Goodfellas (1990) Review

What movies do you think of when you think of gangster films? Chances are, Goodfellas is one of them. If it isn't, clearly you haven't seen enough gangster films, or at least any good ones, because out of all the gangster films I've seen (which is admittedly not that many), Goodfellas is one of the best. It is a masterpiece, plain and simple, and it is now in my top 10 favourite films of all time. Often considered Scorsese's magnum opus, it's not that hard to see why. It is well-filmed, well-acted, well-told, and well-written on all terms and it features some of the most interesting characters ever put to film. It is also considered one of the greatest Oscar snubs and though I have not seen Dances With Wolves, it's not that hard to guess why.

Goodfellas is about what is essentially the life and times of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), also known as the utterer of the iconic line "as far back as I can remember, I wanted to be a gangster". Hill supplies most of the narration, though occasionally it switches to his girlfriend-cum-fiance-cum-wife. The film begins with Hill as a teenager, making friends with Paulie Cicero (Paul Sorvino) and doing odd jobs for the neighbourhood gangsters. It is also in his youth when Hill meets Jimmy Conway (Robert DeNiro) and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci in an unforgettable role), the other two main characters. However, this only makes up the first twenty or so minutes of the film. The rest of it is focused on Hill as an adult, and it essentially tells the story of about twenty years of Hill's life.

One of the funniest scenes in the film, which is actually very darkly comedic in a way

By this time, Hill is high up in the ranks of the Lucchese crime family and he can enjoy the perks of gangster life, which was one of the main reasons why he had wanted to be a gangster in the first place. Not exactly for the crime, but for the money and the luxury. During this time, he meets and marries a Jewish woman named Karen (Lorraine Bracco), with whom he has two daughters, he commits several heists alongside Conway and DeVito, including the Air France heist (which establishes Hill as a high-standing New York gangster) and the Lufthansa Heist, which drives the film's last act. Not in a sense of actually performing the heist, but it drives Hill's actions in the film's last act, and it is the reason why a lot of blood is shed in the film.

The film also charts Hill's downfall, all culminating in the single take (or at least, what appears to be a single take) known as the worst day of Henry's life, which happens to be one of the greatest scenes ever put to film. In fact, a lot of scenes from Goodfellas could be considered some of the greatest scenes ever put to film. The film is also quite violent, as are many of Scorsese's films, but the violence on display here is put to very good use, giving the film a certain amount of visceral power and shock value. The violence has kind of lost its power over time, as all violence has (mainly due to the type of society we live in) but that doesn't stop the film from being good, especially considering it has several of the best gangster deaths in movie history (mostly at the hands of Pesci, but ones I won't spoil just in case some of you haven't seen it yet).

Ray Liotta and Robert De Niro. Also co-starring Ray Liotta's pouty face..

The film covers a great deal of time, but what is most interesting about it (besides the downfall of Hill) is the interaction between the characters, and the close-knit almost family of the gangsters. This family dynamic is most evident in the wedding scene, where the narration skips to Karen and she's talking about meeting all of Henry's colleagues and their sons and nephews, all of whom are named Peter or Paul and their wives, all of whom are named Marie. It is also prevalent in another scene with Karen's narration, where she is with all the gossiping mob wives (all of whom seem to be stereotypically Jewish). This family dynamic can switch on a dime though, because you could be chummy with a guy one day and the next day he might want to kill you. It's this mentality that makes Goodfellas so interesting and it is what gives the ending the punch it has, making it one of my favourite endings in all of film.

The story is just one facet of the brilliant script by Martin Scorsese and Nicholas Pileggi. Together, they have also managed to write some of the most interesting and memorable characters ever written. Henry Hill is our protagonist and narrator, and we see the film's progression through his eyes. I'm not sure if we're supposed to sympathize with him, but if we're supposed to, I found it kind of difficult, especially at the film's ending (which I won't spoil). Still, the part of the movie from when he was a kid humanize what could have easily become a complete monster, and he is still an enjoyable character to watch, thanks, in no small part, to Ray Liotta's fantastic performance. Our other two male main characters are Jimmy (Robert De Niro) a coolly violent gangster, and Tommy (Joe Pesci), who is the exact opposite. De Niro is relegated to a supporting role this time around, but I'm sure Scorsese would have gotten him to play Hill if there were no Liotta, but he fits well in his role here, and his character takes on a sort of colleague/mentor role with regards to Hill. However, De Niro's character grows more threatening in the last act (whereas before he had merely been a thug), giving De Niro a chance to shine and prove his status as one of the greatest actors of our time.

We get it Scorsese, you love The Great Train Robbery

However, the performance that received the most acclaim (rightfully so) and the performance that made the film most memorable was that of Joe Pesci as Tommy DeVito. DeVito is a total loose cannon, willing to kill a man who just looks at him funny and especially willing to kill a man who pokes fun at his past as a shoe-shine boy. In fact, when he is (SPOILERS)"taken out"(END OF SPOILERS), some of his ruthlessness and hot-bloodedness transfers into the rather level-headed Jimmy. This was the role that got Joe Pesci an Oscar, where he gave one of the most notoriously short and modest acceptance speeches in Oscar history (which really speaks to his character because Goodfellas was his major film role and apparently, Pesci is quite a nice guy in real life). It was also the role that got him typecast for life, playing a relatively similar role in 1995's Casino. Typecasting aside, Pesci's performance is extraordinary, the greatest one in the film in fact, and he is definitely part of why the film is so memorable.

The film is also very good-looking too, and I'm not just talking about Ray Liotta (hehe). With the three films I have seen of his, I can say this for sure. Scorsese definitely knows how to open and close a film in all aspects. The opening and closing of Goodfellas are both extraordinarily memorable, and definitely some of the best in all of film. The cinematography is amazing as well, whether it be some of the more basic stuff or whether it's when the film gets a bit more stylized. The film also has a damn awesome soundtrack, as per any Scorsese film (so I hear). The editing is also amazing, and the film is just very high-quality in general.

"You think I'm a clown? Like my purpose is to fuckin' amuse you"

The film is so high quality that even though I just watched it a week ago, it has already earned a place in my top 10 (possibly even top 5) favourite films of all time, and it is currently my favourite of the three Scorsese films I have seen. Goodfellas is simply a perfect film, no questions asked, and certainly one of the best films of the nineties. It is extremely well-written, extremely well-acted, and extremely well-filmed. This is a film that anyone and everyone should see, and any fans of Scorsese should see it now if they haven't seen it already (but I highly doubt that because Goodfellas is one of his definitive works). I, for one, can't wait to see it again and I can't wait for my love for the film to grow.


10/10-  Instant Classic, See it now

Damn straight.

Hugo (2011)



When you think of Martin Scorsese, what kind of films do you think of? I think of films like Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, and The Departed, some of the more popular entries in his body of work. Who'd have thought that the director of such crime classics could direct a 3D G-rated family film and do it so goddamned well. Hugo is a truly unique film and as Scorsese's love letter to silent cinema, it may be the film that he would connect with most as a filmmaker (of course, I don't know, I can't see into the man's mind). Hugo reaffirms Scorsese's status as one of the greatest directors of all time and the film itself is one of the best films of 2011, if not one of the best films of all time. There is nothing really wrong with it, plain and simple, and there's nothing that I can see anyone (especially a film buff) disliking. It looks great in all aspects, it's extremely well acted, the story is told brilliantly, and it is a worthy film in what I call the Nostalgia Trilogy of 2011 (the other films being Midnight in Paris and The Artist, two fellow Best Picture nominees). Also important, it was nominated for a fuck-ton of Oscars, many that it has the possibility of winning, and it is my second choice for Best Picture behind The Artist.

