Life of Pi (2012) / welcome to Pi's ark

"It's an amazing story."

Life of Pi scored eleven Oscar nominations earlier this week. I felt the pressure and went to see it. Someone who wishes to call herself a movie fanatic has got to do what someone who wishes to call herself a movie fanatic has got to do.

Life of Pi begins as tale of our main character growing up, describing the humorous events of how he got his name, Piscine Molitor Patil, and how he then came to be called simply Pi. Things turning more tragic, we then see him leave for a voyage that will change his life. The ship is caught in a storm, and Pi finds himself in a  lifeboat, alone with a fierce Bengal tiger. What follows is incredibly beautiful visual images of all the things Pi and the tiger see and experience, equally incredible turns of events, and a lot of growling and exposed, sharp teeth. It all comes down to an ending that you don't expect, or even look for. How you are left feeling, exiting the cinema, is up to you.

What I expected to get out of this film all had to do with the visuals, because the trailer doesn't give much of a hint about the story and storytelling; it just shows some of those images that you get to enjoy, praising the modern CGI up to the heavens. Really, I love what they are able to do nowadays. The colors are so bright, the details so sharp, the non-existing things so realistic. Still, I need much more than CGI from a film, no matter how incredibly good the technology is. Life of Pi is very much like Hugo was for me last year: enjoyable to look at, a nice story, but not nice enough to stir anything below the surface. Or that's how I felt until the very last minute. Or second-to-last, or whatever. In the end, Life of Pi dived pretty deep. Almost as deep as that endless sea that surrounds Pi and Richard Parker.

Speaking of seas, this is the second film I saw in cinema this week (don't worry bank account, awards seasons don't last forever...) with the sea doing some serious damage. If I'm not careful, my adoring love for oceans might turn into a trauma of some level. Thanks to the modern CGI technology.

I think that's all I have to say. I'll let the pictures speak for the visual awesomeness of the film. As for the deep diving, learn more at your nearest cinema.

"I suppose in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go, but what hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye."

Watching the 84th Academy Awards

22:43 HAS IT REALLY BEEN ANOTHER YEAR? Jeez! Well, Oscar night is here again and I'm ready to face the botox and the disappointments. Haha. I've been sick all week (my week off, naturally), and I'm still not completely at my best state of staying up all night long. I will definitely needs some doping here. My sinuses hurt. Haha. Really! Also, I'm watching the Oscars alone this year, because all of my potential companions are unavailable. This is why I decided to blog my way through the night. This should be interesting. And even though I'm watching alone, I have food for at least two people. Got a little excited there...

This year I'll be looking at both the front and the insides of Kodak theatre extra carefully. (I heard Kodak declared bankruptcy just recently, so the home of the Oscars is not actually called Kodak theatre anymore; it's the Hollywood and Highlands Center. Whatever. It's still Kodak theatre for me.) I actually took a tour inside the theatre when visiting LA last fall. It was awesome! It'll also be awesome to watch the gala and keep an eye for seat fillers, while George Clooney sneaks out to the bar every ten minutes. He does that. It's a fact! I've got reliable sources! Meaning our tour guide. Haha.

An hour before the broadcast begins. Better go prepare the pizza, and get some caffeine and medicine in my system. This could be a looooong night...

A word or two about a movie or seven

Writing posts has been incredibly challenging recently, god knows why. Anyways, here are some good, recent films I've seen during the last few months. Just want to say a few words of each. While waiting for tonight.

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The Artist

 I saw this in New York, in the Paris Theatre near Central Park. It was a very nice little theatre, and made you feel like you should've dressed up a bit.

I very much fell in love with this movie! There is just something about good old black and white silent films, some charm that makes you want to build a time machine and travel back to another era to experience that glamour and romantic simplicity of life. Ah! It is so genius that while everyone else is making 3D movies and throwing money to the wind in order to make bigger and better CGI explosions, someone has the sense to return to the roots of cinema and bring us something so genuine and wonderfully straight-forward that you can't help but nostalgize about a time that must have been so much better than the one we live now! Whoever thought it'd be a good idea to shoot movies in color, and with sound... Shame on you! (And if you have to use sound, do it in the clever, creative ways as seen in this movie.)

