VENICE 2012: "The Master" unveils to resounding positivity

The word's been out on Paul Thomas Anderson's latest for nearly a month now, thanks to some less than covert 70 mm screenings intended to get it seen first in its proper format. This morning saw "The Master"'s more or less official premiere in Venice, which brings the already positive word further to the front of the conversation. In two weeks the film will have its release in New York and Los Angeles before expanding to the rest of us the following Friday, but the encouraging, if somewhat beguiled, reaction to the film makes the short wait a more manageable feat. 

Todd McCarthy (Hollywood Reporter): "In a film overflowing with qualities but also brimming with puzzlements, two things stand out: the extraordinary command of cinematic technique, which alone is nearly enough to keep a connoisseur on the edge of his seat the entire time, and the tremendous portrayals by Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman of two entirely antithetical men, one an unlettered drifter without a clue, the other an intellectual charlatan who claims to have all the answers. They become greatly important to each other and yet, in the end, have an oddly negligible mutual effect. The magesterial style, eerie mood and forbidding central characters echo Anderson's previous film, There Will Be Blood, a kinship furthered by another bold and discordant score by Jonny Greenwood."

Film Review: "The Muppets" (***1/2)

"Don't you remember? We built this city. We built this city on rock and roll!"

I'm probably the last person you'd have predicted a response such as this from, especially given my track record over the past year. With "X-Men: First Class", "Super 8", and "Deathly Hallows: Part 2" coming and going with only gaining dissatisfaction in return, it's definitely been a cynical year for cinema, at least from where I'm sitting. There's the inappropriate expectation that what the audience wants is simple spectacle, rather than excitement. It's hard to remember the last time a mainstream feat managed to raise the hairs on my spine with general thrills, and that absence has not escaped me. It would take a great deal of digging to hit the oil that the Muppets are digging for, to use a hint of intended irony.

The first moments of the film don't really get off to a brilliant start, and it really put me back in the mood I've been in for the past several months. The old-style home video reels phasing into the present day was an early sign that this wasn't gonna be the reunion I wanted, and in a few ways it wasn't. What I wanted was a fantasy, and the further the film progressed, the more those old, authentic Muppet memories came back. The opening was just a rough settling back into this world, and though it's not a sign of the joy and wound you'd feel after the film's first act, we almost needed our hopes to be let down before they could be built back up again, brick by brick.

For Your Anticipation: Fillet of Fish

I've been very silent across the last two days, mostly because I've had so much going on. Spending Thanksgiving with family always manages to divert your attention from other things. One thing it hasn't distracted me from is "The Muppets", which is the first film for me to be truly excited for in quite some time. I'll elaborate on my thoughts later on, but suffice it to say that the film turned my cynicism into absolute joy, against all odds. It's funny, delightful, and it made me cry more than any other film I've seen this year. Take my word and see it with somebody you love!

"The Muppets" Trailer Parody #3 - "Green Lantern"

Having effused about my reluctance to see Green Lantern this weekend, this comes as the most welcome surprise of the day. Completely aware of how repetitive their trailers have become, this is simply a delightful teaser, and it gives us our first look at antagonist Chris Cooper.

"The Muppets" Teaser

Disney is not having a good year, and I think we can expect that to continue on for most of the year. However, one of their most optimistic offerings has to be The Muppets. It has been in the works for a long time, and it is now finally on its way, and this trailer gives us a brief look at what to expect. Take a look below!

Oscar 2010 Predictions: Supporting Actress

Not nearly the most difficult race to predict, but also not a walk in the park. This was really a banner year for supporting female performances, and in fact more so than lead female performances. You can tell by the sheer amount of talent that wasn't nominated here, and yet should have been. Mila Kunis was did a fantastic job with what she was given in Black Swan, but the supporting gal that really stole the show for me was Barbara Hershey as Nina's overbearing mother. It's really one of the most tragic performances of the year, embodying somebody who reluctantly gave up her own career to become a mother, and as such is now realizing how she hasn't prepared her daughter properly for the real world. When she's looking up at Nina at the close of the film, you can see it in her eyes.

I could go on about Rooney Mara's stellar-but-short performance in The Social Network, Marion Cotillard's fascinating, multifaceted, and underrated work in Inception, or Mia Wasikowska's sweet and fragile overlooked performance in The Kids Are All Right, but I pretty much just summed them up in a run-on sentence. If there's any actress nominated here who is undeserving of any recognition, it is Helena Bonham Carter for The King's Speech. Don't get me wrong, because I've loved plenty of her past work, but she's the plainest and most uninteresting of the big three characters in the film. You can tell that from the clothing she wears, and you can tell that from her performance. I much preferred her latest turn as Bellatrix Lestrange in Deathly Hallows: Part 1.

