A Pleasant Surprise: Avatar

The Internet Movie Database puts Avatar in three genres: action, adventure, and sci-fi. What three genres do I never venture into? You guessed right: action, adventure, and sci-fi. It's because of this that I was so surprised that I enjoyed James Cameron's Avatar as much as I did, and why I think people who normally lean away from fantasy films should give this one a try.

I wasn't one of the lucky kids who got to see this film in the IMAX theater, but it's not necessary. The detail in Cameron's film is so great that the ordinary theater serves it's purpose just fine.

Unlike most films, it's my feeling that Avatar hardly had to rely on the talent of its cast. That's not to say that they were good or bad, but that the 3-D work was that good. Pandora's forest is the stuff dreams are made of—beautiful, pristine, vibrant. If I were one to take hallucinogenics, Pandora is what I hope they would make me see.

See this film, if only for the visuals.

If anyone is thinking ahead: I really want a mountain banshee for my birthday. (Psst, it's June 11.)

Party Time!

Today, my first Oscar Party invite dropped into my Facebook inbox, complete with this wonderfully Photoshopped picture of the hosts:

Clever fella, eh? No worries, you can achieve the same awesome invite in no time, and when you're done Photoshopping, you can really get down to planning your own Oscar shindig with these pointers:

• Make a 60-to-90-minute playlist of easy-to-recognize movie themes to play in the background during the red carpet and after the show.
• Printable ballots are a nonnegotiable. At the end of the night, present the winner with their own Oscar. If you're throwing an adult party, a bottle of wine or a gift card is also appropriate for the winner.
• Encourage your guests to dress for the event—tuxes, long dresses, glitzy jewelry. Truthfully, it seems most of us are usually looking for an occasion to break out our formal attire, if only to prove we still fit in our college spring gala dresses.
• Send the guests home with a small gift bag of movie-centric items: a bag of popcorn, a box of movie theater candy, and 3-D glasses or star-shaped glasses.

Finally, I only wish I could all these pun-heavy Oscar muchies and drinks from Margaret Lyons of Entertainment Weekly: The Fantastic Mr. Lox, The Lovely Scones, Ham Education, Ginvictus, and my personal favorite, The Pabst Station.

I Still Heart Audrey, But Not Coco

Make no mistake about it: Watching a movie with English subtitles takes far more effort than one without. A foreign film turns movie watching from a passive activity, into an active one. With some films, this is a blessing, as their cinematography, acting, and plot deserve even greater attention than usual. On the other hand, and as was the case with Coco Avant Chanel, it makes some movies darn close to unbearable.

Audrey Tautou of Amelie fame did all she could to save this film, but it still wasn't enough. Coco Avant Chanel just couldn't break the cookie-cut mold of a romantic, period film. What's worse is how long it took to even gain that momentum.

The film definitely left me wanting to know more about Gabrielle Coco Chanel, but not in a good way. It was as if the story went right up to the point where I wish it would have started. One RottenTomatoes.com brief review echoes my sentiments about the film's title exactly in suggesting, "Coco Before She Was Interesting".

If you're a fashion junkie looking for your industry fix, I propose you pick up 2009's The September Issue rather than Coco. The inside look at Anna Wintour and the Vogue team is far more enlightening and exciting than this snooze. Even better yet, revisit Tautou as Ms. Amelie Poulain.

Tears & Smiles: One-stop shop with Crazy Heart

God bless movie theaters that are business-savvy enough to continue showing Oscar-nominated movies through award season. Because if it weren't for these cinemas—large, corporate ones and small, quaint ones— I would've missed Crazy Heart.

Crazy Heart is the story of country music legend, Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges), as he travels across the country in his own rusted-out truck to play in shifty venues. Blake battles jealousy, alcoholism, responsibility, and falling in love along the way. As all these stressors come to a head, Bad Blake is forced to reevaluate the dysfunctional life he calls his own.

Jeff Bridges sings six songs in the film, including "Fallin' & Flyin'", the song that first catapulted Bad Blake onto the music scene decades ago.

Bridges is supported by Maggie Gyllenhaal (Jean Craddock) and Colin Farrell (Tommy Sweet). Farrell was highly unbelievable as a country music performer, and though Gyllenhaal did an adequate job, neither had a fighting chance to impress with the job Bridges did.

(An note of Oscar irony: The character George Clooney played in Up in the Air was named Ryan Bingham. The character Tony in Crazy Heart is played by the real-life Ryan Bingham, a bull rider turned singer/song writer. He has two songs on the film's soundtrack, "I Don't Know" and "The Weary Kind" (the movie's theme song).

Trailer:

It's hard to come down, when you're up in the air...

Give George Clooney a black suit and a businessman role, and what do you have? Obviously an Oscar nomination. No big bang or surprise there. Clooney (Ryan Bingham) killed it in Up in the Air in just that outfit and just that role. He's up for Actor in a Leading Role because of it.

What those who have not seen the film may not realize is that Clooney's female co-stars shined as well. Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking, Juno) seamlessly wove Vera Farmiga (Alex Goran) and Anna Kendrick (Natalie Keener) into the narrative, granting them their own time to shine when appropriate, and having Clooney take a step backstage.

Enough cannot be said for the cinematography. From the opening aerial shots, which continue throughout the film, to the clicking and flipping of Clooney's suitcase—I watched in awe.

Many say they saw the ending coming from a mile on this one, and I can't disagree with them. But that said, an obvious ending hasn't ruined a good a story for me since Mother Goose.

A trailer for you:

In other Up in the Air news, the soundtrack is beyond worthy of downloading from iTunes. With tracks from Crosby, Stills & Nash, Elliott Smith, and even Young M.C. ("Bust a Move"), there's a little something for every taste bud.

I'll also plug the Crazy Heart soundtrack to prep you for tomorrow's post. It's a bit steep on the iTunes cost chart at $14.99, but especially if you're a country fan (which I'm not), it's a solid $15 to spend. Jeff Bridges outdoes himself time and time again.

Like Mr. Bingham asks—and it is a question worth asking—how much does your life weigh?

What's Hot in Documentary: Food, Inc.

If you have seen or read Fast Food Nation, or had the pleasure (and I use that term lightly) of watching Morgan Spurlock stuff his face with grease-laden fries and Big Macs for thirty days, it's been made blatantly clear to you that we have quite an issue with what we eat in this nation.

This year, filmmakers Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein dove to the epicenter of the problem with Food, Inc., peeling back the curtain on both the production of meat and of grains and vegetables. The film, nominated for the documentary feature award, implores viewers to believe they get to vote every time they cash out at the supermarket by choosing to buy locally and organically.

Here's the film's trailer:

Some required reading for those of you who are more than interested and on the brink of obsessed with the big food dilemma: The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, one of Food, Inc.'s narrators, is a must read.

Let's Kick It Up a Notch

Open iCal, pull out your BlackBerry: It's February 23rd. Unless you're Dakota Fanning, who turns sixteen today, the date probably doesn't mean much to you. But, to film buffs everywhere, today's date sounds awful close to March 7th: Oscar Night.

I, for one, have been chipping away at a list of twenty-two films for nearly three weeks. And now, with only twelve days until the show, it's time to switch into overdrive.

By doing so, I'll make things easier on you. Over the next couple weeks, I will post reviews of all the Oscar-nominated movies I watch. You can expect feedback about Crazy Heart, The Lovely Bones, Coco Avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel), Up in the Air, and the documentary Food, Inc., as well as many more. Be open and opinionated with your comments. Agree or disagree with me, let's strike up a lively debate. I'm firm believer that the more discussion, the better.

So, who's taking home Best Picture?