'Dueling Steeds: War Horse on Stage and Screen'

The epic story, originated in a 30-year-old novel, can now be seen on Broadway and at the movies. But which spectacle comes out on top?
By R. Kurt Osenlund

THE LIGHTS COME UP. The audience claps. Couples take turns brain- and nit-picking before returning home to relieve the babysitter. In the end, the experiences of film and theater aren’t all that different, and crowd-pleasers have a way of stirring up cheers no matter the medium. But how often is it that such a work is available in two arenas at once? War Horse, which began as a novel in 1982 before being adapted for the London stage in 2007, can be seen, right now, both on Broadway and in movie theaters, as the stateside theatrical production continues alongside the re- lease of Steven Spielberg’s big-screen translation. The re- cipient of five 2011 Tony Awards, including Best Play, Broadway’s War Horse sets the bar high, boasting strong prestige and near-unanimous viewer approval. Spielberg’s take, an old-school, broad-canvas picture that deliberately nods to the days of John Ford and Technicolor, pulls out all the stops and formal guns so as to match the play’s majesty. But does it succeed? Which incarnation of Michael Morpur- go’s book is more deserving of your claps and car-ride con- versations?

Really, it comes down to what moves you, and what sort of implementation of craft leaves your mouth agape in wonder. Directed, in its current version, by Tony winners Marianne Elliot and Tom Morris, with scenic, lighting, and sound design by Tony winners Rae Smith, Paule Constable, and Christopher Shutt, respectively, the play most certainly has innovation on its side, parlaying a classic yet dusty story into a stunning showcase of remarkable stage tech- niques. As many already know, the horses in the production, like Joey, the central stallion who gallops his way through World War I after being taken by the military from best pal Albert, are man-operated puppets, contraptions of wood and leather conceived by Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones’s Handspring Puppet Company. Though the puppets have a very homespun, nuts-and-bolts look, and clearly take at least some inspiration from the anthropomorphic costumes in Julie Taymor’s The Lion King, they appear utterly inven- tive on stage, wielded by patient perfectionists who expertly instill soul with tail flicks, ear flutters, and subtle, believ- able equine sounds. They are part of an overall design that’s extraordinary for its blend of traditionalistic elements and chic, modern minimalism.

Without ever appearing on-the-nose or literal as some- thing ripped from the pages of history, the stage’s backdrop is a giant strip of torn paper, a rough-edged projection screen that intermittently bears charcoal-etched landscapes, the date and setting, and iconic animations (Eadweard Muy- bridge’s Horse in Motion is shrewdly evoked). The stage it- self is often dressed with the scarcest of props and other mechanical animals, like a wheel-mounted duck that makes for an excellent running gag. The biggest wow factor lies in the expert depiction of battle and spectacle, a streamlined, brilliant barrage of hand-tooled action that elicits childlike amazement. To simulate a horse-mounted soldier getting shot, stage hands rush in through the crowd with an over- sized, screw-like bullet on a stick, which strikes the actor before he’s carried off in simulated slow motion. At a mo- ment as arresting as anything you’re likely to see on stage, a tank emerges from behind the curtain line, its menacing arts-and-crafts look suggesting the world’s most formidable papier-mâché project. The most memorable and striking thing about the War Horse play is that it has the ardent au- dacity to get in a viewer’s space, its deftly calibrated ele- ments surging out to the edge of its circular stage, and beyond. Figures rush through at scene breaks and criss-cross the floor with barbed wire. Actors line the aisles with pen- nant strings. This is a show whose viewer involvement hardly stops at the emotional.

And then there is the cinematic interpretation, which is currently lighting up screens across the globe and trotting along the Oscar campaign trail. Spielberg lovers will delight in what the maestro has to offer here, reveling in all the aes- thetic trademarks that have come to define His Blockbuster- ness. Duly accounted for is the heavenly backlighting, as well as that unmistakable Spielberg gaze―a character’s face in glorious close-up as he marvels at something breath- taking (in this case, naturally, it’s a certain astonishing steed). Such an expression, as always, is what Spielberg hopes will be a reflection of his viewers, an in-text dupli- cate of magnificent awe. There are times when the War Horse film absolutely warrants this, as its epic action set pieces are easily last year’s finest. Janusz Kamiński, the cinematographer who’s shot every Spielberg film since Schindler’s List, offers up one magical vista after another, most notably the angelic emergence of soldiers from a wheat field (soldiers who, ironically, are about to unleash hell), and Joey’s climactic dash across ravaged battlefields, a sight that ranks among the more rousing to emerge from recent popular films.

