Oscar 2012 - Laughter is back

He's back for the 9th time. He yells at the top of his voice in a silent movie, smooches George Clooney, imitates as the baseball coach, hangs out with Justin Bieber, barges into the ladies room, jumps out of Al Burj better than Tom Cruise, renames Kodak Theater as Chapter 11 theater. And you know the magic has begun. That's the talented Billy Crystal for you.

After James Franco and Anne Hathway had dried up the jokes out of Oscars last year, it was a relief to have the dependable Billy Crystal again. The laughter was back. The Academy Award veteran in his signature style breaks into a song and dance routine and then makes you laugh out loud before concluding his opening speech "Nothing takes the sting out of a recession like watching millionaires present each other with gold statues."

Chris Rock, Gwyneth Paltrow, Emma Stone, Robert Downey Jr were a good competition to Billy with their wit and comic timing.

As customary I was awake early to watch svelte chics sway on the Red Carpet in their designer wear. And believe you me its a treat to eyes.






The 84th year of the Academy Awards and many records galore:

Kodak Theater has been renamed as Hollywood and Highland center

The Artist is the first Silent movie to win an Oscar post World War I. The last silent movie to win an oscar was in 1929 called "Wings". As I had predicted earlier, it was a Silent kill with The Artist winning all the major awards, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Film and Best Costumer Design.

 



Meryl Streep was nominated for the 17th time (many actors donot even last 17 movies) and won her 3rd Oscar for The Iron Lady(after losing for 12 times in a row) to join the club with Jack Nicholson,Ingrid Bergman and Walter Brennan. It was the moment to enjoy when she said "When they called my name, I had this feeling I could hear half of America go, 'Oh, no, why her again?' But whatever"

 




It was fun to watch 2 elderly people reunite when the 82 year old  immensely talented Christopher Plummer (of Sound of Music fame), the oldest acting winner for "Beginners", said 

"You are only 2 years older than me darling, where have you been all these years".

Woody Allen won his fourth Oscar after being nominated for a record 23 times.
And it was no surprise when all the Technical awards went to Martin Scorsese's "Hugo"

 
 84th year at the Oscars and as always the best was recognized

Best Picture: 'The Artist.'

Best Actor: Jean Dujardin, 'The Artist.'

Best Actress: Meryl Streep, 'The Iron Lady.'

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, 'Beginners.'

Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, 'The Help.'

Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, 'The Artist.'

Best Foreign Language Film: 'A Separation,' Iran.

Best Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, 'The Descendants.'

Best Original Screenplay: Woody Allen, 'Midnight in Paris.'

Best Animated Feature Film: 'Rango.'

Best Art Direction: 'Hugo.'

Best Cinematography: 'Hugo.'

Best Sound Mixing: 'Hugo.'

Best Sound Editing: 'Hugo.'

Best Original Score: 'The Artist.'

Best Original Song: 'Man or Muppet' from 'The Muppets.'

Best Costume Design: 'The Artist.'

Best Documentary Feature: 'Undefeated.'

Best Documentary Short: 'Saving Face.'

Best Film Editing: 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.'

Best Makeup: 'The Iron Lady.'

Best Animated Short Film: 'The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.'

Best Live Action Short Film: 'The Shore.'

Best Visual Effects: 'Hugo.'

See you next year, same time, same place. Till then have fun at the movies.

BAFTA 2012 - The Artist rules

The 65th British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) was held on 12 February 2012 at the Royal Opera House in London.


It was a clean sweep by "The Artist" team as they turned black and white to gold.

Best Film : The Artist

Best Director : Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)

Best Actor - Male : Jean Dujardin (The Artist)

Best Cinematography : Guillaume Schiffman (The Artist)

Best Original Screenplay : Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)

Best Original Music: Ludovic Bource (The Artist)

Best Costume Design : Mark Bridges (The Artist)

 

Best Actor -Female : Meryl Streep (The  Iron Lady) 

Best Supprting Actor - Male : Christopher Plummer (Beginners)

Best Supprting Actor - Female : Octavia Spencer (The Help)

Best Editing : Senna

Best Animated Film: Rango 

Orange Rising Star Award : Adam Deacon

The Artist - Silence is Golden

‘मौनं सर्वार्थ साधिके’ - Silence has the power to convey all meanings.

