101 Cinematic Reasons Why I Love the ‘90s

1. “As far back as I can remember I always wanted to be a gangster.”

2. “We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold.”

3. Bruce Willis sits at a stoplight, singing along with the radio.  Ving Rhames walks by, box of doughnuts in hand.  The two make eye contact.

4. The little girl in the red coat

5.Cuba Gooding, Jr. screaming for the life of his best friend in Boyz N the Hood

6. The seven minutes directly after this smile

7. The look Tom Hanks wears on his face as he stands outside Denzel Washington’s law office in Philadelphia.  Arguably the best acted scene of the decade.

8. The editing of the first 20 minutes of Good Will Hunting

9. Elisabeth Shue giving Nicolas Cage a flask (more here)

10. “Gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, pride, lust, and envy.  You can expect five more of these.”

11. The delivery of the final word of Eyes Wide Shut

12. “Why are there frogs falling from the sky?”

13. Chazz Palminteri studies the wall, then drops his cup of coffee.  He’s got it, and we’re still trying to figure out what the fuck just happened.

14. “Malkovich? Malkovich.  Malkovich Malkovich.  Malkovich? MALKOVICH!”

15. The epilogue in Malcolm X

16. These guys

17. Steve Buscmi burying a million dollars deep in the snow, only marked by a messily red ice scrapper

18. Rubin Hurricane Carter in solitary confinement, trapped with two versions of his subconscious

19. “Honestly… have you ever seen anything like this?” “No.”

20. “You got any a dem French fried taters?”

21. As the sound of tanks and foot soldiers grow closer, Matt Damon stares off, lost in his grief.  Edward Burns stares at him for a moment. Damon looks over and the two make eye contact.  Burns nods his head ever so slightly. All is understood.  All is forgiven.

22. “You ever listen to K Billy’s Super Sounds of the ‘70s?”

23. Eddie Adams from Torrance

24. “Always. Be. Closing.”

25. "AMAZING! FUCKING AMAZING!"

26. “Nobody fucks with the Jesus.”

27. “Shut the fuck up, Donny!”

28. “Man, if my fuckin' ex-wife asked me to take care of her fuckin' dog while she and her boyfriend went to Honolulu I'd tell her to go fuck herself.”

29. The only Russell Crowe performances I’ve ever liked

30. The cinematography of Three Kings

31. The sound design of Three Kings

32. Basically, everything about Three Kings

33. “I’m a free man and I’m walkin’ out the front door.”

34. Brooks was here….So was Red

35. Everything that comes out of this guy’s mouth

36. Tom Cruise in Sydney Pollock’s billiards room

37. The ringing bells that close Breaking the Waves

38. The way Denzel Washington closes his eyes as The Hurricane’s verdict is read

39. Bruce Willis looks around the store, a hammer… too small.  A bat… too light.  A chainsaw… too loud.  A samurai sword… just right.

40. Future Man

41. The guy who played Aaron Stampler, Alan Isaacman, Worm, Derek Vinyard, The Narrator

42. “You know, we’re sittin’ here, you and I, like a couple of regular fellas. You do what you do, and I do what I gotta do. And now that we've been face to face, if I'm there and I gotta put you away, I won't like it. But I tell you, if it's between you and some poor bastard whose wife you're gonna turn into a widow, brother, you are going down.”

43. This force of nature

44. Fargo’s use of a wood chipper

45. Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Blue

46. Krzysztof Kieslowski’s  White

47. Krzysztof Kieslowski’s  Red

48. “All’s you can do is pray for a quick death, which you ain’t gonna get.”

49. Clint Eastwood slowly taking a swig from a bottle of whiskey, without us even noticing

50. “Lust for Life” as used in Trainspotting

51. Sharon Stone as Ginger

52. “There was Jimmy and Tommy and me. And there was Anthony Stabile, Frankie Carbone. And then there was Mo Black’s brother Fat Andy and his guys Frankie the Wop, Freddy No Nose.  And then there was Pete the Killer, who was Sully Balls’ brother.  Then you had Mickey Eyes and Mikey Franzese and Jimmy Two Times who got that nickname because he said everything twice.”

53. The fact that Donnie Walhberg is the best part about The Sixth Sense 

54. “Do you like scary movies?”

55. "Fahgeddaboudit"

56. Bill Murrary blocking some kid’s layup

57. “LOOK INTO YOUR HEART!”

58. Soderbergh cross cutting Clooney and Lopez’s conversation in the bar with them undressing in the bedroom

59. Oops

60. “You want answers?” “I think I’m entitled.” “You want answers?!” “I want the truth!”  “_____________”

61. Edward trying to sleep on a water bed

62. “Has anything you’ve done made your life better?”

63. What Kathy Bates does with a block of wood and a sledge hammer

64. “Shut your fucking face, uncle fucker.”

65. Back when I liked Disney:

66. “Keep the sand out of your weapons, keep those actions clear, and I will see you on the beach.”

67. The makeup in Dick Tracy

68. “WHOO-RAH!”

69. Tom Hanks translating an opera

70. “Now, a question of etiquette - as I pass, do I give you the ass or the crotch?”

71. The opening scene of Husbands and Wives

72. These Oscar winners

73. Jason Patric’s sauna monologue in Your Friends and Neighbors

74. The seven films directed by Oliver Stone

75. “Wait, wait, wait, I’m forgetting somebody... Jerry Maguire, my agent.  You are my ambassador of kwan, man.”

