My Razzies and Oscars

There are many movie awards and ceremonies, but the most famous one is the Oscar. That's the power of marketing, not actually the quality of the show or even the fareness of the winners.

The goal of these ceremonies is to award the best in the business, but there is one award I also enjoy, the Razzie. The Razzies' ceremony is always held the day before the Oscars and its goal is to award... the worst in the movie industry! :)

As a movie fan, I'll present you my awards for the movies I've seen during 2010. My favourites and the ones I didn't enjoy. ;-)
I've watched all the movies on the big screen, so they all had the same exhibition conditions ;-)
Some movies are from 2009, but they were released in France during 2010.

The Best

Best Actor
Viggo Mortensen, "The Road"

Best Actress
Isabelle Fuhrman, "Orphan". She can be only a child, but it's impressive the role she has as the evil Esther

Best Comedy
"Kick Ass". A very good surprise for a comic book adaptation. Politically incorrect but totally fun.
Special mention: "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World". Another comic book adaptation which besides being funny, has a different approach to the genre

Best Drama
"The Ghost Writter". Good directing by Roman Polanski. Very Hitchcockian.
Special mention: "Shutter Island".

Best Thriller
"Buried". A simple story with a breathtaking suspense.

Best Action
"Inception". A twisted story, mind breaking and well directed.
Special mention: "Sherlock Holmes". A new and fresh version from the classic detective story.

Best Horror
"Orphan". A special horror movie about a special serial killer, masterfully interpreted by a very young actress.
Special mention: "The Wolfman". Great cinematography, which captures the style from the old good horror movies.

Best Animation
"The Princess and the Frog". A good example of how it's still possible to make a good hand drawn animation movie, with a good story and songs.


The Worst

They were so uninteresting, that I won't split by category. ;-)

"Nine" - a bad excuse for a musical
"Alice in Wonderland" - my disappointment of 2010. Was it really a Tim Burton movie?
"Clash of Titans" - a very bad remake, Hollywood style.
"The A-Team" - an insult to the TV show
"Twilight: Eclipse" - bad fast-food for teenagers
"Expendables" - too many action heroes but no action at all
"Grown Ups" - bad comedy with actors thinking they are being funny

Special mention: all movies in 3D were bad. I boycotted all 3D movies. This "new" technology is being used excessively, it doesn't bring anything new neither improves the final result.
Watch "Avatar" in 3D and in 2D... then make your choice! ;-)

Let's see who will be the real "winners" next weekend, in the Razzies and the Oscar nights

Live from the red carpet

The most popular movie festival in France is in Cannes, of course. Besides movies, people can enjoy sun and sea.

But there is another movie festival, on the other side of France, which is not that different. Only its size.

Recently I decided to visit Deauville, one nice and small coast city in north of France. Very popular during summer but also during its famous American Film Festival.
As you can imagine, at this festival you only have american productions, from movies to TV shows.

I had the opportunity to discover some premieres like "Waking Sleeping Beauty" (a documentary about Disney), "Charlie St. Cloud" (a cheesy movie for teenagers) and "Buried" (one of the best thrillers in recent years). More details in my Tweeter ;-)


The movie festival at Cannes is very elitist, not very open to the public audience. Deauville festival is the opposite, they try to catch general public attention by selling 1-day or 1-week passes. Still, some movies are invitation only.

It was a weekend of sun, wind (a very windy region) and movies. There were other highlights, but I leave that for another post. :-P

My twin sister's visit

Recently I had this surprise visit from my twin sister. She lives very far away and she came here to present her latest movie ;-)

In case you don't know, I'm talking about Angelina Jolie, of course. She was in Paris to present "Salt" and I was lucky enough to see her.
We can't neglect family, right? ;-)

My movie reviews are now in Twitter mode, but in case you want to know "Salt" is a good action movie, with a twisting plot until the very end. I recommend you to watch it. Although the ending could be smarter.