Spielberg opens up the story to a whole new world of wide-angle grandeur, and his technical muscle-flexing pro- vides a certain sweep the stage show inherently can’t. But whereas the play partners novelty with convention, the film is wholeheartedly old-fashioned, often cripplingly so. You’d be hard-pressed to find a current film more worthy of the- atrical presentation, but you’d be harder-pressed to find one more doggedly unoriginal, trumping youthful wonderment with a regressive disregard of roughly 60 years of film nar- rative. The heightened awareness of horse slaughter in ar- chaic warfare remains intact, but Spielberg otherwise pilots a redundant story to a saccharine finale, which he paints in all the fiery, preposterous hues of Scarlett O’Hara’s day- dreams. There’s no question that it was the director’s intent to concoct a throwback effort, a family film untarnished by contemporary grit and cynicism. But that can’t help his movie’s lack of satisfaction, nor can the masterful handi- work of collaborators like Kamiński (also on board and on point are editor Michael Kahn and composer John Williams, both Spielberg regulars). The overwhelming adherence to picturesque tradition starts to suffocate the heart of the tale, and Spielberg’s devotion to faces in particular hampers the poignancy of the boy-and-his-pet bond (newcomer Jeremy Irvine is far more handsome than he is diligent or affecting). All the gleaming, formal sap in the world can’t outshine lat- ter-day realness.

There is something to be said for Spielberg’s commit- ment to his visions, and no one can call his War Horse a poorly-made film. But at the end of the day, when the ap- plause has settled and the chatter has stopped and the babysitter has gone home, one simple surprise remains: a puppet, transparently and primitively manipulated by actors, has the power to draw out more gasps, cheers and genuine sobs than an actual, wondrous animal, photographed in flesh and blood.

*This article was previously published in the February 2012 issue of ICON Magazine. It has been republished with permission.

Oscar Predictions: Acting and Directing

For South Philly Review, I'm predicting the winners in Oscar's Acting and Directing categories. Some of these races are sewn up as tight as a corset, while others will be neck-in-neck right up to the big night.

Next week I'll take a closer look at the Best Picture lineup, but for now, see who I chose to take home the other major stauettes. It's all online at SouthPhillyReview.com. CLICK HERE.

*And please, do check out the great work we've been doing over at The House Next Door, predicting the winners in every single Oscar category. I'm happy to be pitching in alongsode Ed Gonzalez and Eric Henderson, whose punchy commentary is some of the best on the internet. 

Oscar-Nominated Live Action Shorts Review

This week I served up a twist for South Philly Review, critiquing the five films nominated for Oscar's Live Action Short category. My runaway favorite is Norway's "Tuba Atlantic" (below), but it's not the candidate I expect to claim the prize.

Read more about "Tuba" and the other four shorts in contention in my special-edition review, now online at SouthPhillyReview.com. CLICK HERE.

'Oscar Symposium' at The Film Experience

I was absolutely thrilled to take part in Nathaniel Rogers's Oscar Symposium this year. What a treat! I chatted with Nat, Mark Harris, Nick Davis, and Ali Arikan -- distinguished and hugely insightful gentlemen all.

The chat went on for three days, and you can get each installment over at The Film Experience:

DAY ONE
DAY TWO
DAY THREE

Oscar 2012: Nomination Predictions

This year, my official Oscar nomination predictions (in select categories) have been published over at Slant Magazine's The House Next Door, where I've been giddily serving as Managing Editor since October. I wish I could tell you I feel rock-solid about all my predictions, but alas, 2011 is the freaking craziest year ever for the Oscars. Nonetheless, a lot of passion and punditry went into these posts, and I should hope they all make for fun reads. Below are links to the categories I covered. While over there, I suggest you poke around and take a peek at the fields assessed by my colleague, Eric Henderson. Man knows his stuff, and can turn a helluva snarky phrase:

BEST COSTUME DESIGN 
BEST MAKEUP
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
BEST EDITING
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
BEST DIRECTOR
BEST ACTRESS
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BEST PICTURE

For Your Consideration: An Ideal Oscar Slate

*This article was previously published in the January 2011 issue of ICON Magazine. It has been republished with permission.