Hugo takes place in 1931 in a Parisian train station, where our main character (Asa Butterfield), an orphan named Hugo Cabret, has lived and worked since his father (Jude Law) passed away. The story proper begins when Hugo tries to steal a toy mouse from the grumpy old man that owns the toy shop in the train station (played by Ben Kingsley). He makes Hugo empty his pockets and comes across a notebook filled with drawings of some sort of robot. The old man takes the notebook, claiming that it belongs to him, and is adamant in his threats to burn it. Hugo cannot have that happen (for reasons that we will find out) and he desperately begs the man for the notebook to minimal avail. He even goes so far as to go to the man's house and beg.

Asa Butterfield and the adorable Chloe Moretz as Hugo and Isabelle respectively

Why, do you ask, is Hugo so desperate to get the notebook back? Well, the notebook belonged to his father, as well as the automaton that the drawings depict. Hugo and his father were trying to fix the automaton, but all that was missing is a key in the shape of a heart. That key is around the neck of the old man's goddaughter, named Isabelle, (Chloe Moretz), who is our secondary protagonist. Hugo and Isabelle try to activate the automaton, and the actions of the automaton drive the second half of the film, where Hugo and Isabelle find out more about her godfather (hereafter referred to as Papa Georges) and his past. That's all I want to say. I don't want to spoil anything because quite frankly, there's a ton of stuff to spoil about this movie and you should honestly see it for yourself instead.

This film is based on a reasonably popular novel by Brian Selznick entitled The Invention of Hugo Cabret. I was semi-aware of the book's existence before an adaptation was announced, but I had never read it and when I had seen it, I dismissed it as another young-adult fiction book. However, I considered this a good thing while watching the film, as it allowed me to view the film objectively and look at it as a movie rather than just an adaptation. Seeing the film doesn't exactly make me want to read the book, but I will say that the film tells its story very well. It is a relatively simple story, but it has not been done before and it is refreshing to see an assurance to the fact that movies somewhat aimed at children don't have to have labyrinthian plots filled with pop-culture references to be good. The story may be told from Hugo's perspective and he may be the main character, but the film is really a loving tribute to the life and work of one of the geniuses of early filmmaking.

The automaton that drives the first half of the movie, or why the film got a visual effects nomination

SPOILERS BE PRESENT IN THIS PARAGRAPH

That filmmaker is none other than Georges Melies, one of the pioneers of early film and one of the masters of old-timey special effects. The film states that Melies was in his heyday before WWI and made over 100 films during that time, enjoying phenomenal success. However, once the war was over, nobody was interested in his films and he retired in shame, destroying all of his sets and all the copies of his films. People also thought he died in the War, so there was no question as to where he was or what he was doing. As far as I know, this story is pretty accurate. However, more negatives were found of his work (being found in the film through a film buff and huge fan of Melies played by Michael Stuhlbarg) and Melies gained a whole new fanbase. Seeing this film has made me want to check out some more of his work. It is this tribute to Melies' life and work that makes Hugo truly special, as there has not been a film about the director and I'm guessing that Hugo is the closest we are ever going to get.

END OF SPOILERS

You can tell that Scorsese has great respect for the filmmaker I mentioned in the spoilered paragraph, so much that Hugo can be considered as a whole film of Martin Scorsese fanboying for the directors and the films of yore. This love for old cinema is more prevalent in the second half of the film. The first half is merely about a lonely boy trying to fix a machine in the hopes that it contains a message left to him by his father. The movies are not mentioned that often, but the film sort of transitions over in the second half. May I say, I loved it. I loved the idea presented that films had the power to make dreams come true, which is what, in my opinion, films are all about. This is best shown in the scene where Hugo and Isabelle sneak into a movie theatre because Papa Georges won't let Isabelle go to the movies. This could be considered the film's turning point and it demonstrates what the film is trying to say very well. It is likely the most important scene in the film, and it is basically where the plot switches. It works because Isabelle had never seen a movie before and when Hugo takes her to the movies, she goes through the experience that I think everyone should go through at least once in their life. That is, the joy of watching an old movie. I felt that with The Artist, and I definitely felt it for Hugo.

Scenery Porn Exhibit A. Just look at the background.....

The film is considered Scorsese's "love letter to silent cinema", and it is through that idea Hugo is truly special. I loved the clever ways this idea was executed, I loved the flashbacks towards the end, I loved the use of footage from some of the popular films of the time, I just loved it. However, the other main thing that makes this story special is it's innocence. These days, people don't like innocent. They like cold, hard, and cynical, and Hugo delivers an innocence that is unfamiliar in children's films nowadays. Hugo is a genuinely likeable and interesting boy, as is his companion Isabelle, and there is not a single unlikable character. Even the Station Inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen), the film's antagonist were it to have one, is a reasonably sympathetic character with the help of a few humanizing character traits. This shows the genius of John Logan's screenplay and it is probably the reason why Hugo nabbed an adapted screenplay nomination, because the dialogue is admittedly not spectacular. But I think I've talked about the story and characters enough, so let's talk about the rest of the film.

First of all, the film looks fantastic on all counts. It looks so fantastic that I consider it the film's greatest strength. Everything about this film is visually perfect, and it could very well be one of the prettiest movies I have ever seen. First of all, the scenery is fantastic, so much so that I am absolutely certain that this film will win Best Art Direction come February 26th, as there is not a single film in that category that was more visually brilliant than Hugo. It all looks fantastic, especially the train station and the clocks. I would say that they are not fake enough to be CGI but not quite real enough to be sets. Regardless, they look fantastic. The costume design is also excellent, though I don't see much chance of it winning, and the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous. I don't think it will win for either, but the sets look fantastic. Since I asked for a few adjectives to describe the visuals, I will say they are mesmerizing, enchanting, sumptuous, and vibrant. I think I've said enough though, so I'm going to move on.

One of the images from what is certainly one of the most beautiful openings in recent memory.

The film also boasts a phenomenal cast, all of whom give good performances. Asa Butterfield is pretty good as Hugo, not to mention utterly adorable. Anytime he cried, it was incredibly distressing and any time he was happy, I was happy. I think the crying thing has to do with the fact that he has eyes so big and so blue that he could easily be mistaken for the kid brother of Elijah Wood. Chloe Moretz  gave a decent performance as well, working well alongside Butterfield and capturing the bookworminess of her character very well. Her accent also seemed to be channeling Hermione (a three-way accent, seeing as she is an American actress playing a French character with an English accent). Ben Kingsley is also excellent as Papa Georges, and he displays the character well, holding up the biopic sections of the film. Even as comedy relief goes, Sacha Baron Cohen gives a fantastic performance (probably one of his best) as the Station Inspector, who, though a villain, is just as human as Hugo and the other characters. The rest of the cast includes the likse of Helen McCrory (Narcissa Malfoy) as Mama Jeanne, Michael Stuhlbarg as Rene Tabard (a movie buff and kind of a surrogate for the audience, at least the audience of movie buffs), Christopher Lee as a kindly librarian, and Jude Law as Hugo's father (who does extremely well considering how little he is in the movie). Needless to say, it should have received a SAG nomination for the ensemble cast because though the acting was not the strongest element of the film, there was no bad performance amongst the A-list cast.

Hugo is a brilliant film, and it is apparently one of the best of Scorsese's oeuvre. It is definitely one of my favourite films of 2011 and one of my top 30 favourite movies of all time. Hugo could easily be described as an experience, and it is an experience that all film buffs should go through, especially those who are knowledgable with regards to silent movies, because there are a ton of references that even I, one who hasn't seen that many silent films. Hugo is a masterpiece, through and through, it has brilliant and exhilarating visuals (which I could imagine would look amazing in 3D, judging by the opinions I have heard on this site), a great cast, and a great story. I don't know how many Oscars it will win, and I don't know how it would work for kids, but I know that it deserved every single nomination it got and if I were to have children, I would definitely show them the film. So in short, see it. See it before the Oscars if you can, as it was the film with the most nominations and it is one of the best films of the decade.