76. Dumb and Dumber, despite it being so... dumb

77. “Carol the waitress, Simon the fag.”

78. The 170 flawless minutes that make up The Thin Red Line

79. The monster that is this man

80. “Respect… the cock.”

81. Hilary Swank as Brandon Teena

82. “You never open your mouth, unless you know what the shot is.  You fuckin’ child.”

83. Michael Bay’s first film (no bullshit)

84. The screenplay Andrew Niccol wrote in 1998

85. “Some folks call it a sling blade I call it a kieser blade.”

86. Welcome back, welcome back, wel-come baaack

87. “Fuller, go easy on the Pepsi!”

88. The gut-wrenchingly realistic resolution of Hoop Dreams

89. “Now go get your shine box.”

90. Best Documentary, 1996

91. The only discernible trait that Terminator 2, Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey, and Desperado have in common

92. “So… where’s your spark now?”

93. Welcome to America, stick around for a while

94. The birth of the Kaminski/Spielberg collaboration

95. Joe Pesci entering a courtroom in a ridiculous tuxedo

96. The fact that Sleepers remains, by and large, the most underrated film of the decade (more here)

97. … along with Jackie Brown

98. These two pros at the top of their games:

99. “I have to go see about a girl.”

100. “I’m having an old friend for dinner.”

101. “You have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m sure.  But don’t worry, you will one day.”

“Answer” Key
1. Goodfellas
2. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
3. Pulp Fiction
4. Schindler’s List
6. Heat
9. Leaving Las Vegas
10. Se7en
12. Magnolia
13. The Usual Suspects
14. Being John Malkovich
16. From top left: The Big Lebowski, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Flawless
17. Fargo
18. The Hurricane
19. Se7en
20. Sling Blade
21. Saving Private Ryan
22. Reservoir Dogs
23. Boogie Nights
24. Glengary Glen Ross
25. Point Break
26-28. The Big Lebowski
29. L.A. Confedential, The Insider
33. In the Name of the Father
34. The Shawshank Redemption
35. Dazed and Confused
36. Eyes Wide Shut
38. The Hurricane
39. Pulp Fiction
40. Bottle Rocket
41. Edward Norton
42. Heat
43. Bad Lieutenant
48. Reservoir Dogs
49. Unforgiven
51. Casino
52. Goodfellas
54. Scream
55. Donnie Brasco
56. Rushmore
57. Miller’s Crossing
58. Out of Sight
59. The Crying Game
60. A Few Good Men
61. Edward Scissorhands
62. American History X
63. Misery
64. South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut
65. From top left: Aladdin, A Goofy Movie, James and the Giant Peach, Beauty and the Beast
66. Saving Private Ryan
68. Scent of a Woman
69. Philadelphia
70. Fight Club
72. The Wrong Trousers
74. The Doors, JFK, Heaven & Earth, Natural Born Killers, Nixon, U-Turn, Any Given Sunday
77. As Good As it Gets
79. Schindler’s List
80. Magnolia
81. Boys Don’t Cry
82. Glengary Glen Ross
83. Bad Boys
84. The Truman Show
85. Sling Blade
86. From top left: Primary Colors, A Civil Action, Pulp Fiction, Get Shorty, Face/Off
87. Home Alone
89. Goodfellas
90. When We Were Kings
92. The Thin Red Line
93. All About My Mother
95. My Cousin Vinny
98. True Romance
99. Good Will Hunting
100. Silence of the Lambs
101 .American Beauty

Next month: 101 Cinematic Reasons Why I Love the ‘80s

Click here for the 101 Cinematic Reasons Why I Love the '90s

Rabbit Hole

Grief is hard to get right.  Not many of us carry on as tortured ballerinas, or steal people’s secrets by sneaking into their subconscious, or create social networks of gargantuan size.  But all of us, in some way or another, have lived through grief, which is why so many movies concern themselves with the topic.  It’s also the reason why so many of them screw it up.

Many films about child loss, including several good ones, only focus on one specific step of the grieving process.  In the Bedroom is about denial.  Mystic River is anger.  21 Grams is bargaining.  Ordinary People, depression. Then they all reach so form of acceptance.  Cue credits. 

Rabbit Hole, however, manages to successfully weave in every step of the process, in a way that makes it impossible to label. 

The film has several things working in its favor, the initial one being where the story begins.  Eight months after the horrific, albeit accidental, death of their four year old son, Becca (Nicole Kidman) and Howie (Aaron Eckhart) appear to be back on track.  That is, of course, until we get to know them.

Their shared grief, as it always does, manifests itself differently in each of them.  She’s stoic, repressed and angry.  He’s lonely, smiling and ready to move on.  Characters like this are often displayed as cookie cutter.  Not here, which matters largely on the skill of the actor’s playing them.

Nicole Kidman, in her best, most subtly ferocious role since Dogville, is remarkable as Becca.  She flips everything into an argument: a gentle gesture from her husband, words of calm from her mother, a heartfelt invitation from a neighbor; everything is justified to her favor.  Everyone else is in the wrong. 

Then there’s Aaron Eckhart, one of the most effortlessly charming actors currently working in film, going pound for pound with Kidman.  Eckhart plays Howie as a caring, loyal man.  The kind of guy that is constantly apologizing for the unpleasantness of his wife.  But it’s in his fleeting moments of sheer rage that Eckhart excels here. 

