The Artist Review

Justin, Dad and I saw The Artist today on December 31, 2011. What an excellent movie!!! I loved it because it was something different and the acting was incredible!! The storyline was great in its own right basically highlighting the transition from silent film to the "talkies." This movie literally was shot as a silent movie, and I couldn't believe how amazing the finished product came out. George Valentin is a big shot movie star in Hollywood circa 1927 right around the time where the transition was about to be made. He was played by Jean Dujardin and I am going on the record right now and saying I am 100% in favor of him picking up the Golden Globe and the Oscar. He is the most deserving candidate. As much as I'd love to see Leonardo DiCaprio get it, Dujardin gave one of the best performances I've ever seen. He was on top of the world highlighted in newspapers and the women loved him. He has a signature mustache and he resorts to action and physical comedy in his movies to entertain the audience. The theater is packed at his movies. The audience applauds and loves him. He always has a smile on his face. After walking out of one of his premieres he stumbles into a beautiful girl in the crowd named Peppy Miller, who was played by Berenice Bejo, yet somebody else I am in favor of winning a Globe and an Oscar, as she did very well in her role as well. George is looking for dancers for his next picture and Peppy gets a part as a dancer. During the production of the picture, Al Zimmer the manager of the movie studio that George is a part of is planning for the future telling George that the silent film era is ending and the talkies are the future. George laughs at him and thinks this fad will never take off. Peppy is attracted to George and vice versa, and you really couldn't blame him when his wife ignores him and doesn't respect him at all. He gives Peppy a drawn on mole as a signature. He tells her you need something that sets you apart. All of a sudden, we watch as the talkies and Peppy's career skyrocket while George and his silent films barely have half a theater. He resorts to alcohol and refuses to get involved with the talkies. We watch as he basically hits rock bottom. One of my favorite scenes is when he talks to a shadow of himself on the projection screen saying he's a loser and nobody cares about you. He destroys his films, but grasps onto one as his career burns down around him. Peppy is trying to revive George's career by encouraging Al to put him in the movie with her or she walks. Really awesome stuff!! Peppy is a great female character: strong, confident, and insightful. She feels that if you can combine the stars from the two eras into one picture it will be amazing. George is at the end of his rope and is about to take drastic measures, but she arrives in the nick of time and helps him to realize that people still love George Valentin. The ending shows us that George agrees to this. Peppy never forgot who got her the big break and I loved how she kept trying to pick him up and help him out. I really enjoyed this movie and feel it is definitely one of the best films in a long time. This movie deserves to win Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Actress at the Golden Globes and The Oscars. I like alot of the nominees, but I am 100% in favor of this winning the awards as I feel its the most deserving movie on the ballot and Jean Dujardin was phenomenal as I said. This earned a 5/5 for all the hard work put into it and the amazing acting fueling an amazing story!!!

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Review

Justin and I just got back from seeing The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo on December 21, 2011. This was an excellent movie that pretty much followed the book of the same name quite accurately. David Fincher put together a pretty incedible film with an excellent cast, and some intense scenes. Daniel Craig plays Mikael Blomkvist, who is a publisher for the Swedish political magazine Millenium. He had been sued for libel after failing to prove allegations against Hans-Erik Wennerstrom. He was sentenced to three months in prison. As a writer, he is selected by Henrik Vanger, the CEO of the Vanger Corporation (played by Christopher Plummer) to write the life story of the family. There are five generations of the Vanger family and they all share different characteristics. Since Blomkvist's main goal is to take down Wennerstrom as he knows he is guilty, Henrik actually offers him monetary compensation and the hard evidence he needs to write this book. Mikael takes it. Let me just say that Daniel Craig is a complete badass. I can't begin to tell you how intense some of his scenes get, but he takes it as only he can. I feel like he has written in his contracts I must have the crap kicked out of me. Henrik believes that his great niece Harriest was murdered by a member of the family, so this basically becomes a criminal investigation. Automatically, I am invested in the story as there are all different types of obstacles that will emerge thus explaining my Daniel Craig feels no pain philsophy. We are introduced to Lisbeth Salander, played wonderfully by Rooney Mara. I can't say enough about how much I loved her in this role and wish she was being nominated for a Golden Globe at least. Lisbeth works for security companies and is really intelligent at getting information and how to track people. She is such an amazing character. As most people know, I love strong female characters. She is a ward of the state since she was considered incompetent as a child and was awarded guardians. Her first guardian ends up suffering a stroke. However, her second guardian ends up being one of the lowest forms of life somebody can be. There are some sexually explicit scenes that result as Nils (the name of the guardian) has his way with her. I was yelling at the screen for the coward he was. However, she does get him back and the other people in the theater including myself were loving every second of it. Some of the punishments she places on him are just great. She really drives the point home "Don't screw with me!!" Lisbeth Salander rules!!! She eventually is tracked down by Mikael to help him "find a killer of women" as they are attempting to track down a serial killer within the Vanger family. Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig had such amazing on screen chemistry. The characters trust each other (which is something that Lisbeth really needs in her life and I liked seeing that) They study photographs from certain events as well as study family trees. Stellan Skarsgaard was really good in his role as Martin Vanger. He had great chemistry with Daniel Craig, as well. Joely Richardson being a major part of this movie was awesome for me as I loved her as Julia McNamara in my all time favorite show Nip/Tuck, and she did a great job in her role as Anita here. She actually has a really important part in this movie, however, I will not spoil it. I also have not written alot about Martin as I don't want to ruin some key plot points. They filled their parts very well. The case does get solved, and then Lisbeth helps Mikhael with his other goal as she uses disguises to deal with the illegal activities of Wennerstrom. As I said, I thought the movie was excellent and Justin really liked it as well. I really loved Rooney Mara in this movie, and thought she really made the character of Lisbeth Salander her own. I give this a definite 5/5. I've really been enjoying the movies I've seen lately. I just love all the mystery involved and the interesting characters interacting on the screen.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.. No its not that Christmas is coming up.. Hardly! Its Golden Globe Nominee time!!

