Beating the Winter Doldrums with Three Movies

Sorry it's been a while. The last couple weeks have been crazy personally. Plus, the Olympics have started and I love the Olympics almost as much as I love the Oscars. Despite all of this I did find time to see three movies since my last post; two Oscar contenders and one for fun on a date night with my husband. :)

The first movie up was The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. This was the date night with my husband. I thought is was a fun little movie about a man who daydreams so much that he's a bystander in his own life, until he's inspired by a coworker/love interest to go on an adventure to find a lost negative for the final cover of Life magazine. I've always liked Ben Stiller, who pulled double duty as both director and the title character, Walter Mitty. This was a departure from the straight comedies that Stiller is known for directing (Zoolander--which is one of my all time favorite comedies--and Tropic Thunder--also brilliant). Overall, I feel Stiller balanced the drama and the comedy well, minus one bizarre daydream sequence involving "Benjamin Button" disease. Personally, I think Stiller's humor is great and laughed during the scene, but from a critical standpoint I can understand that it was absurdest and may have lost the general audience's connection to the story. One thing I was not expecting from a Ben Stiller movie was that the cinematography was stunning. Oscar nominated cinematographer, Stuart Dryburgh (The Piano, 1993), does a wonderful job, especially in the scenes in Iceland involving a skateboard. My favorite part of the whole movie, though was the awesome soundtrack featuring Jose Gonzales and Junip (one of my favorite bands). 

I hope that someday there will be an Oscar for best soundtrack. Yes, there are already statues handed out for Best Original Song and Best Original Score, but a a soundtrack can make or break a movie. Even though the songs/music may already exist there's a true talent in being able to put the right song to the right scene. If you've seen Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, you'll never hear Stealers Wheel's "Stuck in the Middle with You" without envisioning the ear cutting scene. Or Enya's "Orinoco Flow" has a new meaning when put over a scene in David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. On the less chilling side of things, would the Coen Brothers' O Brother, Where Art Thou? have had the same impact without it's stellar soundtrack? Probably not. Putting together the perfect soundtrack is as much an art form as writing the perfect score. Hopefully, the Academy will eventually see that.

The next movie that I saw was Frozen with a group of friends including someone seeing it for the third time. Frozen is up for two Oscars including Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original Song. I have to say I had an enjoyable time seeing the movie. Disney does have a way of making movies seem magical while you're watching them--and this movie even has magic. Audience reaction to this film has been astounding, thus my friend seeing it a third time. There are sing-along showings already in theatres. As I said I enjoyed the movie, but I don't quite understand this overzealous reaction to it. It was fun, but not the most amazing movie ever. The story is sweet and having two sisters myself, I like that the sisters' love story is as important as the romantic story. However, I'm a little tired of computer animated movies. I miss traditional animation. At this point it will probably win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature but I'm rooting for HayaoMiyazaki's The Wind Rises in that category even though I haven't seen it yet. As far as the music goes, I think Frozen featured fun songs. Not surprising considering the songs were written by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. Lopez already has two Tonys for Avenue Q and The Book of Mormon. I'm hoping he wins Best Original Song for "Let it Go" because then he'd have three of the four awards needed for an EGOT (he also has a Grammy for Book of Mormon). 

Finally, I saw Nebraska by myself. Part of the reason I waited so long to write this post is that I needed more time to process this movie. I loved it and I think that one sign of great art is the ability to elicit an emotional response from someone. This movie effected me emotionally on many levels. It's the story of an elderly man, Woody Grant, convinced that he's won a million dollars and his exasperated son, David Grant, who takes Woody on a road trip to claim the "prize". My grandparents are getting older and both have major health issues. Watching Bruce Dern play Woody Grant was like watching my own grandfather minus the drinking problem that Woody has. Both are Korean War vets that don't talk about the horrors they endured. And both are cantankerous, stubborn and determined, yet you can't help but love them. Nebraska was such an emotionally charged movie for me to watch, I'm glad I saw it alone. I wouldn't have known how to explain to a friend in the moment why I was crying throughout. 

Alexander Payne (nominated for Best Director) is quickly becoming one of my favorite directors. Some people have said that he depicts the people of the mid-west in a not very flattering light in Nebraska. However, I would argue that he just shines a light on how people truly are. I've grown up in the mid-west and while I live in a large city I have family that live in small towns and Payne hits it on the nose. Families worry and argue and about money. People hold grudges and gossip about things from 40 plus years ago. Two years ago I felt that Payne's The Descendants was the Best Picture over The Artist and this year I don't know if Nebraska is the top movie but it's a close second to 12 Years a Slave. 

Nebraska is up for six Academy Awards, all deservedly so, however I think it should have been included in two more categories. Just as I felt with 12 Years a Slave, I think Nebraska had an awesome score that should have been recognized. It was not your traditional John Williams style sweeping score featuring more french horn solos than anyone needs, but had more character and uniqueness. I also think that Will Forte should have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor for portraying David Grant. He gave a great subtle performance that I think was better than Bradley Cooper's flashier performance in American Hustle.

Alright, I've got to get back to watching Olympics and get ready for the BAFTA Awards tonight. I'll be back with my thoughts on the BAFTAs later this week. Until then...