10/10- Instant Classic, Must-See

Jude Law and Asa Butterfield.

Midnight in Paris Review

Midnight in Paris (2011)

My Oscar countdown continues on, this time with Midnight in Paris, which also happens to be my first film of Woody Allen's. This film is a particularly interesting entry into Allen's long body of work, as it is a surprising success after a series of misfires. What I mean is, depending on the person you ask, Allen hasn't made a good film since either 2005's Match Point or 2008's Vicky Christina Barcelona. I have not seen either of those films, so I am looking at the film objectively, and for what it is, it's a pretty damn good film. It was also a surprising commercial success for Allen, in fact, his highest grossing film to date (surpassing Hannah and Her Sisters). But enough about how it rejuvenated Allen's career, let's talk about the film itself. Midnight in Paris is in no way a perfect film, but it is a solid one, and it has its moments of inspired genius as one of the best films of the year. It has its weaknesses, but rises on the strength of its original concept and its array of brilliant supporting performances. For Allen fans I'm sure it will satisfy, but for a newbie like me, it served as a great introduction to a director I hope to explore further in the year to come.

One of the many examples of gorgeous Parisian scenery in the film.

Midnight in Paris is about Gil (Owen Wilson) an American writer who is vacationing in Paris with his fiancee Inez (Rachel McAdams) and her parents. Inez and her parents are thoroughly shallow and unlikeable characters (who I will talk about later), and they all think Gil has a screw loose for the following reasons. Inez dreams of living in the Malibu suburbs and bores easily in Paris, whereas Gil dreams of living in Paris and giving up his Hollywood script-writing career (for which he calls himself a hack) to write actual literature and become one of the literary greats, such as Hemingway or Fitzgerald. From the moment we meet him, we learn that Gil longs to live in a different world, namely, 1920's Paris. Any other film would likely paint Inez sympathetically, but Allen does not do that. His script paints her as a shallow unlikable spoiled bitch, so much that we sympathize with Gil where we would not otherwise.

Example #2 of Parisian scenery

The story proper kicks in when Gil goes out for an evening walk and gets into a strange car that leads him to a strange place. This strange place happens to be the very place he's dreamed about, 1920's Paris. It is there where he meets such legendary figures as the Fitzgeralds, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Luis Bunuel, and Salvador Dali, and he gains inspiration to finish his book. He goes back night after night and distances himself day after day, much to the chagrin of Inez and her parents, who are as jerky as she is. He also meets a woman named Adriana (Marion Cotillard), Picasso's mistress and muse, who he finds himself instantly attracted to. Gil and Adriana are very similar characters, in that they are both unsatisfied by the present and wish to live in a rose-coloured view of the past. Whereas Gil would rather live in the 20's, Adriana would rather be a costume designer in 1890's Paris.

Marion Cotillard, Allison Pill, Owen Wilson, and Woody Allen respectively

The message of this film is not exactly subtle, but it is one that needs to be stated. Everyone has felt, at least once, that they were born in the wrong time and that they may have been happier in another decade. Wilson states the film's message in a speech near the end of the film in a speech that I'm sure will become somewhat memorable (especially the bit about novocaine at the dentist). The lesson that Gil needed to learn was that although past may be home to artistic legends, there was no penicillin (until 1928), no modern medicine, to prevent the many diseases of the time, and life would pretty much suck for anyone who is not a white man (which Gil is). Not to mention, France would be torn apart again in about twenty years with a little thing called the Second World War. Also, the twenties were only one decade. I'm not sure how badly the Depression affected France, but the twenties were fleeting and unless Gil was living in a stable time loop that went back to 1920 on New Year's Eve '29, history would march on, with or without him. However, accepting the present for what it is doesn't mean one has to live in misery, like Gil certainly would with Inez, and the ending definitely enforces that (though I won't spoil).

Ladies and Gentlemen, the second-greatest thing about this movie. Corey Stoll as Ernest Hemingway

One of the film's greatest strengths is the series of segments that take place in the past, where Gil meets all the creative greats of the time. The present-day segments aren't really that interesting until Gil's visits to the past start to affect the present and change him as a character. Inez and her parents are not very interesting characters, but that is kind of their point, to provide foils for Gil while insulting him at every turn and just being jerks. They are the film's antagonists, were the film to have clear antagonists, and it is them that make Gil a sympathetic character. Adriana is also a foil for Gil in the results of their characters, which I shall not spoil. The film also introduces the idea that nobody is satisfied with their present and everyone is drawn into the allure of another time. It is these things that show the true genius of Allen's script, and the reason why it will certainly be walking home with Best Original Screenplay come Oscar time.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the most memorable thing about the movie.

 

Speaking of original, another one of this film's strengths is its concept. Although time-travel has been done before, and jumping into another world has also been done before (in Allen's own Purple Rose of Cairo in fact), Midnight in Paris manages to maintain some sense of originality simply because it hasn't been done this way before. Simply put, there has not been a movie where a writer travels back in time through a magic car and meets the artistic and creative legends of the time. It is not a remake, sequel, or reboot, and it shows that there is still some original thought in Hollywood nowadays. This film is truly one of a kind and a film that deserves to be rememebered as one in the filmography of an (allegedly) classic director that needed a really good movie.

The other element of this film that will no doubt turn this film into a classic is the performances. Owen Wilson does a decent job as Gil, providing a sympathetic and interesting lead in a role that I'm sure Allen himself would have played if he were not...say, forty years too old for the part. Wilson plays the nebbish writer type, but Allen mercifully downplays the neuroticness in favour of nostalgia and constantly being annoyed by the shallow people he is surrounded by. Instead of being an insufferable starving artist like he very well could have been in the hands of a different writer, Gil is a reasonably entertaining character and a likable protagonist, though this is exacerbated by the horrible people he has surrounded himself with in the present day. I am not a huge fan of Owen Wilson, but I can't deny that he gave a good performance that was worthy of the Golden Globe nomination that he got. The other present day characters are Inez and her parents, who are played with supreme jerkiness by Rachel McAdams, Kurt Fuller, and Mimi Kennedy. I may hate their characters with a burning passion (because Allen wrote it so I would), but I can't knock their performances, which are pretty good. The only other present-day character worth noting is Paul (played by Michael Sheen), a pseudo-intellectual friend of Inez's, whom she is enamored with but Gil (rightfully) can't stand. He gives a good enough performance, one of the many in this film.

I wish I could crack witty jokes that go along with pictures....

However, the acting that really makes the movie is that from the supporting characters. They are the main reasons why the past segments are more interesting, more witty, and generally more awesome. Some of the more famous members of the supporting cast include Kathy Bates as Gertrude Stein, Tom Hiddleston and Allison Pill (of Thor and Scott Pilgrim fame) as Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Corey Stoll (of Law and Order LA) as Ernest Hemingway, and Adrien Brody as Salvador Dali. Those are the recognizable past characters and the ones that are seen most often, but there is a whole slew of unknowns playing various denizens of Paris. All that I mentioned did great jobs, but the two standouts are definitely Corey Stoll's Hemingway and Adrien Brody's Dali. Stoll was worthy of a Best Supporting Actor nomination in my opinion, as he captured the commonly perceived image of Hemingway perfectly while being downright hilarious...in an abrasive kind of way. He could have easily been nominated in Max von Sydow's place because though he was in the film very little, he totally knocked it out of the park and gave one of the film's most memorable performances. The other extremely memorable performance is Adrien Brody as Salvador Dali. He was in the film even less than Stoll and he is easily the most memorable character to come out of this film. I won't spoil his awesomeness, all I will say is..."rhinoceros". The one original character in the past universe is Adriana, played by Marion Cotillard, and while weaker than the rest of the actors, she definitely did okay. Needless to say, the film was packed with solid performances throughout.