One thing I've noticed: my sister is very very thin, almost anorexic! I think I should be cooking for her, with more pepper and less salt! eheh So she could be in "Tomb Raider" shape! Go, go Lara Croft! ;-)

I really would like to be the next Spielberg or Scorsese, but no, I'm not having directing classes ;-)

This was one of my several April Fools pranks I usually like to make! eheh Yes, it's stronger than me! But don't feel bad, many others felt.... but for different pranks! eheh

At work I spread the news that I was leaving, due to budget reasons. Most of my fellow workers were surprised but at the same time it was... plausible! eheh Luckly I warned everyone at the end of the day, because they were already collecting money for an office pool!! eheheh Can you imagine? My prank was being already lucrative! eheh

But then they got their revenge: they managed to put a sticker on my back with a fish on it. It's what french call "poisson d'Avril". If you want more info on this read my special report! eheh

Then, accordingly to my circle of friends, I had other pranks: canceling a meeting due to a flood in the kitchen, inviting people for lunch or saying I watched the Indiana Jones 3D movie ;-)
It was a very funny day! eheheh

Well, back to real life (well, it's fun too) and time to prepare the Easter Sunday lunch ;-)

A special thanks to those who fell for my pranks! :-)

A future director

I like to watch movies, I like to review them, I enjoy the small details from each movie and to see great performances.
It's easy to criticize, to say it could be better and blah blah blah. What's the best way to help? Instead of talking about, I will do my own movies.

I decided to join an amateur film school, wishing I could be the next Oscar winner! eheh It will take some time until I step behind the camera. For the moment I have to learn everything from scratch: storyboards, sets, framing, light, sound and editing.

I think I should have started as an actor, before trying directing... but I couldn't wait that long! eheh

So now, 3 times per week, after work, I join my new group of movie fans who want to discover cinema from the other point of view. And that doesn't mean in 3D! eheh

The long Oscar night

Once again I kept my tradition: watch the Oscar ceremony live, sleep 2 hours and then go to work! eheh
After recovering from that "very difficult" experience, I'm back to post my last thoughts regarding the awards.

Some of my previous expectations were kept, but I believe there were a couple of surprises.

Avatar - a disappointment because it didn't get all the technical awards. And it didn't deserve the award Best Picture.

Inglorious Basterds - you have to watch the movie and enjoy the Nazi official played by Christoph Waltz.

The Princess and The Frog - it didn't get any Oscar but it was the BEST animation movie of the year. Period. Traditional handdrawn animation, with great jazz (!) songs and a very funny story.
"Up" is more of the same: computers, 3D and Pixar!

Sandra Bullock - for me it was the biggest surprise. I haven't watched the movie yet, but to get the Oscar for her first nomination is really a feature! Specially after winning the Razzie award for Worst Actress for the movie "All About Steve"! eheh

Nine - I watched this movie just before the Oscars and I regret it. It's a bad musical movie! Too many songs and no story! A waste of a great casting! Watching the movie is like watching the Broadway show: a camera filming a stage! "Moulin Rouge" is still the number one musical movie! Because we can can can

The ceremony was good, nothing extraordinary, without any special moments. The hosts Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin were great. I hope they stay for next year.
Once again Ben Stiller managed to surprise and present himself... differently. ;-)

Well, now is time to watch more movies and to make a diet plan after a long night of coffee and junk food! eheh

Orphan

What a good thriller-horror movie! Really! The first good horror film I've watched in 2010 is one of the best movies of 2009! Unfortunately this movie only opened in France late last year... but it was worth the wait.

At the beginning you may think "Orphan" turns around this little girl, who gets adopted and as soon she arrives at the new home... bad things happen. True. There's nothing new around the story... but, something caught by surprise: the actress who plays the main role! I was amazed how this 10 year old kid (at the time of filming) looked, behaved and talked like a killer! :-O Plus, this "little" american actress had to pretend this russian accent!

I may sound like her agent, but I'm not. Besides this amazing performace, the film is very well paced, great suspense and a twister at the end. An original twist regarding the killer's reasons...
During the movie, I was enjoying the acting so much that I was on the killer side! eheheh Like we all do with "Dexter". :-P

I've seen some good horror movies in 2009 like Drag Me to Hell, Paranormal Activity or even the amusing Final Destination 4 - 3D. "Orphan" will be at the top.

