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| Friday, November 21, 2008 | |||
| Oscar
Watch 2006: The Departed, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, United 93, Flushed Away, Happy Feet, The Prestige By Désirée I. Guzzetta Martin Scorsese is at his best helming this absorbing, entertaining film based on the Hong Kong hit, Infernal Affairs. Scorsese transplants the action to Boston; the story concerns two cops, undercover agent Billy Costigan (a mesmerizing Leonardo DiCaprio) and the ambitiously crooked Colin Sullivan (an equally good Matt Damon), and their involvement with Frank Costello (the always-fabulous Jack Nicholson), a frighteningly violent Irish mob boss. The ensuing cat-and-mouse action between Costigan and Sullivan is nerve-wrackingly intense, a near-breathless enterprise that is never less than riveting. Everything in The Departed is Oscar-caliber, including the direction, the lead performances, the supporting performances—including a resurgent Alec Baldwin and (dare I say it?) Mark Wahlberg—and the script by William Monahan. If this film doesn’t take home a cartload of Oscars, it will be a crime. Director:
Martin Scorsese BORAT:
CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
(2006)
Director:
Larry Charles UNITED
93 (2006)
Written & Directed
by: Paul Greengrass FLUSHED
AWAY (2006)
Happy Feet is one of the most baffling animated movies I've seen. Though it definitely deserves Oscar consideration for its amazing animation (just looking at all the ice made me feel like Chilly Willy), its ham-fisted moralizing and freakish-looking lead penguin, Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood), aren’t conducive to a pleasurable viewing experience for adults. Kids, however, will love this tale of a misfit penguin who is ostracized from his flock because he can’t sing (who knew penguins sang?). He can, however, hoof it like Fred Astaire (or rather, Savion Glover, who provided the dancing model for Mumble), and the “Be yourself” theme will appeal to the wee ones. It’s not all dreary; Robin Williams lights up the screen as the little penguin, Ramon, a boastful Latin lover who hangs out with his Amigos. When he’s off-screen, everything bogs down. Admittedly, I had more fun trying to figure out why the little Adelie penguins were Latino, the Emperors (like Mumble) white, and the Rockhopper (also voiced by Williams) black. Not only do penguins sing and worship the Big Penguin in the Sky, but they are broken down by racial and class lines. Plus Hugh Jackman's Memphis is criminally underdeveloped. I'd rather director George Miller re-make Mad Max than do another film like Happy Feet. Director:
Directed by George Miller. THE
PRESTIGE (2006)
Désirée adds: As excellent at it is, The Prestige may get lost in the Oscar shuffle, buried as it was by the major studios' usual last-minute rush to release their own “prestige” films in time to qualify for Oscar consideration. If so, it will be unfortunate, as director Christopher Nolan’s latest is a twisty, involving piece of filmmaking about two magicians (Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman) whose obsessive feuding causes one of them to lose sight of his own humanity. If it were to get nominated, it should be up for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay (Nolan and his brother, Jonathan), Best Actor (Jackman and/or Bale, who previously worked with Nolan on the fabulous comic book origin pic, Batman Begins), and Best Supporting Actor (Michael Caine and possibly David Bowie). Even without an Oscar bump, the film is worth seeking out and eventually buying on DVD (I’ll be holding out for the deluxe edition, a la my copy of Nolan’s Memento).
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2002-08 Brenda Cowan & Désirée Guzzetta/Two Lazy CriticsTM.
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THE
DEPARTED (2006)
Jagshemash!
Absolutely the funniest film in decades, Borat expands on the
character created by Sacha Baron Cohen for his HBO cult hit, “Da
Ali G Show.” Here, Borat comes to New York to make his “moviefilm,”
only to fall in love with Pamela Anderson and head west to make her his
bride. He meets and interviews many people along the way, some of whom
redefine the term “Ugly American.” The satire is pointed,
the jokes hilarious, and Baron Cohen masterful in eliciting the voice
of the basest parts of the American psyche, all because the people he
meets mistake him for a naïve foreigner and therefore feel free to
be as open as if they were alone with their (occasionally wretched) thoughts.
Baron Cohen never breaks character; he’s one of the most daring
comedians around, and Borat is chokingly funny for it. Comedies
are usually bypassed by Oscar voters, but hopefully, they’ll give
Borat some nominations—assuming they stop laughing long
enough to mark their ballots.
A
gripping, harrowing film, United 93 would be a standout picture
even if its material was entirely fictional. Unfortunately, it’s
not. Director Paul Greengrass handles the fate of the passengers on Flight
93 with sensitivity, but that doesn’t mean he shies away from letting
the audience feel the unimaginable terror of the passengers, or that he
doesn’t administer an occasional punch to the gut, all made more
real by his use of the cinéma vérité style, a largely
unknown cast, and some of the real people who desperately tried to cope
with the confusion of the attacks on 9/11/01. Special mention should go
to Christian Clemenson, who gives a brilliant, Oscar-worthy performance
as Thomas E. Burnett, Jr., one of the ill-fated plane’s passengers.
United 93 should get nominated for direction and writing, but
hopefully, the Oscar voters won’t forget how good the acting is
in it.
Despite
getting virtually ignored at the box office, Flushed Away should
garner a nomination for Best Animation, if not for its entertaining story,
then at least for its wonderfully wrought look. Rats do tend to be a hard
sell, after all, even cute ones voiced by Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet.
Flushed Away is from Aardman Features, the fine chaps who brought
forth Wallace and Gromit to the world; though Aardman’s gone for
CGI instead of clay, the characters retain the Aardman look and charm.
Jackman’s Roddy is a solitary, pampered pet who gets flushed down
the toilet into the new world of the sewer, where he meets the feisty
Rita and realizes he’s actually a lonely guy. Ian McKellen (as the
evil Toad) and a few singing slugs are thrown in for good measure. Though
not as sweet as the Wallace and Gromit shorts and recent feature film,
Flushed Away makes for enjoyable family entertainment.
HAPPY
FEET (2006)
(Read
Brenda's full review 