The Oscars are coming! And though there will be plenty of terrific nominees, there are bound to be some who don't deserve to sit at the big kids' table (that means you, Glenn Close). The Oscars need an ideal ballot, packed with films and performances that truly packed a wallop. Herewith is that ballot, primed and ready for Academy consideration: (* indicates winner)

By R. Kurt Osenlund

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Jessica Chastain, The Debt
One certainly had his fair share of great Jessica Chastain performances to choose from this year, which could quite easily be dubbed The Year of Jessica Chastain. Can anyone remember another recent instance when a superb actor blew up so rapidly and so completely? In 2011, Chastain appeared in The Help, The Tree of Life, Coriolanus, Take Shelter, and The Debt, gracing each with a level of thespian artistry that left scads of filmgoers asking, “Who IS that girl?” While her bubbly contribution to The Help ranks a close second, Chastain's work in The Debt takes top placement, if only because the 30-year-old redhead so vividly outshines everything around her. Playing a spy who's after a Nazi war criminal, she's got beauty, instincts, and steely conviction to burn.

Viola Davis, The Help
Though being campaigned for lead actress, Viola Davis in fact turns in a supporting performance in The Help, and winds up supporting the whole film with her surprisingly nuanced dimension. Playing a maid whose scarred history prompts her to help a plucky white journo pen a book about maids' experiences, Davis deeply enriches the popular story with her believably world-weary face, giving her character a palpable past not so much with words, but expressions. It's the kind of insightful work that allowed this goes-down-easy movie to transcend accusations of backhanded racism.

*Charlotte Gainsbourg, Melancholia
Kirsten Dunst's fine turn in Lars von Trier's Melancholia may be the one netting all the good ink, but it's von Trier muse Charlotte Gainsbourg who truly rattles you to the bone. Playing the level-headed sister to Dunst's unstable depressive, Gainsbourg becomes the character who loses it most tragically as the world comes to an end, unforgettably crumbling into despair―as so many of us would. Down to the last blinding moment, she is searingly, devastatingly great, embodying an upstanding, “normal” woman who just cannot accept that it is, once and for all, time to go.

Carey Mulligan, Shame
Matching beat for beat Michael Fassbender's stunning performance as a sex addict, Carey Mulligan's work in Shame (as Fassbender's character's troubled, nomadic sister) introduces a whole new facet of her ever-rising star―a desperate, unglamorous side that presents a challenge for which the actress is very much game. Her heated and subtext-ridden encounters with her co-star are just as riveting as her much-discussed rendition of “New York, New York,” which she hauntingly croons in a strange, telling, and lingeringly gorgeous scene.

Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
Previously known only for the ABC Family schmaltz-fest The Secret Life of the American Teenager, 20-year-old Shailene Woodley breaks out in a big way in The Descendants, playing the oldest daughter of George Clooney's distraught dad in a matter that makes you feel as though you're interrupting an actual adolescent's very real life. It's not easy for a young actor to erase every ounce of truth-crippling self-consciousness, but Woodley does it, her work as a fiery 17-year-old as authentic in its bitchery as it is in its undeniable pain. The Descendants is a film oft-distinguished by characters' private anguish, and Woodley makes that anguish feel so private it seems to be the actress's own.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Albert Brooks, Drive
Not long ago, if anyone were to have speculated what Albert Brooks's next project would be, surely very few would have thought, “an eerily ruthless Hollywood gangster who nonchalantly bleeds people dry with straight razors and butcher knives.” But there you have it, and longtime awkward comedian Brooks is so suavely fantastic in his unnerving role that it may just be the one that comes to define his later career. Villains are always more effective (which is to say terrifying) when they exert their malice with very little effort, a sly technique to match their minimal human concern. Brooks makes good on his inspired casting (which is to say he's very, very bad).

Robert Forster, The Descendants
An underrated, underused actor who never disappoints, Robert Forster, like Shailene Woodley, plays a character in The Descendants who invites only the audience to share in his emotional hurt, and Forster makes that pain terribly real and intimate. As the largely unlikable father of George Clooney's character's comatose wife, Forster is tasked to make curmudgeonly ignorance endearing, and he more than leaps the hurdle, bringing pathos to a man whose outwardly strong, but inwardly dying right along with his unrevivable daughter.

Bruce Greenwood, Meek's Cutoff
Largely hidden behind a mess of a beard and beneath a shadow-casting cowboy hat, Bruce Greenwood doesn't have much room to make an impression as the titular, tunnel-visioned tour guide of Kelly Reichardt's Meek's Cutoff. So it's something of a small miracle that he's able to put forth such an indelible performance, shaping a striking figure of small-minded bigotry whose role in this volumes-speaking American saga keenly implies so many of his ilk, who are making pivotal, misguided decisions to this very day.