I totally recommend this movie, but no need to watch on the big screen. Just watch it.

We still don't know this year's Oscar nominations... but the best killer-actress is definitely Isabelle Fuhrman! Amazing!

Avatar 3D

This is the real deal for 3D movies! What an experience! Ok, maybe the plot itself is nothing extraordinary, plus the love story. But the movie is worth for the cinematic experience.

The director James Cameron spent years to develop the right technology to direct his "dream" movie, not so much for the 3D but to create his avatars, or virtual actors, in order get them the most perfect as possible.
The first time you see a Na'vi (the people from Pandora planet) you may say "No, you can see it's computer generated". It's true. But as the movie develops you start to notice the small details and the facial expressions. Even if it wasn't perfect all the time, from a moment on I was really convinced that there was a "person" inside the Na'vis.

The world of Pandora is beautifully represented, with amazing landscapes and a very rich fauna and flora.
One problem regarding the 3D, it's colour quality. During the movie I removed my 3D glasses and I saw a significant difference regarding colours and contrast. I plan to watch the 2D version, because I believe the glasses remove part of the Pandora richness.

Regarding the story itself, it's a normal love story (where the guy pretends/fakes to be someone else to infiltrate but then falls in love) and where the hero change sides in order to defend his beliefs. Then, some parts of the plots/characters could have been better, like the typical speech to the "troops" before the battle (yes, in a "Braveheart" kind of way).

I totally recommend "Avatar" in 3D, but at least you should watch this movie on a big BIG screen! You won't notice the 3 hours length :-P

A Christmas Carol 3D

Christmas is already here, so it means the movies for this season have already arrived. Usually I avoid this kind of cliché movies, but this year there was an interesting candidate.

I believe last time I went to a theater for a Christmas movie it was for "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"... with Jim Carrey too, yes.
What pulled me to watch "A Christmas Carol" was the technical side, because there's a big improvement from movies like "The Polar Express" or "Beowulf".

The story we all already know: old man, named Scrooge, who hates Christmas, is visited by 3 ghosts and at the end he changes completely overnight... literaly! :-)

The quality of the computer animated characters is very good and we can see all Scrooge's details.
But I was disappointed with the 3D. Honestly this movie could really skip the 3D version because it doesn't bring anything special.

One problem with 3D movies is... the subtitles! Subtitles are rendered in first plan, giving you the idea the movie is playing behind! So it makes very very hard to focus and very hard to notice the movie in full 3D, because you keep focusing at different distances (not to mention the headaches!).

Let's see what "Avatar" has to show... I'm really waiting to be astonished! ;-)

Paranormal Activity

The ultimate horror movie? Well, these days marketing is the best tool to get clients... and audiences (like Microsoft does with Windows!).

I had a strong curiosity to watch this movie: horror movie, home made, unknown actors, a strong online buzz... and it was based on true events. Well... it had "Blair Witch Project" written all over it!

I enjoyed the movie. It stays 95% away from the Hollywood clichés... still, the ending is not the original one. Accordingly to the rumors, director Steven Spielberg suggested to change the ending but to keep the rest of the movie intact. I suppose the original one wasn't a seller.

Is also interesting to watch at the movie theater just to see how people react to the best scenes. Here you don't have music to create suspense, neither a shaky camera running all the time... so the final result can be very thrilling.
The story is told in a slow pace, so we can better know the characters and their beliefs. Every night, when the camera records every minute, is when the anxiety tends to rise. Everyone wonders what's going to happen, in a very natural way without the typical Hollywood tricks.

What didn't I like? Well, the movie trailer shows some of the best scenes and almost shows the end of the movie! I wasn't surprised some of the time "thanks" to the trailer! :-P
And I was also "sad" to see the ending was changed by request! So the concept of amateur/home made movie is lost somewhere.

The original movie trailer show an audience completely scared (read: marketing), but the problem is that audience didn't know what movie they were about to watch. For sure it was more scary for them than for everyone else.

