Henry's Top 100: #05 - Silence of the Lams

"Was she a great big fat person?"


Of all the films in my Top 10 I have the least love for this one. I don't have a personal connection with Silence of the Lambs...I just happen to think it's a phenomenal movie.

Along with two of the better character's ever portrayed in film (Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lector) Silence is filled with classic moments. Bill's dance to Goodbye Horses, Catherine Martin singing along with American Girl, Lector's escape, and of course, Miggs ("I can smell your _ _ _ _").

This is one of three movies to win the Big Five at the Academy Awards (Actress, Actor, Screenplay, Director, Film) along with It Happened One Night and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and it certainly deserved all of these.

It's the best serial killer movie ever, the best police movie ever, and one of the most enjoyable films of all time.

Best Scene: Starling and Lector's first meeting

Henry's Top 100: #06 - Big Fish

Wanna see me cry?


Then put this movie in the DVD player... Look, Big Fish is not a masterpiece. I do think it's the best think Tim Burton has ever done but that isn't saying much (I guess Beetlejuice is his next best). But Big Fish just wrecks me.

Ruins me.

I cried at Bambi, and Old Yeller, and apparently (though I don't remember it) at the remake of The Blob (I thought the Blob was the good guy so I was sad when the humans killed him). But between the ages of 5-18 I didn't really cry at movies. Then I went to Big Fish with Sam and my cousin Alex. We were all crying at the end. All three of us.

Then, a few weeks later, I went with my Uncle Craig and my father. Again, we were all tear-filled babies.

Then I watched it at college with a girl, I thought she'd like it, and I was reduced to tears yet again, as was she.

The last time I watched it, on Blu-Ray thanks to a Christmas gift from my awesome parents, you can guess what happened...

The reason it gets "dusty" whenever I see Big Fish is it is about getting to know, understand, and care for you parents. This movie probably doesn't work if you never knew your father. I acknowledge that. But for anyone who did have a relationship, of any kind, with their dad...this movie will make you resemble Scott Tenorman after he ate his parents (a weeping mess [if you don't get the reference, shame on you, and go watch the "Scott Tenorman Must Die" episode of South Park right now. It's on itunes]).

And Big Fish really hits a note with me because my family is a group of story-tellers. My parents read to my sister and I when we were young. As a family, we all love to entertain by telling stories, exaggerating when needed, and retelling them with different embellishments given who our audience is. So the central character and dilemma of Big Fish really hit home for me.

The movie contains Ewan McGregor's best acting job outside of Trainspotting, a lot of really fun and fresh moments, a beautiful Alison Lohman, the first performance I ever saw from Marion Cotillard (In an important role actually), and, in the end, performances from Albert Finney and Billy Crudup that buy them a lifetime pass from me.

And there are, again, moments in this movie that are just magic. McGregor pushing away flower pedals to reach Lohman, Carl, Cotillard talking with Finney, Buddy Holly's Everyday, etc.

But in the end, the reason this movie is number 6 and not number 96, is the last scene. I just can't watch it without breaking down. I can't. I'm gonna post it here, I shouldn't as some of you might watch it when you should really go watch the entire film instead, but it is my "best scene" so I will do it. But yeah this scene...it's like Onions for me. Tears every time.

Henry's Top 100: #07 - The Departed

The most "watchable" movie of all time?


We all have movies that no matter when we happen to catch them on T.V., right at the start, or near the end, we are delighted to see it and watch it until the finish.

Bill Simmons, the "Sports Guy" on ESPN, likes to talk about how Boogie Nights is one of these kinds of films. Well he's wrong. Boogie Nights is a well made, but pretty unwatchable, critical darling.

For my money, there is no movie that is more utterly watchable than 2006's The Departed.

It also happens to be, in my opinion, one of the 3 best movies of the last five years (Again, not favorite, but best). For me it goes Brokeback Mountain (one of the 10 best movies ever made), The Departed (A flawless picture), and most recently Slumdog Millionaire (Which would have been mega high on this list had I started to include 2008 films).

I could go into how this was DiCaprio's coming out party, or how Matt Damon, bizarrely, pulls off a scumbag role perfectly, or how this film sports the best supporting cast since Aliens...I could go on and and on and on about all those things. Or how this is the best remake ever (F*** you Sam [Sam prefers the orginal version which is a Chinese film called Infernal Affairs]), or how this is by far Scorsese's best film (Yeah, I'm looking at you Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, and Goodfellas), or how this perfectly captures a side of Boston as never before, or has the best use of music of any film of all time (in my viewing experience at least)...again I could go on, and on and on...I really could. I adore this movie.

But what I will focus on for a bit is the first 18 or so minutes of the movie. The Departed contains the best pre-title sequence ever. Of course the title doesn't appear near almost 20 minutes in but whatever.

But everything, EVERYTHING, you need to know about the movie and it's characters is in the first bit of this film. Who Damon's character is, where DiCaprio's character comes from, the differences between our two protagonists, who our Big Bad is (Jack actually peaks in this first bravura sequence) and then it all comes to a crescendo with the Dropkick Murphy's "Shipping Up to Boston" and the title of the film.

I didn't ever quite buy into the the Scorsese thing. I liked Goodfellas, and The Last Temptation of Christ is a great film, but, other than that, I thought he was always over-rated. Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, Gangs of New York, The Aviator...just didn't see it. But with The Departed Scorsese wrote himself a lifetime credibility bill with me. The Departed is perfectly constructed (it also might be the best edited film ever). It's a rough film, full of ugly and flawed people, but this movie hits every note just right.

God Damn do I love this movie...

Best Scene: Not really a scene...but the entire pre-title sequence. Especially Marky Mark and DiCaprio interacting.

Scene of the Day: Casablanca

I already had this as my favorite scene from Casablanca in my Top 100 but this really might be my favorite scene of all time. I mean, upon some serious thought...really. From me, that's saying something. One of my best friends from college who was a cold-hearted son of a bitch...this scene moved him to tears.

If you've not seen Casablanca...there is something wrong with you...but you should still be able to get this scene. If you have seen Casablanca, please note how well it captures the three main characters, and two of the main supporting characters (Raines and the prostitute girl) in under two minutes.

And I wanna point out one moment in this scene that always sticks out at me. And this is for people who have seen the film; so you philistines better check on out. At 1:03 of the youtube clip they cut to Ingrid Bergman and she seems to be breathing heavily. It's actually kind of weird until one remembers how one feels when they are just awed by something. It is a rare feeling...but something can't, as they say, take your breath away without the body trying to catch up. This is Ilsa (Bergman's character) trying to grasp what is happening, and the fact that her lover Paul (Victor Laszlo), by force of will, just quieted out the Nazis is a little too amazing for her. Then we cut to a shot of Paul leading the song, with a Jeterian fist pump, that shows the character's virtues in one shot.

And then the biggie, the shot that makes this scene for me: Until now we've seen Paul as kinda lame. Uncool. A Boy-Scout. The anti-Rick, and we all know...to be the anti-Bogart... is to be kinda lame. But then this little moment. Bergman, not only one of the most beautiful, but one of the most admirable, actresses of all time, gives Paul that look. That look at 1:10 of this cut that I really don't have the ability to put into words. The only way I can put it is the look one person gives another when they feel love, respect, amazement, appreciation, understanding, all that, for the other. I really don't think I'm looking too much into this moment. This is what makes, in my mind, Bergman the best actress of all time. She has to be this woman who is more in love with one man (Rick) than the idea of another (Paul) but sell the idea that, eventually, she'd leave with the idea over the man. This one shot does it for me. That look she gives, of just...total respect and awe and love...remarkable.

I know a lot of my friends and family (along with you strangers out there) read this old blog of ours but don't have the time or desire to respond or leave comments. Well, this time, I'm throwing down a challenge: Be it on youtube, or via email or text, or however you like...find a more perfect scene than this. I dare you. I double toucan dare you. From my end, you can't find a more stirring, or informative, or better constructed scene than this - my best film scene of all time:

Henry's Top 100: #08 - Psycho

My favorite Hitchcock movie...



There will be spoilers in this little write up. But really, if you haven't seen Psycho, what the heck is wrong with you?

It's kind of weird to have Psycho be a "childhood favorite", it seems almost like it would be an oxymoron, yet Psycho has fascinated and entertained me since I was nine years old. Psycho, when you consider when it came out, how it was made, and how dazzling some of the scenes were, is really one of the coolest movies ever made.