*Rhys Ifans, Anonymous
Another funnyman given the chance to don a dramatic persona, Notting Hill star Rhys Ifans is superb in the deliciously overcooked, history-challenging costume drama Anonymous, which begs the question, “Was Shakespeare a fraud?” (call it a “Shakespiracy”). If indeed he was, the film purports that Ifans's urbane duke was the real man behind the masterpieces, a cheeky, brilliant, and privately tormented aristocrat who handed off his work to a simpleton who hoarded all the credit. While it's not a leading role, Ifans proves immensely capable of carrying a film, bringing a kind of metrosexual sophistication to an individual of inherent interest. The film is silly, but he's seriously first-rate.

Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method
For director David Cronenberg, Viggo Mortensen has played a killer without a past (A History of Violence) and a fearsome Russian gangster (Eastern Promises). In Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method, he takes on Sigmund Freud, of all people, and instills in the psychology godfather a sense of dry humor nearly as strong as his sense of personal motivations. Never better at disappearing into a character, Mortensen gives what could deservedly be called the definitive Freud performance. He owns every seasoned observation, every contemplative puff of that omnipresent cigar.

BEST ACTRESS

Juliette Binoche, Certified Copy
Abbas Kiarostami's Certified Copy is likely the year's most beguiling enigma, a stroll-on-the-street, Tuscany-set tale featuring two people who one assumes to be strangers until they evolve to seem as though they've been a couple for years. A good deal of the film's mystery is emitted from Juliette Binoche's incredible face, which is often looking directly at the camera as it shifts through a plethora of emotions (not to mention multiple languages). Becoming deeply enveloped in poignant exchanges with this man, whose rapport with her may just be an elaborate bit of playacting, Binoche's character feels strikingly genuine, and the actress lets you happily take part in the illusion.

*Olivia Colman, Tyrannosaur
The most revelatory performance of 2011 came from comedienne (!) Olivia Colman, whose wrenching turn as a religious shopkeeper in Paddy Considine's Tyrannosaur would be gobbling up awards if more people actually saw the film. Both heartbreakingly fragile and secretly capable of fierce self-defense (a fact whose unveiling just about sends your jaw to the floor), Colman's character gradually takes center stage in a movie ostensibly about a man, and to say the actress steals the show doesn't even scratch the surface of her impact. Playing the perpetually bruised slave of an abusive husband, her desperate, climactic breakdown is the year's single greatest actorly moment.

Yoon Jeong-hee, Poetry
In Poetry, a 66-year-old woman takes control of her life at a point when most would lose it: the moment she's diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Gracefully and beautifully, she begins to champion the values of vitality and justice, and Yoon Jeong-hee, in her first role since 1994, very quietly steals your heart away in her empathetic, understated approach to the character. As a part of a class in which she tries to challenge herself creatively, poetry becomes the woman's tool to access the depths of feeling she'd previous left uncultivated, and it only makes sense that Jeong-hee's work is highly poetic, too.

Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
With her work in The Iron Lady, one of many films this year to be little more than a vessel for a powerhouse performance (see below), Meryl Streep all but grabs you by the shirt collar and pulls you at the screen. As Margaret Thatcher, the Oscar queen unleashes the fury and the sensitivity, too, fearlessly conveying what's made so many regard Thatcher as an irredeemable monster, and just as grippingly endowing her with admirable strength of character. What lingers is Streep's capacity of convincing you of just about anything, a skill that reflects the scary breadth of not just one unflagging woman, but conservative politicians at large.

Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
That irresistible shimmy. That infectious, familiar giggle. Those little-girl-lost eyes. Few things induced more movie bliss this year than Michelle Williams's interpretation of Marilyn Monroe, a performance that creates as much a sense of discovery as it does nostalgia. Playing three versions of the same woman (private, downward-spiral Marilyn; public sexpot Marilyn; struggling-actor Marilyn performing in The Prince and the Showgirl), Williams uses her unendingly exciting talents to build an entire complex persona, who may be one of the most famous movie stars in history, but, thanks to one of the current best, is rendered only human.

BEST ACTOR

*Michael Fassbender, Shame
What Michael Fassbender brings to Shame certainly isn't on the page. He injects his sex addict with an astounding supply of brewing disgust, insatiable desire, repressed rage, and crushing, accumulating despair. Where did it all come from? It's amazing to watch if just for how completely it carries the material onto another lofty plane, a plane somewhere out in actor-lovers' heaven. The work is gaining press for Fassbender's ample full-frontal nudity, but that's hardly where the courage of this performance lies. It's the actor's willingness to take a swan dive into every last ugly trait of an addict that leaves you feeling spent.