Below are my choices. Italics are my personal choice, bold are the ones I think will win.  After the my selections, you’ll find the movies I think got screwed by the Hollywood Foreign Press.

—    Picture, Drama:

o   “The Descendants,”

o   ’The Help,” ‘

o   ’Hugo,” ‘

o   ’The Ides of March,”

o   ’Moneyball,”

o   ‘’War Horse.”

—    Picture, Musical or Comedy:

o   “50/50,”

o   ‘’The Artist,” ‘

o   ’Bridesmaids,” ‘

o   ’Midnight in Paris,”

o   ‘’My Week with Marilyn.”

—    Actor, Drama:

o   George Clooney, “The Descendants”

o   Leonard DiCaprio, “J. Edgar”

o   Michael Fassbender, “Shame”

o   Ryan Gosling, “The Ides of March”

o   Brad Pitt, “Moneyball.”

—    Actress, Drama:

o    Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs”

o   Viola Davis, “The Help”

o   Rooney Mara, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”

o   Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”;

o   Tilda Swinton, “We Need to Talk About Kevin.”

—    Director:

o   Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”

o   George Clooney, “The Ides of March”

o   Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”

o   Alexander Payne, “The Descendants”

o   Martin Scorsese, “Hugo.”

—    Actor, Musical or Comedy:

o   Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”

o   Brendan Gleeson, “The Guard”

o   Joseph Gordon-Levitt, “50/50”

o   Ryan Gosling, “Crazy, Stupid, Love”

o   Owen Wilson, “Midnight in Paris.”

—    Actress, Musical or Comedy:

o   Jodie Foster, “Carnage”

o   Charlize Theron, “Young Adult”

o   Kristen Wiig, “Bridesmaids”

o   Michelle Williams, “My Week with Marilyn”

o   Kate Winslet, “Carnage.”

—    Supporting Actor:

o   Kenneth Branagh, “My Week with Marilyn”

o   Albert Brooks, “Drive”

o   Jonah Hill, “Moneyball”

o   Viggo Mortensen, “A Dangerous Method”

o   Christopher Plummer, “Beginners.”

—    Supporting Actress: 

• Berenice Bejo, “The Artist”

o   Jessica Chastain, “The Help”

o   Janet McTeer, “Albert Nobbs”

o   Octavia Spencer, “The Help”

o   Shailene Woodley, “The Descendants.”

—    Foreign Language:

o   “The Flowers of War,” ‘

o   ’In the Land of Blood and Honey,” ‘

o   ’The Kid with a Bike,” ‘

o   ’A Separation,”

o   ‘’The Skin I Live In.”

—    Animated Film:

o   “The Adventures of Tintin,”

o   ‘’Arthur Christmas,”

o   ‘’Cars 2,” ‘

o   ’Puss in Boots,” ‘

o   ’Rango.”

—    Screenplay:

o   Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”;

o   George Clooney, Grand Heslov,

Beau Willimon, “The Ides of March”

o   Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”

o   Alexander Payne, Nat Faxwon, Jim Rash, “The Descendants”

o   Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, “Moneyball.”

—    Original Score:

o   Ludovic Bource, “The Artist”

o   Abel Korzeniowski, “W.E.”;

o   Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”;

o   Howard Shore, “Hugo”;

o   John Williams, “War Horse.”

—    Original Song:

o   “Hello Hello” (music by Elton John, lyrics by Bernie Taupin), “Gnomeo & Juliet”; 

“The Keeper” (music and lyrics by Chris Cornell), “Machine Gun Preacher”; “Lay Your Head Down” (music by Brian Byrne, lyrics by Glenn Close), “Albert Nobbs”;

o   “The Living Proof” (music by Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Harvey Mason Jr., lyrics by Mary J. Blige, Harvey Mason Jr., Damon Thomas), “The Help”; “

Masterpiece” (music and lyrics by Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry), “W.E