In which I'm slightly bitter and mostly twisted

Captain's log: 15 February
Last movie watched: P.S. I Love You
Song currently stuck in head: Galway Girl, from the above.


Ever had one of those evenings when you feel like the opening credits of Bridget Jones' Diary? You know, the mental equivalent of listening to sad pop music and rocking back and forth in your pajamas while quaffing (hi bethini!) glass after glass of wine? No? Me neither. But that's why you shouldn't send job applications off without proofreading and then watch P.S. I Love You. Live and learn.

I don't honestly know why I hated this film so much in the day, and suspect I need to re-watch it, but that would mean three hours in the desert. Literally. Yes, it's Sandfest '96, the late Anthony Minghella's Tribute to Sand, 1996's The English Patient. What's it about? Sand, mostly. Also about Kirsten Scott Thomas falling in love with Ralph Fiennes, and this all being told to Juliette Binoche by a very crispy burns victim. I know, harsh, but see the above paragraph for the mood I'm in right now. Binoche won an Oscar for her Supporting Actress work, and I lost 3 hours of my life. I really need to see this again.

We're going to take a break at this point to talk about the awards given to Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress. I know I've said a couple of the other awards are my favourite categories, but I really mean it this time. I always think the supporting actor categories have more tension and possibility for upset in them. Little people can get through with these awards, and I kind of like that aspect. This year, of course, Heath Ledger is ALL BUT a lock to take out the Supp. Actor Oscar. I'm not saying he's a lock because there's ALWAYS the possibility that it'll go to someone else. I'll be discussing an example later on, but for now let's just look at Daniel Day Lewis, the year he (and his yellow trousers) were nominated for Gangs of New York. He won just about every award there was in the lead up, but come Oscar-time and BOOM! They put him in the wrong category and Adrien Brody swoops in and wins (justifiably) for The Pianist. So while I think it's likely Mr Ledger will win, I'm not betting the house on it.

Next! A movie that started off being everyone's favourite, and now is loudly criticised, it's 1997's Titanic. Just as big as Ben-Hur, it won 11 Academy Awards. And you know what? I loved it. Its script is admittedly one whose dialogue could have used some substantial work, and the song, which seems to garner the most hatred, had some shocking lyrics but was otherwise quite beautiful. And the rest? Very impressive. It's massive, and touching and downright heartbreaking towards the end. I defy anyone to say they didn't at least tear up. It's one of those movies I am happy to enjoy, without picking at its flaws. So ner. I maintain that anyone who can make a 3 hour film about the world's most famous ship sinking suspenseful is doing rather well.

The next year Spielberg was back with Saving Private Ryan, but it was the witty-yet-Paltrow-hampered Shakespeare In Love that walked away with 1998's Oscar. Tom Stoppard is at his lovely best writing a clever and often hilarious take on what might possibly maybe could have happened when young William Shakespeare sat down to write Romeo and Juliet. It makes no claims to historical accuracy, and indeed barely anything is known about Shakespeare, so these filmmakers can pretty much go hell bent for leather. It was the first comedy to win Best Picture since Annie Hall, which is a sad state of affairs. There's a lot of fun to be had watching this, even if it's just for the little bits and pieces of Shakespeare they've thrown in. And when all else fails, Geoffrey Rush is awesome. And Judi Dench, who won her Oscar (though we all know it was really for the previous year's Her Majesty Mrs Brown) for 8 minutes on screen, has one of the best lines:

"I know something of a woman in a man's profession. Yes by God I do know about that."

In addition to this, Ms Dench apparently had to wear such high heels (one supposes to keep the dress off the ground) that the director nicknamed her "Tudor Spice". Best. Nickname. Ever.