Hamish Linklater, The Future
Certainly the least talked-about performance on this list, Hamish Linklater's work in Miranda July's The Future is nonetheless exemplary, an affectingly intuitive expression of July's unique writing, and a true, yet idiosyncratic, take on thirtysomething uncertainty. One half of a couple who, in choosing to adopt a cat, proceed to face every fear they've ever had of turning the page, Linklater's good-natured character becomes a suitable avatar for any man even close to his age, and his arduous tog of war with the moon (yes, the moon) is one of the great struggles of 2011 cinema.

Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
In tackling the iconic role of super-sleuth George Smiley, Gary Oldman wisely chose to play it extraordinarily cool, and in doing so has crafted one of the very best performances of his lengthy career. Through long stretches of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the grayed, bespectacled actor does not speak, merely hovering around each scene like a well-dressed watchdog. But when he does offer dialogue, you most surely listen, to that singular accent, that rich articulation, and that thrilling commitment to character that's always been present in his work. At least two of Oldmans's scenes boast bits of the year's most unforgettable acting greatness, one of which sees him peer right out at you in an unbroken, unshakable monologue.

Brad Pitt, Moneyball
Brad Pitt has never been better than he is in Moneyball, and that's no hyperbole. As one of the great heartthrobs of our time, Pitt, like many such stars, has had to struggle to ditch the pretty-boy image and dig into a character's skin. With visible wrinkles and a near-complete dismissal of vanity, he finally clinches his goal as Oakland A's coach Billy Beane, a man whose skin he wears so comfortably, one can't help but smile at the effortless transformation. That said, this is far from just a skin-deep portrayal, as Pitt taps directly into what makes this man tick―his demons, his hopes, his drive, and most importantly, his flaws.

Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
There is perhaps no other working actor better at playing mentally-plagued characters than Michael Shannon, who tops a list of lauded turns in films like Bug and Revolutionary Road with his work in Take Shelter, an ambiguously apocalyptic drama that casts him as a man whose biblical-plague visions begin to dismantle his life. Never do Shannon's tactics of portraying the unhinged feel put-on; he's always able to muster something creepily believable, and here, he pairs it with the relevant anguish of a man whose all-too-familiar paranoia about what's coming feeds a vicious cycle that threatens his livelihood. He's the mentally frayed poster boy of the new American nightmare.

BEST DIRECTOR

Tomas Alfredson, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Nearly everyone will walk out of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy at least a little perplexed, as the film offers no handrail with which to guide you through its cryptic, twisty, cloak-and-dagger plot. But surely no one will be unclear about the film's absolutely impeccable craftsmanship, which favors muted colors, gorgeous compositions, and perfectly mounted sequences that occasionally culminate with throat-grabbing visual zingers (Alfredson also helmed the Swedish dazzler Let the Right One In). It's practically impossible to imagine someone offering a finer visualization of John le Carré's classic novel, as this one is a model of old-school style, editorial panache, smart suspense and cool restraint.

Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Kudos to Michel Hazanavicius for valiantly pushing forward with his infectious beaut of a film, The Artist, which was most certainly met with a red light from multiple studios. His silent, black-and-white Hollywood homage is as much a current commentary as it is a romantic throwback, taking on the subject of technology's merciless march in about as dreamy a way as one could imagine. The film unfolds delightfully, gaining momentum and universal appeal with each new charming sequence, and the humor is in perfect step with the knowing drama, which finds gravity in both intimacy and relevance. However transparently a crowd-pleaser, The Artist is highly unique―and utterly lovable.

Miranda July, The Future
No one working in film today has a vision for quirk like Miranda July, whose weird ways are always tied to a very real emotion, rather than a cheap attempt at random, look-at-me coolness. With The Future, a clearly personal project that serves as the natural follow-up to her inimitable debut, Me and You and Everyone We Know, July contemplates the mid-30s plight of...nearing 40, and in effect constructs a highly individual, yet very universal, tale that explores the resonant fear of what's to come and the meaning of strong relationships. In a way, it's an art-installation version of The Big Chill, warmed up for the young and modern culturati.

Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive
No filmmaker this year showed more complete, down-to-the-last detail control of his production than Nicolas Winding Refn, whose crazy-tacky-cool thriller Drive has its director's signature on everything, right down to the hotel wallpaper. The setpieces, camerawork, editing, pacing, polish, sound, and tone of this film are all immaculate, a feast of style that more than makes up for the film's decided lack of substance (its relative hollowness is part of the point). This movie is catnip for formalists, and it should be added to the required-viewing pile for up-and-coming filmmakers.

