predecessors because they couldn’t resist going to the well just once more.

I’d say the upside is that we should’t expect number five, but considering Indy himself is eligible for a pension before the fourth even hits screens, little could truly surprise me from this lot.