Never Let Me Go

Title: Never Let Me Go

Directed by: Mark Romanek

Starring: Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Keira Knightley 

One thing, that annoyed me about the advertising of this film, is that it has primarily been advertised as a soppy love story. Even though it does involve the love triangle of the three main characters, it is a lot more than just that, and doesn't even concentrate on that aspect that much. I'm a huge sucker for anything dystopia, as I've said before, and it's so refreshing to see a dystopian film, thats not necessarily marketed as one. 

The three principle cast members were great, particularly Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield. Garfield has easily become my favourite rising star at the moment, with this, The Social Network and soon to be the remake of Spiderman. 

Anyway, I thought that this was a very interesting and understated film, and it's a shame that it hasn't been put up for many awards because of it's competition. 

True Grit and Never Let Me Go

Title: True Grit
Directed by: Coen Brothers
Starring: Hailee Steinfield, Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon

Many people say that True Grit is a remake of the 1969 film, True Grit starring John Wayne. But it is in fact the second adaptation of the the novel True Grit by Charles Portis.

This aside, I thought the film was brilliant. It started off powerfully and ended powerfully. The cast was great, but the stand out performance was by far that of Hailee Steinfield. At 14 years old (and actually a bit younger than the character she played), she gave many grown actors a run for their money, earning herself an Academy Award nomination as well as a number of other nominations.

I really enjoyed this film, but being up agaisnt The King's Speech and plenty of other fine competition, I don't think it'll take home quite as much as it deserves.

The Fighter

Last night, I saw the Fighter.
Surprisingly, there isn't really much I have to say about it, other than it was a very good film. And, in my opinion, worth it's nomination, even if it doesn't win. I'm a little bit wary with Mark Wahlberg films these days (I've always been more of a Donnie Wahlberg fan), but he did very well in The Fighter.
     However, the stand out performance was by far Christian Bale. He was terrific, and I kept having to remind myself that that was in fact Christian Bale up there. I'm now hoping that, if not Geoffrey Rush, he will get the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Academy Awards predictions and favourites.

The Academy Awards are taking place on the 27th of February. I can't deny that I'm very much looking forward to it. I just thought that I would make a post here about my predictions and favourites. Blue is who I think will win, and green is who I want to win for each category.

(Also, one thing to bare in mind is that in the UK True Grit and The Fighter aren't out yet, so things may change when I have seen them. Also, don't the colours look pretty?)

Best Picture: The Social Network or The King's Speech / The King's Speech or 127 Hours
Best Director: David Fincher - The Social Network / David Fincher -The Social Network
Best Actor: Colin Firth / Colin Firth or James Franco
Best Actress: Natalie Portman / Natalie Portman 
Best Writing - Original Screenplay: The King's Speech / Inception 
Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network / 127 Hours
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3 / Toy Story 3
Best Original Score: Alexandre Desplat - The King's Speech / Hans Zimmer - Inception 
Best Art Direction: Inception / Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Pan's Labyrinth

 So I'd heard a lot about Pan's Labyrinth and had been meaning to watch it for a while. But in class, I'm working on a assignment based on the two words, Playful and Profound. I decided to use dark children's stories and the adult side of Fairy Tales as an interpretation to the two words. And this is when my Ceramic's lecturer lent me Pan's Labyrinth as it was pretty relevant to what I was doing.
        Pan's Labyrinth wasn't quite what I expected. I'd read reviews saying that it was like a dark Spanish  Narnia. But there was more of the story in the outside world, where I was under the impression that she'd go into this magical world by herself and explore. I make it sound as though I was disappointed in the film, when actually I loved it! I thought it was brilliant and actually liked the whole story outside of the Labyrinth. It was so refreshing to see a film that is primarily a children's story with a child star, that's serious and powerful (and is also rated a 15).
       Obviously, one of the scenes that sticks out in my mind is the Pale Man monster. Easily one of the creepiest creatures invented. The eyes in the hands is such an iconic image that I've seen everywhere, that for some reason I thought he'd be a nice advisor man to her. So it was a bit of a surprise to see that he was a much scarier child-eating monster.
       But overall, I loved the film. The dark fantasy and the not so original twist at the end was fantastic.

127 Hours

I just wanted to talk a bit about this film this morning.
127 Hours is a true story about a climber called Aron Ralston's remarkable journey into surviving after having his arm trapped by a fallen boulder. It's another direction from Danny Boyle, and another fantastic film.
    I love this film. I thought it was written brilliantly, and most definitely performed brilliantly by it's lead James Franco (who I've always liked in the past, so I'm probably biased there). It was a breathtaking, eye opening film that caused me to cringe more than once, and I can't deny that I had to shut my eyes for a while at one point. No shame.
    127 Hours has been nominated for an Academy Award in Best Picture. I have seen The King's Speech, Black Swan and The Social Network, and I'm pretty sure that one of them is going to sweep Best Picture (King's Speech if I was betting on it). But I find myself strangely routing for this film. I hope, at least, that it wins Best Adapted Screenplay. I really feel as though it deserves it.