There’s been substantial debate amongst my peers and I, as to whether or not Jean Dujardin could actually win the Best Actor Oscar. As we await this years nominations it’s safe to say he’s going to be up against it. If the Golden globes are anything to go by he’s likely to be up against five of the biggest names in the business. Whilst Dujardin should walk the Globes only ‘Comedy Musical category’ when the Academy inevitably make their selection from the Globes’ ten, the Frenchman is going to have to userp one of either Clooney, Pitt, DiCaprio, Gosling or Fassbender in order to make the final five. It’s a tough ask but it made me curious about just how often international performances are recognised by the academy. What follows is the fruits of my diligent labour which I have collated for your statistical pleasure.
Favourite Films
Jean Dujardin: Is History On His Side?
Black Swan
Darren Aronofsky, it has to be said, is something of a masochist. From the mathematicians headaches of Pi, the drug addicts cold turkey despair in Requiem For A Dream, to the self abuse double-bill of The Wrestler and Black Swan, the visualist seems intent on making his characters travel through Satan’s lair in a weaved carry all. Hell for them, perhaps, but cinematic heaven for us.
Action With A Little More…
This weekend sees the release of action spectacular The Expendables. Truth be told it’s a more than adequate, enjoyable, fun, balls to the wall action movie. But nestling in that, rather high praise for Sly and co’s latest, is a derogatory word. Movie. Not film, movie. Action has been, and always will be, placed into the bracket of ‘movie-dom’ by people, well, people like me. Yet there are examples of pulse-racing, sweat producing, explosion-exploding films that have every right to be put on a par with their dramatic counterparts.
Debates of what constitute a ‘film’ rather than a ‘movie’ (basically anything that a pretentious wanker like me can stroke their oversized beard too) and action (over 13% of the running time must feature gunny bits, stabby bits or explodey bits) could run for days but instead let’s just got on with the list that in no way denigrates the awesomeness of Die Hard, Terminator, The Bourne Films, Indy, etc. These are just my pick of action films with a little more…
Inception Review
When your last on-screen effort proves to be the biggest selling Blu Ray to date there are inevitably going to be high levels of expectation for your follow up. Seems then, like a strange time to venture out into the woods alone. Not if you’re Christopher Nolan it isn’t. Despite his new found visionary status, naysayers claim that Nolan’s perceived ‘genius’ tag is misappropriated. Both Memento and The Prestige are adaptations, Insomnia is a remake and Batman, well, it’s Batman. With this in mind it’s reasonable to suggest that Inception is not just a big deal for the baying public. It’s a big deal for Nolan as well. Understandable then that Nolan has been so clandestine about the film’s plot ever since the mouth watering teaser trailer hit the net in August of last year.
Of course Nolan’s involvement goes back much further. It’s widely reported that he first pitched the idea to studio execs when it was just that, an idea. As the narrative suggests, idea’s are simple, realising them is where it gets complicated. Warner Bros approved but Nolan decided to work on the screenplay in his down time. Eight years later and Inception is finally in cinemas.
Toy Story 3 – Review
If I’m honest, finding myself outside the world’s largest I-max the week before the release of Christopher Nolan’s Inception was initially at least, a little infuriating. Unwilling as I was to pass up the opportunity to check out the gargantuan screen I was forced to choose an alternative movie. Thankfully, amidst the abundant I-max underwater/outerspace/junior-documentary content was Pixar’s latest Toy Story 3. Whilst I am a die hard fan of the prolific animation studio I had failed to engage with Toy Story 2 to the same degree as its ground breaking predecessor but the eleven year gap between instalments offered me a degree of assurance that this was more than just the milking of a cash cow.
Top Five (Easter) Egg Scenes
Deciding that compiling a list ‘Top Five Crucifixion Scenes’ could be deemed a little morbid and maybe even distasteful I opted for what I like to call Secret Option B. As such I have compiled a list of less sacrilegious (Easter) egg scenes to celebrate the more chocolaty side of the holiday.
Kick Ass
The cinematic year has become a predictable beast. Follow me for a second. January and February kick off with the remnants of the epics (Titanic/LOTR/Avatar) coupled with the ‘worthier’ choices of the awards ceremonies. Hitting the end of April right through to September is ‘Blockbuster disappointment season’ as we glide from week to week saying, “This looks really good!” before decrying our childhoods collectively raped. October and November sees ‘Indie heaven’ with offerings from Sundance, Cannes and the like finally hitting British shores, before the inevitable epic hoves into view in December again.
So what’s been left out? That’s it, March and April. As history decrees it so it must be true. For the average film-fan all you can do in these months is clutch your cock and wait for the summer. Yet every now and again a film pops along in these months that you can’t label, you can’t easily categorise.
The only thing you can say with any certainty is that this film Kick’s Fucking Ass.
Adam Buxton Talks Film
In what we at ‘thisfilmison’ hope to be a continuing series, we find people that we think are just the bees knees and ask them all about movies and such. Then we copy and paste their answers for you to read. Because we’re nice like that.
Pride and Prejudice
When asked what my favourite movie was, I had a long hard think about what “favourite” means to me. My favourite movie changes on a weekly basis, depending what mood I’m in. But what is that one reliable film, that I can watch over and over again and never get tired of? To be honest there are many more credible and better movies out there, but for me favourite is the one film I put in my DVD player when I’m feeling poorly, had a bad day, just broke up with someone, or just bored. So, it is pretty clear this film has immense powers of cheering me up. Therefore fully deserving of my “favourite” film.
Ok so it’s an adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel and one of the most beloved books of all time. I still have my A’level copy on my book shelf with all the notes written in the margin and fell in love with the story then, however I’m not a big fan of reading unless I have an excess of free time, so the film does the job in 129 minutes and it does it, so so well.
History of the Vampire Film
With the release of Daybreakers and the current Twilight saga in full swing the vampire’s charm seems as enticing as ever for cinema goers, so here’s a not so little history of the evolution of this immortal creatures place in cinema.
From the Ancient Greek bloodsuckers Empusa and Lamia to modern day half human, soulless, zombie hybrids the idea of monsters living by night and sucking our blood seems to be woven into the collective subconscious. But the forms these fiends have taken and the ‘rules’ of their existence and possible demise are as varied as the hundreds of cultures they derive from. From having iron teeth to having the ability to turn into a firefly, any number of supernatural capabilities can be attributed to what we would call vampires. So the next time some smug know-it-all tells you that vampires don’t have a reflection or that they always sleep in a coffin or even that they can’t go out in the day feel free to don your best Stephen Fry manner and politely tell them to go suck themselves.
All that said it is generally accepted that the vampires of popular western fiction are based on the ‘vampirs’ of medieval Serbia and Bulgaria. This is certainly the basis for the two books that did such a huge amount to popularize the genre in the West, John Polidori’s 1819 The Vampyre and the better known Dracula by Bram Stoker from 1897, and it is from these that Hollywood takes its cues. (more…)