I haven’t a clue why these two aren’t getting more awards buzz.  Perhaps because a movie about a couple losing their child isn’t what most people want to see around the holidays.

That’s understandable, but I’d be remised to not mention the thing that disturbed me most about the film: its lacerating humor.  There are sentences of dialogue that are so funny in their truthfulness, that the audience doesn’t know if it’s appropriate to laugh or not.  But after a while, we come to realize, we have to. 

Grief is exactly like that.  If you don’t laugh through it, you’ll never make it.  A-

I Am Love

I loved every single second of I Am Love. But… why?  Because 2010 has been the worst year for movies in the 11 years I’ve been reviewing films?  Nope.  Because it’s a foreign film?  Close, but nope.  Because it has a few steamy love scenes?  Closer, but still no.  Seriously, the reason I liked I Am Love is as simple a reason there is to offer: it’s a damn fine, nearly flawless film.

I Am Love was released stateside in June to very little success.  It only made it to a handful of theatres;  those who saw it, including critics, loved it. But most, including myself, paid it no mind and let it slip out of frame. 

As the year closes out, I had noticed that the film had made it on several critics’ top 10 lists. Thanks to Netflix on Demand, I was able to catch it last night.  When the credits cued, I was stunned and sat motionless for several minutes.  I let it sit and stew in my mind.  An hour later, I started the movie over again.  That’s the only time I’ve done that this year.

Here’s why. 

I Am Love is an Italian film starring an Oscar-winning Brit and several Italian actors you’ve never heard of.   It concerns a very wealthy family’s trials and tribulations during the course of a year or so.  And, like most films not made in America, it divulges very little exposition about who the characters are and what their motives will soon become.  The film forces you to figure everything out for yourself, much like if you came late to a dinner party and didn’t know many of the guests.

Because I had no idea what the film was about, and because, yes, figuring the plot elements out is part of the fun, I’m purposefully not going to disclose any further story details.  I’m not concerned with whether or not a three sentence plot description (like the awful ones you read on the back of DVD cases, or, yes, on the sleeves of Netflix films) makes you want to see the movie.  Instead, you should trust my judgment and spend two hours giving I Am Love your full and upmost attention.

Still need more?

How about Tilda Swinton, giving the performance of her already impressive career?  In the film, Switnon plays a Russian married to an Italian (she learned both languages for the part), who doesn’t speak a lick of English.  That’s about as challenging a linguistic task you can present to an actor, and Swinton nails it.

Also, I Am Love is the only film this year (other than Black Swan, of course) that is simply a pleasure to look at and listen to.  Each scene of the film, as directed masterfully by Luca Guadagnino, is lit with purpose.  It isn’t often that you can tell what a character is thinking, based solely on the lighting of a scene.  Same goes for the film’s musical score, a compilation of classic works by composer John Adams.  Adams’ jaunty-paced strings match perfectly with Guadagnino’s fluid (and at times, anxious) editing narrative.

I Am Love is a great film.  Granted, most of you are used to having every single detail explained about every single plot element and major character involved.  Hell, even great movies like Inception and The Social Network do that (although they do it well, unlike most).  If you’re a fan of foreign films, you’ll immediately be drawn to I Am Love.  If you’ve never ventured into the world of subtitles: be bold, take a chance and be patient.  You might even surprise yourself and watch it a second time. A

The King's Speech

The plot of The King's Speech sounds about as interesting as a cheesy BBC docudrama, which is to say, not interesting at all.

While Prince Albert (the remarkably evolving Colin Firth) is the son of the king, he begins to take speech therapies to help cure his debilitating stutter. He tries every method from a variety of different doctors but ultimately settles on a brash Australian man (a reliable Geoffrey Rush) with unorthodox strategies. Once King George VI ascends the throne due to an usual set of circumstances, the pressures culminate. Will he be able to successfully deliver his first radio war time speech? Stay tuned.

The King's Speech, as directed by Tom Hooper, who did wonders with the HBO miniseries John Adams, isn't a remarkably well made film. Hooper still has some things to learn about pacing, camera work, and balancing his narrative. The film is, however, remarkably well performed, producing some of the best screen acting work this year.

Colin Firth has a very hard thing to do: he has to make the audience care about his stutters and stammers. Think about it: when was the last time you saw a movie in which a stuttering character wasn't used as a punch line or for comic relief?

So when Firth stands at the podium, unable to force his way through the keynote speech at the closing ceremony of the 1925 British Empire Exhibition, we don't laugh. No, we don't dare. Instead, we instantaneously feel for this man. We silently whisper "come on, you can do it, just concentrate."

It may seem like a simple feat, to just gain sympathy from the audience, but it's far more layered than that. Firth, as he proved last year in his game-changing performance in A Single Man, is utterly fascinating to just watch.

Watch his eyes in his scenes of forced stammer, watch his mouth tremble when he senses what is coming. Watch his forehead wrinkle in subtle anguish. This is serious skill, saying everything about what the character is feeling, without saying a word. On the outside, he's keeping afloat (barely), but on the inside, he's a tortured, insecure mess.

Firth should start dusting off the Oscar acceptance speech he should've given last year.

What's the saying: a man is only as strong as the woman beside him? Couldn't be truer here, for both the characters and the actors playing them.