First: Consider that when it came out...there had literally NEVER been an American film like it. Ever. A brutal, serial killer movie, with a major star shown in just her bra who dies in the first half of the film in a naked shower scene, that climaxes with a budding young male star wearing a dress screaming "I'm Norma Bates" (it's there...listen for it), and ends with a single shot - narrated by an old woman who has taken over the mind of the killer - with a bleak final shot of our heroine's car being slowly dragged out of the mud. It's insane that this movie got made in 1960. Nuts.

And then there is how it was made...Hitchcock used his TV show's crew and style to make the film. Stripped down, bare...the film, when you really look at it, does not look any better than your average Alfred Hitchcock Presents or Twilight Zone episode. Or the amazing shower sequence...much more has been written about the style and direction of that scene than I could dare begin to go into...but it's an obvious triumph. Or how about killing the biggest star in the movie in the first 50 minutes? Nuts.

But the nuts and awesomeness of this movie comes through in individual scenes. The scene with Marion at her job at the bank, the scene showing her imagining everyone's voice while driving, the dinner scene with Norman, the shower scene, the killing of the P.I., the "tour" through the Bates' house, the scene with Norman's mother, the scene with the psychologist, the final scene...it's just an amazingly written, directed, and acted film.

And creepy as all hell. I still can't see a figure at a window without being a little freaked out.

Best Scene: ...The Shower scene...

Henry Rewatched: The Constant Gardner:

See, sometimes there are advantages to being politically ignorant...



Everyone I've talked to who takes this movie totally on face value, and really tries to think about what it "has to say" and all that...they've all kinda disliked the film.

Well I have the advantage of being able to shut my brain off. If a movie works...I don't give a hell what it is trying to say. If the message of the film happens to hit the right chord for me...great...but in general that means nothing to me.

So I happen to really like The Constant Gardner. And it is all about Rachel Weisz and Ralph Fiennes in this film for me. Their strange, disjointed, sad, but loving and touching relationship just totally works. And it really only works because they're both so damn good in the movie.

I could go into what the plot of the movie is, or where I happen to fall on the film's message, or any of that...but it just isn't important to me. This is a brilliant study of two people in love who can't quite understand the other until it's too late.

Totally worth seeing; a modern forgotten gem.

Grade: A-

Best Scene: Fiennes breaking down while watching a video of Weisz.

So What Now?

"Oscar" season is over...I know the Oscars haven't happened yet but all the good movies have been released...what now?



Sure, I have somethings I still want / should see in theaters. Defiance for one. I'm really looking forward to Taken:



(Bad-ass)

but in general, everyone knows that January through March is a pretty grim time for movies (as well as sports but that's another issue).

So what does that leave us here at PITAOE to do? Cause we're not gonna go see crap films just cause we feel the need to review a new movie every week. That's not us.

So along with some Academy Award stuff we'll be doing up through the big night (maybe we'll even have a real time update thing going during the show) we'll be putting up some Top Tens, reviewing some movies on DVD (I have a huge pile in front of me right now including, among others, 1990, Roxanne, The Birth of a Nation, Together, 8 1/2, Vicky Christina Barcelona, and The Conformist), and I'll also finally, FINALLY, be finishing my Top 100.

So stick with us through these dog days of cinema. We'll still try to be worth your bookmarking us.

And The Nominees Are...

Some definite surprises to found in this year's nominations...


Some thoughts before we get to the noms:

- The Dark Knight gets shut out of the major categories (Picture, Director, Screenplay) in favor of The Reader. It's not such a crime that The Dark Knight was snubbed for these categories, although it will hurt the ratings of the show, but was The Reader really one of the 5 best movies of the year by any measure? I mean I know some people who liked it but...I just don't see it.

- Gran Torino gets shut out. Excellent. It was a joke of a movie and any nomination it received would have been robbing someone else of a nod.

- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button gets the most noms with 13 nominations followed by Slumdog's 10. Usually the film with the most noms wins Best Picture. Let's hope that doesn't hold true this year.


Now it's time for a breakdown:

Best actor:

1. Richard Jenkins - THE VISITOR
2. Frank Langella - FROST/NIXON
3. Sean Penn - MILK
4. Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
5. Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

The Good: I predicted 4 of the 5 nominees correct. Richard Jenkins, a likable actor who was apparently fantastic in The Visitor getting a nomination over Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino.

The Too-Bad: Leonardo DiCaprio not getting nominated for Revolutionary Road. He was pretty damn good. He was the only actor I predicted would get nominated who didn't.

The Winner: I guess it looks like it will actually be Mickey Rourke but I still think Sean Penn is the one who deserves it.


Best Actress

1. Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
2. Angelina Jolie - Changeling
3. Melissa Leo - Frozen River
4. Meryl Streep - Doubt
5. Kate Winslet - The Reader

The Good: Again, I predicted 4 out of 5 correct...kind of. I didn't guess Melissa Leo (I thought Kristin Scott Thomas might get a nom) and I thought Winslet would be nominated for Revolutionary Road and not The Reader (which was considered a supporting role at the Golden Globes). I don't know if Winslet, who has admitted to be desperate to win an Oscar, can really beat Streep or Hathaway for her role in The Reader. Getting back to Leo, good for her, and I think she could actually be a dark hourse.

The Too-Bad: Again, Revolutionary Road gets snubbed. Winslet was far better in Revolutionary Road than The Reader.

The Winner: Hmmm....let's go with Anne Hathaway. I just don't think this is Winslet's year.

Best Supporting Actor

1. Josh Brolin - Milk
2. Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder
3. Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
4. Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
5. Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road

The Good: Again, 4 out of 5. And this time I'm happy to be wrong. Whereas Revolutionary Road was snubbed in the big two acting categories, I am delighted to see Michael Shannon get recognized for his role in the film. He was fantastic. Also awesome to see Downey Jr. get nominated for such a wacky role.

The Bad: Actually...while I think Brolin gave the 3rd best supporting performance in Milk...and would have liked to see Dev Patel get nominated for Slumdog...I think this is a pretty good group.

The Winner: Ledger. Easy.


Best Supporting Actress

1. Amy Adams - Doubt
2. Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
3. Viola Davis - Doubt
4. Taraji P Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
5. Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler

The Good: 4/5 again. I was snookered by the Kate Winslet confusion. Amy Adams "took" Winslet's spot and the question now becomes will Adams steal votes away from Davis and thus allow Cruz to win?

The Too-Bad: She had no chance but I would have liked to see Beyonce nominated for Cadillac Records.

The Winner: I'll go with Penelope Cruz.


Best Animated Feature Film


1. BOLT
2. KUNG FU PANDA
3. WALL-E

The Confusing: So Waltz with Bashir is one of the 5 best foreign films but not one of the top 3 animated film? Does that mean Bolt is better than all of the foreign film nominees? I know that's silly but I'm a little baffled by Waltz being shut out of this...I'm pretty sure it was eligible.

The Winner: Wall-E


Best Art Direction

1. Changeling - James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo
3. The Dark Knight - Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando
4. The Duchess - Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway
5. Revolutionary Road - Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt

The Good: Changeling and Benjamin Button getting nominated. Both movies had fully realized sets.

The Bad: Not actually sure The Dark Knight deserved this one...

The Winner: Benjamin Button


Best Cinematography


1. Changeling - Tom Stern
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Claudio Miranda
3. The Dark Knight - Wally Pfister
4. The Reader - Chris Menges, Roger Deakins
5. Slumdog Millionaire - Anthony Dod Mantle

The Good: Slumdog and Dark Knight getting well deserved nominations.

The Bad: The Reader...what a weird call. Also, though I don't care, it is surprising to see no Australia here...

The Winner: Slumdog Millionaire.


Best Costume Design


1. Australia - Catherine Martin
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Jacqueline West
3. The Duchess - Michael O'Connor
4. Milk - Danny Glicker
5. Revolutionary Road - Albert Wolsky

The Good: Three of the movies I wanted nominated got recognized.

The Bad: Can't really complain about any of these

The Winner: The Duchess


Best Director


1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - David Fincher
2. Frost/Nixon - Ron Howard
3. Milk - Gus Van Sant
4. The Reader - Stephen Daldry
5. Slumdog Millionaire - Danny Boyle

The Good: I predicted 4/5 again. Chris Nolan for The Dark Knight being the one I got wrong. Of course I'm happy that Boyle gets nominated. He has to win.