Wilson, McAdams, and Sheen as Gil, Inez, and Paul respectively.

The film also has brilliant visuals, having also scored a nomination for Art Direction alongside Director, Original Screenplay, and Picture. The film opens with an array of shots of gorgeous Parisian scenery (similarly to how Manhattan opens so I hear, except Manhattan is with New York) and it is an utterly perfect beginning to the film, signifying the warmth and joy that this film has to offer. The cinematography is utterly gorgeous, providing some great shots of Paris both past and present, and the sets are impeccably designed. I don't see it taking home the Oscar (which will probably go to either Hugo or The Artist), but it is as visually sumptuous as it is intellectually satisfying. It could have easily scored a nomination for cinematography, but art direction is good enough.

Exhibit A: Why this film scored an Oscar nom for Best Art Direction

 

All in all, Midnight in Paris is a terrific movie, and I have praised it to death for a reason. Though it does have flaws (albeit very minor ones), it was one of the best films of 2011 and one of my new favourite films of all time, which I look forward to watching again. It features dazzling Parisian scenery, an original concept accompanied by a brilliant script, and a series of fine performances with Owen Wilson giving the single greatest performance of his career. Those who are fans of Allen will love it I'm sure, but it served as a good introductory film for me and I'm sure it will do the same for other Allen newbies. Regardless, I give this film my strongest recommendation, especially around Oscar time. I can't wait to watch more Allen films in the future, and this one has certainly convinced me to do so.

P.S. Personally, I don't long for a past. I'd rather be an older version (by older, I mean early-mid twenties) of myself in the present day. That way, I would have a bit more freedom and I would have the means to travel (namely, to go to England and see Les Mis on the West End).

 

9/10- Must-See,  Instant Classic 

The Artist Review

The Artist (2011)

The Oscars certainly feel nostalgic this year, don't they? I mean with films like Hugo, Midnight in Paris, and The Artist all heavy hitters (the first and last more so than the middle) for the Oscars, it seems pretty obvious. This is why The Artist truly feels one of a kind, although its story is nothing really new. It feels one of a kind because it came out this year, yet seeing it on the big screen made me feel like I was back in the twenties, back when silent films were the huge thing in Hollywood and before the dawn of the talkie. In the wrong hands, The Artist could have felt gimmicky, like they were making a silent movie just for the gimmick as opposed to a genuine throwback. However, it is in the hands of Michel Hazanavicius that this film is a true gem and a must-see for all film buffs. It has everything that a silent film should have. It has the comedy, it has the seriousness, and most importantly, it has a sense of joy and nostalgia even in its most melancholy moments. As of now, it is my personal pick for Best Picture and Best Actor, and I can bet that the filmmakers will be taking home many more awards come Oscar night. Out of all of its ten nominations, there is only one that I feel the film doesn't deserve, but we'll get to that later, onto the review.

The Artist centres around a silent film actor named George Valentin (Jean Dujardin). Valentin is the reigning star of the silent movie world and adored by both the studio and the public. One day, through a meet-cute where she drops her autograph book and accidentally bumps into him while getting it, Valentin meets a young woman named Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) who is amongst the screaming fangirls and initially acts towards him like any young woman who has a crush on a movie star. She shows up to the studio where Valentin works to audition as an extra for one of their films, and through more circumstance, she and Valentin end up working on a picture together and he helps her get her start in the movies, which quickly escalates into superstardom.

Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo in the scene of their first meeting.

What I have described may seem like a plot for an old-fashioned screwball romantic comedy, but there is much more to this film than that. Like Singin' in the Rain dealt with the transition to talkies in musical format, The Artist deals with a similar topic, except it deals with it very differently. In Singin' in the Rain, Don Lockwood adapted very easily to talkies. In The Artist, George does not adapt so easily. In fact, it is his unwillingness to adapt that results in Peppy's star rising (although it rose with his guidance) and his star fading. This rising star/fading star conflict is what drives the movie and what makes us feel sympathy for our protagonist. As Peppy's life gets better, George's life gets phenomenally worse and for him it's just one humiliation after another, so much that the only companion he has left (besides Peppy, whom it takes him a little while to warm up to after an incident that I'd rather not spoil) is his utterly adorable dog.

Berenice Bejo and Malcolm McDowell in his brief cameo

Although it is through his stubbornness and insistence that sound is merely a fad that made those things happen, I can't help but feel sorry for him. There could be several reasons why he was so resistant towards the dawn of sound. It could be simply that he is afraid of change, or it could be insecurity about (maybe) not being able to speak English very well. If the last was true, it is a perfectly realistic insecurity and it gives the character a bit more humanity. However, Dujardin himself is such a phenomenally attractive man that he could pull it off. Seeing as Dujardin is French and French is his native language, this is one of the great examples of the actor's nationality influencing the character for the better. However, it's not like he was hiding a high shrill voice or a thick Brooklyn accent like Lina Lamont in Singin' in the Rain. Quite the opposite in fact, his voice is not unpleasant at all and being in the talkies would not damage his ability to play a romantic lead.

I don't want to spoil any more of the plot for you, but I will say that it borrows many plot and character elements from Singin' in the Rain, not enough to call it copying but enough for me to consider the two films companion pieces. First of all, George Valentin reminded me a lot of Don Lockwood, the king of silent films who has to deal with the transition to talkies. They are both noted for their talent, they are both pretty damn good dancers, both adored by the public, and both incredibly charming. Plus, Dujardin looks like he could be Gene Kelly's french son (or, judging by their ages, grandson). But whereas Lockwood adapts to the talkies, Valentin instead goes through what I presume to be any actor's worst fear (namely, becoming a forgotten has-been and losing the fame and admiration they once had). Peppy Miller also reminded me a lot of Kathy Selden, even in a direct scene where she is one in a group of showgirls that even wore costumes reminiscent to Debbie Reynolds' in that particular scene (those who have seen Singin' in the Rain know what I'm talking about). Plus, there's the whole showgirl becomes actress and rises up through the ranks of Hollywood that their characters have in common, though Selden rises up in a different way. They even make the film actress played by Missi Pyle look like Lina Lamont at the beginning, though she is not an antagonist and has no bearing on the plot at all. The last act of the film also resembles Singin' in the Rain in a way that I'm not going to spoil. However, this borrowing does not make me like the film any less. In fact, it makes me love it more because Singin' in the Rain happens to be my favourite film of all time.

Seriously. French grandson.

The story is not particularly original, and yet the film maintains some sense of uniqueness and originality in that it is the first silent film to come out in wide-ish circulation since Mel Brooks' Silent Movie in 1976, and it will likely be the first silent film to win Best Picture since the twenties. It also has an element of uniqueness in its nostalgia, how it's a throwback to the classic films of the twenties, and how films like this normally wouldn't be made in this day and age. This, however, brings me to the one Oscar nomination that I felt The Artist did not deserve. That nomination was for Original Screenplay. Seeing as this film was completely silent, title cards were used to express dialogue. However, they weren't used very often and although they did get some good deadpan one-liners in, the rest were rather unremarkable. Not bad, just unremarkable. The Academy could have easily given Diablo Cody a second nomination in The Artist's place, or any other original screenplay in general. I don't think it'll win though, and though I feel The Artist is undeserving for that one Oscar, the rest of the nine awards it was nominated for were wholly deserved.