Either way, it's a good movie to watch with popcorns and some scared friends. It was the first time I've witnessed a FULL audience screaming! (no, not me... thanks to the movie trailer! *sigh*). But you still find those who laugh... just to decompress ;-)

The Blair Witch Project is still my favourite one! ;-)

Happy nightmares...

Capitalism: A Love Story

After the gun industry, the 9/11 attacks and the healthcare system, the director Michael "Provocative" Moore is back. This time the "victim" is... the capitalism and he takes the subject very personal.

After watching this movie I realized the EUA can be the land of the dreams and the land of the worst nightmares at the same time.
Of course this financial "crisis" problem isn't anything new and we all know the global impacts. The curious thing about this movie is to unfortunatelly see how people are taken care of. On the other hand it makes you guess where the world is heading.

Michael Moore tries to show us the downside of the financial "crisis" (yes, there's a upside but that's for the bloodsucking CEOs).
Do people really need all that money? Like if they're going to live forever to enjoy those stupid fortunes!
How can governments let be played like puppets?

I recommend you this movie, because it's painfully entertaining and you will watch some curious images, like President Ronald Reagan getting orders from Merrill Lynch's CEO at the time!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTcL6Xc_eMM. No comments!

Power to the people! :-)

[REC] 2

The spanish directors Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza bring the sequel to their first "[REC]" movie, and prepare for more shacky camera horror... and action.

"[REC] 2" is beyond the sequel concept, because the storyline happens some minutes (hours?) after the end of the first movie. This time there's a special operations team and a doctor who enter the building to find out more what's going on.

I prefered the first movie (although it wasn't all original) because the story was well paced, good acting and with a nice end (yes, it reminded me "The Blair Witch Project" ending).
The second movie disappointed me a little bit. The directors put too much attention on the gore part, more action and some lack of ideas on how to... scare. The characters don't convince much either. But there are some nice surprises too...

The movie opens in France in December, but I managed to go to the premiere in the presence of the directors. If you saw the first movie, maybe you could watch the sequel... but I think you can pass...



ps: this week opens the long waited "Paranormal Activity"... real chills are waiting ;-)

New Moon (but same old story)

I'm still punishing myself for watching this movie! :-P I know my movie pass allows me to watch any movie at any time... but there should be some warnings at the ticket office, like the ones you already know: you can't use your mobile or camera during the movie, no animals allowed, movie not suitable for kids, you can't take off your shoes, and stuff like that :-P

This time, there should be a big red alert sign, with a flashing light and sound, like when there's an emergency on a nuclear power plant: "Alert! Alert! This movie is too girlish for you to watch!"

I watched "New Moon" for the same reason I watched the first Harry Potter movie: it was based on a series of books everyone was talking about. Potter books were supposed to be for kids and the movies were/are catchy, but there's still a child touch that can please almost everyone.

"New Moon" is a little bit different because it has written "girls only" in almost every scene and dialogue line. I think it surpasses "Sex and The City" movie (yes, I say think because I didn't watch this one! eheheh).

Vampires are pale on the face only (the rest of the body no - a movie goof) and werewolfs... well, they are shirtless all the time.

But I had some fun with this movie. How? Well, it was funny to watch the audience (read: girls) reaction everytime characters held hands, almost kissed... it was general screaming! :-P

The very best was the movie finale, not because it ended, but because the climax was so... so... cheap soap opera! :-P

Well... I have to watch a movie to compensate this one. I'm waiting for "Paranormal Activity" to feel the audience screaming for real! ;-)

Great entertainment with "2012"

In case you don't know, according to the Mayas, the end of the world is expected to be on December 21st 2012... but Hollywood couldn't wait that long to make the movie.

After all kinds of disaster movies with volcanos, tornados, tsunamis, earthquakes and snow storms, now we have the ultimate disaster movie, a cocktail of disasters, served with a roller coaster of special effects.

I enjoyed this movie. Of course it's another popcorn movie, but this is one appealing. I was very curious about the end of this movie, because the world is supposed to be "the end of the end".

After the latest doomsday movies like "Knowing" (with Nicolas Cage) and "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (with Keanu Reaves), I must vote for John Cusack in "2012". Not that his performance is that great, but the movie is really entertaining.

