February 22: 3 Sleeps to go
Goodness me. It’s time to switch on some Oscar-nominated music and type! TYPE LIKE YOU’VE NEVER TYPED BEFORE!
The conversations I’ve come across about the original song nominations, three of which contain songs from Enchanted, all seem to go nuts for the song “Falling Slowly” from Once, so I’ve checked it out, and it’s lovely—mellow, sweet, at times aching—also it sounds like it’s being sung by Cat Stevens. This may make or break your interest in this song.
What else can I report on? I saw Eastern Promises this week, despite my lukewarm reaction to A History of Violence (same director), and it wasn’t half bad, actually. Quite involving. Benefits include the return of Armin Mueller-Stahl, who looks exactly like he did in The Power of One, and a lovely bit from Jerzy Skolimowski as Naomi Watt’s uncle. But anyone who’s seen this movie is going talk about one scene, and one scene only, with a faint air of reverence and eyes bugged in awe: “The Bath House Scene”. I’ll solve the mystery. It’s a fight. A pretty violent and well-choreographed one. In a bath house. Also Viggo’s in the nuddy the whole time.
Kind of an eye-opener.
ANYWAY. Let’s look at this film’s chances—only one nomination for:
Best Actor—Viggo Mortensen
It’s well-deserved, actually, and kind of a long time coming, ‘cause he’s awesome. This performance is (…pause as I search for a word that can’t be used as a double entendre…) both natural and tightly-wound. He does “eerily calm” really well, and the nuances in his facial expressions are fantastic. I don’t really think he’s got much of a chance of taking out Daniel Day-Lewis or Johnny Depp, but for now that’s ok, and I’m happy with him being “Oscar Nominee Viggo Mortensen” for the time being.
Heh. Which reminds me of a speech a couple of years ago…
“…It's the funny thing about winning an Academy Award, it will always be synonymous with your name from here on in. It will be ‘Oscar winner, George Clooney…Sexiest Man Alive, 1997…Batman…died today in a freak accident…’”
And with all this talk of Eastern Promises, today’s BEANIE is going to be a bit surprising, but the BEANIE for
Best Fight
goes to…
Simon-Pegg-and-Nick-Frost-firing-two-guns-while-jumping-in-the-air-and-going-‘arg’, from Hot Fuzz
Yeah, Viggo is nekkid, and yeah, Rocky’s a hundred and eleven, but it’s nothing compared to this. At various times during the film, Nick Frost, whose character has seen way too many cop films, asks Simon Pegg’s seasoned cop the following:
“Have you ever fired a gun whilst jumping through the air?”
“Have you ever fired two guns whilst jumping through the air?”
“Have you ever fired your gun up in the air and gone ‘arg’?”
The answers are all “no”, but what follows is all of the above, and the most marvelous piece of filmmaking. EVER. It’s a damn good ride, culminating in a fight sequence between the above and the citizens of a tiny English town, for which you just know the writers were sitting around the table going “ok, ok—you know what else would be awesome?” Octogenarians and shot-guns, that’s the ticket.
This film is a parody of every cop movie ever made, and the inclusion of 007 Timothy Dalton, along with some of Britain’s most venerable actors, is a lovely touch. What makes it hysterical, apart from the fact that the script is BRILLIANT, is the absolute seriousness with which everyone plays it. There’s every British comic actor under the sun, and a cameo each by Peter Jackson and Cate Blanchett. Guns! Knives! Blood! A giant monkey! What more could you want?
If you haven’t seen this film, I’ll hunt you down and make you watch it. I’m talking clockwork orange here. Except not really, because I find that totally creepy. But as for Hot Fuzz, see it!
[about Point Break] “Well, I wouldn't argue that it wasn't a no holds barred, adrenaline fueled thrill ride. But, there is no way you can perpetrate that amount of carnage and mayhem and not incur a considerable amount of paperwork.”
—Simon Pegg—Hot Fuzz—
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