*Lars von Trier, Melancholia
No one can grip and shake a viewer the way Lars von Trier can. Regardless of what he feeds to the media in his second role as provocateur, the Danish master serves up art films with more shattering visceral power than many helmsmen can muster in a whole career. With his masterpiece Melancholia, von Trier channels his much-ballyhooed depression into a soul-scouring meditation on the end of the world, which, as a process as steadily invasive as personal melancholy, is rendered with spectacular, fall-to-your-knees awe. His worldview may not be the sunniest, but his ability to scan and exploit the dark corners of man's condition make him an unexpected humanist.

BEST PICTURE

The Artist
A silent valentine to cinema that's hilarious and romantic, and doubles as an industry barometer.

The Descendants
A wonderfully intimate look at family and grief that boasts one of the year's best scripts.

Drive
A small masterpiece of craft that features a modern-day hero hidden beneath a shield of apathy.

The Future
An artful meditation on young aging, monogamy, success, existentialism, romance and cats.

Meek's Cutoff
A stark and brilliant western whose expansive canvas holds unspoken insights on race, gender, politics, maybe even the whole of American history.

*Melancholia
The jewel in a year apocalyptic tales, which almost convinces you that, sometimes, when things spin so far out of control, it's better to just wipe the slate clean.

Poetry
A heartbreaking tale of taking control of one's destiny at any age, and finding artistic inspiration in doing what's right―for oneself and others.

A Separation
An astonishingly tight tale of inflammatory relationships, whose micro focus holds great macro implications, depicting the massive ripple effect of poor choices and the dehumanization of societal rules.

Take Shelter
As potent a socio-economic allegory as any in recent memory, the film thrives on both ambiguity and plainspoken drama, centering on a man living in a world where nothing, and everything, is wrong.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
A beautifully made spy thriller if ever there was one, and the cleverest of two in-vogue subgenres: the corporate thriller and the home-invasion nail-biter.

***
To check out last year's picks, CLICK HERE.

'The Artist' Review

I have a screener for this black and white beauty sitting in front of my TV, and if there's anything I'm looking forward to post-holiday, it's popping it in to revisit the glee I felt at this year's New York Film Festival. "The Artist" is all kinds of lovely, and since no films that top it on my Best of 2011 list have a prayer, I'm all for it claiming the Best Picture Oscar.

Read my full review of "The Artist," now online at SouthPhillyReview.com. CLICK HERE.

'Hugo' Review

I was really taken with, and blindsided by, Martin Scorsese's "Hugo," a supposed kids movie that winds up a cinephile's valentine. It really grows on you, which is not to say it isn't totally magical in the moment, too.

Read my review of "Hugo," now online at SouthPhillyReview.com. CLICK HERE.

'Anonymous' and Oscar

In the latest edition of Oscar Prospects at The House Next Door, I'm talking about Roland Emmerich's "Anonymous." GO GET IT.

Happy Halloween: Talking 'Death Becomes Her' Effects

I know, I know...I'm a couple of days late. But there's never a wrong time to enjoy Robert Zemeckis's "Death Becomes Her," the many special effects of which I recently discussed for Nathaniel Rogers's The Film Experience.

Part of TFE's "Oscar Horrors" series, the article was a pleasure to write. To read it, CLICK HERE.

Linking Tony, Mary and Woody

Nathaniel from The Film Experience has generously invited me to take part in a whole host of recent guesting gigs at his site, and I'm lumping them together here in one linky package.

- First, I joined Nathaniel and the great Guy Lodge for a red carpet chat regarding the good, the bad and the...Frances McDormand of Tony Awards fashion. Fun stuff. READ IT HERE.

- Then came my third installment of Cinema de Gym, which took on the sticky subject of "There's Something About Mary," aka The "Hangover" of the 90s. GET IT HERE.

- Finally, I took part in my second Film Experience podcast, talking "Midnight in Paris," Woody Allen and Oscar rule changes with Nathaniel and the talented Mark Blankenship. HAVE A LISTEN.

February Rewind: Linking Valentines and Afterglow

Last month I continued my exciting contributions to Nathaniel Rogers' The Film Experience. (Not a regular reader of that site? GET ON IT!)

For Valentine's Day, I offered a post I was only too happy to whip up: a lovestruck tribute to Jane Campion's splendid 2009 offering "Bright Star."

Beyond addressing the film's unforgivable snubbing throughout awards season, I gave my screen-capture program a workout by including a lovely handful of the movie's frameworthy stills. CHECK IT OUT.

Later in February, I penned a last-minute, pre-Oscar post about the plusses and minuses of that ever-growing trend: Oscar afterglow. You know you're familiar with it. It's become nearly as common as poor Oscarcast ratings. GET MY TAKE.