First of all, the performances were phenomenal, so much that this film has my personal choice for Best Actor. I am sincerely hoping that Dujardin will win the Oscar come Oscar time and I have a feeling he will, as he has received a tad bit more praise than Clooney (who is the other popular choice for Best Actor) and though Clooney is a bigger name in the States, Dujardin's performance is generally looked upon to be the better one. Of course, I haven't seen The Descendants, so I can't be a fair judge, but I still hope that Dujardin wins the award because he truly deserves it. He embodied all of the emotions of his character, all the flaws, all the likability, and all the charm. Seriously, there is so much that he can convey with just a smile, which is so irresistable in itself that it can melt hearts, my own included. He's also a throwback in and of himself, which is one of the many things that makes this film unique. He's the old-fashioned leading man. He's the Errol Flynn, he's the Douglas Fairbanks, he's the Gene Kelly.  Plus, another reason why he will likely take the award over Clooney is that he had to convey the thoughts, feelings, and interactions of his character without words, entirely through his actions and his facial expressions, whereas Clooney had the advantage of being able to speak. In that, Dujardin's performance is the most substantial (both in the happy and sad moments of the film) male performance I have seen this year and one of the greatest things about this film, thus making him my personal pick for Best Actor.

One of the funniest scenes in the movie. You wouldn't be able to tell by the picture though.

However, his performance was not the only good performance in the film. Berenice Bejo also received an Oscar nomination for her performance in the film and though she doesn't have much chance of winning, she gave a great performance nonetheless. She had the flair, the pizzaz, and for lack of a better word, the pep (funny, because her character's name is Peppy) necessary for this performance, and she makes an excellent foil to George with her star rising and his star falling. She's a fundamentally good person, and though her rise to the top could have made her conceited and ungrateful, she does not forget Valentin and how he gave her her start, and she sticks by him the entire course of the movie when she could have abandoned him (not in a romantic sense, but in a friendly sense). She and Dujardin worked extremely well together and they were backed up by decent supporting performances, such as John Goodman as the cigar-chomping studio exec and James Cromwell as Clifton, Valentin's driver. Another humourous albeit brief turn is the one by Missi Pyle as Valentin's Lamont-ish costar. Needless to say, a slew of solid and delightful performances all around, one that will be taking home the Oscar.

But the slew of great performances is just one of the fantastic things about this movie. It also got nominated for a ton of Oscars below the line (by which I mean below the line of the screenplay awards in the technical section) and it deserved them, being an overall visually pleasing film. The film's cinematography is excellent, making good use of each shot and embracing the old-fashioned by filming in 4:3 as opposed to the standard widescreen, and the film on a whole is presented beautifully. I don't see it taking home the award (which will likely go to Janusz Kaminski for War Horse judging by the photographs I have seen), but the film was definitely well-shot. It has a chance at winning for editing, and there is a definite chance that it could win for art direction because the sets were superb, from Valentin's colossal mansion to Miller's mansion to the shops in the city. For now, it is still my favourite for Art Direction. The one award I am absolutely certain it will win is Best Original Score (Kim Novak controversy aside), because with no dialogue, this film is entirely dependent on the music because if there was no music, there would just be dead awkward silence. The music is simply delightful, probably the best score I have heard all year and though the film used little sound, the uses of sound were extremely clever. I won't spoil them for you, but they are extremely clever. Overall, The Artist is a visual delight as well as a delight in many other fashions.

Dujardin again and the film's second brightest (and certainly most adorable) star, Uggie the Dog

In short, The Artist is truly a phenomenal film and a gem, considering it came out in today's society. It is a must-see for all film buffs and though it may decrease in popularity when the Oscars are over, it will be remembered amongst the film buffs as a classic. The Artist is an utterly perfect film and has the honour of being my favourite film of 2011 and my personal pick for Best Picture and Best Actor amongst other things. It is a sheer delight through and through, featuring beautiful visuals and black-and-white cinematography, excellent performances through and through, and a refreshingly old-fashioned (though not entirely original) story. I recommend a viewing before Oscar time, especially if you want to formulate a good Oscar ballot and I recommend seeing it just for the experience, as there is nothing in this for a movie fan to dislike.

10/10- Must-See, Potential Classic

SO.MUCH.ADORABLENESS



My Review of Zombieland

Zombieland (2009)

You know how I said Shaun of the Dead is my favourite zombie movie of all time? Well, here's the film that falls into the second spot. Zombieland is an absolutely excellent movie, a movie that has often been compared to an American Shaun of the Dead. I don't think that's entirely true. While they do have some similarities, Zombieland is a very different movie. Shaun of the Dead is about a man trying to improve his relationships in the face of a zombie apocalypse, but Zombieland is about a loner who finds a family in a ragtag team of survivors. Zombieland offers up tons of good humour as well as excellent gore effects and some pretty good acting in an overall awesome package.

In the world of Zombieland (which is name-dropped a couple of times), zombies have outnumbered humans thanks to a mutated version of mad cow disease and the world has gone to absolute shit. Our main character and narrator, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) has managed to survive all this time despite his extensive phobias by having a list of rules that pop up over the course of the movie.Some of the rules include the double tap, bewaring of bathrooms, checking the backseat for zombies, and the simple act of wearing a seatbelt. He also manages to survive because he has been a loner all his life and has no close family or friends. He is on his way to Columbus, Ohio to see if his parents (who are paranoid shut-ins like himself) are alive. Which is a perfect time to explain why his name is the same as his hometown. There are no names in Zombieland, your name is either where you're from or where you're going. Which also explains to first-time viewers why the other three main characters are named Tallahassee, Wichita, and Little Rock.

Columbus runs into Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), easily the most awesome character in the movie, and they agree to accompany eachother east. Tallahassee is armed to the teeth and he has two things on his mind: killing zombies and getting his hands on a Twinkie. While stopping at a grocery store to achieve goal #2, they are introduced to two mistrusting sisters, Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). The sisters are on their way to Pacific Playland and after a series of scams, Columbus and Tallahassee join them.There's another reason why Columbus decides to go with them, but to say so would be to reveal spoilers, and I don't want to do that. The rest of the film is a road trip story, where the four get to know eachother on the way to Pacific Playland. Tallahassee and Little Rock bond over guns, Wichita and Columbus experience growing sexual tension, we learn the true motivation of Tallahassee's zombie-killing ways, and of course, some zombie ass is going to get kicked.

This is a departure from most zombie movies (even apocalyptic movies in general) because the zombies are not any sort of political or social metaphor, like in many other zombie movies. No, in this zombie movie, the zombies are just a means to show off awesome gore effects and something to have fun killing. It is also a movie about a loner finding his place in life and finding a family as he never had one of his own (just like Shaun of the Dead was about fixing a broken relationship in the face of danger). The film is not at all devoid of character development. Columbus learns that some rules are made to be broken, especially when the safety of people he cares about is on the line. Tallahassee learns to come to grips with what I can't tell you, and the two sisters learn to trust people besides eachother. They also grow as a sort of family.

One of the funniest scenes in the movie

Zombieland serves up loads of good humour alongside the zombie-killing scenes and some excellent dramatic moments. Some of the funniest parts of the film come from anecdotes, like how Wichita and Little Rock conned before Zombieland, how Columbus let his hot neighbour into his dorm room after being bitten by a homeless guy (AKA his first zombie encounter), and how Sister Cynthia Knickerbocker won Zombie Kill of the Week. There is also a cameo from Bill Murray once the group hits California and of course, being Bill Murray, hilarity ensues. It's also kind of funny to see the normally badass and tough Tallahassee go fanboy over Bill Murray. There are a whole bunch of other comedic gold nuggets in the film and it's sure to have you laughing throughout. There are a few memorable quotes in an awesomely tongue-in-cheek script, and the relationships between the characters also bring for some funny moments (especially the comparisons of Wichita and Columbus' 1997's, and the moments between Tallahassee and Little Rock).