The Bad: Again, I just don't see it with The Reader.

Too-Bad: Mendes (Revolutionary Road) and Nolan being snubbed.

The Winner: Boyle


Best Feature Documentary

1.The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) - Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath
2. Encounters at the End of the World - Werner Herzog, Henry Kaiser
3. The Garden - Scott Hamilton Kennedy
4. Man on Wire - James Marsh, Simon Chinn
5. Trouble the Water - Tia Lessin, Carl Deal

The Good: Man on Wire getting nominated. If it hadn't' been I would have nuked Hollywood.

The My-Bad: I should know more about The Garden and The Betrayal.

The Winner: Man on Wire (Or else...)


Best Documentary Short Film

1. The Conscience of Nhem En - Steven Okazaki
2. The Final Inch - Irene Taylor Brodsky, Tom Grant
3. Smile Pinki - Megan Mylan
4. The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306 - Adam Pertofsky, Margaret Hyde

I will have to wait and see what these are about before I predict anything.

Best Editing

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall
2. The Dark Knight - Lee Smith
3. Frost/Nixon - Mike Hill, Dan Hanley
4. Milk - Elliot Graham
5. Slumdog Millionaire - Chris Dickens

The Good: 3 of the movies I wanted to get nominated got in there (Slumdog, Frost, Milk) and I can't say I'm surprised by Benjamin Button or Dark Knight.

The Bad: I just don't agree with those last two. Button and Knight could have been trimmed and tightened up a little bit.

The Winner: Really don't see how it's not Slumdog...most exciting movie of the year.


Best Foreign Language Film

1. The Baader Meinhof Complex - Germany
2. The Class - France
3. Departures - Japan
4. Austria - Revanche
5. Waltz with Bashir - Israel

The My-Bad: I only know 2 of these - Bashir and The Class - and have seen none of them.

The Bad: There is no way that all 5 of these movies are better than Let the Right One in. This is just like last year, when 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days didn't get nominated. While the winners of this category are usually great films (Look at the last two - The Counterfeiters and The Lives of Others - both were "A" movies) but they often get the actually nominees wrong...

The Winner: Can't say without knowing more about the others (for instance: is one of these a Holocaust movie?. But The Class is the one with the best buzz around it.

Best Makeup

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Greg Cannom
2. The Dark Knight - John Caglione, Jr., Conor O'Sullivan
3. Hellboy II: The Golden Army - Mike Elizalde, Thom Floutz

The Good: The Reader getting snubbed here. Winslet looked silly towards the end. Also, The Dark Knight gets a deserved nomination here.

The Bad: Can't complain here.

The Winner: Benjamin Button


Best Music (Score)

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Alexandre Desplat
2. Defiance - James Newton Howard
3. Milk - Danny Elfman
4. Slumdog Millionaire - A.R. Rahman
5. WALL-E - Thomas Newman

The Good: Slumdog, Wall-E, and Milk getting deserved nominations.

The Too-Bad: Dark Knight had a great score...too bad to see it miss out here. Also, I didn't think Ben Button had the most seamless musical work.


Best Original Song

1. WALL-E - "Down to Earth"
2. Slumdog Millionaire - "Jai Ho"
3. Slumdog Millionaire - "O Saya"

The Good: YES! Screw you The Wrestler and screw you Bruce Springsteen. Nice.

The odd: Only 3? And are we really gonna have 2 performances of songs in Hindi during the Oscars?

The Winner: Slumdog splits its own vote - Wall-E wins.


BEST PICTURE

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2. Frost/Nixon
3. Milk
4. The Reader
5. Slumdog Millionaire

The Good: 4/5 guessed right (Dark Knight again).

The Bad: The Reader

The Winner: Slumdog


Best Animated Short Film

1. La Maison de Petits Cubes - Kunio Kato
2. Lavatory - Lovestory - Konstantin Bronzit
3. Oktapodi - Emud Mokhberi, Thierry Marchand
4. Presto - Doug Sweetland
5. This Way Up - Alan Smith, Adam Foulkes

Best Live Action Short Film

1. Auf der Strecke (On the Line) - Reto Caffi
2. Manon on the Asphalt - Elizabeth Marre, Olivier Pont
3. New Boy - Steph Green, Tamara Anghie
4. The Pig - Tivi Magnusson, Dorte Høgh
5. Spielzeugland (Toyland) - Jochen Alexander Freydank


Who Knows?

Best Sound Editing

1. The Dark Knight - Richard King
2. Iron Man - Frank Eulner, Christopher Boyes
3. Slumdog Millionaire - Tom Sayers
4. WALL-E - Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood
5. Wanted - Wylie Stateman

Best Sound Mixing

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten
2. The Dark Knight - Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo, Ed Novick
3. Slumdog Millionaire - Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty
4. WALL-E - Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, Ben Burtt
5. Wanted - Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño, Petr Forejt

Yeah, I have no idea what the difference between these two categories is. However they're defined: Wall-E should win both.

Winner: Wall-E just beating Dark Knight.


Best Visual Effects

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron
2. The Dark Knight - Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber, Paul Franklin
3. Iron Man - John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick, Shane Mahan

The Good: Ben Button and Iron Man were the two most impressive effects movies of the year.

The Winner: Benjamin Button


Best Adapted Screenplay

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Eric Roth, Robin Swicord
2. Doubt - John Patrick Shanley
3. Frost/Nixon - Peter Morgan
4. The Reader - David Hare
5. Slumdog Millionaire - Simon Beaufoy


The OK: Only got 3/5 right. I thought Dark Knight and Revolutionary Road would get more appreciation.

The Bad: Doubt had a crappy screenplay. The best part of the movie, the dialogue, was already all written. Every stage-direction or addition to the movie was pretty awful. Baffling.

The Winner: Slumdog


Best Original Screenplay

1. Frozen River - Courtney Hunt
2. Happy-Go-Lucky - Mike Leigh
3. In Bruges - Martin McDonagh
4. Milk - Dustin Lance Black
5. WALL-E - Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Pete Docter

The Good: Pretty eclectic batch of nominees here. But all pretty deserving from all accounts. In Bruges and Wall-E especially deserve the nominations.

The Weird: No Vicky Christina Barcelona? Or Synecdoche, New York?

The Ugly: Only guessed 2 correctly (Milk and Happy-Go-Lucky).

The Winner: Milk...though wouldn't Wall-E be cool?



That's all folks. Not the worst batch of nominees ever. Now Slumdog Needs to sweep and I'll be happy.

Two Movie-Related Podcasts you should check out

Both are available on itunes:



Scene Unseen - Two funny guys talking about one new release and two older movies worth catching up with. Download the Benjamin Button Podcast and see if that one works for you.


Filmspotting - Again, two guys who review a few movies each week but what I love about this one is it is full of Top 10's, Top 5's, etc. Which is right up my alley. Check out their Podcast in which they name their top performances of the year. Don't agree with every choice but it is a great discussion.

Check them out if you have some time, after all, they're free.

The Golden Raspberry Awards

The day before the Oscar Nominations are announced, the official "Worst of the Year" awards, The Razzies, named their nominees -



Worst Picture
Disaster Movie
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
Meet the Spartans
The Happening
The Hottie & the Nottie

Pretty good list. One movie that obviously should not have been nominated, and thank Christ it wasn't', was the brilliant, mind-blowing, devastatingly awesome The Love Guru. Good job Razzies, Bravo. I guess of the nominees, though I haven't seen them all, one has to assume that Disaster Movie is one of the worst movies ever made while the rest are simply bad.


Worst Actor
Mike Myers - The Love Guru
Eddie Murphy - Meet Dave
Al Pacino - 88 Minutes and Righteous Kill
Mark Wahlberg - The Happening and Max Payne
Larry the Cable Guy - Witless Protection

Well obviously Mike Myers should be nominated for an Oscar, not a Razzie, so shame on them. Al Pacino probably should win it for the double threat of suck he put out this year.

Worst Actress
Jessica Alba - The Love Guru and The Eye
Cameron Diaz - What Happens in Vegas
Paris Hilton - The Hottie & the Nottie
Kate Hudson - Fool's Gold and My Best Friend's Girl
The Entier Cast of "The Women" - Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Meg Ryan.

I saw The Women on a plane...it should win this. I promise you...it should win this.