Oscar Goodies

The hubby and I had our third annual Oscar bash this year, and the cuisine, IMO, was our best yet. Instead of breaking the bank on heaps of ingredients, we offer candy and snacks themed around the Best Picture nominees. While there were surely no complaints, I think I can safely say that no one enjoyed eating these babies as much as I enjoyed prepping and serving them. Behold:

And now for the wide shot (The Sour Patch "Kids" and "Grit" Cakes went fast!)

A big thanks to Ms. Jess White for her lovely photography.

Oscar 2011: Winner Predictions

It's time, y'all. Three more days to go. My official write-up of predictions in every category is now posted over at SouthPhillyReview.com. It's a lot of the usual suspects, with three fingers-firmly-crossed predictions in "The Social Network's" favor. And just how up in the air is Supporting Actress? Though I'm not predicting her, I'd love to see an Amy Adams upset.

Anyways, if you want to be the big winner in your office Oscar pool, you should probably venture elsewhere (I haven't the most stellar track record). But if you want a fun and insightful read that'll lead you to most of the right picks, CLICK HERE.

Consider...

...somebody else. Please.

A Little Oscar Music

Call me lame, but I always get into the songs that get nominated for Oscar, even if they fall into genres I don't usually go for (in no other capacity would I ever groove to Three 6 Mafia's "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp"). Music is just that much better when it's linked to the movies, is it not? Not to mention I have fine memories of great Oscarcast performances, namely Beyonce's trio of showstoppers in 2005. I re-watch those for fun.

Let's have a listen to this year's five nominated tunes, shall we? There's "I See the Light," from "Tangled," which brings us right back to one of 2010's most gorgeous moments in film:



Then we have "We Belong Together" from "Toy Story 3," which marks the 20th (!) career Oscar nod for Randy Newman:



Next up is "Coming Home" from "Country Strong," which I'll admit I totally love. Please, please, please let Gwyneth perform this on Oscar night:



"Slumdog Millionaire's" A.R. Rahman has the next track, the "127 Hours" anthem, "If I Rise." This one's a bit of a snooze, and I really can't tell what Dido is saying, but I love that A.R. Rahman, especially when he has the Pussycat Dolls in the studio:



Finally there's...oh, I'm sorry, did I say five nominees? My mistake. I guess I was just still pretending that the music branch didn't actually snub everyone's favorite diva ballad of 2010. Silly me:

No Relation

What to do when you've written and read about the Oscar game ad nauseum but still can't shake it? Why, make up a game of your own, of course! This one's a nominee name game. These unlikely pairs of hopefuls may seem like they were separated at birth, but there's no relation aside from their mutual hunger for Oscar gold.

Joel and Ethan Coen (Director, "True Grit")   /   Danny Cohen (Cinematography, "The King's Speech")



"Inside Job" (Documentary Feature)   /   "Outside the Law" (Foreign Language Film, Algeria)

Christian Colson (Producer - Picture, "127 Hours")   /   Christian Bale (Supporting Actor, "The Fighter")

John Powell (Original Score, "How to Train Your Dragon")   /   Sandy Powell (Costume Design, "The Tempest")

"Inception" (Picture, etc.)   /   "Incendies" (Foreign Language Film, Canada)

Mark Ruffalo (Supporting Actor, "The Kids Are All Right")   /   "The Gruffalo" (Short Film - Animated)

You've Got to be Effing Kidding Me

Oscar 2011: Nominations and Prediction Scores



AND THE NOMINEES ARE:

Best motion picture of the year

• “Black Swan” (Fox Searchlight), A Protozoa and Phoenix Pictures Production, Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
• “The Fighter” (Paramount), A Relativity Media Production, David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
• “Inception” (Warner Bros.), A Warner Bros. UK Services Production, Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
• “The Kids Are All Right” (Focus Features), An Antidote Films, Mandalay Vision and Gilbert Films Production, Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
• “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), A See-Saw Films and Bedlam Production, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
• “127 Hours” (Fox Searchlight), An Hours Production, Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
• “The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing), A Columbia Pictures Production, Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
• “Toy Story 3″ (Walt Disney), A Pixar Production, Darla K. Anderson, Producer
• “True Grit” (Paramount), A Paramount Pictures Production, Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
• “Winter’s Bone” (Roadside Attractions), A Winter’s Bone Production, Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

      (MY SCORE: 9/10)

Achievement in directing

• “Black Swan” (Fox Searchlight), Darren Aronofsky
• “The Fighter” (Paramount), David O. Russell
• “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Tom Hooper
• “The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing), David Fincher
• “True Grit” (Paramount), Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

