Oscars 2013 Nominees and Winners

I really enjoyed this years Oscars I was a little unsure on how Seth Macfarlane would do, but I do think he didn't do too bad. I laughed a lot actualy. I thought the random Shatner bit was a little weird, and not funny, but I liked the general gist of the skit. I thought his other jokes throughout the night were pretty hilarious, and his musical numbers were great. I really liked that this year had a theme of appreciating the music. There were some really great performances, and surprise guests to remind us how much the music really matters. Here are my thoughts on the big winners last night;

Best Picture

Amour
Argo
Beasts Of The Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Misérables
Life Of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

I was so excited that Argo won! Such a great film. Honestly, I think my vote would have been for Django Unchained, definitely my favorite of the choices, but Argo definitely deserved it as well!

Actor In A Leading Role

-  Bradley Cooper
"Silver Linings Playbook"

- Daniel Day-Lewis
"Lincoln"
- Hugh Jackman
"Les Misérables"
- Joaquin Phoenix
"The Master"
- Denzel Washington
"Flight"

Definitely 100% deserved. I think everyone would have died of shock if Daniel hadn't have won. 

Actress In A Leading Role

- Jessica Chastain
 "Zero Dark Thirty"
- Jennifer Lawrence
 "Silver Linings Playbook"
- Emmanuelle Riva
 "Amour"
- Quvenzhané Wallis
 "Beasts Of The Southern Wild"
- Naomi Watts
 "The Impossible"


I think this was the category that I was most unsure about. Although, not overly surprising, and Jennifer Lawrence definitely deserved it, I really wasn't sure if it would go to JLaw or Jessica Chastain. I'm happy it went to Jennifer though, I really like how she doesn't take herself too seriously. 

Actor In A Supporting Role

-Alan Arkin

"Argo"
- Robert De Niro

"Silver Linings Playbook"
- Philip Seymour Hoffman

"The Master"
-  Lee Jones

"Lincoln"
- Christoph Waltz

"Django Unchained"

So happy about this one. Lots of great performances this year, but Christoph was my fave. 

Actress In A Supporting Role:

- Amy Adams

"The Master"
- Sally Field

"Lincoln"
- Anne Hathaway

"Les Misérables"
- Helen Hunt

"The Sessions"
- Jacki Weaver

"Silver Linings Playbook"

A well-deserved win for Anne, despite some oddly bad reviews of her performance, she really made the film. Loved every minute of it.

Animated Feature Film

Brave
Frankenweenie
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band Of Misfits

Wreck-It Ralph

I've only seen 2 of these, Brave and Wreck-It Ralph, but Brave really is such a sweet inspiring story for young girls. It was also gorgeous, so I think I did deserve the Oscar.

Directing 

- Michael Haneke

"Amour"
- Benh Zeitlin

"Beasts Of The Southern Wild"
- Ang Lee

"Life Of Pi"
- Steven Spielberg

"Lincoln"
- David O. Russell

"Silver Linings Playbook"

I actually haven't seen Life of Pi yet, but its obviously getting big awards, so I guess I should get on that. Ang Lee is a great director, so bravo to him.

Documentary (Feature)

5 Broken Cameras

The Gatekeepers
How To Survive A Plague

The Invisible War
Searching For Sugar Man

I've only seen "How To Survive A Plague" and "The Invisible War", so I have no idea how good this film is. What I can say is that the two films that I just mentioned were absolutely amazing documentaries, focusing on very important issues that needed to be recognized so if this films beat it, it must be a seriously fantastic documentary. 

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

- Chris Terrio

"Argo"
- Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin

"Beasts Of The Southern Wild"
- David Magee

"Life Of Pi"
- Tony Kushner

"Lincoln"
- David O. Russell

"Silver Linings Playbook"

Writing isn't one of the awards that most people think about, and the writers aren't normally known names unless they are also directors. Chris Terrio did a great job on this screenplay and his speech is really nice as well.

Writing (Original Screenplay) 

- Michael Haneke

"Amour"
- Quentin Tarantino

"Django Unchained"
- John Gatins 

"Flight"
- Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola 

"Moonrise Kingdom"
- Mark Boal

"Zero Dark Thirty"

I think of all of the categories and winners last night, this one I was most excited about. I absolutely loved this film, and I'm so glad the genius of Quentin Tarantino was recognized. I adored this movie beyond words. Such great writing. 

Music (Original Song)

-"Before My Time" From "Chasing Ice"
(Music and Lyrics: J. Ralph)
-"Everybody Needs A Best Friend" From "Ted"
(Music: Walter Murphy; Lyrics: Seth Macfarlane)
-"Pi's Lullaby" From "Life Of Pi"
(Music: Mychael Danna; Lyrics: Bombay Jayashri)
-"Skyfall" From "Skyfall"
(Music and Lyrics: Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth)
-"Suddenly" From "Les Misérables"
(Music: Claude-Michel Schönberg; Lyrics: Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil)

I'm so happy for Adele, at this point she's won almost every award possible. She's so talented and this has been such a great year for her and she looks great after having her baby.