Worst Supporting Actor
Uwe Boll, Postal
Pierce Brosnan - Mamma Mia!
Ben Kingsley, The Love Guru, War, Inc., The Wackness
Burt Reynolds, Deal and In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
Verne Troyer, The Love Guru and Postal.

What's with all The Love Guru hate? I can't imagine Brosnan was that bad. Again, might have to go with Ben Kingsley for the sheer volume of pathetic he put out there.

Worst Supporting Actress
Carmen Electra - Disaster Movie, Meet The Spartans
Paris Hilton - Repo! The Genetic Opera;
Kim Kardashian - Disaster Movie
Jenny Mccarthy, Witless Protection;
Leelee Sobieski - 88 Minutes, In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale

Man that's a brutal group. Sobieski is the only one there who once tried to be a real actress. So lets say her; also, I did see 88 minutes and she did indeed suck.

Worst Screen Couple
Uwe Boll and Any Actor, Camera and Screenplay
Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher, What Happens In Vegas
Paris Hilton and either Christine Lakin or Jorel David Moore, The Hottie And The Nottie
Larry The Cable Guy and Jenny Mccarthy, Witless Protection;
Eddie Murphy In Eddie Murphy, Meet Dave.

Have to go with Uwe Boll right? I mean the nomination itself is hilarious.

Worst Prequel, Sequel, Remake Or Rip-Off
The Day The Earth Stood Still
Disaster Movie
Meet The Spartans
Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull
Speed Racer
Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Again, have to assume Disaster Movie is the worst of these embarrassments.

Worst Director
Uwe Boll - Tunnel Rats, In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale And Postal
Jason Friedberg And Aaron Seltzer - Disaster Movie And Meet The Spartans
Tom Putnam - The Hottie And The Nottie
Marco Schnabel - The Love Guru
M. Night Shyamalan, The Happening.

Boll or Friedberg and Seltzer?

Worst Screenplay
Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer - Disaster Movie And Meet The Spartans
M. Night Shyamalan - The Happening
Heidi Ferrer - The Hottie And The Nottie
Doug Taylor - In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
Mike Myers and Graham Gordy, The Love Guru

Well I don't think Disaster Movie or Meet the Spartans had scripts so they shouldn't win. Let's go with Shyamalan cause he wrote a scene in which Marky Mark talks to a plastic plant.

Worst Career Achievement
Uwe Boll - "Germany's answer to Ed Wood".

Comparing Boll to Ed Wood is being kind.

Oscar Noms tomorrow at 8:30 AM EST.

I Told You Benjamin Button Was Like Forest Gump

From Funny or Die:

The Curious Case of Forrest Gump - watch more funny videos

Henry's Top 100: #09 - Rear Window

Yeah...most beautiful woman ever...


Rear Window is one of the most beautiful movies ever made. The combination of Hitchcock's camera, the excellent set design, the wit of the writing, and Grace Kelly make Rear Window one of the most precious films ever done.

It really might be the best script ever written. It's clever, playful, wise, thought provoking, frustrating, romantic, bitter, and just plain fun. Rear Window also contains the only Jimmy Stewart performance I can appreciate. He's actually great in the film. His character has one completely unbelievable character trait: He doesn't want to marry Grace Kelly. Completely and utter bullsh*t.

Grace Kelly in Rear Window is the most beautiful thing ever. Sheer and utter perfection. That's all that needs to be said.

Rear Window is not quite my favorite Hitchcock film, more on that later, but it is, in my mind, the best. It's a work of delightful pop-art as well as one of the most intelligent films (Hollywood or otherwise) you could ever hope to see. This is a flawless movie.

Best Scene? Grace Kelly breaking in to Thorwald's apartment.

Henry's Top 100: #10 - Last of the Mohicans

So flashback to 1992. The Crying Game is playing on the radio, The Blue Jays are World Champs, Clinton is elected...and the following movies are nominated for Best Picture in early 1993: Unforgiven, The Crying Game, A Few Good Men, Howerds End, Scent of a Woman. Meanwhile, Last of the Mohicans is nominated for one thing... Best Sound.


One of the most under-rated movie of all time?

Michael Mann, up until Last of the Mohicans, was known mostly as the guy who created Miami Vice. Sure, he had made Manhunter (the first version of Thomas Harris' Red Dragon), but there was little reason to believe he could make a period epic based on James Fenimore Cooper's novel.

Wisely he got the best actor of his generation (though that wasn't as obvious at the time) Daniel Day Lewis to play the lead. Then he chose to shoot the film in North Carolina which doubled for the 18th Century Adirondacks perfectly. Then, he took the stilted and outdated novel and added a passionate love story and crafted fantastic action scenes.

The end result is my favorite film of 1992 and one of my favorite movies of all time. The story is strong, the relationships between the characters is touching, and the battle scenes deliver the goods.

And it has one of the great scores in film history.

Just a modern classic, timeless, exciting, beautifully shot...superb film-making.

Best Scene:

SPOILER ALERT - THIS IS THE LAST SEQUENCE OF THE MOVIE

The Oscars: Who Will Get Nominated

Yesterday I put up what I think should be nominated. This is what I think will be nominated in the major categories.



The nominees are listed in the order that I rate their odds to win.

Best Supporting Actress:

1. Penelope Cruz - Vicky Christina Barcelona
2. Viola Davis - Doubt
3. Kate Winslet - The Reader
4. Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler
5. Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Supporting Actor:

1. Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
2. Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
3. Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder
4. Josh Brolin - Milk
5. Dev Patel - Slumdog Millionaire

Best Actress:

1. Kate Winslet - Revolutionary Road
2. Meryl Streep - Doubt
3. Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
4. Angelina Jolie - Changeling
5. Kristin Scott Thomas - I've Loved You So Long

Best Actor:

1. Sean Penn - Milk
2. Micky Rourke - The Wrestler
3. Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
4. Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
5. Leonardo DiCaprio - Revolutionary Road

Best Original Screenplay:

1. Milk
2. Vicky Christina Barcelona
3. Happy Go Lucky
4. Synecdoche, New York
5. Burn After Reading

Best Adapted Screenplay:

1. Slumdog Millionaire
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3. Frost/Nixon
4. Revolutionary Road
5. The Dark Knight

Best Director:

1. Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
2. David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3. Gus Van Sant - Milk
4. Christopher Nolan - The Dark Knight
5. Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon

Best Picture:

1. Slumdog Millionaire
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3. Milk
4. The Dark Knight
5. Frost/Nixon

The Top Fifteen Disney Songs

A little nostalgia is involved in this list...



1. Kiss The Girl (Not only the best thing Disney has ever done, but one of the great scenes/ songs/ anythings ever done. I love, love, love this scene/song.)


2. Be Like You (A childhood standout)


3, Everybody Wants To Be a Cat (Pretty damn cool song)


4. Under the Sea (Is this the most energetic scene in movie history? Pure Joy)


5. One Jump Ahead (Best Song in a good movie musical)


6. Why Should I Worry (Best thing Billy Joel has ever done)


7. The Bear Necessities (Another childhood standard)


8. Pink Elephants on Parade (Totally bizarre)


9. Prince Ali (Makes me miss my old dog OLLIE who we callled, among other things, Prince OLLie.


10. Baby Mine (Devasting. Think of what your Mom did for you...Now I dare you not to cry...)
.

11. Poor Unfortunate Souls (So darn Evil...and delightful)


12. High Ho (A classic.)


13. Cinderella Work Song (A Mayer family standard.)


14. Cruella De Vil (There's a reason everyone rememnbers Cruellla...this song is the reason.)


15. Circle of Life (the most epic thing Disney attempted.) Damn goood. Not great but damn good.



That's just my opinion...

The Oscars: Who Should Get Nominated

This isn't wholly different from my Top Ten; but I still think it's worth voicing what I'm rooting for getting a nod come January 22nd (when the nominations are announced).




I listed the nominees in the order that I think they deserve to win.

Disclaimer: I have not seen every movie or performance I'm about to list. Some of these are compiled from trustworthy friends and trusted critics.

Disclaimer 2: I didn't do every catagory - just the ones that stood out to me.

Disclaimer 3: I put my commentary in parenthesis (Like Th\is).


Best Makeup:

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Has to win...I know some of it was special effects but I was amazed by the makeup job done on Pitt and Blanchett - Simply Splendid)

2. The Dark Knight (The Joker being the sole reason I think this deserves the nom. I loved how in the interrogation scene the makeup has started to bleed because of how long it's been caked on.)