Its been proven since ages by Charlie Chaplin in 1940 in "The Great Dictator", Mel Brooks in 1976 in "The Silent Movie", Kamal Hassan in 1987 in "Pushpak" or "Pushpaka Vimana" that Silence is Golden and Old is Gold.

Its a reminder by the extremely talented Jean Dujardin and Michel Hazanavicius that they can sweep away all the awards without uttering a single word. After a clean sweep at the BAFTAs, get ready they might even rule at the Oscars.

After watching the movie, the only thought on my mind was that The Artist is a pure form of movie unblemished by nuances of the current talkie movies. A perfect tribute to the era of black & white and Silent movies.

 

 Jean Dujardin as George Valentin, the dashing and handsome superstar of Silent Movies in 1927 and Bérénice Bejo as Peppy Miller, a dancing extra in silent movies and the future superstar of the Talkie movies grace the screen with great passion and make you laugh, feel angry, cry, fall in love, sulk and then jump  in joy with their delightful expressions.

Michel does magic on the screen with his simple but exquisite narration of a simple lovestory and the ups and downs in the life of a movie superstar backed by the music score by Ludovic Bource. One of the best sequences in the movie is how George and Peppy fall in love during the successive retakes of a dance sequence. Believe you me, its witty, charming and makes you fall in love with the bygone era.

For the Love of movies - The Artist is a real masterpiece. Dont miss it when it hits the theaters

Iron Lady - We Love you Meryl Streep

With great power comes, great responsibility

                                                        - Mr. Ben, Spiderman's Uncle

1975, Aandhi, a great piece of art by Gulzar saab was not allowed to be released as it had similarity to the then Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi. Phyllida Lloyd takes a bold step and has made a movie about the longest serving and the only female Prime Minister of Britain, Margaret Thatcher, and believe you me, the movie has had a full release worldwide and has been well received and will soon release in India too.

The supremely talented Meryl Streep playes a convincing Margaret Thatcher in Iron Lady. The movie revolves around the growth, hate and downfall of the Prime Minister due to her strict and conservative policies. She displays an array of emotions and I cannot think of anyone else who could have played the role to perfection.


I hope the 86 year old Mrs. Margaret Thatcher is not offended by the flawed storyline about her dementia and her hallucination about her late husband Denis Thatcher. Meryl streep with her Oscar nominated role makes up for any flaw in the plot with her splendind performance. At the end of the movie, you would be left wanting to have more from this talented genius.


My vote for 2012 Oscar award for Best Performance in a Leading role - female goes to Meryl Streep.


Donot miss this when it releases in India.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Arti est nullus hostis praeter inscientiam - There is no enemy of Art except ignorance

The genius and the talented David Fincher who gave us the crime thrillers Se7en and Zodiac is back with a remake of a 2009 Swedish movie with the same name "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (based on best selling trilogy by Stieg Larsson).


Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) is hired by Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer of Sound of Music fame) to investigate the disappearance of his grand niece 40 years ago. Mikael takes help of Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) an anti-social, bi-sexual and a brilliant computer hacker to uncover the mystery.

The movie has been shot in some of the most beautiful locales. The complexity and intenstity created by David Fincher in his earlier movies are missing in his latest work. There is little space left for Fincher's magic to work as he has made minimal changes made to the script from the original. Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara do justice to their roles which compensates for the lack of intensity in the plot.


If you enjoy slow crime thrillers, watch out for the release of this movie. The movie loses its thrill as it is releasing in India with major cuts. The movie is also available online for all fans of crime thrillers till the ignorant censor board in India changes its archaic rules to appreciate Art. Also, donot forget to watch the Swedish movie on UTV Worldmovies.

Puss in Boots

"Every dog has his day...but the nights are reserved for the cats"


Every cat person is happy and so is Phoebe Buffay.

Set in Mexico, Puss in boots, his outlaw pal the Humpty Dumpty (the egg) and Kitty the softpaw plan and steal the magic beans from Jack and Jill which leads them to giant castle with golden eggs. 