After destroying the planet (or the USA) with "The Day After Tomorrow", "Godzilla" or "Independence Day", director Roland Emmerich delivers the ultimate destruction movie. What can he destroy after "2012"? The galaxy? :-P

Even the special effects are great. The teams behind this extravaganza scored really high. A good example how you can still have a great action movie without using this new 3D trend! ;-)

I recommend you to watch this one on the big screen, with or without popcorns. It's almost a 3h movie but it's worth it. This movie serves what it promises: great entertainment! ;-)

A good movie for a Friday 13th like today! eheheh

Get ready for the end!

Cooking with "Julie & Julia"

There are movies like "Sideways" that makes you want to taste wine (taste has more class than drink like crazy), other movies like "Fast and Furious" that makes you want drive like crazy, "Shall We Dance" makes you want.... ok, ok ... you got the picture.

With "Julie & Julia" you may leave the cinema with the wild desire of ... cooking! Yes, it's crazy but it's true (how many times did I write the word "crazy"? eheh).
I've seen this movie recently and I must say that I was positively surprised.
This movie is based, not on one, but on two real stories in two different times... which are connected somehow.
One story tells us about Julia Child (Meryl Streep), one american woman who moves to Paris in 1948 following her husband (who works at the Ambassy). To pass the time and boredom she decides to take cooking lessons at the famous Cordon Bleu School and she ends, after some years, to write a famous cooking book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking".
The other story, in the present day, turns around Julie Powell (Amy Adams), another american woman who has a sad and boring job and decides to cook through Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" - all 524 recipes in 365 days! And she creates a blog to tell all about her experiences and frustrations.
It seems a simple movie, but the final result is very good. Both actresses are great, but Meryl Streep steals the show! She plays her caracter like no one. If you were surprised with "Mamma Mia!", then you will enjoy to see Meryl Streep in another great role!

So basically you follow the Julia's cooking lessons in Paris in the past and Julie's cooking experiences in the present day. Cooking and more cooking... from simple recipes to an exquisite lobster ;-)
I like to cook as some of you may know, and after watching the movie I wanted to try some of those recipes ;-)
That reminds me of posting here some of mine cooking experiences ;-)

Yes, and there are movies like "Indiana Jones" that makes me want to be a real adventurer! ;-)

3D is here!

Movies and the 3D have a relationship for a long time. This new 3 dimensions trend is nothing new... what's new is the great experience you now enjoy.

These last few months we've seen many 3D movies being released and most of them were computer animated movies like "Bolt", "Monsters vs Aliens", "Ice Age 3", "Up!" or "Coraline" (this one used the stop-motion technique). The experience lived with these movies were let say... cute, funny and amusing. Nothing extraordinary.
Do you know that show at Disney Parks "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience"? Well, it's a good 3D show, but they use more than just images to tease you. But I like this show.
The animated movies are just nice in 3D, where the most common effect is the depth of field.

But then, when it comes for life-action movies .... oh boy, it's insane! Forget about your fluffy dogs, the cute squirrel or the "dangerous" monsters.
If you want to see what 3D can do for movies check these two: "My Bloody Valentine 3D" and "Final Destination 4: Death Trip".
Nevermind the scripts because you've already seen these type of movies before: a group of teenagers trying to survive a serial killer or to escape death.

What I really enjoyed is how you really live these movies: objects being thrown at you, explosions so close to us, being ran over by a car... it gives you the chills and thrills. They aren't movies for kids! ;-)

One of the drawbacks of a 3D movie is that you have always to pay the 3D glasses. Basically you don't buy them, you pay to use them during the movie and at the end we must give them back. So, for a movie ticket which is already expensive you still have to pay extra for the glasses. Plus, they give us a small cleaning tissue in order to clean the glasses from the previous user!
Another problem are the headaches, because not everyone is capable of watching a whole movie in 3D.

More movies will come with a special 3D version, but some of them I'll skip. But I believe this time 3D has come for good! :-)

9

Nowadays, when we talk about animated movies we always end talking about Pixar.This time I share with you my experience with "9", an animated movie that impressioned me. And no confusion with the other movie "District 9" (coming soon...)