Helena Bonham Carter is one of those strange contemporary British actresses who is stuck in the wrong generation. She would've been far better suited in Hollywood's Golden Age, butting heads with Betty Davis and Joan Crawford. In her current career, she's managed some serious show-stopping performances, and some forgetful duds (mostly in her husband Tim Burton's films). But as Queen Elizabeth, Carter is a subtle revelation. She's everything her husband is afraid to be: strong willed, fierce, and unwavering. It's a performance of hopeful determination, and at times, tender mercy. There's a scene in the end, that I won't dare give away, in which her relief is shared by the audience. She's able to breathe, so we're able to breathe.

I loved (seriously, loved) Amy Adams in The Fighter, but she has some serious competition this awards season.

Then there's Geoffrey Rush, as sturdy as ever, delivering a performance of impeccable wit and candor. His no nonsense approach to his therapy is exactly what King George needs, and, coincidentally, exactly what the audience needs to stay enthralled in the film. Rush hasn't always made the best career choices, but no matter what he's in, he always makes his characters interesting.

As I mentioned, The King's Speech isn't flawlessly made, it feels convenient, a tad overlong and a little too bow wrapped, but it does boast some of year's best performances. Also, despite the idiotic, absurd R rating from the MPAA (for two extremely brief, in-no-way derogatory uses of foul language), The King's Speech will be appreciated by people of all ages. Finally, a movie you can take Grandma to that doesn't completely suck. B+ 

TRON: Legacy

Most of the fathers I know love taking their kids to kid’s movies at the theatre.  Why?  Because the kids sit still while the dads nap.

My boss summed up a movie like TRON: Legacy best.  He explained to me that a movie like TRON wasn’t for someone with my tastes.  Gee, really?  The sole purpose of TRON, he said, was to keep annoying little brats (like his sons) entertained and quiet.  “You can’t imagine how blissful it is to have your four year old sit still and shut the hell up for a couple hours,” he told me.

On that criterion, I suppose TRON is useful.  For adult men at least.  But what about everyone else?  Male teenagers should enjoy this special effects wetdream, which could be dubbed the year’s movie that is Most Likely To Induce a Seizure. 

In TRON, a grown boy manages to enter the virtual world that his father (Jeff Bridges) created two decades ago.  How?  I have no idea.  Maybe if I saw the cult original things would be clearer.  But I haven’t, so they aren’t.

So here’s the skinny, while I hadn’t a clue what the hell was going on throughout the entire film, or was able to decipher a whole sentence of TRON lingo, I did appreciate the look of the alternate world that first time director Joseph Kosinski and his FX crew had created. 

But might I make a suggestion?  If you choose to see TRON: Legacy (and who’s blaming you, given the never ending piles of shit currently littering our theatres) then skip the 3D, which is unnoticeable and useless.  At least this movie had the balls to admit, via an opening title card, that most of its scenes were going to take place in 2D.

This 3D phase is serious bullshit.  Honestly, how many live action films have you seen in the past two years that have successful pulled off genuine 3D effects?  One.  It’s called Avatar. 

So, Dads, see TRON to entertain the kids and nap off.  Everyone else… Godspeed.  D

True Grit

Joel and Ethan Coen, better than any current working filmmaker, are excellent at showing you something intriguing, without exactly knowing what the hell you’re looking at.  I don’t mean this figuratively, quite the opposite. 

Remember that shot in Fargo of a snow covered… what?  What the hell is it?  Are those lamp posts?  What the hell are we looking at?  It isn’t until pathetic ol’ William H. Macy stumbles by that we realize we’re looking at a bird’s eye view of a parking lot. It’s simple, but brilliant in its deception.  Same thing goes for the doorknob shot in No Country for Old Men.  We tilt our heads like curious dogs, wondering if that’s really Javier Bardem staring back at us.

True Grit opens with one of those shots. Something so ingenious in its originality, it’s damn-near impossible to explain in print.  It sets a deliberate tone: the Coen brothers know that you’ve most likely seen the 1969 John Wayne original True Grit, and that’s fine, because they’re going to give it to you in a very different way.

First off is casting Jeff Bridges (who worked for the Coen’s back in 1998 as The Dude) in the lead role of Rooster Cogburn, a U.S. Marshall hired by a feisty young girl to catch the man who killed her father in cold blood; otherwise known as the role that won John Wayne his only Oscar.  What a task Bridges has.  How do you recreate arguably the most famous movie character from arguably the most famous actor of all time?  Tricky.

With his deep, southpaw voice and dialogue laced with subtle humor, Bridges somehow, rather amazingly, makes Rooster his own.  No easy feat, and The Dude does it in stride.

As does 14-year-old Hailee Steinfeld, who delivers a star making, Oscar-worthy performance as Mattie Ross.  The whole point of the original film is to show that Mattie has just as much grit as Rooster. Kim Darby did a decent job in ’69, but Steinfeld manages to steal the show in each of her scenes (a compliment, considering she’s in every scene of the picture).

Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and Barry Pepper all contribute worthy supporting performances to the landscape appeal of the film, but, as with most Coen brothers movies, it’s the brothers themselves that are the true players.

In a career that has spanned 25 years and several classics (Blood Simple, Miller’s Crossing, Fargo, and on and on) the Coens have asserted themselves as some of the foremost American filmmakers of our time.  Everything about their films, regardless of whether or not you enjoy the content, is technically flawless.  The look (credit Coen vet Roger Deakins) the sound (credit Coen vet Carter Burwell) and the shape (credit Coen pseudonym Roderick Jaynes) are always top notch.  True Grit is no exception. 

