Hipster Phase.

I feel as though I have to warn you. I'm going through a hipster phase. Listening to unknown music, wearing weird clothes, and dropping showers in priority on the to-do list. This will no doubt affect my movie choices. Consider yourself warned.

Holy Rollers
A little known movie with everyone's favorite emotional flatline Jesse Eisenberg and Doug. Wait, I mean Justin Bartha. The plot line is that both of them are Hasidic Jews, who get caught up in a drug smuggling ring. Apparently it is based on a true story (see the story here: http://articles.nydailynews.com/1999-08-01/news/18111101_1_couriers-sean-erez-ecstasy)
and either way it was genius and extremely interesting. Jesse Eisenberg was surprisingly convincing, and it was really interesting to watch a super conservative Jewish reaction to the drug world. Justin Bartha was awesome, and his character progression throughout the movie was stellar. I would definitely recommend it, but wouldn't make it a priority.

Micmacs
This is a French film that came out last year, and I ventured into it without knowing much. There is a sad little boy who's father is killed by an IED, and through a series of unfortunate events he gets shot in the head and survives. He becomes homeless and is taken in by a group of misfits. They launch a plan to get back at the people who created the bullet in his brain and the device that killed his father. The plan that ensues is actually really funny and quirky, you just have to pay attention to the subtitles. The characters are hilarious and original, and very very strange. Micmacs, in french, is like slang for carrying-on and cavorting. Its supposedly derogatory, which makes it even funnier. A very tounge-in-cheek comedy that relies on an understanding of what Europeans think is funny. Its on Cinemax or HBO on demand, which makes it much easier to watch. Do it, if you want to be awesome, hip, cultured, and trendy like me.

Beginners
Big thanks to my friend for Shelbie for going to this with me. It was a Saturday night and very crowded, which could lead to mad awkwardness; only thing was that it was a predominately gay crowd, so we looked like "really good" friends. hah.
Beginners is Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer's new indie flick about McGregor's newly out gay dad, his death, and his failed relationships. It was extremely dry, and rather slow moving. I really didn't like it that much. Other people seemed to really like it, which is awesome for them. I thought the little dog was the best character, which is rather concerning. Plummer did a great job, and I enjoyed his performance. Ewan McGregor was just a bit too angst-y and psychologically defunct for my taste. Just a bit too much dry emotion and tortured souls. And I didn't buy that he was some moody illustrator and managed to pick up a hottie foreign model who managed to have the exact same issues as he did.

The 83rd Annual Academy Awards

First and foremost, it is a sad day indeed that award-season has come to an end. I've been working all year to be up to date and informed for the awards, and I think I did a pretty good job seeing most of the films and making education choices.
I want to say from the get-go that I thought the production of the Oscars was absolutely great. Although James Franco didn't do it for me as a host, I thought Anne Hathaway was great; precious, candid and beautiful, all the things a movie star should be. The Academy did a beautiful job weaving the history of the awards in with the presentation of awards, and the sets and changes were beautiful as well. The montage of memorable music to introduce "Best Original Song" was so amazing for a movie nerd, and then young-hip me really enjoyed the satirical versions of the songs. ("Tiny Ball of Light" anyone? Thank goodness HP7 got some sort of recognition)
The presenters were mediocre at best, and relied heavily on you understanding and knowing them as a person. I was uncomfortable with the presenters on numerous occasions and felt as though they didn't really know what they were doing there (read: j.timberlake and mila kunis' really awkward exchanges and her creepy grasp on his arm).

Now for the important part: AWARDS!
I'm only going to comment on the ones that I saw/was able to make an informed decision.

• Art Direction
• My pick: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part One
• Oscar: Alice in Wonderland

I've never really liked Tim Burton's films, and I didn't see Alice in Wonderland. I'm sure it was great. But it WASN'T Harry Potter; and this was the only award HP7 was nominated for. Whatever Academy.

• Cinematography
• Both Oscar and I chose: Inception.
  

How could you not? It defines what cinematography is and why not everyone can make movies and, why very few people make great movies.

• Best Supporting Actress
• My Pick: Amy Adams
• Oscar: Melissa Leto

I just wanted someone to win for "The Fighter". Although I thought Amy Adams did a better job, and went way outside of her normal character, Melissa Leto also did a stellar job. The acting in The Fighter was phenomenal, and I wanted them to be rewarded for it.

• Animated Short
• My pick: "day and night"
• Oscar: "the lost thing"

The only animated short I saw was "day and night", so that's why I picked it. However, the speech that the creators of "the lost thing" gave totally convinced me. It sounds like a wonderful premise, and I hope that I get to see it.

• Best Animated Picture
• My pick: How to Train Your Dragon
• Oscar: Toy Story 3

Oh whatever Academy; I understand that Toy Story 3 completed an epic trilogy and created a genre and style that has been influential to every animated picture from then on. HOWEVER, I thought the story was rather predictable, and How to Train Your Dragon was such a cute story. I also want one of those little black nugget dragons. They are so cute.

• Original Screenplay
• My pick: The Fighter
  
• Oscar: The King's Speech

This was the point during the show that I knew "The King's Speech" was going to sweep it. The Academy and the public got super involved with the story, and decided it was going to be the love of their lives.