And as the last Best Picture Winner of the 20th century, we come to 1999's American Beauty, Sam Mendes' love letter to the despair and emptiness of the American dream. It says on the net that Robert Altman apparently "hated" this movie. Which is kind of harsh. What's most impressive is that this was Sam Mendes' first film directing job EVER. He was a theatre director, made a movie, won an Oscar. Pfft! Nothin' to it! So it's about a family, mostly a man, who finds himself in the ruttiest rut that ever rutted. Its his (often odd, occasionally perverted) attempts to dig himself out and into the life he actually wants. It's not my favourite film, but I wouldn't agree with Altman either. I'm certainly an admirer of the artistry that went into making it. What else can I tell you about it? Apparently there was an Hungarian film made called Hungarian Beauty, which was, shot for shot, a copy of American Beauty. This was evidently fine with everyone, and won a major Hungarian film award. Wish I knew this was ok. Think I'll go out and shoot The Departed in my backyard.

I'm out! Time for more sad music.

Brad: "Got a minute?"
Lester: "For you, Brad, I've got five!"
--- Barry Del Sherman, Kevin Spacey - American Beauty ---

In which I go all gooey over Scottish films

Captain's Log: 13 February
Last movie watched: Doubt (Um. Ummm. All I'll say is if you want to make it ambiguous as to whether a character has committed sexual assault, you might want to pay more attention to casting. Or maybe that was what they were going for.)
Song currently in head: Every Day and Every Night, or whatever it's really called, by Bob Marley.

The Writers Guild of America awards were announced in the last few days, which is exceptionally convenient, seeing as today's oblog is brought to you by the awards for Original Screenplay and Adapted Screenplay. There doesn't seem to be any outright winner so far, although the WGA winners were Milk (original) and Slumdog Millionaire (adapted). I still like WALL*E for original screenplay, because I'm intrigued by screenplays that depict action with little dialogue. Not to say I don't like the dialogue. Because I'm also intrigued by In Bruges' dialogue (still have to see this one). I'd say Slumdog has the best chance for adapted screenplay, and that's just fine with me. But the rest is up for grabs, which makes it kind of exciting.

I've been reading about this category, and apparently there was this massive kerfuffle when Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (or should that be Kenneth Branagh's William Shakespeare's Hamlet?) was nominated for Adapted Screenplay, because some thought all he had done was put William Shakespeare's words on screen. Well I am here to side with Roger Ebert in defending this, because it's much more than that. It's visual, character depiction, timing -- there's a whole essay to be written on the topic of whether or not Ophelia was present during the "To Be or Not To Be" speech. And come ON, have you seen that scene? It's gorgeous.

Ahem.

Sooo. Films of the 1990s. I did well here too - I only have to see Unforgiven to complete the decade! We'll start, in the words of Julie Andrews, at the very beginning.

1990's Dances With Wolves is not only long, it's the last time Kevin Costner was taken seriously. Too harsh? Probably. He wasn't half bad in Mr Brooks. Ok, back to the point. This was Costner's masterpiece, about a Civil War lieutenant (question: why does this word get pronounced "left-tenant"? Why?) who travels to a remote military post and befriends the Native Americans. And then...whoa! Crazy officers, scalping, awesome nicknames, gorgeous-as-all-get-out animals, and then DEATH! DEATH! DEATH! And not of people! Talk about disturbing. There's apparently a sequal being planned, with Viggo Mortensen rumoured to take on the role of Dunbar. The soundtrack was also reportedly Pope John Paul 2nd's favourite piece of music. Talk about your recommendations.

He didn't say it, but I suspect that 1991's The Silence of the Lambs was the Pope's favourite movie. Probably. The last movie so far to win the Big Five Oscars, and Anthony Hopkins' performance is the shortest ever to win a Leading Actor Oscar (at just over 16 minutes on screen). It's also awesome. My favourite bit of trivia surrounding this film is to do with how Hopkins fashioned the voice of LEcter, apparently based on Truman Capote and (this is the good bit) Katharine Hepburn. Dunn!! I bet she'd be pleased. Probably.

Wait! Wait! I've just found a piece of trivia to match it:

The first moth cocoon found in one of the victim's throats was made from a combination of "Tootsie-Rolls" and gummy bears, so that if she swallowed it, it would be edible.