Even if you’re a fan of the original, as I am, then you’ll enjoy this Coen revamp.  Seriously, when was the last time you actually liked a remake as much, or dare I say, more, than the original? A-

How Do You Know

Jesus, what an awful movie this is.  Seriously, absolute garbage.  The title, however, is utterly perfect: How Do You Know… when A-list actors are in over their heads, selling out way too hard?  How Do You Know… when a movie is so bad, it can actually make you nauseated?  How Do You Know… that How Do You Know is damn near the worst movie of the year?  Read on.

James L. Brooks is a notoriously slow writer.  He admits this often in interviews.  The result of his ass-dragging process has produced three of the most iconic films of the past 25 years.  From the Best Picture-winning Terms of Endearment to the superior Broadcast News to the endlessly watchable As Good as It Gets.  But remember Spanglish? Yeah, me either.

How Do You Know doesn’t even give you the luxury of not remembering it. Once you’ve seen it (and I really, truly hope that you don’t), you’re just going to be pissed that you wasted two hours of your life.  Hell, you may even demand a refund from the movie theatre manager.  Riots could start.  Cars could be overturned.  All in the name of God-awful cinema.

I brought up Brooks’ writing process for a reason. I have a sneaking suspicion that he is such a slow writer because it takes him months to come up with the catchy little kickers that his characters constantly blurt out.  The juicy one-liners that end most every spoken sentence.  Sometimes, this approach soars wonderfully (“You make me wanna be a better man.”), but most of the time, excuse me, everytime in How Do You Know, it falters miserably.

But that’s just one minor detail, surely you can overlook atrocious dialogue.  How about the plot, which puts a young, successful… executive?  I don’t know, his job is never made clear… in the midst of a federal investigation for… fraud?  I don’t know, it’s never really made clear.  He meets a tightly-wound professional softball player who is dating a sleazeball professional baseball player, and aimlessly tries to win her over.

Maybe this is right up your romantic comedy alley.  See it, I dare you.  But don’t blame me if you walk away feeling useless and queasy and pissed off that you didn’t get your money back.  Your gamble. F

The Tourist

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly where a movie like The Tourist goes wrong.  All the ingredients add up: a great foreign director with a unique eye for the craft, an exotic setting, an on-paper witty script by two Oscar winners, and the two most famous actors currently working in movies.  What could go wrong?

Well, you can start with the fact that Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp look and act like they are phoning this movie in (Depp particularly; he just looks… stale).  Also, when a 103 minute film feels double that long, it isn’t very conducive to amiable results.

You’ve heard a variation of this plot a dozen times (maybe even this year): a sultry, elusive spy-type woman tricks an aimless American man into falling for her, so the woman can throw off the guys in dark suits tailing her every move.  Eh.  Of course people are not who they seem, curtains are pulled back, “twists” are introduced, etc etc.

Maybe this sounds intriguing to you, I don’t know.  It did to me (kind of), mostly because the film is directed by Florian Henckel von Dennersmarck who won an Oscar for directing the very brilliant The Lives of Others in 2006.  Intriguing though it may sound, The Tourist is a muddled, boring mess. 

Honestly, you can’t save your film by revealing plot “twists” that anyone with an IQ over 50 figured out five minutes into the movie.  No offense to those of you that didn’t, but come on, once you found out what those “twists" were, you rolled your eyes, admit it. D

The Fighter

Those hoping to be wowed by thrilling fighting scenes in a movie called The Fighter will apparently be sorely let down.  The boxing matches in David O. Russell’s new film are too sparse, clumsily edited, narrowly focused, and awkwardly shot.  Raging Bull this is not.  Why then, is The Fighter still such a good movie? 

The most obvious reason is the impeccable talent demonstrated effortlessly from each member of the cast.  

In The Fighter, Mark Wahlberg plays real life boxer “Irish” Micky Ward, a middle-lower class white guy from a crusty Boston neighborhood.  As Ward, Wahlberg never does anything showy.  There’s no fall-to-his-knees-and-cry moment, no extended monologue to serve as his Oscar clip.  Wahlberg, much like the real man, plays Ward as understated and soft spoken; a nice guy down on his luck.

On the flip side of that is Ward's mile-a-minute, crack-addicted half brother/boxing trainer, Dicky. Christian Bale, easily the most underrated actor currently working in cinema, plays Dicky flawlessly.  There’s the several pounds lost, the authentic boxing moves, the perfect Boston accent, the furious volcanic temper, the warranted shame; it’s all here, tightly encompassed into a performance that should surely generate several dozen awards.

While Bale is constantly overlooked for his performances, I’ve thought for several years that Amy Adams was too appreciated.  Junebug?  Okay.  Doubt?  Eh.  Julie & Julia?  Barf.  But as Ward’s foul mouthed love interest, Adams is an utter revelation. She is constantly  forced to go verbally pound for pound with Ward’s demented family (aside from Dicky, he has at least six bat shit sisters, most of which have different fathers).  It’s a performance of delicate warmth and no nonsense self-respect.  Definitely worth the praise.