3.The Reader (I guess. I actually thought Winslet looked silly as an old woman but for lack of anything else...)

Best Costume:

1. The Duchess (How do you dress the most famous dresser of all time? Well the film pulled it off - doesn't hurt to have Kiera Knightly as your mannequin.

2. Changeling (I was never taken out of the movie. Part of that was how apropos everyone looked)

3. The Dark Knight ("Oh, and by the way, the suit, it wasn't cheap. You oughta know, you bought it.")

4. Revolutionary Road (Caputred the time and place)

5. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Ditto)

Special Effects:

1. Benjamin Button (Marvelous)

2. Iron Man (The CGI is noticeable but it is aided by the fact that a suit of metallic armor is easy to animate.)

3. Wanted (Over the Dark Knight...just was a damn good looking film.)

Best Animated Feature:

1. Wall*E (The obvious winner)

2. Kung-Fu Panda (This was much better than you think it was)

3. Waltz With Bashir (I have no desire to see this one)

Editing:

1. Slumdog Millionaire (The most exciting movie of the year - and that's all in the editing)

2. Iron Man (After having seen the deleted scenes that were rightfully cut...perfectly put together film)

3. Man On Wire (The best paced documentary ever made)

4. Milk (Very well done)

5.Frost/Nixon (Meh...why not...)


Best Supporting Actress:

1. Viola Davis - Doubt (One long scene...but if you out-act Meryl Streep you deserve to win)

2. Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler (Only good thing in the movie)

3. Beyonce Knowles - Cadillac Records (Actually great. Out acted a lot of people who are considered better actors. She really deserves a nomination.)

4. Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Sweetness incarnate.)

5. Penelope Cruz - Vicky Christina Barcelona (Only heard good things.)

Best Supporting Actor:

1. Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight (Best performance of the year.)

2. Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road (If not for Ledger I could have called this the best performance of the year.)

3. Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt (Always great.)

4. Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder (Funny as hell. Didn't go full retard.)

5. Emilie Hirsch - Milk (Full of charm.)

Best Actress:

1. Kate Winslet - Revolutionary Road (Really the best performance from a woman this year. She was brilliant.)

2. Meryl Streep - Doubt (Tip-toed the line between parody and brilliance)

3. Lina Leandersson - Let The Right One In (Carried my favorite movie of the year...)

4. Kristin Scott Thomas - I've Loved You So Long (Heard only good things...she was great on stage in The Seagull)

5. Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married (Again, heard good things)

Best Actor:

1. Sean Penn - Milk (The best lead performance by a male this year. Without a doubt.)

2. Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon (Sorry Frank, just a little short of winning I fear.)

3. Leonardo DiCaprio - Revolutionary Road (Managed to do a great job with a hard role and being cast against type.)

4. Robert Downey Jr. - Iron Man (So damn charming...won over viewers who would've had nothing to do with the movie.)

5. Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler (Ugh...I guess he had a few good moments.)

Best Original Screen Play:

1. Milk (Although it follows The Life and Times of Harvey Milk pretty damn close.)

2. Wall*E (Pretty daring script.)

3. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Funniest movie of the year.)

4. Vicky Christina Barcelona (Heard it's one of Allen's best.)

5. Tropic Thunder (Very clever Hollywood parody.)

Best Adapted Screenplay:

1. Slumdog Millionaire (Throwback, modern, urgent, fantastical, gritty...brilliant.)

2. Let the Right One In (Devastatingly great.)

3. The Dark Knight (Technically not adapted from one storyline - captured the best Joker ever.)

4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Kinda hate putting this here as they only took the basic concept of Fitzgerald's story and ignored the rest. Still, it's a good script, and it's adapted from a previous work, so here it is.)

5. Frost/Nixon (Good movie from what was probably a great play.)

Best Director:

1. Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire (No one had a more uphill battle or made a more complete film this year.)

2. David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (As I said, technically the best made movie of the year)

3. Christopher Nolan - The Dark Knight (Very impressive work.)

4. Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon (Nice job keeping it interesting)

5. Gus Van Sant - Milk (Nice use of steady cam, hand-held, vintage footage, etc. Very well put together.)

Best Picture:

1. Slumdog Millionaire (The most exciting movie of the year. As I read somewhere...It's not a feel good movie but it is a movie that makes you feel good.)

2. Let the Right One In (My favorite of the year)

3. Man on Wire (If this doesn't win Best Documentary it would be a f***ing travesty.)

4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (So well done...)

5. The Dark Knight (Just to acknowledge how seriously they approached the subject matter.)

Hard to leave Revolutionary Road off this list but that is one of those films that is ALL about the performances...Mendes kinda dropped the ball on his end. So as much as I love Winslet, Shannon, and DiCaprio in the movie...I can't quite say it should be considered, officially, one of the year's Top Five.

I'll put up my predictions soon.

Henry Saw: The Wrestler

Don't buy the hype...this is a terrible film.


Earlier in the season I said that it seemed like Critics had just decided to declare Milk a brilliant film. At least they were all praising a solid movie back then. Now, with The Wrestler getting universal praise, I have to believe there is some kind of global conspiracy or something. The Wrestler is a thoroughly unlikeable, unpleasant, over-rated, S***-show.

Micky Rourke has won the Golden Globe, and multiple other accolades and awards, for his portrayal of a broken down Wrestler (Randy) dealing with failing health, an estranged daughter, and a stripper who he is in love with. I don't get it. He's...fine. He's as good as the role allows him to be. In fact, he has one above average scene with his daughter that almost approaches being touching. I cannot say anything else about the performance. It's not nuanced, or weighty, or upsetting. It just is sort of there. I expected to marvel at the gravity and sadness of Rourke's performance...I did no such thing. It was fine, he probably deserves a nomination for Best Actor, but if he wins over Penn or Langella it would be a travesty.

The surprise of the movie is the fact that Marisa Tomei is actually great in the film. Her performance as an aging stripper is a powerful and heartfelt tour de force. Other than Viola Davis, Tomei gives the best performance from a supporting actress that I've seen this year.

The director, Darren Aronofsky, shoots the film in an infuriating way. There are at least a dozen shots done from behind Rourke as he walks around or into a doorway. We are suppose to connect Randy's entering the deli he works at to him entering the exciting wrestling arena - but to what end? I don't actually think there's any point to be made there. The hand-held camera thing continues to be maddening and there is nothing clever, or poignant, in the way Aronofsky inter-cuts Rourke's story with Tomei's.

Any way you cut it, The Wrestler is just not that good. It is a noble effort I suppose but I just don't see what all the critics have latched onto in the film.

Grade: C+

Best Scene: Rourke's, admiringly strong, conversation with his daughter on the boardwalk.

Henry's Top Ten of 2008

A pretty good year for movies...here's my top ten:



10. Forgetting Sarah Marshall - The funniest movie of the year and that means it has to go on the list. Not an all time great comedy but a very good one that is probably my favorite of all the Apatow productions (yes, over Superbad and Knocked Up). (Original Review)

9. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - A brilliant movie that I didn't love. It's flawless in it's production but falls a bit short in its screenplay, editing, and even acting. It is a technical marvel that has high ambitions that it actually almost meets. I didn't love Benjamin Button but I did appreciate the hell out of it. No movie this year was made with more skill. (Original Review)

8. Revolutionary Road - Breaks into the Top Ten because of my affinity for the story and the strength of the performances. Might move up on the list after some thinking. Original Review

7. Wall*E - The most brilliant film of the year as well as the most beautiful; I was charmed by the movie more than I fell in love with it though. It's good to see it place number one on a number of critics' lists, as it means its not just being labeled "a cartoon movie" but for me, as much as I respect and enjoyed the film, I can't put it higher than 7. (Original Review)

6. The Dark Knight - Deeply flawed, and containing a very objectionable final 45 minutes, I still have to admit that the movie is really entertaining. Most of that comes from Heath Ledger, who gives the best performance of the year, and the rest comes from the strong cast around him and the direction which makes you feel as though you are completely engrossed in the world of the film. Not the best film of the year, or even the best comic book movie of the year, but a damn good film. (Original Review)

5. The Counterfeiters - Technically this came out last year in Europe but I didn't get a chance to see this in theaters until over the summer of 2008. The best holocaust movie since Life is Beautiful, and a fascinating story, this is a film that would be easy to miss but you'd be making a big mistake. Great movie. (Original Review)