The Artist has ruled the awards season so far. My thumbs are up high and hopefully the season will end accordingly today.

Carnage

Carnage was the last film I saw during my stay in the US last fall. I saw it in a shady little theatre near the Lincoln Center in NYC. There were hardly anyone else in the audience.

Carnage tells about two pairs of parents, whose kids get into a minor fight, and so they get together in the appartment of one of the couples, to settle the issue... like mature, civilized grown-ups. The story was originally written for the stage, which is quite clear, since the whole movie takes place in the appartment. And the staircase, a little. Even the elevator, once or twice!

I very much enjoyed this movie. It's hugely entertaining and pretty hilarious, leaning completely on the fast, witty dialogue and silly situations that culminate into absurd proportions. Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly all do a fantastic job, portraying their more or less mentally unstable characters, but Christoph Waltz steals the spotlight (he does that, doesn't he?). His character definitely seems like the biggest asshole of them all, but he ends up being the one that makes the most sense. Pretty awesome little movie, highly recommended!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Aka Hollywood comes to Scandinavia.

It is weird seeing Daniel Craig standing next to the Scandinavian traffic sign for a pedestrian crossing. It was also weird listening to his more or less convincing Swedish accent (and all those hej hejs and skåls...). But I got over both of these oddities pretty fast. David Fincher's American remake of the original Swedish story about men who hate women managed to absorb me in pretty well.

The impressive opening credits make it more than clear that the Scandinavian modesty and simplicity is all gone and we're talking about Hollywood now. But I actually thought Hollywood did a lot of good to the story. They hadn't even censored any of the horrible and violent scenes, which is a good thing, I guess, even though not very much fun to watch. The music was Oscar-winner-great, and the altered ending better than the original.

Rooney Mara's Lisbeth Salander was, first, kind of an action hero. I mean, that slide down the escalator? She's also slightly softer, younger, more fragile and humane version of Lisbeth Salander. Yay or nay? Well, she was certainly more approachable and somehow more relatable than Noomi Rapace's interpretation of the character, and you know me, I don't mind a hint of that good old American sentimentality...

So yeah, I kind of prefered the remake to the original. Was this because I'm more used to watching American films, shot, acted and directed in that distinctive American way? Maybe. I don't know. Does David Fincher have something to do with it? Definitely.

The Help

The Artist might still be my favourite in the Oscar race, but maybe if The Help had equal chances for victory, the tables might be turned. I'm not really sure why, but I liked this film enourmously and was very much touched by it.

For one, I'm happy to see a great movie concentrating on women and it's great that its greatness is acknowledged. There are not many such movies out there; movies about women, movies that can be taken seriously even though they are about women. In addition, in The Help, most important characters are black, which I suppose is another unusual thing to be pointed out. Sure, there's the thing about black people only being able to be saved by white people, but let's put that aside. I'm just happy about this movie, because it's genuine and true and funny and touching, and the characters and the acting are just suberb. I actually want Oscars for all of these people! I still have about twelve hours to decide whether I'm rooting for Octavia Spencer or Jessica Chastain for Supporting Actress!

Also, I'm currently reading the book and it's excellent. Very engaging.

Midnight in Paris

I don't usually like Woody Allen. I mean, his earlier work is kind of charming, even for me, but that more recent stuff just made me want to skip Midnight in Paris altogether. I'm glad I didn't, though!

First, it's le Paris, ah, oui, l'amour, c'est la vie, and other stuff I could say to pretend I actually
speak French. Paris is beautiful, and the beauty of it is more easily transfered on screen than the beauty of any other place on Earth. It might even look better on screen than in real life! No! Yes! Yes. Shoot me! OK, kidding...

The story of the movie was not what I expected. I mean, it was just what I expected until the first midnight. Then it got interesting and odd and fascinating, and that's what makes it stand out in my book, making it my favourite Woody Allen film I've seen so far.

Hugo

Very much like The Artist, Hugo is a love song for early cinema, in it's own, charming way. And not just for early cinema, more like for cinema as a whole, as an art form.

I did like Hugo. It was quite captivating and magical and sweet. Again, Paris is merveilleux! (Yeah, I used a dictionary for that...) The actors did a solid, good work, though none of them really stood out for me. Except maybe Christopher Lee, in that tiny role he had. Darn, does that man have a presence!

