Posts tagged Academy awards
“Amour” Is Difficult, but Thought-Provoking
Feb 10th
“Difficult, but Thought-Provoking”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
Amour means “love,” “affection,” or “passion” in French, and although the film has dialogue in French with English subtitles and it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Feature, it was not submitted by France, but rather by Austria.
The reason is that the director, Michael Haneke, is Austrian, not French, and so one could say that not everything is at it seems with this film, which goes for the simple story itself.
The film was also nominated for four other Academy Awards, Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, and Actress, and in 2012 it won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival, which suggests that this is a well-respected, classy film.
But not everything is as it seems.
For example, you might believe you already know how it ends from reading about it and especially from seeing the opening scene.
But there is much more to it than that an old woman dies.
The woman is Anne, she has a stroke at the beginning of the film, and when she returns home, she says to her husband, Georges, “Promise me one thing. Never take me back to the hospital.”
She is partially paralyzed on the right side of her body, and as Georges begins to care for her at home and as Anne’s condition becomes worse, keeping that promise becomes more and more difficult.
The action occurs almost entirely inside their apartment in Paris, and although other characters come and go, the events consist mostly of Georges’s problems taking care of Anne as her physical condition gets worse.
It sounds boring, doesn’t it, especially since you believe you already know how it is going to end.
But not everything is as it seems.
For example, there are a couple of scenes that end with a planned shock to the audience, and one you might not have seen coming. There are also a couple of scenes that have to have been either fantasizing by one of the characters or the result of the director and screenwriter playing with the audience.
However, after the film is over, you realize that thinking about these scenes adds depth and meaning to the film.
In other words, keep remembering that not everything is as it seems with this award-winning film.
Amour is difficult to watch, but also very thought-provoking.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“The Ides of March” Shows Dirty Politics
Oct 13th
Official Website
Movie Trailer
“Excellent Portrayal of Dirty Politics”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
The Ides of March is one of the best movies of the year, but one of the most difficult to enjoy, one of the most rewarding, but also one of the most frustrating, and one that should be seen by everyone who follows politics, but is also a handbook for what not to do in politics.
And expect to hear its name often at the Academy Awards ceremony in 2012.
Now, about the title. To the person who wrote “WTF the title? It doesn’t even take place in March,” I say, “Google it, Dude.” It is a famous expression from a famous play by a very famous author.
George Clooney produced, co-wrote, and directed the movie. He also stars as Gov. Mike Morris, who is campaigning for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.
The action takes place in Ohio, where the Democratic primary election is coming up, and we are told, “As goes Ohio, so goes the nation.”
Ryan Gosling plays Stephen Myers, Gov. Morris’s press secretary; Philip Seymour Hoffman plays his campaign manager; Paul Giamatti plays the campaign manager for the Democratic rival running against Gov. Morris; Evan Rachel Wood plays an intern working for Gov. Morris’s campaign; and Marisa Tomei plays a reporter for The New York Times.
Stephen is very good at his job and is told that all the reporters love him, even the ones who hate him. However, when the rival’s campaign manager arranges a secret meeting with Stephen, tells him that Stephen is working for the wrong man, and offers to hire Stephen to come work for him, a chain of events are set in motion that will change Stephen’s idealistic views of Gov. Morris.
And then when Stephen learns a secret about Gov. Morris that could damage his campaign severely and perhaps even ruin the governor, Stephen has to battle his own idealistic views, because he can use that information either to further his own career or to damage the governor’s reputation.
We are told that loyalty is the only thing valued in politics and the only thing that can be counted on. We are also told that if you stay in the political business long enough, you become jaded and bitter.
The Ides of March can do the same and is an excellent portrayal of dirty politics.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“Contagion” Deadly Entertainment
Sep 19th
“Deadly Entertainment”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
Contagion is a terrific movie that will probably scare the pants off you and make you wash your hands more often.
Directed by Steven Soderbergh, it stars a number of famous actors, some who have won Academy Awards and a few who will surprise you when they get sick and die.
Yes, the movie is about a virus that mutates, transfers from animals to humans, and then is spread around the world by casual contact, causing people to cough and then to die within days.
And it can happen all too easily today.
The movie tracks the progress of the spread starting from Day 2, which will be explained at the end of the movie, and when someone asks Gwyneth Paltrow’s character, “You okay?” when she starts coughing, and she answers, “Yeah, I’m just jet lagged,” you know that isn’t the reason and that she will infect more people, which will spread to more cities and more continents.
We watch the spread from day to day, see people who are affected as well as who are infected, and see how various organizations react and try to stop the spread and find a cure for the virus.
Matt Damon plays Gwyneth’s husband, and luckily he is immune from the virus.
Laurence Fishburne plays the doctor in charge of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.
Jude Law plays an investigative blogger in San Francisco who realizes that there is a pandemic before the other media do and is very suspicious of what the government is doing or not doing.
Marion Cotillard plays a doctor for the World Health Organization who is sent to Hong Kong to try to find where and how it all started.
Kate Winslet plays a doctor working at the CDC who is sent to Minneapolis to investigate the sudden death of Gwyneth Paltrow’s character.
And Elliott Gould plays a scientist in San Francisco who breaks government protocol while trying to isolate the virus.
So, if you are germaphobic to begin with, you might want to wait to see this movie in the comfort, safety, and cleanliness of your own home, but do see it, because we all might need to use the information contained in it.
And stay to the end to see what happened on Day 1.
Contagion is deadly entertainment.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