4. Man on Wire - Just rewatched this last night - by far the year's best documentary, this inspirational and unbelievable true story is one of the most fun film experiences of the year. A magnetic and light movie with some of the most beautiful images you'll ever see on film. (Original Review)

3. Iron Man - The best superhero movie of the year as well as the most fun movie of the year. A perfect summer blockbuster (it won big at the PITAOE Awards for being just that) and it as good as a movie like this can be. In a year when Bond was too serious and Bruce Wayne was totally uninteresting, Tony Stark picked up the slack. (Original Review)

2. Slumdog Millionaire - If I had to vote right now I would put Slumdog Millionaire as the film I think most deserves Best Picture. The direction, script, acting, camera work, and music are all top-notch and add up to make the "best" movie of the the year. It is not number one for purely emotional reasons - and even then its close - but on any rational level it is impossible to deny that Slumdog Millionaire was the best film of 2008. (Original Review)

1. Let The Right One In - I just happened to like this one slightly better. The best vampire film ever made, something about this movie just won me over from the first frame, and now having seen it twice, I still love it. Honestly if you said I had to swap my one and two I wouldn't fight you that hard but I just feel like Let the Right One In was more of a discovery and there more more personal. But, in a year that many have said wasn't the best for movies, we're lucky to have gotten two such fantastic films as Slumdog and Let the Right One In. (Original Review)

Henry Saw: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

A very well done film


David Fincher can make a movie. Anyone who has seen Fight Club or Zodiac knows this. Two of the better-made films of the last 10 years. Even The Game and Panic Room, two films rife with problems, are very well directed. So I wasn't surprised when early word on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was that Fincher had finally made his masterpiece (which was sort of a silly thing to say considering it would be almost impossible for Fincher to top Fight Club). At the beginning of 2008 Benjamin Button was the prohibitive favorite to win Best Picture. Fincher, Pitt, Blanchett, a script from Eric Roth (the man who wrote Forest Gump), and buzz that the effects were among the most innovative and mesmerizing in film history.

Still I was pretty pessimistic as the movie looked like a chore to get through, apparently did not follow the plot of Fitzgerald's short story closely, and was almost 3 hours long. Still, I knew I had to see it, so I went yesterday afternoon with my cousin.

So how did the whole thing turn out?

Much better than I expected.

The best way I can describe the tone and style of the film is Forest Gump meets Big Fish with a dash of Amelie and Wuthering Heights thrown in.

Benjamin Button opens with an old Cate Blanchett (Daisy) lying on her death bed in a New Orleans hospital. Her daughter (Julia Ormond), is told to read from an old journal that Blanchett has in her bag. It's the journal of Benjamin Button - a man who when he was born on the day World War 1 ended more closely resembled an old man than a newborn infant. His father, devastated by losing his wife during the birth, leaves the child at a nursing home run by a young, infertile, African American named Queenie. She takes the freakish looking baby in, and raises Benjamin as he seems to age backwards from a decrepit old man backwards. While at the nursing home, and looking like a man of 75 years old, Benjamin befriends the grand-daughter of one of the patients - Daisy. They bond, but because of their apparent age discrepancy, are kept separate from one another.

Eventually Benjamin de-ages to a point that he can leave New Orleans on a tug boat and begin to live life. Meanwhile, Daisy goes to New York to become a dancer. The rest of the film is about their story as they meet up, break each other's hearts, and ultimately "meet in the middle" and live a life together before fate intervines.

It's a very big undertaking this film. It attempts to tell, basically in full, two whole lives. While the focus is obviously more on Benjamin, Daisy gets quite a lot of screen time, and their stories become very tightly intertwined.

The first third of the movie is enchanting. Seeing an ancient Brad Pitt is kind of weird, but this is the part of the film with the most energy, most humor, and best exploration of the concept in some ways. The story of a clock that ticks backwards, Queenie's lovely acceptance of the weird looking child, Benjamin learning about the world...all full of magic. One of the flaws of the picture is that it is a 3 hour epic that peaks in its first hour. It's not like the next two hours are bad but the decline in quality is noticeable.

The rest of the movie, more or less, deals with the strange love story between Benjamin and Daisy (with a love affair, a World War 2 battle scene, and a reunion with an estranged father thrown in for good measure). The love story, touching at the end of the film, left me mostly cold during the middle of the picture. Part of the problem is that Blanchett's character is thoroughly unlikable. For most of the film she is a self-centered bitch who Benjamin is hung-up on. This is not unrealistic but it makes for a frustrating viewing.

I will admit - for a three hour movie this thing moves. I am not lying when I say that The Dark Knight, a shorter and more "exciting" film, felt a great deal longer than Benjamin Button. This is because Fincher and his editor keep not just the film moving, but each scene has a definite pace and energy. There is no painful lingering on one shot and the film has a definite story to tell which makes the film length not too big of an issue. The only way I find fault in the running time is when considering what could have been cut from the movie while not hurting the narrative. Benjamin's affair with an English woman in Russia (played by Tilda Swinton) could have been edited, or cut from the script completely, and the movie would have lost nothing.

Pitt is good, but hidden, throughout the film. One cannot look at Benjamin Button without marveling at the effects / makeup job. So Pitt is a bit lost under the brilliance of the technical work. He's fine, and gives the role an inherent decency and devastation, but he doesn't stand out. Nor does Blancehtt who gives probably the worst performance I've ever seen from her. And it's not even that bad...just kind of boring and saddled with a dry, unlikable role.

The standout is Taraji P. Henson who plays Benjamin's foster mother with a sweetness and joie de vive that energizes the movie whenever she's on screen.

Benjamin Button is ultimately a director's film and Fincher does a splendid job. I earlier compared it to Forest Gump, Big Fish, Amelie, and Wuthering Heights...well I don't like it as much as any of those films. It's probably a much better made film than any of those but it is ultimately a cold film. An artful construction more than a heartfelt work of art.

As it stands I guess this is still the most likely American film to win Best Picture (Slumdog, deservingly but miraculously, being the favorite) and it would not be a disaster if Benjamin Button won. It's a brilliantly done film...I just didn't quite connect with it. Still, I can't deny that it is one of the best of the year and one of those movies you have to go see in theaters. I appreciate the hell out of the movie; I just hope you enjoy it more than I did.

Grade: A- (There is too much quality here to give it anything less)

Best Scene: Benjamin's final scene with Daisy...sniffle...

Henry Watched: Singing in the Rain and Of Human Bondage

Two more never before seen films reviewed:





Singing In The Rain

So that's what all the hubbub is about...

See I hate musicals. On stage, in film (Moulain Rouge remains my least favorite movie of all time)...anywhere. I especially hate musicals in which the music serves no point except to make the play a musical. When the songs don't add or narrate the plot, and simply serve to be an excuse for song and dance numbers, I go freaking crazy.

So how come I liked Singing in the Rain so much?

Probably because it's so damn well done.

The film, a brilliant satire of Hollywood's transition from silent film to the talkies, is an enchanting, impressive, masterwork. The performers are amazing to watch, always high energy, and the humor actually still works.

I still hate musicals but I must admit that this is very clearly one the greats of all time. It deserves it's reputation and-then-some.

If you are like me and avoided seeing this because it's a musical...trust me...this one is okay...it's better than okay...it's amazing entertainment.

Just don't ask me to watch An American in Paris or something now...

Grade: A

Best Scene: Obviously the "Singing in the Rain" scene is the most famous (and it is charming) but I think the best scene is the extended "Broadway" scene that Gene Kelly describes to the head of the film studio.




Of Human Bondage

Adapted from W. Somerset Maugham's novel, this 1934 film stars Bette Davis and Leslie Howard. The plot is about an aspiring doctor who falls for the wrong woman, who continually brings him down, but who he can't stop loving.

Having read the book I was a little saddened at how tamed down the plot lines and themes had to be but that was the nature of the beast in 1934. Other than that this was a very worthy version of the book. Davis is brilliant, if a little too unattractive to buy as a temptress, as the manipulative and betwitching Mildred. Howard is even better as the poor sap who knows Mildred is no good for him but can't stop going back to her. It's a fantastic portrayal of a man who is so in love that logic and reality are no longer important. It's a terrifying view of where a person can find themselves when they're in love.