For all the laughs, there is a heart behind all of the blood and guts. It's a movie about togetherness, about a young man who spent so long being alone that it took a zombie apocalypse for him to find a family. It's also a movie about survival, and the isolation that comes with survival. In order for this to work, the four lead actors have to have chemistry with eachother. Fortunately, the four lead actors have great chemistry (as well as great individual performances) and thus, the audience believes they can survive together as a family. The first performance of which to speak is Jesse Eisenberg as Columbus. It still surprises me that in all his future movies, he can be billed as "Academy Award nominee Jesse Eisenberg". Granted, he was great in this and he was fantastic in The Social Network, but it seems shocking that a year after this was made, he came close to winning an Oscar, mostly because he seemed to be the next Michael Cera-esque typecast awkward guy. Good for him for getting out of that, at least for now. Here, he makes a sympathetic lead and a great narrator. This proves once again that Eisenberg is a fantastic actor, and I will like him more than I will ever like Michael Cera. He is one of Hollywood's great young talents and I hope he will continue to get great roles in the future, although his latest role in 30 Minutes or Less proved to be a return to his typecasting.

The other three actors rounding out the leads are Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin. Harrelson is positively badass as Tallahassee, one of his most enjoyable performances by far. He nails the roles of the zombie-killing badass (with multiple chainsaws and a snakeskin jacket to boot), the jerk with a heart of gold, and the funny guy perfectly, making for an extremely memorable performance (probably the most memorable of the four leads, outside the Bill Murray cameo). Emma Stone is pretty good as Wichita. She conveys the mistrusting nature of her character perfectly, and she and Eisenberg have reasonable chemistry together. Her shining moment came during the flashback where she was conning a hapless gas station clerk. Lastly, Abigail Breslin proves once again why she is one of the best child actresses of our time, turning in a wonderful performance as Little Rock. Her interactions with Woody Harrelson are just hilarious.

All in all, Zombieland is an excellent movie and a modern classic, and it is definitely one of the best films of 2009. Zombieland features brilliant gore effects (although the squeamish will want to avoid this movie for just that reason), great acting, a great story with a very entertaining and tongue-in-cheek script, and some great zombie ass-kicking scenes. I highly recommend Zombieland to any and all fans of the genre (whether just zombies, horror-comedy, or horror in general) and besides the squeamish, Zombieland should do something for just about everyone. I bought this film today and I'm glad I did because this film definitely warrants multiple viewings. In short, see it. You won't be disappointed.

9/10- HIGHLY Recommended



My Review of Juno

Juno (2007)

When I think of great films of the 2000's, there is one comedy that definitely comes to mind for me. That comedy is Juno, one of the best movies of its year and one of my all-time favourite movies. Nominated for four Oscars (winning Best Original Screenplay for a reason), Juno is a sharp and witty look into the life of a pregnant teenager and the couple whose lives she gets a bit too involved in. Besides the wonderful script, there is a cornucopia of brilliant performances, including the Oscar-nominated turn by Ellen Page as Juno herself. It also reigns as one of the most quotable movies of all time as well as one of the best dramedies. Dramedies are a tricky breed of movies, as too much of one element can make the other feel out of place, but Juno blends the two genres perfectly, making for a brilliant and memorable film.

Juno starts.....with a chair. Actually, it starts with Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page), a funny and smart-mouthed teenage girl who finds out that she's pregnant by her best friend Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). The only people who know at this point are her friend Leah (Olivia Thirlby) and the hilarious convenience store clerk played by one-scene wonder Rainn Wilson. After considering abortion and rebuffing the choice, Juno has to fess up to her dad (JK Simmons) and stepmom (Allison Janney), as well as Bleeker. Thankfully Juno and Leah found a nice couple in the Pennysaver who will adopt the baby.

That couple is Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner), a typical cookie-cutter suburban couple. The film follows Juno over the course of her pregnancy, exploring her relationship with Bleeker as well as her interactions with the couple. The film's interpersonal conflicts begin when Juno and Mark begin to bond over horror movies and rock music and she begins to spend too much time with the Lorings'. It doesn't take a genius to spot that Mark is unhappy and repressed in his marriage. It also doesn't take a genius to know that he is not ready to father anything. However, it is

Vanessa that insists upon having a baby and Mark appears to have no choice in the matter.

This would almost make Mark sympathetic except for the fact that he is a petulant manchild with a hinted-at yet never explicitly stated attraction towards Juno. Creepy. Regardless of whether he's into Juno (or if she's into him for that matter), it is made clear that he would rather go back to living as a teenager and would rather pursue his rock-star dreams as opposed to grow up. This dynamic between Mark and Juno is played brilliantly by Page and Bateman. Of course, this is one of two perspectives to take on the character, and that's what makes the film more interesting. You can see him as a petulant manchild who's a thorn in the side of his mature, realistic wife or a henpecked represed husband who happens to be married to a total tight-ass. The viewer's interpretation of him depends on their opinion of Vanessa. That is why I find him the most fascinating character in the movie, although not the most memorable, and that's why I have so much respect for Jason Bateman's performance in this movie, which is my favourite of his to date.  Just a brilliant character written by a brilliant writer, helped by an excellent performance which I honestly think Jason Bateman deserved an Oscar nomination for.

The script by Diablo Cody is simply brilliant not only in plot but in dialogue, perhaps one of the funniest scripts put to film. The script is sharp and witty, and rather than blather on about how great it is, I will share a few choice lines from the film:

"That ain't no Etch-a-Sketch. This is one doodle that can't be un-did, homeskillet."

Mac (Simmons): "No, I know I mean who's the father, Juno?"
Juno: "Umm... It's Paulie Bleeker."
Mac: [in amusement] "Paulie Bleeker?"
Juno: "What?"
Mac: "I didn't think he had it in him!"
Leah: "I know, right?"

Juno: Can't we just like kick this old school? You know, like I stick the baby in a basket, send it your way, like Moses and the reeds?
Mark: Technically, that would be kicking it Old Testament.

That's only a taste of the dialogue in this movie, there are dozens of ingenious lines. The film won Best Original Screenplay, the only Oscar it won, and it was entirely deserved (despite its worthy co-nominees). Despite the hilarious nature of the film, the dramatic elements are excellent as well. In essence, Juno is a story not about pro-life-ism or any spectrum of the whole pregnancy debate, but about growing up. It is about Juno growing up over the course of the film, as she starts out as a typical immature teenage girl, but becomes more mature over the nine months. It's also about Mark's unwillingness to grow up, and while Juno is successful in her coming-of-age story, his story is yet to be told and if it was ever told, I don't think it would end well.

Ellen Page plays the role of Juno, and she gives a phenomenal performance, both comedic and dramatic. She is a very talented actress, and Juno is probably her most iconic role and likely always will be, as it earned Page her first (and hopefully not her last) Oscar nomination. She has decent chemistry with Michael Cera, who also gives his best performance here. Anyone who knows me well knows that I am generally not a huge fan of Michael Cera. I don't think he's a bad actor, I just think he's a one-trick pony, and he hasn't done anything to convince me otherwise. Here, his one trick works best, as he plays Juno's best friend and the father of her baby. He's decently funny and although he doesn't stretch far in terms of acting, it strangely works.

The secondary cast is amazing as well. First, there are two awesome performances from typical awesome secondary character-actors JK Simmons (Jameson from the Spiderman movies, who has made a career out of being awesome) and Allison Janney. He plays the supportive father and she plays the far from evil stepmother, and both are hilarious as well as heartwarming. Olivia Thirlby is great as Leah (who seems to be the ditzy cheerleader, but is still a loyal friend to Juno), Bateman is great as Mark (as I priorly said) and Jennifer Garner is excellent as Vanessa as well. All in all, this has a fine ensemble cast with a slew of amazing performance.