Man, somebody missed a marketing strategy just begging to be used.


Next! The last film shot in black and white (ok, and a tiny bit of red) to win Best Picture, it's Schindler's List, 1993. Feels a long time ago now. And there's very little that's funny that I can relate about this one. Unless it's the fact that I gave a speech once about how Steven Spielberg doesn't use sex scenes in his films (as a rule) and SOMEONE piped up that there's a sex scene in Schindler's List. Thanks ever so much. So what's it about? Oskar Schindler, to be brief, who risked his fortune and life to save the lives of Jews during the Holocaust by giving them employment. It was Spielberg's first directing Oscar, and it was absolutely right that he did win. He took no salary, and reportedly often found shooting days overwhelming. Also, it turns out Robin Williams used to call him up each day to cheer him up. Aw.

1994's Forrest Gump coined many a phrase, none more annoyingly-utilised than "Run, Forrest! Run!" And who among us hasn't used it? I visited the Bubba Gump Shrimp Corp. in New York, which is a restaurant, in case you were wondering, and they had signs on the tables saying either "Run, Forrest! Run!" or "Stop, Forrest! Stop!", depending on whether you wanted the waiter's attention or not. Anyway, back to the film. Apparently there are a lot of people who thought it was rubbish. I never heard any of that at the time. There's a lot of guff on the web about whether it's "pop propaganda" or "very sweet", but I don't see why it can't just be simpler than that. It's a good film. I liked it a lot. And Tom Hanks was amazing in it. Yes, it knocked The Shawshank Redemption out of the Oscars, but that's just how things go. This film was also the basis for my love for Gary Sinise, and his scene on the hospital floor is just about as good as you're ever going to see. There's one piece of trivia that says a studio (*cough*warnerbros*cough*) gave up the rights to this film because they thought the premise had already been exhausted in Rain Man. I hate studios for this reason.

Last but by no means least, it's 1995's Braveheart, and while just about all of it is different to what actually happened (and "Braveheart" itself is a reference to Robert the Bruce, not William Wallace), I still love it, for the music, the spectacle, the scenery and the major theme, which never fails to make me well up, being that of a brave fight for freedom against mountainous odds. For those of you who don't know (honestly), it's the story of William Wallace, a Scotsman who led the Scottish people in a war against the British, which was at the time attempting to clear Scotland of the Scots, and to keep it under the cruel thumb of King Edward 1 of England (by many accounts a great King for England, but a crappy King for Scotland). It's about the individual's right to freedom, to the basic human rights of life, love and justice, and the strength it takes to stand up to oppression, when bending is the easiest thing to do. A bit of trivia I've probably mentioned before, because I love it, is that Edward 1 demanded that his body, once deceased, be taken to Stirling castle and buried as a claim to the land as his own. His son, Edward 2 (the sequal) obeyed in as much as he took his father's bones most of the way, but somewhere near the border they were lost forever. I should probably note that this was told to me by a Scotsman, who while lovely and part of my favourite people in the world, has been known to tell a porky or two.

There's also controversy about a particular statue that has been erected at the base of the hill which holds the original Wallace monument (7 feet tall, just like the man himself). This second statue is of Mel Gibson as Wallace, and has the word "Freedom" inscribed at its base. It has not been popular and, well, you can see why. However, I will say this. It was commissioned by a man who was in hospital with what was thought to be a terminal illness, and he says that the film and its message of hope and strength is what got him through, and so he had the statue made to commemorate this. So I salute the sentiment, if not the actual statue.

Ok folks, I think that's about all I've got for tonight. Go see a movie.

Toodles!

"In the Year of our Lord 1314, patriots of Scotland - starving and outnumbered - charged the fields of Bannockburn. They fought like warrior poets; they fought like Scotsmen, and won their freedom."
YEAH!
--- Angus Macfadyen, Braveheart ---