If nothing else, Hugo is a reminder that it's pretty nice, after all, to live in the era of CGI and 3D. My gosh, this movie looked amazing! Every frame was a work of art!

So this is what we'll do tonight: Hugo gets the awards for all the technical stuff. The Artist gets the real cream. Deal?

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P.S. Finally, I have to say something about Drive. Everyone's been going on and on about how it's so awesome and one of the best, if not best, film of 2011, so I expected a lot. And... um, ok? I have absolutely nothing to say about it. It didn't affect me in any way. I didn't even find Ryan Gosling desirable. Nothing. Blank head, no emotions. No wait, I was annoyed by what a sorry little bitch they had turned Christina Hendricks into. Despicable! Oh well. I just didn't get the movie, I guess. I usually don't get this kind of gangster nonsense.

Oscar nominees 2012

It seems it was about a month ago when they last gave away a bunch of Hollywood's golden boys, but here we are again. The nominees for this years Academy Awards were just announced. I must say I haven't been building up any expectations, and I'm feeling a lot more indifferent about these awards than usually. Maybe because there hasn't been a Toy Story 3 or a Social Network for me this year, meaning nothing has gotten me too pumped up. And of course, I still have a LOT to see before February 26. Funny, you'd think that spending the fall in the country where all the biggest and best movies come from (and where a movie comes to theatres the same day it's released - not four months later, if at all) would give you an advantage in keeping up with your Oscar hopefuls, but apparently not. Maybe it was my inopportune location (Emporia, Kansas isn't exactly the Mecca of culture). Maybe I just saw the wrong movies (whooot, I was CERTAIN Glee the 3D Concert Movie would rob all the awards!). Anyway. Here are a few of my thoughts.

It's a good year for animated film. And when I say good I mean unpredictable! Since Pixar spent the year making Cars 2, there is no Pixar film nominated for best animated film, so someone else finally has a chance! Good for them.

The Bridesmaids! Well well well. I'm not a huge fan of the film, but it certainly is refreshing to see a female-centered comedy nominated for best original screenplay, and one of its stars in the supporting actress category.

I really can't say much, because there's so much yet to be seen before I can shout out opinions that are not completely baseless and biased. From the best picture category I've actually seen just one film, so it's not very surprising that I feel like naming The Artist as my favourite. Well, it was a wonderful film, and I think it might remain my favourite, even after I've seen some of the other candidates. Let's see.

I am very eager to see The Help and Hugo; these are actually the two that I believe might have a shot at challenging The Artist in my book, and I will do my best to check them out before the Oscars.

I'm not sure why, but The Descendants seems really annoying to me. The trailer kind of makes me yawn. I'm not excited about Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, either, it just gives me a too strong The Blind Side kind of vibe, you know, one of those oh-so-sentimental and inspirational and disgustingly American stories. Might skip it. I've never been one for Woody Allen, and Tree of Life just seems boring as hell. I'm not sure about what The War Horse might have to offer for me... And Moneyball. Well, it's about baseball. Baseball is officially the most numbing sports in the world. I might still give the film a chance. Maybe it's not all about baseball. And if it is, maybe they've edited out all the parts where the players try and try and try and try hit the ball but never do.

When it comes to the acting categories, I, again, don't dare say much. Bérénice Bejo was absolutely lovely in The Artist, so her nomination made me happy. Sure, she wasn't exactly in a supporting role, but never mind, she's better off in a category without Meryl Streep, haha. Speaking of whom, I really want her to win that third Oscar, it's been a damn long time coming. Even though Michelle Williams as Marilyn really won me over, too... Rooney Mara's nomination was a nice surprise, but I guess she doesn't stand a chance, and that's ok.

I've been kind of inattentive, so I don't know if someone got snubbed. I did notice the lack of J. Edgar. Shame, it was an alright film. And yeah yeah, I have good memories about it since I saw it in Washington, a few blocks from the FBI building. Ah! Good times. Anyways. Enough with the bragging, haha...

In summary... Hugo got most nominations (11), with The Artist right behind it (10). I guess I'm happy! My favourite and my potential other favourite! And lo and behold, it is indeed a "kids' film" leading the game! Hurray! Take that, stupid adults!