Produced by Tim Burton, "9" is a computer animated movie set in an post-apocalyptic world... but darker than "Wall-E". Here you don't have humans, neither robots, neither animals... but rag dolls who don't have names, but numbers!

9 is the hero of this movie, and it's up to him to encourage his friends to destroy the machines, the ones responsables for the human extermination.
Besides the excellent animation quality, I was impressed with the camera angles and action sequences, because they're typical on action movies.

The cast is also impressive with the voices of Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau and Jennifer Connelly. Not bad at all.

The Harry Potter premiere

Today was the french premiere for the latest Harry Potter movie. Nothing better to wake up very early on a Sunday morning just to go watch a movie... in a theather crowded with kids and teenagers dressed up as Hogwart students! eheh

Although I'm not a fan of the books, I use the movies to follow the story and characters. And this movie is one of the darkest from the series.
I enjoyed "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" and it's not a movie for kids anymore. Well, there's more romance on this one, even if some scenes are too much for a teenagers movie (yes, i've been told some scenes were spicier compared to the book).

The movie is long, but very well paced, mixing story and action, good cinematography. After 6 movies you are already attached to the main characters... even if they're grown teenagers already (compared to the kids from the first movie).

There's one last book to be adapted and this one will be split into two movies. Some say the last book is so big and important that's impossible to do one single movie, others say, well... there aren't anymore books, so let's stretch as much as possible! eheh

The world of magic is over for the moment... more to come with "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" part 1 in 2010 and part 2 in 2011!
Really... Harry will be too old to play with his wand!! eheheh

Drag Me to Hell

Thank you Sam Raimi! No, I wasn't dragged to hell, even if sometimes the Paris subway feels like that! eheheh
I've watched the latest Sam Raimi's horror movie "Drag Me to Hell", and I must say I really really enjoyed an old school horror movie. Unfortunatelly nowadays an horror movie means one of two things: you have a serial killer who kills a group of teenagers one by one, or you have a a pshycho who loves to torture people.
Before "Spider-Man" Sam Raimi was known for horror movies like "Army of Darkness" and "Evil Dead". A mix of humor and horror... very 80's. At the time he had written the script for "Drag Me to Hell", but he only managed to produced and direct it 20 years later. And you can see the difference from your typical Hollywood horror movie. Even the Universal Studios logo shown at the beginning of the credits, is the same one from the 80's! :-D

I loved the plot, the surprises, the suspense, the humor and the... unexpected ending. I left the movie theatre pleased with the experience... and nowadays I don't find too many movies which have a positive impact on me.

Take a look at this movie... and let yourself be dragged to a new "old" experience ;-)

Star Hollywood Trek

It's getting harder and harder to keep this blog more... updated! :) Sometimes I think about micro-blogging like Twitter... but the problem is I write too much! eheh

Anyway, I've started my summer blockbuster movie tour with the latest movie from JJ Abrams "Star Trek".
Honestly I was expecting more. I know the first reviews are very positive, most of the fans are happy with this new version... but I believe this is a typical Hollywood reboot of an old franchise.
You take a young cast, rock music, lots of action.... some popcorns, et voilá! Even the bad guys weren't bad enough to convince me! eheh

It's interesting to see how they tell the Star Trek origins, how do they get all together... still everything goes too fast. Let's put this differently: several kids finish university in different field in engineering, maths, etc... and they are asked to control a nuclear power plant which is about to "explode". But, hey, it's cinema... anything goes! eheheh

I enjoyed the story as a whole, the opening sequence, the effects, some shaky-cam action sequences (others look like coming from a Power Rangers episode), the "real" Leonard "Spock" Nimoy... but it's a movie targeting the new generations of moviegoers! :)

After "Mission Impossible III", "Cloverfield" or even some "Lost" episodes, I was expecting that "something else" à la JJ Abrams ;)
I was waiting to go "where no man has gone before"... maybe for the sequel! eheh

I recommend you to watch this on a big screen, as a summer blockbuster movie with popcorns.

Beam me up, Scotty!