The adventure deals with the early life of Puss, long before he meets Shrek in the European forests. Antonia Banderas as the brave Puss, Salma Hayek as Kitty and Zach Galfaniakas as Humpty add charm to the beautiful narration.If you have enjoyed the chemistry between Antonia and Salma in "Desparado", you are bound to enjoy this romantic adventure of Puss and Kitty as sparks of romance are rekindled with Antonia Banderas as the Puss in Boots (or as he likes to be called as Pooosh eeen booootsh) and Salma Hayek as Kitty the softpaw. The cat antics, music and the dance sequences will blow your mind.


Time to remind the world that pussy always wins and shall always be the center of attraction. Guaranteed entertainment with the pussy cat. Have fun at the movies

18th Screen Actors Guild Awards - 2012

The biggest and the brightest film and television stars came together for the 18th time to honour the best achievements in film and television for the year 2011 in the 18th Screen Actors Guild Award at the Shrine Exposition Center, Los Angeles.

18th Screen Actors Guild Awards

Cast – Film: The Help

Actor – Film: Jean Dujardin - The Artist


Actress – Film: Viola Davis - The Help

Cast – TV Drama:Boardwalk Empire

Actor – TV Drama: Steve Buscemi- Boardwalk Empire

Actress – TV Drama: Jessica Lange- American Horror Story

Cast – TV Comedy: Modern Family

Actor – TV Comedy: Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock

Actress – TV Comedy: Betty White- Hot in Cleveland    

Life Achievement Award - Mary Tyler Moore

 


  

The Descendants - Beautifully crafted

The story of our lives seen through Alexander Payne's lens.

A drama centered in Hawaii around the lives of Matt King (George Clooney), a workoholic lawyer, his wife Elizabeth King (Patricia Hastie), cheating on her husband and currently in coma in hospital, their drug abusing daugher Alexandra King(Shailene Woodley), and their foul mouthed youngest daughter Scottie (Amara Miller). Matt King has to find a way to manage as a single parent, reconnect with his daughters,find the person with whom his wife was cheating and deal with a high profile land sale which was inherited from their Descendants.

Alexander Payne is brilliant in portraying the dysfunctional family lives. As most audience would relate to the characters, the situations though tragic makes you laugh. Well cast and beautifully shot, the movie strikes a chord with the audience with brilliant performances by the main characters. Shailene Woodley ,Amara Miller and George Clooney complement each other with splendid performances. George Clooney as Matt King, a vulnerable parent, delivers a range of emotions, which could be his most celebrated role of his career.

A well deserved Golden Globe award and a well deserved Oscar nomination, watch the movie and enjoy the splendid performances which touch your lives.

Ides of March - An intelligent piece of work by a genius

"I set you up and then shot you in the back, because my boss does it to me and I did it to you. Its a viscious circle".

                                                                                       - Xander Cage

George Clooney is on a roll and in his 4th directorial venture, he delivers his most commercially successful and critically acclaimed movie,"Ides of March".

Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the campaign manager for the Presidential candidate Mike Morris (George Clooney), and his brilliant junior Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) draft speeches and situations to propel Morris towards the White House. Stephen gets involved with a 20 year old intern, daughter of the Democratic National Committee chairman. All hell breaks loose when Stephen is offered a job from Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti), campaign manager for a rival candidate. The political future doesnot look bright for Stephen when a journalist (Maisa Tomei) threatens to publish about the job offer. 

Stephen has to decide on his principles or make sacrifices to survive. The dark side of the human nature is revealed as each protagonist tries to outsmart the other. With a bundle of twists leading Stephen towards the bargaining card to save his career, I would call it as one of the most intelligent political thriller of the recent times

Clooney and Gosling are terrific and deliver splendid performances as they bring out their dark side covered behind those innocent faces. Clooney as a director delivers an intelligent and gripping thriller with unexpected twists at every corner which will bring the House down. Hope to see more from this genius

If you are looking for a movie about good guys finishing last, this aint for you. Get ready to enjoy your coffee black.