Of Human Bondage is an upsetting and dark film but it is also wise and stirring. I recommend the book over the film but the movie is a very fair adaption.

Grade: B

Best Scene: Leslie Howard telling a woman who loves him that he has to leave her for Mildred.

The Golden Globes - A Quick Reaction

The Golden Globes were this evening...a few quick thoughts on the winners:



So that was a well done show. Moved quick, some nice speeches...what more could you really want from one of these things? Here's a link to The Winners

I don't put a ton of weight into the Oscars and who wins (Crash winning over Brokeback was a joke and I think that There Will Be Blood will go down as the better movie than No Country for Old Men for example) but it is always fun to try to guess what will win and the Golden Globes are a pretty good preview of what we can expect.

So what did we learn?

Well for one: The Hollywood Foreign Press really likes Kate Winslet. She won both actress awards she was up for (Supporting and Lead Actress in a drama) which is relatively unprecedented and very interesting when thinking about the Oscars. We can assume she'll be nominated for the same categories, and we can guess she'll win one, but which? Having seen both her films this weekend I can attest to the fact that she is better in Revolutionary Road (in which she's the lead). Her performance is better than Streep's in Doubt and Jolie's in Changeling. It seems to me like the Academy might give Supporting Actress to Viola Davis or Penelope Cruz.

We also learned that the only thing that the Hollywood Foreign Press (HFP) likes more than Mrs. Winslet is Slumdog Millionaire. Slumdog took home the awards for Score, Screenplay, Director and Best Picture (Drama). And it definitely deserves all these awards. It was my second favorite movie of the year and pretty obviously the year's best film. I think it has to be the favorite to win Best Picture...though Milk and The Dark Knight (both of which were not nominated for Best Picture at the Golden Globes) are its stiffest competition.

We can't put too much stock in Mickey Rourke winning best actor over Sean Penn if only because it's clear that the HFP didn't think much of Milk. Rourke might be the favorite right now but I think it is possible that Hollywood will vote for Penn because A) Rourke now has an award so good for him, B) Penn was really damn good in Milk, and I hate to think this way but C) It could be a way of voicing out against Proposition 8 (a sentiment I sympathize with though that's no reason to vote for an actor's performance).

Ledger won. Good. He'll win the Oscar. That'll be good too (and overdue as he should have won for Brokeback). Who will accept it at the Oscars on his behalf? Michelle Williams? Nolan again? A marionette Heath Ledger corpse with Joker's dialogue played as an acceptance speech?

Puppet Heath Ledger is guided awkwardly up the stairs by a puppeteer in the rafters. He wraps his hands around Marion Cotillard and says: "Let's put a smile on that face!" and kisses Cotillard. His jaw falls off. Heath Ledger looks over at host Hugh Jackman: "And I thought my jokes were bad." Turns back towards audience: "Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen." Looks down at the statue: "Well hello beautiful. You complete me!" Looks back up at audience: "I like this job. I like it." Turns away from podium: "And... here... we... go." Walk off stage as a shocked and mortified crowd sits in stunned silence.

Waltz With Bashir winning best Foreign Language movie was interesting. Wall*E winning was incredibly expected. Sally Hawkins and Vicky Christina Barcelona winning was nice to see. As was Colin Ferrel winning for In Bruges as he actually deserved it despite usually being, as my uncle Craig likes to call him, "a movie killer".

Anyway...that's really all the movie news. Mad Men and 30 Rock won which was great as they're the two best shows currently on TV.

But it was a good show and I'm definitely excited to see how the Oscar nominees shake out. Will Milk and The Dark Knight get a lot more love? Will Downey Jr. or Cruse be nominated for Supporting Actor for their roles in Tropic Thunder like they were at the Globes? We'll find out soon...

Henry Saw: The Reader

Boring film


The Reader is about a young German who has an affair with an older woman named Hannah in 1958 Berlin. After a summer of love-making and reading books to her, the woman disappears.

8 years later the boy is now a law student and is taken with his class to observe the trial of 6 women who are accused of killing 300 women and children during the Holocaust. To his shock, Hannah is one of the defendants. Psychological turmoil ensues.

Just not that interesting or powerful. There's a lot of solid acting here, and a potentially interesting idea, but the whole thing never really comes together. It doesn't feel like a full movie.

Winslet is good, not as good as she was in Revolutionary Road, but she's solid.

Well made but not worth the time.

Grade: C+

Best Scene: Hannah teaching herself to read

Henry Saw: Revolutionary Road

My most anticipated movie of the season...what did I think? Click the link to find out


How often does one come across a "favorite"? I mean a true favorite; something that you feel like you will love or value or revisit for years to come? We all see movies, or watch TV shows, or read books that we like and appreciate...this year alone I really liked Iron Man, enjoyed the hell out of House, and thought an old non-fiction book called Endurance was a damn strong read...but none of these were favorites for me. They weren't all-time greats. To come across something, in any of these mediums, that you truly love - this is a rare thing. Somehow I managed to find two of these this year. One was the movie Let the Right One In which I am convinced will remain a true favorite for years to come. The other was the book Revolutionary Road. Over this past Thanksgiving my sister Lily gave me a copy of Richard Yeats' Revolutionary Road because she thought I would like it. No one, in recent memory, has ever given me a better recommendation.

Revolutionary Road, from page one, jumped into a dead heat with The Great Gatsby, The Dead and The Iliad as one of my top 4 (recently updated) things ever written. I don't say that lightly; as an English major I need to have high standards. Simply put, I thought Revolutionary Road was a devastating work - both emotionally and intellectually. If the circumstance of the characters didn't ruin you than the quality of the writing did; this was the kind of work that could drive an aspiring writer mad for having not written. To sum up: Revolutionary Road is my favorite novel I have read since I was 15 (Gatsby) - and I have given it to 5 different people (one of whom's first language isn't even English but the book is so good that I had to give it to her). I refused to see this film adaptation with anyone who hadn't read the book first because I didn't want the reading experience spoiled in any way.

That left my dad and we saw it in Union Square this evening. To go back to how I introduced this review: This was indeed my most anticipated movie of the season. On the other hand, the trailer made me sad. As Ben said: "It makes it seem like watching the movie will be homework". Ben was dead on; it was a terrible trailer that made the movie look completely boring, lifeless, and pretentious.

Then came the reviews. Respectful at best, spiteful at worst, they all say it is too grim (only a complaint from someone unfamiliar with the novel) or too derivative of Mad Men (just kind of embarrassing for the critic really). The reviews don't paint the prettiest picture. Which brings us to Sam Mendes' film staring Kate Winslet and Leo DiCaprio as April and Frank Wheeler who live on Revolutionary Road.

So, finally, what did I think?

I really, really liked it.

It is not a flawless film. Far from it. You could poke holes at it all day. If you've read the book, you could stab craters in it...but when the movie hits the high notes...I'm not sure a Hollywood drama has reached the same heights this year.

What this review will not be is a comparison between the novel and the film. An essay could be written on the subject and I'm not up for that. Nor am I willing to really talk about the novel here as I stress the importance of you reading the novel before you see the film. Not for the "spoiling the story" reason, or principle, I'm just stressing the necessity of anyone I from now on encounter, or will encounter, of reading the book. It is that good and it is that important to me. So if you've read the book and wanna chat about the differences, and you know my number, gimme a call - Dad and I had a great conversation about this very subject. That's not what I'm gonna do here. I'm here to review the movie - Revolutionary Road.

So first thing I would say is that I would dare you to find a better acted film this year than Revolutionary Road. The Dark Knight's acting was strong (led by the best performance of the year in Ledger), and Frost/Nixon was filled with yeoman's performances throughout, and Doubt had some incredible standouts...but Revolutionary Road has the two best actors of their generation going head to head...along with the second best supporting performance of the year (more on that later).

Winslet and Dicaprio rock the house in this film. I actually thought they were both terribly cast. Despite being the standout actors of their era, neither looked the part, and both seemed too...modern for the roles. I was wrong. Dicaprio, playing the 30 year old family man who seems overwhelmed by life, is actually flawless. The role calls for Frank Wheeler to be many, many things: Charming, bitter, loving, cutting, idealistic, resolved to what life has to give him, idealistic, naive...so very many things; and Dicaprio pulls all these emotions and movements off. He's fantastic. Not Best Actor good (that's still Penn's or (ugh) Rourke's to lose) but Dicaprio defends his title as the best under-35 actor. But, generally, he's let off pretty easy. Whereas the book focuses equally on Frank and April, the movie (perhaps because Winslet's husband directed the movie) is much more fascinated by April Wheeler.