2013 Golden Globe Nominees and Winners

Best Motion Picture, Drama
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty

Best Motion Picture, Comedy
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Moonrise Kingdom
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Silver Linings Playbook

Best Director, Motion Picture
Ben Affleck, Argo
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Richard Gere, Arbitrage
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical
Emily Blunt, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Judi Dench, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Maggie Smith, Quartet
Meryl Streep, Hope Springs

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone
Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea

Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Amy Adams, The Master
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy

Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Alan Arkin, Argo
Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained

Best Foreign Language Film
Amour (Austria)
A Royal Affair (Denmark)
The Intouchables (France)
Kon-Tiki (Norway/U.K./Denmark)
Rust and Bone (France)

Best TV Series, Comedy
The Big Bang Theory
Episodes
Girls
Modern Family
Smash

Best TV Series, Drama
Breaking Bad
Boardwalk Empire
Downton Abbey
Homeland
The Newsroom

Best TV Movie or Miniseries
Game Change
The Girl
Hatfields and McCoys
The Hour
Political Animals

Best Performance by an Actress in a TV series, Drama
Connie Britton, Nashville
Glenn Close, Damages
Claire Danes, Homeland
Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife

Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series, Drama
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Damian Lewis, Homeland

Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series, Comedy
Zooey Deschanel, New Girl
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Lena Dunham, Girls
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series, Comedy
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
Louis CK, Louie
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie
Kevin Costner, Hatfields and McCoys
Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock
Woody Harrleson, Game Change
Toby Jones, The Girl
Clive Owen, Hemingway and Gellhorn

Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie
Nicole Kidman, Hemingway and Gellhorn
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story
Sienna Miller, The Girl
Julianne Moore, Game Change
Sigourney Weaver, Political Animals

Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or TV Movie
Hayden Panettiere, Nashville
Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife
Sarah Paulson, Game Change
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family

Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or TV Movie
Max Greenfield, New Girl
Ed Harris, Game Change
Danny Huston, Magic City
Mandy Patinkin, Homeland
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

Best Animated Film
Brave
Frankenweenie
Hotel Transylvania
Rise of the Guardians
Wreck-It Ralph

Best Screenplay for a Motion Picture
Zero Dark Thirty (Mark Boal)
Lincoln (Tony Kushner)
Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell)
Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino)
Argo (Chris Terrio)

Best Score for a Motion Picture
Life of Pi (Mychael Danna)
Argo (Alexandre Desplat)
Anna Karenina (Dario Marianelli)
Cloud Atlas (Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil)
Lincoln (John Williams)

Best Original Song, Motion Picture
"For You" - Act of Valor
"Not Running Anymore" - Stand Up Guys
"Safe & Sound" - The Hunger Games
"Skyfall" - Skyfall
"Suddenly" - Les Miserables

Kiwi Film Review: The Dark Knight Rises

IMDB: 8.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 87%(critics), 92%(audience)
Roger Ebert: 3/4 stars

Stars: Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Morgan Freeman, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine
Directed By: Christopher Nolan
Written By: Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan

Release Date: 20 July 2012
Described by IMDB as: "Despite his tarnished reputation after the events of The Dark Knight, in which he took the rap for Dent's crimes, Batman feels compelled to intervene to assist the city and its police force which is struggling to cope with Bane's plans to destroy the city."

*This review has some SPOILERS*

 I really loved the whole opening scene of this film. I mean, I knew the whole time that Bane(Tom Hardy) was one of the "prisoners", but I don't think Nolan was necessarily trying to hide that, I think you were probably supposed to be aware of that. When the other plane hooks on and it pulls the first plane forward and the wings break off, amazing shot, so cool. I loved at the end of that scene when Bane(Hardy) and his scientist prisoner are hanging onto the rope, and the plane lets go and falls down around them. It looked amazing! Very Nolanesque. He just keeps getting bigger and better stunts. The scale of this film is so much larger then the last two, its really amazing.

I thought the character development in this film was really great in this film. Obviously it helps that there were 3 films to develop them over time, but still, even knew characters I felt were properly developed. I really liked the more vulnerable side of Bruce Wayne/Batman(Christian Bale) in this film, both physically and mentally he's been very beaten down since the last time we saw him, 8 years ago. Our first view of him is seeing him limping with a cane, which he does for the first 1/4 of the movie. When he gets past that you really see him break down when Alfred(Michael Caine) has "the talk" with him. Speaking of Alfred, how great was he in this film? He's not in it as much as the last two, but the scenes he is in are very emotional and powerful. You really get the full impact of his love for Bruce(Bale) in this film.

I've heard a lot of people saying how they didn't like Anne Hathaway, and I have to say that I wasn't completely sure she could handle this role, but I've loved her in other films so I wanted to keep an open mind. I thought she did an amazing job, her first scene when she's upstairs and you see the difference between her acting when Bruce finds her in the room, and her behaviour when he catches her having stolen from him was really fantastic. It definitely solidified her in the rest of the film for me. I'm glad that her first scene was such a great one for portraying her acting abilities because I didn't really think about it after that scene. Another thing I've heard a lot of criticism about is Bane(Hardy). Not so much the acting or the character, but the voice. I can definitely understand it because it is a pretty strange voice and sound but I think it fits the character well. It is a little hard to understand sometimes, but I don't think you really miss anything super important.

I absolutely love both Joseph Gordon Levitt and Gary Oldman in this film. Oldman as Commissioner Gordon is so good. He's an amazing actor in all of his roles, but I think that this character

I don't want to get too much into the storyline because I don't want to give anything away. This film has more story and substance then most movies I've ever seen. Some people have said that they think its too much, but I totally disagree. At no point is this film dull or long, its constantly exciting and I think it was exactly the right length of time. I loved how connected it was to both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight with lots of cameos of characters from the films and a ton of references to both. I'd be really interested in seeing if/how the Joker(Ledger) would've fit into it if Heath Ledger hadn't died before the filming began.

I loved absolutely everything about this film. The acting was outstanding, writing was amazing, and the cinematography is absolutely beautiful. This film is a must-see, but I think that its important to watch the first two films first as this is definitely a well formed trilogy.

I'm giving it a 10/10. I have basically no problems with it at all. I'm a huge Nolan fan and a huge Batman fan so this is right up my ally. I watched it for the 4th time tonight, and it was still wonderful.