I still haven't seen Animal Kingdom, for which Jacki Weaver is nominated, and I've been putting it off because the only ads for the film have been showing off this creepy and demented image of her. Maybe that's one of the big appeals of it, but I'll have to check it out sometime before this Sunday. Amy Adams is up for her work in The Fighter, which almost immediately appealed to me after I saw it. I gather that that's the way it was for most people, because she had such a trashy-yet-sexy attitude about her that seemed pretty authentic, and most people could imagine a girl like that in their neighborhood.

The big fight is between Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit and Melissa Leo for The Fighter, and I've been pretty one-sided for most of this race. At the end of last year, I absolutely loved Steinfeld's brave and beautiful performance, and I still believe that she's the best actress in contention here. However, as for the person who I believe will win and absolutely deserves to win, I have to go with Melissa Leo for The Fighter. After going back to the film, she's really got that ferocity and expression that almost matches her up with Bale's work. That's not even to mention the work she's done in the past. She's been unrewarded for so long, and that should end on Sunday night. If not, then she'll turn in another bravura performance and we'll be right back here again.

1. Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)
2. Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
3. Amy Adams (The Fighter)
4. Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom)
5. Helena Bonham Carter (The King's Speech)

Will & Should Win: Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
Potential Upset: Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)
Should Have Been Nominated: Barbara Hershey (Black Swan) OR Rooney Mara (The Social Network) OR Marion Cotillard (Inception) OR Mia Wasikowska (The Kids Are All Right)

What's Next?: Best Supporting Actress

The Oscar nominations were announced Tuesday, and they brought the same serving of unusual surprises that we expect from them. I've already gone over what I happy and disappointed about, so that's not what this series is about. This is looking beyond the night of the ceremony and into the horizon at what the actors, actresses, writers, and directors will be doing in the coming months. It's a tad bit difficult, because the actors don't always make plans right away. For the most part, however, they usually have one or two films already down the pike for that year.

Amy Adams, nominated for the role of Charlene in The Fighter, has two films ahead of her this year, but both radically different in approach. One is a supporting role in On the Road, a film about a young man setting out on the roads and railways of America. The film is directed by Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries), and written by Jose Rivera (Letter to Juliet). Without having seen any footage from the film, I doubt that I'll be standing in line to see it. On the other hand, Adams is also starring alongside Jason Segal (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) in the highly-anticipated family film, The Muppets. She's not likely to grab another nomination anytime soon, but she's got a pretty solid post-Oscar plan ahead of her.

Helena Bonham Carter has only one film to look forward to this year, but seeing as it's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, I don't think she'll be too torn up over it. Melissa Leo always keeps a packed schedule of films each year, which could potentially aid in her getting another nomination this year. For one thing, she's got the Kevin Smith horror feature Red State on the way, even if it'll take a hell of a long time to get here. She's appearing in the title role of a mystery project called Francine, and taking a starring role in another mystery project called Seven Days in Utopia from first time director Matt Russell. No word on if there's any relation whatsoever to The Fighter director David O. Russell, but I wouldn't count on it

The other two actresses in the category don't yet have anything on the table in the foreseeable future, although I suspect Hailee Steinfeld should be getting an offer or two once she wins the Academy Award next month. The fifth slot was a competition between Mila Kunis and Jacki Weaver, and the latter was the ultimate victor. Though it's not quite related, Kunis is next slotted to appear in Friends with Benefits, the Black Swan twin of Portman's No Strings Attached. As for Jacki Weaver, we have no idea what she's doing next, but there are some ideas out there.

Images (In Order): Melissa Leo in Red State; Amy Adams in The Muppets

Oscar 2010: Final Nomination Predictions (Part 2: Acting Categories)

Sorry I didn't get this to you guys yesterday, but I had a lot more on my plate than I anticipated. Nonetheless, we have plenty to discuss today in terms of the acting categories, which are often the vital organs of the Academy Awards. The technical awards can be slid over, but the acting races are so closely observed. There's bound to be more than one disappointment in the books. The Supporting Actor category is perhaps the least competitive of the bunch, because everybody knows at this point that Christian Bale is going to take the award for The Fighter. It's almost unnecessary to have anyone else be nominated, and yet those slots still have to be filled.