As is Melissa Leo's, who plays Ward’s overbearing mother/manager.  With her moussed bleach blonde hair and atrocious post-‘80s wardrobe, Leo nails the constant bitterness and seldom moments of fleeting appreciation that are demanded of the complicated role.  Leo, as she’s proved in 21 Grams, Frozen River and Treme, is a real pro. No change here.

I’ve focused mostly on The Fighter’s acting for a very specific reason: it’s easily the best part of the film, which, unfortunately, carries a few flaws that the average viewer won’t be able to shake. I mentioned that the boxing scenes are anti-climatic and misguided; as is a fair portion of the scenes outside the ring. 

During the film’s many heated dialogue exchanges, I kept wondering when a point was going to be made, or a catharsis was going to be reached  Most of the film’s scenes run too long and aren’t evenly cut together.  I don’t mind slow; slow is fine if that is the constant pace.  What I don’t like is meandering, a word that popped into my head a few times during this film.

It isn’t enough to kill the movie, for my money the good here outweighs the bad, but it’s enough to call it a slight letdown.  No matter, if the role of Dicky gets Christian Bale to the Oscar podium, all will be forgiven.  B+

Inside Job

Inside Job does for the economy what Waiting for “Superman” did for education.  Both discuss in great, exhaustive detail  how a particular part of the American dream is crumbling.  Both expose blames and offer solutions.  And both are tedious, historical lessons that are better suited in very specific graduate school courses.

Inside Job attempts to pinpoint exactly how the global financial meltdown of 2008 occurred.  What happened, why did it happen, who made it happen, and what can we do to fix it?  The film starts off freshly paced and thoroughly examined, helped much in part to Matt Damon’s steady narration, but soon gets lost in translation.

During the film, terms like subprime lending, deregulation, housing bubble, predatory lending, capital and liquidly are thrown around, along with acronyms like CDO, CPD, FCIC, ARM and CRA; and that’s all fine and well, if you know what they all mean.  Me, I don’t have the slightest clue what any of that shit is, and it’s the job of director Charles Ferguson to make laymans like me understand, which… he doesn’t.

Inside Job is constantly busy, continually throwing nuggets of tight information our way, but it’s just too damn much.  I simply couldn’t keep up.  And much like Waiting for “Superman,” once Inside Job reaches its catharsis, it actually gets great.

During the last 20 minutes, Ferguson welcomingly begins to verbally attack the rich white men he is interviewing.  All of these men worked at one time, or perhaps still do, for a major financial system and/or the Bush administration, but are now employed by a major university.  Ferguson wants to know if it’s morally all right for someone to teach that a specific company, or administration, is good or bad, while actually being paid by that company.  Every single interviewee gets tongue tied, some even get pissed and threaten Ferguson.  This is thrilling stuff, and if these really are the fucks responsible for America’s economic collapse, then we feel a sense of vindication in watching them squirm. 

But by then, for me, it was too late. I had already checked out.  I was still trying to figure out the animated bar graph from 55 minutes ago.

Apparently I’m alone here.  Inside Job has been receiving rave reviews, and will likely win the Best Documentary Oscar, for its ability to indict those responsible for the current state of our economy (I mean, hell, Michael Moore couldn’t even do that).  And while I appreciate that, it doesn’t mean that I can magically comprehend the movie. Shame.  Documentaries are arguably my favorite type of films, but no matter the subject, they shouldn’t feel like a school lesson.  B-

SAG nominations: more accurate than the Globes?

Unlike the Golden Globes, the Screen Actor's Guild awards (along with the writer's, director's and producer's guild awards) have a far better track record at handicapping potential Oscar nominees and winners.

With that in mind, I am quite surprised at some of the actors on the SAG shortlist (No Wahlberg or DiCaprio, but... Hilary Swank?). Here's a breakdown of the SAGs major categories.

Best Cast

Black Swan

The Fighter

The Kids Are All Right

The King's Speech

The Social Network

Usually a good rule of thumb is that whatever film has the most nominations will end up winning this. So that'd be The Fighter or The King's Speech (who each have three). Overall, I'd chose The Social Network or Black Swan.

Some Social Network chums

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges- True Grit

Robert Duvall- Get Low

Jesse Eisenberg- The Social Network

Colin Firth- The King's Speech

James Franco- 127 Hours

Mark Wahlberg is the big exclusion here, having been bumped out by the surprising inclusion of Robert Duvall, who gave a subtly brilliant performance in the little-seen Get Low.  Also thought I'd see Leonardo DiCaprio for either Shutter Island or Inception. No matter, it's Firth's to lose either way.

Duvall in Get Low

Best Actress

Annette Bening- The Kids Are All Right

Nicole Kidman- Rabbit Hole

Jennifer Lawrence- Winter's Bone

Natalie Portman- Black Swan

Hilary Swank- Conviction

Swank? Really? What about Michelle Williams for Blue Valentine, or Julianne Moore for Kids Are All Right? My vote is, of course, for Portman, but I'm telling you, watch out for Lawrence, she could sneak away with it.

Portman in Black Swan

Best Supporting Actor

Christian Bale- The Fighter

John Hawkes- Winter's Bone

Jeremy Renner- The Town

Mark Ruffalo- The Kids Are All Right

Geoffrey Rush- The King's Speech

Love seeing Hawkes here, but I'm all about Bale. Ruffalo is a worthy surprise, although I would've gone with Justin Timberlake or Andrew Garfield from The Social Network.