When it comes down to storytelling, Juno is a coming-of-age story, and a damned good one at that. It is one of my favourite movies of all time, definitely in my top 20, and I give it my strongest recommendation for anyone who hasn't seen it, as well as anyone who has. I wouldn't say it is without flaw, but I would say that it is a dramedy masterpiece and one of the greatest teen films since the Hughes days of the 80's. It's nice to see smart teenagers, not the vapid teenagers (teenage girls especially) that are so present in films nowadays. There are brilliant performances, a fantastic Oscar-winning script, great characters, and I forgot to mention, a pretty good soundtrack. In short, Juno is not a must-see, but it is damn great and I give it my highest recommendation possible and if teenagers watch more films like this, we may have smarter teenagers.

9.5/10- EXTREMELY highly recommended





My Review of Shaun of the Dead

Shaun of the Dead (2004)



With this review, I have decided to start a new style of review. Though I will still be doing long reviews, I am going to be doing this as a mini-review. Anyway, I absolutely adore Shaun of the Dead, arguably the greatest horror-comedy since Scream and my current favourite zombie movie. It is a wildly entertaining masterpiece of a film that has awesome zombies and kick-ass action, but it also has memorable and fleshed-out (no pun intended) characters played by great actors to back it up. This is my second taste of the Pegg/Wright/Frost combo, and it is a winning combo for sure, making me want to see Hot Fuzz all the more.

Shaun of the Dead is often described as a "rom-zom-com", that is, a romantic comedy that happens to take place during a zombie apocalypse. The film is centred around the titular Shaun (Simon Pegg), a deadbeat who lives with his equally deadbeat friend Ed (Nick Frost). After plans for a date with his girlfriend (Kate Ashfield) go south due to his incompetence, he is dumped, which merely adds to the shitty things in his life. He has a crappy job, a crappy relationship with his stepdad, and he's treated crappily by pretty much everyone he meets. Shaun was entirely asking for it, as he happens to be an incompetent dolt at the start of the movie. The only person that seems to be nice to him is Ed, who's still a total douchebag and inadvertently keeps screwing things up.

Things have only started though, because Shaun and Ed are attacked by a girl in their garden who they think is drunk, but turns out to be dangerous and only stops her attack when Shaun hits her in the head with a cricket bat. Shaun also walks through his normal morning routine too hungover and oblivous to realize he is in a zombie apocalypse. Ed and Shaun first deny that anything is going on ("Don't use the Z word"), but after hearing the news, they wise up to the fact that something is wrong and make their plan. They are to go and get Shaun's mother (who has told him that his stepfather was bitten and feeling a little 'under the weather'), take care of Philip (the stepdad) and then go to Liz's apartment and make sure she is okay.

The rest of the film is a survival story, where Shaun, Liz, Ed, Liz's annoying roommates David and Dianne, and Shaun's mother and stepfather. The entire second half is them at the Winchester (Ed and Shaun's favourite pub which Liz grew tired of after being taken their night after night) fighting the encroaching zombies. This half of the film gets more serious, whereas the first half was more comedic in satirizing zombie films like Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead. Shit starts going down and that's pretty much all I can tell you without my words being rife with spoilers, so the plot summation will stop here. Being honest, the film is not so much about story so much as characters, and these are characters we grow to like over the course of the movie.

The first of these characters is Shaun, played by Simon Pegg. He starts out as an incompetent fool but grows to become more competent as the movie goes on, eventually turning into the only competent person in the survival team. I shouldn't say that, Liz is extremely competent as well, but it is Shaun that is the most sympathetic and likeable character. He goes through so much that we can't help but feel sorry for him, especially near the end, when the film looks bleakest. He feels his failure to fortify the pub is just another one of the failures in his life, and this is one failure too many, as Shaun faces the ultimate despair. This leads to a truly excellent performance from Simon Pegg both during the comedic and dramatic parts of the film. I had only seen him in a few comedic roles before this and I never knew how brilliant an actor he was until now. By far his best performance.

The rest of the cast rounds out brilliantly. First, there is Nick Frost as Shaun's deadbeat roommate Ed. He seems to always play second fiddle to Pegg and one day he should definitely play first fiddle, because he is an extremmely talented comic actor as well. Pegg may give the best performance, but Frost certainly comes close, making Ed just as memorable and sympathetic as Shaun, despite the fact that Ed keeps screwing things up. Kate Ashfield is good as Liz, the only other sane character in the film, and she and Pegg (as well as Pegg and Frost as always) work very well off of eachother. The rest of the cast includes Penelope Wilton as Barbara (Shaun's mother), Bill Nighy as Philip, Lucy Davis as Dianne (one of Liz's roommates) and Dylan Moran as David (her other roommate). Dylan Moran deserves special attention because he plays David as such an asshole that (SPOILERS) when he gets ripped apart limb from limb and disemboweled through the same window he broke when there was a back door to get into the pub (END OF SPOILERS) I actually cheered because I was wishing for his eventual fate. Moran played him very well though, especially during the mexican standoff scene with the rifle and several broken beer bottles.

The script, written by Wright and Pegg, is absolutely brilliant in both the fields of comedy and drama, and especially in the field of character writing (as I had priorly mentioned). It is equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking. Some of the particularly hilarious scenes include Ed and Shaun throwing records at the zombies while bickering on which ones to keep and which to throw, Shaun and the gang running into near-exact doppelgangers of themselves (except with a woman as the leader), and Shaun and Liz beating up zombies with pool cues while Queen plays in the background. There are a lot of funny lines as well, and the film is as entertaining as it is well-written and occasionally horrifying.

All in all, Shaun of the Dead is a total masterpiece in the fields of both horror and comedy, as well as in the field of character writing.  The characters are memorable, the zombies are cool, the gore effects are amazing, the actors are brilliant, and the movie is just straight-up awesome in general. Another thing I loved about it was the ending. I won't tell you what it is, but it's likely one of my favourite endings to any comedy. I highly recommend it to fans of zombie films, as well as fans of the Pegg, Frost, and Wright combo. This now reigns as my favourite zombie film as well as my second favourite horror movie (Scream just barely inching it out) and is definitely in my top 20 favourite films of all time. I thought I would like this, but I didn't think I'd like it this much, and I just can't run out of excellent things to say about it. So in short, see it. Plain and simple.

10/10- Must-See

This prat deserved his fate for being a whiny little know-it-all and a complainer at every turn. May that fact be shouted from the rooftops





My Review of The Princess Bride

The Princess Bride (1987)

Over the years, The Princess Bride has gained the unfair title of "chick flick", mainly due to the film's title. Despite this unfortunate characterization, it has also gained a large cult following and remains to this day one of the most popular and beloved fantasy films of all time. One should not be fooled by the film's title, because The Princess Bride has things to please both genders, and it is a universal movie that deserves to be loved by all. The film is, at its very essence, a fairytale, and it is a delightful fairytale. The film has action, it has sort of believable romance, it has extremely memorable characters, and most important of all, it has a good sense of humour which makes the trite story seem fresh and new.

PLOT ELEMENTS, BUT NO SPOILERS

Despite the fact that the film is a fairytale, it starts off in modern times with a sick boy (Fred Savage) having a story read to him by his grandfather. The boy is initially resistant to hear the story but he grows to enjoy it over the course of the film, as is made evident when we see him every once in a while clearly invested in the story. The story is about Buttercup (Robin Wright), a young woman raised on a farm who grows to fall in love with a farmhand named Wesley (Cary Elwes) who she had priorly mistreated. Every time she would demand something of him, he would only respond with "as you wish", the origin of one of the most popular lines from that movie. Wesley and Buttercup declare their love for one another, but Wesley does not have the money for marriage, so he goes off to find his fortune, planning to return.