Geoffrey Rush was the original frontrunner in the category for his work in The King's Speech, but once Bale entered the ring, there was little hope for Rush taking the win, but he should still get a nod. Mark Ruffalo was never anything more than a contender looking for a nomination for his work in The Kids Are All Right, and by that standard he should get it. This is where things get really tricky. Jeremy Renner entered the game later in the year for his work in The Town, and that's really the only outstanding aspect of that film, so he deserves a nod. That leaves only one major slot to fill, and in most ways it's the major battle between Andrew Garfield's work in The Social Network and John Hawkes' bravura performance in Winter's Bone. Personally, I'd go for John Hawkes to win the category in a second, but that's not going to happen. I shudder at the idea of him not taking a nomination at all. As much as I love Garfield's sentimental and appealing work as Eduardo Saverin, he's just outside the arena in this case.

One of the less predictable races, Supporting Actress, the entire race and its outcome depends on who is nominated. Amy Adams and Helena Bonham Carter are pretty solid bets to get nominations for The Fighter and The King's Speech respectively. Melissa Leo is in a major fight to win the award, but could so easily be thwarted by Hailee Steinfeld. It all depends on whether Steinfeld will be nominated in the lead or supporting race for True Grit, because that's still up for debate. If nominated in the supporting race, Leo has some major competition to go up against, a sad statement for such an esteemed actress. If nominated for lead, Leo should take the win, and Steinfeld walks away with some sort of consolation prize for her effort. As for who will round out the category, it's between Jacki Weaver for Animal Kingdom and Mila Kunis for Black Swan. I'd prefer the latter, and that's who I'm going to bet on. Of course, if Steinfeld makes the cut for lead, they could both make it in.

Film Review: The Fighter

I've had a long running tussle with The Fighter, and even now I'm still at war with it. If I were to make predictions for the Oscars based on my views alone, I would not place this one in the nominations. On the other hand, I do not for a second believe this to be a bad film. As a matter of fact, it's a pretty great one. For those who weren't aware, The Fighter is the story of "Irish" Micky Ward, a boxer who has been trained by his brother Dickie for years, and his manager has always been his overbearing and counterproductive mother. Things haven't been going well for him lately, and his family has been holding him back his whole life.

A few things influence Micky in changing his life, including the entrance of hot bar girl Charlene, who really believes in him and just doesn't like his family. Then there's Dickie's descent into drug use, and the negative ramifications it has for the entire family. Micky's reputation is damaged, simply based on the fact that he's his brother. There's a lot of emotions going on, and it's actually inspirational. It's a hardcore underdog film at heart, and that is always something to root for. It felt a lot like Million Dollar Baby in respects to the family aspect of it, but it had a forward momentum it could keep to.

This film doesn't really bring us anything truly new that we haven't seen before. The roads it treads have already been set upon, but the execution of it all is completely original. Towards the end of the film, we go from a rather quiet setting straight to a furious Christian Bale, and it's one of the most aggressive cuts I've ever seen. Talking of which, the acting in this film is absolutely spectacular, with Christian Bale being at the top of his game. During the ending credits, we get a clip of the real Micky and Dickie, and while Mark Wahlberg just did his usual acting style, it's clear that Bale spent a lot of time nailing down Dickie's mannerisms and such. It's just uncanny, and it's the most Oscar worthy performance from a supporting actor this year.

The other members of the cast range from fine to phenomenal. Like I said, Mark Wahlberg isn't anything new, but I could still stand him being onscreen. Melissa Leo does a great job as the mother who wants to control everything in Micky's life, but ultimately cares more about her other children. Amy Adams is stunning, because she's still a white trash sort of girl, and she's got a bit of a tummy on her, but she's a sexy bitch with a heart of gold. Sure it's been done before, but what in this film hasn't? The real life Mickey O'Keefe plays himself in this film, which adds a whole lot of credibility to the enterprise, and he obviously does a great job of it. He lived it. He knows better than anyone how it felt. This film could've been rather pedestrian, but thanks to the powerful supporting cast, The Fighter turns out to be an inspirational film with some proper grit tacked onto it. It's not a truly great film, but it's a good one.

B+

For Your Anticipation: He's A Junkbag

I have made no illusions about my uneasiness when it comes to accepting The Fighter as a true Oscar contender. I never had a problem accepting Christian Bale, Amy Adams, or Melissa Leo as acting contenders, but as far as the film itself, I've never been easy enough to please. I still have massive problems with Mark Wahlberg and his acting style, but these clips give me the sort of impression that he's basically going to be played as a gullible sort of idiot who's living in a dream world, rather than an inspirational sort of figure. I doubt he'll ever get any real Oscar contention, but that's kind of the point. This will be a showcase of the supporting acting talent, and they definitely make me uncertain about who I'm siding with in this fight.