Hawkes in Winter's Bone

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams- The Fighter

Helena Bonham Carter- The King's Speech

Mila Kunis- Black Swan

Melissa Leo- The Fighter

Hailee Steinfeld- True Grit

Props to 14-year-old Steinfeld, but it's Leo's to lose. Too bad Kunis' performance is too understated for most voters, her work in Black Swan was devilishly captivating.  

Kunis in Black Swan

For all the nominee's, including those in television, click here.

I Love You Phillip Morris

There are usually two main reasons why a film gets stuck in post-production, pre-release hell: the studio doesn't know how to market it, and it is just flat out bad.

I Love You Phillip Morris meets both criteria. I first saw this at Sundance nearly two years ago, and the time away hasn't made it any better. 

Jim Carrey, somewhere between Ace Ventura and Truman Burbank, plays real life hustler Steven Russell, a con man who hides his homosexuality from his wife before meeting the love of his life (played aimlessly by Ewan McGregor) during one of his many prison stints.

Russell is all lies. He steals, cheats, wrecks cars, flees the feds, recklessly spends money; all in the name of love.

It's an amusing premise, executed to utter disaster by first time directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. I Love You Phillip Morris may indeed be a true story, but the film plays out like a gay bastard stepchild of Catch Me If You Can, which is to say it's toneless, meandering, and seemingly lost in its first 10 minutes.

Too bad. Carrey seems to be into it, going all bent-wrist flaunt, even though McGregor appears to be phoning his role in. Look, I like Jim Carrey, but the fact is, he stretched far to deliver his excellent work in Eternal Sunshine, and since then, he's tried his hand at a number of other genres, failing each time.

I have no love for this Phillip Morris (which I'll slap with a D). No matter, seeing how it leaves your head the minute you leave the theatre.

Now, on to something else, and forgive me for getting a little graphic for those squeamish. 

In college I wrote an argumentative essay examining the absurdity surrounding the fact that Brokeback Mountain was being picketed and banned and despised for showing one 17 second, fully clothed love scene between two men. So now, five years later, why do we hear no dust-up about other film and television shows that contain far more explicit scenes? (Male scenes, that is. No one ever bitches about seeing two women hook up.)

Take an early scene in I Love You Phillip Morris, in which a very sweaty, very naked Jim Carrey nails some random dude from behind while his partner screams repeatedly for Carrey to "come in his ass."

Doesn't this offend the homophobes more than Heath Ledger spitting into his hand? I just don't get it. Maybe because Brokeback Mountain is actually a good film? Does that make a difference? I suppose there is no rhyme to the reason of those judgmental, uneducated few. 

Golden Globes...(sigh)

Proof that the Golden Globes act as Hollywood's biggest party, and nothing more, is evident in this year's nominations for the "best" film, musical or comedy.

I didn't like Alice in Wonderland, but many of you did, so I'll let that slide. But Burlesque...? The Tourist....? Red?! Really? 

Look, the Globes serve a purpose: they're a perfectly decent hor'dourve to the Oscars. Hell, I usually agree with the Golden Globe winners more often than I do the Oscars, and the speeches are often much more colorful, thanks much in part to the constant flowing of the booze.

But they aren't credible, and rarely sway Oscar votes. Ninety some odd foreign journalists vote for the winners of the Golden Globes, which is a fancy way of saying that the awards are a contest of hype. Whoever has the most buzz on voting day, wins. Simple as that. 

But after the award's 2008 ceremony, in which Mickey Rourke, Colin Farrell, Kate Winslet, Sally Hawkins, Bruce Springsteen, Gabriel Bryne, and... Kate Winslet all took home trophies, my faith was temporarily restored.

Simply put: will I watch the Golden Globes? Hell yes. But I won't spend as much time mulling over them as others.

2010 Golden Globe nominees:

Motion Picture – Drama

Black Swan

The Fighter

Inception

The King's Speech

The Social Network

Solid list. I'm rooting for The Fighter to be good, but I doubt it'll dethrone Black Swan as my favorite film of the year.

Yup, that's Natalie Portman.

Best Director

Darren Aronofsky- Black Swan

David Fincher- The Social Network

Tom Hooper- The King's Speech

Christopher Nolan- Inception

David O. Russell- The Fighter

Although Black Swan is my favorite of the year, you simply cannot write off Nolan's game-changing vision. Inception is the 2001 of our time.

Christopher Nolan

Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Alice and Wonderland

Burlesque

The Kids Are All Right

Red

The Tourist

(sigh)

Best Actor – Drama

Jesse Eisenberg- The Social Network

Colin Firth- The King's Speech

James Franco- 127 Hours

Ryan Gosling- Blue Valentine

Mark Wahlberg- The Fighter

Firth will win the Oscar without breaking a sweat, but the Globes often take more risks. Franco... maybe?

Colin Firth

Best Actress – Drama

Halle Berry- Frankie and Alice

Nicole Kidman- Rabbit Hole

Jennifer Lawrenece- Winter's Bone

Natalie Portman- Black Swan

Michelle Williams- Blue Valentine

Portman's performance is the best acting of the year, so she gets my vote. But look out for Lawrence, her quiet, cold performance in the excellent Winter's Bone is being remembered, despite an early-year release.