Wesley's departure leaves Buttercup heartbroken, and this heartbreak is only exacerbated at news of Wesley's death at the hands of the Dread Pirate Roberts. We then fast forward to five years later where Buttercup has agreed to marry Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon), a seemingly harmless but foppish royal. Sometime before the wedding, she is kidnapped on her daily horse ride by three traveling bandits: Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), the boss, Fezzik (Andre the Giant), the brawn, and Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin), arguably the most popular and well-known character to come out of the movie. Montoya is a Spanish fencing expert with a desire to kill the six-fingered man who killed his father and gave him the twin scars on his cheeks when he was just a boy. Outside the Buttercup/Wesley romance, it is Montoya that gives the film it's heart, and the character gives us one of the most memorable lines of all time. Even those who haven't seen this movie have heard the line "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die".

The bandits take Buttercup to the Cliffs of Insanity, where they intend to kill her. However, hot on their trail is a masked man simply known as the Man in Black, as well as Humperdinck and a group of soldiers. The masked man fights Montoya and knocks out Fezzik to get to where Vizzini is holding Buttercup. After he tricks Vizzini into giving up Buttercup, he reveals to her that he is the Dread Pirate Roberts. Buttercup responds by pushing him down a gorge and after he says "as you wish" in Wesley's characteristic fashion, she realizes that he is Wesley and throws herself down the gorge (which is weird, it wasn't particularly deep, she just could have walked down).

Wesley is taken away by Humperdinck and his sadistic vizier Count Rugen, who happens to have six fingers on his right hand. In the meantime, Buttercup prepares for her wedding to Humperdinck. It is revealed that Humperdinck is not as harmless as he seems, as he plans to murder Buttercup on their wedding night, framing the rival country of Guilder and thus being able to start a war, which is his true motive throughout the movie. We've seen the plot element of a woman being forced to marry a man she doesn't love, but this film does it a bit differently. Humperdinck is damned well aware that Buttercup doesn't love him, and he puts on a facade telling her that he will search for Westley (whom he had Count Rugen imprison and torture after the Cliffs of Insanity scene). He also tells Buttercup that she is free to go if Wesley is found, and even though the audience knows it is a blatant lie, it seems plenty sincere at the time.

The climax of the film takes place at the rushed wedding of Humperdinck and Buttercup, when Wesley, Fezzik, and Montoya storm the castle after a visit to Miracle Max (Billy Crystal, accompanied by Carol Kane as Valerie). What follows are some of the film's most memorable scenes, which I can't tell you for the sake of spoilers, but those who have seen the movie know what I'm talking about. This film has one of the most entertaining climaxes I have seen in any movie, and definitely one of my favourites. The pre-climax contains one of my favourite scenes with the scene-stealing Billy Crystal and Carol Kane, which contains some of the funniest lines.

The story, when one really thinks about it, really isn't that original, playing on very familiar tropes such as the damsel in distress, the climax being to stop a wedding, and the bland heroine forced to marry a man she doesn't love, as well as the classic revenge tale. These tropes were established in the adventure stories of old and they are still kind of used in movies today. Granted, I haven't read the book, so I have no idea how faithfully the film sticks to it, but The Princess Bride works the story well, and what saves it from being tired is its script. This film has an excellent script, and one of the greatest things about this film is that it has a sense of humour. It has dozens of memorable lines and some outright hilarious ones, most being spoken by either Andre the Giant, Cary Elwes, or Billy Crystal. Don't get me wrong, the others get some very funny lines as well, but it is mostly those three that get the humourous lines. Just to prove my point, I shall list a few.

"Your friend is mostly dead. There's a difference between mostly dead and all dead"

"Have fun storming the castle"

"You seem a decent fellow, I'd hate to kill you.", "You seem a decent fellow, I'd hate to die"

"Mawiage. Mawiage is what bwings us hewe today"

This film definitely has one of the best scripts which definitely makes up for a, well not necessarily weak, but familiar story. The comedy blends excellently with the action, which is reminiscent of the swashbuckler films of old. In fact, I was reading an interview with Robin Wright during some sort of reunion article with the cast of the film, and she likened Cary Elwes to a blond Zorro. Her description is not far off, as Elwes in his Man in Black costume (paper thin disguise as it is) is pretty much a dead ringer for Zorro (the older incarnation as well as the later Banderas incarnation, the only one I am familiar with). There is a lot of swordplay in the film as well, often accompanied with witty one-liners, which is all well-executed. One has basic expectations of an adventure film, one of which is that they keep things exciting, and this film definitely exceeds all expectations set by the genre, making for a fun and intelligent movie.

The film also rises on the strength of its excellent cast. The first I would like to talk about is Robin Wright as Buttercup in her first major film role. She is probably the least interesting character in the movie, but I suppose that's kind of what the scriptwriter and the author of the book meant to do. After Wesley leaves, Buttercup becomes pretty much an empty shell and remains so until her beloved returns. Even afterwards, she remains pretty useless during the battle scenes, but it is all intentional, as Buttercup is supposed to be a damsel in distress. This does not make her bad from a feminist standpoint, because she gets some really good insults at Humperdinck, pointing out his feelings of inadequacy towards Westley. Wright gives a pretty good performance. She's not my favourite actress on Earth (having not particularly liked her in Forrest Gump either) but she is perfectly serviceable here. She and Elwes also have excellent chemistry, making the romance in the film likeable and not annoying like many movie romances are nowadays. We genuinely want to see Wesley and Buttercup get together by the end, and that definitely speaks to the quality of the film.

The rest of the cast, however, is extraordinary, and it is them (as well as the screenwriter) that the film truly belongs to. Cary Elwes is excellent as Westley (not to mention absolutely smouldering), especially as his Man in Black persona, where he gets many of the funny quips this movie is known for. I never paid much attention to Elwes in the past, and he doesn't seem to do much now outside of the Saw movies, but he is a genuinely good actor and gives truly a performance for the ages here. The three bandits are played by Wallace Shawn, Andre the Giant, and Mandy Patinkin. Wallace Shawn is an awesome comic relief actor in general, and it is because of this movie that the word "inconcievable" will be forever associated with his name. He gives an excellent performance from the short amount of time he was in the movie, and his character actually has an air of menace about him as well as humour. Andre the Giant is great as well, and this film can remain a time capsule of his life, seeing as he died five years after this was made. Any death is tragic and this one was no exception, but at least we have this film to remember. He got many of the great lines and his sheer brute strength was often the source for many jokes, especially since Cary Elwes beats him in battle.

The last of the bandits is Inigo Montoya, played by Mandy Patinkin. Montoya is easily the most well-known character from the movie, mostly because of the line I mentioned earlier, but also because he is a genuinely interesting and sympathetic character. What made Patinkin's performance more convincing was that he drew from his own father's death, talking to Christopher Guest like he was the cancer that killed his real father. Now if that can't convince and make a character sympathetic, I don't know what will. Despite his other work (including Jason Gideon on Criminal Minds), Patinkin will probably be best known for this movie for the rest of his career. Sarandon and Guest give brilliant performances as the film's villains, and of course, there is the amazing Billy Crystal and Carol Kane as Max and Valerie, getting a good number of the humorous lines and playing extremely well off of eachother. They round off an excellent ensemble cast full of memorable performances.

All in all, one need not be fooled by the title of The Princess Bride, because the story has a sort of universality that transcends gender and age. I remember having seen this film before tonight, but now that I've seen it in full, I can say that it is one of my favourite movies, as well as one of the best and most intelligent fantasy/adventure movies of all time, reworking tired tropes to its advantage. Filled to the brim with great comedy, excellent adventure, lush scenery, likeable romance, and of course, extremely memorable characters, The Princess Bride is an instant classic and one of the cornerstone films of the 1980's (similar to E.T.). The film is also the best film of Rob Reiner by far, and just an awesome movie altogether. Those who haven't seen it should definitely see it as soon as possible, as it is essential viewing. In fact, I'm glad I own this movie now, so I can watch it countless times because quite frankly, the film deserves it.

9.5/10-  Must-See

DAMN