      (MY SCORE: 4/5)

Performance by an actor in a leading role

• Javier Bardem in “Biutiful” (Roadside Attractions)
• Jeff Bridges in “True Grit” (Paramount)
• Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
• Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company)
• James Franco in “127 Hours” (Fox Searchlight)

      (MY SCORE: 4/5)

Performance by an actress in a leading role

• Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right” (Focus Features)
• Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole” (Lionsgate)
• Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone” (Roadside Attractions)
• Natalie Portman in “Black Swan” (Fox Searchlight)
• Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine” (The Weinstein Company)

       (MY SCORE: 4/5)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

• Christian Bale in “The Fighter” (Paramount)
• John Hawkes in “Winter’s Bone” (Roadside Attractions)
• Jeremy Renner in “The Town” (Warner Bros.)
• Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right” (Focus Features)
• Geoffrey Rush in “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company)

      (MY SCORE: 4/5)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

• Amy Adams in “The Fighter” (Paramount)
• Helena Bonham Carter in “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company)
• Melissa Leo in “The Fighter” (Paramount)
• Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”(Paramount)
• Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom” (Sony Pictures Classics)

      (MY SCORE: 4/5)

For the full list of nominees, CLICK HERE.



Oscar 2011: Nomination Predictions

Sadly, the more and more you keep your eye on the Oscar game, the less and less special the big show seems. That said, I still get extremely giddy when nomination day arrives (two days away!). I'm not always the most reliable pundit, but the predictions keep coming, out of admiration, tradition, obsession, etc. Here's what I'm thinking this year:

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"

I still can't believe Mila Kunis is a serious contender, but here we are. Bonham Carter has been a safe lock since before the race began, yet she poses little threat to the "Fighter" gals, one of whom will win this thing. With a certain young prodigy presumably headed to lead, I'll give the fifth slot to Jacki Weaver, who's the most deserving of the entire group.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christian Bale, "The Fighter"

Andrew Garfield, "The Social Network"

Jeremy Renner, "The Town"

Mark Ruffalo, "The Kids Are All Right"

Geoffrey Rush, "The King's Speech"

Not much suspense here, especially since Bale is bound to march to the podium. I don't see any other candidate being vulnerable for a nom, though some are thinking Matt Damon has a shot for his work in "True Grit," while others  think the late Pete Postlethwaite ("The Town") or the recovering Michael Douglas ("Wall Street 2") have an outisde chance. My favorite? Garfield by a mile.

BEST ACTRESS

Annette Bening, "The Kids Are All Right"

Nicole Kidman, "Rabbit Hole"

Jennifer Lawrence, "Winter's Bone"

Natalie Portman, "Black Swan"

Hailee Steinfeld, "True Grit"

I know what you're thinking: Steinfeld is going to land in supporting, and, besides, her inclusion here makes this category too, too young. But apart from the solid foursome of Bening, Kidman, Lawrence and Portman, no other actress has emerged as a major contender, and the very surprising success of "True Grit" has only brought more attention to Steinfeld's breakout turn. I'm thinking the voters will nudge her into lead.

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"

Yes, this is indeed the widely anticipate five, and unless Ryan Gosling can work some miracles, it's the five that will be invited to the Kodak. I can't say I agree that last year's winner Jeff Bridges deserves to be here again, but with all the "True Grit" success, he's practically a lock. Besides, if Steinfeld can get in, there's no way Bridges won't. I'd love to see an Eisenberg win, but no one's taking it from Firth.

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"

At this point, it seems best to go with the DGA top five, which surprisingly includes David O. Russell rather than the Coen boys. I'm all for Nolan, Aronofsky and Fincher making the cut, and everyone knew Hooper was a sure thing, but Russell nabbing the final slot seems so loony to me. I'd much rather see it go to one of 2010's high-achieving females, like Lisa Cholodenko or, better yet, Debra Granik.

BEST PICTURE

"Black Swan"

"The Fighter"

"Inception"

"The Kids Are All Right"

"The King's Speech"

"The Social Network"

"Toy Story 3"

"The Town"

"True Grit"

"Winter's Bone"

The most obvious snubbee here is "127 Hours," which started strong in the season, then continually lost steam. There's some talk about "Winter's Bone" getting bumped out, though I certainly hope not. This category needs a stronger indie presence desperately. As for the blockbuster end, "The Town" and "Inception" should fill that quota. Possible upset? I could see the doc "Waiting for 'Superman'" squeezing into the list, but it's not bloody likely. Tune in Tuesday morning to find out.