Jennifer Lawrence

Best Actor – Musical or Comedy

Johnny Depp- The Tourist

Johnny Depp- Alice in Wonderland

Paul Giamatti- Barney's Version

Jake Gyllenhaal- Love and Other Drugs

Kevin Spacey- Casino Jack

Uhh. Uhhhhh. Spacey? As if. Depp's been nominated for 10 of these damn things. He'll probably take it for Alice.

Best Actress – Musical or Comedy

Annette Bening- The Kids Are All Right

Anne Hathaway- Love and Other Drugs

Angeline Jolie- The Tourist

Julianne Moore- The Kids Are All Right

Emma Stone- Easy A

It's Bening's Oscar to lose, but wouldn't it be great to see Stone nab the Globe?

Emma Stone in Easy A

Best Supporting Actor

Christian Bale- The Fighter

Michael Douglas- Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Andrew Garfield- The Social Network

Jeremy Renner- The Town

Geoffrey Rush- The King's Speech

Bale all the way. Although, Renner is more than worthy as well.

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams- The Fighter

Helena Bonham Carter- The King's Speech

Mila Kunis- Black Swan

Melissa Leo- The Fighter

Jacki Weaver- Animal Kingdom

From what I hear, Leo is the Oscar frontrunner. But Kunis... damn. Damn.

Mellisa Leo and Christian Bale

Best Screenplay

127 Hours

Inception

The Kids Are All Right

The King's Speech

The Social Network

Inception should be rewarded for all of its flawless aspects (via Best Picture or Best Director). Give this to Aaron Sorkin, for his mile-a-minute Social Network script, arguably a character in and of itself.

Sorkin on The Social Network set

Original Score

127 Hours

Alice in Wonderland

Inception

The King's Speech

The Social Network

No Clint Mansell for Black Swan? Is there a typo here?

Every Television Category
Because most of these categories simply regurgitate the same nominee's every year, I chose not to handicap them.  But you can see all the categories here.

For more about this year's Oscar race, click here.

Black Swan

For two evenings last weekend, I sat crammed in standing room only movie theatres, witnessing what may very well be the best film of the year. Once wasn’t enough, you see.  Because the minute Black Swan was finished, the only thing I demanded of myself was that I see it again. Immediately.

Darren Aronofsky’s new ballerina-gone-mad headtrip is right up his alley.  He took a brief, but utterly brilliant detour with The Wrestler two years ago, and now he’s back to his warped ways, delivering a film that permeates with his unique eye for cinema.

In Black Swan, Natalie Portman plays Nina, the most dedicated, obsessive dancer in her ballet company, as is evident by her strict instructor’s choice to cast her as both the White and Black Swan in his Swan Lake reprisal.

Like many artists, it’s pressure that forms the basis of Nina’s downfall.  Pressure from Thomas, her no bullshit instructor (Vincent Cassell), pressure from a new dancer in the company (Mila Kunis), whose charming confidence is laced with her brimming sexuality, and pressure from Nina’s overbearing mother (Barbara Hershey).

Nina is wrapped in innocence and repression; the kind of woman who has never been given a chance to grow up.  Her mother, who not-so-coincidentally is always wearing black, dresses and undresses Nina, prepares all of her meals, and even keeps her room decorated with pink butterflies on the wallpaper and enough stuffed animals to fill a toy store.  As the various pressures culminate, Nina begins to implode, letting her stresses manifest themselves both physical and mentally.

Mild chaos ensues, narratives are reversed, characters are twisted and turned; all in the name of a first rate thriller.

The term tour de force is a common French expression used to describe an exceptional achievement by an artist.  It’s a phrase that only begins to make sense of Natalie Portman’s performance in this movie. As Nina, Portman gives the most controlled, dedicated performance of her impressive career (and probably, this entire year). Rarely letting Nina speak just an octave or two above a whisper, Portman’s cold, yet determined gaze is enough to hook any viewer.  Her shy, childlike take on Nina probably won’t land her an Oscar nomination, but her conviction during her many dance numbers could very well win her one.

Her dance sequences, pulled off with unwavering grace and discipline, demonstrate a performance of impeccable physical skill, rivaling that of Hilary Swank's in Million Dollar Baby (or any actor in any sports film, for that matter).  Portman’s physical transformation, losing what appear to be several pounds off her already slender frame, is a sight to behold.  Poetry in motion.

This helps, of course, because of gifted cinematographer Matthew Libatique’s fluid camera work, Clint Mansell’s operatic musical score, and a trio of solid supporting performances.

Vincent Cassel excels as the cunningly ruthless, yet sometimes compassionately sympathetic, Thomas.  It’s a tricky role, one that requires tonal shifts in every one of his scenes.  Likewise Mila Kunis, who thus far has used her flawless beauty to excel comedically, but here is finally given a chance to flex her dramatic acting chops.  Then there’s Barbara Hershey, who turns what could be a Carrie’s mother, they’re-all-gonna-laugh-at-you nutjob of a role into something far more layered.

Aronofsky doesn’t make simple films for simple people, instead, he challenges his viewers to except the fact that, however disturbing and discombobulated, his films will not escape your subconscious for days, weeks, months on end.

In a year filled with movies that say nothing, Black Swan is a revelation.  It’s a film so coated in sleek design and hidden tricks, that one time simply isn’t enough.  Like a great maestro hitting the crescendo of his final act, the applause for Black Swan continues well after its closing image.  In the words of Portman, that is to say, Nina: “Perfect.  It was perfect.” A+