And this is the much more difficult / showy role. April is completely unhappy in life. She wanted to be an actress, but fell head over heels for Frank at a college party, and now finds herself at 30 years old, stuck in Connecticut, and is just the dutiful housewife. She's also, in the film, from this male viewer's perspective, completely nuts. Every argument she and Frank get into, she always is the one who takes it too far, or makes the most irrational statement, or refuses to let it go. I'm trying to not compare the movie to the book but this is a unique feature of the film: whereas the novel is very balanced and explicit that there is an essential rot in the Wheelers' relationship - the movie puts most of the blame, or drama, or whatever you want to call it, on April's (Winslet's) emotional state.

Any way you slice it, the scenes between the two leads are electric and are perfectly written and acted. But a movie is not usually made up of two characters interacting...hows the rest of the thing?

Well the other actors vary. As the Wheelers' best friends in town the Campbells, David Harbour and Kathryn Hahn are less them impressive. They're boring...and not in the way that their roles call them to be. They are completely uninteresting on screen - even playing the kind of stereotypical suburbanites that the Wheelers' hate so much. Also pretty weak is Zoe Kazan, playing a secretary Frank sleeps with, but it is not so much her fault as the casting director's. The role calls for a more aware woman, more willing to give it up to Frank, and not such an innocent victim of alcohol. The casting of Kazan changes how the movie viewer sees Frank (Slight Spoiler:) He goes from a sleazy louse in the book to what could be called a date-rapist. Lastly, Kathy Bates is perfectly well cast as an annoying neighbor who sold the Wheelers' their house, but her role, and performance, is more out of a 1950's movie than a modern film. She is just kinda there, and when you walk out with whoever you see the movie with, one of you will definitely ask "...was that Kathy Bates?"

But there is a definite and amazing standout supporting performance in the film. Apropos of the book, as his character is the center of the two best scenes in the novel, Michael Shannon steals the movie as John Givings. Mrs. Givings (Bates) has a son in a mental hospital. Mrs. Givings thinks it would help her son to be around smart, cool, young people like the Wheelers. So in the book, and the film, there are two scenes devoted to Sunday afternoons in which the Givings bring their son over to spend time with the Wheelers.

I cannot say enough about Shannon's performance as John Givings. I guess the best thing I can say is that, if not for Heath Ledger's Joker, I would say that Shannon's performance is by far the best performance given by a supporting actor (or actress) this year. He owns the screen; you can't take your eyes off him. He's helped by the fact that the screenwriter basically just recreates Yeats' set-up and dialogue but the performance completely lived up to what I had created in my mind. Shannon alone makes the film worth seeing.

I really find it hard to discuss the other aspects of the film (though I can say that the score is a little oppressive and distracting) without talking about the novel which I'm just not willing to do.

But this is a great movie. Made from a transcendent book. Please, please, please read the novel asap. And then see the movie. I'm not so concerned about Revolutionary Road's box office returns that I want to tell you to spoil the book. If you have to catch up with the film on DVD...that's fine. Just know you'll be seeing a very worthy, if very debatable, adaptation.

Grade: A-

Best Scene: Michael Shannon's second scene. Captures my favorite lines from the novel perfectly.

Henry Watched: More Movies He Had Never Seen

Another easy morning spent watching movies in bed. One fantastic film that I'd never heard of and one that I'd always heard was great but I thought was kinda weak (even though Ben will hate me for it probably)

Click the link to find out which movies fit these descriptions...


Another morning, another few never-before-seen movies:



The Little Foxes

Now that's a quality picture.

So for Christmas I asked my uncle Craig to try to pick out movies I'd never seen as presents. He, being 25+ years my senior, has obviously seen more older films than I and I generally trust his taste in older films. Before he's recommended strong movies like Laura, Witness for the Prosecution, and Saboteur. So I don't take his recommendations lightly. So when he sent me a huge package of DVDs I was very excited (also impressed as all the movies he sent were ones I had never seen before. Even with old movies that's semi-difficult).

The first I watched, A Place in the Sun, was fantastic. I didn't write up a review here but I cannot praise it enough. A definite Grade A movie and a masterclass in film making. The next one I watched was called The Heiress, an adaptation of Henry James' Washington Square, I was less impressed with. I wasn't certain why my uncle thought it would be a good choice for me; it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Next came Fury, which I reviewed yesterday, and thought was a very interesting picture. Today, I watched a film I'd never even heard of: The Little Foxes.

As I often do, I will let IMDB tell you the plot: This film adaptation of the Lillian Hellman play depicts a post-Civil War southern community where nothing is more important than money and power to Regina Giddens (Bette Davis). In order to join her equally ruthless brothers in a scheme that is sure to gain her wealth and power, she uses her young, naïve daughter to fetch her estranged, ailing husband who is living elsewhere. When she cannot convince her husband to give her the money, she sets forward a cunning plan which escalates.

A few random points:

1) This hardly feels like a stage play brought to the screen. While one can see its roots, the movie plays like any movie centered around a central group and setting. It feels no more derived from a play than do other family-themed movies like The Magnificent Ambersons (which came from a book) or The Royal Tenenbaums (an original screenplay). The director William Wyler does a splendid job of opening up the script and film.

2) The acting is, across the board, excellent. Of course Bette Davis is great. She's great at playing a bitch (her character was 46th on AFI's list of the Greatest Heroes and Villains in film history). It was also nice to see Teresa Wright and Patricia Collinge who I recognized from one of my favorite Hitchcock films Shadow of a Doubt. Wright especially, playing Davis' daughter, does a great job holding her own against the megastar actress. Davis, Wright, and Collinge were all nominated for their performances. Also turning in a good performance is Herbert Marshall playing Davis' husband. He looks a little too much like Richard Burton (who obviously wasn't known at this point) but he gives a really good performance as a man who clearly is just kinda creeped out by his whole family save for his daughter (Wright) and Sister-in-Law (Collinge).

3) The best scenes in the movie, however, involve actors I haven't even mentioned yet. The best scenes are those that have Davis facing off against her two brothers (Charles Dingle and Carl Benton Reid). The friendly, yet spiteful, bickering between the three siblings is wonderfully acted. I assume this was one of the main draws of the film (these scenes really are when the film is most alive) and the spats are filled with some very clever writing.

4) It seems clear to me when watching Hollywood movies made between 1940 and 1965 that the most modernly themed and written films usually were adapted from Broadway plays. Streetcar, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Virginia Woolf...outside of Hitchcock it feels like Hollywood was still stuck in the 30's except when they were adapting plays. Thus, The Little Foxes does not feel at all watered down. Sure if you made the movie today it would be done very differently...but thematically and dramatically it would not be that different. The Little Foxes is a grim, upsetting film filled with unhappy people and is very post-modern in the way that its characters reflect on their own dissatisfaction in life.

All in all, a great movie, that deserves to be seen by everyone. While I think I would have gotten around to A Place in the Sun eventually - I doubt I ever would have seen The Little Foxes without Craig giving it too me. So kudos to him and shame on you if you don't now go rent it. Really cool flick.

Grade: A

Best Scene: I can't spoil the movie for you...so I'll just say that the picture I used for The Little Foxes is from this scene.



Now for the dissapointing movie...



The Hustler

Okay, so the one Ben really loves is Cool Hand Luke (another movie I just don't like that much) but I'm pretty sure he likes this one too. I didn't get it. The whole thing lacked...charm.

And I kinda understand that's the point. Outside of Newman's natural charisma the character isn't suppose to be that likable. Neither is the world he runs in. I get that. But it's not what I was looking for in the movie. I wasn't looking for The Color of Money (A silly, stupid movie - the "sequel" to this one) but I was looking for more graft, more energy.

I appreciate the bluntness of the world that The Hustler presents - but this is a quintessential example of a movie that just had too much hype going in. I expected a truly cool movie and got a very serious meditation on one too many themes (winning and losing, accepting one's lot in life, self-destruction, etc.).

I cannot say that it is a bad film - far from it. But I just didn't connect with it or like it in anyway.

Grade: B-

Best Scene: Paul Newman charming up the screen and living up to his character's name of "Fast" Eddie as he sets the term of the bet between him and Minnesota Fats.