• Adapted Screenplay
• My pick: 127 hours
• Oscar: The Social Network

I obviously wasn't sipping on the social network's kool-aide like everyone else was. I thought it was good, yeah. But not THAT good. Jeez Louise. Later on in this post there will be a violent tirade about the social network. Hold onto your hats.

• Foreign Film
• My pick: Biutiful
• Oscar: In a Better World

I don't even have words for the Academy on this one. I was shocked and appalled that Biutiful didn't win. This "In a Better World" is saved on my Netflix queue, and when it comes out on DVD and arrives in my mailbox I will watch it immediately. If that movie doesn't subsequently melt my face off with awesome artistic expression and meaning and emotion, then I will let you know by an even angrier post. You can read my post about Biutiful lower in the blog, but I will tell you that it goes into the top 5 movies of all time for me. Just watching the clip they showed for Javier Bardem's Best Actor nomination made me start to tear up. It was phenomenal, and I'm completely flabbergasted that it didn't win.

• Best Supporting Actor
• My pick: Christian Bale and the OSCAR pick --> CHRISTIAN BALE

Thank goodness Christian won, especially because it came right after the announcement of foreign film. I was going to have to turn it off right then and there. He did such an amazing job, I'm just confused about the terrifying leprechaun beard he's been sporting lately.

• Original Score
• My Pick: The King's Speech/Inception
• Oscar: The Social Network

I'm sorry, WHAT? The music in The Social Network was absolutely awful. It was just notes, back and forth. A four year old made up that same music on their "my first keyboard" but didn't get a pretty gold man statue. As I said, I wasn't sipping on their kool-aide; that and I thought the music was freaking terrible.

• Live Action Short
• My Pick: The Crush
• Oscar: God of Love

This marks the second time during the program where I was not only offended but insulted. When I saw the shorts, I was embarrassed that "God of Love" was the only submission from the united states, and that it was so terribly cliche and just plain bad. The Crush, Wish 143, and The Confession were all original stories that told a complete story using not so many words, pretty imagery, and an imaginative plot. However, this trash from the US was cliche and dumb and total hipster crap. Also, it came from the Tisch Academy, and I'm still a little bitter that they took Vanessa over Dan Humphrey.

• Documentary

The only one I saw was Banksy's "Exit through the gift shop" which I thought was great and possibly completely made up. However, I'm sure that "Inside Job" was a much better film. Adding it to the list.

• Actor in a Leading Role
• My Pick: Javier Bardem
• Oscar: Colin Firth

I wasn't surprised at all that Colin Firth one, and I definitely think he deserved it. I was just very upset that Javier Bardem and the team that created "Biutiful" didn't get the recognition it deserved. Javier, if you are reading, I think you were fabulous.

• Actress in a Leading Role
• Natalie Portman, Duh.

I don't think this was a surprise or anything for anyone. She was a BAMF in Black Swan, and she was rewarded for it. How it should be.

• Best Picture
• My Pick: The Fighter
• Oscar: The King's Speech

As I said, I knew early on that The King's Speech was going to take it all. I personally was just more affected by The Fighter than I was the other. I know many people found it inspirational and uplifting, and I don't disagree, I just felt more connected to the acting and story in The Fighter.

That's all folks. I would like to thank The Academy for a wonderful evening and reminding me why I love movies and films so much. This officially marks the beginning of my quest to see all the nominated Foreign, Best Picture, Live Action and Animated Shorts, and Documentaries for the 2012 Award Season.

One Please.

• 
  

Dogtooth

I don't even know what to say about "Dogtooth". Nominated for best foreign picture, from Greece, this was one of the weirdest effing movies I've ever seen. It also explains to me why very few foreign films make it in the states, and why the rating system in America works the way it does.

The plot line seemed very interesting: three children are kept completely clueless from the world outside of the twisted compound their parents keep them in. The have been taught different words for the wrong items (asking for the phone and getting a pepper shaker) and have completely warped senses of reality. Other than that, the filmmakers took it to a whole new level with explicit sex scenes both in and outside the family, along with aggressive abusive and the killing of a kitten. I was not only scarred by this one, but rather disappointed. I thought the story wasn't extremely original, but would have been told in a more artful and interesting way than the last time we saw this ( "The Village" with crazy old Joaquin Pheonix) but it was not. I'm concerned what will be on the highlight reel that they show at the Oscars.

Biutiful

I don't even know if words can express how phenomenal this film was. After it finished I sat in silence for about 5 minutes, and for the next 20 minutes I inadvertently would start crying because I was so emotionally overloaded. The story was so innately created, it didn't even seem like a story; there was no doubt in my mind that this was really happening somewhere in Spain.

Javier Bardem was so incredibly good, he dealt with so many different issues-as a viewer I didn't know which part of his life to be most upset about. The story dealt with so many current issues our world is facing: immigration, illegal workers, health care, broken homes, in addition to people living in poverty, but it never felt like a social propaganda based film. There are some films (read: Avatar) that are awesome, but also the social issue undertone is so strong that you almost feel like you have been brainwashed. The directing and acting was just on a completely different level than anything else I've seen this year.

My Oscar picks have changed. THIS is it-Best Picture. If not, then the entire cast and country of Spain have been robbed. Go see it.